text:
Highlights include Guy Delisle's JERUSALEM, a collection of Deadline's HUGO TATE, a new series from Peter Bagge, a new book from NIGHT FISHER's R. Kikuo Johnson, full-colour BEANWORLD, a spy thriller from Millar & Gibbons, and AMERICA'S GOT POWERS by Jonathan Ross and Bryan ULTIMATES Hitch! Also, quite obviously, this…
Comics & Graphic Novels for April 2012
Are You My Mother? s/c (£12-99,JonathanCape) by Alison Bechdel.
"My parents are most real to me in fictional terms."
That was the telling quotation I pulled to headline my review of Bechdel's previous triumph FUN HOME, one of the most literate autobiographies in comics, as well as one of the most fascinating, candid and revealing, in which Bechdel first sets out her dysfunctional family life in all its bizarre artifice before intertwining her personal development with her father's past to explore what might lie at the heart of each. I relished it even more than my dearly beloved PERSEPOLIS, and you can read the full review with interior art by clicking on the title above.
This one obviously concentrates on her Ma, a "voracious reader, music lover, passionate amateur actor. Also a woman, unhappily married to a closeted gay man, whose artistic aspirations simmered under the surface of Bechdel's childhood . . . and who stopped touching or kissing her daughter goodnight, forever, when she was seven. Poignantly, hilariously, Bechdel embarks on a quest for answers concerning the mother-daughter gulf. It's a richly layered search that leads readers from the fascinating life and work of iconic twentieth-century psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott, to one explosively illuminating Dr. Seuss illustration, to Bechdel's own (serially monogamous) adult love life. And, finally, back to Mother—to a truce, fragile and real-time, that will move and astonish all adult children of gifted mothers."
Pre-order Are You My Mother? s/c from Page 45by cutting the online apron strings and actively emailing email@example.com or phoning 0115 9508045.
Jerusalem h/c (£18-99, Drawn & Quarterly/JonathanCape) by Guy Delisle.
Guy Delisle writes the best travelogues in the business. Witty, observant and beautifully drawn, PYONGYANG, SHENZHEN and BURMA CHRONICLES brought each city and country to daily life because, crucially, he didn't just visit, he lived there. The man has a keen eye for the absurd and compassion for this fellow man. What, then, will he make of contemporary Jerusalem? It's one of the most anticipated books of the year for me, especially after seeing all these sketches and photos on Guy Delisle's blog whilst staying in Jerusalem. I should warn you that those book reviews linked to above are substantial. I love, love, love Delisle!
Pre-order Jerusalem h/c from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Due:25/04/12– possibly
The Fairy Tales Of Oscar Wilde vol 5: The Happy Prince h/c (£12-99, NBM) by Oscar Wilde & P. Craig Russell.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, and so very poignant. This should be on every book shelf young and old, and in every school library. NBM is always good enough to post an interior-art preview, so here it is: THE HAPPY PRINCE. Easily my favourite of Oscar's fairy tales, even reading the solicitation copy brings a lump to my throat.
"The Happy Prince is arguably the most famous and well loved of Oscar Wilde's nine fairy tales, rivalled only by The Selfish Giant. It is also a very timely tale at a time of controversy over the increasing chasm between rich and poor…The Happy Prince has lived a life of opulence but has died young and his soul inhabits a beautiful ruby encrusted statue covered all over in gold leaf. From his perch high above the city he is witness to all the poverty, misery, and hopelessness in which his people have been living. When a small barn swallow in flight to the warm south ahead of the approaching winter stops to rest upon the statue the Happy Prince prevails upon him to delay his travels in order to remove his gold leaf a piece at a time and shower it upon the poor citizens. Out of love for the Happy Prince the swallow does his bidding. As the days pass the Prince's beauty is stripped away and as winter sets in the bird's fate is sealed. In the spring the townspeople finding only a dull statue with a broken lead heart and a dead bird consign the worthless objects to the ash heap. Only an emissary of God recognizes them as the most valuable treasures of the city and brings them to the gardens of heaven."
Also available once more: vol 1: The Selfish Giant And The Star Child, vol 2: The Young King And The Remarkable Rocket, vol 3: The Birthday Of The Infanta, vol 4: The Devoted Friend And The Nightingale And The Rose.
Pre-order The Fairy Tales Of Oscar Wilde vol 5: The Happy Prince h/c from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Science Tales: Lies, Hoaxes And Scams (£11-99, Myriad Editions) by Darryl Cunningham.
Scott McCloud says: "Darryl Cunningham continues his comics crusade to untangle lies, myths, and misconceptions with a new book defending the science that's grown fromDarwin's theory of natural selection. As usual, he does so with wit, charm, and quiet persistence."
We say: Cunningham's Psychiatric Tales was so good we made it Comicbook Of The Month. It's been one of those books swept up by casual comics and non-comics browsers alike: relevant, accessible and humane. Here he deals with homeopathy, the MMR vaccine, electro-convulsive therapy, the moon landing, and science denialism. Honestly. Denial is just a river I've never seen. Here's a preview of SCIENCE TALES I applaud with a passion.
Order Science Tales by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com, phoning (0115) 9508045, dispatching a carrier pigeon or just praying to God. See which one works best.
Idyll (£14-99, Drawn & Quarterly) by Amber Albrecht.
Take a look at Albrecht's beautiful, intricate art posted by Drawn & Quarterly. The shapes and the colours are so clean and delicate. I don't actually care what this is about, I want it already. Given that you may want a hint, however… "Much of Amber Albrecht's work is inspired by the dreaminess of childhood, whether expressing her cloudy recollections of the storybooks she read as a child or the forested West Coast landscapes that surrounded her. On the pages of Idyll, a series of interconnected myths emerges fully formed, each myth articulating a sense of wistfulness for a past that never was. Idyll employs female iconography in myriad way – many of these works feature female figures, the lushness of the natural environment, and female-associated textures. Albrecht's Idyll communicates questions about loneliness, passivity, and loss through investigations of femininity and nostalgia for an imagined past."
Pre-order from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Reset #1 (£2-75, Dark Horse) by Peter Bagge.
HATE's Peter Bagge returns to the realms of virtual reality. First there was the identity crisis of OTHER LIVES (highly recommended), now it's that eternal question about whether – given the opportunity to relive major moments – you'd change any decisions you made in your life: things you did, things you said that you can never take back. Now you can, or at least washed-up actor and comedian Guy Krause can, after he signs up as a research guinea pig for a virtual reality experiment. Thing is, is he only going to make matters worse?
Pre-order Reset #1 from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Tales Of The Beanworld 3.5 h/c (£10-99) by Larry Marder.
First full-colour collection of a series so beloved by Mark that he built eye-popping papier mâché figures of these most peculiar creatures for our window. How peculiar? There's a preview of the BEANWORLD HOLIDAY SPECIAL here. This includes brand-new pages which begin the Summer Cycle of stories and collects the BEANWORLD HOLIDAY SPECIAL, plus rare material from ASYLUM #1-6 and the online-only MYSPACE DARK HORSE PRESENTS #14. So why are we so excited? Here's this from my review of BEANWORLD VOL 2:
Larry Marder created a unique world with a fully realised ecosystem which operated with its own radically viable laws for construction, reproduction and sustenance. Its several species of inhabitants had their own hierarchy, its individuals their own roles, aspirations and priorities. They even had their own terminology/slang. With their passion for play, exploration, art and invention, if I were to try to capture the series in a single word, I'd try "Celebration". If I were allowed a second word, it would be "Cooperation". Both those concepts lie at the heart of any healthy and fecund friendship or sustainable ecosystem, so there were lessons to be learned way back then that would have put the human race much further ahead of the game than it currently stands. I'm going to stick my neck out to say something typically stupid too: it's like a platform game. The Beans' learning process is like a platform game. "Oh, this is what I need to find/create and fit in there in order to make progress…!"
Pre-order Tales Of The Beanworld 3.5 h/c from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
The Shark King (£9-99, Toon Books) by R. Kikuo Johnson.
From the creator of Night Fisher so many moons ago (think David Lapham's STRAY BULLETS, only quieter, more introspective), a young readers' book that looks pretty powerful, and I'd expect nothing less from R. Kikuo Johnson. There's an early preview on THE SHARK KING on Toon Books' blog and I spy a certain Hernandez influence on the bottom page. "Meet Nanaue, a boy craving to be who he truly is. From the islands ofHawaii comes the electrifying tale of Nanaue, who has to balance his yearning for Dad's guidance with his desire for Mom's nurture. Award-winning cartoonist R. Kikuo Johnson transports young readers to the lush tropical shores of his nativeHawaii. Fluent or not, young readers will be thrilled when they experience the transformative powers of a stirring literary work."
Pre-order The Shark King from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Courtney Crumrin #1 (£2-99, Oni Press) by Ted Naifeh.
Brand-new series and in full-colour too! Oni Press are about to start republishing the older volumes in colour, but our old reviews are still up for you to gauge their flavour, like Courtney Crumrin vol 3.Meanwhile: "Welcome to a world where magic and Night Things lurk behind every corner and nothing is as it seems. This is the world introduced to Courtney by her dear Uncle Aloysius – a master mage of unknown age and even more mysterious motivations. What started the Crumrin clan down the dark path and is Courtney strong enough to follow it all the way down?
Please note: I've seen a preview, and you may find your young ones take great delight in learning and then repeating as often as possible an endearing new phrase: "Bugger off."
Pre-order Courtney Crumrin #1 from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
The Boy Who Made Silence (£17-99 AAM Markosia) by Josh Hagler.
Elements of Kent Williams in the hues, wash textures and some of the line work give way to some David Mack (i.e. Bill Sienkiewicz) tricks including collage and those familiar old triangles down the side of some panels. Fortunately, like Bill in his introduction to KABUKI, Mack likes what he sees and said so on the back of #1. See what I mean in this AAM Markosia preview. Here's how the issue kicks off:
"When Nestor was ten years old, he fell from a bridge and into the river that swallowed his hearing, never giving it back. Whether Esme, the twelve-year-old girl who brought him out of the river, saved his life or gave him a new one, remains a point of contention among those who discuss such notions."
The first chapter is actually a very interesting exploration of what it might feel like for the world to suddenly stop telling you things, floating on a ground that no longer audibly acknowledges your foot steps. When you can no longer hear your mother ("she is without the power she once had – the power to make all sharp things soft"). She doesn't exactly seem the kindest of mothers in the first place, but there you go. I don't know what the floating cat is all about, but yes, this did make me think. Whether the intentions have changed since the first few issues appeared in 2008, I know not, but my original preview spoke of a boy who "creates silence around him which compels those nearby to experience each others' memories. Hailed as a prophet by his local religious community, he comes of age, falls in love, then goes in search of his father." Here's Josh Hagler's blogspot.
Pre-order The Boy Who Made Silence from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Due: 25/04/12
Deadenders (£22-50, Vertigo/DC) by Ed Brubaker & Warren Pleece, Richard Case, Jay Stephens, Cameron Stewart.
Surprise release of the long-lost Ed Brubaker series much beloved, I believe, by SCOTT PILGRIM's Bryan Lee O'Malley. There's a preview of DEADENDERS on DC's website.
"In this stylish science fiction epic from award-winning writer Ed Brubaker, a drug-dealing car thief must discover the secret behind his visions to save the world. Twenty years after the devastating Cataclysm, society has been separated into sectors in which the rich are able to enjoy machine-generated weather and sunlight while the poor are forced to live an eternally dank and dark existence. Banished to the dismal Sector 5, the angst-ridden Beezer discovers that the corrupt city police are hunting him because of his experiential visions of a pre-apocalyptic world. Now Earth's reluctant saviour must learn his true origin and the meaning of his visions before he is captured and killed. For the first time, Vertigo collects the entire sixteen-issue run of DEADENDERS, along with a tale from WINTER'S EDGE #3."
Pre-order Deadenders from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Hugo Tate (£14-99, Blank Slate) by Nick Abadzis.
If the definition of DEADLINE hell was the day the UKmagazine folded DEADLINE heaven will be day that its HUGO TATE is reprinted. Dubbed "Britain's LOVE & ROCKETS" by the Comics Journal itself, this complete collection from the creator of LAIKA includes a glowing introduction by Garth Ennis. There's a preview of HUGO TATE on the Blank Slate website.
"Beginning life in 1988 as an acerbic humour strip featuring an eponymous stick man protagonist living in a figuratively-drawn world, Hugo Tate evolved into an intelligent look into the lives of a complex web of characters stretching fromLondontoNew Yorkand beyond. This collection includes the critically-acclaimed final story arc O,America!, in which Hugo finds himself on a drug-fuelled road trip across the nightmarish underbelly of theUnited States. Featuring a gallery of rare extras and all-new commentary from Abadzis and Deadline editor Frank Wynne."
Pre-order Hugo Tate from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Due: May.
Departures (£10-99, Blank Slate) by Pierre Maurel.
Now that's what I call an urban jungle! It's like Swamp Thing's come to town. Leaves, leaves, leaves. You know how we feel about leaves. Make sure you click on the link at the bottom to see the full DEPATURES preview here. "In his English-language debut, Pierre Maurel explores the effects of the global recession through three tales of twenty and thirty-somethings struggling at the bottom of the social ladder. An unemployed man suspects he is going insane as his everyday life is invaded by visions of sprawling vegetation, a bookseller debates joining a union the media describes as 'local terrorists,' and a couple prepares to begin a new life on the road together. All faced with the opportunity to make a difference in their lives, will they accept their situation or attempt find a new way of living?"
Pre-order Departures from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Due:25/04/12or thereabouts
Richard Stark's Parker: The Score h/c (£18-99, IDW) by Darwyn Cooke.
Crime friction. Third book in the series following PARKER: THE HUNTER then PARKER: THE OUTFIT both reviewed and relished there by Jonathan. The Comics Journal's Tom Spurgeon too poured praise on Cooke's lavish treatment in this illustrated interview with Cooke and Ed Brubaker. "Parker becomes embroiled in a plot with a dozen partners in crime to pull off what might be the ultimate heist-robbing an entire town. Everything was going fine for a while, and then things got bad. Considered one of the best in the Parker series, The Score is the perfect vehicle for Darwyn Cooke to pull out all the stops and let loose with a book that has all the impact of a brutal kick to the solar plexus!"
Pre-order Richard Stark's Parker: The Score h/c from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Lost Dogs (£7-50, Top Shelf) by Jeff Lemire.
Originally published by Ashtray Press back in 2005 long before ESSEX COUNTY broke Jeff's name to the general public, I took a punt and liked what I saw, previewing it thus…
You really need to see this guy's art. The cover itself said Ted McKeever to me, but it's a lot more fluid than that, and really hefty. The brush is laden with ink in places, as it's swept across the page, and the cart scene at the docks is beautiful – a real sense of light, the scenery distilled to all that's necessary. Fine use of grey as well, and I like the pale red on Ulric's vest. So who is Ulric? He's a hulk of a farmer, effectively mute, who finds his idyllic rural existence with his beautiful wife and daughter torn apart after a confrontation in the coastal town. I'm not entirely sure about the confrontation itself – I think the whole thing would be more powerful without any of the minimal script at all – but we'll see where it goes.
You too can see a preview of LOST DOGS on Top Shelf's website.
Pre-order Lost Dogs from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
The Adventures Of Jodelle h/c (£33-99, Fantagraphics) by Guy Peellaert & Pierre Bartier.
Oh, Tom is just going to love this! Primary-coloured passion as evidenced here: beware, there be boobage! "Fantagraphics proudly presents Guy Peellaert's long out of print 1960's Pop-Art masterpiece The Adventures of Jodelle in a lush, oversized hardcover edition. A satirical spy adventure set in an eye-popping psychedelic ancient Rome of horsedrawn Cadillacs, billboards and vampires, Jodelle has been re-translated and re-coloured and features a huge annotated bonus selection of never-before-seen archival art and photographs."
Pre-order The Adventures Of Jodelle h/c from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
New York Mon Amour h/c (£14-99, Fantagraphics) by Jacques Tardi, Benjamin Legrand, Dominique Grange & Jacques Tardi.
"Many years ago, Jacques Tardi was introduced to American audiences with "Manhattan," a grim and grimy story of depression, madness and suicide inNew York Citywhose appearance in the premiere issue of RAW magazine was instrumental in defining both that magazine's virtuoso aesthetic and its dark sensibility. Three decades later, New York Mon Amour collects "Manhattan" and three other tales of the Big Apple — rendered by Tardi with just as much panache and you-are-there detail asParisor the trenches of World War I in his other books — in one spectacular volume. Aside from "Manhattan," the centrepiece of the book is the graphic novel "Cockroach Killer," written by Benjamin Legrand. This violent, surreal conspiracy thriller, starring a hapless exterminator named Walter, features a striking two-colour black-and-red technique unique in Tardi's oeuvre, and remains one of the cartoonist's most startling, confounding works. New York Mon Amour is rounded off with two short stories that have never been published in English, both written by Dominique Grange: "It's So Hard" (starring John Lennon — but not that John Lennon) and "The Killing of Hung" (a story of revenge and redemption)."
Pre-order New York Mon Amour h/c from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
3 Story: Secret Files Of The Giant Man (£2-75, Dark Horse) by Matt Kindt.
The secret history of the world's unlikeliest, skyscraping spy! From the creator of Vertigo's Revolver and the artist on Pistol Whip, an affordable introduction to 2009's 3 Story: The Secret History Of The Giant Man graphic novel in the form of material previously only available online.
Pre-order from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
The Pterodactyl Hunters (In The Gilded City) one-shot (£7-50, top Shelf) by Brandon Leach.
As seen in BEST AMERICAN COMICS 2011 (now sold out!), Matt Madden (99 WAYS TO TELL A STORY) writes: ""Leach starts from a wacky premise, but once he sets it in motion he takes it seriously, and as in the best genre stories this comic is ultimately not about monsters but about family and finding your place in the world." Preview Brandon Leach's interior pages here.
"THE PTERODACTYL HUNTERS tells the story of Eamon and Declan Sullivan, young members of New York City's Pterodactyl Patrol, a municipal organization protecting the city from the menacing pterodactyls that plague its evening hours. As theNew York Cityof 1904 moves into the modern era, only a few vicious pterosaurs remain. While Eamon makes headlines eradicating the final beasts, young Declan faces a future without the pterodactyl infestation, and without his anticipated role in a new generation of Pterodactyl Hunters."
Pre-order The Pterodactyl Hunters from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Secret #1 (£2-75, Image) by Jonathan Hickman & Ryan Bodenheim.
This three-page SECRET preview looks pretty nasty! "A man gets shot in London, a law firm gets broken into in Washington, an accountant gives away the password to his computer, and something put to sleep 20 years ago awakens. What is the unsavoury relationship all these things share, and how could it bring down two of the largest governments in the history of the world? From the creators of A RED MASS FOR MARS, SECRET is an espionage thriller that takes a deep look into the shadow world existing between the government and private security firms."
Pre-order from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Baltimore vol 2: the Curse Bells h/c (£18-99, Dark Horse) by Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden & Ben Stenbeck.
Okay, we've learned our lesson: have you? The first volume's hardcover shot out of the shop and straight out of print. We then had to wait months and months for a softcover. Of BALTIMORE VOL 1 Jonathan wrote (in part – click on the link for the full shebang):
"Is someone there?"
"You've made a terrible mistake…"
BALTIMORE PLAGUE SHIPS gives us the pustulent story of Lord Henry Baltimore, a man with more stiff upper lip than the troutiest, poutiest cosmetic surgery victim could ever wish for, and a never-say-die attitude to match. And it's precisely that sort of British bulldog resilience that's landed him in the living nightmare he now finds himself. Knocked unconscious on the field of battle in WW1 during a suicidalmidnightover-the-top charge, ordered by the idiotic top brass safely tucked away behind the lines at HQ, he's appalled to come round and find gigantic bat-like creatures with glowing red eyes literally draining the blood from his dead and dying comrades strewn around him.
When one particularly loathsome specimen notices the waking Lord Henry and decides to make him the next tasty treat, he manages to fend the creature off with a bayonet in a last-ditch, desperate act, gouging the creature's eye out in the process. Even so, were it not for the fast approaching sunrise, he'd still have been easy pickings for the enraged creatures who seem unnerved by the rapidly increasing light levels and flee the battlefield. Subsequently coming to in the middle of the night in a field hospital, minus an amputated leg, he's approached by a cloak-clad fiend missing an eye who chillingly informs Lord Henry that whilst he and his vampiric brethren had previously been content to merely hide in the shadows, feeding on those who were dead and dying, that thanks to Lord Henry's intervention, they are as of now at war with humanity…
Superb horror writing from Mignola and Christopher Golden, with appropriately atmospheric art from Ben Stenbeck, who appears to have followed the unwritten rule of illustrating a Mignola story, which is to evoke Mignola's own art style.
Pre-order Baltimore vol 2: the Curse Bells h/c from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
The Secret Service #1 (£2-25, Icon/Marvel) by Mark Millar & Dave Gibbons.
From the artist on WATCHMEN and the creator of the super-stylish The Originals and the writer of my all-time favourite superhero series (ULTIMATES SEASON ONE volumes one and two and ULTIMATES SEASON TWO volumes one and two), this is, quite simply, a super-spy book but with an added political dimension. Millar writes that's it's "the ramifications of [how] America is struggling on the world stage, funding is being seriously undercut to balance the books and some people are trying their best to take advantage of the fragile global situation." There's a great big illustrated interview on Mark Millar's THE SECRET SERVICE here, and it looks soooo slick.
Pre-order The Secret Service #1 from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
America's Got Powers #1 of 6 (£2-25, Image) by Jonathan Ross & Bryan Hitch.
From TV's Jonathan Ross and the artist on my all-time favourite superhero series (ULTIMATES SEASON ONE volumes one and two and ULTIMATES SEASON TWO volumes one and two):
"Welcome toAMERICA'S GOT POWERS! It's the biggest TV show on Earth, where the chance to win fame, fortune and get laid are dangled in front of a generation of super-powered teens. All they have to do is WIN. Who is the fastest, the strongest or the greatest? Who survives? Young Tommy Watt's dreams of being the greatest hero of them all might just be shattered when the greatest show on the planetbegins to reveal its dark heart."
Excerpt from a much bigger, illustrated Comicbook Resources illustrated interview with the pair: "Ross, who originated the concept, added that there's an ugly undercurrent to the reality competition craze which fuels "America's Got Powers." "What interested me here is the exploitation of those who are encouraged to take part," he said. "In 'AGP' there's more than just a little pressure on them – these kids with powers don't have that many other options in a society that finds them fascinating and irresistible but ultimately scary. So it deals a little I hope with the dark side of these shows – the way talent is used up and, when it no longer feels novel or fresh, thrown away. As for superheroes, well, as readers we love to see them in action, fighting, protecting the weak and smiting the strong. In this scenario, that's a given. Like 'Rollerball' or 'The Running Man,' it's built into the format – a certain amount of danger, of blood and guts. But it's when it escalates and people get to see the REAL purpose of the show that things will get interesting."
Pre-order America's Got Powers #1 from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Pre-order America's Got Powers #2 from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Animal Man vol 1: The Hunt s/c (£10-99, DC) by Jeff Lemire & Travel Foreman, John Paul Leon.
Bad dreams in the night – in black, red and white. Now that's what I call capillary action! This isn't a superhero book. Anyone worth their salt is going to make a Buddy Baker book all about family, and ESSEX COUNTY's Jeff Lemire has written about family extensively there and even to a certain extent in SWEET TOOTH. Sure enough Buddy's wife, son and especially his daughter Maxine are centre-stage as Maxine, forbidden a living, breathing pet, decides to exhume those buried round the neighbourhood and bring them back to some semblance of life. At the same time Buddy's own powers go on the fritz, his family come under attack and it's all very creepy. What's wrong with the Red? Grant Morrison's own three-volume run on ANIMAL MAN is an absolutely essential read, especially if you're on board for this.
Pre-order Animal Man vol 1: The Hunt s/c from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Batwoman vol 1: Hydrology h/c (£16-99, DC) by J.H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman & J.H. Williams II, Amy Reeder.
BATWOMAN: ELEGY has been phenomenally successful and here its artist returns in an even more successful DC New 52 book. "Who or what is stealing children from the barrio, and for what vile purpose? Will Kate train her cousin, Bette Kane (a.k.a. Flamebird), as her sidekick? How will she handle unsettling revelations about her father, Colonel Jacob Kane? And why is a certain government agency suddenly taking an interest in her?"
Pre-order Batwoman vol 1: Hydrology h/c from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Stormwatch vol 1: The Dark Side s/c (£10-99, DC) by Paul Cornell & Miguel Sepulveda.
A very different dynamic from the old days of STORMWATCH and the subsequent AUTHORITY. The Engineer remains firmly at the helm and Jack Hawksmoor is in charge. Jenny Q is still new but JLA's Martian Manhunter has now joined them along with a few extras I'm unfamiliar with. The Moon is attacking Earth, there's a giant horn in theHimalayas. So where are Apollo and the Midnighter? Apollo is a determined loner they're finding it difficult to recruit. Recruiting theMidnight, on the other hand, will be murder. For more DC New 52 books see link at the bottom of the blog.
Pre-order Stormwatch vol 1: The Dark Side s/c from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
The Shadow #1 (£2-99, D.E.) by Garth Ennis & Aaron Campbell.
Not a project I would have expected from Ennis! "1938: The Shadow returns in a tale of blazing action and deadly intrigue, as a night of carnage on theNew Yorkwaterfront plunges the mysterious vigilante into a conspiracy involving the fate of the world itself. As storm clouds gather across the globe, American Military Intelligence meets with a certain Lamont Cranston, determined to beat a host of spies and assassins to the greatest prize of all… but what that might be, only the Shadow knows."
Pre-order The Shadow #1 from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Punisher: Homeless h/c (£14-99, Marvel Max) by Jason Aaron & Steve Dillon.
I will read and relish anything – anything – drawn by PREACHER's Steve Dillon. Even if it's a shopping list. The Kingpin hires Elektra to keep the Punisher at bay, but becomes preoccupied with getting her into bed. The Punisher doesn't have a bed: he's homeless. Also, broke and without weapons. That's not really going to stop him, though, is it?
Pre-order Punisher: Homeless h/c from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Wolverine & The X-Men vol 1 h/c (£14-99, Marvel) by Jason Aaron & Chris Bachalo, Nick Bradshaw.
In which a visit from the Department of Education school inspectors passes without incident. <snort> Everything that could possibly go wrong does go wrong on the first and possibly last day of term at the new Jean Grey School For Higher Learning, and teachers will surely empathise. There is, however, a great deal more that can go wrong in a school full of mutant misfits which boasts the most dangerous boys' bathroom in history. That Kitty Pryde is headmistress is not unexpected; that Wolverine's a headmaster is insane. The Toad is their janitor, by the way, and will be spending some considerable time cleaning up that bathroom later on.
Following directly on from the mini-series X-Men: Schism (also by Aaron along with Vertigo's SCALPED) wherein Cyclops and Wolverine stopped seeing eye to eye, there has been a mass evacuation from their island haven just off San Francisco, Wolverine opting to educate the children rather than have them fight. Joining their faculty is the Beast who stopped enjoying Scott Summers' increasingly militant company quite some time ago plus Iceman, Gambit, Rogue, Rachel Grey, Cannonball, Chamber, Husk, Karma, Frenzy and Doop. Yes, Doop. He of the translatable alien language.
The schism was engineered by Kade Kilgore, school-aged son of a wealthy arms manufacturer who's just inherited a fortune and multiplied it considerably by selling Sentinel technology on the back of the some pretty successful scare-mongering. It also secured him his seat as Black King of the Hellfire Club. His next move, then, is something of a surprise.
The whole of the first issue is played purely for laughs, and long may that continue. There's even a school prospectus in the back complete with courses (Algebra Sucks: I Know, But You Still Have To Learn It is, of course, delivered by 'Professor' Bobby Drake who couldn't even spell quadratic equation let alone solve one), extracurricular activities, special events and the proud school motto, "The best there is at what we do". Chris Bachalo (DEATH, SHADE THE CHANGING MAN, GENERATION X) plays the perfect co-conspirator with cartoon comedy postures and expressions against backgrounds with an enormous attention to detail.
Pre-order Wolverine And The X-Men vol 1 h/c from Page 45 and read the publisher's preview here
Reminder: these are our picks from the current crop, but you can read the whole of Diamond's own comic and graphic novel PREVIEWS here. They're divided into comics and graphic novels and then into publishers so if you're only interested in particular publisher it's all quite easy to digest. Apart from Marvel's offerings this month which is: basically one big, convoluted cat's cradle of AVENGERS V X-MEN tie-ins. Make sure you pre-order Mark Millar & Dave Gibbons' THE SECRET SERVICE, though!
Caveat: I rather suspect that the last week in each month, when given as a due date, is Diamond's way of saying "No promises!"
– Stephen


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Obama, Xi Make Deal on Greenhouse Gases
In their "shirt-sleeves" summit in California, U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping may have danced around dicey issues like cybersecurity, free trade and military tensions in the Pacific, but they managed to find common ground in one area, at least: fighting climate change.
The two countries announced an agreement to phase out the use of a hydrofluorocarbons, a kind of gas that has gained widespread use in recent years for industrial applications, especially as a refrigerant. HFCs are particularly potent greenhouse gases, hundreds or even thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
The White House said the agreement with China to phase out HFCs through the existing Montreal Protocol could eventually cut global emissions by the equivalent of 90 billion tons of CO2, or two years' worth of global greenhouse-gas emissions.
Cutting HFCs is relatively inexpensive, while steps to curb carbon-dioxide emissions in recent years have repeatedly foundered on their short-term cost to big economies. China recently received international funding to eliminate a similar industrial gas, with projected benefits of cutting eight billion tons of CO2-equivalent for about a nickel a ton.
"This is the single biggest piece of mitigation the world can get through 2020," when the next global climate treaty would theoretically go into effect, said Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, a nonprofit think tank. A U.S. deal with China may push India, Brazil, and Middle Eastern countries in the same direction, he said.
Unlike CO2, which can last in the atmosphere for a century, greenhouse gases such as methane and HFCs only stay in the atmosphere for a few weeks or months—but they pack a powerful warming wallop while they do. Another short-lived pollutant is soot, prevalent in many developing countries.
In recent years, momentum has been building for policymakers to grab the low-hanging fruit and take steps to curb short-lived pollutants. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry joined a group of other foreign ministers to call for a phase-down of HFCs at last month's Arctic Council meeting.
Substitutes for these pollutants already exist, and cleaning up soot also dramatically improves human health in places such as India and Africa where indoor air pollution, especially from cookstoves, is one of the biggest killers.
Recent research suggests that tackling short-lived climate pollutants could cut the rate of global warming and sea-level rise in half—and the effects could be even more dramatic in certain regions where soot accumulates locally, contributing to glacier melt and other immediate woes.
One U.S. lawmaker recently introduced legislation to jumpstart U.S. efforts to tackle short-lived pollutants. "The idea that you didn't have to take on the whole energy industry to have a big impact is what attracted me," said sponsor Scott Peters (D., Calif.).
CO2 still accounts for more than half the greenhouse-gas emissions blamed for global warming. Advocates of reducing those emissions believe taking relatively easy steps to slow the pace now could buy time for the world to figure out how to manage the heavier lifting later.

subset: commoncrawl


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Just two days after defeating conference rival Richmond in a penalty
shootout, the No. 12 Massachusetts field hockey team was victorious once
again, this time defeating Virginia Commonwealth 3-1.
The Minutewomen (14-4, 5-0 Atlantic 10) used three different goal scorers to get the better of the Rams (8-9, 2-3 A-10), with senior Hannah Prince scoring the eventual game winner just two minutes into the second half.
Although her team got the win, UMass coach Carla Tagliente said the outcome of the game left a lot to be desired...
The rest of Kates' story can be found on the Daily Collegian website. The most up-to-date information on the field hockey program can be found through UMassAthletics.com.


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A Quote by Chuang Chou, a.k.a. Chuang Tzu, Chuang Tse Chuang on composers, death, departure, friendship, funerals, laughter, life, people, songs, understanding, work, and world
Three Friends There were three friends Discussing life. One said: "Can we live together and know nothing of it? Work together and produce nothing? Can people fly around in space and still forget to exist World without end?" The three friends looked at each other and burst out laughing. They had no explanation. Thus they were better friends than before. Then one friend died. Confucius sent a disciple to help the other two Chant the traditional funeral ritual. His disciple found that one of them had composed a song. While the other played the lute, They sang: "Hey, Sung Hu! Where'd you go? You have gone Where you were before. And we are here-- Damn it! We are here!" Then the disciple of Confucius burst in on them and exclaimed: "May I inquire where in the funeral ritual it allows you to sing so irreverently in the presence of the departed?" The two friends looked at each other, smiled, and said: "Well trained in liturgy, but the poor fellow doesn't understand life and death!"
Source: Chuang Tzu, Three Friends
Contributed by: Zaady


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By Ashley-Michelle Papon When I was a kid, before I understood that patriarchy wasn't a particular type of game hen, Halloween was my favorite holiday. I spent weeks dreaming about my costume. In hindsight, this was a rather amusing waste of my time because I dressed up as a ballerina for six years straight. It's worth … [Read more...]
Five Surprising Ways to Love Your Body This Halloween
October 18, 2011 By


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California Olive Oil Company Extra Virgin Olive Oil 500 ml Delicate Flavor
Product Description
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Delicious Cali Olive Oil
Posted by John Olivo on 26th Sep 2014
What a world of difference. My family has been using imported olive oil for as long as I can remember. There really was not any other choice. I was turned onto this a few years ago and Wow what a change.
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Wow, I never knew there could be a difference. Olive oil always costs so much and I figured "it was worth it." How wrong was I?
This company figured out how to make all the difference in the world. I'll only be buying the California Olive Oil Company products from this point on.
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This oil was a pleasure to taste. It had a mild banana flavor with a slight scent of new grass. I haven't used it with food yet, but look forward to it on salads and grilled veggies.


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Obama's Trip to Latin America Still On
With the Middle East in turmoil, Japan's nuclear reactors at least partly melting down and Congress in the midst of a budget battle, President Barack Obama is going to … Latin America.
The long-scheduled trip to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador begins Saturday – at a moment when the White House is under pressure from all directions. But White House officials say they have no hesitation about making it and say they cannot change schedules just because of world events.
"Every day you're president there's a world event somewhere. The American people understand and expect their president can walk and chew gum at the same time," said White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer.
Mr. Obama has put off foreign trips before. Last year, he twice postponed a trip to Australia and Indonesia — and, in the end, canceled the Australia visit altogether. The first time he was at the final stages of negotiations over health-care legislation; the second time he was tackling the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. So one might forgive White House reporters for asking this week if the trip was really going to happen.
"Obviously, the trip is on and the president will be going to Latin America ," White House press secretary Jay Carney assured. He said Mr. Obama will be kept abreast of world events while he's in Latin America, noting the National Security Adviser Tom Donilon will be traveling with him.
Officials say the trip will help the president with his top priority: persuading Americans that he is focused on jobs at home. The visit to Brazil, in particular, is meant to boost U.S. exports to that nation.
"You have to remember that economic growth in the United States is the president's top priority, and this trip is … very focused on economic opportunities for the United States and trade relationships. So he fully intends to press on with the trip," Mr. Carney said.
The president also hopes to connect the visit to events across the globe, by comparing the democracy movements in the Middle East and North Africa with the success Latin American nations, including Chile, have had in transitioning from autocratic regimes to democratic ones.
"Part of the point here is that despite the difficulties associated with transitioning from a more authoritarian government to a democratic one, the world can look back and see many different models of successful transitions," said Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications.
So, one reporter asked, is there any chance that world events will force Mr. Obama to come home early? Mr. Carney hedged his bets: "If I could predict what might happen in the future, I'd be a rich man."


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Store any leftover roast as a chunk (i.e. not sliced), refrigerating promptly after serving. Slice just before re-heating, eating promptly after re-heating. Roast and gravy can be kept for 1 to 2 days.
Meatballs are always a hit – who doesn't love'em! Perfect as appetizers or moved into mains, meatballs can come in all kinds of sizes, flavours and yes, even shapes – check out our super simple square version here!
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The eulogies rightfully remember Reagan as the ideological inspiration for many of those currently in power, but his darker role in the end-times evolution of the nation has gone unmentioned.
By Peter Manseau
Sometime in the early 1980s, when I was not quite ten-years-old, my older brother took me aside and presented a bit of esoteric teenage numerology. On a sheet of the blue-lined graphing paper he used to draw Dungeons & Dragons monsters, he printed three names for me, "Ronald – Wilson – Reagan," and then, beneath, he wrote the number of letters in each: "6 – 6 – 6. "
"See?" my brother said.
"See what?" I asked.
"The number of the Beast," he explained. No more needed to be said. I had already begun to sneak listens to his music collection – Black Sabbath and Judas Priest were two of the other names etched carefully on that same blue-lined page – so I nodded at the significance. The message my brother, worldly-wise at age fourteen, hoped to impart was simple and anti-authoritarian in an adolescent way: The President is the Devil. I wasn't ready for that kind of rebellion, though, so I read the numbers differently.
The President, I thought, is the end of the world.
It made perfect sense to me. I was too young to have formed any political opinions far removed from the decidedly partisan discussions of my parents' dinner table. But I did already have my own impression of President Reagan – one that, I realize now, had much more to do with fear and trembling than politics.
To me, the name Ronald Reagan was bound up with two sets of nearly identical images I had seen on television in the lead-up to the election of 1984. In each there were scenes of open vistas, snapshots of possibility. Then, there was a flash of light in the distance – one the first light of day, one a ball of fire – that promised either to fulfill that possibility or to snuff it out. Either way, each image seemed designed to impress upon me the suddenness and inevitability of endings; they were scriptures of the pervasive eschatology of the age.
Of these two images I associate with Reagan, one came direct from the source, served up in the earliest campaign ad I can remember. "It's morning in America," Reagan's acting-trained voice declared as film-score music swelled. On the screen a line of light glows beyond a city skyline. Here was the dawn, and then – jumpcut – a farmer on his tractor, and – jumpcut again – children playing in a grassy yard as if newly born from the marriage of sunshine and American soil.
It was the kind of non-specific optimism you'd expect to see now only in a breakfast cereal commercial – and even then there would likely be some wink of awareness at the commercial's kitschy naiveté. The Reagan ad, however, was both earnest and shameless in its pulling of heartstrings, so sincere it could have been a parody of itself. And yet it was from this commercial that I came to a kind of Hudson River School appreciation of the potential of "the land" and its people. The Wheat. The Dawn. The Possibility: "Morning in America" was iconic, innocent, and hard to resist, the portrait of a country finally scrubbed clean of the dirty places it had come from.
Much like Reagan himself, Hollywood behind him, the son of an Irish-Catholic fatherbecoming yet another Protestant-Republican president. Though my parents were cradle-Catholics and life-long Democrats – straight-ticket voters since Kennedy; the very idea of a "Reagan Democrat" a heresy in our house – to my young eyes, "Morning in America" did not look so bad.
And yet there was that other field, that other flash of light. This one I saw in 1983, and when I watched the later images, I could not separate them in my mind. Like Reagan's commercial, this flash took place somewhere in the "Heartland." It occurred not in a thirty-second promotional spot, but midway through a made-for-TV miniseries that aired near the end of Reagan's first term:The Day After.
Like The Day After Tomorrow, its contemporary analogue, The Day After was a political disaster movie, this one portraying mutual nuclear annihilation committed by the United States and the Soviet Union. Frightfully pessimistic, and striving for gruesome realism (one side-effect of radioactive fallout, viewers learned, is potentially fatal anal bleeding), The Day Afterpresented the dark side of "Morning in America," the morning everyone seemed secretly to be expecting.
The network flashed "Parental Guidance Suggested" on the screen after each commercial interruption, but my parents let me watch anyway. They thought it was important, because they feared what was being portrayed could actually happen. And they feared it could happen because of Reagan.
Overshadowed by previous eras of nuclear hysteria – the duck-and-cover-'50s, the Cuban-Missile-Crisis-'60s – it is easy to forget how frightening Reagan's "Evil-Empire"-'80s were. For a reminder, look no further than the pop culture of the time, brimming with the terror of a hypothetical battle everyone called World War III, as if it had already been scheduled.
Between The Day After and "Morning in America," for example, there was the young Matthew Broderick's World War III movie, War Games (Computer [digital voice]: "Would. You. Like. To. Play. A. Game?" Matthew Broderick: "How about Global Thermal Nuclear War?"); and there was U2's World War III album, War, including tracks like "Seconds" ("Push the button and pull the plug / Say goodbye, oh, oh, oh…"); and of course there was the German-English World War III classic "99 Luftballoons," which, according to a popular apocryphal legend, inspired Reagan to pursue his "Star Wars" missile dream.
Not a scientific sampling by any means, and of course there are dozens more. The point is, all of these were Reagan songs, Reagan movies. They were a direct response to the fact that, in that same season of The Day After and "Morning in America," Reagan fostered a culture obsessed with its capacity to destroy itself with nuclear weapons. Reagan himself even co-opted the name of a generation's prevailing hero myth – Star Wars – and made that nuclear, too.
And not just nuclear, but biblical: He spoke often of his belief that the likely conflict with the Soviet Union (he called it "the Final Battle") had been foretold; that the Soviets were the satanic nation of Gog written about in the books of Ezekiel and Revelation. We listened to music and watched movies about the end of the world because at times it seemed more than inevitable; to the man with his finger on the button, it was prophecied.
As Reagan told People magazine on December 6, 1983, "theologians have been studying the ancient prophecies — what would portend the coming of Armageddon — and have said that never, in the time between the prophecies up until now, has there ever been a time in which so many of the prophecies are coming together. There have been times in the past when people thought the end of the world was coming, and so forth, but never anything like this."
For better or worse, it is from Ronald Reagan that I and others of my generation, learned the meaning of apocalypse. If not the word itself, then at least the implication of it; the threat. The Possibility.
Amid all the endless tributes to the Gipper and the Great Communicator of the coming week, it is unlikely we will hear many references to Reagan as the reader of signs and portents. We will not be treated to the soundbites that are every bit as apocalyptic as anything found in Left Behind. And yet that, too, is part of his legacy.
The end is nigh – that was Reagan's lesson, but whether it was the end of the Soviet Union, or the end of government, or the end of the world as we know it, what came next was never so straightforward. There could be "Morning in America," or there could be The Day After. Since he left office, we've seen neither fully and experienced a little of both. With his death, I am reminded that in my childhood I learned to expect a flash of light that never came.
Peter Manseau is co-author of Killing the Buddha: A Heretic's Bible, and an editor of KillingTheBuddha.com. His last article for The Revealer was "Nailing the Passion."


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During the past few weeks we've talked a great deal about the latest Windows Phone 8 platform and the hardware that carries it, including the Nokia Lumia 920 and the HTC 8X, but despite all that, we haven't forgot about the previous generation of Windows Phone 7-powered smartphones.
In fact, it's quite difficult to forget all about them since they've seen the light of day in 2012. I know that WP 8 stole the thunder, but there are still quite a few Windows Phone 7 users out there that will not update to the new platform for months to come.
But, the good news is that software updates are going to arrive in the future on WP 7-powered devices as well, and WP 7.8 is expected to land pretty soon, but until then, if you happen to own the Samsung Focus 2 at AT&T then you might want to know that there's already an update waiting for you.
AT&T Samsung Focus 2 OS Update
The Samsung Focus has been launched on the market about six months ago so it's still a pretty fresh device, or it should be. But in all fairness, the gadget isn't packing the biggest punch so it won't benefit from the same longevity as the Galaxy S3, the Samsung flagship phone that has also seen the light of day about a half a year ago.
Nevertheless, new software updates are always welcomed and in case you happen to own the Samsung Focus 2 from AT&T then you might be happy to find out that Windows Phone 7.5 Tango has arrived. The update brings a handful of changes and additions, including new wallpapers, improved push notifications, further optimizations, the ability to send ringtones via MMS, letter indexing and more.
The new OS will also be followed by another Samsung firmware update that should also bring a few improvements of its own.
Anyone rocking the Focus 2, and if so, have you been able to bring the gadget up to 7.5 Tango?
Thanks WP Central for the heads-up regarding the AT&T Samsung Focus 2 WP 7.5 Tango update.


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How to Grow Potatoes in Pots
Potatoes taste best when freshly harvested. Follow these steps to learn how to grow potatoes in deep pots or bins.
Step 1: Sprout Seed Potatoes
Sprout ("chit") potatoes before planting. In early spring, place seed potatoes in egg boxes, with the end with the most eyes facing upward, and set them on a cool windowsill. Plant when the shoots are ¾in (2cm) long.
Step 2: Plant Potatoes in Large Plastic Bin
From mid- to late spring, make drainage holes in the base of the bin and fill a third with compost. Evenly space five potatoes on the surface, with their shoots pointing up. Cover with 6in (15cm) of compost and water well.
Step 3: Earth Up Potato Plants As They Grow
Add compost around the plants in stages as they grow until the bin is full. Known as "earthing-up," this encourages more tubers to form, prevents them turning green and poisonous on exposure to light, and reduces frost damage.
Step 4: Harvest When Ready
With consistent watering, potatoes should be ready to crop when the plants flower. Empty the bin and harvest the tubers all at once or allow plants to continue growing and pick through the compost to take what you need.
More: Potatoes
13 Comments About this How To
Tom Braak
I used to grow potatoes on a bed of compost within a wire enclosure wrapped in burlap (for shade on the sides). As they grew I put clean straw over them. When I wanted a potato I would reach through the straw and pull out a clean potato - as they would grow in the straw, not the compost. One could do it in a pot as you mention here. My cage was three feet tall, three feet wide, and about 8 feet long. Final harvest involved removing the cage and picking through the straw.Flag this Comment
Posted 3 years ago
cathy s
I just did this exact thing and the dirt is already at the top and the plants continue to thrive. Can't wait to harvest my own Yukon Golds!Flag this Comment
Posted 3 years ago
Shelley Webb
We do every year. Sometimes we get great results; other times not so much, but I guess that's true of any harvest.Flag this Comment
Posted 3 years ago
Lorraine Kavanagh
I've plated cut up potatoes with many eyes as u did here & got some potatoes last year. I shall try it you way this year. Hoping it isn't too late. :0(Flag this Comment
Posted 3 years ago
Bonnie Maravilla
I did not know potatoes could turn green and poisonous ion exposure to sunlight!Flag this Comment
Posted 3 years ago
Always a lot of fun. You never know just what you have until you dump the container. Have grown potatoes this way for several years. I have always cut my seed potatoes into pieces with eyes, let them callous over for a couple days and then planted. Do you think you get more by planting the whole potato? That compost idea sounds interesting to.Flag this Comment
Posted 3 years ago
Cyndee Wenzel
Sounds awesome I would do this in my apartment but the stems and leaves of potatoes are very poisonous to animals (cats and dogs) not sure about children. Also onions, garlic, all root veggies. So be careful around pets. And I just researched and yes the stems and leaves of potatoes and tomatoes are poisonous.Flag this Comment
Posted 3 years ago
Connie Causey Nunez
we plant in old tires to start our potatoes...as they grow we add more soil. Stack tires to the height you feel is safe and just keep earthing up. When ready to harvest just knock down the tire tower. It should be full of potatoesFlag this Comment
Posted 3 years ago
Sara Dodging Squirrels Huff
Connie I have heard that for many years, People say they get tons of potatoes like that, I will be doing the container potatoes though because I do not have the tires.Flag this Comment
Posted 3 years ago
J. d. Brown
One summer I planted sweet potato vine in a flower bed., for its beautiful light green color. In the fall, I dug it up because it would not make the winter. I was shocked to find a nice crop of sweet potatoes. They were great!Flag this Comment
Posted 3 years ago
We Recommend...
How to Plant Young Crops
Correct potting is essential for crop growth. Follow these steps to create the most prosperous environment for young plants.
How to Plant, Hill and Harvest Potatoes
By: Julie Martens Forney
Growing Potatoes
See Also:
- Early, Mid- and Late-Season Potatoes 20 photos
- Harvesting and Planting Sweet Potatoes By: Lynn Coulter
- Take Your Potatoes From the Garden to the Table By: Judith Winfrey and Joe Reynolds


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So you are late but you are getting BFN's, this is common more often then not it is caused from late ovulation of an anovulatory cycle.
"I never had this before! My cycles are always the same"
It is not that uncommon to have 1 or 2 odd cycles a year for every woman, sometimes more. If you just noticed now that you had a few cycles that are off(assuming you never tracked your af, taken BC or anything else) just step back and take a breath. It is not the end of the world.
After 60 days we suggest seeing your OBGYN to get a script for provera or prometrium, these are progesterone supplements which should bring on AF.
If you are pregnant these wont harm you in any way or the baby. In fact progesterone is one of the main things that helps a fetus survive in early pregnancy.
You should idealy try and track your O date so it will be easier to tell if you are actually late. BBT charting is a very good way, it tells you after the fact that you have O'd which means that you should have a good window when AF might come.
Anovulatory cycles happen naturally or when you are stressed even sick. (these can also delay O) an AO cycle is a cycle when you dont ovulate at all and you havent had a break through bleed at all. So if you are over 60 days please see your dr.


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"The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) is a nonprofit organization that works closely with healthcare practitioners and institutions, regulatory agencies, professional organizations and the pharmaceutical industry to provide education about adverse drug events and their prevention. The Institute provides an independent review of medication errors that have been voluntarily submitted by practitioners to a national Medication Errors Reporting Program (MERP) operated by the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP). Information from the reports may be used by USP to impact on drug standards. All information derived from the MERP is shared with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ( FDA) and pharmaceutical companies whose products are mentioned in reports."
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Squirrels are one of the most common critters that share our yards and gardens. We notice them more than most other animals because they are active throughout the day like we are. Squirrels can be annoying and destructive but many people are also fond of the little beggars. But it is also surprising how little people know about the squirrels that share our gardens.
There are 3 common types of tree squirrels in the Eastern US, Fox, Gray and Red. (There are also northern and southern flying squirrels.) In the western US there is a Western gray Squirrel and a relative of the red squirrel called the Douglas squirrel. And Fox squirrels have recently begun to infiltrate some areas of the west. People are often confused however about what squirrel they are seeing because of common names and because the gray squirrel in particular has several color variations.
Squirrel differences
The fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) is the largest American tree squirrel. It has a reddish brown coat tipped in black. Its most obvious distinguishing trait is the rusty colored underside of the tail and slightly paler gold to reddish coloration of the belly. Unfortunately Fox squirrels are sometimes called red squirrels because of their red coloration and this confuses them with the other Red squirrel. When Fox squirrels are startled they flee quickly, directly away from the disturbance in as direct a route as possible.
Gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), are a little smaller than Fox squirrels and while they sometimes are reddish in color the back tends to be a darker grayish color, at least in the typical color of the species. Gray squirrels have white or silver colored bellies and a frosting of white hairs on the tail. Gray squirrels however come in a wide range of color mutations including white and solid black. When you see an odd colored squirrel chances are pretty good it's a color variation of the gray squirrel.
When a gray squirrel is startled it tends to freeze along a tree limb or play hide and seek with a predator, trying to see it but keep something between itself and danger, unlike a Fox Squirrel that just flees. They are the most common urban squirrel.
The American Red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) is a small squirrel. It has a reddish back with white belly and white rings around the eyes. There is a dark line between the white belly and red back color and along the tail margins. They are sometimes called Pine squirrels. There is often confusion over the American red squirrel and the endangered European red squirrel, which are different species. American red squirrels are abundant and not endangered. However they are more likely to be found in forested rural areas rather than the suburbs or urban environments. They are aggressive and chase the larger squirrels out of areas that they frequent. Red squirrels are more likely to be active at dawn and dusk and not as visible in midday as other squirrels.
Red Squirrels cannot breed with Gray or Fox squirrels but there is some disagreement about whether Gray and Fox squirrels interbreed. Most researchers believe that such crosses are rare although the two squirrels are sometimes in the same area. Most odd colored squirrels that have been collected and studied have been Gray squirrels.
Gray squirrels were taken to Europe where they quickly became an aggressive invasive species. They are said to be responsible for the near extinction of the European red squirrel.
What they eat
Most squirrels are primarily seed and nut eaters although they also eat buds, fruits, insects and birds eggs. They may also eat baby birds in nests and even carrion (dead things) at times. Squirrels have a very good sense of smell, so good that they can smell a worm inside of a nut or acorn. These infested foods are always eaten first and not stored. Nuts and seeds can be stored in caches in tree holes and other spots or buried for later retrieval. Red squirrels rarely bury food, but they store enormous quantities of nuts and seeds in anything that will hold them.
Squirrels are fond of various types of mushrooms and American red squirrels have been observed draping pieces of mushrooms on tree branches to dry for storage. Squirrels can safely eat species of mushrooms that are poisonous to humans and other animals. They can also eat acorns that are high in tannic acid without harm. Fox squirrels accumulate porphyrin, a chemical found in acorns, that makes their teeth glow pink to red under an ultra violet light.
Squirrels don't remember every nut they store but they are smart enough to know when another squirrel is watching them hide nuts and they will often try to fool the observer or will move their nuts after it leaves. They also watch other squirrels to find out how they get food, such as at a bird feeder and copy them. Urban squirrels can become quite tame when fed and often eat out of people's hands. This does not mean they are tame however, and many people have been bitten by squirrels that aren't afraid of humans.
Homes and social life
All squirrels establish territories which they then defend to some degree. Territories may be up to a mile and a half in size but squirrels also forage outside of their own territories.
While Fox and Gray squirrels tolerate others of their race at feeders and other food sources squirrels are not social animals and prefer to be alone except at mating time. Red squirrels are very territorial and don't tolerate any other squirrels in their territory except during mating season. Mothers do tolerate their babies being around for a while but chase them away before the next litter is born.
Squirrels use two main types of nests, a big ball of leaves and other material in a tree called a "drey" and nests in tree cavities (or in your attic). They usually have several nests in their territories that they use at various times of the year. Squirrels don't hibernate but may stay in a warm nest for days at a time in bad weather.
Squirrels have a number of calls or vocalizations that have different meanings. They seem to be able to understand calls of other species of squirrels and even the warning calls of birds and other animals.
Squirrels live about 2-6 years in the wild, although some have lived 20 years in captivity. They are preyed on by hawks and owls, cats, coyotes and bobcats. Raccoons and opossums are known to raid squirrel nests to eat the babies.
A female squirrel is called a sow and a male squirrel is called a boar. Mating occurs once or twice a year. Gray squirrels and red squirrels are seasonal breeders with a "heat period" in late December –early January and again in late June. Fox squirrels can breed any time of the year but tend to breed at about the same time as gray and red squirrels. Not all squirrels will breed twice in a year, it depends on how big the first litter was and how abundant food is.
Female squirrels are very promiscuous and breed with numerous males during their heat. There is a lot of chasing and fighting during squirrel mating and it's a time when many squirrels die because they are almost oblivious to predators and other dangers. Gestation is 31-35 days and litter size ranges from 1-8, with 3-4 babies being average.
Male squirrels keep their testicles tucked up inside them out of sight except during the mating seasons. This accounts for the old wives tales that squirrels castrate the males of other species or that females castrate males.
Baby squirrels are born blind and hairless. Mother squirrels often move their young from nest to nest, probably to avoid predators. They begin coming out of the nest at around a month of age but remain with their mom and nurse for at least another month and often until the mothers next breeding period.
While most squirrels will gladly kill and eat the young of other squirrels a study done with red squirrels found that a female red squirrel will adopt abandoned baby red squirrels to raise if the babies are closely related to her, such as being grandchildren or nieces and nephews. Researchers aren't quite sure how the squirrel determines the relationship.
People and squirrels
Squirrels were a popular menu item for the early European settlers because they were abundant and relatively easy to kill. There are many people that still enjoy the taste of squirrel and squirrel brains mixed with scrambled eggs is a popular southern treat. While Native Americans ate squirrels they were not a preferred source of meat. The Cherokees were said to believe that eating squirrels caused arthritis and other tribes had beliefs that eating squirrels could bring bad luck.
By the early 1800's the clearing of land for farming and heavy hunting pressure were slowly eroding squirrel populations and they were seldom seen in cities. But by the mid-1800's people were beginning to plan large parks in urban areas and to plant more trees. In some of these large urban parks gray squirrels were brought in and released to make the parks more "natural." They were protected from hunting and people were encouraging children to feed squirrels to discourage animal cruelty.
The squirrel population quickly boomed in urban areas and by the early 1900's squirrels were becoming less popular with people because of the damage they did to gardens and homes. During the wars and through the depression squirrels once again became food for the hungry and populations dipped.
The squirrel populations began to increase after WWII. Washington DC is one of the places that had and still has a very high population of squirrels. President Eisenhower hated them. He ordered them trapped and removed from the Whitehouse grounds which sparked protests. President Regan however, was a squirrel lover. He brought the Whitehouse squirrels acorns from Camp David and had a Christmas card painted that depicted a squirrel on the Whitehouse lawn. (No word on whether Obama likes squirrels.)
In the 1960's however, with the influence of environmental movements and Disney people once again began treating squirrels as cute creatures that needed to be protected. Squirrels are very common in most cities but they can become a problem. Besides the damage they do to gardens, bird feeders and trees a squirrel causes a power outage somewhere in the US every day.
If you want to keep squirrels away from your home there are hunting seasons for squirrels in most states. If hunting isn't feasible you can live trap them quite easily. Use peanuts as bait. You can then destroy them or release them at least 5 miles away from your home. To keep squirrels out of bird feeders use a metal post for the feeder and a cone shaped squirrel shield. Make sure bird feeders are high enough off the ground that squirrels can't jump from the ground to them and far enough from trees so they can't drop down on the feeder.
There are special bird feeders that use the weight of the squirrel to close access to bird feed. You can also enclose feeders in wire mesh with openings that allow birds through but not squirrels.
Don't allow squirrels to remain in attics or other living spaces. They can start fires with their chewing and cause a lot of damage to wood surfaces. Live trap these squirrels. Rat traps will kill red squirrels. Do not use rat and mouse poisons on squirrels. They seldom work and the squirrels may carry them to un-intended areas.
If you enjoy watching squirrels two of their favorite feeds are peanuts and whole corn. When choosing peanuts for squirrels, use raw, unsalted ones. Sometimes a well-stocked squirrel feeder will keep them out of bird feeders but don't count on it. Whether you like them or despise them however, squirrels are probably here to stay.
Here are some additional articles you may want to read.
All about the wooly bear caterpillar
Are cats killers or pets?
Winter treats for chickens
You can contact the author by emailing her at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Reporting road potholes in the aldershot miltary area.
By timatworkhomeandinbetween on Mar 08, 2006
I reported Rushmoor Rd ( little lane that runs past Rushmoor Arena near Aldershot) to Hampshire County council Hampshire Potholes because it is full of big deep potholes and they rang back to say it is a military road and they can't do anything - didn't know who to contact... Some googling later the folks to contact are the MOD Defence Estates on 0121 311 3869, who were very very helpful.
FYI here is the website to report potholes to Surrey county council.
Report potholes to Surrey CC
Still waiting for a response from Hampshire County council for my question about what they could do to improve the M3 J4a North side roundabout. Motorists coming over the motorway do not seem to expect cyclists to go straight on into the Sun campus so they overtake them and turn sharp left up the Minley Rd, all in one manouver - very dangerous. This is not helped by the road approaching the roundabout being very wide then suddenly having two lanes whitelined a few yards before the junction. I have had people do this even when I have been cycling in the middle of the left lane with my right arm sticking out - am I invisible!!!
It was raining last night as I cycled home but that did not stop half a dozen drivers performing stupid overtaking manouvers, several overtook me on blind lefthand bends even though I occupied the road so they had to use the wrong side. Two overtook over the brow of the hill, and three waited until the road had pedestrian refuges and then overook at the narrowist point - maniacs! To me it seems that speeding is the tip of the iceberg, these drivers had decided that rushing was more important than being safe..


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DENVER – The Colorado School of Mines baseball team kept the momentum going Friday after pounding 16 hits en route to a 12-6 victory over Metro State at Auraria Field in Denver.
The Orediggers (3-6, 2-3) earned a win in their first game against former Mines head coach Jerrid Oates, who resigned to take the head coaching position at Metro State following last year's campaign. The Roadrunners (4-7, 1-4 RMAC) were stymied by three errors, two of which came in a five-run fifth inning for Mines.
Mines opened up the scoring right away in the top of the first when speedy shortstop Tyler Phan Thornton wheeled around from first base on a single down the right field line by Jordan Williams. An error by the first baseman after the hit allowed the senior to score, giving Mines a quick 1-0 lead.
The Roadrunners tied up the ballgame in their half of the inning, but again found themselves trailing after Williams, Nick Piehl, Bobby Egeberg, Derek Skrdlant and Matthew Pullos went double, single, single, single and single on consecutive at-bats in the fourth, with the first two scoring on RBI's by Egeberg and Skrdlant. A sac fly by Matt Spirek brought around Egeberg, putting Mines up 4-1.
Metro State added two more runs in their half of the fourth, but Mines made use of MSC miscues in scoring five in the fifth. A leadoff single by Zach Bothwell started the rally, and a two-RBI double by Kyle Wallace pushed the last two runners across, giving Mines a 9-3 lead.
Mines put three more runs on the scoreboard in the seventh when an RBI walk by Matt Spirek with the bases loaded scored Egeberg after he led off the inning with a double. With the bases still loaded, a wild pitch by the Roadrunner hurler scored Skrdlant, and a sac fly by Wallace scored Pullos to close out the CSM scoring.
Blake Dunham earned his first win of the season after working through six innings with four strikeouts.
Egeberg paced the offense with a 3-for-4 effort with three runs scored and an RBI. Kyle Wallace knocked in three runs on a 1-for-4 clip, and Williams finished 3-for-4 with a run scored.
In all, six different CSM batters recorded at least two hits in the win.
The two squads will face each other in games two and three of a four-game series tomorrow beginning at 11 a.m.


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Kiggins Theater has been named a heritage site by the Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.
The designation, which lists the site in the Washington Heritage Register, brings the theater a step closer to acknowledgement by the National Register of Historic Places, said owner Bill Leigh.
Designations on either list include some tax benefits and code waivers to keep historic sites intact. But those benefits are nominal for sites that cost less than $1 million to restore, Leigh said.
"My motivation for doing it was not for the tax benefits but just to preserve it," Leigh said. "It's a cool building."
The theater originally opened in 1936 and was built by prominent Vancouver Mayor J.P. Kiggins, who wanted it to be one of the most modern theaters of its time.
It was designed by architect Day Hilborn, who helped create several other well-known buildings in the city's early history, including the Clark County Courthouse.
"Kiggins is the only one of Day Hilborn's buildings that has been nominated for the National Register," Leigh said, adding that he thinks the odds of it being named to the list are "pretty good."
The state office sent an official nomination for Kiggins to the National Register after completing its review.
Leigh has owned the building for four years and has completed about $400,000 worth of improvements so far, he said.


text: Thanks to new growth-related technology like aquaponics and micro-methanation, very good yields can be obtained on a very small area, and still be environmentally friendly (organic produce and energy efficient). Housed on the roof of a container, the greenhouse is protected from urban areas. Designed as an "above ground" shared garden, this farm may be parked on the street.


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Every few months, I take a deep breath and try a few of the latest fast food items landing on menus.
On those days, I typically walk around in a food coma – overwhelmed by the gut busting sampling of artery-clogging foods.
CLICK HERE to check out the latest "fast-food foods" from Del Taco, Jack in the Box, Burger King, Wendy's, Pizza Hut and Daphne's California Greek.
Tell us: Write in and let us know your thoughts: Yuck or yum?
Live from Chicago: Register food blogger Nancy Luna is attending the restaurant industry's biggest conference in Chicago May 5-8. She'll be reporting on the latest industry trends as she meets chain innovators and celebrity chefs. Catch her live updates on her Fast Food Maven blog and on her social pages: Facebook and Twitter.
Contact the writer: email@example.com


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National Theatre Live: Frankenstein (Original Casting) Showtimes and Tickets
Read Movie Reviews about National Theatre Live: Frankenstein (Original Casting) Write a Movie Review for National Theatre Live: Frankenstein (Original Casting)
Release Date: 2012-06-06 (Limited)
Genre: Program, Musical
Rating: NR
Duration: 2hrs 00min
Childlike in his innocence but grotesque in form, Frankenstein's bewildered creature is cast out into a hostile universe by his horror-struck maker. Meeting with cruelty wherever he goes, the friendless Creature, increasingly desperate and vengeful, determines to track down his creator and strike a terrifying deal. Urgent concerns of scientific responsibility, parental neglect, cognitive development and the nature of good and evil are embedded within this thrilling and disturbing classic gothic tale. This visionary production, directed by Oscar-winner Danny Boyle, will shock audiences into the mysterious world of Frankenstein. Don't miss the last performance of the National Theatre season, as Frankenstein comes to life in a thrilling new play based on the gothic novel by Mary Shelley. National Theatre Live - Frankenstein will be shown on Wednesday, June 6 and Thursday, June 7 in select movie theaters at 7:00 PM (local time).
Cast and Crew
- Starring
Jonny Lee Miller, Benedict Cumberbatch
- Directed by Danny Boyle
- Written by Mary Shelley
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College Hockey:2002-03 St. Lawrence Season Preview
The Saints went into last season as the two-time defending ECAC champions, but with heavy graduation losses few expected the Saints to repeat. Indeed, St. Lawrence went through a tough year and finished in a tie for ninth.
Key differences from the previous year: a scoring dropoff of just about a goal per game, a decline in power-play production — and 12 one-goal losses.
"I've said often that every game is going to be a battle in our league, and last year certainly proved it from our standpoint," said head coach Joe Marsh. "We've played in a lot of one-goal games before … and won more than we have lost, but last year was something else. With 20 games decided by one goal and two ties, a bounce here or there could have made a big difference.
"We finished ninth, but we were only three points out of a tie for third. That just shows how competitive the entire league was.
"We had a tough time scoring goals last year, but the guys fought through the frustration and worked hard."
Not for nothing, but experience and youth are on the Saints' side this season. In goal, the they return Kevin Ackley and Mike McKenna, who both saw considerable time last year.
"I don't think you can ask for anything more from two rookie goaltenders than what we got from Kevin Ackley and Mike McKenna last year," said Marsh. "They split things up right down the middle and ended up with nearly identical numbers. We will probably start the season this year with a rotation, but could ride the hot hand if someone hits a streak. Kevin and Mike work well together and support each other, and with their talent, I think we can consider our goaltending pretty solid."
On defense, the Saints lose only one defenseman in Ray DiLauro and return solid starters such as Ryan Glenn, Allie Skelley, Jimmy Ball, Jim Hakewill, Jeremy Cormier, Tony Maci and Matt MacDonald. Add in Mike Madill and John Wires and the Saints should continue their strong defensive corps tradition.
"We rotated eight guys on defense quite a bit last year and seven of the eight are back, so we do have some experience defensively," said Marsh. "Ryan Glenn is an assistant captain as a junior and a real leader back there, so we are looking for a strong season from him. Allie Skelley is another assistant captain and is in his third year after redshirting as a freshman. Tony Maci and Jeremy Cormier both have two seasons under their belts.
"Jimmy Ball, Jim Hakewill and Matt Macdonald all progressed well last season as freshmen and we expect them to keep improving. We've got a couple of good freshman candidates on defense, too, so again, competition for spots should be pretty intense."
Up front the Saints return Rich Peverley and Blair Clarance, their two leading scorers. Stace Page emerged last year to provide some scoring and it will be up to some youngsters to pitch in and contribute offensively.
"Rich Peverley had a great year as a sophomore and is just going to keep on getting better; he has excellent speed and hands and is working hard on the defensive aspect of his game," said Marsh. "Blair Clarance is coming off a solid year as well and will be our captain, so we are looking for a lot from him in terms of both production and leadership. Jimmy Lorentz is another senior we are looking for a big year from up front.
"We have some younger guys who adapted well to the pace of the Division I game a year ago. Stace Page is going to be a good one for us and made big contributions on the power play as a freshman. Josh Anderson has plenty of speed and good potential and Colin FitzRandolph came on strong at the end of the year. Ziga Petac came on strong in what was really his first full season of college competition, and we have three guys with pretty good wheels who redshirted last year and a couple of freshmen with good credentials who are going to compete for regular spots. I am looking forward to some pretty good competition for regular roles among a lot of guys."
Things are looking up for the Saints, and if the experience gained last year proves valuable, then Appleton Arena could be looking at high times.
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Advances in racing technology have occurred at a dramatic pace over the past 15 years. If we could travel back in time and look at grassroots racing, we would be amazed at not only how different the cars looked, but also the practices in place to work on the cars. Recently, I watched clips of a Nextel Cup race from about 10 years ago, a race that I had attended. I didn't remember the cars being all that different, but after watching the clip, I couldn't believe how much they've changed.
The same has happened with Late Models and Street Stocks. A lot has changed in the last 10 or 15 years-not only the vehicles, but also the tools we use to set up our cars. One of these I honestly dread, and that's stringing the car. It never fails: Someone forgets the string is there, steps into it, and we have to spend time resetting it. It's a time-consuming process, and while you could try to do it by yourself, it's really a job for two people.
Advanced Racing Technologies (ART) has developed all types of laser tools, ranging from laser bumpsteer gauges to laser toe plates. One product that catches my interest is a laser that is used for stringing a car. It will not only square your right-rear tire to the frame, but also square the rear end of the race car.
I had the opportunity to see this product in use at Team Glock. Team members were using Spraker Racing Enterprises' Laser String. Spraker Racing is a dealer for ART, supplying all of the NASCAR community. However, the products will also work for your typical Late Model. The laser simply bolts onto the hub of the right-rear tire and shoots a strong laser that can be easily seen. This means that stringing your car is no longer a two-person job; you can easily do it yourself with this laser string system.
Digital Depth GaugeIntercomp also produces a variety of high-tech products, including wireless scales and pyrometers. One product that caught my eye was the company's digital depth gauge. With accuracy to 0.001 inch, it is an incredible tool. It's perfect for drivers who have to choose from a selection of tires at the track. You merely stick the gauge into one of the small depth holes and quickly determine how much rubber that tire has left. This is especially valuable to Limited Late Model drivers whose tires are waiting once they arrive at the track. The digital depth gauge displays in inches and millimeters, whichever is preferred.
Intercomp also produces a digital camber/caster gauge that has been on the market for quite some time. I have used one for about six years, and I purchased it when I was still helping a lot of kart racers. This is one of the few pieces of equipment that I purchased for karting that I am still able to use with a stock car. It slides over the tire and measures camber and caster. The best part about this particular gauge is the magnet that attaches to the wheel while the car is on the scales, allowing you to easily determine camber. It eliminates the bubble gauge and the guesswork. It measures in 0.1 increments so you know exactly how much caster and camber you have.
One thing that never seems to work in favor of racers is the weather. When you need it to be 75 and clear, it's 50 and raining. At 100 degrees, it feels like the sun has planted itself in the pit stall next to you. There are a few tricks for dealing with the heat, and most everyone knows about them. But what about when the rain starts to fall? You could just use a simple tarp to cover the car, but that makes it difficult to get to the car when you need to work on it.
Cover It UpLongacre has car covers that are much better than the tarps you'd use to cover the car. There are some that can be put on while the driver is still in the car, as there's a place by the driver's side that allows the driver to exit without having to remove the cover. Longacre has covers not only for pavement cars, but also for Dirt Late Models and Modifieds. Each car cover allows you to open the hood and work on the motor without having to remove the cover.
Radio communications have come a long way as well. First came custom earplugs designed for a more comfortable fit. The latest improvement is in helmet ear speakers. Instead of custom molded earplugs, helmets and speakers are designed so the speakers will slide over your ears. These will not only be more comfortable, but also block out noise from inside the vehicle. RH2 Radios can install the speakers into any helmet.
RH2 is currently developing a system for crew member headsets called the Active Noise Reduction Headset. They use the same technology that Bose headphones use for airplane travelers. Your crew will be able to put the headsets on and greatly reduce the noise of the other engines and cars around them.
It is important to stay on top of the latest tricks in racing. One way to do this is by talking to people and having contacts at the track who can tell you what they have been trying and what they have seen other people doing. This is especially important when it comes to the setups people have been putting underneath their race cars. Think of how much the big bar/soft spring setup revolutionized the way people set up their race cars. Fifteen to 20 years ago, nobody was doing this, and it was the complete opposite of most setups.
Technology will always make us change what we are doing to our race cars and how we work on them. Sometimes new technology will sound a little far-fetched and strange. However, if you can keep an open mind and commit to trying new things when given the opportunity, you might just save some time and improve your finishes at the track.


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Gwen Stefani has announced via social media that she is having a son and the first photo showing her 'baby bump'.
On Friday Stefani, via her Instagram account, announced that she and her husband Gavin Rossdale are having a son. On her Instagram post she wrote: I was ready to hand over the crown. but I guess I am still queen of the house. #itsaboy #surroundedbyboys.
Then on Tuesday she posted a photo of herself in an all black outfit that consisted of spandex leggings, a tight long-sleeved dress and high-heels. She captioned the photo by writing "bump it #allblack #inappropriateshoes #capturethemoment #miracle". This is one of the first photos of her during her pregnancy in which she isn't wearing loose-fitting maternity clothes.
This will be Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale's third child. Previously the couple had sons Kingston James McGregor Rossdale (b. May 26, 2006) and Zuma Nest Rock Rossdale (b. August 21, 2008).


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40 Years Of Faith And Freedom
Wingfields Feted For Ministry, Marriage
Steve Wingfield holds his granddaughter, Selah, 2, during a dinner Sunday celebrating his 40 years in ministry. (Photos by Michael Reilly)
Sunday's dinner honoring Steve Wingfield and his wife, Barbara, drew close to 200 people.
Wingfield (right) serves dinner to his wife, Barbara, and granddaughter Selah, 2.
HARRISONBURG — If "the miracle in Romania" wasn't the highlight of Steve Wingfield's 40-year ministerial career — one filled with more than a few memorable moments — it comes close.
The Rev. Ed…
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