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"Guardians of the Galaxy" holds strong in second week & Rocket rules the comic shelves!
After a historic debut weekend for an August film, James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy" from Marvel Studios was unable to overcome the big green dudes from the Michael Bay produced "Ninja Turtles" to remain in first place for a second weekend in a row. However, it still raked in $42.1 million in its' second weekend - a drop of only 55% which makes it the best second week earning by any film in 2014 so far. As Box Office Mojo notes, this second week drop is roughly the same as the second week takes of April's "Captain America: the Winter Soldier" and 2013's "Thor: the Dark World" - both more expensive sequels to already established superhero films. Within ten days, "Guardians of the Galaxy" has raked in $176.5 million in North America, which already has made it the top film of the year so far. It also added just over $40 million overseas for a ten day worldwide haul of $313.5 million. Having quickly become a critical darling and a pop culture (and merchandising) dynamo, this quirky space team has quickly become one of Marvel Studios' most unexpected hits.
In addition, Marvel Comics has accomplished the surprisingly rare feat of translating hype for a film into sales for their comic books. July's sales estimates are in and "Rocket Raccoon #1" by Scottie Young sold nearly 294,000 copies to dominate the top 100 list and lead the direct market to its' biggest month since 1997. It spearheaded over $53 million generated in comic book and trade paperback sales for direct market retails, topping the previous high from October 2013. This is a tremendous achievement for Young as well, as until now he'd toiled for years on low selling "Oz" adaptations for kids. This strong July turned a flat year into a profitable one for the industry. For the record, the relaunch of "Spider-Man 2099 #1" also sold extremely well, debuting at the bottom of the top 5 with over 90,000 copies sold. The general "Guardians of the Galaxy" comic is a sold top 20 seller, outselling far more "well known" comics such as a slew of Batman, Superman, Wolverine, and various X-titles. In addition, three "Guardians of the Galaxy" related trade collections were among the top 20 graphic novel sellers for the month.
"Weapon X Program" to rise in the ashes of "Death of Wolverine"!
Marvel Comics plans to ax off Wolverine this September. If you haven't heard, that is strange as they've been screaming about it since at least April, with more details about the aftermath arising as the months have went on. It should be a cautious sign when not even the poster child for 1990's popularity can currently sustain steady sales for longer than a year without desperate stunts or relaunches anymore, but it is a lesson completely lost, or ignored, by editors. At any rate, in addition to "mourning" crossover tie ins and a "Logan Legacy" mini series, writer Charles Soule and artist Steve McNiven will kick off a five issue mini series in November called "Death of Wolverine: the Weapon X Program" which serves as "a direct sequel" to the "death". The premise is that in the aftermath of Weapon X's most well known creation, five recent "experiments" flee from a compound and now have the world after them. One of them, Junk, is able to gain animal-like abilities at will. The series is considered a darker version of "Runaways". Naturally, spin offs of the Weapon X project are nothing new; Deadpool is perhaps the most well known and successful. If this seems like a darker version of DC Comics' "Reign of the Supermen", note that "big two" comics are much like professional wrestling; the only new ideas are recycled old ideas.
Meanwhile, Lenil Yu's variant cover for the 48 page "Death of Wolverine" has been revealed. It will cost five dollars and likely have enough variant covers to circle Jupiter at least once. Marvel marketing for you! The most overexposed character in Marvel Comics history has to get a send off which will put "Death of Superman" promotion to shame.
New Rick Remender series to launch from "AXIS"!
It is little surprise anymore that Marvel Comics uses crossover events to justify the launch of new comics; in fact, it is expected. Thus it is little surprise that in the build up for the next crossover event, "Avengers & X-Men: Axis", it was announced that the aftermath from it would spawn a new ongoing series by writer Rick Remender with possible involvement by Jerome Opena. Details were scarce but he promised that it would involve one of the villains from "Axis".
"Axis" spins out of events from "Uncanny Avengers" as well as has ties to everything Rick Remender has written for Marvel for years (such as "Captain America", "Uncanny X-Force", and "Secret Avengers"). It will see the Avengers and the X-Men, who often fight each other more than anyone else, be forced to team up to battle a child's action figure collection's worth of villains such as Red Skull (in Onslaught's armor), Dr. Doom, Hobgoblin, Sabretooth, Loki, and Carnage. It will be the fall crossover event to flank the summer crossover event, "Original Sin" (which is selling modestly).
Suggested Links
- Marvel Comics news: "Guardians of the Galaxy" crushes it and Sony's heroine film
- Marvel Comics news: "Avengers: Age of Ultron", "Ant-Man", and "Star Wars" comics
- Marvel Comics news: "Avengers NOW" with Falcon as Cap, and the new film schedule
- Indie comics news "Ninja Turtles" sequel bound, and Jay Faerber's "Copperhead"
- DC Comics news plus: "Batman v Superman" ducks "Cap 3", Young Justice and cereal


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Deep in the heart of Texas, a community wages war against an unrelenting species of fire ants. These fearsome invaders are ravaging the land, the animals, and even the people. Their stings kill wildlife and maim farm animals. Nothing seems to stop them. They're everywhere and they get into everything. Now, National Geographic has found a stranger who says he has a secret weapon in this battle against these fire ants.
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PORTLAND, Ore. -- SooBin Kim tied for 30th at the LPGA Safeway Classic to finish as the top amateur in the professional tournament. The UW junior shot 2-under 70 in Sunday's final round and ended up with a four-round total of 8-under 280 at Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Portland, Ore.
She was not the only golfer with Husky ties to finish strong at the tournament. Husky grad Paige Mackenzie tied for 23rd after finishing 10-under 278. She shot a final round 69.
Mackenzie pocketed $12,717 for her efforts. Kim, meanwhile, will join her Husky teammates this week in Japan for the Topy Cup.
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Once upon a time, I was a firearms trainer in the USAF, and in the mid-80s, the FBI was going around to many local police departments and holding "Officer Survival" classes and range sessions. These focused on strategies, tactics, and on doing things that were useful in surviving armed encounters with criminals, but were prohibited in the officer's normal/formal firearm training sessions and qualifications. Examples might include shooting from various positions on the ground (like you'd been knocked down), and what to do if you unexpectedly found yourself in a criminal's gunsights and were forced to disarm (drop your gun).
In the latter drill, you took your loaded revolver, and when told to do so, you gently tossed it on the ground (not TOO far away) so it landed with the muzzle facing away from you, with the right side of the gun "up". Then, with your hands held high in a surrender position, they would yell "GO!", and (don't try this at home, folks) you'd jump/lunge for your gun, pick it up, and quickly shoot all 6 shots into the target. It was a great drill, and a useful one based on the number of officers who had found themselves in similar situations but had no experience to fall back on, or confidence that they would do well if they needed to shoot their way out of a similar situation.
Anyway, as the Emergency Services Team's assigned firearms instructor, I was invited to attend the range sessions and shoot with the group, even though I was not a sworn officer. However, because I was not a sworn officer, I could not attend the classroom sessions where they taught the tactics and reasoning behind the drills and described the drills in detail. I was told to show up at the range with a suitable weapon (I could not use my issue .38, as I was technically "off duty"), follow the instructions as given on the line, and that one of the FBI instructors would be posted nearby in case I had any questions.
At that time, I only had one 4" duty-size revolver, so I grabbed my military web belt rig and transferred a slightly larger holster onto the belt for the range sessions. Then I packed up and went to the range. Upon arrival, I advanced to the firing line, uncased and holstered my revolver, then waited for the group to finish the class session. I talked with one of the agents a bit, and he expressed admiration for my weapon; I told him I was pretty happy with how it shot, and was just getting it broken-in as it was fairly new. He smiled a strange smile, and said something about how it would be a bit more broken-in by the end of the class, then wandered off to get something ready. I didn't even think about his comment until later.
We went to the line, and shot several drills, reloading as soon as the gun was empty (this was a big change from the former method of "do everything on command"; the FBI found that when folks were trained like that, and then got into a gunfight, they sometimes didn't reload their gun once it was emptied -- because no one told them to reload after the first burst of gunfire). The next drill was announced, and I could hear a few of the cops I knew start to chuckle, but I didn't know what was going on quite yet.
We advanced to the line, were reminded that this was a dangerous drill, and to be as safe as possible. We were then told to draw our weapon, reminded to try to get it to land with the right side facing up and the barrel pointing at the target, then told to toss our guns out into the gravel at least 6-8 feet in front of the line. I looked to my right, and then my left, and EVERY OTHER PERSON ON THE LINE WAS WATCHING AND WAITING FOR ME TO THROW MY GUN OUT INTO THE GRAVEL FIRST. I'd been set-up! I knew I had to do it, or the cops I worked with every day would never let me forget it. I sighed, swallowed hard, picked a spot out in front of me that looked softer than the surrounding area, and gently threw my month-old, high-polish royal-blue-finish, 4" Colt Python out into the dust/rocks/cracked gravel of the outdoor range. :smt086
Then, one after one, the cops all threw their well-worn military-issue S&W model 15 .38 specials out into the gravel, we all assumed the hands-up position, and waited for the "GO!" command. We pounced on our guns, shook them once to get any gravel out of the barrel/chambers, and fired 6 rounds into the target as quickly as possible. Then we stood up, reloaded, re-holstered, and went back to the line to do it again. I got a nice round of polite applause for being dedicated enough to the course to sacrifice the finish on my gun for the learning experience, and was later told by one of the instructors that some cops in other classes had absolutely refused to do it with their personally-owned weapons. Some even objected to doing it with issued-by-their-department guns!
Pretty much from that point on, I have always treated guns as tools, and like most tools, if you want to get enough experience to get GOOD with your favorite tool, it needs to get hot, dirty, holster-worn, and used hard under field/real-world conditions (or as close as we can safely get to it). Most folks who own one or two "pretty" guns just won't do that to their favorite blaster; heck, some of them will freak-out over a single tiny scratch!
As some shooters begin to accumulate more handguns, it's not unusual for them to pick up a "nice" newer version of their favorite gun/brand, and keep another well-used one for regular shooting like classes, competitions, and such. These folks know the importance of regular practice, but also want at least one nice-looking gun and are willing to pay the price to keep two on-hand, one to fill each role. I even have a few Glocks that are basically stock, but have been dressed-up with a new silver-look finish on the slide/barrel for a bit of "bling"; some folks call guns like these their "BBQ" or "Sunday" or "formal" guns. Although these are a bit more fancy than my normal Glocks, they get shot regularly, too (usually on the indoor range).


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Simon And Milo lyrics
Simon And Milo
In the distance, beyond the mountains, there was the sound of beating drums. The air was weighed heavy with hatred. The war they called "Ochiyaki" had lasted for more than 20 years. Each side had had its victories, and its share of loss. Simon and Milo remember both well, and hope never to re-visit that time. For you see, Milo and Simon were enemies in the truest sense. They hated each other with a zeal that came from their convictions, a sense of duty that could compel them to kill.
In the distance, beyond the mountains, there was the sound of beating drums. The air was weighed heavy with hatred. The war they called "Ochiyaki" had lasted for more than 20 years. Each side had had its victories, and its share of loss. Simon and Milo remember both well, and hope never to re-visit that time. For you see, Milo and Simon were enemies in the truest sense. They hated each other with a zeal that came from their convictions, a sense of duty that could compel them to kill.
Milo had been drawn into the Ochiyaki when his brother Jurgen was killed by a mammoth "Wasabi" bomb off the Morgan peninsula. As a young boy, he never dreamed that he could fight, would fight...but fight he did, and well.
Simon came to the Ochiyaki as a sad young man, who had never known family, never known the touch of his mother or the boisterous, sometimes embarrassing, laugh of his father. He was raised by the government and, like many young boys and girls of the time, met the call to war when he reached the "acceptable" fighting age. He was never sure what it was he was fighting for. He knew that winning in battle meant making it to the next day, another meal, another chance to find a friend. Even in war, when misery was the rule of the day, Simon could find no one. Simon was alone.
Simon and Milo were sent to face each other at sea. Milo worked as an oarsman on the large shipped called "TIKIWA." He was the pride of the ship, able to pull the mammoth vessel forward with the dipping of his oar alone, and for this reason his division had never lost a battle. He would always greet you with a smile, as sad as he may have been, and would always whistle the same mysterious tune.
Simon was an "Enichya." Prized for their slightness in stature, cunning and speed these young men and women were frequently sent into battle on the oceans where their weight allowed for ships to offer up full divisions without comprimising the need for heavy artillery.
It was a brisk autumn day off the Morgan, directly east of "Te" bay. The swells were high, and the ships rolled across their huge peaks with amazing agility. Simon was feeling ill, and he tried to stay as close to the rail as he could, just in case the movement became too much for him. He thought about his life, and how much he hated having to fight in a war he had never really understood. He wondered about life beyond the Morgan, and whether he would ever know anything of it. Simon also wondered if he would ever know love, and deep down he knew he would do anything he could to understand what it was to live in the heart of another. It was then that he caught a glimpse of the TIKIWA, cresting over a wave 200 "cubits" away. He could see the oars cutting through the water as the ship moved in his direction. Simon immediately alerted his commander.
Before long, instructions had been conveyed to every corner of the ship and slowly it made its dramatic turn toward the TIKIWA. Simon was afraid. He had never fought in a real battle before. There had been drills, and he had done well, but today would be a matter of life or death.
For a moment, Simon lost sight of the enemy ship, he scanned the deep valleys of water; and saw nothing. He breathed easy for a moment hoping that perhaps his ship had out maneuvered the massive enemy vessel. Suddenly the TIKIWA rolled over a wave next to him and rammed deep into his ship's hull. He could hear the violent screech of splintering wood, and the hulls cracking under the immense force of each ship's weight. There was smoke and chaos. Warriors were screaming and running, calling their comrades to battle.
Seeing the gaping hole in the TIKIWA's hull, he jumped from his ship and pulled himself into the enemy vessel. He could hear the battle raging overhead, and he made his way through the lower deck, wading through cold water and debris. It was dark and as he neared a small staircase, he could hear a rustling behind him. He turned slowly, in time to see the hulking figure of Milo descending upon him from a stowage rack in the ceiling. The two men fought like angry dogs, with neither gaining an upper hand. Simon matched each of Milo's blows with a single precise one of his own. Simon was smaller, yes, but his will to know love gave him the strength to keep such a massive opponent at bay.
Before long the men drifted out through the hole and were fighting in the open water. Milo was a much better swimmer than was Simon. The little "Enichya" tried as hard as he could but before long, Milo had gained the upper hand and was preparing to squeeze the life out of his little enemy. Simon was frightened. Simon did not know that Milo too was frightened for, despite his size, he had never had to fight a man who's face and eyes he could see, never had to accept the responsibility that came with killing.
It was then that an eerie calmness descended over Simon and Milo . The water was still, and the noise was gone. Simon felt warmth against his back, and could see confusion in Milo's eyes. Milo had stopped struggling and was staring at the sky just behind Simon's head. Simon didn't know what to do. Was this a trick, or should he take his eyes from Milo? Simon took a deep breath, turned, and his rectangular deep, blue eyes swelled with tears. The sky had opened and a bright helix of light shone down on the two warriors. Through the light, he could see a dark shadow, a figure, who motioned the men to climb a narrow band of steps. Simon looked to Milo and for the first time saw that Milo was as afraid as he. He reached up and touched his enemy's shoulder.
The man who, seconds earlier, would have taken his life lay his hand upon
Simon's shoulder and together they climbed. The men could see the Morgan beneath them. It was as if they were in a room of glass, hovering above the lands that many had fought so long and hard for. There was a table ahead of them. The table was sleek and modern, unlike anything the two men had ever seen before. Upon the table was set a shiney instrument with six strings. Simon looked to Milo; he edged forward, towards the instrument and when he was but inches away, a booming voice beckoned from all around them...
"There has been too much fighting. Too many people have been hurt, too many families shattered, too many loves lost. Only true love holds the key to your destiny"
"Who are you?" Simon asked. "Where and what is this place?"
The voice continued. "You men have been chosen for your talents, which you both must discover on your own. Chosen to live in a time that is not your own, sentenced to walk the earth in search of true love. You will not know where you are going until you get there. You could be sent to anytime, to anyplace. You will have to adapt as friends and discover how you may work together to spread a message of love, a message of peace. The six stringed instrument on the table is for Milo. He will know what to do with it."
Simon reached for the instrument and handed it to Milo. Milo studied it, admiring its beauty, plucked its strings and marveled at its sound. For the first time, the two men smiled at each other.
"Good luck to you both, and remember that you can find love anywhere, if you look for it. Your first stop...EUROPA."
With that and a flash of bright light the men were transported to the beginning of a great adventure.
From nightclub to rave... from juice bar to discotheque... Simon and Milo
immerse themselves in the underbelly of the weekend... after finding Simon facedown in his own banana milkshake... Milo saw that his friend had given up... then... a great unseen voice descended from the heavens and announced... "Simon and Milo... it seems you have lost your way... remember your mission... only true love holds the key to your destiny..."
Together the duo began to assemble a musical account of their absurd social journey... a study, if you will, of the night... welcome... to Prozz鋕... Saturday People... Enjoy.
The dudes behind the music are Simon and Milo, or Jason Levine and James McCollum from the Philosopher Kings. Their first CD, "Hot Show", was released autumn 1998, and sold out REALLY fast with their first single, "Omobolasire", and even faster when their second chart-topping (and most popular) hit "Sucks To Be You" was released to airwaves and to the music video scene. Their video went on the market in 1999, and it's still selling out everywhere (heck, I couldn't even FIND it ntil just recently!). Their second CD, "Saturday People", was released Tuesday, November 7th, year 2000, and it's a big hit! I got my copy the second day it was available, and lots were sold by then.
Prozz鋕's songs are mainly about love, but on the second CD there's a song about being who you want to be ("Be As"), a song about raves, and a song about the death of a friend; which basically says there's a bit more variety in the second album.
Recently, the site Prozz鋕Mall was released, where you will soon be able to buy cool Prozz鋕 merchandise! Right now you can buy two t-shirts (thank God, I wasn't going to be able to live without a Sucks To Be You one for much longer I'll tell you that), that are exceedingly cool, and probably more later.
Not only that, but www.nevergetoveryou.com was released as a promo for their new single "www.nevergetoveryou", a song about internet romance. Prozz鋕ia was released as well as a site with all kinds of spiffy info about the group. Also has lots of pictures and fun stuff to look at. Check it out! Also, every once in awhile, the owners of the site will pick one random person who signed the guestbook and send them a promo Sucks To Be You poster (I'd LOVE to have that on my wall!)! So sign the guestbook too!
SIMON: Simon (Jason Levine, AKA Jay) is the lead singer in Prozz鋕, who also plays the guitar and does some background vocals. He's the cutie without the neck (his head levitates off his shoulders and can go left and right in the Sucks to be You video, and looks really cool), and with the anime-type eyes, blue hair. He's the shorter one. He's got a really sexy voice with an English accent, and he's the bigger romantic out of the two. If you ask me, Jay and Simon look ALOT alike, except for the neck-less, really short, no-nose anime eyes thing.
MILO: Milo (James McCollum) doesn't sing much in the albums, but he gets one song entirely to himself on each album ("I Like To Watch (Milo's Night Out" for Hot Show, and "Feed The Night" for Saturday People). He's the tall, buff, hot blond who never seems to open his eyes. He has an Elvis-ish hairstyle that looks really cool, in my opinion. His weapon of choice (see the video for Sucks to be You, you'll know what I mean) is an acoustic guitar, which is also his instrument. He also plays the sitar in the second album. Milo really likes to smile, and charms the heck out of girls in the process (also note that he has REALLY shiny whites!). He's a real cool guy. James and Milo look ALOT alike, except that James usually has his eyes open.
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Simon And Milo
Simon And Milo - Ready Ready Set Go
Release Date: 2002/04/30
Tracks: 4
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Be As
It's Not Me It's You
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Long Island Residents Urged to Clear Parts of Coast
BETHPAGE, N.Y. — Standing against a backdrop of maps showing Hurricane Irene's path cutting through western Long Island, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano strongly warned residents of low-lying and storm surge areas to evacuate by the 5 p.m. Saturday deadline.
"Listen, this is not the time to be funny or a knucklehead," Mangano said from Office of Emergency Management headquarters, addressing people who have resisted a mandatory evacuation along Nassau's southern coast and pockets of the north shore under threat from dangerous storm surges.
Mr. Mangano said the storm's current track is poised to inflict damage on the county with serious flooding, downed trees and power lines causing disruptions to emergency response.
He could not estimate the number of people who left the evacuation zones, saying he believed most went to stay "with friends and family." The largest of 20 shelters, Nassau County Community College, had already reached capacity at 4,000 people.
Mr. Mangano declined to say if law enforcement officials will undertake forced evacuations. "Public safety officials will do all they can," he said.
Depending on the damage, he said "our intent is to get you back into your homes as quickly as possible." But evacuated residents should expect to stay away from their houses through Monday, he said.
So far, the non-emergency phone line set up has fielded 11,000 calls — a positive sign that residents are keeping 911 lines clear for "life threatening" issues, he said.
If the storm causes significant destruction, National Guard could be deployed. "We accept all additional assistance," Mr. Mangano said.


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However, the most important person responsible for keeping safe is you, the student.
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Nov. 13, 2010
Final Stats
| Post-Game Quotes
Photo Gallery
Post-Game Press Conferences: Romar | Bryan-Amaning | N'Diaye & Thomas
By Gregg Bell
UW Director of Writing
SEATTLE - Alarmed by a Division II team outrebounding them in an exhibition, the Huskies spent this practice week conducting intrasquad tug-of-wars beneath the basket.
Coaches had an elastic lid stretched over hoop and fastened to the rim. Every shot became a battle royale for a rebound. Bodies flew. Players grunted.
Mission accomplished.
Senior Matthew Bryan-Amaning scored a career-high 28 points and had 13 rebounds - two short of another career best - Isaiah Thomas scored 17 and seven Dawgs scored in double figures as 18th-ranked Washington blew away McNeese State 118-64 in Saturday afternoon's opener at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
Coach Lorenzo Romar somehow kept a straight face when he uttered after the game, "I have to say we made progress in a week's time."
Guess so.
Seven-foot junior-college transfer Aziz N'Diaye dominated with 13 points and 15 rebounds in just 15 minutes in his debut for the preseason favorites to win the Pac-10. Senior Justin Holiday had 12 rebounds as Washington held a whopping 69-32 edge on the boards. That helped the Huskies score the third-most points in school history.
Saint Martin's had out-rebounded the Huskies by 10 in last week's exhibition. Romar's preseason thoughts that his fast, athletic team would need a collective rebounding effort from many contributors suddenly became a mission.
"We did a lot of drills, just say that," Bryan-Amaning said. "We have a lot of rebounding drills. Sometimes I think he makes it up on the spot."
Venoy Overton, who said he was 100 percent for the first time in the seven weeks since he pulled a hamstring, had six assists. He also scared the ball out of the overwhelmed Cowboys while forcing many of their 27 turnovers.
Overton saw rebounding drills in his sleep this week. And he's a 6-foot guard.
"Even in the walkthroughs, when it's not a rebounding drill, he's on us to crash the boards," Overton said of Romar.
Bryan-Amaning took advantage of McNeese State playing him with a single, smaller man down low and of Huskies guards continually making brilliant moves and exquisite passes to him. He scored on jumpers, layups, one-handed dunks and one wowing, reverse slam.
Those guards also kept finding N'Diaye alone inside for easy scores. Bryan-Amaning and N'Diaye were a combined 16 for 23 from the field.
"Matt and I were just finishing," said N'Diaye, who ran the floor like a sprinter in his first regular-season game since reconstructive knee surgery in June 2009. "They were making our jobs easy."
Romar has been saying all summer and fall that N'Diaye gives Washington a presence inside it hasn't had in his eight previous seasons leading the Huskies. And in Huskies debut, the towering former soccer player in Senegal with a 7½-foot wingspan stood like the Space Needle and moved like a supersonic jet.
"His presence down there is ridiculous," Bryan-Amaning said.
So was the size of this mismatch. UW seized a 44-point lead in the first 15 minutes against a team that went 10-20 in the Southland Conference last season.
The only alarms heard this time were at the foul line. The Huskies would have surpassed the school record of 130 points, reached in a win over Chico State in 1992, had they been even respectable at the foul line. Washington made just 20 of 42 free throws.
After the game, in the hallway outside the Huskies' locker room, Romar was still refining his new prize. The coach was pantomiming seizing a pass and decisively moving to the basket as N'Diaye stood next to him and watched.
The students in UW's "Dawg Pack" had a grand ol' time all day - even before tipoff. That's when they serenaded Romar as he walked onto the court with a Happy Birthday chorus for him turning 52 on Saturday. The coach just smiled at that.
He stayed happy once the game began.
After Patrick Richard made a 3-pointer to begin the game for McNeese State, Washington held the Cowboys without a field goal for the next 12½ minutes. The Huskies took a 44-7 lead in that span.
After he got leveled by a McNeese State screen, Thomas made three consecutive 3-pointers midway through the first half to put Washington ahead 41-7. Each make produced a larger grin. After the third one, the flashy junior bounced up and down in place, pointed to the floor and mouthed "Right here!" The crowd roared even more.
"A competitor," Romar said admiringly of his national player-of-the-year candidate. "He plays with an edge to him."
Abdul Gaddy scored 10 points and had five assists. The heralded recruit who changed his mind out of a commitment to Arizona before last season looked much quicker and was far more aggressive than he was in most of his up-and-down freshman season.
Gaddy spent the summer with Thomas in their native Tacoma, Wash., working on his swagger and his shot. Saturday, he continually blew past defenders and spun in the lane for fancy passes. One of them sailed past a surprised N'Diaye inside. Another stunned Bryan-Amaning, who missed the lay in.
"Just trying to stay aggressive. I think I am better when I play that way," Gaddy said.
N'Diaye, who arrived this summer from the College of Southern Idaho, had 10 rebounds in his first 7 minutes of the first half.
McNeese State was so inept just trying to get the ball across halfcourt, N'Diaye really never had a chance to control the inside defensively as UW expects him to. The only noticeable flaw in his debut was going 3 for 15 from the foul line. He admitted he began thinking a bit about all the misses as the game went on.
Bryan-Amaning made just six of 12 free throws. The big men going a combined 9 of 27 from the line won't get it done in the tougher games, which are coming in the loaded Maui Invitational that begins on Nov. 22 against Virginia.
So Romar and his staff a new point of emphasis in drills before Tuesday night's home game against Eastern Washington.
If Saturday's rebounding emphasis and results are any indication, Washington might make all of their freebies against EWU.
"Defensive and rebounding," Bryan-Amaning said when asked for the Huskies' identity. "That's all it is."
NOTES: Redshirt junior forward Darnell Gant started along with Thomas, Gaddy, Bryan-Amaning and Holiday. Scott Suggs had started the exhibition, but Romar said he likes the 6-8 Gant's experience and added size early in games. ... Desmond Simmons was the only one on the roster who did not play. Romar said after the game the 6-7 freshman forward would be redshirting. He started preseason practice late because of arthroscopic knee surgery.


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February 6, 2014 | Vol. 117 -- No. 42
Scott and Angie Bleeker
The Bleeker family embrace life's varied circumstances with humor.
By LUELLA DOW
Meet Scott and Angie Bleeker. If you don't know how to smile and laugh you'd better learn right quick. Scott and Angie know the bright side of life and use it often.
Scott Bleeker was 3 years old when his family lived at Deer Park. Scott said, "I loved Deer Park. We had a hobby farm. When my folks moved to Deep Creek Canyon I went to Medical Lake School. We had 20 cows and three horses on a 60-acre farm." Scott was in Future Farmers of America (FFA) during high school. He said, "I really liked the animals. I liked to show them in FFA. I wrestled too."
Angie was a "...
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Asynchronous message processing is an important use case for many J2EE applications, so it is important to ensure that the required quality of service is handled properly by applications, and in many cases this could lead to the use of expensive distributed (XA) transactions. However, in this article we propose that it is possible to guarantee the same quality of service without using transactions for message retrieval. Moreover, our solution structures the various aspects of message processing using Spring's AOP framework.
Message-driven beans (MDBs) have become a cornerstone of almost any enterprise Java project since their introduction in the EJB 2.0 specification. MDBs have a simple and clean API, and you don't need to create or generate home and local/remote interfaces, all contributing to the fast and wide acceptance of MDBs by the Java development community. As you know, a significant part of almost any large J2EE project is concerned with integration with other systems. A preferable way to integrate different systems is by using the enterprise queues and topics infrastructure provided by message-oriented middleware (MOM), and all J2EE servers are required to have their own JMS-compatible MOM implementation.
It is likely that the lion's share of enterprise J2EE projects are dependent on receiving and/or sending JMS messages. Therefore, it is extremely important for J2EE architects and developers to be familiar with different methods of message consuming and producing because this could ultimately dictate project success or failure. Recently, some alternatives to the MDB model have started to emerge, such as Spring's and ActiveMQ's message-driven POJOs. Besides being an interesting and useful technology by itself, the current MDB model is well established, simple enough, and widely adopted in J2EE community.
This article concentrates on the traditional, MDB-based consuming model. It shows how such a scenario can be refactored to use a more performant non-transactional message retrieval, while at the same time assuming the business case requires a once-and-only-once quality of service (QoS); in other words, the business code should process messages no more than once, and no messages should be lost. This is the most strict QoS and the most interesting one to implement.
It's safe to say that in most J2EE projects, whenever the use case of consuming JMS messages arises, MDBs are going to be used. Besides the most trivial cases, when it's acceptable from the business perspective to lose incoming messages and/or process message duplicates, these MDBs are deployed with the container-managed transaction (CMT) demarcation model and the transactional attribute
RequiresNew. In order for these settings to work, the MDB should be configured to use a transactional
QueueConnectionFactory (or
TopicConnectionFactory). In such a setup the message consumption process can be described in the following steps:
onMessage() method of the MDB.
onMessage() call returning without exception, then the J2EE container will execute a two-phase commit on all resources enlisted in the JTA transaction. Because one of the resources enlisted in the JTA transaction is the destination from which the JMS message was consumed, upon a successful commit of the JTA transaction, the message will be removed from the queue/topic.
onMessage() call throwing a
RuntimeException, then the J2EE container will execute a rollback on the XAResource representing the destination from which the JMS message was consumed in Step 3, and therefore the message will stay in the queue/topic and potentially be redelivered later. Also in this case the MDB instance will be destroyed and removed from the processing pool.
As you can see, the process of transactional message consumption is very robust. Such a processing model guarantees a once-and-only-once QoS; in other words either the message will be successfully processed just once, or it's not going to be processed at all (potentially removed from the queue after a predefined number of retries or time to live exceeded or moved into a dead message queue).


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3 Reasons Traditional Index Mutual Funds Are Better Than ETFs
Last week I wrote about why I chose to simplify my retirement portfolio just a little bit. In the comments, Tom asked
Just curious, any particular reason(s) why you prefer mutual funds to ETFs?
I've setup a Vanguard brokerage account and am contemplating selling all my Roth IRA mutual funds and putting them into the same ETFs, so I'm very interested to know why you prefer one over the other.
For starters, I should say that for it's mostly just personal preference. I started investing in traditional index mutual funds early on and I've continued to do so ever since. It used to be that ETFs were less expensive to own than open-ended index funds, but with Vanguard lowering the minimums on their Admiral shares to just $10,000 that's no longer the case for most asset classes. That said, there are a few admittedly minor quirky things that make me slightly prefer traditional open-ended index funds over exchange traded funds.
3 Reasons I Prefer Index Mutual Funds To ETFs
- Rebalancing is easier with mutual funds - Rebalancing with traditional mutual funds is significantly easier because of fractional ownership. Since mutual funds are always bought and sold at net asset value (NAV) and not based on supply and demand for the fund shares themselves, you can own own fractions of a share. Hence, a mutual fund's NAV is more or less irrelevant. Contrast that with ETFs, which are sold on an exchange. You can buy 200 shares of VTI or 201 shares of VTI, but you can't buy 200.256 shares of VTI. Is this a huge difference? No, but it does add a few minutes of work to rebalance time. Plus, if you're OCD like me, it's really annoying when things aren't exact.
- ETFs cost money to buy and sell - Yes, I'm aware plenty of brokerages now offer free ETF trades, but those aren't the only transaction costs I'm referring to. You also have to pay a bid/ask spread, which basically amounts to a commission for the stock exchange on which the trade is made and is baked into the market price. There's no avoiding it. Yes, index mutual funds have to deal with these same bid/ask spread issues on the back end when they invest your money in the fund's underlying securities, but they also have a few tools to help mitigate these costs somewhat. Overall, this is a very, very tiny advantage for index mutual funds: very small, but still non-zero.
- Automatic monthly investments are much easier with index mutual funds – This is one advantage I definitely take for granted. I have monthly automatic investments set up for at least 9 different mutual funds in various accounts. It's easy, it's automatic, and I know I'm always getting in at the NAV price no matter which day the purchase goes through. With ETFs, this unfortunately isn't universally supported. Some brokerages do offer this functionality, however, you aren't always guaranteed to get the best price because of the way ETFs are traded on the exchange. Do you trust your broker? No, I mean do you really trust your broker? Neither do I. I wouldn't count on always getting the best price if you try to do this with ETFs. Again, very slight advantage to open-ended index funds.
But ETFs Do Have Some Advantages
I don't mean to knock ETFs. They do have some pretty significant advantages for some investors. For example,
- ETFs sometimes have slightly lower expense ratios than their mutual fund equivalents (not always, but sometimes).
- Since they trade on an exchange, all the traditional stock trading tricks such as stop-loss orders apply.
- You can buy/sell options on ETF shares.
- You can trade throughout the day. I don't see this as an advantage at all, but some investors might.
- Most importantly, some asset classes are only economically available in ETF form. Commodities are good example of this. There really aren't any good, inexpensive mutual fund options. Gold (in the form of GLD) is another example.


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Deputy PM Nick Clegg Favours £12m Charity Backed by His Wife
DEPUTY PM NICK CLEGG FAVOURS £12m CHARITY BACKED BY HIS WIFE - Ah, the 'Old Boys Network' is still very much alive and kicking in Whitehall as it is announced that Nick took it upon himself to intervene in the dishing out of public funds, for a charity that his wife is involved so it was able to benefit from the taxpayers coffers.
According to the article in the Daily Mail, both Labour and Tories joined forces to call for an investigation after a number of emails were leaked; clearly showing that Nick Clegg had a direct hand in his aides lobbying for the funds being granted; instead of going through the usual channels and competing with all the other eligible charities, as should be the case with public money.
'There was unease at the way that it appeared Mr. Clegg wanted special treatment for Booktrust, and the fact that Miriam's name came up.' A Whitehall insider said.
From reports that are coming out of Whitehall it is believed that a number of officials were 'extremely concerned' over the way Nick Clegg pursued the funding for BookTrust, a charity his wife is heavily involved with.
Nick Clegg, and his inside cronies, have of course come to their own defense saying that there was "no wrongdoing" although when initially asked by reporters about the situation, Whitehall gave a clear "No Comment!" statement.
Regardless of how Nick Clegg and his cronies handle this one, there is no denying that emails, from his aide, Mr. Sanders, to the Department of Education, clearly asked that the charity money be given directly to BookTrust.
The decision to fast-track the money was made by Education Secretary Michael Gove, after receiving emails from Mr. Sanders, and it is reported the whole affair was also supported by our Prime Minister, that sterling pillar of society, David Cameron.
Well that's the bones of the report. The link above to the Daily Mail will give you direct access to the full story. Now for my time on the soap box…
There's an old saying from my neck of the woods… "Scratch a liar, find a thief" and in my opinion you don't have to search very far in government to find a liar or a thief. There is not a day that goes by without one of these greedy fools isn't plunging their sticky fingers into the cherry pie.
The only real comforting thought here for the British public is the assured understanding that this member of the Ali Baba fraternity will never sit in the PM's chair and in fact it is almost a certainty that this government is not going to see another term in power – well not unless the entire population pop off to the NHS for a frontal lobotomy en-mass.
If Nick Clegg had an ounce of moral fortitude he would stand up, admit his wrongdoings, and then step down as a Member of Parliament, but the trouble is, he, and the rest of the 'Old Boys Network' couldn't muster up enough moral fortitude combined to fill a Kipling's mince pie.
What shocked at my open and frank analysis of the low life that we call government? Well here's an insight for you… When I was a kid my mother said to me; "There is only one thing in this life that you can give and keep at the same time… Your word, and without this you'll just join the rank and file of all the other thieves and liars in this world."
So you see I don't mind standing up and saying what I think – at least it's my open and honest opinion, based on the facts of the information I have at the time. Libelous? Now there's another law that is mainly used to protect the guilty and if Nick Clegg or any of the other pond life wants to sue me in open court, go right ahead. I'm as poor as a church mouse and frankly I could do with the publicity.
The bottom line of this article is that once again we see the 'Old Boys Network' working at its most efficient – not for the good of the British people, but for the few in the inner sanctum of what is clearly Ali Baba's cave. Note carefully here that the article does point out that both the Tories and have joined forces to investigate this matter in full. Probably yet another lie that will see the thieves plunder the cookie jar, but what you might see, as a result, is Nick Clegg being hung out to dry, which only enforces the adage "There is no among thieves."
I want to close this article by making it clear that I have used the words, Thief, Thieves, Liar and Liars quite clearly. In my mind when an elected public official lies or does something underhanded in order to benefit themselves or those surrounding them, which involves the public purse, then this is a clear case of theft.


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Jan 27, 2009 9:58 AM
There's nothing sexier than your little black dress and nothing that complements it so well as a perfectly drawn lip. Now, a limited edition Levres Signess Chanel Lip Cream ($60) will help you get the latter, straight from the original founder of the former. This lipstick palette features six hydrating, creme shades of lip color, ranging from soft pink to fiery red—each comprising a portion of the famous double-C logo. Iconic.
If you've got a product or service that you'd like to promote on Outblush, click here to find out about our advertising opportunities.
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Everything old is new again ... the appetite for Beatles nostalgia seems unquenchable. Photo: Supplied
If buying music was simply a practical, sensible affair made on a rational basis, there would be no question that the release on Friday of a new box set of Beatles albums would matter little. As distinct from the weight, which is 13kg, or the price, which is a far from little $550.
For a start, it contains no new music from a band that stopped recording more than 40 years ago, the vaults pretty much emptied out of alternate versions and studio offcuts for the mid-'90s anthology documentary series.
Then there is the fact that, inspired by the incredible sales of that anthology series and the realisation Beatles fans will buy and buy at this time of year, every year, EMI finds some sort of Beatles product to release or re-release. (It's the profit margin, stupid.)
The latest box set repackages the music and images of John, Paul George and Ringo. Photo: Supplied
And, finally, this is far from an adaptation of new technology. Yes, they are the product of the remastering process that culminated in 2009's CD box sets of both stereo and mono versions of all the albums. And yes, the sound quality of those remasters was genuinely astonishingly better than the CD versions foisted on us for two decades and therefore justifying, even for casual listeners, replacing old with new.
But, people, be sensible: this new box of the remastered albums is on vinyl records. You know, black plastic, 12 inch (never 30cm) circular objects superseded by CD, which in turn was superseded by digital formats. It is what's described in almost hushed and holy tones by audiophiles as 180g vinyl - that is, thicker than standard records and therefore offering a richer tone. But still, you couldn't be more out of date if you were defending boys being boys at St John's College.
But here's the thing: buying music was never, is never, purely sensible or rational. And not just for tragic little music nerds like me. Take a look at the demographics of people buying Beatles albums, in any format, and you'll see we are talking about twenty and thirtysomethings as well as their parents and grandparents.
We buy music still because it means something more than three or four minutes of transient pleasure, and we hold onto music because it is a tangible memory, a steady reference point. And for many, even in an age of 140-character conversations and music libraries, because it is a physical representation of that memory.
Unless you subscribe to the idea that vinyl sounds better than CD - a subjective argument which has no end - you don't buy vinyl for its practicality: it gets dirty and damaged more easily; it takes up room and can't be played on the run or in the car; and you can't email a track to a friend.
You buy it because the sheer, simple pleasure of sliding the slightly heavy vinyl out of its plastic and paper inner sleeve is hard to describe but palpable. It doesn't just feel more substantial, it feels more real than the CDs.
You buy it because the act of lowering the arm towards the spinning vinyl and hearing the sound of contact takes you back to sitting in your room and putting this, or any other, record on when you needed solace or joy or diversion. And while you listened, maybe poring over the minutiae of the covers for Revolver and Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band; or looking at the photos, presented in something other than CD-size miniature, like the boyish faces peering over the balcony of the EMI building on Please Please Me, or the collection of portraits which came with the ''white'' album.
Understanding this, a reasonable portion of this box's bulk is a large, beautifully presented photo album-style collection of familiar and little-known photographs.
So, yes, common sense says there's no need to get excited by "new" versions of some of the best known music of all time. But since when has common sense ruled the music we love and the reasons we love it?
The Beatles' 14-album box set is released on vinyl on Friday through EMI.


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I have questions about the Nursing Program.
Please visit the Nursing Web page on the TCC website, visit an advisor in person or contact our Online Advisor.
I have questions about Tulsa Achieves.
If you have deadline and requirement questions, please visit the Tulsa Achieves page on the TCC website or e-mail email@example.com. If you have questions about volunteer hours, Metro and Southeast campuses have a Tulsa Achieves advisor on staff in the Academic Advisement Offices, and you are welcome to visit one of those advisors in person.
I need the contact information for my instructor.
Your instructor's contact information will be listed on your course syllabus. If you do not have the course syllabus, log on to Blackboard to see if the instructor has posted the course syllabus there.
How do I find out what books I need?
A few weeks before classes start, print your schedule off of TED. Take that schedule to the bookstore on the campus where your class is located. That bookstore will be able to tell you what book(s) you will need for that class. If your classes are on multiple campuses, then you will have to visit multiple bookstores.
*For online classes, you will buy your books at the Northeast Campus.
For more information, you can visit the TCC bookstore website or call 918.595.7000.
I would like to visit with an advisor on the phone. How do I get to visit with an advisor?
Advisors do not advise students over the phone. Please visit an advisor in person or contact our Online Advisor.


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I did a digital download of the iso for visual studio 2010 professional back a couple of years ago. When I got this iso I gave it to a coworker and asked for him to burn a few copies of the disc. I tried to use one of these discs the other day and they were not burned properly. I also lost the original iso from the download so I can't make another disc.
I found a trial version of visual studio 2010 professional which appears to be able to take a license key and convert for full usage according to here.
My question is if there is any difference in the build of the trial other than including some sort of lock out mechanism for when the trial days run out? Will I be missing menus like express version does? Will I be able to use power productivity tools and xceed datagrid, as well as other 3rd party add ins?
My only other vs2010 backup is a "web installer" which I do not want to archive going forward because at some future date that installer may not work.
My hopes are that someone can confirm for me that the trial with a legitimate license is pretty much the same build as my original pressed disc.
Thanks for reading.


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HP Netbooks Sport Their Own Linux Interface
HP is now entering the second round of the Netbook match. As advertized, Atom instead of VIA, slimmer, more affordable and most importantly, available with Linux.
Hardware giant Hewlett-Packard has now confirmed rumors that it is venturing into a Linux solution of its own. We're not talking about a complete Linux distribution, but rather a graphical interface built on top of Ubuntu.
HP's so-called Mediastyle interface (not at all unlike Apple's TV interface) is meant to hide Linux from its users. It offers quick access to music, IM, photos, videos and, naturally, email and the Web. The Linux model adds MIE to its name, meaning Mobile Internet Experience. HP is thereby trying to shy as much as possible from the "Linux" name. Hence the statement from Carlos Montalvo, VP of marketing for the Personal Systems Group at HP, in an article in news.cnet that "It's important we made sure that Linux does not manifest itself to the user."
Pictures of the Mediastyle interface have started to appear on the Web and Laptopmag.com has released a video. Looks pretty good.
The first HP Mini 1000s should start appearing in December and the Linux MIEs around January. Prices should start below $400, with the MIE at about $379.
Issue 188/2016
Buy this issue as a PDF
ownCloud Forked
Founder of ownCloud launches the Nextcloud project.
HP Enterprise Unveils a Futuristic Computer
Will The Machine change the way future programmers think about memory?
CoreOS Announces Distributed Storage System
The new Torus distributed storage system is available under an open source license on GitHub
Google Beats Oracle in the Android Lawsuit
Juries decides Google's use of Java APIs Was Fair Use
Linux is the Largest Software Development Project in History
But if you are not using the latest Linux kernel, your system is insecure.
Linksys Says Yes to Open Source Firmware
Home routers will give room for custom firmware but still comply with FCC rules
OwnCloud Founder Resigns
Frank Karlitschek will continue to lead the open source ownCloud project
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS released
"Xenial Xerus" comes with a new packages format and several improvements for the enterprise.
MS Visual Studio Code Editor is Available for Linux
Linux users can now download and install the Windows code editor
Open Container Initiative announces Image Format Project
New initiative will address security and interoperability concerns around container technology.


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Mar 21, 2013 10:50 AM
You know what they say: some people see the glass as half empty, and some people are deluded enough to think that their optimistic, happy-ending fantasies have any basis in reality. If you're one of the latter, you can express your "happiness" with the Happy Face Necklace ($40). Comes in silver, gold, bronze, black, white, and fluorescent pink.
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Thursday, March 31, 2011
Hi Everyone. Been such a long time since I blogged... and things have changed so much!
I had a sleeve gastrectomy done on 3/24/2011 and am just starting to feel like myself. Yes, I know some people feel weight loss surgery is extreme, but it was the right choice for me.
I am often asked what prompted me to make this decision. I sort of liken it to the "Would you rather game" we played as kids.
-Would I rather go through surgery now to get healthy now or be injecting myself with insulin every day for the rest of my life?
-Would I rather be taking multiple medications for high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol or just be taking my vitamins, iron, and calcium supplements?
-Would I rather have to sleep with a CPAP machine the rest of my life or have the possibility of getting rid of it?
-Would I rather spend the rest of my life overweight and having my weight limit what I can do or would I rather be out living my life?
Anyways, I am a week out from surgery now and everything is just starting to sink in. My process going through to get surgery went much quicker than most. My husband also had a sleeve gastrectomy so I sort of knew what to expect. I began exploring the idea of weight loss surgery in August 2010 when my husband started his process. I spoke with my PCP who started me on weight loss medication before referring me just so he could say we tried that. I would have to be on that for 6 months before he would refer me. I was also having some problems with sleep and fatigue and my doctor ordered a sleep study (which is a prerequisite for most people for surgery) and it was found by October (had to go for a two part sleep study) that I had sleep apnea. I continued meeting with my PCP monthly and by November, I had lost 1 pound with the medication and found it actually made me hungrier. Then, they took me off of it and gave me a referral to the bariatric surgery program I wanted. In November, my husband was accepted into the weight loss surgery program and I had to attend a seminar with him. Little did I know at the time that my attendance with him would count for me too. I was accepted into the surgery program at the end of December, had my first appointment in January and when I returned to the surgeon on March 1, after getting my psych eval, an EGD, lots of lab work, meeting with the nutritionist twice and PT once, I was scheduled for surgery. He had a cancellation for 3/24/2011... so I took it... and the rest is history. So, essentially from start of referral to finish, it was only about 5 months. I realize for most people this takes much longer. It took my husband 9 months for the same thing.
And, just a word to anybody who thinks this is the easy way out, it is not. Most bariatric surgery programs have lots of criteria to meet and strict diets to follow before and after. It is quite a commitment. My husband was at an appointment where he could hear someone being yelled at for not reading the diet book that was required prior to the appointment... and he believes that the person was discharged from the program that day.
Anyways, I send the best to you all! Have a great day!
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Glad your feeling better and happy with your decision. I am going to be sleeved next month and I feel its the right decision for me.
1916 days ago
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Keep us posted on your recovery. Don't forget about the emotional side to weight loss too. You may need to blog or write or do whatever you need to to get it out and deal with it.
I know you can do this. I'm rooting for you.
1917 days ago
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Adam Hills to host mass gaywedding on show
- 13
Thu 16th Feb, 2012 in Local News
One of Australia's most beloved and respected comedians Adam Hills lent his support to gay marriage last week when he spoke to lesbian couple Elyse and Rebecca, who were in the audience for Hills' show Adam Hills in Gordon St. Tonight on ABC1.
After revealing that the issue of gay marriage would be the number one thing changed in Australia by his audience were they Prime Minister, Hills told the couple that although it wouldn't be a legal union – being only "a mere TV host," in his words – he could offer the two a "TV wedding."
Watch Rebecca's 'proposal' to Elyse on ABC iView, around the 6-minute mark.
On this week's episode, Hills spoke to Elyse and Rebecca once again to let them know that a controversy had arisen over their TV wedding: it turns out that a lot of gay couples wanted a TV wedding as well, and had let Adam and the show know about it.
The TV wedding has now been expanded to what is being described as a "mass gay wedding" in which Hills plans to "marry" as many gay couples as possible. It looks set to be an extraordinary event planned for Monday 26 March.
The official Adam Hills in Gordon St. Tonight Facebook page posted this update shortly after Hills' announcement:
"To join our Mass Gay TV Wedding on March 26, email [email protected] – include your contact details and a pic of the happy couple!"
Hills, 41, is straight, but has been a continued supporter of the GLBT community, particularly within the field of comedy.
His sidekick on Gordon St. is out-lesbian comic Hannah Gadsby, whom we can bet will be a part of the mass gay wedding in some way.
What do you think? Is Adam's mass gay wedding just a laugh? Or will it assist the wider Australian community in paying attention? Let us know!


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Town Meeting
Understanding Town Meeting:
- Overview
- Town Meeting Procedures
- Town Bylaws related to Town Meeting
- Statutes of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts related to Town Meeting
- Who's Who list of Town Officials, Boards and Committees
- Glossary of Budget Terms used at Town Meeting
- Town Meeting Warrants and Results
- Resources
If you need further information, you can contact the Town Clerk or Town Manager. An ombudsman is present at all Town Meetings to assist voters in wording amendments and answer questions on procedures.
The Town of Andover has an Open Town Meeting form of government meaning that any registered voter may vote at Town Meeting. Andover's Town Charter also includes an appointed Town Manager, and the following elected offices: five member Board of Selectmen, five member School Committee, a Moderator, a five member Housing Authority, a five member Punchard Free School Trustee Board and a member of the Regional Vocational School.
Town Meeting is the legislative body of the Town. It convenes, at least annually at the time and place designated by the Selectmen. Town Meeting considers and adopts an annual operating budget. It also considers and acts upon other matters which require Town Meeting action such as zoning changes, street acceptances, by-law additions and amendments. The business of each Town Meeting is contained in a document known as "the warrant" which includes all matters on which the Town must act. The warrant is published in at least one local paper and mailed to all registered voters within a Finance Committee Report in advance of the Town Meeting. Articles are inserted in the warrant by the Board of Selectmen and by Citizen Petition. The order is determined by the Selectmen.
Town Meeting is unique to New England. We hope that the following information will help you become an informed participant in this basic democratic process that is our legislative form of government.
Town Meeting Procedures
How to place an article on the Town Meeting Warrant
Any resident can place a private article on the Annual Town Meeting Warrant by submitting a warrant article form. This form is used as petition for ten (10) registered voters who sign to have an article appear on the Warrant. The Warrant for the Annual Town Meeting is opened and closed by the Board of Selectmen. This takes place in early November through late January. Please contact the Town Clerk's Office for the precise dates for the current year. However, the Town Clerk will accept articles for the Warrant in proper form earlier than the open date if necessary. The articles are filed and stamped in by the Town Clerk's office and transferred along with Town warrant articles to the Board of Selectmen to process for the Town Meeting.
Once the Warrant is closed by the Board of Selectmen, articles that have not made that time line will be placed on the next meeting. If the Board of Selectmen reopen the Warrant, articles being held for another meeting will be submitted at that time. The Board of Selectmen rarely reopens a Warrant and residents should watch the newspaper or our website for Town Calendar announcements about meetings or call the Town Clerk's Office for information.
After the articles have been placed on the Warrant for a Town Meeting, the articles go through a series of committee and department reviews and hearings. Different boards and committees are responsible for a report at Town Meeting of their findings depending on whose jurisdiction the article will fall under.
For instance, all money articles are reviewed by the Finance Committee at hearings that take place after the closing of the Warrant. A report on their findings are given at Town Meeting when the article is addressed. Residents are welcome to attend these hearings to explain their article to the committee. More discussion will be generated on the floor of Town Meeting before any action is taken by the Town Meeting members.
- Suggestions regarding Submitting a Private Warrant Article Form.
How to place an article on a Special Town Meeting Warrant
From time to time, but especially in the Fall, the Town will call a Special Town Meeting. Special Town Meetings are usually called to take care of any unforeseen emergencies that occur between Annual Town Meetings. These meetings, because of the nature of the articles, are usually called over a shorter period of time and the warrant is not open as long.
To place an article on a Special Town Meeting Warrant, residents need one hundred signatures of registered voters and follow the same procedures as the above.
Residents may petition the Selectmen to call a Special Town Meeting and to insert in the Warrant all subjects specified in the petition. This requires the signatures of two hundred registered voters, but otherwise follows the procedures as above.
How to enter Town Meeting Hall
All Town Meetings are usually held on the campus of Andover High School on Shawsheen Road at the Field House or the Collins Center depending on the number of expected voters at a meeting. Registered voters may enter the hall after receiving a meeting member sticker from their precinct election official. Each registered voter that attends Town Meeting must have their name crossed off the voter list before he/she can enter the hall.
Unregistered voters may attend the meeting but may not vote. They must register with an election official upon entering the meeting. The Moderator will take a vote of the meeting to allow non registered voters to enter the hall and all non registered voters that are not Town Officials will sit in a special section of the Hall so as not to interfere with the voting process.
How to move a private warrant article at Town Meeting
All private warrant articles must be moved by a registered voter on the floor of Town Meeting. Articles are taken up in the order determined by the Board of Selectmen. For each meeting there is always a final date for voter registration to enable new residents to attend the meeting. Call the Town Clerk's Office for voter registration details or check with this website and your local newspapers.
How to be recognized to speak
A voter may be recognized by standing and saying, "Mr. Moderator." Before making any remarks the speaker must give his or her name and address.
How to make a motion and amend an article
Amendments must be presented to the Moderator in writing (three copies). After discussion on the amendment the Moderator calls for a vote on the amendment only. If passed the original motion as amended is voted upon. Amendments to amendments are usually ruled out of order. Motions or amendments which differ materially from that printed in the warrant must be given to the voters in writing at the time of consideration, or shown on a screen readable by all voters. Motions to table are used rarely.
Budget questions - Questions on the budget are encouraged. A voter may address the Moderator on any line item in the finance committee report. Amendments can be offered and will be voted on individually.
Majority Vote - Unless otherwise provided all motions require a majority vote to carry.
Declaring the Vote - The Moderator may decide the sense of the meeting by a voice vote. If in doubt, or, if the decision is questioned, a standing vote may be called for. A voter may request a standing vote.
Privileged Motions - A speaker may be interrupted only for a point of order, a question of the legality of a motion, or a question to clarify information.
Previous Question - Previous question is a formal motion which, if passed, cuts off debate. The motion is not debatable. It is allowed by the Moderator when in his judgment the matter has been adequately discussed. .
Reconsideration - Reconsideration is rarely used and only to correct an oversight or an illegality
Visual Displays - Voters who wish to show slides or present other visual material should make arrangements before the meeting. Contact the Assistant Town Manager at the Town Offices to make arrangements for Town Meeting Visuals.
Adjourn / Dissolve - A meeting may adjourn to a later time and a different place, but when a meeting is dissolved it is finished. A meeting may not be dissolved until every article in the warrant has been acted upon.
Pro/Con Microphones - The Moderator will sometimes call for the use of Pro/Con Microphones to help organize the debate on controversial articles.
Time Limits - A motion could be made at the opening of Town Meeting to limit the time for presentations to five (5) minutes and speakers to the article three (3) minutes (or any combination thereof). A motion for time limits is usually made to cover the entire duration of the meeting. It is generally a good idea to use this as a guide for any presentations to Town Meeting members.
By-Law Constraints On Town Meeting
Town Meeting Schedule - The Annual Town Meeting for the election of officers shall be held on the fourth Tuesday in March, each year. Andover has regularly adjourned its Town Meeting after the election to a later time for consideration of the rest of the Warrant. Special Town Meetings may be held at such times and places as the Selectmen may designate. Any meeting may be adjourned from time to time to any place in the Town.
Warrants - Attested copies of the Warrant shall be posted in or on the Town Hall and in at least one newspaper of general circulation within the Town fourteen days or more before the date of the meeting. The warrant for insertion of articles shall be open for not fewer than thirty-five consecutive calendar days, but the Selectmen may reopen the warrant if required.
Annual Town Report - At least seven days before the annual meeting the Town Manager shall make available to all registered voters an annual report. A summary of the report shall be delivered to each Andover household at least seven days before the Annual Meeting, or may be included in the Finance Committee's Report.
Vote by Ballot - A motion for a secret ballot is in order and requires approval of 25% of those voting.
Admission of other than registered voters - Only Andover residents who are registered voters are allowed in the voting sections of Town Meeting. Unregistered voters and non residents may request admission by submitting their names and addresses to the Moderator through election officials at the entrance of Town Meeting. They may be admitted by a majority vote of those present. The Moderator shall designate a place set apart from the general assembly where such persons may sit. The Moderator shall also set apart a space where accredited representatives of the press shall sit.
Disclosure of Interest - Any person having a monetary or equitable interest in any matter under discussion at any Town Meeting or employed by another having such as interest shall disclose the fact before speaking thereon.
Statutory Constraints On Town Meeting
(Refer to Chapter 39 of the Massachusetts General Laws for Precise Wording)
The annual Town Meeting shall be held in February, March, April, or May.
The Selectmen shall insert in the warrant all articles requested in writing by ten or more registered voters. The warrant shall be published and posted at least seven days before the meeting stating the time and the place of the meeting and the subjects to be acted on.
The town may establish by by-law the number of votes that constitutes a quorum. At present a quorum is not required.
A Moderator must be elected to preside over the meeting, regulate proceedings, decide all questions of order, and make public declaration of all votes. If a vote is questioned by seven or more voters, statute requires a standing vote. If the statutes require a standing vote the count shall be taken and the result shall be recorded by the Clerk. If the vote is unanimous the count need not be taken and the Clerk shall so record it.
No person shall address a Town Meeting without leave of the Moderator and all persons shall, at the request of the Moderator, be silent.
Who's Who At Town Meeting
Town Meeting Members - All registered voters may participate in Andover's Open Town Meeting. Participants display prominently ribbons or badges which are given out at the beginning of the meeting and returned at its conclusion.
The Moderator - presides over and conducts the meeting. He is an elected official.
Town Clerk - Is the chief election official, custodian of the Town's records, and recording secretary of the meeting.
Board of Selectmen - (5) Elected policy making body, appoints Town Manager and compiles the warrant.
Town Manager - Appointed by the Board of Selectmen, the Manager prepares the budget and submits it to the Selectmen and the Finance Committee on or before a date certain. A voter may direct questions to the Manager relating to the budget or to warrant articles.
Finance Director - Has primary responsibility for the budget, reports to the Town Manager, and is an information resource at the meeting.
Finance Committee - (9) Appointed by the Moderator, it reviews the budget, makes recommendations on all financial matters, prepares and distributes to all Andover households a printed report of its recommendations and other relevant information, to assist Town Meeting in making final decisions.
School Committee - (5) Elected and responsible for the operation of the educational system, prepares the school budget, appoints the Superintendent, and defines educational philosophy and policy.
Superintendent of Schools - Chief executive officer for implementing school committee policy and directives.
Town Counsel - Chief legal officer and legal advisor to the Town Meeting.
Planning Board - (5) Appointed by the Manager with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, it advises Town Meeting on a range of planning and zoning matters.
Conservation Commission - (7) Appointed by the Manager as custodian of Town owned conservation land. It recommends land acquisitions to the Meeting.
Greater Lawrence Regional Vocational School - (1) Member elected as Andover representative to that school's committee. Explains Andover's share of operating costs.
Budget Terms Used At Town Meeting
Budget - A financial plan for a given period of time embodying both estimates of proposed expenditures and the proposed means of financing them.
Fiscal Year - Cities and towns in Massachusetts operate on a fiscal year which begins July 1 and ends June 30. The number of the fiscal year is the calendar year when it ends.
Levy Limit - Under Proposition 2 1/2 the maximum amount that a community can raise in property taxes is 2.5% more than the maximum it was allowed to raise for the prior fiscal year plus growth revenue.
Growth Revenue - The amount of property tax revenue a community can add to its tax levy by taxing new construction. It is computed using the prior year's tax rate.
Excess Levy Capacity - The difference between a community's maximum tax levy limit and the amount it actually levies in property taxes.
Free Cash - The amount of surplus revenue over and above uncollected taxes as of July 1 of each year as certified by the State. It is available for appropriation by Town Meeting.
Overlay - The overlay is the amount raised by the Assessors independently of Town Meeting as permitted by law for the purpose of creating a fund to cover property tax abatements and avoid fractions in the tax rate.
Reserve Fund - The fund established by the voters at Annual Town Meeting for extraordinary or unforeseen expenditures. Transfers from the Reserve Fund require the approval of the Finance Committee.
Cherry Sheet - Named for the cherry colored paper on which the Massachusetts Department of Revenue traditionally printed it on, the cherry sheet details the estimated state aid to be received by the Town along with the County and State assessments to be paid.
Conservation Fund - The fund established by Town Meeting several years ago for the purpose of acquiring land for conservation purposes. The Town has made periodic appropriations to the fund. The fund is administered by the Conservation Commission.
Compensation Fund - A reserve for salary adjustments that may occur during the fiscal year. Transfers from the Compensation Fund require the approval of the Board of Selectmen.
Override - A referendum procedure in which a community by popular vote can either increase its levy limit (general override) or collect property taxes in excess of its levy limit to finance specific capital expenditures (debt exclusion or capital outlay exclusion overrides).
Town Meeting Warrants and Results
- 2016 Annual Town Meeting Warrant and Results
- 2015 Annual Town Meeting Warrant and Results
- 2014 Annual Town Meeting Warrant and Results
- 2013 Annual Town Meeting Warrant and Results
- 2012 Annual Town Meeting Warrant and Results
- Special Town Meeting Results - 12/5/11
- 2011 Annual Town Meeting Warrant and Results
- Special Town Meeting Results - 12/6/10
- 2010 Annual Town Meeting Warrant and Results
- Special Town Meeting Results - 10/7/09
- Special Town Meeting Results - 8/31/09
- 2009 Annual Town Meeting Warrant and Results
- 2008 Annual Town Meeting Warrant and Results
- 2007 Annual Town Meeting Warrant and Results; Special TM Warrant - 4/24/07
- 2006 Annual Town Meeting Warrant and Results
- 2005 Annual Town Meeting Warrant and Results; Special TM Warrant - 9/27/05
- 2004 Annual Town Meeting Results


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Facts about Blake Shelton: He was awarded the CMA Entertainer of the Year, is a three-time winner of Male Vocalist of the Year, has received multiple Grammy nominations, has six gold and platinum albums, and charted 12 No. 1 singles, eight of them in a row. He's back as a coach on this season of NBC's "The Voice," and his Ten Times Crazier Tour 2014 includes sold-out concerts at Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl for his first performances at both venues.
His career took off in 2001 when his first single, "Austin," took him to the top of the charts. Here's a look back at Blake Shelton's debut.
By the time Blake Shelton began adjusting to the fact that his debut single, "Austin," was the second-best-selling country single in the nation, it had reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts. Shelton knew immediately upon hearing the song that it had the potential to impact listeners. "I heard it as a man," he says, "so it probably touched me in a different way. I thought it was great. Like everybody else, I can relate to it because everyone hopes to have someone who cares enough about them to wait forever, and that's what happens in Austin. He won't let go, and by the time she realizes that she needs to go back, she has a second chance. She can make a mistake and still come back to him. Of course, I don't know how I'd be in that type of situation. I'm walking the fence!"
A newcomer to the country music charts, Shelton, a singer, songwriter and guitarist, accomplished something few new artists can do: involving heavyweights in the making of his album. Earl Thomas Conley, his all-time favorite country artist, co-wrote with him, and legend Bobby Braddock, Shelton's favorite songwriter ("He Stopped Loving Her Today," "D-I-V-O-R-C-E," "Time Marches On"), produced the self-titled CD.
"I've always gravitated toward the older generation of artists, songwriters and managers, the veterans of music," he says. "When I moved to Nashville, I was writing early on with one of Bobby Braddock's friends, and he'd call Bobby and play him our work tapes. I didn't know this. Bobby was interested, and we got together and decided to do this project."
Shelton got an early start in performing. When he was 8 years old, his mother entered him in a talent show. "It was a pretty humiliating experience," he recalls of the gig that had him onstage with 50 little girls. "I came through and told my mom that I certainly never wanted to do those types of things anymore. So she found venues for me without my having to be in the pageant! I was about 13 and there used to be a little country show in Ada, Oklahoma, Shelton's hometown, called The Music Palace. I performed five or six times there, then at local "Opry" shows, events, festivals, and around town during my teen years, anything to get in front of an audience." By this time he had figured out that being surrounded by 50 females is not a bad thing.
At 15, he began playing guitar. "Once I got it down, I was sold on wanting to be a singer and songwriter," he says. "Probably the most important thing to me now is my acoustic guitar. It is a very important part of my sound."
Two years later, with high school behind him, he relocated to Nashville, his first time away from home. "I met people who were impressed that I just up and moved at that age with nothing to fall back on," he says. "I was determined and naive. I thought I would move to Nashville, get a deal, get rich and retire at 25! I found out pretty quick that that's not how it is! I painted signs, I was a tape copy guy for three or four months, I started getting a good business going cutting demos at $40 a song, and I did other odds and ends until I landed my publishing deal."
Blake Shelton is enjoying a comfortable home on the charts. His latest single, "Ol' Red," is in constant rotation on country radio, and his future appears secure. He believes that much of his good fortune has been a matter of timing. "I don't know how this happened for me," he says, "but I'm smart enough to know that I'm one of the luckiest people in the world. I got a few good breaks at exactly the right time. I'm just lucky, I guess, because there are many, many, many people who are way more talented than I am and they'll never have the chance from the luck of the draw. I'm proud of my album, but I also feel very fortunate to have been in the right place at the right time, many times."


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County Code Compliance cleans up alleys in Oildale
OILDALE, Calif. - County Code Compliance is working on a special project aimed at cleaning up more than 30 alleys in Oildale.
The county usually works on one alley at a time, but this huge one time effort is aimed at getting ahead of the game.
"We have a problem all over Kern County with illegal dumping, but there's a real problem in Oildale," said Christy Fitzgerald, Kern County Code Compliance.
The county paid contractors about $10,000 to remove trash, junk and debris from the alleys.
County resources aren't always available to perform a huge cleanup effort.
County officials hope the community can take pride in their area and eliminate illegal dumping.
"We are hopefully giving them a little boost, that the area has been cleaned, they should figure out a way to keep it that way," said Fitzgerald.
County Code Compliance works with Waste Management. They will remove trash from private property, and County Roads removes trash if it's on the roads.
Residence say once somebody illegally dumps in an alley or an abandoned home, that opens the door for others to do the same.
"As soon as someone sees a mattress or couch dumped, it's like, hey there's the spot, let's dump it on down. This must be the local dump," said Jennifer David.
David organizes the community group, Makin' it Great in the 08. The group continually identifies trashy alleys and cleans them up.
One of the alleys the county cleaned up today was the same alley David's group cleaned up recently.
"It's very frustrating, we picked up all the trash, drug paraphernalia and dirty magazines from this same alley. For it to look like this again is very disappointing," said David.
Compliance officers have also identified abandoned homes to be demolished, which are also a huge problem for illegal dumping.
"If there's an abandoned property, we will go in and board it up and clean the area. But they continually become an illegal dumping site," said Fitzgerald.
County Code compliance is complaint driven, so if you spot an alley that has illegal dumping you can call County Code Compliance at (661) 862-8603.
Like Mark Christian on Facebook to stay up to date with his investigations -
You can take many items to the county disposal site for free.
Non-chargeable residential waste, in general, is any household or yard waste that would normally go into a residential waste can.
There are other household waste items that can also be disposed of without cost. Examples: large appliances (stoves, refrigerators, washers and dryers); furniture (sofas, chairs, desks, patio furniture and mattresses) and tree trimmings.
6 killed in crash in Gorman
Six people were killed, including four children, in a four-car crash in Gorman early Tuesday morning.
BPD police cruiser slams into Cal Fire Truck
5:45 a.m. update : BPD was headed westbound, while Cal Fire was heading northbound. They collided at the intersection. BPD officer…
Deadly car crash off Stockdale Highway
Victims of Erskine Fire identified
The two confirmed victims of the Erskine Fire have been identified by friends as Byron and Gladys McKaig.


text: Look perfectly pretty for your next party when you add this saucy dress to your look! Its perfect for any occasion! Make sure you add this to your closet, it definitely is a must have! The features for this sexy dress includes a textured fabric with a stretch fit design, sleeveless and cross strap back, and finished with contrast mesh insets. 96% polyester/4% spandex Style: clothing-dress-a-6110dblack


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The Complexity of Life
Hannah Atkinson
After the two most horrible years of Kate's life you wonder if she will ever get the happy ending that every girl dreams of. Finding true love for the first time but losing it at the drop of a hat seems to bring life down another notch. After a summer romance and losing all her friends it doesn't seem like life will pick itself up any time soon but then the guy of her dreams helps her out and by letting one thing lead to another it all seems to be okay. Will it be a happy ending after all?
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One of the best ways to spread holiday cheer to friends and loved ones is by sending them a card. They're perfect for mailing long-distance, spicing up a present, or just because. Instead of buying cards this year, we're making our own! It's the perfect way to add a personal touch. We're going to show you three easy and adorable ways to make your holiday cards.
Step One: Create your snowflake
Design your snowflake and draw in the points of the snowflake. Make holes through each point. Thread the yarn through the holes. Make sure your yarn is long enough to finish the snowflake. Too much is better than too little.
Step Two: Tie the yarn
Cut off the excess yarn. Tie a small knot in the back of the last hole with the two end points of the yarn.
Step Three: Finishing Touches
Paste the second piece of cardstock over the back to cover up the yarn. Decorate and write your message!
Step One: Assemble the background
Cut off the bottom of the red card with patterned scissors or hole punch the edges with the desired design. Paste the red card on top of the white card.
Step Two: Make the snowman
Using the cotton rounds, cut a small circle for the head of the snowman. Make cuts bigger, as you can adjust the size if you are not happy with the ratio of the head to body of the snowman. Secure the rounds on top of the red card.
Step Three: Finishing Touches
Decorate your card! You can make a cute hat or other accessories for your snowman.
Step One: Fold the paper
Choose the size of your paper. Any size is okay! Fold your paper in half into a triangle. Fold it two more times into a small triangle. Make an indentation in the triangle. This will be the center of your leaf. Make sure it starts on the side of the last fold.
Step Two: Draw the leaf
Draw a leaf around the indentation. Then, cut out the shape you drew.
Step Three: Finishing Touches
Write your greeting on the topmost leaf. Undo the card, and write your message on the rest of the leaves. You can tie yarn through the card and it doubles as an ornament! How fun is that?
Extra: Make a mini-envelope
If you use origami paper to make the card, like we did, make a mini-envelope to match its cuteness!
We're absolutely smitten with the charm and whimsy of these cards. Plus, making cards is a wonderful activity to do with your kids or your friends. If you try any of these ideas, please send us the pictures! We'd love to see your twist on these holiday cards.
Have you seen our previous Pen Projects post? Go take a look for a chance to win most of these products!
Inspiration from Go-Aisatsu Card no Te-tsukuri Recipe (ISBN 978-4-7661-2054-7).
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