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The 4th annual Earth Day Food & Wine Festival is a weekend celebration at locations throughout the Central Coast.
After spending several days in the area exploring sustainable wines and organic foods the best way to finish off the weekend was at the feature event held at the historic Santa Margarita Ranch where over 200 purveyors of award-winning, sustainably produced food and wine show off their best.
Growers, vintners, and chefs all came together to serve delicious, one of a kind dishes made with locally sourced fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, olive oils, and more to the guests . This was a great opportunity to enjoy live music, a silent auction, unlimited samples of local cuisine, and meet the farmers who grow great food and wine while nurturing a healthy environment.
The Earth Day Food & Wine Festival is a benefit event that supports farmworker education and sustainable ag research conducted by the Central Coast Vineyard Team (CCVT), a 501c(3) non-profit organization. The Central Coast Vineyard Team is a collaboration of 300 growers, wineries, consultants, researchers, and natural resource professionals dedicated to promoting sustainable winegrowing on California's Central Coast.
The Earth Day Food & Wine Festival backs up what it preaches with its commitment to host a zero-waste event. In 2009, the event generated only two bags of trash for over 1,000 visitors.
The food provided by local chefs and farmers was served on and with recyclable and compostable plates, bowls, forks, and spoons. Appropriate disposal containers, provided by San Luis Obispo Integrated Waste Management Authority, were accessible throughout the event. A team of volunteers wondered the site during the event , managing the recycling and compost project.
A plastic reduction policy is in place as well. Guests were asked to drink water from their commemorative wineglass. Even event's program is produced using post-consumer recycled content and the entertainment stage is solar powered, compliments of Pacific Energy Company. Ticketholders who carpooled with four or more in a vehicle received premium parking, in addition countywide shuttle service was available to further reduce traffic created by the event.
The special site for the Earth Day Food & Wine Festival was chosen for it's unique and rustic ambiance. Participants and visitors alike could not help but enjoy this intimate event at a very special rural location.
The Santa Margarita de Cortona Asistencia was established in 1787 as an asistencia ("sub-mission") to Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa to minister to the large number of Chumash (Obispeño) Indians who inhabited the area. Named for an Italian saint, the settlement was located at the top of the Cuesta Grade (north of San Luis Obispo) on a site selected by Father Presidente Junípero Serra in 1772. The facility also served as an outpost, chapel, and storehouse. In April, 1889 the town of Santa Margarita was founded. The former rancho lands today are under the ownership of four families. Several of the original stone walls remain standing, having been incorporated into a ranch barn.
The annual Santa Barbara County Vintners' Festival Weekend attracted wine lovers from all over the country for an opportunity to meet member vintners, taste their wines, and enjoy great food and music over a long spring weekend.
Within Santa Barbara County there are four distinct appellations: Santa Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley, Sta. Rita Hills and the newly approved Happy Canyon.
In addition, the Los Alamos Valley region, between the Santa Maria Valley and Santa Ynez Valley appellations, remains a strong and successful grape growing region. Slightly less than half of the grapes grown in Santa Barbara County are used by local vintners, with the balance are exported to wineries outside the area.
Breathtaking valleys and mountains studded with ancient oaks, brilliant wild flowers and magnificent vineyards are always the scene when you visit Santa Barbara County.
Before the festival a leisurely country drive allowed us to fully appreciate the winemaking experience as we transversed the valleys and sampled some excellent wines.
The Santa Barabara County Vintners Festival is a wonderful discovery for any wine lover and foodie alike. You'll find great restaurants, galleries, country inns and exceptional tasting rooms located in the small towns of Solvang , Lompoc , Santa Ynez , Los Olivos and Santa Barbara itself.
In the cellars this time of year, winemakers are bottling their first whites and pinks from the 2009 season, as well as their red wines that ready from previous vintages. You can feel the excitement in the air as they wineries are anxious to show off their latest creations.
As most wine people would agree that great wine starts in the vineyard with great grapes. This area has been blessed with an excellent climate, soil and topography that is unique and you can taste that signature in the wines. Santa Barbara County's winegrowers bring modern growing methods to the age-old art of viticulture and produce some of the finest wine grapes and wines in the world.
The wines of Santa Barbara County have always been the main attraction of this area. However , Las Vegas's own Bradley Ogdan has come to town with his restaurant , Route 246. Chef Bradley himself was at the festival treating us all to a few of his great dishes.
The property that's now home to Root 246 was known for years as the Meadows Restaurant. When the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians purchased the Meadows in 2007, the tribe looked to transform the old restaurant into a contemporary elegant dining destination unlike anything the region has ever seen.
The tribe hired Chef Bradley Ogden. This award-winning chef enjoys a phenomenal track record as a restaurateur, having successfully launched and overseen the creation of several critically-acclaimed restaurants. Chef Ogden's expertise should help ensure that the tribe's new venture in Solvang will meet the high level of quality guests have come to expect.
Whether it's wild asparagus from Santa Ynez, or fresh spiny lobsters from Santa Barbara, Root 246 is has brought a whole new type of dinning experience to the area and serves their guests the finest produce and proteins the region has to offer.
There are so many great wines made by big names in the industry such as Ken Brown , Doug Margerum , Kenneth Volk and Kris Curran just to name a few we could literally write a book about each one of them. We try to not only sample their wines but are always searching for others that we feel stood out along with the great wines of the area.
Ampelos Cellars is always a stand out that we look for when in the area. Peter and Rebecca Work are firm believers in the old adage that the "wine is made in the vineyard". Their estate vineyard has been planted to those varietals that showcase the location, soils and climate of their vineyard . The varietals Ampelos has planted are Pinot Noir, Syrah, Grenache and Viognier.
In addition to their estate grapes, Ampelos continues to produce wines from fruit sourced from other vineyards in Sta. Rita Hills, FiddleStix for Pinot Noir and Quatro Vientos in Santa Ynez Valley for Viognier and the Syrah for their rosé .
At the Hitching Post II in Buellton, they honor that tradition and also embrace contemporary cooking styles. By combining the old and new, they have created exciting cuisine that is uniquely their own.
Along with their outstanding steaks, ribs and chicken, they serve items such as smoked duck breast, ostrich, home-made soups and outstanding pastries; along with what the Los Angeles Times has called the "best" French Fries in Southern California.
We are always on the "look out " for new wineries and talented winemakers. One of those wineries that is beginning to make a big name for themselves is Dragonette Cellars . Dragonette is a partnership between brothers John and Steve Dragonette and close friend Brandon Sparks-Gillis who joined forces in order to pursue a mutual, long held dream to make wine in the Santa Ynez Valley.
Utilizing their contacts with excellent growers and viticulturists, they obtain fruit farmed for low yields and high quality from optimally located sites throughout the Santa Ynez Valley . In the cellar, they personally attend to each wine operation, from fermentation in small lots to aging in the finest French barrels . They believe this level of attention and focus markedly increases quality. We have meet these very talented partners on numerous occasions over the years. They are passionate and committed to producing small lots of ultra-premium Pinot Noir, Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc. Dragonette is a winery we will continue to watch .
The wineries also host events all throughout Santa Barbara Wine Country starting on Friday with tastings of library wines or barrel samples, vineyard barbecues, winemaker dinners, wine & food pairings.
ampelos is a Greek word meaning "vine".
We watched Ampelos Cellars grow over many years and they have obtained a reputation nationwide for quality , sustainable , organic wines .
Located in the Sta Rita Hills , Ampelos Cellars has the climate to produce outstanding Estate grown wines from Pinot Noir to Vionnay.
On a recent visit to the Santa Barbara County Vintners Festival we spent some time at the Ampelos Ranch and took a walk through their 82 acre vineyard with Peter Work.
The morning started like most mornings in the Sta Rita hills with thick " Sea Smoke " and cool temperatures hanging over the vineyard until late morning when the sun burns through the thickness and temperatures rise. This daily routine from nature helps to produce some of the best Pinot Noirs in the country.
It was a surrealistic beginning to our morning with a single Red Tail hawk circling above , dogs herding sheep on a near by hill as we were being escorted by Peter's own Chocolate Labrador Retrievers as we started to explore the vineyard.
Peter explained Ampelos was selected to be one of the first vineyards in California to participate in the Certified Sustainable Winegrowing pilot program, and is very proud to have met the guidelines of the program and gained this prestigious certification. He went on to explain that Ampelos practices and promotes biodynamic farming in the vineyard.
Biodynamics embraces all aspects of organic but takes the notion further by holistically treating the entire vineyard as a living organism. It is as much a philosophy of life as it is a farming method, which is why it has influenced the thinking of so many who initially explored the concept only because they wanted to grow better grapes. Not only has it changed the way Peter and Rebecca grow grapes, but it has gotten them to think more about the importance of balance with nature, the land and farming practices.
Peter also added that they are concerned about the environment and try to employ as many environmentally friendly practices in the winery and in the vineyard. They plant fava beans and sweet peas as part of their cover crop in the vineyard which improves the soil as well as provides an environment for insects. They avoid letting the skins, stems, seeds and lees go down the drain in the winery and instead carry it back to the vineyard for composting.
They also do most of the work in the winery by hand or by using gravity thereby reducing then need for power. They press our grapes in a basket press by hand and only pump the wines once during their 16 months in the cellar. All of this minimizes the electricity they use. Even the vineyard and home are solar powered.
Ampelos vineyard is at the eastern end of the Sta Rita Hills appellation which is cool-climate area that is perfect for growing Pinot Noir and Syrah.
The vineyard is one of the few vineyards that gets the cool breeze from the Santa Rita Hills as well as the Santa Rosa Hills.
After learning about the hands on work that Peter and Rebecca put into every aspect of their vineyard it was now time to find some cool shade , have some lunch and try some of these award wining wines . With the vineyard dogs guiding the way we found the perfect place right in the middle of the vineyard.
The Ampelos Viognier , Santa Ynez Valley 2009 was a perfect wine to start off with after our walk. It's refreshing citrus notes of lemon came through with a nice balance of acidity and a lingering finish.
Another stand out for us has always been the Ampelos Rose of Syrah. Their 2009 Rose of Syrah Santa Ynez Vally did not disappoint with a lovely pale rose color in the glass made in the old world provencal style.
Of course we could not leave without enjoying the Lambda Pinot Noir , Sta Rita Hills Ampelos Vineyard 2005 and the Rho Pinot Noir , Sta Rita Hills Ampelos Vineyard 2006 .
Both of which have won awards and are highly acclaimed.In addition to their lovely Pinot Noirs , The Gamma Syrah Sta Rita Hills Ampleos Vineyard 2006 and their own very special Syrache, Santa Barbara County , 2006 which is their own very unique blend of Syrah and Grenache that has made a name for it self on its own right.
Peter and Rebecca Work and an incredible story that has taken them on a journey from high levels of the corporate world to their Ranch in the Sta Rita hills . When traveling in Santa Barbara County, Ampelos Cellars winery in Lompoc is a must stop. For more information or to schedule a visit please visit http://www.ampeloscellars.com
Join Peter and Elaine and Scott as they take a walk through the Vineyard and talk about sustainable farming.
It is not often that we can see a winery "born" and be able to follow their progress over the years from literally "the ground up ". VINO LAS pre-view of one of the newest wineries in the central coast before the big public opening. NINER Wine Estates in Paso Robles , California.
After nearly ten years of planning, preparing, and just plain hard work , the newest addition to Paso Robles' west side wine community will open May 1st to the public.
Construction began for the elegant stone barn tasting room and state-of-the-art gravity flow winery on the Heart Hill property on the west side of Paso Robles on seventy acres of vines surrounding the winery with the first phase beginning in the spring of 2007.
The inaugural vintage was released in January of 2006. Varietals currently include Sauvignon blanc, Barbera Rosato, Barbera, Sangiovese, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, an Italian blend and a proprietary red blend called Fog Catcher.Dick Niner had the vision of this state of the art facility over many years. He investigated buying several vineyards and wineries, both for himself and other investors and came to realize the potential of Paso Robles as a perfect environment for growing premium grapes and making fine wines.
A native of New Hampshire, in 1997 Amanda Cramer left a teaching post in Washington DC to pursue her interests in wine. Amanda's background in mathematics and chemistry provided solid preparation for the road ahead.
After Davis, Amanda spent the next three years working at wineries, in three of the world's most recognized growing regions. She worked harvests at Chimney Rock and Robert Mondavi Wineries in Napa Valley, California; D'Arenberg Wines in McLaren Vale, South Australia; and even at Casa Lapostolle in Santa Cruz, Chile.
In 2002, Amanda returned to California to a post as Assistant Winemaker at the esteemed Paradigm Winery in Oakville. Working under the direction of legendary winemaker Heidi Barrett, her responsibilities included production, cellar and lab duties, as well as vineyard sampling for this 5,000 case, ultra-premium winery. With Barrett's guidance, Cramer polished her skills on Bordeaux varieties.
By design, the rustically elegant stone barn Hospitality Center is as aesthetically conscious as it is eco-conscious.
Designer Anne Fortini's tasteful interiors reflect and accentuate the beauty of the winery's surroundings, while Mr. Niner, Ms. Cramer and architect Tim Woodle have designed Niner Wine Estates to be the first winery on the Central Coast to meet LEED certification standards through the U.S. Green Building Council, with final certification to be awarded in a matter of months.
Constructed and positioned to emphasize the allure of Paso Robles wine country, the Hospitality Center's expansive windows frame a view of "Heart Hill," the iconic heart-shaped design of oak trees once owned by brothers Claude and Clyde Booker.
Niner Wine Estates is the vision of Dick Niner, who believes that a blend of exceptional people, vineyards, tools, and ideas is the key to creating world-class wines and providing a one-of-a-kind experience in the heart of Paso Robles wine country.
Since its founding in 2001, Niner Wine Estates' list of award-winning wines has grown to include Bordeaux, Rhone and Italian varietals, including their flagship Bordeaux blend, "Fog Catcher." This independent, family-owned company is truly dedicated to making exceptional wines by combining the best of traditional winemaking methods as it employs cutting-edge technologies.
In the LEED-certified winery, winemaker Amanda Cramer will continue to use estate-grown fruit from the Bootjack Ranch and Heart Hill Vineyard into wines that express their true varietal correctness with every sip. We look forward to visiting NINER as often as we can to watch this one of a kind project in the Central Coast grow into prominence.
On Thursday, April 22nd the competition took place in Las Vegas where THREE mixologists at Fusion Mixology Bar inside The Palazzo took home the coveted title of EFFEN® Vodka Mixologist: Emilio Turibico took first place and Wendy Verdel and Greg Black tied for second place. The competition was set up Iron Chef style where the mixologists, in two-man teams, had to select five ingredients from a selection of 50 items plus the liquor. Each mixologist was then given a limited amount of time to create the cocktail. The winning cocktails were:
Emilio Turibico:
2oz Effen Vodka
1.5 oz Pineapple juice
2 Cactus Piece muddled
Wendy Verdel:
Effen Sweet Heat
One quarter slice of peeled cucumber
One quarter slice of jalapeño with seeds
Eight Raspberries
· 1 ounce fresh Sweet Lemon Sour
· 2 ounces of Effen Vodka
Muddle first four ingredients, add vodka and shake hard. Double Strain in Martini Glass.
Garnish with a long cucumber peel and raspberries.
Greg Black:
Effen Good Time
5-7 Blueberries, Blackberries
.5 oz egg whites
.5oz Cointreau
1 oz Effin Blk Cherry
2 oz "Fresh Sour mix"
Muddle, Shake and Strain...
Our Congratulations to these three talented mixologists and the Palazzo !
VINO LAS VEGAS attended the first Sake Fever a few years ago and could not wait for it to return. Recently Sake Fever returned in a big way with 150 Premium Sakes and brewmaters to the Palms Pool and Bungalows.
Sake is a whole way of life and anyone who enjoys Sake should learn about how its made and what the " language " of Sake as well.
Sake or saké (pronouned /ˈsɑːkeɪ/ in English is a alholic Japanese beverage made from rice.
This beverage is called sake in English, but in Japanese, sake (酒) or o-sake (お酒) refers to alcoholic drinks in general. The Japanese term for this specific beverage is Nihonshu (日本酒), meaning "Japanese sake"
Sake is also referred to in English as rice wine. However, unlike true wine, in which alcohol is produced by fermenting the sugar naturally present in fruit, sake is made through a brewing process more like that of beer. To make beer or sake, the sugar needed to produce alcohol must first be converted from starch.
Sake is produced by the multiple parallel fermentation of rice. The rice is polished to remove the protein and oils from the exterior of the rice grains, leaving behind starch. A more thorough milling leads to fewer congeners and generally a more desirable product.
Newly polished rice is allowed to "rest" until it absorbs enough moisture from the air not to crack when immersed in water. After this resting period, the rice is washed clean of the rice powder produced during milling and is steeped in water. The length of the soak depends on the degree to which the rice was polished, from several hours or even overnight for an ordinary milling to just minutes for highly polished rice.
After soaking, the rice is boiled in a large pot or it is steamed on a conveyor belt. The degree of cooking must be carefully controlled; overcooked rice will ferment too quickly for flavors to develop well and undercooked rice will only ferment on the outside. The steamed rice is then cooled and divided for different uses.Some of the steamed rice is taken to a culture room and inoculated with kōji mold (麹, Aspergillus oryzae). The mold-laden rice is itself known as kōji and is cultivated until the growth of the fungus reaches the desired level.
The term junmai can be added to ginjō or daiginjō, resulting in junmai ginjō and junmai daiginjō. However, as distilled alcohol is added in small amounts to ginjō and daiginjō to heighten the aroma, not to increase volume, a junmai daiginjō is not necessarily a better product than a daiginjō made with brewer's alcohol.
Sake is usually drunk from small cups called choko and poured into the choko from ceramic flasks called tokkuri. Saucer-like cups called sakazuki are also used, most commonly at weddings and other ceremonial occasions. Recently, footed glasses made specifically for premium sake have also come into use.
Another traditional cup is the masu, a box usually made of hinoki or sugi, which was originally used for measuring rice. In some Japanese restaurants, as a show of generosity, the server may put a glass inside the masu or put the masu on a saucer and pour until sake overflows and fills both containers.
Aside from being served straight, sake can be used as a mixer for cocktails, such as tamagozake, saketinis, nogasake, or the sake bomb.
Tōji (杜氏) is the job title of the sake brewer. It is a highly respected job in the Japanese society, with tōji being regarded like musicians or painters. The title of tōji was historically passed on from father to son; today new tōji are either veteran brewery workers or are trained at universities. While modern breweries with refrigeration and cooling tanks operate year-round, most old-fashioned sake breweries are seasonal, operating only in the cool winter months. During the summer and fall most tōji work elsewhere, and are commonly found on farms, only periodically returning to the brewery to supervise storage conditions or bottling operations
We have been asked about storage and ageability of Sake. In general, it is best to keep sake refrigerated in a cool or dark room, as prolonged exposure to heat or direct light will lead to spoilage. Sake stored at room temperature is best consumed within a few months after purchase.
After opening the bottle of sake, it is best consumed within 2 or 3 hours.[ It is possible to store in the refrigerator, but it is recommended to finish the sake within 2 days.
This is because once premium sake is opened, it begins to oxidize which affects the taste. If the sake is kept in the refrigerator for more than 3 days, it will lose its "best" flavor. However, this does not mean it should be disposed of if not consumed. Generally, sake can keep very well and still taste just fine after weeks in the fridge. How long a sake will remain drinkable depends on the actual product itself, and whether it is sealed with a wine vacuum top
Premium versus Non-Premium Sake
Only the highest grades of sake are exported
to the USA by the brewers introduced at eSake.
Southern Wine & Spirits of Nevada celebrated the 36th Annual UNLVino® in partnership with the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration. This Las Vegas tradition is a great opportunity for wine enthusiasts and winemakers to meet and enjoy the latest releases, the best vintages, and the finest varietals in support of scholarship.
UNLVino was created by Larry Ruvo, Senior Managing Director of Southern Wine and Spirits of Nevada and Jerry Vallen, founding Dean of the Hotel College in 1974. To date, UNLVino® has raised millions, making this one of the largest endowments for scholarship and student activities at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and possibly the most unique educational fund raiser in the world.
The 4th annual Earth Day Food & Wine Festival is a weekend celebration at locations throughout the Central Coast. The feature event is held on Saturday afternoon at the historic Santa Margarita Ranch with over 200 purveyors of award-winning, sustainably produced food and wine. Growers, vintners, and chefs come together to serve delicious, one of a kind dishes made with locally sourced fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, olive oils, and more. Come and enjoy live music, a silent auction, unlimited samples of local cuisine, and meet the farmers who grow great food and wine while nurturing a healthy environment.Located conveniently halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, the Central coast is the perfect escape from the busy hub-bub of city life. Here, you know that your food doesn't just appear at the store but that it is brought to you by local farmers. Join us and celebrate the farmers who bring us great food and wines all while encouraging practices that will sustain local farming for years to come.
Renown French Pastry Chef Francois Payard gave a pre-view of the Vegas Uncork'd Grand Tasting Venue , Garden of the Gods Oasis at Caesars Palace . The newly opened pool is the most breathtaking swimming pool experience in Las Vegas and located exclusively at the most legendary casino resort of them all. Caesars Palace
Spacious, luxurious and stately, this collection of exclusive watering holes, decadent cabanas and palatial sunbathing spots is the ultimate warm-weather destination, no matter whether you bow before the gods of the sun or the water. What a better place to show off the Grand Tasting but at this Oasis on the Las Vegas Strip.
François Payard is a third generation French Pastry Chef born in Nice , France . François cultivated his passion for the art of Pastry as a child in his grandfather's acclaimed shop, Au Nid des Friandises on the Riviera. He grew up surrounded by the delicious classic French pastry in the tradition carried on by his parents and grandparents for over fifty years.
His dedication and passion earned him positions in several of France's finest kitchens. In 1988, Payard held his first position as Pastry Chef in Paris at La Tour d'Argent (***Michelin). The following year he went on to become Pastry Chef in the kitchen of Alain Senderens at Lucas Carton (***Michelin). In these renowned restaurants he met the challenge of creating dessert menus worthy of a three star Michelin rating.
In 1993, François Payard joined Chef Daniel Boulud for the opening of Restaurant Daniel (****NY Times) where he delighted guests with his chocolate and seasonal fruit menus. In 1995, The James Beard Foundation named François "Pastry Chef of the Year" in recognition of his accent on flavor combined with a unique sense of pastry design.
Chef and owner François Payard will be at the Grand Tasting but will also welcome guests for an intimate afternoon tea and dessert demonstration. This special Mother's Day weekend event is a unique glimpse into the technique of this celebrated chef and his classic Parisian pastry shop. Hosted by Bon Appétit Editor-In-Chief Barbara Fairchild. This Vegas Uncork'd experience also includes a signed copy of François Payard's book, "Chocolate Epiphany."
This speciall event is currently sold out. Please check back later as tickets may become available or call 877.884.8993 to be placed on the wait list.
Pinot noir (French pronunciation: [pinoˈnwaʁ]), the name is derived from the French words for "pine" and "black" alluding to the varietals' tightly clustered dark purple pine cone-shaped bunches of fruit.
In the vineyard this varietal is sensitive to light exposure, cropping levels , soil types and pruning techniques. In the winery it is sensitive to fermentation methods, yeast strains and is highly reflective of its terroir with different regions producing very different wines. Its thin skin makes it highly susceptible to bunch rot and other fungal diseases.
Pinot wines are among the most popular in the world. Joel Fleischman of Vanity Fair describes Pinot noir as "the most romantic of wines, with so voluptuous a perfume, so sweet an edge, and so powerful a punch that, like falling in love, they make the blood run hot and the soul wax embarrassingly poetic." Master Sommelier Madeline Triffon calls pinot "sex in a glass" Peter Richardsson of OenoStyle christened it "a seductive yet fickle mistress!"
For lovers of this very special variety , there is only one place to be the first weekend in March . That would be in Shell Beach California to attend The World of Pinot Noir.
These two days include in-depth Tasting Seminars, Grand Tastings a Featured Tasting with a guest Burgundian producer, two Gala Pinot Noir Dinners and even a Santa Barbara style Paulée. All of these extraordinary food and wine extravaganzas are hosted by participating wineries and feature an outstanding Sommeliers from across the U.S.
The 10th World of Pinot Noir began with a Tasting of Vintage Old World Burgundies. This very intimate and tasting featured aged Burgundies from the cellars of the Court of Master Sommeliers. Led by Master Sommelier Fred Dame, each table was hosted by a master sommelier .
Friday afternoon was just the mid-point of the first day when guests joined more than 95 Pinot Noir producers from across the globe showing both current releases and library selections in three tasting tents located on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Gourmet appetizers prepared by Chef Gregg Wangard, Chef José Garcia and The Culinary Team of The Cliffs Resort as well as exceptional cheeses from The Cheese Shop Carmel/The Cheese Shop Santa Barbara allowed all of the attendees some nice walk around dishes as they enjoyed wonderful Pinot Noirs in Riedel Crystal Pinot Noir glass.
Right next door to the Cliffs is the Dolphin Bay Resort and another Gala dinner that their famed LIDO restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Chef Budi Kazali recently named the "Ultimate Chef for 2009" by Central Coast Magazine 2004 took over the Ballard Inn & Restaurant in Santa Barbara County, prepared an unforgettable meal featuring fresh local ingredients and his French-Asian cuisine that was truly mouth watering.
David Garwicki and David Reardon, Bacara Resort, Santa Barbara CA
Frank Ostini, Hitching Post II, Buellton CA
Cal Stamenov, Marinus at Bernardus Lodge, Carmel Valley CA,Clark Staub, Full of Life Flatbread, Los Alamos CA, Paolo Stoltz, The Men's Club, Dallas TX, Craig Von Foerster, Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur CA
VINO LAS VEGAS has been well acquainted with Don and Lindsey Schroeder for several years . And have been fortunate to have seen them acquire well deserved recognition for their hard work.
Many may find the name CHIEN an interesting name for a wine. However , If you meet Don and Lindsey you know it fits them to a tee !
Don and Lindsey moved to the Lompoc Valley from Eureka, CA in early 2000 to help Don's mother and stepfather by overseeing the installation of their vineyard, which is now the award winning Ampelos Vineyard.
As the vineyard implementation was under way they longed to have a friend on the ranch with them. Living in a farming community everyone seemed to have a "vineyard" dog . In May of 2000 they visited the Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society to see about adopting a dog. After carefully perusing each animal Don was drawn to one specific dog. All of the dogs had leapt at them in their kennels as if to say "PLEASE PICK ME!"
One dog did not. He was the only one to growl at them and for some reason Don felt that he could provide a home for him . The next day they returned to adopt Bear, a 2 year old male, Chow-Chow/Labrador mix breed. After trying unsuccessfully for almost 2 hours to get Bear in the truck they finally got him home. He had been neglected and abused before they brought him into their lives and for the first few nights , Bear would not come in the house without picking him up and carrying him inside . Every time they would leave the house he would scream and cry and when they would return home he would cry as if to tell them "thank you for coming back."
Over the next few months Bear and Don developed a special bond. Eight years later Bear is an extremely well adjusted, happy dog that loves to cuddle and receive all the love that is given to him. We at VINO LAS VEGAS can attest to what a great dog Bear has become , and even enjoys running through the vineyards with our own dog we we visit.
"We chose the name Chien for one very simple reason. We have two passions in our lives, dogs and wine. Because we love the wines of Alsace we chose the name Chien which is the French word for "dog". We feel that after raising 2 dogs, especially one that was so badly abused, making wine has a very similar foundation. Lots of love, patience and persistence is needed. We have that in abundance for Bear, Shady and Chien " Don said.
Don took a job for the 2000 harvest with Babcock Vineyards and his passion for wine was born and he never looked back. Don said " I had always enjoyed drinking wine and after working those first long days of harvest the passion inside me flourished". Over the next few years , Don worked at various wineries and furthered his passion for wine and the wine industry. He is currently the wine maker for the renowned Seasmoke Cellars
Don and Lindsey launched their own label with Chien Wine . After harvest of 2006 they decided to make a small batch of an Alsace blend for the next harvest and created Edelzwicker, meaning "noble wine", this wine is a traditional white blend of Alsace. The 2008 Edelzwicker was even named Wine of the Week by the LA times in March 2010.
Their blend consists of Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Gewurtztraminer. This crisp, balanced blend truly represents what they believe are the many beautiful qualities of these often under appreciated varietals. With the release of their 2009 vintage they introduce the first Santa Barbara County, and third California Gruner Veltliner.
Happy Canyon AVA was approved in October and was based on a petition written by vintner Wes Hagen, whose Clos Pepe Vineyards are located in the nearby Sta. Rita Hills. Wes Hagen had previously written the petition that established Sta. Rita Hills as an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in 2001. We have watched the process of establishing the AVA over the last few years and It was a long time coming.
Happy Canyon AVA includes 23,941 acres and lies in the eastern part of the 40-mile-wide Santa Ynez Valley and the northern part of Santa Barbara County, California and comprises canyon terrain, hills, and river and creek basins to the east and south of the San Rafael Mountains, west of Lake Cachuma, and north of the Santa Ynez River.
For hose not so familiar with the Santa Ynez area , Happy Canyon is approximately 3 miles to the east of Highway 154, and some 5 miles from Los Olivos or Santa Ynez. Located at different elevations, the four vineyards of Happy Canyon Barrack, Starlane, Vogelzang and Westerly are situated at different elevations and on different soils. At the hotter end of the Santa Ynez Valley, Happy Canyon maintains the theme of warm days and cool marine influence with a few variations.
Having just returned from the Sta. Rita Hills we noticed The winter rains have produced a lush and beautiful cover crop and the hills are alive with the signature poppies and lupines that signal bud break on the vines. This could mean only one thing , One of our favorite events that we have covered for years is right around the corner.
The Santa Barbara County Vintners' Association will be celebrating this rite of the season with their 28th annual Vintners' Festival, to be held this year at
The festival features the wines of 130+ members of the Association, live and lively music, a silent auction and wine country cuisine by the area's finest chefs.
The 50 miles stretch from Point Conception to Rincon constitutes the longest east-west traverse of shoreline from Alaska to Cape Horn. Here, the Santa Ynez and San Rafael Mountains form a unique coastal range - the inland flow of fog and ocean breezes make the region one of the coolest viticultural areas in California. This means that the fruit has an unusually long "hang time" on the vine, allowing it to fully develop the acids, flavors and tannins needed to produce wines of distinctive character.
Within Santa Barbara County there are three distinct appellations: Santa Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley, and Sta. Rita Hills. In addition, the Los Alamos Valley region, between the Santa Maria Valley and Santa Ynez Valley appellations, remains a strong and successful grape growing region. Slightly less than half of the grapes grown in Santa Barbara County are used by local vintners, with the balance are exported to wineries outside the area.
This area has to be one of our favorite areas in California. This amazing group of wineries and vineyards owners are still "farmers" in the true sense of the word. You can taste their passion with every sip of a wine from this one of a kind area. Join VINO LAS VEGAS once again and spend the weekend in the vineyards and tasting rooms of Santa Barbara County and enjoy some of our nations best wines. For tickets and more information please go to sbcountywines.com.
See you there !
Vegas Uncork'd Presented by Bon Appétit Debuts
Palazzo After Hours – Crushed: Wine that Rocks!
The Palazzo Resort has always proven to us that it was "THE" Place to be on the famed Las vegas Strip.On May 8th the Palazzo shines when Vegas Uncork'd Presented by Bon Appétit, the culinary world's most extraordinary epicurean event held this year from May 6-9, introduces to its 2010 lineup Palazzo After Hours – Crushed: Wine that Rocks! This new event takes place May 8 poolside at The Palazzo beginning at 10:30 p.m.
With Crushed, restaurateur, winemaker and rock and roller Joe Bastianich pairs the great wines of the world with the greatest music of all time. Accompanied by Scott Ian of Anthrax and the electrifying band Six Foot Nurse, Bastianich will lead guests and chefs on a synesthetic exploration of explosive tunes from Led Zeppelin and The Beatles, asking the audience to listen with their palates and taste with their ears. Along with outstanding wines, this poolside after‐hours celebration also features signature bites from the all‐star lineup at The Venetian and The Palazzo, including a Slider Bar from First Food and Bar Executive Chef Sam DeMarco, salumi and cheese from executive chef Zach Allen of Carnevino, and a Rockin' Wing Bar from Chef de Cuisine Vince Chiyuto of Lagasse's Stadium.
Bastianich, who owns B&B Ristorante at The Venetian in partnership with Chef Mario Batali, joins a roster of Vegas Uncork'd personalities that includes some of the world's most recognized chefs and decorated sommeliers. Unlike that found at other major culinary events, all epicurean talent headlining programs at Vegas Uncork'd Presented by Bon Appétit maintains a Las Vegas restaurant or works in its kitchens or wine cellars every day.
"We are honored to add The Venetian | The Palazzo, as well as Joe Bastianich, an icon within the wine and spirits world, to this year's event," said Paul Jowdy, publisher, Bon Appétit magazine. "We've always believed in the vitality of Las Vegas and its culinary scene, so it comes as no surprise that more and more top names in the epicurean arena taking note and signing on to be part of Vegas Uncork'd Presented by Bon Appétit."
Added Rob O'Keefe, executive director of Vegas Uncork'd: "Each year, our goal is to build upon the previous event's success by carefully selecting innovative, new offerings to add to the schedule. Crushed fits perfectly into this strategy
The playground for Vegas Uncork'd Presented by Bon Appétit is destination wide and features five anchor partner resorts, each of which offers an enviable roster of on-site restaurants and in-house chefs: Bellagio, Caesars Palace, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay and Wynn | Encore.
Joining the lineup for the first time this year as an associate partner is The Venetian | The Palazzo. The event's charitable partner is the Three Square Food Bank, which is dedicated to providing wholesome food to hungry people, while passionately pursuing a hunger-free community.
To purchase tickets and to see more information about this year's event lineup, please visit www.VegasUncorked.com. There, you may also opt in to receive information about additional events as they are added to the schedule.
Joe Bastianich is a passionate winemaker, teacher and restaurateur whose collection of restaurants with partner Mario Batali includes Las Vegas' B&B Ristorante and New York City's Babbo, which earned three coveted stars from The New York Times and the prestigious Best New Restaurant in America award from the James Beard Foundation.
In 2005, he was recognized as an Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional by both the James Beard Foundation and Bon Appetit magazine.
Most recently, he and Mario were awarded the 2008 James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Restaurateur Award.
Vegas Uncork'd Presented by Bon Appétit is made possible by the following sponsors: the
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text:
New year, new challenges for CEOs
Next video starts in : 7 Play
New year, new challenges for CEOs
Meet the Couple Behind the Viral Snapchat Soap Opera
2:50Now watching Up next
New year, new challenges for CEOs
The Wall Street Journal reporter Sara Murray provides insight on 6 CEOs facing new challenges in 2014, including McDonalds' Don Thompson and Abercrombie's Michael Jeffries.
7:41Now watching Up next
Meet the Couple Behind the Viral Snapchat Soap Opera
The Univ. of Wisconsin campus was all abuzz over whether "Mystery Girl" and "Viking Fan" would get together.
7:48Now watching Up next
Former 'Bachelorette' Andi Dorfman on What Happened Behind the Scenes
Dorfman talks about her new book, "It's Not Okay," and reveals the heartbreak she felt after she and ex Josh Murray split.
0:48Now watching Up next
Raw: Funnel Cloud Spotted in NW Oklahoma
A funnel cloud was spotted in northwest Oklahoma on Monday. There are no immediate reports of damage or injuries. (May 24)
1:20Now watching Up next
Chewbacca Mom's Moment of Joy Becomes Viral Sensation
Candace Payne laughing hysterically at herself trying on a Chewbacca mask is now the most watched Facebook Live video ever.
2:17Now watching Up next
Fla. Community Hit by Dengue, Prepares for Zika
In Rio, Florida residents and mosquito control workers say they are better prepared to deal with Zika after experiencing a dengue fever outbreak in 2013. New protocols are in place based on lessons learned from dengue. (May 24)
1:35Now watching Up next
Today in History for May 24th
Highlights of this day in history: Samuel Morse opens America's first telegraph line; Four men sentenced for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; Britain's Queen Victoria born; The Brooklyn Bridge opens; Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan born. (May 24)
0:52Now watching Up next
Raw: Driver Escapes Traffic Stop, Hits Officers
A Milwaukee woman has been arrested for fleeing a traffic stop in her car -- plowing into two officers and her passenger in the process. (May 23)
2:28Now watching Up next
Clinton and Trump in Dead Heat in Latest Poll
This puts the Republican presumptive nominee up 11 points since March.
1:30Now watching Up next
Bird Strike Forces Emergency Plane Landing 20 Minutes After Takeoff
Virgin Flight 865, flying from Denver to San Francisco, struck a bird and damaged its right engine.

subset: commoncrawl


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ACHICA > Run For Covers > Run For Covers - 1984, Mounted Print, 60 x 80cm
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Run For Covers - 1984, Mounted Print, 60 x 80cm
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Mounted art print. Ready for framing.
Dimensions: 60 x 80cm.
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Died after being shot ... Hadiya Pendleton. Photo: AP
Michelle Obama went to Chicago the other day to mourn the death of a teenager. Hadiya Pendleton, 15, was with friends minding her own business in a park when bullets tore through her and ended her life. Not long before that she had been part of a band at Barack Obama's inauguration celebrations in Washington.
Her killer, it seems, got the wrong group of teenage friends. And so an innocent life ended.
Death or injury by gunfire annually is not uncommon in Chicago, the Obamas' hometown – more than 500 deaths, 24 of them schoolchildren out of 2500 reported shootings. And Chicago is not even in the top league. The worst cities are: New Orleans, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, Baltimore, St Louis, Richmond, Memphis, Cleveland and Philadelphia.
Gary Younge, of The Guardian, in a report from Chicago wrote: ''Carolyn Murray, a gun control advocate frustrated by the ephemeral nature of public anger at gun crime, will be in Washington to hear the speech (Obama's state of the union). ''People tend to get in an uproar for a week or two and then go home,'' she says. Murray has been campaigning for years in the northern suburb of Evanston and was in the process of organising a gun buy-back program when her son Justin was shot and killed on his grandmother's lawn. She had become so accustomed to gunfire at the weekends she could call the police and tell them what calibre was used and the direction of the shooting just by listening in bed.
That sounds like living in a war zone. And that's the thing about guns and America: after the massacres, there's still the low-key rumbling of gunfire each and every day across the country.
In the 60 or so days since the Sandy Hook school massacre in which 20 children and six adults were slaughtered, another 5100 people have died through a gun-related incident in America. This is not precise maths, but an averaging of total annual gun-fatalities divided by the number of days since Adam Lanza took his arsenal to the classroom on December 14.
In the US, more than 31,000 people die from gun-related incidents each year. So, 85 deaths-a-day times 60 days equals 5100. Most fatalities, however, aren't homicides or massacres. They are suicides, the tragic last desperate act of a man or woman by their own hand. Suicides, if they are not of a public figure, go unnoticed, and unreported – the silent toll.
Two months on from Sandy Hook, the storm of pro and anti-gun comment has subsided. Barack Obama is due fly to Chicago this week to talk about gun control. It's hard not to feel, So what's the use? There's an estimated 300 million firearms in the country. This is one door that cannot be shut.
For instance, as seems to happen after every massacre, there's been a surge in gun purchases. After Newtown, FBI figures show that almost 2.5 million background checks were made in January – the second highest monthly figure in 14 years. In the one week after Newtown, almost 180,000 checks were made. It's not surprising gun fatalities are forecast to rise. There was a lull of 28,000 gun deaths in 2000 from a peak of 37,000 in 1993. But step back a bit . . . Wait, did I just write of 28,000 deaths as a lull?
If it were not so despairingly calamitous, it would be surreal. But then it's the perfect place for reality to come up against surrealism and the theatre of the absurd, all on the bill under the banner of ''The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun''.
Yes. Quite so. Well said that actor in this theatre, he in the long black coat, pistols slung on his hips, rifle in hand, steel glint in his eyes, chiselled jaw line framing a righteous determination. He may protest that he is not a gunslinger but he is. He is, predictably, Wayne LaPierre, chief executive of the National Rifle Association.
LaPierre was speaking after Newtown. He also said schools should have armed guards on their gates. He also urged Obama ''to use caution when attacking clearly defined absolutes in favour of his principles. When
absolutes are abandoned for principles, the US constitution becomes a blank slate for anyone's graffiti.''
LaPierre was referring to the second amendment and its right for a well-armed militia, sorry God-fearing, populace, to arm itself to the teeth against the enemy. What enemy? The enemy within. The enemy that
lurks within the body of Adam Lanza, for instance. The enemy that walks among the people, and how do you stop or even frighten these types? You allow the meanest, most ferocious rapid-firing guns into your homes to keep you safe. Or your church, if you live in certain states such as Arkansas, which sees nothing incongruous in having churchgoers carry concealed weapons into their holy sanctuaries. Other states to allow parishioners to tote the bible and bullet are Louisiana, Wyoming and South Carolina.
The depressing thing is that it's not at all surprising. Now, everything seems normal. As Canadian songwriter Bruce Cockburn sings: The trouble with normal is it always get worse.
Given that the logic of the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is not to have the gun is unrealistic, then the pro-gun lobby would have it be that the only thing that stops a bad kid with a gun is a good kid with a gun. That's a comforting role model. That's Wayne's world. Hey kids, you can play stairway to heaven with that one, all the time. And while you're at it, check out the NRA's website for these bits of merchandise. Accessorise your life, the NRA way.
Perfect for protection in the office, store, or home, the NRA Under the Desk Holster provides an easy way to inconspicuously keep your handgun at arm's length. A tough, synthetic 8 ½" x 11" panel holds an
elastic holster designed to securely and safely fit any size handgun. Now you can mount your handgun in any accessible spot to keep it ready at any time. Keep one under your desk, kitchen cabinet, or closet ---
it's designed to go almost anywhere. The NRA Gear logo is attached to the panel. Four mounting screws are included. Color: Black. Made in USA. $16.95
The ''karambit'' style fighting knife dates back to 11th century. Originally designed as a farming tool, its subsequent evolution into a sophisticated fighting implement makes it uniquely suited for both daily carry and self-defence. A hallmark of this style is its integral finger loop – a remarkable safety feature which prevents the blade from slipping or being stripped from your hand when in use.
The NRA Dark Ops Vendetta puts a tactical spin on this ancient design. Built of Dark Ops' legendary CTV2 steel, with a fractionally higher stainless content, it's treated with a Titanium Carbonitride coating which makes it highly resistant to humidity, body sweat, blood and corrosive fluids. A deep hollow-grinding process forms a razor-sharp slicing edge on the outside, while the inside edge has a broader flat grind with serrations for heavy duty cutting. Multiple finger grooves and traction notching provide secure grip and leverage – important for utility use, but VITAL for self-defense! An included sheath and chain allow for concealment around the neck, ankle, or forearm.
The PanicPort™ through-hole in the tail of the tang ensures dependable unsheathing, even with 85% of the knife concealed. All user contact surfaces have been polished, smoothed and heavily beveled to prevent snags in deployment. The Vendetta's skeletonized body is designed to keep the knife as light as possible. The NRA eagle, crossed rifles and block letters are etched in fine detail on the blade. Overall length: 6.75". Weight: 3.8oz. Blade thickness: 0.125". Color: Black. Made in USA. $89.95
NRA kids love guns and all kids love marshmallows. Give them the best of both worlds with our Camo Marshmallow Shooter. This pump action plastic shooter sends mini marshmallows up to 30 feet. The easy-to-fill magazine tube holds up to 25 marshmallows for rapid fire action. Imported. $24.95 Don't worry kid. It's just a toy.


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Spotlight on Single Moms
At just 16, Olympic Gold Medalist Gabby Douglas is the first African-American since Dominique Dawes to represent Team USA on the Olympic gymnastics team. However, in my mind, her mom, Natalie Hawkins, also deserves a medal. A lifetime achievement award of a different stripe.
Natalie Hawkins has spent the past two decades working the hardest kind of mom-job, left to fend for herself at work and on the home front, a stereotype whose realities often are ignored, scapegoated, and denigrated by the media, politicians, teachers, and other parents: the American single mother.
Lots of married moms - and a few dads - at times feel like they are single parents. Their partners are away at work or dealing with personal issues or inexplicably unavailable to share the burdens and joys of childrearing. But there is nothing quite as tough as truly being a single mom. There is no one else to call when the school nurse tells you your child has a broken arm but your boss says you cannot leave work; there is no second opinion on the hardest parenting calls; no one to help shoulder the economic burden of supporting children financially. Single motherhood is the distilled essence of parenthood's endless responsibilities, pressures and stresses.
Which is why it is gratifying, for me and hopefully all parents, to see the presidential campaign focus on winning the votes of single moms. Single women make up one quarter of the voting-age population. They constitute one of our country's fastest-growing demographic groups. Lots of these voters are moms, and most lean Democratic. Their votes will matter mightily this November.
But it is also disturbing what the candidates are NOT talking about: access to contraception and abortion, equal pay for women, workplace gender bias (which studies show is far worse for single mothers than other women), and affordable childcare. Republicans dismiss these "social issues" as unimportant compared to our current lousy economy. "Rome is burning - our country's burning," Maureen Karas, southern director for the Nevada Federation of Republican Women told the New York Times. "And you're concerned about these issues? Birth control pills are like nine bucks. That's like two lattes."
Good God. This woman equates risking an unwanted pregnancy with buying Starbucks coffee?
Having another child, watching a raise go to a male colleague at work, getting notice that your local daycare center is closing due to an arbitrary change in state licensing laws - all immediately rock a family's economic stability, especially when the family is headed by a single mom.


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Delivery Man (2013)
Delivery Man SynopsisFrom DreamWorks Pictures comes Delivery Man, the story of affable underachiever David Wozniak, whose mundane life is turned upside down when he finds out that he fathered 533 children through sperm donations he made twenty years earlier. In debt to the mob, rejected by his pregnant girlfriend, things couldnt look worse for David when he is hit with a lawsuit from 142 of the 533 twenty-somethings who want to know the identity of the donor. As David struggles to decide whether or not he should reveal his true identity, he embarks on a journey that leads him to discover not only his true self but the father he could become as well.
Delivery Man Release Date
In Theaters November 22, 2013
Delivery Man Credits
Starring: Cobie Smulders, Vince Vaughn, Britt Robertson and Chris Pratt
Written by: Ken Scott
Directed by: Ken Scott
Produced by: André Rouleau
MPAA Rating: [ PG-13 ]
Distributor: DreamWorks Pictures
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if you're excited for Delivery Man


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If you're having trouble loggin in, or making a post (or any other sort of odd behavior in general)...it's probably a "cookie related issue".
The first thing to check is that you computer's date and time is relatively accurate. If the date or time is way off, the cookies may be expiring...thus causing you problems.
If that does not, then check the following information, and follow the instructions to Manually delete your cookies.
First things first, make sure that your browser's security settings allow cookies to be accepted from our site. The site doesn't work if your browser does not accept cookies. You also must make sure that your browser isn't using cached pages (stored on your hard drive). See the Browser Problems FAQ for more info on Cashed Pages and Proxy Servers. Also verify that your Internet Security settings are allowing information from this site.
If your browser is set to accept cookies, then perhaps corrupt cookies need to be deleted.
The system uses "cookies" on your system to keep track of what messages are new to you, what message you're looking at, what's the next message, etc.... Sometimes, these cookies get "glitched". So while our system is working fine, things are being interpreted incorrectly on your end. So if things seem off, a good fix to most problems is to:
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Windows XP ***ALL BROWSERS***
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Go into the programfiles/netscape/users/YourComputerLoginName/ and edit my cookie.txt file.
Widnows 98
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Netscape 4.6 - Macintosh:
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To move forward with results of the first national U.S. survey of women's childbearing experiences, Childbirth Connection has developed a set of recommendations based on key survey findings. The survey results have implications for many different audiences, including maternity caregivers, administrators, policy-makers, the media, and childbearing women themselves. These recommendations are best reviewed and interpreted in the context of the full survey report.
Childbirth Connection is moving forward with the Listening to Mothers Initiative in various ways. These steps include:
Most recent page update: 9/11/2012
© 2016 National Partnership for Women & Families. All rights reserved.
Founded in 1918, Childbirth Connection has joined forces with and become a core program of the National Partnership for Women & Families. Together, these two women's health powerhouses are transforming maternity care in the United States.
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Featured Resource
Check out our resource, "Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing: Evidence and Implications for Women, Babies, and Maternity Care"
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Childbirth Connection has joined forces with and become a core program of the National Partnership for Women & Families.
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City fight report leads to drug charges
January 19, 2013
Three city residents are facing drug charges after police were called to a fight near 200 S. Beaver St. around 2:37 a.m. today. Dunkirk police report Justin T. Schuk, 31, Jordyn P....
Ha! Yes, bring your drugs to a fight with you. Better yet, drive around with it visible in your car! Dont these morons realize that you can get pulled over for ANYTHING? For crying out loud i got pulled over for my license plate frame bulb being out. Why risk all these charges? And im sure this fight was over drugs too! Grow up! I know at least one of these guys has two kids and a wife. After this is he were my husband, he certainly wouldn't have a wife anymore! losers, really.
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SKILL LEVEL: Beginner (Level 1)
SIZE: One Size
Finished Circumference About 28 in. (71cm) Finished Height About 7 in. (18 cm)
Make it in just one evening! This 1-ball cowl is quick and satisfying. Click here to see it in another colorway.
Learn how to crochet this easy cowl with a video tutorial from Crafty Gemini.
11 single crochet = 8 1/2 in. (21.5 cm) with 2 strands of yarn held together. When you match the gauge in a pattern, your project will be the size
specified in the pattern and the materials specified in the pattern will be
sufficient. The needle or hook size called for in the pattern is based on what
the designer used, but it is not unusual for gauge to vary from person to person.
If it takes you fewer stitches and rows to make your swatch, try using a smaller
size hook or needles; if more stitches and rows, try a larger size hook or needles.
Making a Gauge Swatch
11 single crochet = 8 1/2 in. (21.5 cm) with 2 strands of yarn held together.
The Cowl is worked with 2 strands of yarn held together. Use the yarn tail from the outside of the yarn ball held together with the yarn tail from the inside center of the ball.
COWL Chain 38. Beginning Row: Make a single crochet in the 2nd chain from hook and in each chain across - total of 37 single crochet at the end of this row. Slip stitch into the first single crochet (at the beginning of the row) to join into a ring. Notes: 1. Beginning with the next round, you will be working in joined rounds. Do not turn at the end of each round. 2. The beginning chains do not count as stitches, they are only used to raise the work to the correct level to work the stitches. 3. Always work a stitch into every double or single crochet of the previous round. Do not work into the joining slip stitch.4. Count your stitches after each round! If you don't have 37 stitches, check each stitch around to see where you missed a stitch or did an extra stitch. Then, just unravel your stitches back to that point to finish the round correctly.
Round 1: Chain 3, double crochet in each stitch around; join with a slip stitch in top of beginning chain-3. Round 2: Chain 1, single crochet in each stitch around; join with a slip stitch in first single crochet. Rounds 3-8: Repeat Rounds 1 and 2 three more times.Fasten off.
FINISHING Weave in ends.
Learn to Crochet Instructions: http://www.lionbrand.com/learnToCrochet.html


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Hi All,
I decided to call this one "final".
The concept of the world, in case you did not read the WIP thread and its explanations and schematics, is that the world had a flourishing civilization in the past, and a vast underworld that lay hidden beneath the surface. In a great cataclysm the underworld partially collapsed, draining the oceans in the process. Between the earthquakes, the shift in climate and the resulting famines, and the wars that immediately started as survivors from surface and underworld fought over resources and safe locations, the civilization collapsed and the world became a new savage wilderness.
I'll definitely continue to develop this world in the future.


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To me Big Data is the little brother of High Performance Computing. In HPC we use algorithms and data to gain new knowledge in simulations. Big Data looks for the knowledge within existing data. There is one more thing both have in common: both areas focus especially on the computation, the simulation and analysis, while the literal Big Data is neglected.
The data has to be stored and transported to be used for simulation or for analysis and although storage space seems cheap at the moment we are facing more than exponential growth and the challenges not only Peta- but Exa- or even Zetta-Bytes.
Since 2000 disks are not getting much faster, their latency stays stable and the density growth slowed down as well. Still the target stays the same for growing capacity and performance analog the "Moore's Law" curve. All this is well known in the HPC area but will be a very new topic for the people now working with Big Data and usually coming from the Software and Algorithm side.
To get to a storage capacity of one Exabyte we will need somewhere between 200.000 to 1.000.000 disk drives. Two major issues with this amount of disks are data availability and data integrity. All the compute power and all the clever algorithms are useless if the data is either not there or wrong.
Data Availability
With 200.000 disks and a MTBF_disk of 600khrs we should expect to have 8 or more disks failing each day. Eventually we have a system continuously rebuilding. With larger disks there rebuilds will take longer and the two-disk redundancy will be rendered useless. The conclusion is that we have to use solutions that minimize the performance impact of rebuilds and that provides flexible redundancy beyond todays RAID technologies.
As I wrote are hard drives as we know them at a certain performance barrier. At the same time it's financially impossible to replace all of them with Flash and SSDs. Then again transporting Petabytes back and forward will take it's time and is expensive in technology and power. This all leads to the point that we are done with the homogeneity of data systems. Different data must reside at different places and be accessible at different times and speed. The "information management logic" that will manager the placing and migration of data to be optimally available for computation or analysis will make the difference here.
Data Integrity
Data is worthless if it's not correct. Silent Data Errors, IO drops or just bit rot can destroy the valuable data even without being detected until it is too late. A proven way to address this problem are checksums and versioning. To really be on the safe side those checksums cannot happen somewhere in the storage just above the disks, but should instead be really from the client at the one end down to the data on the disk.
Oh, btw. all this is part of GPFS Native RAID.


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PHOENIX (AP) — Maricopa County is asking the Arizona Supreme Court to decide if federal drug laws pre-empt Arizona's medical marijuana laws.
William Montgomery, Maricopa County's attorney, filed the request Friday with the state's highest court after a lower court ruled that Arizona's medical marijuana law was constitutional. A Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled last month that federal drug laws don't stand in the way of public officials implementing Arizona's law.
The case started over a dispute over whether Maricopa County had to approve zoning for a dispensary in Sun City.
White Mountain Health Center, the proposed dispensary, is the subject of the court fight.
More than 30,000 people already have cards authorizing them to possess and use medical marijuana in Arizona.


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WASHINGTON (WUSA) -- Firefighters responded to the scene of a fire on Webster Street NW in D.C. on Wednesday morning and when they put out the blaze, they found a man dead under a couch in one of the rooms.
D.C. Fire authorities tweeted that there was a fire on the second floor of a building at 333 Webster St. NW. When firefighters went to look for any extension of the fire, they found the man.
One official said that firefighters encountered many belongings while trying to get into the building and the man appeared to be a hoarder of clothes and furniture. Neighbors said the person who lived there was "a pack-rat" and the last thing they heard from him was that he was going to cook a turkey. Fire officials are looking into the possibility that he was cooking before the fire.
We are waiting to hear more details and will have them here shortly.


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1Credits: 2Ben Mansell, Stephen Landamore, Daniel Silverstone, Shane Caraveo 3 4Building PHP 5------------ 6 7You must add '--enable-fastcgi' to the configure command on Linux or 8OSX based systems to get fastcgi support in the php-cgi binary. You 9also must not use '--enable-discard-path'. 10 11Running the FastCGI PHP module 12------------------------------ 13 14There are two ways to run the resulting 'php' binary after the fastcgi 15version has been built: 16 171) Configure your web server to run the PHP binary itself. 18 19This is the simplest method, obviously you will have to configure your 20web server appropriately. Some web servers may also not support this method, 21or may not be as efficient. 22 232) Run PHP separately from the web server. 24 25In this setup, PHP is started as a separate process entirely from the web 26server. It will listen on a socket for new FastCGI requests, and deliver 27PHP pages as appropriate. This is the recommended way of running PHP-FastCGI. 28To run this way, you must start the PHP binary running by giving it an IP 29and a port number to listen to on the command line, e.g.: 30 31 ./php -b 127.0.0.1:8002 32 33The above line is the recommended way of running FastCGI. You usually 34want the FastCGI server to provide services to the localhost, not 35everyone on the Internet. 36 37If your web server sits on a remote host, you can make FastCGI listen 38on all interfaces: 39 40 ./php -b :8002 41 ./php -b "*:8002" 42 43Note that hostnames are not supported. 44 45You must also configure your web server to connect to the appropriate port 46in order to talk to the PHP FastCGI process. 47 48The advantage of running PHP in this way is that it entirely separates the 49web server and PHP process, so that one cannot disrupt the other. It also 50allows PHP to be on an entirely separate machine from the web server if need 51be, you could even have several web servers utilising the same running PHP 52process if required! 53 54 55Using FastCGI PHP with Apache 56============================= 57 58First of all, you may well ask 'Why?'. After all, Apache already has mod_php. 59However, there are advantages to running PHP with FastCGI. Separating the 60PHP code from the web server removes 'bloat' from the main server, and should 61improve the performance of non-PHP requests. Secondly, having one permanent 62PHP process as opposed to one per apache process means that shared resources 63like persistent database connections are used more efficiently. 64 65First of all, make sure that the FastCGI module is enabled. You should have 66a line in your config like: 67 68 LoadModule fastcgi_module /usr/lib/apache/2.0/mod_fastcgi.so 69 70Don't load mod_php, by the way. Make sure it is commented out! 71 72 #LoadModule php7_module /usr/lib/apache/2.0/libphp7.so 73 74Now, we'll create a fcgi-bin directory, just like you would do with normal 75CGI scripts. You'll need to create a directory somewhere to store your 76FastCGI binaries. We'll use /space/fcgi-bin/ for this example. Remember to 77copy the FastCGI-PHP binary in there. (named 'php-cgi') This sets up 78php to run under mod_fastcgi as a dynamic server. 79 80 ScriptAlias /fcgi-bin/ /space/fcgi-bin/ 81 <Location /fcgi-bin/> 82 Options ExecCGI 83 SetHandler fastcgi-script 84 </Location> 85 86To setup a specific static configuration for php, you have to use 87the FastCgiServer configuration for mod_fastcgi. For this, do not 88use the above configuration, but rather the following. 89(see mod_fastcgi docs for more configuration information): 90 91 Alias /fcgi-bin/ /space/fcgi-bin/ 92 FastCgiServer /path/to/php-cgi -processes 5 93 94For either of the above configurations, we need to tell Apache to 95use the FastCGI binary /fcgi-bin/php to deliver PHP pages. 96All that is needed is: 97 98 AddType application/x-httpd-fastphp .php 99 Action application/x-httpd-fastphp /fcgi-bin/php-cgi 100 101Now, if you restart Apache, php pages should now be delivered! 102 103Using FastCGI PHP with IIS or iPlanet 104===================================== 105 106FastCGI server plugins are available at www.caraveo.com/fastcgi/ 107Documentation on these are sparse. iPlanet is not very tested, 108and no makefile exists yet for unix based iPlanet servers. 109 110 111Security 112-------- 113 114Be sure to run the php binary as an appropriate userid. Also, firewall out 115the port that PHP is listening on. In addition, you can set the environment 116variable FCGI_WEB_SERVER_ADDRS to control who can connect to the FastCGI. 117Set it to a comma separated list of IP addresses, e.g.: 118 119export FCGI_WEB_SERVER_ADDRS=22.214.171.124,188.8.131.52 120 121 122Tuning 123------ 124 125There are a few tuning parameters that can be tweaked to control the 126performance of FastCGI PHP. The following are environment variables that can 127be set before running the PHP binary: 128 129PHP_FCGI_CHILDREN (default value: 0) 130 131This controls how many child processes the PHP process spawns. When the 132fastcgi starts, it creates a number of child processes which handle one 133page request at a time. Value 0 means that PHP willnot start additional 134processes and main process will handle FastCGI requests by itself. Note that 135this process may die (because of PHP_FCGI_MAX_REQUESTS) and it willnot 136respawned automatic. Values 1 and above force PHP start additioanl processes 137those will handle requests. The main process will restart children in case of 138their death. So by default, you will be able to handle 1 concurrent PHP page 139requests. Further requests will be queued. Increasing this number will allow 140for better concurrency, especially if you have pages that take a significant 141time to create, or supply a lot of data (e.g. downloading huge files via PHP). 142On the other hand, having more processes running will use more RAM, and letting 143too many PHP pages be generated concurrently will mean that each request will 144be slow. 145 146PHP_FCGI_MAX_REQUESTS (default value: 500) 147 148This controls how many requests each child process will handle before 149exitting. When one process exits, another will be created. This tuning is 150necessary because several PHP functions are known to have memory leaks. If the 151PHP processes were left around forever, they would be become very inefficient. 152


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WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) -- Online shopping for holiday gifts will keep FedEx buys this season.
The company forecast it will ship a record 280 million packages.
And to meet that demand, FedEx expects to hire an additional 20,000 seasonal workers.
The international shipping conglomerate already employs 300,000 permanent workers worldwide.


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Florence, Italy, 1598
As the chandeliers are lit for the evening's performance, a group of musicians, poets, and thinkers—called the Florentine Camerata—enters a small room to conduct an experiment. The experiment is simple: What happens when music and drama collide?
Classical Arizona PBS stopped by our Falstaff dress rehearsal to record the performance for a later broadcast date, and snapped a few great photos along the way! Check out their point of view below.
Giuseppe Verdi loved Shakespeare. Although he never learned English, Verdi— through Italian translation—found a kindred spirit in the English Bard. After all, despite living centuries apart, each man contributed to their respective art forms in comparable ways.
Alyssa Martin is a first year artist in the Marion Roose Pullin Arizona Opera Studio and will return in the 2016/17 Season.
What is proper adult behavior?
Audiences in Prague loved Mozart in the 1780s. Across the city, tunes from The Marriage of Figaro were arranged as dances for the most glamorous balls, arias were sung on every street corner, and the opera was a constant topic of conversation. So it was no shock that when Mozart left Prague after visiting the city in 1787, he had a commission for a new opera. He was instructed to reunite with his librettist from The Marriage of Figaro, Lorenzo Da Ponte, and create another sparkling comedy that would delight audiences all over Europe: Don Giovanni.
We sit down with Baritone Morgan Smith, who stars as Don Giovanni in the Arizona Opera production of Mozart's famous opera.
¤ The full title of Don Giovanni is actually Don Giovanni, or the Rake Punished.
¤ The story of Don Giovanni had been in circulation since the middle ages, and was first published as Don Juan in Spain in the 17th century as a morality tale.
¤ Don Giovanni is the first opera to use a trombone.
¤ Don Giovanni was scheduled to premiere in Prague on October 15, 1787, but had to be pushed back to October 29.
Adam Diegel is singing the part of Don José in Carmen. Check out his first opera experience, his advice for first-time opera-goers and more below!
Learn about mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack, who sings the title role in Carmen!


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Road America Race Track ReloadedWritten on August 13, 2004 Test and Tune With Turns
Springtime in Wisconsin can mean many different things for hot rodders. Some anxiously await opening day at their local quarter mile or that first big car show, while others are just happy to see the rain wash all the salt off the roads. For a select group or enthusiasts, the third weekend in April signals the opening event at Road America, the fabled 4-mile road course near Elkhart Lake.
Now in its fifth year, the Speed Seekers/Midwest F-Body Association track rental has become so popular that a second date was added in the fall of 2003 to help accommodate the mass of adrenaline junkies looking to get their fix on America's longest road course. Much of this success can be attributed to the simple, attractive format and thorough planning by event organizers John Gay, Dan Kuehn, Dave Dill and their spouses.
They saw increasing numbers of mainstream hot rodders getting turned onto the idea of flexing their car's muscle on a road course, but knew that gaining access to tracks could be problematic. The operating costs and manpower needed to open a road course are far greater than their straight line counterparts, so major venues like Road America can't just open their gates for "test 'n tune" and hope enough cars will show up to cover the expenses. That leaves the onus on clubs and sanctioning bodies to gather up enough interested parties to convince the track they can foot the bill.
Road America is one of the premier road courses in the world, so it should come as no surprise that wheel-to-wheel racing events and a throng of well-established sports car clubs have had the prime dates locked up for many years. As a result, when the Speed Seekers and their F-body cohorts approached Road America, the track accommodated them by beginning their normal operating season a week earlier. April weather can be volatile in Wisconsin, but as long as it's not raining (or snowing), the cool temperatures are generally much easier on cars than what one might find at a Porsche club event in mid-July.
Although Camaro and Firebird owners are behind this endeavor, they have opened the event to all makes, models and years, and do so without requiring membership in their club. Most of the 120 slots are filled with cars produced by the Big Three, but a few imports make their way in as well. The atmosphere is friendly and the format on the track is non-competitive with designated passing areas clearly marked on straightaways, greatly reducing the possibility of car-to-car contact. The cars are divided into four groups, based on a combination of driver experience and car preparation, ensuring that a first-timer in a four-banger Cavalier won't have Z06s buzzing by them at 150 mph.
The price of $350 may seem expensive compared to a night at the dragstrip, but it's actually a bargain for two days on a road course, especially at a facility like Road America. The Speed Seekers also offer a seminar the night before the event and make instructors available throughout the weekend to help drivers find the quickest way around the course, all at no additional cost.
If you've ever considered running your car in events like open road races, prior experience in high-performance driving situations isn't just a good idea, it's often a mandatory requirement. The Speed Seekers track rental is a great way to get your feet wet without soaking your bank account. The next event is just around the corner, so check out www.speedseekers.com for all the details.
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Similar to what you'd find at a dragstrip, all cars are put through tech inspection prior to heading out on the track. Wheels, tires and helmets that are at least SA95/M95 or newer are points of emphasis during this process, but cars are also checked for leaking fluids and anything that isn't securely attached to the vehicle.Driver meetings are held twice each day to review the procedure for the upcoming sessions, address any concerns that might come up throughout the course of the event and answer any last-minute questions.Dr. Fred Fetzer is a regular at Road America and brought his newest Mustang out for some fun on the track. He picked the car up last year and had it on the track at the Speed Seekers' fall event one week after purchasing it. Fetzer is using this one for daily transportation, so it won't see the level of modifications found on his '00 Cobra R, but he did add a few goodies, including R-compound tires, a new exhaust system and 3.90 gears.After his first road course experience at this event last year, Scott Shumard went on to win the street tire class in his rookie season in the SCCA's Great River Region SOLO II Competition. Scott made his second appearance at a Speed Seekers event in 2004 and brought his father, Rick, along to drive his '02 Firehawk in four of the 20-minute sessions.Michael Trifilio originally intended to run his '98 Formula Firebird all weekend, but he couldn't resist the chance to take his '04 Cadillac CTS-V out for two of the nine sessions. Trifilio was amazed by his Caddy's performance and claims it outperformed his Formula in every aspect on the track and did so without even approaching the vehicle's limits.Rodney Sizemore was one of several participants who used the Speed Seekers event as a final shakedown session prior to competing in the Cannonball One Lap of America (OLOA). His ATI-procharged '02 Z06 puts down 665 horsepower to the wheels and finished fifth in the SSGT1 class for big displacement cars in 2004. Rodney feels the Speed Seekers event is the perfect test session, especially considering Road America was one of the OLOA stops this year.
Josh Straub hitched a ride in a Cobra R at the Speed Seekers event last fall and immediately knew he had to bring his '91 Syclone to the spring event. Josh is a regular at the dragstrip, where his truck routinely runs 11.70s, but this was his first experience driving on a road course. Straub brought extra brake pads and turned the boost all the way down to help thwart mechanical failure and was ecstatic with the outcome. He ran in all but two of the sessions, logging over 200 incident-free miles on the track.Michael Whitney brought his '03 Cobra up from Bettendorf, Iowa to run in his first open track event. Road America was certainly a learning experience for Michael, as he hit the rev limiter in fourth gear on a few occasions and found he could only run for about 40 minutes on the track before having to stop for gas. He also noticed the extreme heat generated during the 20-minute sessions would occasionally send some differential fluid out of the breather pipe, but a visual inspection showed no other issues.The layout of Road America features three high-speed sections where many cars will easily reach triple digit speeds, but the "Kink" leading into the "Kettle Bottoms" stretch is the most treacherous part of the track. The Kink has claimed many cars that came in too hot and lifted or braked at the wrong moment, but a skilled driver can power all the way through the fast right-hander. Most elect to play it safe and sacrifice some time in favor of safe passage, especially on this weekend.We know how picky and protective some car owners can be with their vehicles, but the camaraderie and mutual trust we find at racetracks never ceases to amaze us. Keith Wagner had no qualms about letting Jeff Schwartz run his spotless '70 Chevelle (see elsewhere in this issue) for a session to see if he could top his 3:20 lap times. Jeff ran the supercharged 454 a little bit harder, clicking off a 3:12 on Keith's stopwatch before bringing the car back unscathed.Patrick Schatz made the long trek up from Tipp City, Ohio to run his '68 Camaro, but he tells us the trip was well worth it. Patrick has also run the car at Gingerman and Graton, but it's clear to him that Road America is at a different level. His 383-powered Camaro ran strong and his six-speed shifted smoothly, but Schatz is considering purchasing road race tires to take better advantage of his car's potential.Awards are not given at this event, but if there were a category for best name, Cork Farkas would certainly be in the running. Cork loves letting it all hang out in his '97 Cobra and we snapped a shot of him doing just that in turn three, as Bruce Cameron followed close behind in his '00 Cobra R.Matt Sexton's '80 Formula has about 140,000 miles on its clock, with the last 20,000 accumulated over 15 season's worth of track events. Sexton's Formula has gone through a series of engines during that time and currently runs with a 400 cubic-inch Poncho mill mated to a four-speed tranny. Matt manages to make his way around Road America in about 2:45, but says his factory 4-wheel disc brakes are probably keeping him from recording faster laps.The long lines at the Gearbox eatery were well worth the wait, as the trackside restaurant served up some of the best breakfast and lunches we've ever eaten at a racetrack and at a reasonable price too! The Gearbox is also an excellent place to spectate, as cars can be viewed going through turn five as well as turn 14.The Mopar contingent at this event always seems to be lacking, but Peter Bothoff can't get enough of Road America. Apparently, his '97 Viper GTS can't get enough brake pads during the weekend either, but the expense and hassle of changing pads multiple times is well worth it for the rare opportunity to tickle the 150-mph mark on his speedometer. Peter also enjoys spending time with his son at the track and plans to send him out in an LS1-powered Firebird in the very near future.
Jeff Wilson's '67 Vette (also seen elsewhere in this issue) had four years of work into it by the time he made it to Elkhart Lake from his home in Wadsworth, Illinois. Prior to that weekend, the only track time the car saw was a 10.90 pass at the dragstrip, but Jeff told us the car ran great, with lap times under 3:00 and top speeds above 160 mph. His experience on the track has convinced him to ditch the stock Muncie four-speed in favor of a Richmond five-speed and he's also likely to add bigger brakes to the mix.Freak is the best way to describe Matt Dusek's 145,000-mile, daily-driven '92 Corvette. Dusek has driven the basically stock LT1-powered Vette through every Chicago winter since he bought it, in addition to running about a half dozen track events each year and the car still has both the original clutch and the original Opti-spark. Matt doesn't take it easy on the track either, as he can typically run laps in the sub-2:50 range.Jeff Schwartz is living proof that no matter how off-beat your car is, magazines will give you ink if you get out there and use it. We were surprised to see Schwartz's Ultima GTR roll into the track without its rear wing, but Jeff removed it in the hopes of gaining some mph on Road America's long straightaways. The car easily eclipsed 160, but proved to be a handful in the corners, prompting Jeff to reinstall the wing later in the day. As the weekend went on, Jeff found the car to be extremely sensitive to driver input and downright scary at times, but overall he really enjoyed himself.Not everyone's weekend went according to plan and that was particularly the case for the owner of this BMW M3. The racing gods were not kind to Bavarian-powered machines this weekend, as another Beemer was taken out by the Kink, but we're happy to report both drivers walked away without injury.Bruce Cameron's '00 Cobra R only has about 3,300 miles on the odometer, but about 2,200 of those miles have come at the track. Cameron runs in about 10 open track events per year for the pure enjoyment, but the occasional cracked rotor and lap times in the high 2:30s indicate he still hustles around the track pretty well, especially considering he usually has a passenger.David Goodman is another OLOA competitor who took advantage of the Speed Seekers event to get some seat time at an unfamiliar track. Goodman lives in Boston, but flew in to Chicago after getting some practice in at the Vegas track and caught a ride up to Elkhart Lake with 2003 OLOA overall winner Ron Adee and his crew. Ron was busy shaking down his own entry in the race, but was gracious enough to let David get on the track in his '95 Neon.Mequon, Wisconsin resident Randy Platz loves spending quality time at Road America in his '70 Corvette. Platz's C3 makes short work of the long straights, thanks to power supplied by a big-block 454. Randy paid close attention to the suspension as well and spent the previous winter going through the entire car, lowering it 1.5-inches. He tells us it now handles better than ever, which is a good thing since he runs in two or three events a month during the summer.Franklin, Wisconsin resident Jeff Van Buren made the short trip up to Road America with his newly-acquired '67 Camaro to see what it could handle. The 454-powered F-body was still sporting stock discs in the front and stock drums in the rear and the only changes Van Buren made prior to hitting the track was changing the pads and bleeding the brakes. The engine ran solid and the drums never locked up, but Jeff wondered if they were biased properly, as he found himself steering with the throttle throughout the weekend to compensate for a slight push.Events like this just aren't possible without the help of dedicated volunteers, one of which is Jeremy Walker. Jeremy has been assisting the Speed Seekers for the last four years, doing everything from tech inspection to working the entrance grid to the track. The weekend isn't all work and no play for Walker, as he usually gets an opportunity on Sunday to take his Procharged '95 Camaro out for a session or two.
They only made 300 Cobra Rs in 2000, but you wouldn't know they were rare by looking at the turnout at Road America. Cobra R owners seem to be a polarized group, where they either pamper their cars in the corner of the garage or put them on the track. Terry Moenich would certainly fit into the latter. Although the odometer reads just over 3,000 miles, half of those have come on a racetrack. Terry tells us his car is virtually bulletproof now that he is running rotors of his own design, which help carry the Medinah, Illinois resident to lap times in the mid-2:45 range.Mark Schnell had no prior experience on a road course, so he eased his way into the Speed Seekers event, first coming as a spectator last fall and then splitting his slot for the weekend with another driver. Schnell was understandably nervous at first, but his '00 Trans Am WS6 performed flawlessly and his lap times continued to improve throughout the day. Mark awoke Sunday morning regretting his decision to split his slot with another car, but he assures us he won't make that mistake again.Mike Sexton has been running his '87 Formula in open track events for the last nine years and pretty much has it down to a science. At Road America, he averages about 90 mph and will use about five gallons of gas during each session at an average of about 6 miles per gallon. To avoid starving the fuel pump in the turns, Mike tops off the tank after each run.James Lambert has been running autocross and road course events for about ten years with various clubs, including recent Speed Seekers events. This was his first time tracking his '03 Mustang, so Lambert elected to run in the B class, where he took a milder pace that translated into lap times hovering around the three minute mark.Dwight Hochbaum has sampled a wide variety of motorsports over the last 17 years, including drag racing and hobby stocks at the local bull rings, but he sounds hooked on road courses. "It lasts a lot longer than drag racing, it's cheaper than hobby stocks because you can leave the car alone and drive it on the street if you want and it's a lot more fun because the acceleration lasts longer than the two-second spurts we get on the oval tracks," says Hochbaum. Dwight's 351-powered '85 Mustang would leave virtually everything in its dust on the straightaways as he often accelerated past 140 mph, but he found his suspension and 15-inch wheel/tire combination to be lacking in the turns, where most cars would reel him back in.Menasha, Wisconsin's Mark Repka is a regular at Road America, but he spends most of his time there as a corner worker for the SCCA. Repka's C4 is basically stock and he enjoys keeping it in pristine shape, but the appeal of Road America has lured him on to the track for a second consecutive year.Michael Trifilio runs his '98 Formula in the MCSCC high-speed autocross Stock A division, which limits his modifications to intake and exhaust tweaks. Even with those limited upgrades, he thoroughly enjoys the track time available at the Speed Seeker's event and finds it to be the perfect warm-up for his upcoming season.Editor Hunkins was kind enough to fly to Wisconsin and photograph the event, so author Jim McIlvaine could spend the weekend driving his '02 Camaro. Hunkins was able to juggle his photo duties while critiquing McIlvaine's lack of prowess on the track. The racing gods did not take kindly to Hunkins' good-natured ribbing of McIlvaine's anemic pace and cursed the power steering pump on his Vette to fail at Buttonwillow three weeks later.


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Come celebrate Girl Scouts 101st year learning all the basics of Girl Scouting. Learn the Girl Scout Promise and Law, outdoor survival skills, outdoor cooking, songs that are traditional to Girl Scouting throughout the years.
Greene County Park, Stanardsville, VA
Date & Time
June 17–21, 2013; 9 AM – 1 PM daily (with optional overnight Thursday)
Thursday night is an optional overnight for each session. There is no additional fee or registration for the overnight.
Campers' Ages
Girls entering grades 1–5 in the Fall 2013 school year may attend as campers. Girls in grades 6 and up may serve as Camp Program Assistants and Counselors-in-Training. A mandatory training for all first year girl volunteers will be held on Sunday, June 16th from 12–7 PM.
Adult volunteers are needed to staff camp. There is a reduced fee for volunteers' daughters. All staff members are required to attend a mandatory training on Sunday, June 10th at 5 PM. All adults and girls in grades 6 and up wishing to volunteer should contact the camp director for details.
Camp Leadership Programs
Camp Program Assistant (CPA) (grades 7 and up)
Must submit CPA application, Camp Registration & Health History Form and CPA fee.
Counselor-in-Training (CIT) (grades 8 and up) (formerly known as Counselor Apprentice)
Must submit CIT application, Camp Registration & Health History Form, CIT camp fee, and complete GSVSC's CIT training course
Fee includes a t-shirt for campers. Please indicate t-shirt size on the registration form.
$70 Camp fee, registration received before May 17, 2013
$80 Camp fee, registration received after May 17, 2013
$30 Camp fee, CPAs/CITs/, registration received before May 17, 2013
$40 Camp fee, CPAs/CITs/, registration received after May 17, 2013
$12 Membership fee for non-Girl Scouts
Registration Opens April 1, 2013
Early Registration Closes May 17, 2013 (extended – new date!)
Registration Closes June 1, 2013 (late fee of $10 will be charged after this date, if spaces are still available)
Scholarship Deadline June 1, 2013
Parents/guardians are responsible for transportation to and from camp. Parents are encouraged to form carpools with other campers in the area or with their troop.
Send Camp Registration and Health History Form (PDF or Fillable MS Word Doc) and fee (payable to Greene Summer Camp) to:
Ruthie Scupp
167 Bambi Drive
Ruckersville, VA 22973
Camp Director
Pam Edelman
434-466-4011 or email@example.com
Refund/Cancellation Policy
A refund, minus a $10 administration fee, will be given if cancellation is received in writing at least two weeks prior to the start of camp.


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moonstone paint News Stories
BMW 7 Series Individual in Moonstoneby Tim Jones on December 30, 2012 at 11:00:00 AM
Check out this BMW 7 Series Individual in ultra rare Moonstone Paint. Moonstone is a metallic paint with flecks of blue, white, silver and purple so the color is always changing with the light. If you see Moonstone once in person you'll fall in love.