text:
Candidates for the Illinois Supreme Court who were surveyed by a campaign reform group desire guidelines for when a justice should recuse himself or herself in cases involving judicial campaign contributors.
Responses to the survey by the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform were the topic of a news report by the Illinois Radio Network.
Whitney Woodward of ICPR told the radio network that rising sums of campaign cash pouring in to judicial election damage trust in the court. She pointed to the 2004 Illinois Supreme Court election, when $9.3 million was raised in the most expensive state judicial campaign in U.S. history.
Incumbent Justice Mary Jane Theis, who is one of the candidates for a Supreme Court seat from Cook County, said in response to the survey that ethics rules recently adopted in Tennessee "are very interesting, and I believe they can be a framework for revisions to our Rules."
Tennessee's new Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits judges from hearing cases involving campaign supporters in which "the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned" (see Gavel Grab).
Supreme Court candidates Joy Cunningham and Aurelia Pucinski, who are appellate justices, both responded affirmatively to the survey question, "Do you support the creation of procedures and uniform guidelines for recusal where attorneys or litigants before the court have contributed to campaign committees in support of their candidacy?"
Justice Pucinski added, "I think that judges should be responsible for knowing who has contributed to them or endorsed them, that the information should be available on the judge's website, and that the judge should give a reason for recusal. Ultimately the best way to avoid the need for recusal, either because of an actual or apparent conflict of interest is to avoid the problem before it begins."
The three are leading Democratic candidates for the court. The questionnaire was conducted jointly by IPCR and Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice, two JAS partner groups.


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


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We have consolidated all of our University news sources into one location called BingUNews. Inside stories published through 2016 will remain available here. Stories published in 2017 and later will be found at BingUNews. Enjoy!
University presents economic development plan for New York state
August 1, 2011Tweet
Addressing the Executive Committee of the SUNY Board of Trustees, Binghamton University Vice President of Administration James Van Voorst presented a proposal to the NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant program on Aug. 1, outlining a plan to increase enrollment and add jobs to the local community and New York state.
The NYSUNY Challenge Grant Program – introduced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher earlier this year – allows Binghamton University and the other three SUNY university centers to apply for up to $35 million in state grant funds for academic enhancements and capital development. The mission of the program is to make SUNY a leading catalyst for job growth throughout the state.
Binghamton University's proposal lays out an ambitious agenda that includes an expansion of its educational mission while investing in the campus and the local community, resulting in an annual overall economic impact of $800 million on the region and $1.1 billion on New York state.
The five-year strategic plan:
• Expands enrollment by 2,000 students.
• Funds the construction of a new Health and Natural Sciences facility.
• Supports a new Southern Tier Economic Development Center in downtown Binghamton.
• Creates 1,300 jobs in the local economy, including 150 faculty positions; and approximately 1,600 across the state.
A key component of Binghamton's plan is enrollment growth, which offers greater access to the University's much sought-after educational programs. With the enrollment growth comes population growth, which in turn drives an increase in the University's economic impact in the local community and adds to revitalization efforts of Southern Tier communities.
The plan includes the construction of a state-of-the-art Health and Natural Sciences facility, which connects Binghamton's expertise in the natural sciences with its growing infrastructure in engineering and biotechnology to create new medical and life sciences technologies. In addition to enhancing industrial and academic partnerships, the facility will provide incubation space for start-up businesses, as well as develop regional research and educational partnerships with hospitals, healthcare organizations, and biomedical technology firms. By catalyzing interactions between researchers and local industry, the Health and Natural Sciences facility will establish Binghamton University, the region and New York state as the center for research on healthcare innovations.
Additionally, the plan calls for the establishment of the Southern Tier Economic Development Center, which will provide economic development resources and expertise for businesses and organizations throughout the Southern Tier and the I-81 and I-86 corridors. The center will join University initiatives such as the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), the Trade Adjustment Administration Center (TAAC) and the Strategic Partnership for Industrial Resurgence (SPIR), with regional resources, such as the Greater Binghamton Chamber, the Broome County IDA, the Alliance for Manufacturing and Technology, and entrepreneurship programs in local and regional high schools, Broome Community College and Binghamton University, in a unprecedented regional collaboration. Serving as a "one-stop shop," the new center will shepherd new businesses during the various stages of growth by offering support such as flexible incubator space and short programs on product and market development, venture funding, as well as information on state and federal loans, and grants.
By spurring growth at Binghamton, the NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant will enable the University, which is already a leading employer in the region, to have an even stronger impact on the economy. Along with faculty and staff hiring, construction projects and indirect employment opportunities, approximately 1,300 new jobs will be created or sustained in the Southern Tier; and more broadly, 1,600 in New York state.
The overall plan would be funded by a several sources including the governor's pledge of $20 million dollars, as well as $15 million in SUNY capital sources. The remaining dollars would be raised through a variety of sources, including corporate support, gifts to the university, additional tuition revenue and University cash reserves. To ensure that all students get the support they need to attend and succeed at Binghamton, the University will commit 25 percent of the additional tuition revenue to provide scholarships for the most economically disadvantaged students and provide revenue for TAP support and scholarships.
Binghamton University's proposal to the NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant program is available at http://www2.binghamton.edu/think/pdfs/Binghamton-NYSYNY2020-plan.pdf.


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Thursday, September 30, 2010
Home and away
For the first time ever, I didn't send any postcards during this holiday. I did send a couple of emails with photos to family, and made the minimum number of "we're doing OK" phone calls. I did blog most days (albeit in bulk) and I also noticed a persistent little compulsion to check emails, blog posts, blog comments, other people's tweets to see if anyone had responded to anything I'd written.
But other than that, I felt relieved of the need to connect with "home". This was partly because it wasn't one of "those" trips in that we weren't visiting for the first time or hitting the tourist traps. But the main reason was that I became powerfully and poignantly aware very soon after we arrived that "home" was where I was: with my family. Perhaps this was due to our little 'un's eye infection and the various things we needed to do in response. Perhaps it was because travelling with a toddler required more presence than any travel we had undertaken individually or as a couple. Whatever the reason, it is the thing I am the most grateful for. It was nothing less than a paradigm shift for me, as the ties to my parents and sister, my work, my friends, Melbourne had always been so strong.
Of course, these tied have not been severed and remain a vital part of who I am. But the realisation that I had everything I needed, exactly where I was, suddenly felt freeing. Like I could step beyond my past to fully inhabit my role as a woman and wife and mother… as well as a writer and artist.
But also, for the first time, I did not completely resent "Melbourne" for being inferior or mediocre in comparison to the place that I'd been. I say Melbourne in inverted commas because I don't think I mean any particular physical location or specific people or events. I think "Melbourne" came to embody all the things in my lifestyle, my routine, and (in particular) my day job that I resented.
This time, after at least four weeks away, I felt ready to come home. To Melbourne, to family, to friends, to my day job. While I was away, I made the decision to clear my week of all commitments other than my little 'un's creative dance class. I sent a couple of sensitive emails cancelling out of things, which were graciously received. This was the right thing to do. I have returned to a clear calendar and the smell of glorious Spring but I have also returned with a centeredness based on daily writing and reflection, a practice which was consolidated while we were away.
Somehow the photo above of our kitchen in Brooklyn is the best way of summing up how I feel about the next bit of my life. I had got up early to write and suddenly remembered that I needed to put a new memory card in my camera. This is the first photo I took on the new memory card, and it felt like a new beginning.
Posted by Kat McNally at 2:52 PM 1 comment:
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
At various moments throughout the trip, I found myself reflecting on my first visit to New York in 1998. It was part of my "big overseas trip", the one that many young Australians take, a year of backpacking around the US, a language course on a Greek Island, visiting family in the UK and inhabiting various spaces in Ireland and Scotland. I was not long out of university, with two miserable years of full-time administrative work under my belt, and it's fair to say I was unworldly and naïve.
My first port of call was my dear friend in Maryland. This sweet girl had been my flatmate in Melbourne while she undertook her teaching qualification as an international student. She'd not long returned home and was about to start her first job, but she and her family took me in, showed me the sights, spoiled me with wonderful food, and generally helped me find my feet in America.
My first solo expedition was Philadelphia and it was then that I realised I had no idea what I was doing. How should I fill my days? What am I going to do for food? Are there things that I am "supposed" to see? Without my family, without my friends, without the social structures and routines and requirements of home I was lost and uncertain and severely doubting myself. I may have been the only person grateful for the hostel curfew of 9pm: one less decision to make each day.
Slowly, tentatively, I learned what travelling was about. By the time I got to New York, I was a little more sure of my footfall. I had befriended an English girl in the Philadelphia hostel and we met up again a couple of times in New York. I grew more proficient in reading maps and walked for many miles each day. I learned that walking alone as a woman I was no threat to anyone and no one really bothered me. I organised the next leg of my trip: two coast-to-coast journeys with the Green Tortoise. I stood in the queue for cheap tickets and saw Cabaret on Broadway: a particular thrill as it had long been one of my favourite films.
I overcame my resentment of the "friend" (a New Yorker I'd met in Melbourne) who blew me off, reneging on his offer of accommodation in Manhattan. I stayed I three different hostels, exploring different parts of town. I chatted to people. Some days I just stayed in my room alone and read SARK books. Many days it was cold and rainy. I called my friend in Maryland, and emailed my friends at home, telling them that New York sucked. I'd read about so many places in novels, in guidebooks, SOHO, Tribeca, Harlem, Chelsea, but once I arrived there, turned up at the designated spot, it was just me. I wasn't part of "the scene". I hadn't fully inhabited café culture at home, I was usually too busy to "hang out". I had no idea where daily life happened. I had no idea what to do.
During a brief moment to myself during the journey home this time around, I caught a fascinating little documentary about Cabaret, the musical, the film and the book on which it was based. It was narrated by Alan Cumming, who had starred as the M.C. in the wonderful production I saw back in 1998. I did enjoy the documentary but it also brought me back to my first trip to New York and I found myself reflecting on that raw and lonely time, for the first time ever, with tenderness.
I had always been given to shudder with embarrassment or berate myself for my ignorance whenever I thought of my first big world trip, especially the time I spent in New York. I'd been awkward and foolish, spending too much time writing emails and postcards home, filling up great parcels of candies for family and friends, buying miscellaneous and useless things I "couldn't get at home". I gave too much money when asked for it, and didn't really work out what traveller's cheques were for until much later. I hardly managed to eat decent, healthy food and carted around all sorts of useless stuff in my [extremely heavy] backpack.
But now I looked back at that girl with tremendous love and a little pride. Wow! You survived all those weeks in a big city on your own! You saw all the sights, you chatted to some marvellous strangers, you didn't get lost or cheated or hurt. You didn't know a lot about your self, you had been taught to fear your instinct and expect the worst. And of course there was the strong pull to connect to home. That was all you'd known and was your anchor, your structure, your focus. But you did your best and you kept going and you got by. It really doesn't matter now that it ended up a little messy. It couldn't have really come out any other way. And that's OK.
Sitting on the plane, I sent a little prayer back in time to that fledgling woman who blamed herself for feeling lost and alone. I thanked her for her stumblings and forgave her her fear. I whispered that she was doing important work, that it would take some time, but that she would eventually come home to herself and feel less lost in her own skin. I told her that she would gradually realise that she'd always known where life happened – in the supermarket, the queue for tickets, the laundry, the waiting room, the bakery, the train – and reassured her that it didn't matter that she was too busy to see it. It would all make sense in time. In the meantime, she was doing her best and that's all she needed to do.
She would be OK.
Posted by Kat McNally at 2:49 PM 1 comment:
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
The journey home
was slow and exhausting.
involved at least one extremely stressful suitcase situation.
was endured with presence and tenderness and the occasional meltdown.
did include some sleep for all three of us.
saw me quite overwhelmed with emotion (in a good way) when we stepped in the door of our home.
was celebrated with fresh flowers with from Mum's garden and a full fridge of food courtesy of Mum and my Mother-in-law.
culminated in some phenomenal naps: the little 'un flaked out at 11am and was virtually unconscious 'til we woke her at 8pm for a snack and a cuddle, then went back to sleep at 10pm and did not stir until 6am. [She must have been knackered!]
saw us all unpacked and tidied and organised on the first day back, trying to keep busy (thus awake) but also gently assimilating insights gained from our recent adventures back into our home lives.
ended with a glorious splash of spring.
Posted by Kat McNally at 2:47 PM No comments:
Monday, September 27, 2010
Goodbye New York
This past month has given me:
* the freedom to be myself: overweight, frizzy hair, acne scars, outdated wardrobe and all. Not to mention bookish, chocolate-obsessed and shopping compulsive.
* the courage to open up and be truly seen. And loved.
* a new wardrobe! (OOPS! Favourable exchange rate, fabulous shops, what can I say?).
* the feeling that I am "well on my way" in terms of my writing journey and that this blog is a big part of it.
* a deep-seated sense that we will be living here some day, even if not for long.
* space to stop doing and just be.
* insight into how my family truly completes me, how when they are with me I have all that I need and there is nowhere else I need to be.
* the revelation that if I stop and listen, really listen, to my body, it will tell me everything I need to know.
Maybe I didn't need to go all the way to the other side of the planet for these learnings to happen. But somehow I think it rather helped. And although New York City mightn't be the first place people think of when they conjure a "relaxing" or restorative holiday, there's something about the sheer mass of humanity, the daily reminders of history, the range and variety of experiences available, the possibilities and contradictions that I found exhilarating.
Anonymous in a massive, complex city, I was lost in my surroundings but found in my body, in my family.
Posted by Kat McNally at 2:43 PM 1 comment:
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Body of knowledge, awakening
The body is not only where we live, but also how we live. Because the condition of the body (or lack of aliveness as in depression) will determine the manner in which we relate to the surrounding people and circumstances of our lives; the condition of the body will determine whether we live lives of openness, generosity and tempered optimism, or instead lead lives that are constrained, cynical, perhaps even hostile.
Many people, my younger self included, find themselves uncomfortable in their own skin, awkward, uneasy and anxious. Never quite sure of how to be, how to behave, trying to pick up clues and cues from studying the behaviour of those around us - we basically suffer from an underlying sense that something is basically wrong -- that we ourselves are somehow defective, that we have no real right to be here, but live under suffrance.
The New Jerusalem
Gabrielle Lord in Home Truth, edited by Carmel Bird
Gabrielle Lord in Home Truth, edited by Carmel Bird
You are not a mistake. You are not a problem to be solved. But you won't discover this until you are willing to stop banging your head against the wall of shaming and caging and fearing yourself. The Sufi poet Rumi, writing about birds learning to fly, wrote: "How do they learn it? They fall, and falling, they're given wings."
If you wait [...] to respect yourself until you are at the weight you imagine you need to be to respect yourself, you will never respect yourself, because the message you will be giving yourself as you reach your goal is that you are damaged and cannot trust your impulses, your longings, your dreams, your essence at any weight.
Geneen Roth
Women, Food and God
Women, Food and God
Life is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved.
Posted by Kat McNally at 1:10 AM No comments:
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Magic at MoMA
* Having just shy of two hours to myself.
* Soaking in Matisse and Mapplethorpe.
* Quirky treats from the gift shop.
* Taking silly photos of myself with Rodin's Balzac.
* Leaving a wish on Yoko Ono's wishing tree in the sculpture garden.
* Learning that my husband and little 'un had a fun time in Central Park.
* Juicy strawberries (and the unexpected gift of seaweed sheets as a snack from another little 'un in a pram) on the subway journey home.
Posted by Kat McNally at 10:04 AM 1 comment:
Friday, September 24, 2010
Frankies 457: Brooklyn
Dear Sir,
My husband and I enjoyed quite a pleasant dinner in the courtyard of your Brooklyn restaurant this evening. The food was of considerable quality and the wine selection excellent.
However, we will not be frequenting your restaurant again and will be srongly encouraging everyone we know to eschew your various dining establishments.
We understand that you may have a preferred "type" of client, and that a bedraggled set of late thirty-something Australians with a restless toddler in tow may not fit the bill. What we do not generally expect is surly and perfunctory service that leaves us in no doubt that this is the case.
We did not mind refilling our own water and wine glasses all evening. However, we do find open derision and mockery on the part of the Maitre d' and two waitresses as we leave the premises to be hurtful and unappreciated.
It is certainly the sort of behaviour that gives a customer cause to regret leaving a generous tip.
This unprofessional and unwarranted attitude reflects badly on the name you have lent your dining establishment. May we suggest that you consider investing in some professional development for your staff, by way of basic courtesy and customer service ethos?
Sincerely yours,
etc etc.
Posted by Kat McNally at 9:45 AM 1 comment:
Thursday, September 23, 2010
No place but here
This sign reminded me of something that the lovely and wise Karen Maezen Miller once wrote to me in a comment on one of my blog posts.
It also had a lovely resonance with something that the equally delightful and clever Andrea Scher said today, namely:
I listen closely to my intuition, live my real life as much as possible, and write in bursts from the richness of my actual life. This is how I nurture my creative spirit. I listen for when there is a story that wants to be told.
I love these reminders that there's nowhere else we need to be rather than here and now, and that the moment will bring us untold richness, provided we are prepared to slow down and watch and listen.
Posted by Kat McNally at 1:00 AM No comments:
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Enough, The cry of
Yesterday, our little 'un let us know in no uncertain terms that she wanted to take her midday nap at 10.45am. I'm not sure if it was the heat or tiredness or teething or hayfever or cabin fever or just an early onset of the "terrible twos". But as soon as we stepped in the door from an exasperated trip from the playground, she cried, "ENOUGH! ENOUGH!".
Later in the day, she and I returned home from yet another exasperated trip to the park (her third for the day). This time, it was all about time out for my husband, repaying the favour he'd bestowed on me earlier in the afternoon by taking the little 'un out for an hour so I could nap. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself: we'd managed an hour and a half of fairly convivial time together, a short play in the park, a sweet unexpected burst of shopping, picking up Chinese take-out for dinner. But we returned to a sullen and grumpy Daddy and husband, who also informed us (albeit in a less dramatic fashion) that he'd "had enough".
He later confessed that he'd been a bit restless once we'd been gone for a while, and that the heat, the tiredness, the tag-teaming every activity, the relentless playgrounds, the curtailed activities due to naps, the trantrums were all starting to get to him. "I've just had enough," He said. And I heard that.
I tried to let him know that I heard him, without panicking but without trivialising what he was feeling. I half wanted to congratulate him on his stamina: my ENOUGH moment arrived during the first week, so he was doing magnificently to hold out 'til the fourth.
But it also occured to me that this was a sign of how far I'd some as an individual and a partner, and how much we have grown as a team, largely since our little 'un has arrived. A couple of years ago, I would have taken his comments as an indictment on my ability to make for a perfect holiday, to be the perfect companion, overcome any inconvenience, obviate any dissatisfaction. I would have scrambled to the phone, calling airlines to ascertain the feasibility of changing flight arrangements so we could return home early. And all this "damage control" activity -- doing too much, asking too much, being too helpful -- would have totally exasperated him and dissolved me into tears of angry, victimised unworthiness.
And only then would I see that trying to fix things only made them worse -- despite my good intentions -- and that all he really wanted in the first place was to stop, say something quietly and be heard.
So, last night I told him that I thought he was doing a wonderful job of looking after us, that I appreciated him sharing the responsibility for the little 'un, and that we were doing our best as a team under some trying circumstances. We agreed to see how we felt in the morning and, sure enough, some possibilities for doing things differently presented themselves.
Sure, the heat, the tiredness, the teething, the tantrums were still here today. And I'm not saying that we were suddenly more sanguine about it all.
These may not be the moments that we choose to remember when we look back on our holiday. But we're doing our best to savour them for what they are.
Posted by Kat McNally at 10:15 AM 1 comment:
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
I get it.
Even when you become Something because they were right, you really were Going Places -- even when you arrive at being Someone because you are where you were going -- your life may not be any better if you haven't learned to be awake, alive, now. To take this moment for what it is.
It's just as easy to be miserable when you are Someone Special as when you are No One in Particular. Because even Someone Special still has to live in her own skin and deal with boredom, rejection, loneliness, disappointment. Even Someone Special comes home at night and does what the Nobodies do: falls asleep alone.
You might as well learn how to pay attention now. How to inhabit the life you've chosen. How to take up every inch of your skin. Occupy the space in this body you were given. It's your place. Only yours.
Geneen Roth
Women, Food and God
Women, Food and God
Posted by Kat McNally at 2:39 AM 1 comment:
Monday, September 20, 2010
Our last week in New York
With thanks to Tinnie Girl for the inspiration.
Posted by Kat McNally at 4:23 AM 2 comments:
It is possible for me to
feel good in my skin.
choose and prepare food mindfully.
push past my baggage and enjoy eating.
feel like I do when I am high on a couple of glasses of champagne -- warm, light, safe, unworried, open to delight -- without alcohol or any other form of medication.
no longer be a slave to complusion.
dance in this body.
be happy just where I am, just how I am.
love myself.
Posted by Kat McNally at 2:24 AM No comments:
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Starting to see
1) the connections
2) the relationships
3) the possibilties
4) the hope
5) that some prisons really are of our own making
Posted by Kat McNally at 2:22 AM No comments:
Saturday, September 18, 2010
The tornado
... was not as scary I thought it would be, although the warnings on New York One for residents of Brooklyn and Queens to stay indoors and keep away from windows were starting to give me the willies.
We'd just emerged from the subway and it was still early. My husband suggested that we take the little 'un to the park, but the smell of rain in the air made me reckon otherwise. We headed upstairs and as we closed the doors, the sky started to blacken.
Not ten minutes later, the wind picked up. The huge old jacarandas outside our window keened horizontally and the rain pelted against the window. It felt like a strange midnight at 5pm.
A long ten minutes later, a short quiet was replaced by the wailing of sirens. Not much damage in our immediate vicinity, but a number of old trees that had struggled in the recent heat toppled taking houses, cars, powerlines (and one life) with them.
I gather it made the news back home but despite the media pandemonium -- and though there are some homes in Queens still without power -- it was just a small, intense storm and thankfully all is well.
Posted by Kat McNally at 2:15 AM No comments:
Friday, September 17, 2010
Messages from the Universe
Message on wall from Brooklyn Industries.
"Children are gone before you know it. I would advise artist parents to remember that their work is always there, ready to be resumed, but those first few years with your child can never be replaced. Through the fog and frenzy, remember to relish the moments and not worry about being "productive" unless your livelihood truly depends on it. Children refresh us. Having them is the one truly great nearly-universal human experience. Listen to them, let them affect you and inspire you as deeply as possible, and just watch how your work takes off."
Marian Henley, as told to Summer Pierre.
Gemini: This is an excellent time for you to revamp your relationship with your body. All the cosmic rhythms are aligned to help you. How should you go about it? The first thing to do is formulate your intentions. For example, would you like to feel more perfectly at home in your body? Would you revel in the freedom of knowing that the body you have is exactly right for your soul's needs? Can you picture yourself working harder to give your body the food and sleep and movement it requires to be at its best? If you have any doubts about how to proceed, ask your body to provide you with clues.
Horoscope for this week from Free Will Astrology.
"The way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive. No matter how sophisticated or wise or enlightened you believe you are, how you eat tells all. The world is on your plate. When you begin to understand what prompts you to use food as a way to numb or distract yourself, the process takes you deeper into realms of spirit and to the bright center of your own life. Rather than getting rid of or instantly changing your conflicted relationship with food, Women Food and God is about welcoming what is already here, and contacting the part of yourself that is already whole—divinity itself."
Geneen Roth, discussed in a blog post by Danielle LaPorte.
Posted by Kat McNally at 10:05 PM 1 comment:
Labels: New York, Quotes, Star gazing, Travels
Thursday, September 16, 2010
When we first arrived
We stood in the queue
for a taxi and I thought
"Oh no! Why did we
get the old banger
with no A.C. and crappy
uncomfortable seats?
Our luggage won't fit!"
But sure enough it did and
we were on our way.
And as we sat in
a traffic jam, the cool air
started flowing in.
And once we'd squeezed through
the single lane of rubber
neckers, we began
to fly high over
bridges, deep under tunnels,
and soon we arrived.
Driver patiently
waiting through our long detour
to borrow a cot.
Suddenly I was
so grateful for his silence,
his lilac turban,
his not switching on
the meter... that I tipped him
some thirty per cent!
We'd arrived safely,
if somewhat ragged, but open
to learning what our
journey had to teach.
Sometimes the old banger will
be just what you need.
PS The caption for this photo is "Talk about mixed signals!" Ha ha! Get it? [Stop groaning.]
Posted by Kat McNally at 3:40 AM 1 comment:
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The holiday that I wanted...
... is exactly the one I'm getting.
It has been the perfect mix of: doing things; doing not much; socializing; time to read, write, reflect; walking; adventures on public transport; good food; delightfully wicked food; cooking; eating out; museums and landmarks; local haunts; honouring routines; relaxing the rules; reassurance that all is well at home; distance from home.
With some drinking imported proseccos and sampling local wines and ciders and, of course, shopping thrown in for good measure.
And, of course, there's the great playground tour of New York City.
I feel so blessed.
Now that we're halfway through I find myself reflecting on our experience on the Upper West Side, pondering what Brooklyn will bring, and also considering the question I posed before departing home, namely, "How should I live?" and the various answers that have presented themselves.
I know I will be writing about all of these things for some time to come but in many ways I feel that the biggest gift of this trip is seeing that what I have here -- what I have brought with me -- is all I'll ever need anywhere.
And that is: my husband and my daughter.
They truly know me. They see me. And they love me for who I am... which is helping me to see who I truly am.
Posted by Kat McNally at 3:29 AM 1 comment:
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Today in the rain
We were walking towards the subway carrying umbrellas, the little 'un strapped to my husband's chest in the sling.
An elegantly dressed forty-something African American woman caught my eye. She was walking towards me and although it was about 4pm on a Sunday, she was dressed in smart business attire. And although there was a gentle yet insistent breeze blowing the misty rain under our umbrellas and dampening our clothes, she was grinning from ear to ear. That was what made me notice her (that and her smart close-cropped hair and ornate gold-rimmed glasses).
"YES!" She exclaimed, and it got me wondering. She had been looking square at me. Was it at my stripey new cardie? My cheerfully patterned green umbrella? My new earrings, made by a local artisan?
Perhaps she was happy the rain had come, finally breaking the heat wave.
But, most likely, she was delighted for reasons known to no-one but herself. And I couldn't help smiling back at her, in affirmation.
Posted by Kat McNally at 3:20 AM No comments:
Monday, September 13, 2010
So I asked this fellow if he'd mind me taking a photo of the slogan on the back of his shirt while I was waiting for my pizza to go. "No," he said, "Go right ahead."
The chap dining with him laughed out loud. "Him?! What's so important about him? Nothing!" They both laughed and he continued, "I"m WAY more important than him!"
So I took his picture too.
Posted by Kat McNally at 1:43 AM 2 comments:
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Things I loved about Harlem this morning
Emphatic conversations, overheard.
Buxom, robust mannequins modelling women's clothing in shop windows.
Street stall hustlers, highly individually dressed.
The smell of fresh peaches at the farmers market and the earthy aroma saturating fresh ears of corn.
Tribes of brightly swathed African women twittering (in the old-fashioned sense of the word) on street corners.
Elegant brownstones in various states of renovation.
The subway took hardly any time at all.
Tolerance of the full spectrum of world views (no matter how bizarre!).
Posted by Kat McNally at 10:36 AM No comments:
Saturday, September 11, 2010
And then there was more magic
Like my little 'un wanting to stop look at the Greek urns and marble busts of figures such as Apollo at The Met.
Like ticking off all sorts of errands: shopping, shoe repair, laundry, banking, exchanging erroneous purchases.
Like my husband talking our little 'un through his favourite Van Gogh painting.
Like shopping for treats at Sephora (not available in Australia).
Like dark chocolate covered pretzels (also not available in Australia).
Like the view from the roof of The Met.
Like sampling a new prosecco.
Like being gob-smacked (or "God-smacked", as my Mum would say) at the names appearing at various literary events in Manhattan and Brooklyn over the next month. We'll miss virtually all, but just looking at the line-up blew me away.
Like pretending Zabar's is our local supermarket.
Posted by Kat McNally at 10:18 AM 1 comment:
Friday, September 10, 2010
Overheard at the Central Park zoo
While watching a Llama being fed...
Big 'un: Is your Mama a Llama?
Little 'un: NO! She's a cow.
This 'un: Er, thanks.
Posted by Kat McNally at 11:19 AM No comments:
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Why I loved the Blind Tiger Ale House
It appeared as if by magic. Something like the "Room of Requirement" in Harry Potter. We'd been traipsing around Greenwich Village, our attempts to make it to Chelsea Piers and Chelsea Markets thwarted once more by sands diminishing from the pre-nap hourglass.
We were also coming from a short and unsatsfactory spell in a city playground, where older kids had dominated the toddlers' playgym. They'd played fast and furious, all gangling arms and gravity-defying legs, oblivious to smaller mammals in their path. The playgym designed for older children had evidently been ruled out-of-bounds by parents for reasons I can only surmise related to its being surrounded by sand and the dry-cleaning costs of designer childrenswear.
As we walked along the narrow leafy streets bursting with book stores, clothing boutiques, and bakeries, I took a peak inside my head to see where the adrenaline was coming from. Why was I so edgy? The little 'un had had a chance to play, she was well fed and well slept and happy enough. I was fine, if a little weary, and my husband was quite cheery. It was sunny and only a little hot. A bus ride would take us home when we needed to return, in the meantime we were enjoying an unforeseen stop in a delightful quarter of a longer journey downtown. "Deep breath," I told myself, "There's no hurry, and no place to be. Just be here. Everything is OK."
As we wandered and pondered our next move, I spotted a small, inconspicuous pub across the street and read out the name on the sign. My husband murmured, "I've heard of that one!" . He has a quiet, deep appreciation for boutique beers and had spent some time researching microbreweries that we might encounter on our travels. Although he wouldn't have insisted we make a detour, I suggested we go in, thinking it would give us all a chance to regroup.
What we found was a small, cool, tidy little pub. With a small number of locals who, mostly, kept to themselves. With helpful, unobtrusive staff. With a spare table once a couple of college kids cheerfully obliged and collected their obliviously-strewn belongings. With two crisp, tasty salads. With a locally brewed beer and a chilled cider. With tall tables for a little one to explore like her own indoor forest, including bar stools that swivelled around and around and around, much to her delight. With the cleanest restrooms ever.
And, just like that, it just so happened that everything really was OK.
Posted by Kat McNally at 10:45 AM No comments:
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
In case you're thinking it's all magic and mojitos
At least ten things that gave me the shits today:
1) The eye infection I've caught from the little 'un.
2) The little 'un thinking it's really funny to go "Boink!" and head-butt me in the nose every time I pick her up.
3) Period cramps.
4) My husband being indecisive and/or indisposed to communicating clearly.
5) Having to stop and dish out slices of apple every five effing seconds.
6) Feeling fat and frumpy in the heat and humidity.
7) The fuckers upstairs making A LOT of noise, all hours of the day.
8) Obsession that my little 'un is not getting enough calcium.
9) A friend's sook via email and its implied criticism.
10) My Mum's sook via SMS about how much she misses the little 'un.
11) My husband's sook about his blocked sinuses.
12) All of my tedious sooking when I'm on bloody holiday and am supposed to be flipping enjoying myself.
Posted by Kat McNally at 10:33 AM No comments:
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
More magic from the past couple of days
* The view from our friend's apartment (yes, that's it, above).
* Our little 'un pointing to a stone dragon gargoyle high on a building and exclaiming, "Tweet! Tweet!"
* Catching the bus home after walking down town over 60 blocks to experience the highline.
* Our little 'un's soft toy owl whispering secrets in her ear "Psss! Psss! Pssssssst!"
* The view and the vibe from the highline.
* Our little 'un's fascination with our friend's souvenir shopping bag fridge magnets from The Met museum.
* Impeccably shone two-tone patent brogues on the bus.
* Our little 'un taking in her first subway experience with wide eyes. She's never been in such close proximity to so many people in such a rickety, noisy space before (but I couldn't help but wonder if she found the fact that so few of these people had any interest in her the strangest thing of all!).
* Sweet treats from the Grandaisy Bakery.
* All three of us completely sleeping through the night.
* Our little 'un pointing to a stone dragon gargoyle high on a building and exclaiming, "Tweet! Tweet!"
* Catching the bus home after walking down town over 60 blocks to experience the highline.
* Our little 'un's soft toy owl whispering secrets in her ear "Psss! Psss! Pssssssst!"
* The view and the vibe from the highline.
* Our little 'un's fascination with our friend's souvenir shopping bag fridge magnets from The Met museum.
* Impeccably shone two-tone patent brogues on the bus.
* Our little 'un taking in her first subway experience with wide eyes. She's never been in such close proximity to so many people in such a rickety, noisy space before (but I couldn't help but wonder if she found the fact that so few of these people had any interest in her the strangest thing of all!).
* Sweet treats from the Grandaisy Bakery.
* All three of us completely sleeping through the night.
Posted by Kat McNally at 7:05 AM 3 comments:
Monday, September 6, 2010
The sign
Sitting on the bench, inhaling the cool breeze, I thought, "I wish I had someone to talk to, someone who understands what it's like to have a little 'un this age. I want to feel less alone."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a woman about my own age, struggling to get her toddler to the top of the play gym. The sloped walkway was a favourite among all the kiddies in the park, but I knew from experience that the incline was deceptively steep and the wood rather slippery. The woman had managed to walk her little girl about seven-eighths of the way to the top when her flip-flops had started to twist and slide. In panic, she froze and, in limbo, her little girl started to cry. I saw that she was unable to free herself from her mother's grip to climb to the platform at the top; I also saw her mother gripping tighter as she started to slide backwards.
Without thinking (I realised later that I even left my handbag on the bench!) I rushed over and secured the little girl under her arms and said, "Can I help you with this last bit?". I walked the little girl to the top and made sure she had her footing as her mother backed down and put her shoes on, thanking me.
A few moments later, the little girl came up to where I was sitting and put her hands on my knees. Her mother seemed surprised the little one was so affectionate with a stranger, but sat down next to me to introduce them both. It turned out the little girl was exactly the same age as my little 'un (who was, at that time, enjoying the swings with her Daddy).
"Isn't eighteen months an incredible age?" I ventured, "One moment: delight; the next: frustration!"
She laughed tightly but then exhaled. Her daughter, like mine, had always been a good sleeper, but recent teething had seen the whole family wake every two hours. I threw our jetlag, eye infection and fever into the mix and I have to confess it was rather heartening to see her shudder in response.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a woman about my own age, struggling to get her toddler to the top of the play gym. The sloped walkway was a favourite among all the kiddies in the park, but I knew from experience that the incline was deceptively steep and the wood rather slippery. The woman had managed to walk her little girl about seven-eighths of the way to the top when her flip-flops had started to twist and slide. In panic, she froze and, in limbo, her little girl started to cry. I saw that she was unable to free herself from her mother's grip to climb to the platform at the top; I also saw her mother gripping tighter as she started to slide backwards.
Without thinking (I realised later that I even left my handbag on the bench!) I rushed over and secured the little girl under her arms and said, "Can I help you with this last bit?". I walked the little girl to the top and made sure she had her footing as her mother backed down and put her shoes on, thanking me.
A few moments later, the little girl came up to where I was sitting and put her hands on my knees. Her mother seemed surprised the little one was so affectionate with a stranger, but sat down next to me to introduce them both. It turned out the little girl was exactly the same age as my little 'un (who was, at that time, enjoying the swings with her Daddy).
"Isn't eighteen months an incredible age?" I ventured, "One moment: delight; the next: frustration!"
She laughed tightly but then exhaled. Her daughter, like mine, had always been a good sleeper, but recent teething had seen the whole family wake every two hours. I threw our jetlag, eye infection and fever into the mix and I have to confess it was rather heartening to see her shudder in response.
Extracting my little 'un's Maisie book from her daughter's hands, she recommended two other excellent parks for us to explore then said it had been nice to meet me and wished us a pleasant stay.
"Thankyou," I said, as they walked off. Silently. To no-one in particular.
Posted by Kat McNally at 6:41 AM 1 comment:
Sunday, September 5, 2010
The sound
Little 'un and big 'un napping.
Gentle hum of airconditioner in the distance.
Reclining and reading Travelling Mercies, sipping Rosé.
Dark bitter chocolate with a John Donne love poem printed inside the wrapper.
Sun streams through the blinds, perfectly symmetrical lines glow on the ceiling.
Somewhere, outside the window, someone whistles The Sound of Silence.
Posted by Kat McNally at 6:34 AM No comments:
Saturday, September 4, 2010
More about enough
"It's funny, I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had come kind of inner toolbox full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up I found that life handed you these rusty bent old tools -- friendships, prayer, conscience, honesty -- and said, Do the best you can with these, they will have to do. And mostly, against all odds, they're enough."
Travelling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott
Posted by Kat McNally at 4:51 AM 1 comment:
Friday, September 3, 2010
Jet lag is...
* feeling the ground move beneath my feet in an only slightly unsettling way (or is that the subway?).
* inspiring some sweet and mildly hysterical conversations between 12pm and 4am.
* making iced coffee taste like the best thing ever.
* heightening my sense that I really am on the other side of the planet and far, far from home... in a good way.
Posted by Kat McNally at 4:45 AM No comments:
Thursday, September 2, 2010
The turning point
Waking up today
I suspected it would be
the worst day ever.
Hot and humid and
Hot and humid and
no sleep for us, disrupted
sleep for the baby.
Eye still red and puffed,
Eye still red and puffed,
fever not abating and
still no appetite.
But then, a mouthful
But then, a mouthful
of cereal and a laugh
at Pingu's antics.
Iced coffee and a
Iced coffee and a
walk, playing with the empty
cup and straw, content.
Swings and slide and play
Swings and slide and play
equipment including a
bucket full of sand.
A bikkie or two.
A bikkie or two.
Stocking up supplies, then home.
Playing with her toys.
Playing with her toys.
Delight at new "big girl" cup.
Glimpse of her old self.
Managing eye drops
Managing eye drops
and paracetamol. A
two hour midday nap.
We are settling in.
We are settling in.
Doing our best, as a team.
Easier from here.
So proud that we planned
So proud that we planned
for eventualities
like this but also
that we can roll with
that we can roll with
the tickles and cuddles as
well as the punches.
Posted by Kat McNally at 7:20 AM 1 comment:
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The welcome
By the time we had joined the closest of the lengthy immigration queues, I was starting to despair that my back would not withstand another half an hour with a 10kg littlie strapped to my chest. I caught my husband's eye and exhaled slowly.
A pashmina and laptop pressed against my arm, accompanied by a confident woman's voice: "Excuse me, can I get past?". I looked straight ahead and dopily registered a customs official opening the fabric barrier and beckoning. "Excuse me please!" The laptop and pashmina were becoming more insistent but something about the official's face made me hesitate. He was looking squarely at me.
I pointed to my chest, in question, and he nodded. The pashmina and laptop froze. Warily, we walked forward to the official, who was by now seated behind his desk.
As he studied the little 'un's passport, I scrutinized his features, wondering why he had singled us out for this little act of benevolence. He had a kindly wizened face that seemed perpetually and mildly amused although ready to deny it at a moment's notice. I was deliberating whether to ask him about the origin of his unusual name when I noticed him smiling at my little 'un, who was by now tapping her hands on the rippled stainless steel of his desk. He handed her back her passport, then set about the business of taking our photos and fingerprints.
"Sank-you!" She sang out. Then he really did smile.
Everything in order, he handed us back our documents, welcomed us to the United Stated of America and wished us a pleasant stay. "Bye bye, Isabella" he said quietly to our little 'un as we made our way past the desk.
She looked back at him seriously and waved.
My husband laughed. "We really don't pay her enough."
Posted by Kat McNally at 7:00 AM 1 comment:
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text:
Kinder eggs were allegedly found stuffed with cocaine during police raids on a London pub.
The discoveries were said to have been made following routine police checks at Jono's Pub in Church Lane, Kingsbury.
Police said some were found hidden in bins and others were discovered on people who were acting suspiciously while they walked towards the pub.
Police have now applied to Brent Council for a review of the pub's licence.
In supporting evidence, police listed half a dozen call-outs last year where they responded to reports of violent brawls, theft and burglary.
Kinder eggs containing class A drugs were seized on a number of occasions, police said.
In March, a suspicious man was stopped by police as he walked towards the pub after getting out of a car. He was allegedly found in possession of a yellow Kinder egg, which contained a wrap of suspected cocaine.
A second man admitted he was carrying cocaine concealed in his underwear after police told him he would be strip-searched.
After he was arrested, officers found he had a Kinder egg stuffed with three wraps of cocaine, police said.
In November, police found more Kinder eggs during a licensing check. One was found within a brick allegedly containing five wraps of suspected cocaine wrapped in lottery tickets and another with six wraps.
Officers wrote to police licensing officer Nick Mortimer to say the pub had turned a "blind eye" to drug dealing.
Other alleged incidents at the pub included reports that 40 men were involved in a fight at a 21st birthday party in January.
When police arrived they found one man had been struck over the head with a glass and another had been hit with a stool.
The day after the licence check in November, police were also called to a burglary when the pub's cleaner reported Sky and CCTV had been stolen and money was removed from the fruit machines.
Officers accused owner Kenneth McCormack of a "complete disregard" of his current conditions ahead of a hearing with Brent Council's licensing committee next week.
In documents provided to Brent Council, police said: "As a result of several incidents police have no faith in the ability of the management to operate the premise responsibly under the current authority and therefore wish to bring the matter before the sub-committee for consideration.
"Police are primarily concerned with the severity of the crime and disorder occurring from the venue as a result of complete disregard of the existing conditions."
The pub has been approached for comment.
Changes police have called for include bouncers at the pub from 9pm onwards and improved signage to deter drug use.
The hearing will take place next Thursday.
- More about:
- Brent Council
- Jono's Pub
- Kingsbury
- Cctv


text:
Tony Benn appeared ready for death. And like so many of the other struggles he had waged, he was facing it full on.
Tony Benn appeared ready for death.
Like so many of the other struggles he had waged, indeed enjoyed, during his life, he was facing it full on.
"No, I'm not frightened by death," he said when we met one bright blue day last summer.
"I just feel that at a certain moment your switch is switched off and that's it."
As we looked out on leafy west London from the deep window of his sheltered accommodation flat, Tony returned frequently to he topic of ageing and death.
It could have been a morbid conversation. But in this, as in so many things, Tony Benn was an inspiration.
He explained how his wife Caroline, who died from cancer 13 years ago, had shown him how to die well.
"She said death was an adventure,' he mused. "So that is what I mean when I say she really taught me how to die."
As much as Tony adored his four children and was still – even six months ago – still politically active, it was clear part of him wanted to be reunited with Caroline.
He had proposed to her just nine days after they met. They were barely apart from that moment on.
Talking about her death, he said: "That pain hasn't really gone away, it hasn't. Caroline is still very much part of my life."
Tony already knew he would be buried next to Caroline at the family home by the River Blackwater in Essex.
A plaque with her name had already been erected – with a space waiting for his name to be added.
Much of our conversation seemed to be about waiting. Waiting for the inevitable. But there was no evidence of fear in the way Tony spoke. He was accepting. And increasingly tired.
By then Tony was already frail and spoke slowly. Sometimes I wondered if the ever present pipe and the clouds of smoke it exuded were useful props - as he fussed over lighting and relighting, sucking and exhaling he was able to consider questions slowly and respond carefully.
He may not have been as quick as he once was but neither his intellect or strength of conviction had been ground down by the passing of the years.
Rather he was as much a conviction politician as ever. Convictions that were anathema to many. Yet even his harshest opponents who found him intransigent and entirely lacking in pragmatism had to admit such dedication to principle was deeply impressive.
After leaving cabinet office after the Wilson government , Tony Benn had drifted further to the left.
Lambasted by the Tory press and alternately despised and ridiculed by many within the Labour movement, he was used to brickbats.
Yet when he spoke of those times that he and his family had come under fire for his beliefs - even verbally abused in the street - the pain was still visible.
For despite his lifelong dedication to politics, his greatest commitment remained to his family. To Caroline, their four children Hilary, Melissa, Joshua and Stephen, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Their pictures crammed the walls of his home leaving barely a patch of wallpaper visible between the frames.
On groaning bookcases were books written by Caroline and Melissa alongside volumes of his own diaries and political texts. The room was cluttered and chaotic yet comfortable.
As I prepared to leave, I complemented him on having such a warm and cosy home.
"Yes, I like it very much here," he said. "This is where I will die and it is a very nice place."
And it was there that he did die early yesterday surrounded by his children.
It was the end he had been waiting for and accepted with the same strength of character that had guided him throughout his life as a politician – and as a family man.


text:
TechNavio forecasts The Global Specialized Threat Analysis and Protection Market 2014-2018 with a CAGR of 41.3 percent for the period 2013-2018. Several driving factors and trends will contribute to this growth—all of which will be outlined with detail in this report.
TechNavio's analysts use a unique methodology to scrutinize individual vendor performance, trends, drivers and challenges, and a number of other factors to provide the most accurate and detailed market research reports possible.
A more specific breakdown of this report's contents is below.
Overview of market share and landscape for the following key geographies:
• Americas
Overview and impact analysis of:
• 5 Market Drivers
• 5 Market Challenges
• 4 Market Trends
Market Shares and SWOT Analysis for these vendors:
• Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
• Cisco Systems Inc.
• EMC Corp.
• Fortinet Inc.
• McAfee Inc.
• Palo Alto Networks Inc.
• Symantec Corp.
• Trend Micro Ltd
Five Force Model Impact Analysis of:
• Low Cost
• Security
• Deployment Option
• Scalability
• Portfolio of Offerings
Note: All of the segments above are supplemented with a combination of statistical data, graphical analysis, and verbal explanation.
After purchasing any of our reports, you can request a one hour meeting to discuss any questions you may have with our team of analysts.
Research methodology is based on extensive primary and secondary research. Primary research includes in-depth interviews with industry experts, vendors, resellers and customers. Secondary research includes Technavio Platform, industry publications, company reports, news articles, analyst reports, trade associations and the data published by Government agencies.


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Originally Posted by
I'm having a lot of problems with the HF 90234 model. First, the amperage wasn't sufficient to get it started. That would trip the onboard breaker. I moved it to another circuit and that solved the starting problem.
Now, it trips before getting to max-pressure. I'm running a plasma cutter, so I need plenty of reliable airflow.
I disassembled the piston head to see if it was clogged with residue. Yup. Thick and gooey. I pulled it all apart and re-assembled without difficulty. Also changed the oil. I also read that I should have changed the oil soon after running it for a few weeks. So, that would have probably minimized the build-up.
But, now it is still not reaching max-pressure before the onboard breaker trips. There's plenty of airflow, and the head only reaches 150 Deg F.
Any ideas why it's tripping? Maybe the motor is overheating? Maybe a bad breaker?
First thing you need to do is check the AMPs while running when it kicks the breaker, without doing that anything suggested would just be a guess. Using a meter you need to check to be sure the AMPs do not exceed the rating on the motor data plate and in fact it ideally should be slightly less. It could be a breaker/wiring or it could be the pump or the motor but whatever until you determine the current draw it's mostly just a guessing game. A few things you could do is check to see if the motor is getting hot? Is the wiring correctly sized and is it getting hot?
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text:
Friday Fun: Bad Ice-Cream
After a long tiring week you should do something to relax and a fun game is the perfect way to do that. In this week's game you choose your favorite flavor of ice cream and start a perilous quest to collect fruit for yourself while avoiding getting melted by enemies.
Bad Ice-Cream
The object of the game is to safely navigate each level to collect all of the fruit while avoiding being melted by your enemies.
You can choose between single and two player modes.
Next click on your favorite flavor.
There are forty levels of fruit gathering, danger avoiding fun waiting for you.
We have included the Help screenshots here so that you can get a feel for the game before-hand.
Here is what the first level looks like…as you move around the other parts of it will become visible. All that you need to play the game are the four Arrow Keys (single player mode) and the Space Bar for creating/destroying ice blocks. Move around the level collecting the fruit while avoiding the monsters. You can monitor the types and number of fruit that you will need to collect on the various levels at the bottom of the screen.
Note: You will most likely want to disable the music for the game (upper right corner).
Moving right along on those bananas…
Note: As soon as you finish collecting the first set of fruit the second set will automatically appear.
On to the grapes!
When you complete the level you will be presented with your score and the ability to go to the next level or back to the menu.
Starting with Level Two you will definitely be destroying and creating ice blocks as you go…those ice blocks can be really useful for trapping monsters while you are collecting fruit.


text:
Last year, The Fresh And Onlys released Long Slow Dance, an album that contained all the gloss of studio production and the adorable album art of a single carnation against eggshell blue backdrop. And even though we loved the tidy affection of LSD, there are those of us who listened to the loopy perfectly-groomed songs and couldn't help but think of a hundred corny and regretful love notes passed in high school. If you felt that way at all (and even if you didn't), here's some great news: The Fresh And Onlys are coming out with a new EP, Soothsayer and judging from the title track, they're ready to scuzz out a little again.
Whereas Long Slow Dance was one love ballad after another, "Soothsayer" is a pebble of west coast psych-rock wisdom. The EP will be out September 24 via Mexican Summer. Listen to Soothsayer (via Consequence Of Sound) below.
Tracklist For Soothsayer:
01. Soothsayer
02. God of Suez
03. Forest Down Annie
04. Glass Bottom Boat
05. Drugs
06. Deluge of War


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text:
Watch Fresh episode of Choraha with Hasan Nisar.
7 thoughts on "Choraha – 27 November 2010"
really nice program…very informative..9/10
unfortunately, though I am not a fundo, but from what i know, if you go to check your fortune from a palmist or future teller of any kind, it is shirk as per Quran. And you can be forgiven for everything in the afterlife, except for that. So I would rather not take this information.
Only a looser can be a side kick of another looser. Yasir and Hassan an insult to an honest opinion.
This was not a palmistry or astronomy debate but a show through two jokers for their favorite political parties and political leaders and against to their rivals. These losers think they can befool the people of Pakistan with their cheap and substandard journalism.
As usual Hassan Nisar is at peak – very logical – analytical and intellectual. He is very precise and accurate about the definitions and statements.
Love the way he narrate things.
want to sutdy in Ireland? visit http://www.campustalk.ie
Hasan Nisar Sahab, yeh hamarey leaders already rent per bahir sey aatay hein, pahelay short cut Aziz aaiy, abb Zardari aaiy hein bahir sey!! jo apni mudat puri ker kay hi qoum ki jan chorien gay, aur jehan say aaiy hein wahien wapis chaley jain gay with briefcase, like short cut did!!!!///???
When BB was alive she didn't do anything for poor awam roti,kapra aur makkan was only remained "naara" Moto, (which her dady papa Bhutto in 5 years term from 1972 to 1977 never fullfilled his promise too) and public remained in trouble in her whole era, but instead of public herhusband got really prosperous during her government and when she died, she left a gift for the nation, heavy weight parasite in form of zadari looter.
hasan nisar asked the question about latest education. i tell hi . the latest education is ,,..,,..,,..,, QURAN and our prophet MOHAMMAD (SAW ) SUNNAH ,,, is the latest education..


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What do most people do to clean up poop from the backyard? A few people I know use the pooper scooper. I keep trying different things, but the smell makes me start to vomit, so I'm having problems with it.
A friend of mine told me he gets water and sprays it down as much as possible, which I started to do and it seemed to do the trick, but I only have a puppy. I'm wondering about the smell and also if I have a dog that eats a lot of grass, I'm thinking it won't be healthy.


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Many wine enthusiasts dream of someday building a wine cellar in their own home. It can seem at times like a lofty goal, and the…
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Sunnyside Elementary School in Rural Eastern Washington State Raises $2205.89 + $100 matching funds for more than SEVEN Friendship Through Education S.O.S. UNICEF School Kits to provide school supplies for 560+ Children in Afghanistan!!!
...and heres how they did it...
When the students at Sunnyside Elementary School in Pullman, Washington joined the Friendship Through Education Schools Outfitting Schools effort, they set a goal of raising enough funds to provide school supplies for the same number of children in Afghanistan as there are children at Sunnyside School...that meant getting school supplies for 352 children. They did the math to realize that would take 5 UNICEF kits and, at $300 per kit, they would need to raise $1500.
Sunnyside School set about meeting this goal with leadership from the Student Council along with the first and second graders in the classroom of iEARN teacher, Mrs. Rennebohm Franz and the Principal, Mrs. Watters. Inspiration for starting to raise funds came from the offer of retired iEARN Teacher David Egan to match the first $100 dollars raised by Sunnyside with a contribution of $100 from his family. Coins started arriving at school and soon the first $100 was raised!!
Here's the big jug first and second graders used to collect Sunnyside School's SOS coins!
First and second graders created colorful posters showing all the school supplies that came in each kit and the supplies for teachers that came with each kit. They put the posters of school supplies up in the school front hallway with their writing about the SOS story for everyone to see and learn about the project. They made another set of posters to use in presentations to the school and community organizations. Look below to see their posters!
Mrs. Lancefields Third Grade class created coin collection boxes from oatmeal cartons so each class would have a container for the money they were raising.
The Student Council, with mentoring of Fifth Grade Teacher, Mr. Johnson created flyers that went home with each student to tell them and their families about the fund raising project for schools in Afghanistan. At an all-school assembly the student council and Mrs. Rennebohm Franzs class presented the details of the project to their schoolmates.
The Sunnyside Principal, Mrs. Watters, contacted Pullman community service organizations to schedule presentations about the project by students!
The Student Council officers and students from Mrs. Rennebohm Franzs class prepared and gave presentations to the local Kiwanis Club and to the local Lions Club to ask their support for the project. Each organization decided to sponsor a school kit. Mrs. Rennebohm Franz and her students gave a presentation to the Pullman Kiwanis Club at their monthly luncheon meeting.
As word about Sunnyside
Schools work for the SOS project traveled in the Pullman community of
25,000 people...coins, dollars and checks started coming into the school to
be added to the many coins the Sunnyside children were bringing for SOS! A
local technology business, Schweitzer Engineering, raised funds among their
employees which were then matched by the founders of the business to provide
funds for almost two kits!
The Pullman community is a place with a big heart...it is a place where people care about making sure children get excellent school opportunities...for example, every fall a local bank collects crayons, notebooks, pencils, pens, etc. for children in the local schools who dont have supplies. In the SOS project, the Pullman community showed how they care about making sure children in Afghanistan also are getting the school supplies they need to learn! As the children at Sunnyside brought coins to school for SOS, they inspired the community. As the children saw the response from the community, they became even more inspired to bring more coins. There has been great community support for the efforts of the children at Sunnyside School to make a difference in the world!
The Sunnyside School PTA, knowing how important school supplies are for children to learn, enthusiastically donated to the project. They thought it was very important to support this wonderful opportunity for Sunnyside School students to help others.
As first and second graders counted coins and added up the dollars for the SOS kits, they learned to check and recheck their math. They learned about decimal points between dollars and cents and they have grown in enthusiasm for whats possible when everyone joins together to help in this project!
First and second graders have used their writing and reading skills to prepare and present reports on the SOS project.
Washington State University College of Education students helped the first and second graders prepare writing and posters for the SOS reports and presentations. A Washington State University student helps three Sunnyside students create a poster list of the teacher supplies that come with each SOS kit.
As the coins keep coming into school, Sunnyside Principal, Mrs. Watters helps a first grader count the many, many, many pennies!
By Tuesday, May 14th, the Sunnyside School not only met their goal of providing 5 school kits for Afghanistan but also raised enough funds to provide a 6th kit and have funds toward a 7th kit!!! Sunnyside Schools has raised over $2100 for SOS! As the coins continue to come in, Sunnyside school students will continue to contribute to SOS. Their hope is that other schools across the country will join Sunnyside School in the journey with to help schoolmates in Afghanistan have school supplies!
To join Sunnyside School students in helping with the Friendship through Education Schools Outfitting Schools Project, go to:
To learn more about Sunnyside Schools participation in SOS , take the link at the top of the Friendship Through Education website that says "Read More" ...
To learn more about iEARN go to http://www.iearn.org
Return to School Year 2001-2002 Index Page
***All documents on our classroom web pages are copyrighted. The text and images are for educational use only. Please honor the integrity and original ownership of all text, design and images. We request that you not replicate the webpage designs nor publish the images and text without permission. For permission contact Kristi Rennebohm Franz at email@example.com


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The Paris discovered by Marc Chagall (1887-1985) when he arrived by train in 1910 was still the city of the art world's dreams. It was a metropolis of broad boulevards and crooked cobbled alleys lined with ateliers and cafes where Picasso might be found sitting with Braque. Chagall was able to subsist in a...
European fine art
Art Markets: Depicting industry in art defined the 20th century modernity
For the first half of the 20th century, images of industry were synonymous with progress. As assembly lines increasingly supplied the needs and wants of the world's growing urban population, factory scenes became shorthand for the brave new world of modernity. Industrial art became an international genre, crossing political borders and economic systems alike....
Fine art stolen by Nazis slowly finding its way home
Conquering armies have returned with booty from time immemorial, but in the 20th century, the Nazis organized what was probably the largest campaign of art theft in history. To call it organized, however, overlooks a rivalry among Nazi leaders that resembled gangsters fighting over their share of the loot.
Tiffany peony border antique lighting fixture floor lamp brings $172,500
Dudley Browne, head of James D. Julia's glass and lamp department, had a sneaking suspicion the firm's Dec. 1-2 sale would break new ground. He noted a number of pre-auction cues, such as inquiries from new blood collectors and dealers as well as from veterans who perhaps hadn't been as active in recent years....
Heinrich Vogeler's life was as beautiful as his Art Nouveau prints
German artist Heinrich Vogeler (1872-1942) believed art should be inseparable from daily life. Fine art expert Mary Manion show us in her Art Markets column why his life of is worthy of a great novel.
Canadian Modernists Attracting Respect
Canada might have seemed hundreds if not thousands of miles distant from the centers of modern art in the early decades of the 20th century, but the artists of the dominion transformed their isolation into an asset.
Art Markets: Art values can be an illusion
It was a snowy New Year's Eve day, and the appraisers were making a house call. The client was a woman with a family heirloom, a piece of cut and painted paper silhouette art from a genre known by its German name, scherenschnitte.
Art Markets: Impressionism's lasting impact
An art critic puzzled at the sight of Claude Monet's Impression, "Sunrise" (Impression, soleil levant), coined the name "Impressionism" as a jeering insult. But the artists in the exhibition who so irked the critic eagerly embraced the term to describe their new approach to painting.
Art Markets: Maxfield Parrish infused in romance
Very few artists have had a color named for them. One of them, Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966), was an American illustrator and painter known for his luminous hues, including the shade called Parrish blue.
Art Markets: Castelli was a bridge between the Old World and the New
It didn't take long for Leo Castelli to establish himself as one of America's premiere art dealers. In 1957, he opened the Leo Castelli Gallery on East 77th Street in Manhattan, and less than a year later, in January 1958, he took center stage with an exhibition of Jasper Johns.


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Home › Forums › Gear Forums › Make Your Own Gear › I would like to make a cuben packraft
Oct 31, 2012 at 12:24 pm #1295682
Has anyone made a Cuben fiber raft? I could use some assistance with cuben glues? Would double sided tape be sufficient for a packraft or would you need glue? If so what kind? I looked into valves and don't know if I would be better off with a Summit 2 or a Thermarest air mattress valve? Does anyone know where to get a pattern?Oct 31, 2012 at 12:28 pm #1925671
I am no expert on cuben but here is what I know.
1. It is very tear resistant
2. It is much less resistant to punctures and abrasion damage.
For these reasons I would argue that a cuben packfraft would have limited utility while being very expensive and difficult to make.Oct 31, 2012 at 1:07 pm #1925683
Adrian MITCHELLSpectator
@adie-mitchellLocale: Northwest Mass
I second that….doesnt mean I wouldnt want to see one… :)Oct 31, 2012 at 1:10 pm #1925685
Dale WambaughBPL Member
@dwambaughLocale: Pacific Northwest
A Cuben kayak would be interesting too, if you can get it to stick.Oct 31, 2012 at 1:52 pm #1925690
Ben CBPL Member
@alexdrewreedLocale: Kentucky
Interesting idea. The highest abrasion areas are on the bottom surface. You could pretty easily reinforce that with a higher abrasion material. It could result in a pretty lightweight raft/kayak.Oct 31, 2012 at 2:40 pm #1925701
I have to agree with Luke. When inflatable rafts fail, they don't burst, they get punctured. Cuben has high tensile strength, but lower puncture resistance than the materials already in use for packrafts. Cuben not only gets punctured easily, but it also develops pinholes from flexion. Further, because cuben has no stretch, you would need a very large number of panels ("gores") of very precise dimensions in order to produce a raft with a smoothly curved surface when inflated. Bonding those pieces together would take months and you would need to do it over a sacrificial form (like a full-scale styrofoam model raft that you dissolve out from the inside with solvent once it is done). Heat sealable nylon is used for the lightest packrafts (the late Curtis rafts and the Flytepacker) because it has a bit of stretch (which gives the raft a smooth, round shape and aids in resisting puncture), it has decent abrasion resistance, and it is easy to make secure seams. Cuben is the wrong material for this job.
The 30D heat sealable fabric from Seattle Fabrics (http://www.seattlefabrics.com/nylons.html) is lighter than anything currently in use for commercial packrafts. There are also 20D heat sealable nylon fabrics now in use by some sleeping pad manufacturers, but it might not be easy to acquire a small amount of it.
If money is no object, you could also contact cubic tech to inquire about a custom run of cuben with urethane instead of PET film. That would increase the weight and erase much of the tensile strength-to-weight advantage of cuben, but it is the only way anything inflatable will ever successfully be made with cuben fiber.Oct 31, 2012 at 2:58 pm #1925705
If building a cuben raft doesn't work here are some things you could do with cuben to minimize pack weight.
1. How about a cuben spray skirt? I think that would work and save a bit of weight.
2. Cuben Tarp, pack, and cuben sleeping bag (custom made)
These ideas would not be cheap but they could save a lot of weight and would be a much better investment then a cuben raft.Oct 31, 2012 at 5:22 pm #1925735
All due respect to everyone here.
I present you with a black cuben Trail lite designs cloud cape i used as a ground sheet along the entire 2,180 mile Appalachian trail. I also packed and unpacked it into the grit filled bottom of my pack for 100 days.
Yes, i get that the AT does not have huge stickers and cacti but if you have ever been to Pennsylvania, New hampshire or Maine you will know there ain't no shortage of sharp rocks.
Below are pictures i just took this very minute of it's continued water proofness.
I don't see any holes or seperation or any defect what so ever.
Not even one drop of water escapes despite the obvious abrasion and continuous wrinkling.
The cloud cape was not as useful for rain gear as i expected so i found another use for it.. I stood on it in the dirt to change my socks and clothes each day.
I sat on it in the mud and on wet rocks to keep my bum dry as well.
This is the thicker cuben fiber at 1.26 oz per sq yard.
My cuben fiber patrol at .75 oz per square yard is also similarly water tight after the same time period but i did not use it as a ground sheet.
I am not saying you could make a raft out of this stuff.
But judging from my experience with actually using it in rough conditions i can say with certainty it is far tougher than is commonly thought.
Take this for whatever it is worth.
Here i give you actual physical proof of cuben fiber used on bare ground.
I honestly thought about making a cuben packraft myself.
Gregory, i hope you give it a try and it works.
I can't guarantee anything obviously, but in my opinion it could work provided the seams would hold.
You might be on to something big here but before sinking a lot of cash into a full scale model, why not build a small scale ballon of cuben and sink it to the bottom of a pool to test your seams.
Heck, rub it with sand and try to make it fail.
Of course, you can also repair cuben with duct tape unlike silicone and urethane coated nylon.
As for "pinholes under flexion".. i really have no idea where that comes from. I have two pieces of cuben gear and both have been stuffed, crammed, stretched, and generally abused by me for an extended period of time and neither has a single pin hole.
Another advantage of cuben is that is absorbs no water weight.
Easy repair, no water weight penalty, extreme strength.. these are the exact qualities i want in my gear and why i thought about making a raft with the stuff.
I am not sure you would neccesarily save weight though if you use the heavier cuben so i concede that point.
That is a big unknown.
I tend to think the .75 version would be too weak for rafting but since i am a novice rafter and have zero experience building rafts i can't say anything meanigful yet on those points.
Like i said at first, all due respect.
My experience could be the exception and if so i apologize if i sound like i am debunking here.
I just have to call it like i have experienced it and here it is.. in living color.
This is all i can offer.
**Edited to add the last paragraphs and because i am a bad typist… speeling.. ugh!Oct 31, 2012 at 9:47 pm #1925763
"As for "pinholes under flexion".. i really have no idea where that comes from."
Below is "where that comes from". These are some of the reports of measurements of cuben leakage through pinholes:
These are some of the discussions about the well-known propensity for well-used cuben to get pinholes:
These observations suggest to me that flexion (not just abrasion and puncture) might be a contributor to pinholes in cuben:
1. Richard Nisley's micrographs show that the bond within the reinforcement layer of a cuben laminate is riddled with bubbles between the UHMWPE fibers. Over these bubbles, which are small but appear to account for a substantial fraction of the area of a piece of cuben, there is only thin layers of mylar with nothing but air (or some gas from the adhesive) in between. Anything that can cause tiny tears in both layers of mylar will cause a pinhole.
2. Mylar, and PET in general, is prone to flex fatigue. If you bend a piece of PET repeatedly, it turns white and breaks. Many other plastics don't do this (ie, polyolefins).
3. The pinholes in my 0.48 oz cuben flat tarp all lie on crease lines. Others have observed this as well.
Many people have reported pinholes and many others (like you, a b) have reported none. I'm glad your groundsheet held up so well. It seems clear that the 0.08 mil mylar styles are much more prone to leakage than the 0.18 mil mylar styles. Cuben is great for many things, and I'm very pleased with my cuben gear, but it seems obvious to me that it is a poor material for inflatables.Oct 31, 2012 at 10:02 pm #1925765
Interesting Colin.
As to your comment "Not suitable for inflatables"
Upon which evidence cited do you make that particular assertion.?
Further, which particular cuben gear have you used (weight per cubic yard) and do you have any physical evidence(duration and type of wear) as i have shown?
In other words.. lets see it.Oct 31, 2012 at 10:31 pm #1925769
I don't want to use the .51 oz. I was thinking the .75 oz or 1.43. I wish I could use the .51 but just by looks alone, it looks awfull thin. I just want to use it on mountain lakes. What I like is not having to sew and tape seams. I have never taped a seam but sounds like it might be a pain. I think I am going to build a tent and then try the left over pieces for testing. Thanks for imput.Nov 1, 2012 at 9:28 am #1925832
a b, if someone told me they had a cuben groundsheet that had been trampled every night on sharp rocks for the entire length of the AT, and it was still waterproof, I would believe them without demanding photos. I don't need your photos to believe your assertions about your groundsheet. People seem to have very different experiences with cuben. Some people observe leaks in a tarp after only a few nights of use, and others find no leaks after several seasons of hard use.
You, on the other hand, are demanding proof that cuben can leak. Really? The reports of cuben leakage by others hasn't convinced you, but photos from me would?
Imagine that you provide 100 cuben tarps to 100 people to use for a year, and fifty of them later report leaks and fifty report no leaks. The fifty who experienced leaks assert that, given their experience, cuben can leak (there is a risk of leakage with cuben). The fifty who reported no leaks assert that it cannot leak (there is no risk of leakage with cuben). Who is right?Nov 1, 2012 at 2:45 pm #1925889
a b did you ever fold your ground tarp or was it in a stuff sack.Nov 2, 2012 at 8:17 pm #1926087
@ Gregory, I just stuff the cuben without a stuff sack. It gets wrinkled a different way every time.
@ Colin, I will admit, I am trying to stir more conversation rather than re-hash the same old arguments.
Kinda like the Giardia thread, where old evidence keeps getting cited time and time again but nothing new is ever presented.
I am trying to keep it real by giving real experiences.
Anyways, why can't you and others post pictures of your leaking cuben?
I can show you how to post pictures if that is the problem, it's really easy on here.
You know my motivation for this "challenge"?
When i first heard about cuben fiber i was a skeptic. I read everything i could find online and singled out the information that supported my skeptical views.
I met other hikers on the PCT using cuben and shared my skeptical comments with them.
I watched them hike 2,654 miles using cuben and none of them told me anything about leaks nor did i see any.
Now i have used cuben for an extended hike myself and found all of the skeptical claims to be groundless.. at least in my case.. and everyone i have personally met that uses the stuff.
Well, i understand your skepticism.
I wont try to change your mind because i know, if you are like me, you will have to see it for yourself.
That is also why i am asking to see your leaking cuben gear.
Cheers Bro.Nov 7, 2012 at 1:59 pm #1926914
My opinion:
This could be done, but you'd have to understand that it would be a very niche/special use gear item with likely a fairly limited lifespan if pushed outside that. Abrasion with rocks of any sort would quickly harm this raft, so you'd have to avoid all contact IMO. Even for just lake use, you'd want to be very careful when getting in/out of the raft so the floor isn't pinched between your foot and rocks. A vinyl raft gets holes pretty easily if this happens, and cuben likely pinholes easier than the vinyl used in Walmart rafts etc.
The other thing you need to avoid is torquing/twisting the cuben excessively. Cuben that is torqued a lot (ie. the top few inches of a roll top sack) will eventually delaminate/bubble after a while. This is likely only an issue if you're trying to pack it into an undersized stuff sack repeatedly.
To actually make one, I'd strongly advise using at least 1.2oz cuben, which has the double thick mylar layers. Bond all your seams in sheer rather than peel. Make a very long tube of a cuben – around 20 feet, and then cut that tube on angles to form the pieces of your walls. I'd go with 8 pieces likely (ie. quadrilateral + angled corners) but 4 would be okay – especially if tapered. Bond the tube pieces together, and then go over the seams again with an external one sided tape.
While this could be done and it would be a neat/geeky project, I encourage you to consider making it with 30D heat sealable nylon instead. I think it would hold up a lot better and it's not much heavier. Go with a heavier material for the floor than the tubes (like how Alpacka does). If I was trying to make a radically light packraft, I'd go 70D heat sealable nylon for the floor, 30D for the tubes and 1.2oz cuben for the spraydeck. The nylon-cuben hybrid stuff at ~2.9oz would be sweet too.
i am asking to see your leaking cuben gear."
I'll try to post some pics of worn out, leaky, delaminated, bubbling cuben tomorrow. I've got lots of items from .3oz to 1.5oz cuben. All of it is moderate-heavily used, so I'm not saying cuben isn't great. Just that it can pinhole or delam after moderate use.
"What I like is not having to sew and tape seams."
Keep in mind you don't need to sew heat sealable nylon either – just a household iron will do.Nov 8, 2012 at 12:10 pm #1927112
Here's some pictures as promised of "leaky" cuben.
All of this stuff has seen a lot of use, and the only item that I feel a bit let down by is the roll top dry sack. >1.2oz cuben might be up for the task, but the lighter weights of cuben delaminate pretty early on in a roll top application because of the twisting/torque. I've had two that have done this. I have a 1.2oz cuben Zpacks roll top dry bag now for my sleeping quilt, so we'll see if that holds up longer.
1) – Granite Gear 'Uberlight' Cuben drysack. I believe it's 0.51oz cuben. It delaminated/bubbled and then peeled in the top few inches near the roll top from the torque/twisting strain of it being rolled. I think I was using it pretty normally. This is maybe 50 days of use.
2) Zpacks Blast Food Bag – 1.5oz cuben. Used a lot for 3 seasons. Not babied at all, but not really used recklessly besides one marmot chewing incident which led to a coin sized hole (not shown). Damage shown is not from Marmot. While not really obvious, it leaks heavily.
3) MYOG 0.7oz cuben 'ditties' bag. Used for 3 years and lots of life left, since I don't need it to be waterproof.
4) This last one is actually pretty impressive. I bought this stuff sack on BPL Gear swap and the sellers said it was .33oz cuben. It looks more like .48oz to me, but either way it's lasted for 3 years now without getting any visible holes until this season. It's getting a bit worn now, but still up to the task of holding clothes for a long while yet. I hope to use it through 2013.Nov 10, 2012 at 9:41 pm #1927588Nov 11, 2012 at 11:49 am #1927640
Randy MartinBPL Member
@randalmartinLocale: Colorado
I think the abrasion from a raft would be far more likely to fail than abrasion from a ground sheet. More importantly, failure of a raft is much more significant consequence than failure of a section of groundsheet. A Raft is simply a bad application of a good material in my opinionNov 11, 2012 at 3:55 pm #1927674
A couple years ago, I tested a cuben (0.7oz) stuff sack by filling it with water during it's first season of use. I thought it would be waterproof because it looked fine, but actually had tons of pinholes and leaked readily. So in my experience cuben does leak long before it gets to the point of visible damage.Nov 11, 2012 at 7:57 pm #1927708Nov 12, 2012 at 9:28 am #1927776
I admire your curiosity and determination, a b. I think your perspective on the feedback you've recieved seems right. Discussions like these can get tense when people disagree, but the result is often productive.
To be realistic, you haven't busted any myths yet, and you're not going to be able to commission Ron Bell (MLD) or Tim Marshall (Enlightened Equipment) to build a cuben raft. If you want to prove that it can be done, you'll need to do it yourself. And I'm not shooting you down. I actually think that we all could learn from it.Nov 12, 2012 at 3:39 pm #1927833
Richard NisleyBPL Member
@richard295Locale: San Francisco Bay Area
The US Air Force did a test to see if any of the existing Cuben (Mylar) materials would reliably hold air. Their application was portable recon drones. AB concluded Yes and they concluded No. We will soon know who is "All Wet".Nov 12, 2012 at 4:40 pm #1927843
I don't want to shoot the idea down but here are some thoughts.
I really think it comes down to how much money you are willing to risk on a project that might or might not work out well. If you want a light packraft for flat water I'd suggest a feathercraft. On the other hand if you really want to try a cuben raft and are willing to pay for it go ahead. Here are some ideas.
1. Try making a nylon version first. There are several advantages to this
-You make any mistakes on cheaper material
-You can try the nylon raft out and make sure you are happy with the design
-You have an extra raft so you can invite a friend along.
2. I'm not sure I'd bother with hybrid cuben. My understanding is the outside absorbs some water which means the raft will be a lot heavier as soon as you get it wet. I doubt there would be any advantage to hybrid cuben over regular nylon.Nov 12, 2012 at 5:36 pm #1927865
I was not aware of the feathercraft raft until Luke mentioned it. These are the specs of the lightest rafts from each of the current packraft manufacturers (according to the manufacturer's websites):
1. Supai Adventure Gear Canyon Flatwater 2: 1.5 lbs, $300
2. Flyweight Designs Flytepacker: 2.2 lbs, $300
3. Alpacka Scout: 3.2 lbs, $525
4. NRS packraft: 4.8 lbs, $525
5. Feathercraft Baylee 1: 6.5 lbs, $1200
Does anyone know of any other manufacturers making packrafts? All vinyl (non-fabric) boats (like the Sevylor Trail Boat) are omitted from this list. The venerable Curtis raft is excluded from this list because it is only available second-hand.
A 30D nylon packraft, although very fragile, could come tantalizingly close to the 1lb mark, I'd wager.
Edited to add a couple boats to the list.Nov 12, 2012 at 6:46 pm #1927893
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Its been buzzing and rightly so, about the newest movie being acclaimed by members of the Forth Estate of the Realm who witnessed the media screening last Friday in Nigeria.
The Contact is Yvonne Okoro's entry into production of movies and explained that she's going to premier the film in London, America and South Africa immediately after she's done with Nigeria premier this Friday, 22nd of March, 2013. The ever-radiant lady also stated her reasons for producing such a chat-buster movie and how she is seriously thinking of working on the second one that will surprise all and sundry. The movie is a must watch.
The Contract tells a story of a successful businessman, Peter Puplampo, the ultimate alpha male. He is 40 year-old, rich and a staunch bachelor. Despite his mother's persistent attempts to find him a woman, Peter sticks to his rule of non-committal casual dates, freedom and being in control of his life until the desire to have a child arises.
In his quest to find the woman who will take his money, have his child and disappear, Peter begins a roller-coaster, contractual relationship with Abena Boateng, Yvonne Okoro, a crude but cleverly local girl who is anything but impressed with Peter's affluence.
With a clear definitive contract from his lawyer outlining the dos and don'ts of bearing Peter Puplampo's child, these two opposites must exercise every bit of willpower not to kill each other until the child is born. The movie is an unsuspecting romantic comedy with unusual twists that expose the flaws in being in control of one's life.