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Musical partnership between siblings is always something delightful. In contemporary Christian music, we have a few of those type-bands/groups one of such being the well loved "For King and Country."
Enter - Nathan and Gabriel Finochio.
Making up the duo The Royal Royal are brothers Nathan and Gabriel Finochio. The brothers lead worship together, and are creating the new sound of worship music for the church today and the church of the future. While their music is innovative and progressive, the lyrics and message speak of ancient biblical truths.
The Royal Royal impresses with their new album "The Return Of The King" which drops March 4, 2014.
In "The Return Of The King" they experiment with sounds bringing about freedom in creativity. The presence of God is tangible in their offering, and the goodness of God well portrayed.
"The Lights" is the first track of the album, and it so happens it is my very first impression of the duo. They brothers says that this song was an accidental tune, but the performance and arrangement doesn't depict that as it turns out to be pretty interesting and almost whimsical making "The Lights" a great album opener.
"Every Bit Of Praise" and "Holding On (University)" samples smooth old school soft-rock vibes. These tunes which will take listeners unawares. The unconventional tunes extols God and promises safety in Jesus respectively.
Bringing things back to present times, The Royal Royal playfully celebrate newness in Christ in "You Make Me New." In as much as this tune is hip, they still manage to bring in some unexpected edginess.
Taking us back in time to the 80s they reiterate God's love in "Find Me." "This one is a devotional song that comes out of the day-in day-out calling on God. The posture of Christian living is utter dependence, an audible dependence, on the God of all life." Finochio commented.
"The Answer" has one of the best arrangements on the album, the harmonization and synth are also an added dynamic to the tune. The tune which focuses on the redemptive power of Christ is modern worship at its best.
In tender guitar-driven songs like "Real Strength" The Royal Royal get to display their vocal abilities and rawness. "Real Strength" feels like a John Mayer song, and who doesn't love that kind of music? They songs comprise of lyrics that portray the strength and power of God. According to them, this song is for those who have purposed in their hearts to make God their source, and this song is for God to draw you to Himself. We pray that our generation be one that can see and move beyond the emptiness and confusion of modernity, with its constant distractions that try to fill our anxious souls, and into the presence of our living hope, Jesus Christ.
While they get to display their love for the guitar as they sing praises to God in "Great." In "Shine," the presentation is uniquely different as the lead instrument is the piano which is a diversion from the usual guitar heard on the rest of the album.
The last song of the album "Light The Fire" is quiet electronic yet organic. The tune is an electronic worship number which actually came out great; songs like this are either great or disastrous.
Their authenticity and individuality rigs all over the record. This album is tasteful, sometimes whimsical yet serious. They experimented in this record leaving their comfort zone so for that I applaud them.
They fearlessness in their musical style sometimes overshadows their vocal abilities; however, in songs like "Real Strength" and "Shine" we get to hear The Royal Royal's vocal styling.
I am still confused on why they titled the album "The Return of The King" or what the title has to do with the theme of the record which is clearly that of worship in unconventional and diversified ways while focusing on God and heart. Maybe I will find out when I interview them.
I know it is very presumptuous to say this as we haven't neared the second quarter of the year, but I am sure "The Return Of The King" will make it in my list of 2014 favorite albums.


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Ford Ranger PX 2012 Review
After a house, the second largest purchase most people make is a motor vehicle, unless you count a divorce or children. So most people have a lot of money tied up in a car, and of course cars being cars, quite a lot of emotion too. It's not like buying a fridge, desk or a cat. With all that investment the vehicle has to provide value for money and one way to do that is to be versatile, able to do several different tasks and do them well. The car must also be dependably reliable, good at what it is meant to do, and ideally provide the owner with a certain joy of possession.
Of all those attributes the "versatile" part is the hardest for car manufacturers to achieve, especially when linked to value. Making a car a pleasure to own is easy, just let the British design it, although the "dependability" part is best glossed over. Making a car single purpose is relatively easy too, look at the Elise which exists for corners, the Defender which exists to carry a load, and the Prius which exists to give pusedo-greenies a sense of smug satisfaction. It's when vehicles become multi-purpose is when things start to get difficult, and that brings us to the subject of Australian utes.
The utility was never really a pure workhorse. Legend has it some farmer's wife asked for a car that could take the produce to market during the week and the family to church on Sunday, so the vehicle was already fulfilling dual roles. But utes were always focused on working – basic vehicles that didn't cost a lot, able to carry a load and just keep going. Then over the years that started to change, and the 2WD utes spawned the likes of the high-performance HSV Maloo with gigantic engines, small payloads and a setup optimised for speed and handling, not load carrying.
The 4WD ute also started to change, moving from live axles front and rear to independent suspension at the front. Power increased from next to nothing to today's 150Kw (and that's from the diesels), and gear ratios from four to six or even seven, often delivered through sophisticated automatics. No longer did a diesel 4WD ute hold up traffic, and the word 'lifestyle' began to creep into marketing as the cars crossed over into the recreational and family transport markets. And that's the context for Ford's new Ranger, which represents the latest development of the offroading dualcab ute. This is no facelift, but a thorough rework of the Ranger with new engines, electronic driving aids, styling, interior and everything else and represents a significant investment by Ford in its ute. But how good is it? For that we need a point of comparison, and for the modern 4X4 ute there's obviously its competitors, the other 4X4 utes, but it's also fair to compare it against the 4X4 wagons. And that comparison starts as soon as you get in.

The first thing I do in a new car is look around. The Ranger's interior styling is, to my eye, pretty pleasing. But this is a ute, so let's talk practicality. The XLT model on test has height-adjustable, but not reach-adjustable steering. The seat height was height adjustable, and it was reasonably easy to find a good driving position. The steering wheel itself deserves special praise as it is beautifully finished with some sort of leather, as opposed to nasty plastic junk often found in such vehicles. The only other quibble for the seating is the use of a lever to adjust the seat rake angle, which is hard to reach with the seatbelt in the way. This may be a minor inconvenience if you have multiple people using the car in quick succession.

Any ute, or touring 4X4 needs to have a lot of interior storage for maps, sunnies, GPS kit, permits, iDevices, notepads, cameras and all the other essential touring clutter. In general, car manufacturers put form before function and don't make enough of the available space, and this is also true of the Ranger even if it does a better job than most. Ford have provided a single, fairly generously sized glovebox, a centre console larger than most utes complete with a dual lid, another compartment down on the right next to the driver, door pockets that are usuable, lots of space under the front seats, and the second row tips forwards, so behind that you can put quite a bit of kit like most of your recovery gear. There's also a sunnie holder in the roof. So there's nothing wrong, and it's better that most, but I would have liked to see a dual glovebox, a storage compartment on the top of the dash like in the Touraeg and most Subarus, and the pocket on the back of the front seats is a touch small. Also, and I'd like to direct this to all manufacturers – do not put the drinks holders behind the gearshift! If all you put in there is a Coke tin that's fine, but a full-sized drinks bottle gets in the way. Land Rover moved the holders from in front of the gearshift to behind when they changed the D3 to the D4, and it's quite noticeably inconvenient.

Second row gets height-adjustable headrests and three full seatbelts.

Front door side pocket

Handy storage under the steering wheel.

I also think that Ford have largely wasted the area ahead of the gearshift which could have been made into a nice lidded storage system, but instead it's all silly curves which leave your valuables exposed. There's two 12v sockets in the front which remain live when the ignition is off, a third 12v in the second row, and even a weather-protected one in the tray. Good work!

Clear dash display showing low range, rear locker engaged, second gear selected and DSC off. The DSC comes off by default when low range is selected, and is de-sensistised when 4H is selected.

Plenty of room in the second row even by wagon standards, but the transmission tunnel means three adults will need to share footspace under the front row.

The rest of the interior is good to excellent. The radio works nicely, with easy to use buttons, the Bluetooth phone hookup is very good, all the switchgear is user friendly, there's kid locks on the back and the thing is even easy to clean, as I found out when giving the car a wipeover with a rag before returning it. There's actually room for two adults in the second row and as you can put your feet under the first row seats it is comfortable. The second row centre is another matter, as there's the transmission tunnel to get in the way. All three rear occupants get full seatbelts, and the belts in the front row are height-adjustable.

Opening the bonnet is a slight disappointment because it's not gas-strutted, another little cost-saving measure. Doesn't matter, because it's all pretty good from there on.

The air filter is easily accessible at the front and secured by a few clips, not screws, the air intake is drawn from inside the front guard – there's that 800mm wading depth for you – the fusebox is easily accessible, as are all the other things that need checking. There's a plastic cover at the front which when removed gives access to the radiator so you can clean it. The only worry is, as usual these days, where you'd put a second battery. A bit of relocation and rework would be required, but I'm sure the aftermarket will sort that out. The vehicle will detect water in fuel and warn you, and the owner's manual says it'll run B10 (10% biodiesel) but those figures are usually conservative so expect it to be able to do more. The general impression is of an engine worthy of a ute – strong, reliable and unpretentious – rather than the finely tuned but more refined powerplants found in wagons. You know what you'd rather have for touring.

Bluetooth phone integration

Factory towbar is a little low, but at least it protects the rear.

The tray has plenty of strong tie-downs and the wheelarches don't get in the way any more than they need to. Most people will be adding a canopy for touring anyway. The base is hard plastic and grooved. The tailgate is the standard ute affair, just a free drop-down. The factor towbar hangs too low to be ideal for offroading, and the trailer electrics are underneath, ready to be ground off on a rock although I'm told that will change.

Payload is a good-for-class 1041kg for the XLT, and this underscores a ute advantage over a wagon - once a ute is loaded with all your touring gear it'll probably still be under its Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) and thus road-legal. Wagons typically run payloads in the 600-800kg range, and when you consider that has to include everything from the occupants to the dual battery to the heavier offroad tyres in practice a tourer really needs 800-1000kg. Tow rating is good at 3350kg, although that's still below the best wagons such as the Discovery, new Grand Cherokee and 200 which can pull 3500kg.

The tray size is generous too, at 1549mm long on the floor, 1560 wide and 1139 between the wheelarches. Stick a canopy on that and you cannot be hurting for storage room when you go camping or offroading. The Ranger's external dimensions have also increased, which is typical for any new design, always seems to grow 20-40mm here and there. However, the vehicle doesn't feel any less maneouravble than other utes, thanks to its good handling and user-friendly engine. The turning circle is 12.7m which is by ute standards par for the course but not as good as wagons which can usually manage under 12, and that metre or so does make a difference.

The Ranger is one of the first utes to achieve a 5-star ANCAP safety rating, which in theory means it's safer than the Mini Countryman, Range Rover Evoque and Jeep Grand Cherokee to name four new wagons which have only achieved four stars. So very well done to Ford and this milestone means that one of the biggest concerns families have about utes, namely that you're more likely to die in one, is removed. The Ranger has all the modern safety aids from stability control to curtain airbags. By the way, next time you hear some nonsense about seperate chassis vehicles being unsafe mention the Ranger, which has such a chassis. It's about how the vehicle is designed, not the particular choice of chassis.

Moving down and leaping ahead in time to the end of the test, it is rare and pleasing to report that no silly bits of plastic broke off. Many cars come with flares, spoilers, air dams and stupidly designed mudguards which end up parting company from the car, but no such issues with the Ranger. And there is what I would consider a single recovery point at the front of the car attached to the chassis rail. If you aren't happy with that the rail is sufficiently exposed to bolt your own on, and you could fit points to both sides while you're at it. Underneath the car everything is pretty well protected and organised, no doubt the result of all that rigorous product testing.

So the Ranger has stacked up very well against its competition before the key has even been turned. Once you do fire up the engine it is pretty quiet, only becoming a little gruff under load. It is not of the class of a top-end Euro diesel for refinement, but it compares well for noise and driveability with the latest wagon Japanese diesels such as those in the newest Pajero and 200 Series. The 470Nm and 147Kw mean it doesn't need to rev hard, especially with six gear ratios and a pretty smart gearbox computer. Some of the upshifts aren't the smoothest, but it's quite liveable. What you do notice early on is the ride, and here we need three comparison points – the other utes, wagons, and the aftermarket. Compared to other utes the ride is on par or better. Compared to a wagon it is horribly harsh and fussy, and just backing out of my driveway was all it took for my practiced wife to assess the ride as "horrible".

Compared to the aftermarket suspension it doesn't measure up either, and a quick look under the car perhaps tells a little of the story. Leaf springs are crude, but they can be improved with greaseable shackles, poly bushes and other tricks to make them smoother. Vehicle manufacturers typically don't bother, and Ford is no exception to the rule. The front suspension has very little travel, as we found when offroading, and therefore that needs to be stiff otherwise it'd constantly hit the bumpstops when loaded.

So the ride when unloaded is harsh, like its peers, and maybe Ford thought merely being as good as their competition was enough, instead of being as good as it could be. The car also floats a little too much at high speed over large bumps. But as with most utes, put a hundred kilos or so in the back and things start to quiet down a little. Still, I'd definitely be looking to see what ARB, Ironman and the others can do for the car. All that said, you do get used to it, in the same way you'd get used to living close to an airport or having young kids in the house. I've even got proof the ride need not be that harsh parked my driveway, in the form of a Defender 110 which has a 1050kg payload, coil springs all round and live axles. That car rides much smoother unloaded than the Ranger, even on light-truck mud-pattern tyres.

So much for the ride. Next up is the handling, which is the responsiveness and predictability of the car to control inputs. And here the story is much better. Ford have done a very, very good job with the Ranger's dynamics. The steering is quick for a ute, on a par with a wagon. That means you don't need much lock to turn the wheels, unlike say the Triton which needs a lot of steering wheel movement before it wakes up. The car is entirely predictable, turns in beautifully, the steering is well weighted and you can feel what's happening with the car. It is a joy to drive on any surface, but when you hit the dirt you'll notice something else – the car cannot put power to the ground effectively in 2WD. The reasons why are covered elsewhere, and it's not that there's too much power, it's the fact the car cannot transfer it to the ground largely because it's not driving all four wheels. Lest you think that only happens when heavy-footed blokes get behind the wheel then think again, as my dear wife also had the electronics working overtime when she drove it on dirt. But she is used to an all-wheel-drive Discovery which can certainly put its power down. As a measure of the car's power if the auto kicks down on a dirt road even at 70km/h you can spin up the rear wheels. To give Ford it's due, the electronics don't slow the car by slamming on the brakes killing momentum, but more chivvy it into line here without slowing you down so the calibration is a job done well.

Ranger about to demonstrate its inabiity to use its wonderful engine powering out of slow-speed, corrguated dirt-road corners. It just can't use all its power unless it's in 4WD. Why it isn't an all-wheel-drive is explained here.

The simple remedy is to slip the car into 4WD which restores momentum and stops the traction control and stability control working on the exit of every corner, particularly uphills with corrugations, or even just accelerating away from a standstill. Once into 4WD high the Ranger's stability control goes into a dirt-road mode which permits a bit more slip, but the improved progress is more due to the extra grip than reduced electronic assistance and while it's not a rally car, it's certainly a very quick vehicle on dirt and importantly, a real pleasure to drive. This is helped by the gearbox, which has three modes. There's a normal Drive mode which is adaptive, so it "learns" your driving style and if you hustle along will start to delay upshifts and downshift earlier. It is however a bit slow to select the right gear on the exit of a corner, which is surprising seeing as the Ford Territory nails this perfectly every time. Moving the gearshift over to Sport improves sets the gearbox for the late/early shifting without learning, but what you really need is the manual mode, and that's one of the best on the market. The shifter is one of those that when you select say third you are in third, not a Toyota style where selecting third means the 'box can use first, second and third. And the car will let you have the gear you want if at all possible, then hang on it to it as long as it can – unlike the Nissan Navara which pretty does whatever it wants regardless of your input. The Ranger's gearshift indicator number even blinks apologetically at you if it can't manage a gear you've requested, and you can pull away in second low or second high, not just first. Take note, Nissan! So top marks to Ford for a manual-mode auto gearbox the way it should be.

Parking sensors, and a display telling you what you're likely to hit.

Nice large mirrors

So the Ranger's handling is of the highest ute order, but what about the when you're just motoring along? It's good there too, not requiring much in the way of corrections even in a crosswind. The cruise control is good, even holding speed downhills, and the gearbox doesn't hunt – as it shouldn't with all that torque and six ratios, rarely requiring a change and happy to use its torque curve rather panic about staying precisely in the powerband. We also did a 60-100 4th-gear acceleration test against a 198Kw petrol 5-speed Navara and the Ranger won that very easily. The Ford is quiet too, with around 1800rpm at 100km/h. The mirrors are nicely large so you can see everything, and the car is very much one you could use to cover a long distance drive. The trip computer has two tripmeters, average fuel consumption, instant fuel consumption, range and temperature which you cycle through by pressing a button on the display. A small point, but it would have been better to have that control relocated to the control stalk out of the steering column.

The range is pretty good on the Ranger, thanks to an 80L fuel tank which is pretty decent for its class and should give you around 750-800km from each fill.

Of course, 4WDs aren't just about cruising, and sooner or later they're into low range. Here the Ranger is, for its class, very good but still doesn't quite match the capability of a wagon such as a Pajero, Prado, Discovery or 200. The reason utes don't match wagons is the relatively long wheelbase common to the breed and the limited front suspension travel, plus a larger turning circle and long rear overhang. But the Ranger does well as it has brake traction control, a nicely controllable engine with smooth torque delivery and a remapped throttle for low-range work. The XLT model also offers a rear locking differential, and there's hill descent control. The gearing is low too (crawl ratio TBA), so the car is very controllable. The Ranger's clearance is also good for a ute, as the photo with a Navara shows.

Clearance is good compared to the Navara and predecessor Ranger models.

In fact, the Ranger scrambled up a steep, shaely, rutted slope that the Navara couldn't manage and it wasn't for lack of trying. The difference was the Ranger had better clearance and traction control which worked effectively at medium to high revs in second low. Unfortunately, the traction control calibration still need a little work.

The Ranger going nowhere. It has all four wheels on the ground but the weight isn't equally distributed. Despite that, the traction control should be able to pull it fowards, but it doesn't work that well. In this case the rear locker did the trick as the rear right wheel had lots of traction. Of course, a little more momentum could have worked too, but a measure of a car's offroad capability is how slowly it can tackle terrain. But all that said, the Ranger is pretty good for its class.

Despite all the positives, the Ranger could be better. The traction control is slow to activate when crawling over rocks in first or second low, and once it does it doesn't transfer enough torque over to the wheel with traction. The car couldn't pull itself out of the cross-axled situation show in this photo, and any modern traction control should be able to do that with ease. This was quite noticeable when compared at the same time to a VW Touraeg – not exactly a direct competitor, but traction control is traction control. To make it worse, my experience with the VW is that its electronics are behind those of the 200 Series and Discovery 3/4.

The second missed opportunity is with the rear locking differential, which disables traction control on the front axle. Given the front's very limited articulation the car easily lifts a front wheel and that means the car becomes in effect rear wheel drive only. Mitsubishi have done the same with their cars, and owners have got around it and re-enabled traction control on the front axle with the rear locker in, which, not surprisingly, dramatically improves capability compared to just the rear locker and no front traction control. If Ford had kept traction control on the front with the rear locker in, and improved the low-speed response of its traction control the Ranger would be pretty much keeping up with wagons.

For mud you're best off with the highest gear possible, controlled momentum and traction control. In the case of deep mud and the Range that may well be third or fourth low, given the six-speed 'box and ready torque, as opposed to the old-school thinking of second low. For flat, easy work like in the photo 4H works well.

Hill Descent Control and rear locker switches. Oddly, there is no dash display for HDC, nor any speed indication.

 If you're crawling the Ranger over rocks and it comes to a halt because diagonal wheels are in the air, then you can engage the locker and if there's lots of traction on the one rear wheel with any grip you will go forwards. If there isn't enough grip, and often there won't be, both rears will spin, and the front won't be helping. That's the only time the locker is any use, as for just about every other situation you'll be going faster and then traction control is more effective. Ford indicate the locker is for use in mud, but my tests and previous experience indicate you're better off with traction control. The locker works up to 30km/h, way beyond the speed at which it would be useful to engage.

An interesting little Ranger trick is to hold the stability control button down for five seconds. This completely disables traction control, but not HDC or HAS. I'm not sure why you'd ever want to kill traction control, but the option's there if you want. I used it to see the difference between driving with it on and off, and there is a difference even at low speeds, just not as much as there should be.

When you're offroad a little more clearance always helps, and while the back end could certainly go up say 50mm I'm not sure the short control arms in the front would support a similar increase, maybe only 20-30mm. Still, add slightly taller tyres which the gearing and engine could certainly handle and you'd have a pretty capable offroader, and one much, much better than an older ute with a weaker engine and no traction aids.

The Ranger is also nicely controllable in descents. The long wheelbase helps, the low gearing is excellent and there's Hill Descent Control (HDC) which is a bit quick for rocky descents but works well enough when it's easier going. You can always activate the rear locker too, but unfortunately that disables HDC. For rocky descents I'd use the locker and the rest of the time the engine braking, with selective use of HDC in slippery conditions. It's nice to have the options.

One point worth mentioning here is the transfer case activation. It just works, and that's unusual. All you need to do move from 2H to 4H is twiddle the dial and lift off the accelerator, and from 4H to 4L just go into neutral and it shifts, every time, without fail, instantly. Other vehicles, and I think here of the Colorado/Isuzu and Navara are much more finicky, requiring a few attempts on occasion before they shift and indeed after exiting one track a companion Navara had to stop while the driver played with the throttle and gearshift to get the thing out of low range. And going further on this point, during the ten days I drove the Ranger and covered over 1500km it never once, ever, missed a beat.

Not a single hesitation to start, no error codes, no delayed responses, nothing broke, not even a mudguard got ripped off and in general the car earned my trust. That's really, really important and not a feeling I get from every press car. Ford did a lot of testing with this vehicle and I reckon it's paid off. In fact, so much did I trust it that when a friend organised a last-minute night drive I didn't hesitate to take the Ranger. When you head off into a state forest at around midnight with the express intention of looking for tough tracks with hardcore, experienced offroaders then you don't want to be taking just any old car, but I was happy with the Ranger.

Ford claim a very impressive 800mm wading depth for the Ranger. This is around 650, but the bow wave makes it look deeper. Here the Ranger's ready throttle response and nice linear torque delivery made modulating the throttle easy so the bow wave could be kept under control. That was using second low.

Any ute also need to tow, so we hooked the Ranger up to a camper trailer and a then 2200kg caravan. As expected given the power and handling of the vehicle, neither trailer was a problem for it and the combination handled beautifully, with the auto changing shift points both up and down. The only issue with the camper was, again, lack of traction on dirt surfaces where the car really needed to be in 4WD. The Ranger has TSC, or Trailer Sway Control (more here) and is rated for 3350kg braked. The large mirrors are useful when towing too, as they almost show the rear wheels of the vehicle. For most cars I'd fit blind-spot mirrors, but the Ranger doesn't really need them. Interestingly, the owner's manual advocates use of low range to manoeuvre trailers, but given you can't select low range without 4WD that would lead to windup and transmission breakages on bitumen, so I'm not sure what Ford meant by that advice which in my view is best ignored.

The problem with summarising the Ranger is context. It is a shame that Ford has put all that effort into the car and stuck with old-school part-time 4WD, drum brakes and leaf springs so from that point of view the car needs to be rated very much in the "can do better" category. However, if you consider the car from the point of view of how good can you make a car with those old-school design features then Ford has done a very good job indeed. But the real evaluation is against the competition, and here the Ranger does well too. It handles superbly, tows well, boasts a 5-star safety rating, is more than competent offroad and has a useful interior. It does nothing badly, and most things well and for that reason I would recommend buyers shortlist it should they be looking for a new ute.

.

Related links

The 2012 ute market

Why manufacturers don't produce the best cars they can

Ford Ranger electronic driving aids

Ford Ranger 2012 specification and pricing

Triton, Pajero, Challenger flex

External

Ford's XLT accessories. Nothing of real interest apart from the tonneau cover. I don't know if the snorkel is properly waterproofed.

Old and new Rangers, both XLT specs. The PX looks much more modern inside and out, and it's certainly more capable. The parkbrake has also been changed from a pull-out to a conventional lever.

The Ranger and a Navara D22 which is nowhere near the capability on or off road, refinement or any other criteria you care to mention. Except of course the D22 isn't a $55k driveaway ask

subset: commoncrawl


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anyone here a ob/gyn ultrasound tech?
how many years do you have to go? do you love it? what are some things you hhate?
Posted: 07/26/2011 by M.myree.E
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Hey Mamma! The length of school depends on the actual school and program you choose. I went to a 2 year technical college. You actually have to go to general u/s school and then to become an ob/gyn certified tech you need to pass the ob/gyn specialty board with the physics exam. I do love being an u/s tech but keep in mind many go to school because they want to scan ob's but most end up hating to scan them and find jobs in general ultrasound instead. Ob's are more difficult to scan due to a constant moving target, tons of pictures needed and the dreaded abnormalities you may encounter. Hope this helps! good luck!posted 08/22/2011 by whoababy27
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Governor Christ Christie (R – New Jersey) has been criticized for the last week or so on this now national scandal dubbed Bridge Gate, where his staffers apparently orchestrated the closure of important traffic lanes on the George Washington Bridge in New Jersey to exact revenge on a not-so-friendly Mayor who refused to endorse Christie in his campaign for re-election.
As this scandal continues to unfold, a few recent shots have been taken at Hillary Clinton, the commonly agreed upon front runner for the Democrats in 2016, as well. The first came in a book by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates where he alleges Mrs. Clinton admitted, in front of him while speaking to Barrack Obama, that she had opposed the war in Iraq for purely political reasons while she was running against him in the Iowa Democratic primary in 2008.
While not surprising to anyone with a pulse, it's still slightly disheartening to see it front and center and penned by someone hailed as one of the greatest statesman of our time. While this accusation by Gates is hardly earth-shattering, it is yet another example of politics taking the place of common sense and honesty; a clear example of the finger pointing and dishonesty that are regular patrons at the political table.
In the wake of these two stories that perfectly highlight politicians and their staffers who will do, say, or buy anyone or anything necessary to win, yet another shame-inducing story illuminating the uglier side of American politics is emerging: Hillary Clinton apparently had or has an enemies list of people she hopes to pay back at some point. Among the prominent Democrats on the list, Mr. John Kerry sits at the top for his endorsement of Barrack Obama in the 2008 election.
Allegedly, Mrs. Clinton or her staffers (see a trend here?) had decorated their Virginia office with photos and an apparent ranking system that gave perpetrators a number from one to seven based on their alleged level of treason against the Clintons. Their campaign headquarters, which looked like a classroom in a forensic science college, was ground zero for this list which is now apparently on a flash drive in excel format; a slightly less conspicuous way to conceal your list of traitors.
This story, which will never take off, will give us lucky spectators a glimpse into the future while simultaneously reminding us of our sordid past. The first lesson we learned in 2012 is that the Democrats will find something prominent about their opponent and spin it in a way to demonize him and paint him as a monster. With Christie, they have already started by claiming that he's a vindictive, mob-boss-like bully who will hurt you any way he can if you get in his way.
This line of attacks is very similar to the vulture capitalism comments made about Romney while putting a man on TV talking about how his wife died because he didn't have health insurance only to find out that the two things had nothing to do with each other. The media ads of Christie literally pummeling a woman with strong allusions to domestic violence and sexism are already dancing merrily in Republicans minds. If you oppose Obama, you are a racist. If you oppose Hillary, you will be a sexist. It's tough to win these days as a Republican amid their current popular perception that they are anti-anyone-who-isn't-a-white-middle-class-male.
The second thing we can clearly take from these two seemingly similar stories (Christie's staffers seeking revenge for a non-endorsement and Hillary, or her staff, keeping traitor lists of people who endorsed her opponent) is that the media will not cover the election fairly. Assuming the showdown happens between the RINO and the Mrs. Clinton, Christie will be labeled a misogynistic woman-hater while Hillary will be portrayed as the victim of a mean and menacing man.
What remains to be seen is whether or not people will be receptive to it and bite hook, line, and sinker again or whether this tired demonization of people will be shown for what it is regardless of which side of the aisle it comes from: petty, dishonest, hypocritical, and ultimately very harmful to the country we all love.


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Ginger Snaps Showtimes and Tickets
Read Movie Reviews about Ginger Snaps Write a Movie Review for Ginger Snaps
Release Date: 2001-05-04 (Limited)
Genre: Suspense/Thriller, Horror
Rating: NR
Duration: 1hr 49min
In this modern werewolf tale, sisters Ginger and Brigitte are ostracized by their town because of their morbid inclinations. Soon after being attacked by a wolf, Ginger begins to exhibit strange nocturnal behavior. Now Brigitte must decide whether to save herself or join Ginger in otherworldly doings.
Cast and Crew
- Starring
Mimi Rogers, Emily Perkins, Katharine Isabelle, Kris Lemche, Katherine Isabelle, Emily Jean Perkins, Lucy Lawless, Jesse Moss, Peter Keleghan
- Directed by John Fawcett
- Produced by Steven Hoban, Karen Lee Hall
- Written by Karen Walton
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According to a Feb. 11 report from MMA Fighting, the UFC has cut all ties with TUF Nations middleweight contestant Tyler Manawaroa after learning of an offensive Instagram photo that he posted 18 months ago.
The photo Manawaroa posted on Instagram showed an African-American child in a shopping cart, alongside a photo caption that read "get used to being behind bars." The photo caption also dropped the N-word.
After learning of the offensive pic, the UFC quickly made the decision to severe ties with him.
"The UFC organization had hired an investigation company in Australia to conduct thorough background investigations on potential contestants for The Ultimate Fighter Nations television series. Unfortunately, the background checks did not uncover all of the social media history by contestant Tyler Manawaroa," the UFC announced. "The UFC is committed to having an environment that is free from discrimination.
"Consequently, UFC has notified Manawaroa that regardless of how far he advances in the completed television series, the organization will not be offering him a contract to compete in the UFC."
Manawaroa, an undefeated middleweight who advanced to the semifinal round of TUF Nations, offered an apology, but it appeared to be too late.
"Just a question. . Every one in their life has made a bad decision that has offended someone ..if you have apologized and have no intention of ever repeating that bad decision ..and your apology has been rejected. ..what do you do??" Manawaroa asked.
Analysis: Was the UFC right to severe ties with Manawaroa? Absolutely. Had the photo been posted several years ago, it could have been argued that it was just a childish, immature decision on his part.
However, since the photo was posted just 18 months ago, Manawaroa isn't far enough removed from it to deserve immediate forgiveness from the top MMA promotion in the world. The UFC has a lot of sponsor companies to please, so they simply can't afford to be linked to any fighters with racism in their background.
Manawaroa did the right thing by offering an apology, so hopefully he'll land on his feet with another promotion.


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The Virtues of Virtualization
By stephen.fox on Jan 22, 2010
Oracle OpenWorld Attendees Share Concerns about VirtualizationWhere you one of the 1,200 surveyed by Dimension Data about virtual machines while you were at Oracle OpenWorld 2009? We recently noticed an article on the Computer Business Review site sharing some of the results, and we wanted to find out if your opinions had changed since then.
According to most of the survey's participants, virtualization is a great way to save money—and we agree. But 78% of the respondents reported that they had experienced performance issues while running their applications virtually. This is one of the main reasons more are not turning to virtualization to run their mission-critical operations.
In the last three months since the show, have your opinions changed? What kinds of things did you see and hear at the 2009 event that made you reconsider your opinion of virtualization? We're curious about how your conversations have evolved since the show.
We also wanted to point out some virtualization resources to you so that by the time Oracle OpenWorld 2010 rolls around, you'll be able to share a more confident opinion with anyone asking. Check out the Oracle Virtualization Blog, and don't miss the video from Adam Hawley, Director of Oracle VM, on YouTube. And, if there are specific subjects you'd like to see covered in this year's show, let us know. We're virtually obsessed with covering the topics that concern you.
(Photo by Jill Clardy, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license.)


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Home » Vatican News » Scola move to Milan now official
Scola move to Milan now official
Pope Benedict has appointed Venice patriarch Cardinal Angelo Scola as archbishop of Milan on Tuesday, moving him to a high profile position in the Italian Catholic church.
The 69-year-old Scola is a theologian like Benedict and is considered one of his closest advisers among Italian prelates. He is known for his outreach to Muslim and Orthodox Christian communities, the Washington Post.
Scola made the announcement himself in Venice, saying "it's not easy for me to give you this news. I accepted the decision of the pope because he's the pope."
Pope names Venice patriarch Cardinal Scola as Milan archbishop, known for outreach to Muslims (Washington Post)
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Increased glucose phosphorylating activity ...
|Increased glucose phosphorylating activity correlates with insulin secretory capacity of male JCR: LA-corpulent rat islets
|Catherine B. Chan, R. M. MacPhail, Molly J. T. Kibenge, J. C. Russell
|Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
|Start page
|End page
|In this study the glucose responsiveness of isolated, overnight-cultured islets of obese LA/N-corpulent (cp/cp) rats was compared with glucose phosphorylating activity to determine whether changes in the function of glucokinase could be identified. Islets from both male and female cp/cp rats showed a left-shifted concentration response to glucose, with EC50 values of 1.5 and 4.6 mM, respectively, compared with 9.2 mM for lean control islets. Islets from cp/cp rats were partially resistant to inhibition by mannoheptulose, a glucokinase inhibitor. Minimum inhibitory concentrations were 10 mM in cp/cp vs. 3 mM in lean rat islets. Glucose phosphorylating potential was markedly increased in islets of male cp/cp, but not female cp/cp, compared with lean rats. The maximal velocity (Vmax) of hexokinase was increased 5-fold, while the Km of glucokinase was significantly decreased, in male cp/cp compared with the lean control islets(3.6 vs. 35.2 mM). The Km for glucokinase was also decreased in female cp/cp rat islets (17.2 mM). The data from male cp/cp rat islets are consistent with the idea that increased glucose phosphorylation capacity can contribute to insulin hypersecretion and an extreme leftward shift in the concentration-response curve. However, other factors must also be considered because female cp/cp rats have moderately increased insulin secretory capacity without marked changes in total glucose phosphorylating capacity.
Using APA 6th Edition citation style.
Times viewed: 444


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Olive Garden Map
5551 W. 88th Ave.
303-650-0889 | Make Restaurant Reservations | Menu
Find Olive Garden with this handy map to the restaurant. If you don't see a pop-up, click on the map's green arrow to get driving directions to and from Olive Garden.
Sign up to receive the 2016 edition of GAYOT's Annual Restaurant Issue, which will feature the Top 40 Restaurants in the U.S. and more.


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Controversial and opinionated U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), said Monday that it would be "irresponsible" for the Congress to grant a debt limit increase to the president even though that is exactly what is happening.
Sen. Cruz is the Tea Party's darling who has long been encouraging Republicans in the House to keep their backs stiff and resist the president's various moves to undermine their cause.
He spoke with the media at the Heritage Foundation outside of Washington following his comments. Don't "go down that road" of agreeing constantly to the president's call for increasing the government's borrowing authority.
Tax increases must be countered with demands for stiff measures for long-term deficits.
It appears that will not be the case this time around and most experts feel that is due to Republicans focusing on the one issue they feel they can win in November with – Obamacare.
But Cruz counters, "President Obama is asking Congress to give him a blank check to allow him to keep maxing out the credit card without doing anything to fix the problem. I think that's irresponsible."
It might be a different story if the Republicans felt they would not be unfairly beaten up by the mainstream media for not allowing the increase. It very well could put them in the same position of last year's shut down of the government with the majority of Americans blaming Republican's.
As we have witnessed over the last 36 hours, the GOP is ignoring Sen. Cruz.
* If you have enjoyed this column, may I suggest you scroll down this page and press the SUBSCRIBE box? It's FREE. Thank you for your patronage.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ever listen to the radio or TV, and some idiot comes on ranting about how adult businesses ruin neighborhoods, overtax police and are dens of drug use and prostitution? You know it's not true ... but nobody's about to give you air time with which to respond to these lies.
Doesn't sound fair, does it? But fairness aside, what about simple truth? When provably inaccurate information is broadcast over the public airwaves – airwaves that supposedly belong to the citizenry and are licensed to broadcasters supposedly contingent on their good behavior – it harms public discourse on these issues, and may lead to hefty jail sentences and fines for adult business owners.
Of course, sex and sex-related businesses are hardly the only things these people lie about. Recently, radio talk-show host Neal Boortz claimed, in discussing the conviction of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby for, among other crimes, perjury, that former President Bill Clinton had been convicted of perjury also. And when a caller attempted to correct Boortz, Boortz insisted on the accuracy of his misstatement.
Now, whether Boortz was deliberately dissembling or simply misremembered his history – Clinton was never even tried for, much less convicted of, perjury – the fact remains that Boortz never corrected himself on-air, and his listeners have been left with the impression that their former president is a convicted felon. Those listeners, in turn, may repeat this bogus "fact" to their friends and associates, creating a ripple effect resulting in a false reality ... all because no procedure exists under which people who make false statements on TV or radio are required to correct those statements.
And please note that it doesn't matter if other "talking heads" on other shows or stations correct Boortz's lie; Boortz's listeners, who likely have faith that Boortz is generally truthful in what he says, may not hear the correction, or at the very least may hear it but assume that the correction is a lie ... because after all, their choice of "talking head" speaks the truth. (Obviously, these listeners could fact-check the statement by going to an unbiased source, but most are unlikely to do so – and besides, shouldn't speaking factually in a pervasive, "hot" medium like radio or TV be the rule rather than the exception?)
But it's the mounting fear among habitual on-air liars such as Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and their ilk which brings us to the recent furor over claims that Democrats in Congress want to bring back the "Fairness Doctrine" ... and which inspired Rep. Mike Pence (R-Corporatocracy) to introduce H.R. 2905, the so-called "Broadcaster Freedom Act of 2007," which Pence has vowed to attach to other legislation if it doesn't pass on its own.
The Act seems simple enough: "Notwithstanding section 303 or any other provision of this Act or any other Act authorizing the [Federal Communications] Commission to prescribe rules, regulations, policies, doctrines, standards, or other requirements, the Commission shall not have the authority to prescribe any rule, regulation, policy, doctrine, standard, or other requirement that has the purpose or effect of reinstating or repromulgating (in whole or in part) the requirement that broadcasters present opposing viewpoints on controversial issues of public importance, commonly referred to as the 'Fairness Doctrine', as repealed in General Fairness Doctrine Obligations of Broadcast Licensees, 50 Fed. Reg. 35418 (1985)."
Many reading this will not remember the Fairness Doctrine, which, according to Wikipedia, "required broadcast licensees to present controversial issues of public importance, and to present such issues in what was deemed an honest, equal and balanced manner."
The idea that the public deserved to hear more than one side of a controversial issue didn't sit well with conservatives, and when Reagan became president, he appointed Mark S. Fowler, a long-time supporter, communications lawyer and former disk jockey, to head the FCC. According to former right-wing propagandist David Brock, now head of Media Matters for America, Fowler set about "pruning, chopping, slashing, eliminating, burying and deep-sixing" the FCC regulations that had held media monopolists in check and had minimized partisanship in public affairs programming, following the program set out by right-wing commentator Edith Efron in her seminal neocon work The News Twisters, the first modern (1971) "analysis" to claim that liberals controlled the major news media and had biased its reportage to the left.
By 1987, thanks to a District of Columbia Appeals Court ruling by Reagan appointees Robert Bork and Antonin Scalia, the Fairness Doctrine was officially dead. Congress quickly tried to restore it, with wide bipartisan support – but not wide enough to overcome Reagan's veto. Since then, proposals for similar legislation were met by veto threats from George H.W. Bush, and once Republicans gained the majority in Congress, talk of a Fairness Doctrine revival ceased until within the past year, conservatives claimed that the Democratic majority had called for its revival.
The most common argument against the Fairness Doctrine is that it would force networks, at their own expense, to provide airtime for "opposing views" on an incredibly wide range of subjects including the Iraq war, immigration, abortion, same-sex marriage and sexually explicit material, to name just a few. Pence went so far as to claim that, "Bringing back the Fairness Doctrine would amount to government control over political views expressed on the public airwaves. It is a dangerous proposal to suggest the government should be in the business of rationing free speech," with a staff writer for Focus on the Family adding that, "Historically, when the Fairness Doctrine was in effect, many stations chose to avoid issues programming altogether." Family Research Council's Tony Perkins stated bluntly, "If the left wants equal time to express its views on the radio or television, they have the liberty to do so by starting their own programs and shows."
The group feeling most threatened by fairness is religious broadcasters, and attorney Jay Sekulow, head of Pat Robertson's American Center for Law & Justice, recently commented on his television and radio shows that his program would not exist if the Fairness Doctrine were in place. That claim has been echoed by dozens of rightwing talk show hosts including the aforementioned national figures Hannity, Limbaugh, Boortz and O'Reilly, plus such familiar names as Laura Ingraham, Michael Medved, Dennis Prager, G. Gordon Liddy, "first son" Michael Reagan and Mark Levin.
But the issue is far from simply one of "free speech." David Brock reports, in his 2004 book The Republican Noise Machine, that "today the top five radio station owners in the country, controlling forty-five powerful radio stations, broadcast 310 hours of nationally syndicated right-wing talk every weekday. Only 5 hours of nonconservative talk are aired nationally on those stations, according to a study by the Senate Democratic Policy Committee," adding, "The liberal FOX News personality Alan Colmes fills 3 of these 5 hours on a new Murdoch-owned radio network." (Oh, the irony!) Brock also notes that just three companies own half the radio stations in the country, and all three are committed to promoting conservative talk.
A frequent listener to several of the right-talkers can't help but be impressed by the singularity of their message on more than two-dozen hot-button issues. Limbaugh inadvertently admitted the day after the conservatives' defeat in the 2006 elections that he had pushed Republican talking points on a daily basis on his widely-syndicated show, but claimed that from then on, "I no longer am going to have to carry water for people who I don't think deserve having their water carried." It took him less than a day to renege on that statement. On the other hand, most of his fellow talkers have never strayed from the Republican National Committee's daily message.
But it's not simply the challenge to rightwing propaganda that has the wingnut-talkers worrying about a new Fairness Doctrine; it's the disruption of the repetition of the message.
As linguist George Lakoff points out in his landmark book Whose Freedom?, humans think with the synapses and neural circuitry of their brains, and that such circuits, "once established, do not change quickly or easily."
"When a word of phrase is repeated over and over for a long period of time, the neural circuits that compute its meaning are activated repeatedly in the brain," Lakoff analyzes. "As the neurons in those circuits fire, the synapses connecting the neurons in the circuits get stronger, and the circuits may eventually become permanent, which happens when you learn the meaning of any word in your fixed vocabulary. Learning a word physically changes your brain, and the meaning of that word becomes physically instantiated in your brain. For example, the word 'freedom,' if repeatedly associated with radical conservative themes, may be learned not with its traditional progressive meaning, but with a radical conservative meaning. 'Freedom' is being redefined brain by brain."
For those old enough to remember school desks made of wood, remember writing your name (or some other words) on them in ballpoint pen, then retracing the letters over and over until a permanent groove had been cut into the wood? Metaphorically, that's exactly what Lakoff is talking about.
It's that loss of repetition that rightwing talkers fear, because it's that repetition that changes listeners' brains into rightwing tools.
Whether it's a legitimate use of the publicly-owned airwaves to brainwash listeners into following, however subconsciously, conservative dictates is conceivably open to debate ... but one change that everyone should (theoretically) be willing to get behind may be able to sidetrack the conservative reprogramming of America. Call it a "Factness Doctrine."
Many readers will recall the claims, repeated many times during the past year, that presidential candidate Barack Obama is a Muslim, and that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had demanded that the government to provide her with a larger airplane than had been used by previous speaker Dennis Hastert to fly her back and forth from Washington to her home district in San Francisco. Both assertions were lies – Obama is a Protestant, and the U.S. military offered Pelosi the upgraded plane for security reasons – but many people continue to believe the "truth" of these lies in large part because the talking heads making those claims have never been required to refute them on-air.
Take, for example, a recent CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck show, where the subject was global warming and specifically Al Gore's award-winning movie An Inconvenient Truth, where guest (and non-scientist) James Taylor claimed that "virtually every significant assertion that Al Gore makes in that movie has been refuted by sound science." Now, that was a lie, pure and simple; none of Gore's movie has been refuted, though there were some minor inaccuracies – but Taylor's lie went out on a national news program, and Beck has never been called to account for failing to correct his guest's lie.
Similarly, when Sean Hannity said of Hillary Clinton on the July 15 edition of "Hannity's America," which was re-aired in November, that "[T]here are still many chapters remaining open from her time at the Rose Law Firm. Take Whitewater and the death of Vince Foster," that was a lie. There is no doubt that Foster committed suicide, and after a six-year, $60 million independent counsel investigation in 2000, it was established that there was insufficient evidence that the Clintons had committed any crimes in connection with the Whitewater controversy. Hence, Hannity's statement was a lie, and chances are he knew it was a lie, but he said it on nationwide cable TV (Fox, of course) anyway. He has never been forced to retract his words.
On the Sept. 9 edition of "Fox News Sunday," Fox News' Washington managing editor Brit Hume asked NPR's Juan Williams, "Who are we fighting there [in Iraq] now, Juan?" then answered his own question: "Al Qaeda in Iraq. They were there before we got there, and they're there now." It is a lie that al Qaeda were in Iraq before the U.S. invasion, but Hume continues to make similar assertions even to today.
While nearly every Fox News Channel show contains some lie, innuendo or smear about Democrats and progressive leaders and organizations, Hannity's daily (with Colmes) and weekly shows and Bill O'Reilly's "The O'Reilly Factor" are by far the worst – and the lies aren't limited to important personages or subjects. For instance, on the November 19 "O'Reilly Factor," guest Kellyanne Conway, a Republican pollster and strategist, when asked, "What stops ... an EEOC lawsuit against, you know, public schools ... who demand that kids learn English?", responded, "There's nothing at the moment. And in fact, what starts out as maybe the person doesn't speak English, getting — putting mayonnaise instead of mustard as you requested on your sandwich is one day going to blossom into two air traffic controllers who don't speak great English because political correctness has made us appoint them to those positions. They're going to have two planes crashing in the sky." In fact, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits workplace discrimination, specifically includes an exception for "those certain instances where ... national origin is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of that particular business or enterprise." Like, for instance, making sure airliners don't crash into each other. Conway's statement, therefore, was a lie – and, we might note, a lie that bolsters the conservatives' paranoia about immigrants, sure to be a 2008 campaign issue. Will Conway, O'Reilly (or in this case, guest host Laura Ingraham) correct Conway's on-air falsehood? Don't hold your breath.
Hence, the necessity for a "factness doctrine." Very simply, it would require that every time a newscaster, political commentator or one of their interview subjects tells a verifiable lie on a nationally telecast or cablecast news or political commentary program, that that liar is required to admit, on a later edition of that same program, that he/she has lied, and to set the record straight by recounting what was said originally and explaining how those statements differed from the facts.
Obviously, with someone like Hannity or O'Reilly, such corrections of the record could easily take 15-20 minutes or more of their hour-long TV programs, and possibly an hour or so of Hannity's or Limbaugh's three-hour weekday radio programs – but the result hopefully would be that these habitual liars would think twice before spewing forth blatantly incorrect "facts" in an attempt to further their political agendas.
It should be noted that a "factness doctrine" would hardly stop the constant character assassination directed at those who fail to hew to theocon/neocon thinking. For instance, it would not stop Limbaugh from saying, as he once did, that "[t]he last place you want to be is between a liberal who gets herself pregnant and a morning-after pill." Or Ann Coulter from claiming, "if anyone's going to be offended by anyone else's religion, the Jews believe that my savior, a Jew, was a raving lunatic, and you don't see me sniffling and crying." Or Boortz from describing Muslims as "sort of like cockroaches." Or Coulter from saying, "If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president." Or O'Reilly ranting in late October, "[John] Edwards may be in the political center if we're all living in Cuba. But with income redistribution and abolition of all anti-terror measures as his major campaign themes, he is not only far left, he's a pinhead."
But since the reactionaries consistently and seamlessly mix falsehoods with their innuendoes, the very least a factness doctrine would accomplish is to throw them off their stride ... sort of like the teacher who snatched your pen away before you could completely carve "Study Hall Sucks!" into your desk.
Well, anyway, we can hope.


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Kate Middleton Is Voted Britain's Dream Bond Girl
Kate Middleton has been voted Britain's dream Bond girl in a new poll.
The Duchess Of Cambridge, whose topless pictures have been seen by more than seven million people online, would make the perfect star for the role, according to visitors to menkind.co.uk.
A spokesperson for MenKind said: "We were surprised to see that Kate Middleton was the woman Britain most wanted to see getting to grips with Bond and his gadgets.
"Although, her grandmother-in-law has proved that the royals are a dab-hand at super spy action, when Bond escorted her to the Olympics. It is Her Majesty's Secret Service, after all."
The fifth star Britain would most like to see alongside Daniel Craig in the follow-up to new film Skyfall is Cheryl Cole, who was just ahead of new mum Megan Fox and Kelly Brook.
Check out the full list below… we'd love to see Kate in a movie! RM
Britain's Dream Bond Girl Top 10:
2. Rihanna
5. Cheryl Cole
6. Megan Fox
7. Kelly Brook
8. Jessie J
10. Kate Moss
You might also be interested in…


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"It's been a little over one year since we hired Nest to manage our condo as a rental property after we moved away from Washington, D.C., and we have had an excellent experience with them so far. They have taken care of all issues that have arisen, and they've made it very easy and stress-free for us to be absentee owners.
What has impressed us most about Nest is their management of a major repair job that had to be performed on our HVAC unit. Nest took the lead on soliciting and obtaining multiple bids on the project to ensure we were getting the best price. They spent an entire day (without charging for their time) helping the contractor to navigate the process of obtaining expedited permits from DCRA for a crane that was necessary to hoist the HVAC onto the roof of our condo building. Next, they monitored the progress of the entire multi-day project - which had several unforeseen complications that added significant time and materials cost over and above the initial estimate - and Nest made sure the contractor stuck to his original bid notwithstanding those issues. What's more, during the time that the A/C was out, Nest loaned a portable A/C unit to our tenants to make sure they didn't suffer too much. In short, Nest did everything imaginable to watch out for our best interest, to the point where I felt that we couldn't have done any better job ourselves if we had still been living there.
Nest also did a great job of finding/screening new tenants for our condo with only 30 days' notice after our first tenant broke his lease early on account of being called away for active duty.
In addition, the Nest team is extremely responsive to our emails, usually responding within an hour, even on nights and weekends.
In short, we are extremely satisfied with Nest's services, and would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a property manager in D.C."
Jeff T - Client
Daniel H - Client
"Love, love, love Nest! We live in San Francisco and have a condo in DC that needed renting. We were trying to manage it ourselves, but it proved too much being so far away. We contacted Nest and they immediately helped us get our lovely condo rented! They've managed everything from advertising, the open house, doing background checks and getting the contracts signed! They are managing all the transition as well from getting the place painted and cleaned before the new tenants move in, which gives us peace of mind."
Elizabeth Sanzone. - Client - Dupont Circle
"Being new to DC can be tough, given the high price of rent and real estate, and not knowing about landlords or neighborhoods can make things tricky. I was fortunate enough to find this management company, who works with private owners, and I couldn't be happier. Nest has been very responsive with emails and the few problems we've encountered. Their new online rent payment system is convenient too. It seems like the staff keeps in great communication with owners as well, as we recently had a routine inspection of the unit. I would recommend Nest to both tenants and owners."
Mike M. - Tenant - Adams Morgan
"LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Nest DC!!!! I was living in a situation in NE/H Street DC with poor property mangement then none due to a landlord that ran off on his tenants. Fortunately, a new landlord bought our buiding and had the smarts to hire Nest DC to manage it. I feel like I'm truly valued now and my needs as a tenant are met. The personalized care and professional management by the Nest team has made all the difference. I now enjoy where I live and would happily rent another unit from them again!!! GO NEST DC!!!"
Tina L. - Tenant - H Street Corridor
We moved overseas last summer and hired Nest to manage our property in Northwest DC. They have been fantastic so far - much more down to earth and easy to deal with than many of the stuffy established DC property managers. Let's face it, if all goes as it should with your property, then your property manager shouldn't have a big job and you shouldn't hear much from them at all. The test is when something goes wrong - as it did in our condo about three weeks ago when the plumbing went ballistic and started leaking gross sewage all over the floor.
The folks at Nest, Lisa in particular, were on top of the situation from the first notice that there was a problem through the end. Lisa was up in the middle of the night, contacting the building manager to take of the situation. When the building manager failed to react promptly enough, Nest contacted their own plumber, who determined the leak was a building issue (so the building is covering costs). Our tenants were very impressed with Nest, too. Each Nest staff member we've dealt with since we first contacted them has been friendly, professional, and responsive. We highly recommend them!
Leah R. - Client - U Street Corridor
My husband and I recently purchased a small multi-unit building as an investment. I was nervous. Luckily, my husband found Nest DC to act as our property management company. They are a lot more than that! They have given us wonderful ideas about how to have happy tenants, which was very important to us. It does not matter the time of day or night, the team quickly responds to those issues that always arise in buildings and the tenants are thrilled. Nest has helped us focus our resources on what really needed fixing and attention.
Talk about bang for the buck--the building is now becoming the showplace that we thought it could be! In addition to his other talents, Jim is a landscape architect (check out his stint on Curb Appeal-I don't particularly love that show since the end product doesn't always blow my socks off, but Jim's redo was fabulous!) Lisa's knowledge base and skill set never fails to impress; be it obscure DC law, finance advice, or paint colors--she's the one to ask. Rhianna always provides timely and useful updates that we can easily review and understand. We trust them and their judgment and we have come to consider them as friends. Plus, you will never find a more engaging bunch--Jim's laugh is infectious. We are trying to find other ventures, just so that we can have an excuse to hang out with them. ;)
Christine H - Client - H Street Corridor
We contracted Nest DC to manage a few projects, including painting the outside of our house, installing new kitchen floors, and building bookshelves in the foyer.
Nest has provided personal service, guiding us through design choices, and offering their support every step of the way. We love the soft yellow color they helped us choose for the exterior of the house and the new slate floors that have transformed our kitchen. Nest brings their exquisite style to your home, and treat every decision as if it was their own. If you want project management with the personal touch, hire Nest DC.
Heather Z. - Client - Brookland
Moving from out of State with three kids and a dog meant that we had no time to search for a rental in DC. We were recommended to Nest DC and were not disappointed. We had a lot of boxes to tick off, including space for dog, school districts, neighborhoods, parking and number of bedrooms. Laura and the whole Nest team kept up their searches of all types, including Craiglist and others. They were able to quickly filter the ones in the appropriate neighborhoods for our needs and get to the viewings the same day. We had a video of the properties within minutes of their visit! They got to know us and our needs so well that we completely trusted their opinions of neighborhoods and houses. It was a tough go, as rentals kept being outbid, but Laura never gave up and found us a great place that we are happy to call home. We would not hesitate to use their services again or recommend to anyone in need of help finding their next rental. We would not have been able to complete this move as smoothly without the Nest DC. Thanks!
Leigh F. - Relocation Client
My roommates and I used Nest DC to find our new place. They set us up with a great house that is comfortably in our price range. We communicated by email for the most part, and they were always on the ball...not only responding same day, but usually within the hour. Paperwork was organized by them and they walked us through any questions. When we went to sign the lease and walk through the house, their representative was really helpful writing down everything we noted.
John P. – Relocation Client
When you hear people (as tenants) talking about their experiences and interactions with their landlords, they usually involve stories fraught with unnecessary frustration and drama. Personally, I've had several unpleasant experiences with negligent and apathetic landlords, and I know numerous friends in the DC-area who have had similar misfortunes. Thankfully, I can say that my experience with Nest-DC as a tenant is nothing of the sort. In fact, my experience thus far has been great, and in my book they are well-deserving of a five-star rating.
The first thing that stands out about Nest DC as a landlord (a role they serve as property manager) is their high level of responsiveness. Whether it was immediately answering questions my fiancee and I had about their listing on Craigslist, or rapidly dispatching their handymen to fix a digital thermostat that malfunctioned, we have found Nest-DC to be in reach when we need them the most. As a prospective tenant, Laura, Jim, Rhianna, & team made a great first impression that was hard to discount when we made the move into DC. And as a current tenant, we continue to be impressed by their commitment to stay atop of everything and not let anything fall through the cracks. It never feels like we're pulling teeth to have a problem fixed or a question answered, nor do we ever feel like a burden on them.
It goes hand and hand with being responsive, but Nest-DC has also been very accommodating of our needs/wants as a tenant. Whether it's allowing us to move in a day early before our lease started, giving us the go ahead to repaint the walls as we saw fit, or working around our busy work schedules to send a handyman over, we never feel like a burden to our landlord. For once in my adult life, it doesn't feel like I'm a "renter" -- the rent we pay is justified given how well we're treated (in addition to having a great place to call home).
And lastly, I want to mention how immensely helpful and professional Nest DC is. Everything from their weekly e-newsletter with tips for tenants, to their FAQ/New Tenant packets, to their well-designed website and social media is informative. It's extra effort on their part, but as a tenant it is all much appreciated and useful.
Nest-DC is not your typical landlord / property manager -- and in this case, that is definitely not a bad thing. I highly recommend them to any prospective tenant looking to live in DC.
Raymond- Tenant - U Street Corridor
Thank you for all you have done and for being such great landlords! I know this building was a mess when the owner hired you to turn things around but you improved it greatly! I especially want to thank Lisa for bringing a space heater over to me very late at night - with a cold, no less - so my apartment wouldn't be freezing when the heat cut out for a few hours. You went above and beyond the call of duty and, should I ever have to make a recommendation for a property management compnay, it will be you! Thanks again!
Ellen Brandau - Tenant - H Street Corridor
Moving creates a lot of chaos. Nest DC did a brilliant job of helping us with the most important decision of all during our move renting a home. Working with them meant there was one less stressful thing to keep track of. Not only did they dot all the i's and cross all the t's, they also gave us a lift to the nearest metro stop when we need one. That's service. Thanks Nest DC!
Bob and Lara - Tenant - 16th Street Heights
Thanks to everyone on the Nest team for all the help as I coordinated my move. I started moving into my apartment and not only does it look amazing, but I saw that I had a little gift from you! I really appreciate everything you have done. Thanks, Nest!
Jessica - Tenant - Adams Morgan
The quality of care the Nest team provides for their tenants, including me, is unparalleled. Any problems that may arise are taken care of quickly, efficiently and with a level of service that leaves you feeling more like a friend than just a client. I would definitely recommend Nest services to anyone in need.
Lindsay M. Tenant - Columbia Heights
Having lived in many rentals over my 10 years in DC, Nest has a welcome breath of fresh air. They truly enjoy giving their tenants a beautiful home to live in.
Heather Z. – Tenant - Columbia Heights
We have been renting the same gorgeous property for over three years. It's not just a place to live, it's our home. Lisa has been meticulous about caring for this historic property and encouraging us to nest here. Who looks forward to visits from their landlord? We do! After all these years, we definitely consider Lisa a friend. We're so thrilled she started Nest - it's perfect for her and a great thing for tenants everywhere.
Steve B. & Natasha V. Tenants - Capitol Hill
Over the course of the 10 years I have been renting properties, I had little to no hope left when it came to finding a great property in an excellent location with a decent property manager. Nest has unequivocally surpassed even my highest expectations. They're are a pleasure to work with, extremely attentive to their clients' needs (both mine as the tenant, as well as the property onwer's) and they always seem to be one-step ahead of the game. I know that when I call them with a problem or a question they will respond immediately with a solution or answer. They love what they do and truly want their clients to be happy - a unique experience for me to say the least!
Janell F. Tenant - Cleveland Park
Jim and Lisa were the perfect balance of professional and personal. From taking care of concerns quickly and with a smile – to always knowing the name of our dog when they came by to visit. You couldn't ask for a better landlord/tenant relationship.
Nick & Maura –Tenant - U Street Corridor
We hired Nest DC to help us find a rental in Capitol Hill, for our upcoming move from Michigan to DC. I would highly recommend the service, and we had an especially good experience with Laura who handled our file. When we identified a listing we liked, she got all of our documents to the landlord before he showed the place to anyone else or got any applications, and managed to get us the first showing of the day. The landlord told us that he had other people interested in taking the place on the spot, but that Laura's efforts made us the most attractive tenants! True, Nest's services are not cheap (we paid for the $800 package), but it was more than worth it - we saved the cost of flights, hotels, taxis and hassle and stress that would be involved in coming to DC and looking for a place.
Dan S. Relocation Client
"This is coming from the tenant side. I live in an apartment that I love on H street NE. Despite loving the place, the management has been a nightmare. Landlord #1 got foreclosed upon, and was a scheming fraud on top of it. Landlord #2 was a bank in TN, needless to say: less than attentive and caring.
Finally, at the end of two years of this, a gift bag showed up on my doorstep introducing Nest as my new project manager. If the bottle of wine (and christmas presents!) weren't enough to win me over (it was), they quickly proved to be the best managers imaginable. Not only are they quick to respond, always available, and willing to assist in whatever problem might arise, but they also have upgraded so many things in our building (including free high efficiency washer/dryer, landscaping, bug treatments, painting, etc). They even replaced my termite damaged hardwood floor!
Moral of the story, they deserve 10 stars. If you are looking for a property manager, look no further. And if you are lucky enough to live in a place they manage, don't ever move!"
Sara T. Tenant - H. Street Corridor
Hours of Operation: M-F 9:00am - 6:00pm
Site Designed by ™ Nest DC


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The wedding was cancelled after I had already ordered and purchased the gown. The gown has never been worn and is still in the bag. No alterations have been made. The dress is ivory in color, it is a fit and flare, the material is stain, it is a beautiful gown.
- Alterations:
- Preservation Method:
- Terms of Sale: All Sales Final
- Original Owner: Yes
- Has Original Receipt:
- Location: ,
- Will Ship to: Other
- Payment Methods Accepted: Other
Please read our BUYER'S GUIDE before purchasing a dress online.


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Columbus' own MOJOFLO will be performing on Tuesday, January 19 at Bexley's Monk. The Soul/Funk outfit has been making huge waves over the past couple of years, with rave reviews from local publications such as Columbus Alive and The Columbus Dispatch. From the smooth yet powerful vocals to a crisp horn and rhythm section, MOJOFLO delivers the goods for anyone who enjoys a great live band.
Those of you looking to start the week off by shaking your moneymaker to a mix of top-shelf original cuts and Soul standards should be sure to get to Bexley's Monk at 2232 E. Main St. For more information, call Bexley's Monk @ 614-239-6665.


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Blue Willow Inn Map
294 N. Cherokee Rd. (W. Hightower Tr.)
770-464-2131 | Make Restaurant Reservations
Need directions to Blue Willow Inn? This map will help you find the best route to and from the restaurant so you can enjoy your meal. Clicking on the green arrow can help you get the best route to and from this restaurant if you don't see the "Get directions" pop-up.
Sign up to receive the 2016 edition of GAYOT's Annual Restaurant Issue, which will feature the Top 40 Restaurants in the U.S. and more.


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The Crimson Tide is an affiliate member of Conference USA in the sport of rowing, where only Alabama and Tennessee sponsor NCAA Division I programs within the Southeastern Conference
The Alabama rowing team posted seven top-10 finishes at the 19th Chattanooga Head Race Saturday
Alabama Highlights:Junior - 2011-12Rowed with the Varsity 8+ at the Chattanooga Head Race...part of the fifth place finish with the Second Varsity 8+ boat at the Head of the Charles...rowed with the Varsity 4+ and Varsity 8+ at the Head of the Hooch...rowed with the First Varsity 4+ in all three races at the Oak Ridge Regatta, finishing second three times...rowed with the First Varsity 4+ in their seventh place finish in the Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup race at the San Diego Crew Classic...also rowed with the First Varsity 4+ in Rhode Island and against Dartmouth and Cornell...named to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll...earned Dean's List for the fall semester.
Collegiate Highlights:Previously attended Orange Coast College where she competed in soccer and rowing ... named varsity rowing team captain ... earned the Heart and Hustle Award
Prep Highlights:Competed in track, cross country and soccer ... broke the sprint medley school record ... member of Long Beach Storm Soccer Club ... President, Key Club ... Make-A-Wish ... Red Cross mentor ... member of the National Junior Honor Society ... won the WeLMA award and named girl athlete of the year.
Personal Information:Full name: Brittney Ashley Bebek...daughter of Cindy Gray ... brothers Josh Bebek and Tyler Gray-Burrell ... sister, Taylor Gray Burell ... human environment science major ... communications minor... born January 8, 1990.


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With all of the talk of doing more, more, more for your business, what if you actually did… less? Does the thought of it make you want to pick up the nearest post-it and start scribbling nonsensical to dos?
We're taught that more is better. And doing less is… less than stellar.
But what if you stopped "to-doing"… and started "tada-ing"?
This requires creating magic: by slowing down. In other words, the opposite of everything you think you "need" to do.
This article will guide you how to:
- Work smarter on social platforms. This often means doing less work.
- "Tada" with intention
- Publish quality (not quantity) content
- Use the slow and steady approach to running a business
- Abandon your Facebook business page (yes, you read that right)
Here are some tips for how you can smartly do less:
1. Instagram
Instagram is the least promotional of all social media platforms. So, if you're promoting your latest blog post, or if you're featuring links to anything that comes across remotely promotional, you may want to rethink your approach. The thing is, links don't work on Instagram (hate to break it to you). And your Instagram followers will most likely not want to do the extra work of copying and pasting a link to get to whatever it is you're promoting.
Think of Instagram like a beautiful, quiet art museum with only the most highly curated pieces of art. If you're directly promoting your product or service on this platform, that's just like seeing a homeless man asking for change while you're appreciating the Mona Lisa (ok, maybe that's a bit dramatic… but you get my drift).
Instagram tends to work best when you filter your photos through themes that aren't necessarily directly related to your work. If you want to advertise or promote, stick to Facebook advertising. That's where it's most welcomed… or at least, expected.
For example, if your business is about inner-peace, try to avoid publishing your thoughts on the latest fight scene from Game of Thrones. Yeah, some people may get that you're a complex creative who thrives off of the many dichotomies of life. But showcasing simplicity is what wins with any game. Thrones or not.
2. YouTube
Don't even think about posting that video. You may think that the feedback from your mic gives your otherwise awesome video "character." But the only thing it gives your listeners is… a headache.
Only post high quality videos on your YouTube channel. If the audio is garbled, or the footage is shaky, simply delete. And then go grab a mojito. You'll make up for it in your next video.
Just because you can publish something, doesn't mean you should.
Your next video should be so awesome that your subscribers will want to watch the entire thing – even if it's 5 minutes long. This signals to YouTube (and the almighty Google) that your videos have high retention, which is an indication of engagement.
Engagement is an indication of quality. And quality is… the "oh my gawd, you're killing it" god of content.
3. Your website
Consider repurposing the content on your website instead of creating from scratch. Look back through your archives for posts that already generated tons of page views. It can even have been published two summers ago.
Rename the article, remove what is no longer relevant, and add in a new recent story angle… and ta da! You have a new blog post for your website.
When you focus on quality writing, your unique perspective, and telling a story, then you can feel more at ease.
4. Facebook
There are a lot of good reasons to stay with your Facebook business page. But if you don't want to pay to play, you may be better off abandoning the platform altogether – especially if you continue to pay for likes, but not get paying clients.
Here's the thing: if you're like most business pages on Facebook, you're probably not getting the reach that you once had. If this is you, and you'd prefer to not stretch out the sad, steady decline, here are a few guidelines to slowing down your page:
- Stop pushing out content on your business page. If your page is linked with any other apps, unlink them to stop generating awareness. You don't want attention for a page that you're not constantly checking.
- Stop any paid ads. If you're not seeing the revenue come back with paying clients, then it's silly to keep going.
- Find a new way to make up for your Facebook promotions. Platforms like Pinterest can generate a lot of authentic interest, minus the noisy, "advertising" feel.
5. Pinterest
Pinterest is an excellent driver of traffic and revenue when used right. It can even drive more traffic than Facebook. But it tends to be the slow and steady route vs. Facebook's instant gratification.
Create a few boards, and pin away. Make sure to add meta-tags to each pin, and set up Pinterest analytics. This will give you a better understanding of what's working. So you can pin with confidence, knowing you're getting results.
6. A short film on the future of humanity
What does a short film have to do with… slowing down? Well, you're not creating when you're consuming. And if you're going to slow down by consuming one thing today, make it this short film with Russell Brand.
He discusses the importance of intention over attention. This concept is connected to slowing down. It's not about always getting the most amount of "attention" to your brand, or "to do-ing" your brand to death. But rather, it's more about the "ta-da-ing" of intention by practicing a more mindful approach.
Start by slowing down these six platforms, so you can more smartly spend your time. You may find that you'll get access to an infinite, creative force that guides you along.


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A single malt scotch record was made this week after an incredibly rare bottle of Macallan whiskey sold for an unbelievable $628,000 at a major auction. That makes for one expensive bottle, yet for interested buyers who have the time, money, and passion for liquor, it might also be considered the purchase of a lifetime. NBC News reports on this pricey buy of booze this Monday, Jan. 20, 2014.
The single malt scotch record proved that overall scotch sales are anything but on the rocks this 2014. A highly expensive and rare bottle of untouched Macallan whiskey recently set the world record for the most costly purchase of single malt whiskey that has ever been sold at an open auction, fetching a stunning price of $628,000.
It appears that the 6-liter bottle of this much desire Macallan "M" is encased in a beautiful crystal decanter, and sold at well over half a million dollars in Hong Kong during the renowned Sotheby auction It was only anticipated to sell anywhere between $100,000 to $300,000 less, but apparently estimators didn't realize the full value and allure this expensive held for some prospective buyers.
Fortunately, all of the money made in the "M" Decanter single malt whiskey scotch record will not simply be going into the auctioneer's pocket. Instead, the proceeds will be distributed to a variety of in-need Hong Kong charities.
To put into perspective how rare and valuable tehse Decanters were, only four Imperiale versions were ever "brewed and boxed" by the famous Scottish distillery. While wine has often been seen as the costly liquor of choice for selling in recent decades, the prospects of whiskey, including single malt whiskey, are rising steadily this 2014.
"In 2009, we only sold a handful of wines. Now that the market is expanding, and buyers become more sophisticated and knowledge, whisky becomes a part of that," Robert Sleigh, head of wine, Sotheby's Asia told CNBC on Monday.
Concludes the press release on the $628,000 sale:
"When investing in whisky, the main drivers of price are quality and rarity, he said, similar to wine. In the case of the Macallan M, it was a combination of the quality and rarity of the whisky as well as the decanter designed by French crystal maker Lalique, Sleigh added."


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Radio and TV legend Casey Kasem died on Sunday at the age of 82, according to ABC News.
The news was confirmed by Casey's Kasem's agent, Don Pitts. He says there will be a memorial service on Friday. Casey Kasem had been hospitalized in Washington state for two weeks.
Kasem's children -- Kerri, Mike and Julie -- wrote in a statement, "Early this Father's Day morning, our dad Casey Kasem passed away surrounded by family and friends. Even though we know he is in a better place and no longer suffering, we are heartbroken ... The world will miss Casey Kasem, an incredible talent and humanitarian; we will miss our Dad."
Kasem was born in Detroit and started his disc jockey career in Flint before becoming an announcer on Armed Forces Radio Korea Network in 1952. He then worked at radio stations in California, Ohio and New York before launching "American Top 40" in 1970. He was the host until 1988, and hosted again from 1998 to 2004. He also hosted for ten years on "Casey's Top 40."
Kasem was married twice and had four children. He was the voice of many TV characters, including Shaggy on "Scooby-Doo" as well as the voice on many commercials. He supported animal rights and was vegan. He supported environmental causes, as well as political organizations.
His health declined and last year his daughter Kerri said he was suffering from dementia. His three oldest children and brother launched a claim that his current wife Jean was not letting them see their father. A court denied a petition launched to let his daughter take care of him in October 2013, but last month, Kerri was granted conservatorship amid a battle with Kasem's second wife.
Casey Kasem was hospitalized after an argument between Jean and Kerri. Last week, a Los Angeles County judge gave daughter Kerri Kasem the authority to have doctors end his infusions of water, food and medicine.


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Stanford Cardinal vs. Indiana Hoosiers
The Field
• Stanford will compete in its first traditional dual meet of the 2013-14 season when it faces Indiana at noon (PT) on Saturday at Avery Aquatic Center.
• Stanford opened its season last week with a friendly, non-traditional meet with West Coast neighbor UC Santa Cruz.
• The Cardinal is coming off a campaign in which Kristian Ipsen and David Nolan each earned a pair of individual titles as Stanford finished seventh at the 2013 NCAA Championships.
• Stanford set four school records in 2012-13 under the direction of (then) first-year head coach Ted Knapp.
• Indiana opens its season with a doubleheader against Cal (Oct. 11) and Stanford (Oct. 12).
• The Hoosiers are coming off their first top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships in more than 30 years, placing ninth in 2013.
• Leading the Hoosiers' returners is seven-time Big Ten champion Cody Miller and Eric Ress, who was runner-up in the 100 and 200 back at the 2011 NCAA Championships.
Cardinal Clips
• Stanford (8) and Indiana (6) have combined for 14 NCAA titles.
• Diver Kristen Ipsen was the highest American finisher (12th) in 3-meter (413.35) at 2013 FINA World Championships.
• David Nolan leads all Cardinal returners with 12 All-America citations to his name. Nolan won the 200 IM and 100 back at the 2013 NCAA Championships.
• Tom Kremer was third in the 200 free (1:33.07) at last season's NCAA Championships while breaking a 26-year old National Age Group record. Kremer bested the 1:33.28 set by two-time Olympic gold medalist Troy Dalbey in 1987.
• Saturday's meet will follow a traditional 16-even format.
A Dose From Dr. Dive
Head diving coach Rick Schavone breaks down the matchup with Indiana …
"The Indiana divers are one of the top-five teams in the country, with two divers who are easily All-Americans. Their team is at least a month farther along than we are, as we've only been training since the start of school three weeks ago.
"We've got a great men's team. They're all working really hard and diving really well. Bradley Christensen has been a great addition and has been challenging Kristen Ipsen on the 1-meter. But Kristen always carries that top level with him in everything he does.
"We've had some very competitive practices. It's a very competitive environment and we hope that carries over into our meets."


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Does anybody know a way to create a rule in Gmail to forward emails from a specific contact or email address? If so, is there a way to forward to SMS?
I've tried playing around with the filtering but this needs a global forwarding address?
migrated from superuser.com Apr 19 '12 at 16:11
This question came from our site for computer enthusiasts and power users.
Setup a filter that is
There are several services available online that will convert e-mails to SMS (usually for a small fee).
Gmail allows you to add a forwarding address, as long as you can verify that you own the account by clicking the link in the verification mail. Once added, you can create a filter that will forward only selected e-mails, such as only e-mails coming from a specific address.