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ASUS GTX580 SLI Exclusive Review
Published: 12th November 2010 | Source: Asus | Price: £404 - £808 |
Writing a summary of something like this is harder than writing one for something that is awful.
If a product sucks, you can point out all the places for improvement. But when, like the ASUS GTX580, it's stunning in every department it does tend to leave us a bit short of different ways to say "buy it now".
Starting off with the ASUS in single card formation, we're are left with the over-riding impression that the Zotac was, almost unbelievably, an unlucky chip in the silicon lottery. When we tested that we were astounded by its performance and how relatively cool and quiet it is.
The ASUS on the other hand is faster still, even quieter, even cooler. One of the down-sides to any new batch of chips is that sometimes you get a good one and sometimes you don't. This is a corker.
It comes out the box with an extra few MHz up its kilt, and is eager to push on further even leaving the voltage at stock. With a judicious tweak of the voltage thanks to the superb ASUS Voltage Tweak BIOS we hit the giddy heights of 950MHz. Let there be no doubt at all that once the "Ultra" editions of this card come out, 1GHz Core Speed should be easily achieved. You could do it on this if you've got a waterblock to hand.
If single-card is great, SLI leaves us completely breathless.
Futureproofing as much as possible is always the goal we strive for when upgrading our PC. How ironic it is then that one of the most futureproof setups you can have is an evolutionary step coming hot on the heels of one of the shortest-lived catastrophes around.
We've had a great think around the office about what could possibly bring this card down in the near future, and we can't think of anything. Unless Crytek completely mess up and Crysis 2 ends up being a bigger performance hog than Metro 2033, which is unlikely given the console roots of it, then you can buy a couple of these and be safe for as far as we can see into the future.
Of course the downside is the amount of green you'll need to put down to get a couple of these. £800+ should be a minimum if you've got the PSU and CPU to give it the backup it needs.
As a single card the improvements mean this is a winner of the OC3D Gold Award. For once the performance in SLI is enough that we'll overlook the wallet emptying price and give the SLI a OC3D Gold Award alongside our OC3D Performance Award.
Thanks to ASUS for providing the cards for todays review. Discuss in our forums.
Most Recent Comments
Continue ReadingQuote
It is a shame that I bought 2x460 SLI - I should wait and buy 1x580 from Asus.Quote
WOW I want them
It is a shame that I bought 2x460 SLI - I should wait and buy 1x580 from Asus.
Did the performance dip down at all when you had it clocked up to 950MHz on the core at all?? If it didn't then the issue of the card throttling before any decent overclocking can be done is blown out the windows.
Does look like you had a poo poo Zotac though.
Oh yeah and the SLI scaling in Metro is pretty decent.Quote
Reason I ask is because in the video for the Zotac it was disabled.Quote
Did you turn Physx on in Batman this time?
Reason I ask is because in the video for the Zotac it was disabled.
Tooooooooooom. How about the throttling fella. Notice any while fully overclocked at 950mhz odd?
It's all getting rather confusing ay.
I know the card throttles if you use furmark or occt from logic in the card somewhere but I'm not sure what other throttling it'll do. Perhaps the furmark and occt are done on TDP while the rest of the throttling will come in to effect when the card gets too hot.
That would make sense as Nvidia did say that the throttling wouldn't effect gaming in the way it does the torture tests.
I don't bloody know, just theorising.
Anyway, it does show that a nice aftermarket cooler should allow some nice beefy overclocks that definitely have a decent effect on frame rates.Quote
best part of the review
Here it is for the forum go-ers anyways
Which is this
Physx off. Physx on?
The rolling benchmark looks completely different with Physx enabled mush.
Found another comparisson shot. Off
In V1.0 of Batman you could enable everything but it didn't work. Your video of it running looks like this.
Doesn't matter really, but man, this game with Physx on is a sight to behold tbh. In the benchmark it's literally smoke and cobwebs. In the game? tiles smash, scenery breaks. Absolutely amazing stuff.
Ed. What I mean by doesn't matter.. In a benchmark as long as it's the same across the different hardware you are generating a comparisson. Those cards will absolutely eat Physx up any way
Edit. Again where are my manners. Thanks for the review chaps. Gives a man a chance to see how the rich and filthy live
Haha it's a good thing for you guys really. You have all the top end expensive stuff which makes me not want it as badly Quote
best part of the review
but yeah nice cards, only if i had the money
though i still love my 460s Quote
But that's just rumours really.
you need to get 2 Quote


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Forum List » Guru News and Commentaries
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Robert Shiller - Stocks Are in a Bubble
Posted by: Canadian Value (IP Logged)
Date: July 30, 2013 04:57PM
The stock market has had a tremendous rally. Has it reached bubble territory?
Yes, according to housing "guru" Robert Shiller who apparently also is willing to opine on stocks.
Shiller defines a speculative bubble as a situation where news of rising prices only further induces the animal spirits of investors.
It seems that rather than basing his opinion of a bubble on actual valuation of the stock market, Shiller instead is focusing on the optimistic attitude of investors.
Stocks Discussed: SPY, DJI, QQQ,
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subset: commoncrawl


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MARTINSBURG - Police are investigating a home invasion that resulted in one person being taken to the hospital after he says he was assaulted by at least three men.
At about 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, units from the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department responded to a residence located on Sperry Avenue, just outside the Martinsburg city limits, for a reported home invasion. Upon the arrival of the first patrol units, the Martinsburg City Police Department secured the scene at their request.
The victim, a 34-year-old man, told police that at least three black males entered his home and struck him several times in the face and torso with a blunt instrument. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to Berkeley Medical Center for treatment, police said.
Article Photos
Journal photo by Edward Marshall
Police investigate a home invasion on Sperry Avenue, near Martinsburg, Wednesday evening.
Police said a person of interest has been identified and the investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information about the crime is asked to contact Lt. Gary Harmison at the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department at 304-267-7000 or Berkeley County Crime Solvers at 304-267-4999.
In a separate incident Wednesday night, the West Virginia State Police were dispatched shortly after 10 p.m. to another reported home invasion on Presbyterian Church Road in Tomahawk. Information about that incident was not immediately available.
- Staff writer Edward Marshall can be reached at 304-263-8931, ext. 182.


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Media Relations
Press Release:
561-297-0245, firstname.lastname@example.com
"Kultur Festival 2010," a Six-Day Celebration of Jewish Music and Arts, Kicks Off at FAU
Klezmer Company Orchestra, Conducted by Aaron Kula, to Present "JudeoJazzistico" as Main Event
BOCA RATON, FL (February 5, 2010) – "Kultur Festival 2010," a six-day celebration of Jewish music and arts, kicks off at Florida Atlantic University on Saturday, March 6, at 3 p.m. with "Klez4Kidz," a multimedia presentation of the critically-aclaimed children's book, The Kugel Valley Klezmer Band and concludes Thursday, March 11, at 7 p.m. with "Hazzanut Espagnol, Mizrachi & Ladino Love Songs," a performance of songs from Persia, Iraq, Morocco, Turkey, Salonika and Spain. The 25-member Klezmer Company Orchestra (KCO), conducted by Aaron Kula, will present the festival's main event, "JudeoJazzistico," on Sunday, March 7, at 3 p.m.
The Kultur festival, now in its second year, is presented by FAU Libraries and will feature 12 events on FAU's Boca Raton campus, 777 Glades Road. Tickets for events, excluding the concert, range from $5 to $12. Concert tickets range from $18 to $42. Festival passes are $110 and include entrance to all events, premier concert seating and a copy of KCO's award winning CD Beyond the Tribes. For tickets and a schedule, call 800-564-9539 or visit www.fauevents.com.
Kula, also director of music collections and performance at FAU Libraries, created the festival and tailors the events to showcase the library's Special Collections & Archives. The music and art presented during the festival this year will expand its scope from European cultures to include fine and performing arts from the Americas, Mediterranean and Middle East.
"The main event of the festival with KCO will highlight the rich print music collection at FAU Libraries. The inaugural festival was such a success that we want this to be an annual tradition," said Kula.
A pre-festival event, "Conversations & Coexistence: Cultural Diversity at FAU," a student forum representing Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist students, will be held on Wednesday, March 3 at noon at the Wimberly Library. The event is free and open to the public.
The kickoff event, the reading of The Kugel Valley Klezmer Band, will be brought to life by narrrator Riva Ginsburg and five KCO musicians. The event will be at the Wimberly Library and is appropriate for the entire family. Everyone is encouraged to bring blankets and be ready to dance to the musical interludes.
"Tantz & Salsa," a lively social gathering, will follow on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Live Oak Pavilion. Participants can have fun with traditional Latin and Jewish folk dancing led by professional instructors.
The festival also features Dr. Henry Abramson and Dr. Zion Zohar – two renowned Jewish scholars who will deliver the keynote address titled "Coexistence Through Culture," on Sunday, March 7 at 1 p.m. at the Live Oak Pavilion.
will be performed on Sunday at 3 p.m. at FAU's Carole and
Barry Kaye Performing Arts Auditorium. KCO, FAU Libraries'
professional ensemble-in-residence, turns up the heat with the
new Klezkatz vocal ensemble, to present a tour-de-force concert
of new orchestrations. The concert will feature masterfully
blended jazz and ethnic music.
The festival offers three traditional events that highlight Yiddish culture, including Dr. Jerry Glantz's lecture on his book The Man Who Spoke to God, the story about his dad, Cantor Leib Glantz on Tuesday, March 9 at 3 p.m.; "Yiddish Zingfest" with singer and actress Phyllis Berk, who will sing songs from albums in FAU Libraries' Judaica Sound Archives on Wednesday, March 10 at 3 p.m.; and the screening of "Yifl mitn Fidl," a presentation that will feature KCO violinist Randi Fishenfeld on Monday, March 8 at 7 p.m. The events will be at the Wimberly Library.
Book arts collector Arthur Jaffe, curator of the Arthur and Mata Jaffe Center for Book Arts, and Jewish musicologist Cantor Morton Kula will explore the meaning, artistry and music of the Haggadah on Monday, March 8, at 2 p.m. An evening of songs and theater by Jewish composers and playwrights from Argentina will be performed on Tuesday, March 9, at 7 p.m. The festival also features an invitation for musicians to bring instruments and music stands, and jam with KCO and Kula on Wednesday, March 10, at 7 p.m. Both events will be at the Wimberly Library. The finale, Hazzanut Espagnol, Mizrachi & Ladino Love Songs, will be at 7 p.m. at the Barry and Florence Friedberg Lifelong Learning Center.
Kultur Festival 2010 is sponsored by the by FAU Libraries with additional support from the Jewish Cultural Society at FAU, the Nathan and Marion Crosby Holocaust and Judaic Library Collections Endowment Fund, WXEL and the South Florida Association of Jewish Libraries. Proceeds benefit FAU Libraries.
For more festival information visit www.library.fau.edu/news/kultur.htm, and to experience KCO visit www.klezmercompany.com.
About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University serves more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students on seven campuses and sites. Building on its rich tradition as a teaching university, with a world-class faculty, FAU hosts 10 colleges: College of Architecture, Urban & Public Affairs, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Biomedical Science, the College of Business, the College of Education, the College of Engineering & Computer Science, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Graduate College, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. For more information, visit www.fau.edu .


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JET Karting is the Chicago Suburbs Best Karting Experience
Not your standard "bumper cars," these karts are capable of over 45 mph, evenly matched to make the driver the most crucial part of the equation. These Italian karts are true racing machines. Dice it up on Chicagolands's best karting track. Measuring in at over a half mile long, this professional road course is designed to reward drivers for using smooth hands and a cool head. With fast sweepers, hairpin turns and elevation changes, it's no wonder that Concept Haulers Motor Speedway in Norway, IL is a many time host of karting National Championships. Located on-site at Concept Haulers Motor Speedway, JET Karting is Chicago's full kart racing pro-shop. Whether you're just getting started or a seasoned race veteran, we can take care of you. Don't own a kart? Our Rental Racing, Group Outings, and Driver Academies make you a racer without the investment! Call to schedule a custom program to suit your needs.


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|Nebraska Center for Writers
A Literary Tour
Willa Cather
(left) is probably Nebraska's best-known writer. The author of
O Pioneers!,
My Antonia, and
many more, Cather is most
closely associated with Red Cloud, Nebraska, where a yearly celebration is
in her honor (Willa Cather Annual Spring Conference; for
information, contact Pat Phillips, 326 North Webster, Red Cloud, NE
68970, 402.746.2653).
Mari Sandoz (right), who was born and raised in the Sandhills region of Nebraska, is the acclaimed author of many books, including Old Jules, Slogum House, and Crazy Horse: the Strange Man of the Oglalas, one of the earliest works to show sympathy for the Native American leader, a biography still regarded by many as the definitive account of the man and the legend.
Loren Eiseley was born on September 3, 1907, in Lincoln, where he lived for most of his first twenty-six years. He is regarded as one of the foremost anthropologists in the world, the author of The Immense Journey and many other books, and an early contributor to the fledgling Prairie Schooner.
To learn more about famous writers from Nebraska's past, like
Bess Streeter Aldrich,
Wright Morris, and
John Neihardt,
have a look at the
Nebraska Authors page,
produced by the
Nebraska Department of Travel and Tourism.
|There's no shortage of Nebraska writers. From modern masters like Tillie Olsen (left) and Wright Morris to newer masters like last year's National Book Award nominee Richard Dooling and National Poetry Series winner Erin Belieu (right), the literary arts are alive and well in Nebraska, one of the few states with an official poet. Highly honored and much published, state poet William Kloefkorn is also a past winner of the Nebraska Hog-Calling Championship.
In addition to these, there are institutions across the state offering
a wide variety of writing
programs: Dana College,
Nebraska Wesleyan,
Community College,
Chadron State College, and many others.
|Nebraskans give a great deal of their time, money, and energy to preserve Nebraska's literary heritage. Many like the fans of John Neihardt, Willa Cather, and Wright Morris have established literary centers as tributes to the writers and resources for students, readers, and researchers. On-line presences include The Mari Sandoz Heritage High Plains Center at Chadron State College, (left, photo by Kira Gale) The Nebraska Center for Writers at Creighton University (right, photo Nebraska Travel & Tourism), and the Willa Cather Pioneer Memorial.


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Event Calendar
Throughout the year, Ojai hosts a steady stream of cultural events, culinary delights, concerts, and festivals. Check out what's happening in Ojai California, as well as at Ojai Valley Inn & Spa.
Spiritual Counseling Session with Nancy Furst
When: 12/01/2013, 12/02/2013, 12/03/2013, 12/04/2013, 12/05/2013, 12/06/2013, 12/07/2013, 12/08/2013, 12/09/2013, 12/10/2013, 12/11/2013, 12/12/2013, 12/13/2013, 12/14/2013, 12/15/2013, 12/16/2013, 12/17/2013, 12/18/2013, 12/19/2013, 12/20/2013, 12/21/2013, 12/22/2013, 12/23/2013, 12/24/2013, 12/25/2013, 12/26/2013, 12/27/2013, 12/28/2013, 12/29/2013, 12/30/2013, 12/31/2013
By Appointment
Nancy Furst is an intuitive, channel, and healer with over twenty years experience as a spiritual counselor. Her background includes training in Native American spirituality, advanced certification in crystal healing, hospice care, and an extensive study of metaphysics, including the Course in Miracles.
Her unique and memorable sessions begin with the blessing of a Native American prayer song and a guided meditation, accompanied by soft drumming. Your choice of crystals, stones, and Native American wisdom cards, initiates a journey of self discovery and clarification, lovingly guided and inspired by her intuitive skills.
In the sanctuary of a sacred space, you will find the path for healing, the tools for transformation, and the illumination to guide your way.
Appointments are available Thursday and Saturday with advance reservations. Alternate days can be made available, please call to inquire.
Please call our Reservations department to schedule an appointment: (888) 976-3081


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Weird crime: Summit man gets ride home from police after picking wrong house
The skinny: A Summit Township man got a ride home in a police car after picking the wrong house to sleep off a night of drinking.
What we know: State police said the 32-year-old man wandered into a residence on West First Street in Waterford on Sunday at about 5:30 a.m. The man was intoxicated, and he went to the house for the purpose of sleeping, police said. The residents of the house woke up when the man entered and called state police. Troopers took the man into custody, drove him home and released him to his wife.
Case update: The man faces a nontraffic citation for public drunkenness, police said.


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YOUNGSTOWN - With the clock winding down in the third period and the score tied, the Phantoms were trying everything to get past Green Bay goalie Tony Kujava.
Sam Anas had a couple of good looks on net within a 2-minute span, but Kujava held strong. Even during a scramble in front of the net with less than 6 minutes remaining, the Phantoms couldn't break through the wall put up by Kujava.
Well, if you can't go through a wall, you might as well go around it.
Out of that scramble, the puck squirted out to defender Daniel Renouf, who passed to Cam Brown on the backside of the play. Brown tapped it in for the game-winning goal in the Phantoms' 3-1 victory over the Gamblers. The win clinched the series and a spot in the Eastern Conference finals.
"It was just a mess in front (of the net)," Brown said. "To be honest I thought that Dan was going to shoot it at first, and he waited an extra second. He just gave me a gift backdoor.
"I was just saying to myself, 'Don't screw it up.' "
Brown didn't mess it up, and despite Brown's fear, Renouf explained following the game that shooting was not on his mind.
"I couldn't not pass it to him, he was so wide open," Renouf said. "Not at all (was I tempted to shoot). He's the goal-scorer, not me."
As had occurred throughout the series, the Phantoms needed to come back on the Gamblers to win. Christian Wolanin gave Green Bay the lead at the 13:47 mark when he fired home a shot from just outside the left circle over Youngstown goalie Sean Romeo.
Youngstown coach Anthony Noreen said he was happy his team limited the damage in the early going, but the Gamblers could have held a two-goal advantage if not for Tommy Davis earlier in the period.
A shot by Green Bay's Kevin Irwin at the 6:21 mark in the first period went off Romeo's shoulder and straight into the air before landing in the crease. Perched on the left side of the net, Davis jumped on the puck when it was inches away from crossing the line to save a goal.
"I just instinctively wacked at it and got it out of there," Davis said. "It was kind of a lucky play - being in the right place at the right time."
Limiting the damage allowed the Phantoms to work their way back into the game and score three-unanswered goals in the last two periods.
For Noreen, beating the defending Clark Cup champions was a step in the right direction, although the team still hasn't fulfilled their goal yet.
"There's a reason that they've been in the finals and won the Clark Cup two of the last three years," Noreen said. "They are an elite program. There are no holes in that team. I don't think there was one easy piece of ice for either team at any point in the series."
Meanwhile, the returning players from last year's team finally got their revenge for last season's playoff series loss. After splitting the first two games in Green Bay, the Gamblers went on to win both games in Youngstown.
This time, Youngstown took care of business at home and is now going into uncharted territory. The Phantoms have never gone this far in the United States Hockey League playoffs.
"For the returners, there was a bitter taste with this team," Renouf said. "It's definitely really nice to beat them and see them go home because they did the same thing to us."


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All Posts In » 2009 » May » 30
Qore leaks PSP Go details
Someone on the Qore team is having a bad day today because GamingConsoleNetwork found images and details of PSP Go when Qore went live early. A user on Youtube even captured the interview on camera for everyone to get the details. Gran Turismo, Little Big Planet, Jak and Daxter and a Metal Gear are all mentioned or confirmed during the video. PSP GO will not be replacing the PSP-3000 at retail stores. PSP Go has 16 GB of flash memory and supports bluetooth. Have to love pre-E3 leaks! We'll get more information at E3! [youtube]pQ-EtvIhFRU[/youtube] FollowRead more →By GamingAngel in News No comments yet
1 vs 100 beta goes live June 1
The 1 vs 100 beta will go live for the US on June 1. The game is already in beta for Canada and will remain in beta for them as well. The first "1 vs 100 Live" show of the U.S. and Canadian Beta will air at 7:30 PM PDT on June 1. "1 vs 100" on Xbox LIVE puts YOU center stage and features regularly scheduled shows, our live studio host, Chris Cashman who provides comedic commentary, real prizes(1), and always-fresh content written by a team of trivia experts. " Of course it goes live during E3. We'll be busy, but try it out and let us know in the forums what you think of 1 vs 100! FollowRead more →By GamingAngel in News No comments yet
To Twitter or Not To Twitter: Personal Etiquette on Twitter.
In the last little while the phoneme that is twitter has exploded. Almost anyone who's anyone has twitter. Those in the entrainment industry, gaming companies, developers, bloggers, even our own Gaming Angels.com and Staff have twitter feeds. It seems everyone has it, or at least everyone is talking about it. How does this affect etiquette you may ask? Well just like there is social etiquette there is also, social networking etiquette. What is that? Well, let me go back to the basics. Etiquette has be defined by dictionary.com (:P) as: 1. conventional requirements as to social behavior; proprieties of conduct as established in any class or community or for any occasion. 2. a prescribed or accepted code of usage in matters of ceremony, as at a court or in official or other formal observances. 3. the code of ethical behavior regarding professional practice or action among the members of aRead more →


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I had a similar machine (rocked on that Pentium 2 until 2007!) and setup, but with FreeBSD/XFCE, back when I was very very poor college student. I highly recommend using Opera instead of Firefox or Chrome on that machine. It's way less of a resource hog.

On Tue, Oct 16, 2012 at 10:33 PM, Dan Lyke <email@example.com> wrote:

On Tue, 16 Oct 2012 21:30:26 -0400
 Phil Sieg <email@example.com> wrote:
 > watching Zombies debate...
 >
 > Hoping they eat a member of the audience...hehehe

I'd watch the replay of that on YouTube.

 Installing Xubuntu on a Celeron 380 with 256MB of memory, because
 Charlene thinks it'd be a good idea for her developmentally disabled
 brother to have a laptop.

 Won't boot off the USB stick I've prepped for it, so I'm actually
 having to resort to metallized discs. The horror.

 Dan

_______________________________________________
 Chugalug mailing list
 email@example.com
 http://chugalug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/chugalug


text:
December 8, 2010
With the holidays upon us, I've been asked for ideas about simple, economical and low-key—but festive—hors d'oeuvres to serve. Here are some favorites:
Warm Rosemary Mixed Nuts: On a sheet pan, toss your favorite mixed nuts with a little olive oil, fresh rosemary needles, and salt. Bake in a 375°F oven until warm and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
Carrot and Cucumber Sticks with Dilly Dip: Combine Greek yogurt with chopped fresh dill, grated lemon zest, and black pepper. Serve with carrot and cucumber sticks for dipping.
Pistachio Goat Cheese Log: Chop up pistachios and golden raisins and roll a goat cheese log in them to coat the outside. Serve with crackers.
Parmesan Twists: Brush a thawed puff pastry sheet with a beaten egg and sprinkle with grated Parmesan. Cut into ½-inch wide strips then twist. Place on a parchment-lined sheet pan, sprinkle with some more Parmesan, and bake in a 375°F oven until golden and crisp, about 15 minutes.
Roasted Spiced Potato Wedges: Cut up red potatoes into wedges, toss in olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika and roast in a 425°F oven until tender and crisp. Serve hot or at room temperature with a mixture of sour cream and scallions for dipping, about 35 minutes.
Fresh Ricotta with Herbs: Place fresh ricotta in a serving bowl, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves, a little salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Serve with crackers or sliced baguette.
Chocolate Bark: Melt 8 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate and spread into a parchment lined 8-inch square baking pan. Sprinkle the top with dried cranberries and chopped cashews. Refrigerate until firm (15 minutes) then break into pieces.
Hot, spiced cider is a nice, cozy drink to serve. Add a little bourbon or brandy and let the games begin.
Happy Holidays!
Posted by do it Delicious
Category: Delicious Recipes


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Sir Peter Scott
Sir Peter Scott was an Olympic yachtsman. A popular television presenter. A gliding champion. A painter of repute. A naturalist. A skipper in the Americas Cup. The son of a national hero. The holder of the Distinguished Service Cross for gallantry. The founding chairman of WWF.
It is hard to imagine a more rounded man or a life better spent. Yet for all his achievements, he was the most approachable and modest of men. Indeed, recalled his biographer Elspeth Huxley, when he was knighted in 1973 he sent a note to his staff at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) insisting that he and his wife, Philippa, continue to be known as Peter and Phil to everyone, not least the groundsmen and daily helpers.
Peter Scott was passionate about nature and conservation, and deeply concerned about the capability of the planet to withstand human demands on its resources – an urgent issue now known as sustainable development. Another of his driving interests was preserving the Antarctic as a haven free from human exploitation… hardly surprising, perhaps, when you consider his father was Robert Falcon Scott – Scott of the Antarctic – who died there when Peter was a mere 18 months old.
For staff at WWF, we hold Sir Peter Scott in the highest regard as our founding chairman. "He was crucial to the whole development of WWF" his friend the Duke of Edinburgh, President Emeritus of WWF, recalled. "I think his great contribution was that he was a brilliant communicator. For example, his television programmes in the 1950s and '60s were in those years as popular, as convincing, as David Attenborough's are now."
Sir David himself remembers Peter Scott with great affection. "He had a great amalgam of talents" he said. "He was a supreme communicator, it's true, but he was also a professional animal keeper – he knew about wildfowl, he knew about captive breeding – and even more remarkable, perhaps, is the fact that he was an excellent committee man: he understood the workings of committees so well that he'd invariably get his way.
"And, of course, beneath that benign exterior, he was competitive. If Peter did something, he was going to win, he was going to get it done."
For all his extraordinary achievements, Sir Peter Scott was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society and created a Companion of Honour by the Queen in 1987. He died two years later at the age of 79.
And his legacy? As Sir Christopher Wren said in a different age, "if you seek my monument, look around you…"


text: You've heard it a million times before, but no, seriously: Do not try this at home! Life is one big double-dog dare for the sophomoric superheroes of this cult hit, as they submit to a series of tasteless and often very painful stunts. It's relentlessly lowbrow, but some of these bits are so startling that you're bound to laugh, even if it's out of nervous shock.


text:
Study Abroad
p: 704-894-2250
f: 704-894-2120
e: firstname.lastname@example.com
Mailing Address:
Box 7155
Davidson, NC 28035
Shipping Deliveries:
209 Ridge Rd.
Davidson, NC 28035
Programs > Brochure
Davidson College - India
Chennai, India (Outgoing )
|Program Terms:
|Fees and other costs (click on the term -->)
|Fact Sheet:
|Program Housing:
|Hotels/Hostels/Guest Houses
|Minimum GPA:
|Language of Instruction:
|Language Prerequisite:
|Class Eligibility:
|02-Sophomore, 03 - Junior, 04 - Senior
|Program Description:
Program Overview
Established in 1981, and conducting its twenty-second consecutive program in fall 2015, Davidson's Semester-in-India program has a proven record of safety, efficiency, and consistency. The Semester-in-India features lectures and discussions in courses based at Madras Christian College (MCC) in Chennai and other institutions in South India, combined with guided travels throughout India. The resident director for fall 2016 will be professor Sarah Waheed from the History Department.
Our program has earned respect for academic integrity, high caliber of participants, extensive travel opportunities and sound execution. The success of our program has been demonstrated by the return to India by nearly half of our past participants.
Several participants have considered their semester in India to be a life-changing experience. In addition to providing a very stimulating academic experience the program provides extensive travel opportunities and affords the student the special pleasure of living with a group of students drawn from various college backgrounds in an atmosphere of trust, goodwill, and mutual care.
The Davidson College program is an undergraduate program that strives to provide a comprehensive as well as safe exposure to the Indian sub-continent through a well-defined academic program.
The fall 2016 program will enable its students to earn the following Davidson College course credits:
SOU 310: India Past and Present
ENV 199: Indian Environment and Ecology
HIS 379: Islam in South Asia
HIS 377: Urban India*
*pending approval by EPC, HIS 377 will count for major credit in both History and Environmental Studies*
All four courses are coordinated by faculty at Madras Christian College and include lectures, demonstrations, tours and discussions by academics, journalists, practitioners, and other experts from institutions all over India. Dr. Waheed will offer lectures in some of these courses as well.
SOU 310 is a general course on the cultures, arts, religions, and history of India from ancient times through the independence movement and to the present. Many class sessions for these courses will take place during visits to various historical sites.
ENV 199 will be devoted to a variety of topics concerning the Indian environment and ecological sustainability.
HIS 379: will include topics of related to the history of Islam in South Asia. Its aim is to introduce students to the broad historical currents of the expansion of Islam in the Indian subcontinent, the nature of Muslim political authority, the interaction between religious communities (Hindu, Muslim, etc.), Islamic aesthetics and contributions to material culture, the multiple engagements and reactions of Muslims to colonial rule, and the partition of British India. This course is an introduction to the political, cultural, and social history of this diverse group of people which varies across regions, language, sects, castes, classes, and genders.
HIS 377: will involve lectures, projects, and tours about the making of urban India in the past century. It will address topics such as urban-rural relationship; labor flows; cultural diversity; mass media; the making of the new urban Indian middle class; gender and public space; development organizations and NGOs; the relationship of the state to city planning of transportation, building, and housing. Students will conduct research on a preferred topic in either the city of Delhi or Hyderabad. (This course may satisfy elective credit for Environmental Studies or Anthropology minor, pending EPC approval).
Program Highlights
The program will begin in Davidson in late August with several days of orientation. The group, which usually includes a few selected students from other colleges/universities, will then leave for India. The program will conclude in early December. Please see below for exact dates.
The program will include travel to places such as:
- Mahabalipuram, Pondicherry
- Hyderabad
- Delhi, Lucknow, Agra
- Goa
While in Chennai, the group will stay at the International Guest House at Madras Christian College. The Guest House is a comfortable facility that has been renovated for Davidson students. The living quarters are safe and secure. This modern building, designed by a Swedish architect to western standards, is situated in the midst of a densely wooded area near the athletic fields. Wild deer grazing outside the dining room is not an uncommon sight.
The building is air-conditioned and the rooms are spacious and airy. The facility has two separate, self-contained flats upstairs. Each of these flats has two bedrooms, a large living room and a long covered verandah. Downstairs there are two double occupancy rooms; a suite where the director will stay and a spacious dining room with a kitchenette. Daily laundry service is available.
The large, well-groomed campus includes many footpaths for walking and jogging and other areas for exercise and relaxation. Many MCC faculty and most students live on campus, providing opportunities for socializing.
Healthy meals are prepared for program participants in the Guest House by a chef from a leading hotel in Chennai. Meals include breakfast, lunch and dinner, including afternoon tea. In addition, fruits, snacks, soft drinks and bottled water will be stocked in the dining room refrigerators. Initially meals will be bland, but after a week or so Indian dishes will be introduced. After two weeks there will be more Indian dishes and fewer Western ones.
Admission Requirements
Open to all Davidson students who are in good standing in all areas. For academics, 'good standing' is defined in this case as having a 2.5 cumulative GPA or higher (exceptions may be made in certain circumstances). Programs are open to non-Davidson applicants, space-permitting. Priority will be given to students with a demonstrated interest or previous coursework in history or South Asian studies.
Contact Information
Program Director, Davidson in India
Sarah Waheed
Professor in Residence, Fall 2016
Sarah Waheed
Visa Warning: Passports must be surrendered as part of the visa application process. Since it may take up to 90 days to receive a visa and have your passport returned to you, participating in consecutive study abroad programs in different countries, particularly between summer and fall, may be problematic or impossible.
Davidson College and consulate staffers cannot guarantee that a visa will be granted by a foreign government in any circumstance or in any time frame. International students should schedule a consultation with International Student Adviser, Bea Cornett, to discuss their visa status.
Davidson College reserves the right to cancel or modify part or all of a study abroad program should changing circumstances make it necessary to do so. In cases where the college has security concerns, the program director and the Dean Rusk Program Director will gather information and make a recommendation to the Dean of Faculty. The dean will take a decision to the president, who retains ultimate authority to decide whether or not a particular Davidson-sponsored trip should proceed.
Davidson admits qualified students without discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, age, handicap, gender, or sexual preference.
|Dates / Deadlines:


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How many times do we see our Scout try to take the "easy way out"? It is a natural thing to seek the path of least resistance. Pop Tarts rather than cooking a breakfast, pre fab meals rather than doing the prep work, planning shorter hikes rather than get to the beauty of a hike deeper into the wilderness. Those and many other decisions are made all the time by our PLC's and Scouts in general.
"Successful leaders see the opportunities in every difficulty rather than the difficulty in every opportunity." – Reed Markham
We also see this played out in the decisions for Scouts to do the right thing and call out their buddies when they are not doing the right thing.
In a youth led troop it is the SPL and Patrol leaders that should be monitoring and adjusting attitudes and policing themselves. Now I am not suggesting that Scouts discipline one another, but leaders setting a good example and holding their patrol mates to the same standard is good leadership. There need not be punishments, but using good old-fashioned peer pressure to change behavior may be what the doctor ordered.
But it all starts with the decision to make the difficult choice of confronting the Scout that is misbehaving.
As adult Scout leaders, we need to seek those opportunities and turn them into learning opportunities. Scouts that are disruptive or acting contrary to the Oath and Law need to be made aware of their behavior and that it is not acceptable in our organization. I have seen many Scout leaders turn the other way because they fear the Scout will leave the unit, tell his parents, or face the fall out from "above" when discipline is measured out. I would not suggest that a Scout ever be physically disciplined and two deep leadership should alway be exercised when dealing with a youth that has gone out of control. But the choice must be made by both youth and adult leaders to do something about what ever needs to be fixed.
As this applies to no discipline areas of Scouting… encouraging our Scouts to seek opportunities that challenge them and take them out of their comfort zones will lead to successful leadership and enthusiastic scouts.
Theodore Roosevelt said " I dream of men who take the next step instead of worrying about the next thousand steps."
That is a perfect way for your PLC to break the fear of decision-making.
Try it.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Monthly Archives: June 2011
Difficult Opportunities or Successful leadership
How many times do we see our Scout try to take the "easy way out"? It is a natural thing to seek the path of least resistance. Pop Tarts rather than cooking a breakfast, pre fab meals rather than doing the prep work, planning shorter hikes rather than get to the beauty of a hike deeper into the wilderness. Those and many other decisions are made all the time by our PLC's and Scouts in general.
The Life of a Serendipitist
I think it is important to have "Hero's" in life. People that we look up to or try to learn from chapters of their lives. William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt is one of my hero's. His love for the Scouting program drove him and in the end elevated him to a father of Scouting in one sense or another. Scouting in America would not be what it is without Green Bar Bill. I wish I could have met him.
William Hillcourt wrote the following essay on his life. I want to share it with you, because I think that in the end we will all find that there is a hidden treasure out there with our name on it.
The Life of a Serendipitist
By William Hillcourt
Did you ever hear the story of the King of Serendip? He had three sons. He was proud of them and saw to it that they had the very best upbringing. He brought in the finest swordsmen and athletes of his kingdom to coach them in all the fitness skills of a true knight. He had the wisest men of the country teach them about the world and its wonders. He himself taught them kingship: how to rule with compassion and fairness.
He loved his three sons equally well. But as he grew old, he wondered which of them would make the best king when his own days were up. He decided to put them to the test: He sent them out into the world with one year to find a very special treasure. When the year was up, they returned.
All three had failed! Not one of them had found the treasure he had been sent out to find. BUT-each of them had found a treasure far more precious than any their father could have imagined!
Out of this story of the King of Serendip have come two words for the English language: serendipity, a gift for finding valuable things not sought for, and serendipitist, the person who does the finding.
Columbus, the greatest serendipitist of all time, became one at the age of 41. I became one at 25. The treasureColumbussought was the fulfillment of his dream of findingIndiaby sailing west. Mine was the fulfillment of a similar dream: of circling the globe before settling down in my nativeDenmarkfor the rest of my life.
Columbusfailed in his quest. He did not find the route toIndia. He found something far superior: a new world. I failed in mine-for the time being. But I, too, found something far better than what I sought. I found a different country to treasure and serve, a girl to love and cherish, a challenging career and a lifework in Scouting.
It took some doing. It took timing, special skills, willingness to take a chance and the ability to recognize treasure when I saw it, plus some extraordinary coincidences. As to timing: I was born at exactly the right time for Scouting, in 1900, the year when a British officer by the name of Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell became the greatest military hero in the war the British Empire was fighting in South Africa.
I was 10 at the right time for becoming a Scout inDenmark: Baden-Powell's Scouting for Boys had just been translated into Danish. I got it for a Christmas gift. It told me how to become a Scout. I became one in January 1911.
I was at the right age also and had reached the right advancement-the Danish equivalent of Eagle-when my troop picked me to represent it at the first World Jamboree inLondonin 1920. I celebrated my birthday that year by joining 5,000 other Scouts in proclaiming Baden-Powell Chief Scout of the World.
And my timing was right when, at 25, I set out to see the world, fit and prepared with the kind of know-how I would need to get along.
But let me get back to my beginnings.
I was born on August 6, 1900, inAarhus,Denmark, the third son of a prosperous building contractor. My childhood years were carefree ones. My teen-age years were rough. My father nearly went bankrupt in an economic depression of 1909. He kept the family afloat building stations for the expanding Danish railroad. We moved from place to place wherever his work took him. My Scouting became Lone Scouting: Troops were few and far apart in those early days of Danish Scouting. When we finally returned to my home town, my Scout life really took off. I became a patrol leader and senior patrol leader in Aarhus Troop 3 under an extraordinary Scoutmaster, Jorgen Boje.
By then I had to think of my future. My main hobbies as a boy had been chemistry and botany. They added up to pharmacy. For my early training, I became a "disciple" in the 400-year-old pharmacy of my home town. When my disciple years were over, I went toCopenhagento finish my studies at thePharmaceuticalCollege. I had hardly arrived before I was invited to become the Scoutmaster of Copenhagen's most famous troop, Vedel's Own. I accepted.
I had another childhood hobby to satisfy: writing. In whatever time I had left from studying and of the Danish Boy Scouts, got out a Scout handbook and wrote a boys' book based on the experience of my own patrol camping on a desert island in Denmark's largest lake. It wasn't a runaway best seller, but it had a respectable sale for a first novel by a 23-yearold.
Danish Scouting was astir in those days. The Danish team at the lst World jamboree inLondonhad won the world championship in Scouting. Because of that, the 2nd World Jamboree was coming toDenmark. I made up my mind that my wholeCopenhagentroop would take part in it. It did.
At the same time I made up my mind about my own future. I had become a full-fledged pharmacist in May 1924. One week after, I walked into the office of one of the largestCopenhagennewspapers and offered my services as its jamboree correspondent. "I know all about jamborees," I told the editor. I had been at the only one ever held. "And I can write." I had two books to show him. He took me on. And I left pharmacy forever.
My reporting must have been satisfactory. After the jamboree, the editor made me the managing editor of the paper's Sunday magazine. I could look forward to a good solid newspaper career.
But I had become a restless dreamer. The two world jamborees had stirred my blood. I had met people from around the world. I wanted to meet them on their home grounds. I arranged with my newspaper to be its roaming reporter on a trip around the world. I took off in September 1925, coveredLondonand southernEngland, then settled down for a month inLiverpoolto write another boys' book. It paid my boat fare forNew York, where I landed in February 1926. There I spent the spring writing articles about its teeming life.
From time to time I visited the national office of the Boy Scouts to pick up my mail fromDenmarkand to see a friend, Bill Wessel. He had been the Scoutmaster of the American troop that won the world championship in Scouting at the jamboree inDenmark. He arranged for me to spend the summer at the camp of the New York Boy Scouts.
It was here that I became an Indian "expert." Besides taking part in the camp's main activities, I spent much of my time in the sub camp run by Julian Salomon who later wrote the book Indian Crafts and Indian Lore. He was to have staged four Indian dances for the large pageant that was to close the camp season but was called home because of illness in the family. The pageant director was frantic. Julian calmed him. "Use the Danish Scout," he said, "he knows the dances." So I was put to work teaching half-a hundred Brooklyn Scouts four Indian dances. The pageant was a success.
The Danish Chief Scout had asked me to find out how the sales of Scout uniforms and equipment were handled in other countries-inDenmarkthey had been in private hands from the start. To learn, I took a job with the BSA Supply Service.
On a cold December day I was checking in a shipment of World War I surplus army signal flag poles in front of the warehouse when one of the heavy boxes tumbled over, knocked me down and broke my right leg. An ambulance rushed me to the hospital. The bones were set and a plaster cast applied. I was out on the street on crutches three days later. I wasn't particularly perturbed. "The Lord will provide," I figured. He did.
A week after my accident I hobbled into the national office on my crutches to pick up my mail. I was walking to the elevator when an astonishing coincidence changed my life completely. Someone else was on his way to the same elevator: James E. West, the dynamic Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America. He knew of my accident. He stopped to greet me, then said, "Well, my young man, what do you think of American Scouting?" The elevator came. We went down together, chatting.
His words may have been just a casual remark. But I took them seriously. I wrote an 18-page report and sent it to him. It was complimentary in spots, critical in others. But for each criticism I offered a suggestion for remedying the situation.
Within a week, he had me in his office. "While I don't agree with everything in your report, I am interested in what you say about the Boy Scouts of America not using the patrol method effectively. You suggest that we should have a Handbook for Patrol Leaders. What should it contain?"
I told him what I had in mind.
"Would you be interested in writing it?" he asked.
"I should like to," I said, "but my English isn't that good."
"For any person in this world who has an idea," he told me, you can get a hundred to put it in final shape. So why not try?"
And that's how I became a member of the national staff of the BSA.
My English in those days was the English of a 13-14-year-old American school boy, exactly the age of the boy leader for whom the book was intended. My manuscript was hardly touched in editing. I received the first copy of my first book in English the day I arrived atArrowePark,Birkenhead,England, for the opening of the 3rd World jamboree, July 31, 1929.
That fall the bottom fell out of the American economy with the stock market crash of October 29. The United Statessank into the deepest depression in its history. All phases of American life were affected, including magazine publishing. James E. West was determined that Boys Life, the Boy Scout magazine, should survive. But money was needed. He applied for a Rockefeller Foundation loan. The foundation studied the magazines contents. It came to the conclusion that Boys Life was not sufficiently different from the other boys' magazines to warrant the loan. But it hinted that it might reconsider if more Scouting material were added.
I suddenly found myself an assistant editor of Boys' Life responsible for editing its Scouting sections and writing a monthly feature of MY own. What should it be? I decided on a page of hints for patrol leaders. To make it more exciting, it should be written by a mysterious person. By what name? The patrol leader's badge in those days was a square of cloth with two green bars embroidered on it. I took those bars, added my nickname and became Green Bar Bill in the October 1932 issue of Boys Life.
The following spring I made one of the most important decisions of my life. I had found the girl of my dreams, Grace Brown, the Chief Scout Executive's personal secretary. As a teenager, she had vowed never to marry a foreigner, never to marry a blond, not to get married in June. But when a blond foreigner said to her, "The boat leaves forEuropeon June 3, will you marry me?" She didn't say "No" and she didn't say "Yes'-she said, "Of course!" She knew that all Danes spend most of their lives riding bicycles. She decided that our honeymoon trip throughDenmark,Germany,Czechoslovakia,Austriaand intoHungaryfor the 4th World Jamboree should be by bike. We had an adventurous journey of exactly 100 days.
Back home again, we settled into aNew York Cityapartment-but not for long.
The Schiff Scout Reservation, a beautiful 480-acre estate in the rolling hills ofnew Jersey, had been dedicated in 1933 as a training center for the Boy Scouts of America. Green Bar Bill had a dream that he conveyed to the Chief Scout Executive: "If Green Bar Bill is to go on urging patrols to a vigorous life in the outdoors, he should live in the outdoors he is writing about. He should live on the Schiff Scout Reservation." West agreed. Green Bar Bill and his mate moved into their new home-a remodeled sheep barn in September 1934.
The twenty years that followed became the most productive of my whole life.
My first major assignment at Schiff was the writing of a new Handbook for Scoutmasters. I had been a Scoutmaster inDenmarkbut knew nothing about Scoutmastering American boys. To write the book, I had to know. I gathered the boys of the nearby Mendham village into a troop and took on the job of Scoutmaster. During the sixteen years of my Scoutmastership, Troop 1,Mendham,New Jersey, was the most photographed Scout troop in the world.
The earliest photographs were used to illustrate the Scoutmaster handbook. But when Life magazine came out in 1936 with a new kind of news reporting-photojournalism, combining photographs and captions-I figured that Scoutcraft could be learned the same way. I got the camera equipment I needed, a studio, a darkroom and a helper. With the Mendham Scouts as enthusiastic models, we turned out Boys Life photo features on hiking and camping, cooking and pioneering, swimming and Indian dancing, and many other subjects.
The hundreds, yes, thousands of pictures that were taken came in handy for my next brain storm: a handbook on Scouting illustrated entirely with photographs. It became our first Scout Field Book.
But, possibly, the most important thing to come out of the years we lived at Schiff was the relationship we established with the Chief Scout of the World and his wife, Lady Baden-Powell.
It began on a visit by the Baden-Powells to Schiff in 1935, when Lady B-P, by the coincidence of being with "the right people" at the right time came for breakfast with the Hillcourts and asked her husband to join us afterwards in our cottage. The relationship was greatly strengthened two years later during and after the 5th World Jamboree inHolland. The Baden-Powell's adopted Grace while I was in camp and had us for house guests at "Pax Hill," their home inEngland, afterwards. This close relationship specifically with Lady Baden-Powell after B-P's death in 1941had some important outcomes: She granted me permission to edit Baden-Powell's Scouting for Boys into the World Brotherhood Edition that helped reestablish Scouting in devastated countries around the world after World War II. She helped me with the research for my biography about the founder of Scouting,BadenPowell-The Two Lives of a Hero, by turning over to me all her husband's letters, diaries and sketchbooks. She later presented all these valuable documents to the Boy Scouts of America.
In 1954, the national office of the Boy Scouts of America was moved fromNew York Cityto its own building inNorth Brunswick,New Jersey. In addition to my regular work, I was now assigned the most important task of my whole Scouting career the writing of a new Handbook for Boys to celebrate the forthcoming Golden Jubilee of the Boy Scouts of America. This would involve intensive work in the national office. And so, the Hillcourts left the Schiff Scout Reservation after twenty years and moved into a garden apartment within walking distance of the office.
The new handbook, for the first time with color illustrations and written by a single author, and with the new title of Boy Scout Handbook, was ready for the 50th anniversary festivities in February 1960. So was another book of celebration, The Golden Anniversary Book of Scouting, with text by Bill Hillcourt telling the 50-year history of Scouting inAmerica.
The day for my retirement from the national staff of the Boy Scouts of America arrived August 1, 1965. Grace and I, in 1971, celebrated it by taking off on the trip around the world I had failed to complete at 23. We made it coincide with yet another jamboree, the 13th, inJapan. It was Grace's sixth and last before she died in 1973. It was my ninth. I finally managed to attend 13 world jamborees out of 15 and all the national Jamborees.
Except for traveling, I had expected a fairly tranquil retirement. But something else was "in the works" that would change my plans again.
A new handbook for Boy Scouts was needed, one that would tell about the romance and excitement of Scouting. I came out of retirement and gave the Boy Scouts of America an offer they couldn't refuse: "I will give you a year of my life free, gratis, without pay, to write a new Boy Scout Handbook." My offer was accepted. I started the book October 25, 1977. I finished it October 25, 1978. It came out on schedule, February 8, 1979. Today, three million copies are in print.
After that Boy Scout Handbook came out, I traveled around the country and spoke to Scouters by the thousands at council dinners and conferences. I have met Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and Explorers by the tens of thousands at large council shows and camporees, at Diamond Jubilee celebrations and at the National Jamboree.
You may even be one of those Scouts. Did I sign your book? Were you one of the Scouts who asked me if he might shake my hand? Did you possibly press a troop badge or a council patch into my hand? Wherever we may have been together we must both have felt the same vibrant spirit all around us: a great pride in the past of our movement and faith in its future.
SMMpodcast #89 Training, Promises, and Serendipity
In this show we talk about Troop Junior Leader Training, Delivering the Promise of Scouting, and Finding that life of serendipity from my hero Green Bar Bill.
Leave me feedback, drop and email, or leave a comment letting me know what you think.
This show is sponsored by The Boy Scout Store.
You can listen to the show by Clicking on the show number –> SMMPodcast # 89
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Understanding Boys
In the old Scoutmaster Handbooks, there was always at least a chapter on what makes up a boy and how that boy grows, learns, and develops. I think it is important to know these things as a Scoutmaster. We work with boys becoming young men and each is different. They all have needs and wants and are motivated in their own unique way. To train a young man to lead other young men it is important that we understand them in order to set them up for success.
I stumbled on this video taken from the 2010 BSA National Youth Forum. This video is Don Elium, author and Family Therapist. He talks about the three things that Boys need to know.
There are a lot of resources out there for us to better understand and support our Scouts. Take the time and learn more. It will make for more effective leadership development, and stronger troop, and life long learning for both the youth of our organization and us.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
I am not sure if you all are aware yet.. but there is a website to help you and your Scouts to get and stay Fit.
I figured after my last post, that there should be some solutions offered as well. We can all stand to be better fit and lose a few unwanted pounds.
So check out BSA FIT and get FIT!
Check out the Boy's Life Gym too.. this is a neat resource in getting you and your Scouts on the trail to fitness!
As for me and my unit.. we are looking into how we can get fit! Join us and the rest of the BSA, especially all the great Scouts and Scouters that are participating in #100daysstrong!
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Get fit.. or get left out…
So says the BSA… Now before I get hate mail.. Raise your right hand in the Scout sign and repeat after me..
"To keep myself physically Strong, Mentally Awake, and Morally Straight."
In a minute I want you to watch this video. This is Tico Perez, our National Commissioner talking about Jamboree 2013. He discusses the challenges it will provide and the need to be physically strong as out lined in the standards that all of us should be using on the new medical form. I would suggest that if you have not got on board with this yet, well then you should.
Comments please, but don't shoot the messenger.
So here is my take before I pop in the video.
Do I want to exclude anyone, NO.. BUT. I don't want anyone getting hurt either. AND.. I do not want to take away the adventure. Everyone in our government talks about child obesity in America, but they are not willing to do anything about it really. Statistics show that we are fat. So let's get skinny. You can do it, if you want to.
Eat right, exercise, and get fit, or the BSA is going to leave you out of certain activities.
I had a dear friend that was extremely heavy. Along with his weight came a lot of medical issues I am not going to dive into, but by and large you all know what those can be. He applied to go on staff for Arrow Corps 5 a few years back. He was declined because of his weight, or should I say BMI. He was very upset about it, but in the end understood the liability that he would create in this high adventure activity.
My Troop is sending 2 crews to Philmont in 2012. We will all be fit before we go. One of the committment markers to signing up was that you would be fit and meet all the standards before you would be allowed to go. Is this harsh? No, it's the real world and we need to help these Scouts stay fit. Now you may say, Well I know Scouts that are heavy that out pack, out hike, and out last any of the skinny kids in the Troop. Well good for them, but what is the harm in shaving a few pounds for the future. That heavy kid is going to grow into a heavier adult and the problems on the horizon are many for him. Don't get upset, just know that this is a fact and we all can help by enforcing the BSA standard and helping our Scouts get fit.
OK.. so here's the video.. let me know what you think. Leave a comment, shoot me a voice mail or drop an email into my in box. I love to hear what you think.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
The Promise of Scouting and the Journey to Excellence
I am often asked about the "Promise of Scouting". In the title of the Blog and Podcast I declare that I have just trying to help deliver the promise of Scouting. To help you understand what I am talking about when I say this let me show you where I got it. The 11th Edition of the Boy Scout Handbook from 1998. On page 1 is tells the Scout:
Welcome to the Boy Scouts of America,
SCOUTING promises you the great outdoors. As a Scout, you can learn how to camp and hike without leaving a trace and how to take care of the land. You'll study wildlife up close and learn about nature all around you. There are plenty of skills for you to master, and you can teach others what you have learned. Everyone helping everyone else-that's part of Scouting, too.
SCOUTING promises you friendship. Members of the troop you join might be boys you already know, and you will meet many other Scouts along the way. Some could become lifelong friends.
SCOUTING promises you opportunities to work toward the Eagle Scout rank. You will set positive goals for yourself and then follow clear routes to achieve them.
SCOUTING promises you tools to help you make the most of your family, your community, and your nation. The good deeds you perform every day will improve the lives of those around you. You will be prepared to help others in time of need.
SCOUTING promises you experiences and duties that will help you mature into a strong, wise adult. The Scout Oath and the Scout Law can guide you while you are a Scout and throughout your life.
Adventure, learning, challenge, responsibility – the promise of Scouting is all this and more.
So this is the Promise of Scouting that I refer to when you hear me talk or write about it.
Now, why is this important today? Well I have been talking about the Journey to Excellence lately and how it will be a great tool in our programs. When I look at the Promise of Scouting and hold it up against the JTE criteria. Well folks.. there it is. It's not about percentages or working numbers. It's about measuring the delivery of the Promise.
And as Forrest Gump would say.. "That's all I got to say about that".
Have a Great Scouting Day!
JTE.. More
The balanced Score care approach is nothing new, it has been floating around organizations for some time now and provides a balanced view for organizational performance. Who looks at this? Well really you do. As much as some would like t0 think that Councils and District level leadership are actively engaged in what goes on at the unit level (and I am talking Pro staff here, not volunteer) the fact of the matter is that where the rubber hits the road, the unit leadership are really the only leaders dedicated 100% to their units. That is not to say that District, Council, and even National leadership could care less. It is just that they have different fish to fry. They are concerned at the "Big" organizational level in areas of membership, fundraising, and policy. And that is fair. Hey, I don't want to think about that stuff, I want to go camping. So the Journey to Excellence program is a tool that ensures our units are meeting the mark as we can measure our programs. I think this is important to make sure that we all are delivering the promise of Scouting in a uniform manner.
Last month I attended the National meetings of the BSA in San Diego. The Assistant Chief Scout Executive for Council Operations Gary Butler gave a great talk at the Scoutmaster dinner. In his talk he gave the analogy of Starbucks coffee. He said that when you order a coffee at Starbucks in Seattle it tastes like the same cup in New York City, or Atlanta, or Boston.. the message is that the coffee is the same where ever you go and that is part of business model of Starbucks. The Promise of Scouting is just like that cup of coffee. It needs to be the same consistent program, delivered in many ways, but the same program throughout the Boy Scouts of America. We have great outline, but Scouters choose not to use it. The Journey to Excellence program attempts to bring some of that back in line.
Now, I know that many of you, myself included, do not like to view the BSA as a business. Certainly not at the unit level. But just like every organization if certain measures are not in place, lets say for growth, for financial stability, for improvements in the program, the organization will fail.
Remember a couple posts ago, I shared that I knew a unit that was a Quality unit every year, but then it just folded? It is because they did not have a plan to grow and stay fit. They took it year to year and hoped that the Cub Scout pack would just continue to "Feed them". They did not have a stable financial plan, they did not have a plan to assist the youth leadership… and yet they were "always a quality unit".
None of us want to see our units fail. JTE is a week to week, month to month, year to year tool that sets on a Journey to Excellence.
OK.. 500 words in and not a word about camping.. so lets talk just a little about Short term and Long term camping as it applies to the JTE.
You all understand that Short term equates to weekend camp outs and long term camping refers to those week long (or longer) camping opportunities such as Summer camp, Jamboree's, High Adventure base participation. Now I think the BSA set the bar low on this one, and so many if not all of us will automatically qualify at the Gold level when it comes to short term camping. Bronze = 4 camp outs throughout the year. Yeah, that is not a typo.. I wrote 4. Silver requires a unit to camp 8 times and to achieve the Gold standard you need to camp at least 10 times. Like I said.. I think we all have this one in the bag. And for the Gold level you get 200 points for just doing what we all do, and that's camp.
Now I think it is interesting how the JTE handles long term camping. You will qualify for the bronze level if your unit attends a long term camp.. lets call it summer camp. You will achieve Silver level status if 60% of your Scouts attend Summer camp (or another long term opportunity). And it only takes 70% of your unit attending camp to achieve Gold level status. I recently had a small discussion on Camp staff with some Scouters that I consider "In the know". We debated on whether a Scout that serves on camp staff is counted in that percentage. And the answer according the definitions of JTE is this; " Boy Scouts attending any in council or out of council long term summer camp (of at least three days and nights), high adventure experience, jamboree, or serve on camp staff within the past year". The part that really weirds me out on this is the three days and nights. But not to worry, most if not all summer camps run a week. No problems there.
The bottom line is that camping is where Scouting happens. It is where the Patrol method is executed, it is where teaching happens, it is where the boys can be boys and learn, practice, and teach skills. Camping, I am sure you will agree is what most think about when we talk Scouting.
Next time we will dive into the Patrol Method.
Thanks for the emails, you can email me anytime. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Journey to Excellence Pt. 2
Ok.. so the first post on JTE has been met with some resistance. Let me just say this, then I will move on.
As a Scoutmaster or Committee Chair, you need to have a way to measure the success of your unit. Going camping, having Scouts cross over, and holding a Court of Honor or two is not an accurate way of knowing that you are delivering the promise of Scouting to the youth of your Troop. We all can stand back and say that we are doing a good job, but can't we do better? Sure.
I heard a comment about JTE as it applied to the old Quality Unit program in that they were always a Quality Unit, and now they may not be in the new system. Well then, maybe your unit needs to work harder in the areas that you fall short. Other comments reflect a need to pass it off to the youth leadership. And while I agree that Scout units are to be Youth led, every unit should have a plan that is part youth driven and part adult driven. The Troop committee must have a plan that supports the plan of the PLC. Handing off the JTE program to the PLC will only get them so far down the road. This is not setting them up for success. The Journey to Excellence program is designed to bring out the best in the units leadership both adult and youth.
OK.. so having said that, lets dive into the program.
In this post I am going to discuss the first couple elements of the JTE program. Advancement and Retention.
The objective is to increase the percentage of Boy Scouts earning rank advancements. To earn the Bronze level you need to have 55% of your Scouts earn one rank or have a 2 percentage point increase. I think this is important especially if you have older Scouts that are not going to advance in the year. Lets say a Scout is Life, it is likely that he will not earn Eagle in that next year. So having a percentage increase helps your score when you have younger Scouts earning Tenderfoot to First class in that first year. This is attainable in every unit. For the Silver level 60 % of your Scouts need to advance or 55% AND a 2 percentage point increase. The Gold level requires that 65% of the Scouts advance AND a 2 percentage point increase is attained. I find that these goals are within reason and with encouragement from the committee and Scoutmasters, every Scout, especially those younger Scouts can assist your unit in achieving this goal.
So what is the PLC's role in this objective. If the PLC encourages each Patrol to shoot for the Honor Patrol award, then Patrol members will advance. The Troop guides play a major role in attaining this and working the younger Scouts on the trail to First class. So its not just a number, it is a goal that assists your PLC and Troop Guides in properly functioning within the structure of their leadership roles.
Simply put the objective here is to improve your retention rate. So you have to retain and reregrister 76% of your Scouts or have a 2 percentage point increase from the previous year to earn the Bronze level. 80% for Silver and 85% for Gold. I think this is a worthy goal. My only heart burn with this goal is retention in general needs to be thoughtfully considered with each Scout. Here is what I am saying. I believe that every young man should be in Scouting. I don't however think that every young man fits in Scouting. I have often said that I would rather have 10 Scouts that want to be there than 100 Scouts and no one really wants to be there. Having a large troop that has a small percentage of active Scouts is just as good as having a small troop. I like the idea that the Boy Scouts of America wants us to retain everyone, but at 85% retention that means we are really allowing for those that do not want to be there to find a fit elsewhere. I like that.
So in my Troop I can lose 6 Scouts (not that I want to) and still have an 85% retention rate. Last year we gained 9 and lost 6. Our retention rate was still at 85%, but our net gain for the year was +4. This would be a 40% gain for the year and qualify for the Gold in the JTE program for both retention and Building Boy Scouting. Most of us would agree that these numbers are reasonable and easy to attain, as long as we are building a good program that the Scouts want to be a part of and establish good recruiting habits and relationships with Cub Scout packs.
Now, more than likely I lost many of you that are tired of the numbers. Those of you that think that Scouting should not be about the numbers and that this is just an excercise in helping the DE's look good. I beg to differ though. I think that periodic looks at the numbers keep your unit on track. Further, I think it is important for the Scouts of your PLC to understand some of this. It is a tool that they can use to assist in recruiting for the future of your troop. Who better to recruit then the Scouts that enjoy the program?
This is just as much a function of the Patrol leaders council as the Troop committee's. They, working together will achieve success as a unit on a Journey to Excellence.
As much as the PLC of my Troop wants every year to be the Troop of the Year, the Journey to Excellence is a part of the program that gives them goals and tangible results.
I know that I am not going to convince some of you.. and you are probably the same Scouters that balk at anything that "National" forces on you. Like methods and Aims.. you reluctantly went along with Quality Unit and this has no meaning to you either. So be it… I am sure you can run a great program without it also. As for me. I like the tools and I like to teach and mentor Scouts to do the hard things in life. To set goals and plan to achieve them. This is yet another opportunity to do that with our Patrols, our committees, and our Scoutmasters.
More later.
Your comments are welcome.. send them to email@example.com or simply leave a comment here or at the SMMVoice mail 503-308-8297.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Journey to Excellence. Part 1
Now before I even get started on this.. let me tell you that as much as I like patches.. this is NOT about a little patch. This is about measuring success. In the world that I live in, working for the Big Brown, I am totally in tuned to everything being measured. I do believe in measuring, it gives us good solid data that we can learn from and grow. When we measure things based on a standard, we can see where we are and where we need to go in order to be successful.
Here is the beauty. In most cases in life, we get to decide what success looks like. And so we get to determine what that measurement is.
Quality Unit was a program that, well kinda measured what a unit was doing. I say kinda, because at the end of the day.. if you had a pulse, went on a few camp outs, recruited a Scout or two (read held a cross over ceremony) and got your charter turned in.. you were a quality unit. I saw units in our district that got Quality unit and then did not recharter the following year. HUH? How is that possible. Quality unit one year and dust the next.. errrr… something was wrong with this.
The Centennial Quality unit, was not much better. The same old take on Quality unit, but cooler patches.
Now we are heading down the path to the Journey to Excellence. This program is actually performance based and not just numbers. Where the old programs of Quality Unit measured a process.. the Journey to excellence (JTE) measures the performance of a unit. NOW STOP READING HERE if you are afraid of delivering a good Scouting program to your Scouts.
Over the next couple posts I am going to share and discuss the Journey to Excellence program as outlined and defined by the Boy Scouts of America.
There are three levels of levels of performance in the JTE.. Bronze, Silver, and of course Gold. It is the unit that will decide at what level they have performed based on real numbers and expectations set out in their annual plan.
The JTE will ask of units to actually look at certain areas of their program and improve on them. The beauty of the program is that measured success can be tracked all year long and point values are attached to the areas of concern. It is a total score at the end of the year that will determine your success.. falling short in one area can easily be over come by larger success in others. But the point is that rather than a simple sheet filled out at recharter, the JTE is a tool that a unit can use to measure and track success all year long.
There are 13 individual criteria that is measured in the JTE. For a Boy Scout Troop they are: Advancement, Retention, Building Boy Scouting, Trained leadership, short term camping, Long term camping, Patrol method, Service projects, Webelos to Scout transition, Budget, Courts of Honor/ Parent meetings, Reregister on time, and a final annual assessment.
I will go into all of these in greater detail in the next few posts.
Here is the bottom line. If you have no goals or a plan then you will not improve. There is not a unit out there that is perfect in every way, and the JTE is a tool that will move you to greater success. Building your Scouting program is important, not only for your unit, but for Scouting in general.
I like the new JTE program, and I hope I can share some information here to help you achieve that success your unit deserves.
Have a Great Scouting Day!


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Expert Witness: Civil Court Proceedings (Level 4)
Unfortunately this event is cancelled.
This workshop aims to provide the participants with the knowledge needed to become a reliable and sought after expert witness in the civil courts.
Provisional timetable
09:30 Registration/tea and coffee
10:00 Workshop starts
12:30-13:00 Lunch
16:30 Workshop ends
The work of expert witness psychologists preparing reports for the civil courts is always a challenge. What might seem a simple instruction from the solicitor often precedes a complex and demanding task for the expert witness. With the removal of immunity from being sued for expert witnesses it is even more essential for psychologists acting as expert witnesses in cases involving civil claims to be clear about their role, their responsibilities and the decision making.
Attendees will discuss the particular rules of the civil court and the duties of an expert witness. Best practice in report writing and court appearance for the civil court will be discussed. The importance of forming opinions based only on the evidence available will be emphasized throughout.
This workshop explores the requirements placed upon applied psychologists by the legal system when working as an expert witness in civil court proceedings.
This is skills-based training for psychologists acting as expert witnesses. This workshop is an advanced workshop which follows the series of three workshops offered to provide a strong foundation for providing services as an expert witness.
To attend Level 4 workshops delegates must have attended the previous workshops (levels 1 to 3)
- Expert Witness: Essential Knowledge of Being an expert witness (Level 1)
- Expert Witness: Report Writing (Level 2)
- Expert Witness: Presenting Court Room Evidence (Level 3)
- Expert Witness: Using Psychometric Assessments for Court (Level 4)
- Expert Witness: For Family Court Proceedings (Level 4)
- Expert Witness: For Civil Courts (Level 4)
- Expert Witness: For Criminal Courts (Level 4)
Learning outcomes and objectives
- Understand the role and responsibilities of being an expert witness in civil court proceedings
- Understand and be able to respond to requests regarding causation in civil proceedings
- Understand the importance of presenting both observational material and evidence based reports
- Understand the link between a well written report and the expert's experience in the witness box
Facilitator: Susan van Scoyoc CPsychol CSci AFBPsS
Susan has acted as an expert witness as an applied psychologist for a number of years. She offers training in small group environments in order to assist psychologist colleagues to learn how to present their existing knowledge at its best in legal settings. Susan is a member of the UK Register of Expert Witnesses as well as on the BPS registers for supervision, psychologists specialising in psychotherapy and psychometric testing.
Susan has extensive experience of providing expert witness services in civil cases involving trauma from injuries caused by road traffic accident, child sexual abuse and medical errors. She has provided psychological services to the emergency services and the Ministry of Defence.
Booking information
- Non-Society Member: £234 (£195 +VAT)
- Society Member: £156 (£130 + VAT)
From 1 January 2013:
- Non-Society Member: £252 (£210 + VAT)
- Society Member: £168 (£140 + VAT)
Tel: +44 (0)116 252 9925
Fax: +44 (0)116 227 1314


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Why visit South America?
South America is the adventure capital of the world. You can trek to The Lost City in Colombia, cycle down Death Road, swim with pink dolphins in the Amazon or go sandboarding in Huacachina. And that's just the half of it!
When you're not embarking on adrenaline-fuelled activities, you're marvelling at some of the most dramatic scenery in the world.
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Plan your trip
Not sure where to start? Check out our travel guides and don't forget to read our tips on crossing borders!


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Ready Campus: Prepared to Help when Disaster Strikes
By Michael A. MacDowel, Ed.D., President, Colege Misericordia, Dalas, Pennsylvania
ost American campuses have crisis plans, many of which are quite sophisticated, and they are well prepared to secure their people and facilities if a disaster strikes. But how ready are the campuses to assist people in surrounding communities?
For College Misericordia, the need for a region-wide crisis plan was highlighted in wake of Hurricane Agnes in 1972. The ensuing flood devastated the city of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, and the Wyoming Valley region. College Misericordia, high above the floodplain, became a temporary home for 1,000 flood victims. One of its residence halls was transformed into a makeshift hospital where 52 babies were born.
In times of natural or human-made emergencies, college and university campuses can and have offered shelter, medical assistance, communications support, counseling, and solace to disasters victims.
Ready Campus is designed to provide all colleges and universities with a flexible, adaptable planning guide to prepare their own campuses for emergencies and, just as importantly, to help neighboring communities. Ready Campus will enhance relationships with community and state emergency management coordinators by using the resources of colleges and universities:
While many campuses have plans that consider such resources and service learning opportunities, few of those plans are sufficiently integrated with metropolitan, regional, and state emergency management agencies crisis plans. Successful emergency management at colleges and universities requires coordination with the community.
That is why Pennsylvania has developed a program called Ready Campus. Eighty colleges and universities throughout the state have participated in the program.
The Ready Campus Manual provides details on the initiative to draw campuses and community partners together to improve regional response to disasters, and the integral elements for developing a successful plan are highlighted in this article.
Identify Community Partners and Establish an Emergency Management CommitteeThe committee should include students, faculty members, and administrators as well as a wide representation of community leaders. The exact composition will vary according to the needs of each partnership, but partners might include local representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other federal agencies; state agencies like the office of homeland security, department of health, and office of public welfare; the municipal fire, police, and health departments; nonprofit organizations like the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army; and the local chamber of commerce and other private-sector groups.
For example, Pennsylvania College of Technology and Keystone College are working with the American Red Cross to train staff members to become disaster volunteers and prepare their campuses to be shelters. West Chester University of Pennsylvania students are designing a plan and procedure for disseminating vaccines and response kits throughout the surrounding community. College Misericordia marketing students are working with a local town council and county officials to raise awareness of emergency procedures in that municipality.
Each partner needs to understand the other partner's specific mission, priorities, and scope. All partners will bring unique resources and abilities to the partnership. It is also best if the members of the committee have the authority to make decisions for their organizations. For the committee to be functional, those representatives should have the authority to commit resources -- using a residence hall or sharing campus vehicles or phone banks, for instance -- both in the planning phase and in times of need.
Create a Mission StatementPartnerships work best if they are developed for a specific reason and have a formal plan, target dates, and expected results. Partners should determine what to accomplish and reach a consensus on the key goals and mission. During the various meetings, the committee should assess community and regional needs and resources, identifying those services that already exist to avoid duplication and waste. For instance, what roles and tasks are identified in the campus plan that the Red Cross is already poised to handle?
As part of that process, it is necessary for the partners to share information about the resources that can reasonably be provided. Then the committee should develop an inventory of all needs, assets, and personal contacts for both the campus and the community.
Prepare Memoranda of Understanding with Neighboring AgenciesA written agreement formalizes the relationship between partners, outlines mutual goals, establishes clear expectations for each partner, and defines legal liabilities. The college president and the chief executives of all partnering organizations should sign the agreement. The participants, language, and content of each agreement will vary according to the specific characteristics of the local partnership. Some institutions may prefer to create a separate memorandum for each partner.
Prepare Volunteers on the Campus and in the CommunityTraining programs, tabletop exercises, and emergency scenarios based on the goals outlined in the memoranda of understanding are necessary preparation for emergency response. They help all participants understand their roles and responsibilities before an emergency occurs.
Identify RisksThe advisory group should work with the institutions risk management and legal professionals to determine the risks that could result from the partnership. For each risk, identify who or what could be harmed and to what extent. For example, if students volunteer in emergency triage units in the community, they might be exposed to illnesses from the victims. Students coming in direct contact with patients should be properly trained in decontamination process and what medical gear they should wear. It is essential to develop a risk-management plan that covers a wide range of possibilities and review it regularly.
Document Activities and Keep RecordsRecord keeping is vital not only for reimbursement for disaster activities but also for insurance and legal purposes. Important records include participant sign-up sheets, liability waivers, volunteer contact information, accident logs, and copies of major equipment warranties. The campus risk-management professionals should retain all such information and update it regularly.
Besides forming partnerships with various organizations outside the higher education environment, campuses located near each other should work together to identify ways to pool resources and build a more efficient regional response to catastrophes. The Pennsylvania State University system, for example, has an in-house emergency management coordinator and a highly sophisticated plan, but it is always working to better integrate its efforts with the municipalities and counties surrounding its main campus and with its 23 satellite campuses around the state. Smaller colleges can begin a similar process by reaching out to nearby campuses, the Red Cross, local agencies, the business community, and others to determine ways they might offer mutual support.
These are just a few actions that colleges can take to help prepare themselves and their neighbors for any potential disasters. The Ready Campus Manual presents many more details and ideas to prepare the local community and state for a collaborated approach to events.
Just a few years ago, the idea of collaborating with many other groups off the campus on emergencies would have died for lack of interest. But there is keen interest in it today because there is a greater need to be prepared to serve others than perhaps at any other time in U.S. history. Higher education has responded to crises in the past, and individual institutions are responding today, but a more systematic, coordinated approach will yield the best results. ■
From The Police Chief, vol. 73, no. 4, April 2006. Copyright held by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, 515 North Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 USA.


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Launch Party - TOMORROW!
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I hope this note finds you happy, healthy and off to a great week. Tomorrow is the eve of our launch, and it is our Party... Read more
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It is here! We are at nine hours and counting down . . Ohmygoodness, I am so ridiculously excited . . Everything has been beautifully prepared,... Read more
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Wow. WOW.
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I hope everyone had a wonderful, restful Thanksgiving week with loved ones. My family and I had a beautiful holiday, resting, eating, dancing, laughing, catching up on sleep.... Read more
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Dear Ones,
It's my birthday tomorrow. What an incredible milestone year. It truly has been remarkable, and all of you have been a part of it in some way. I... Read more
13% raised and booked a radio interview!
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Thank you all again for your INCREDIBLE support and generous contributions. This is an amazing feeling - to know that you have faith in my work.
Two awesome... Read more
Amazing Momentum!
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What an extraordinary launch! So much amazing energy is cooking, on Facebook, Tumblr, Tweeter and various music forums. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read up... Read more