text:
Neuroaesthetics and beyond: new horizons in applying the science of the brain to the art of dance
- First Online:
DOI: 10.1007/s11097-010-9190-y
- Cite this article as:
- Cross, E.S. & Ticini, L.F. Phenom Cogn Sci (2012) 11: 5. doi:10.1007/s11097-010-9190-y
- Citations
- 4.7k Downloads
Throughout history, dance has maintained a critical presence across all human cultures, defying barriers of class, race, and status. How dance has synergistically co-evolved with humans has fueled a rich debate on the function of art and the essence of aesthetic experience, engaging numerous artists, historians, philosophers, and scientists. While dance shares many features with other art forms, one attribute unique to dance is that it is most commonly expressed with the human body. Because of this, social scientists and neuroscientists are turning to dance and dancers to help answer questions of how the brain coordinates the body to perform complex, precise, and beautiful movements. In the present paper, we discuss how recent advances in neuroscientific methods provide the tools to advance our understanding of not only the cerebral phenomena associated with dance learning and observation but also the neural underpinnings of aesthetic appreciation associated with watching dance. We suggest that future work within the fields of dance neuroscience and neuroaesthetics have the potential to provide mutual benefits to both the scientific and artistic communities.
KeywordsDance Neuroscience Neuroimaging Neuroaesthetics
Across millennia, humans have expressed themselves through dance. Dance spans cultures, generations, social classes, and geography. Like music and the visual arts, dance is a universal human behavior whose earliest manifestations can be traced back to rituals and social expression (Boyer and Lienard 2006).1 While dance shares many features with other art forms, one attribute unique to dance is that its expression entails moving the body through time and space.2 To think about how we are able to coordinate our bodies to ascend a staircase, make a cup of tea, or ride a bicycle is impressive enough. To then imagine how the iconic modern dancer, José Limón, starting with the same raw materials of muscles, bones, and sinews, could use his body to leap, spin, contort, and move in sublimely beautiful ways, we begin to appreciate the vast chasm between our pedestrian, utilitarian, everyday actions, and the artistic, expressive, aesthetic actions that compose a dancer's movement repertoire.
While the study of dance performance and dance spectators' experience has traditionally been the realm of dance practitioners, scholars, and historians, more recently, psychologists and neuroscientists have been turning to dance to help address a number of questions about both the objective and subjective features of the relationship between perception and action. Two lines of inquiry are particularly ripe for research spanning dance and brain science disciplines. One of these concerns how dancers' brains can help to further illuminate the relationship between action experience and action observation. Another is how the observation of dance as an art form can inform our understanding of how the brain processes aesthetic experiences. In this paper, we begin by discussing what the nascent field of dance neuroscience has revealed about dance experience and observation at the neural level, and follow this by exploring how the brain sciences might be used to further probe aesthetic appreciation of dance as an art form. Finally, we conclude with a critical evaluation of how the dance and the brain sciences might continue along a path that is mutually informative and beneficial.
Part 1: How dance helps to more fully characterize the relationship between perception and action in the human brain
With the advent of cognitive psychology in the late nineteenth century, William James advanced the idea that action and perception in some manner converge or overlap (James 1890). Neurophysiological investigation into the brain's ability to use perceptual information to shape movement began in the mid-twentieth century, during which time information processing explanations proposing complex transformations from perception to the organization and execution of action gathered momentum (Massaro and Friedman 1990; Mountcastle et al. 1975; Welford 1968). This line of inquiry received a boost in investigational power with the arrival of advanced neuroimaging techniques in the early 1990s. These tools facilitated the frequency and ease with which scientists could capture a glimpse of the neural architecture and coordinated patterns of activity that support thought, reasoning, action, and emotion.
These techniques enable in vivo investigations of brain function in healthy human subjects through measuring changes in blood flow (including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and near-infrared spectroscopy) or changes in local electric (electroencephalography) or magnetic (magnetoencephalography) fields beneath the scalp. Our understanding of the relationship between brain structure and function is further advanced by complementary structural neuroimaging methods which enable us to gain an in-depth look at anatomical adaptation in the brain as a consequence of intensive training procedures or the vast quantity of experience in a particular domain seen in experts (Hanggi et al. 2010; Jancke 2009; Scholz et al. 2009). Structural neuroimaging techniques, based on MRI, can provide information both about gray matter features, by means of voxel- or surface-based morphometry, and white matter connectivity, by using diffusion tensor imaging to measure the diffusion properties along fiber tracts. Since the introduction of such techniques, scientists from an ever-expanding range of disciplines including psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, economics, sport science, and now dance are able to explore questions of complex interactions between individuals and their environments in greater detail than ever before, such as the relationship between action production and perception. In this section, we explore how neuroimaging tools are helping to illuminate in new and exciting ways how the brain perceives dance and how an individual's past motor experience sculpts this perception.
Of particular interest to scientists engaged in the study of action is the brain's ability to integrate different types of physical and perceptual experience to learn new movements. Not surprisingly, such abilities to learn new movements are quite pronounced in dancers whose livelihood depends on rapid and adept movement production and reproduction (Stevens et al. 2010). Neuroscientific investigations reveal that a high degree of plasticity within and between seemingly disparate cortical regions and subcortical nuclei gives rise to such movements. Different components of this network of brain regions work together to process action information, both during action perception and during action execution (for comprehensive reviews, see Grafton et al. 2009; Rizzolatti et al. 2009).
Neurophysiologists found the first evidence of a neural system that matches action with perception within the brains of non-human primates. Scientists came across this finding almost by accident, when they were recording from single neurons within the ventral premotor cortex of the monkey brain to determine how these neurons responded when monkeys grasped different items. These researchers observed, much to their surprise, that the same neurons that fired when monkeys performed a specific action (e.g., grasping a raisin) also fired when the monkey watched another monkey or a researcher execute the same action (e.g., Rizzolatti et al. 1996a). Subsequent research revealed that these particular neurons do indeed respond preferentially to actions that are either observed or performed, which led researchers to name them "mirror" neurons. As such, mirror neurons appear to compose a cortical network that matches observation of actions with execution of those same actions (Grafton et al. 1996; Rizzolatti et al. 1996b 1995; but see Hagendoorn 2010; Hickok 2009; Turella et al. 2009 for critical counterperspectives to the mirror neuron literature). These specialized neurons have prompted researchers to propose that action perception and production processes form a bidirectional, interactive loop within the primate brain. Since the discovery of mirror neurons in monkeys, many studies have investigated similar functional regions within the human brain, providing evidence for a human action observation network (AON; see Grafton and Hamilton 2007). In addition to the premotor cortex and the inferior parietal lobule (the core mirror system regions discovered in non-human primates; Rizzolatti and Craighero 2004), the action observation network includes the superior temporal sulcus, a region involved in biological motion processing (Blake and Shiffrar 2007), as well as the supplemental motor area, a region implicated in action sequencing and planning (Cross et al. 2009a; Grèzes and Decety 2001).
By now, a rich literature has developed demonstrating a substantial overlap between action perception, performance, and even imagery with techniques that measure corticospinal excitability (Fadiga et al. 1995, 1999, 2005) and changes in blood oxygenation level in motor areas of the brain with fMRI (Grafton et al. 1996, 2009; Rizzolatti and Craighero 2004). Most of these studies focus exclusively on constrained movements of the fingers or hands since such small movements are experimentally easier to study (and also introduce less noise into fMRI recordings) than movements that involve multiple effectors or the whole body. However, some studies have broadened their scope to investigate how these processes interact when viewing, performing, or imagining movements of the feet, legs, hands and feet together, or even the whole body, thus demonstrating the feasibility of investigating perception (and sometimes performance) of more ecologically valid actions where more of the body is observed or used in action (Brown et al. 2006; Catmur et al. 2008).
Several laboratories have turned to populations of expert and novice dancers to further address questions of whole body action cognition. As a recent compendium of work on the subject demonstrates, there are myriad reasons why scientists from the brain and behavioral sciences who are interested in questions of action performance and perception might choose to study dance or dancers (Bläsing et al. 2010). Dance requires a great degree of coordination not only between the different limbs of the body but also between the individual and fellow dancers, perception and action, and time and space. As an example, most dancers can relate to the experience of showing up to a technique class in a new studio, progressing with ease through the warm up or barre exercises, and then being expected to perfectly perform long and complex sequences of steps that have been rapidly demonstrated in the most cursory manner. Dancers' ability to transform scant visual or verbal information into highly sophisticated and expertly executed movements has great potential value to scientists. Significant utility exists in examining both novice and highly experienced dancers to see how complex movements are learned, remembered, and reproduced. The study of dance improvisation provides another fruitful paradigm for investigating action production as the brain works to harness properties of the motor system with principles of aesthetic experience to create movements with no predetermined motor program (Hagendoorn 2003). Not only can scientists learn about the coordination and expression of complex actions by quantifying dancers' behavioral performance, but also careful measurement of how such skilled actions are represented at the neural level can shed additional light on how the human body is capable of learning and performing such complex movements with limited information.
Elegant work using dancers and dance-related experimental paradigms to investigate the brain's negotiation between action and perception continues to emerge from an increasing number of functional and structural neuroimaging laboratories (Brown et al. 2006; Calvo-Merino et al. 2005, 2006; Cross et al. 2006, 2009a, b; Hanggi et al. 2010; Orgs et al. 2008).3 One of the first of these studies investigated how prior dance experience influences perception of different styles of dance movement (Calvo-Merino et al. 2005). For this experiment, the authors asked male professional ballet dancers, professional capoerira dancers, and age-matched non-dancer control subjects to watch short video clips of a ballet dancer or capoeira dancer performing movements from their respective movement vocabularies. The authors demonstrated experience-specific responses within parietal and premotor components of the AON such that viewing one's own movement vocabulary resulted in stronger activation than viewing the movement vocabulary from a dance style with which one lacks expertise. The authors conclude that an individual's motor repertoire significantly sculpts responses within sensorimotor regions of the brain during action execution.
Cross and colleagues performed a related study on newly acquired action expertise in modern dancers (Cross et al. 2006). In this study, they followed a company of modern dancers as they learned the intricate and complex choreography to Skylight (Dean 1982), a demanding 25-min modern dance work. After each week of rehearsal, the authors scanned the dancers' brains while they watched Skylight and similar but unrehearsed choreography and asked the dancers to rate their current ability to perform each dance segment. Cross et al. (2006) report that as the dancers transitioned from being inexperienced with performing the work to being highly adept performers, neural responses increased significantly and focally in two core components of the AON, namely the inferior parietal lobule and the ventral premotor cortex within the left hemisphere. This study thus demonstrates that changes in sensorimotor cortex were seen while observing dance track with actual physical ability to perform the movements, and these changes in the brain do not require years of rehearsal to manifest—a mere 6 weeks of rehearsal is enough to see marked changes in neural response profiles. These researchers have further explored the effects of de novo dance learning in populations of novice dancers, demonstrating the utility of dance learning paradigms to address questions of observational learning (Cross et al. 2009b) and how different cues for learning dance are represented within the AON (Cross et al. 2009a).
In another highly innovative study, Brown and colleagues used PET to investigate the core elements of tango dancing (entrainment, meter, and step patterns) by having participants physically perform the foot patterns on an inclined surface while lying in the scanner (Brown et al. 2006). Brown and colleagues report activation within a broad network of mirror system regions when executing complex foot sequences and involvement of striatal and cerebellar components when more complex rhythmic sequences were performed. The activation of these brain regions is consistent with those regions activated by dance observation (Calvo-Merino et al. 2005) and dance imagery paired with observation (Cross et al. 2006).4
The research on dancers' brains has opened a portal to understanding how specific changes in the brain are associated with individuals' abilities to perform highly complex and coordinated actions. However, the findings discussed above stop short at being able to explain how and why the observer, or even the dancer, derives such pleasure from the art of dance. In the next section, we introduce the nascent field of neuroaesthetics, a discipline whose express purpose is to use the tools and paradigms discussed above to address questions about which features of artistic expression the brain responds to. This line of inquiry could prove to be particularly fruitful as it has the potential to not only inform scientists about how the brain beholds and appreciates art but could also provide some direct benefits back to the dance community, as we explore below.
Part II: Neuroaesthetics: a neuroscientific portrait of art
Moving beyond the relative objectivity of neuroscience and into the realm of subjective experience, we discover many intriguing questions upon which we might train our scientific lens. Some of these questions concern why art is of such extreme importance to our senses and why we dedicate such enormous financial resources and time toward the creation and enjoyment of artworks. Across a diverse range of manifestations—including music, dance, and painting—art has been developed by the human species since its early dawn and continues to endure as a critical presence across all cultures (Mithen 1996). Over millennia, the synergistic coexistence of humans and art has fed an extensive and rich debate on the function of art and the essence of aesthetic experience. This debate has engaged numerous artists, historians, and philosophers, and now, neuroscientists are getting involved as well. The recent advances in neuroimaging techniques introduced in the previous section, as well as neurostimulation technology (such as transcranial magnetic stimulation), enable us to investigate from "the inside" the cerebral phenomena associated with artistic creativity and aesthetic appreciation (Fairhall and Ishai 2008; Ishai et al. 2007; Kawabata and Zeki 2004).
Art, like everything we do, is generated from electrical impulses passed between synapses in the brain, expressed through the body, and eventually appreciated through the senses. Therefore, in order to better understand how we perceive and evaluate art, we might gain valuable insights by taking an in-depth look at how stimuli are conveyed from the external world to the brain and how they are transformed into vivid perceptions. So far, fMRI enables us to visualize patterns of activity across different brain areas while we carry out an action, think, or feel a particular emotion. Neuroimaging work has revealed a certain extent of functional localization where individual cerebral structures are specialized for one or more specific tasks, like the elaboration of sensory stimuli (visual, tactile, auditory, etc.), the planning and execution of motor processes, or processing of emotional responses to emotionally valenced stimuli.
Where aesthetics and personal preference are concerned, the story becomes more complicated. If we were to behold a portrait by Vincent Van Gogh, a song played by Miles Davis, or the dance company Pilobolus in action, our individual aesthetic experiences of these works would share commonalities, as well as striking differences. Feelings, memories, and perceived pleasure likely have a strong individual character because they are attached to genetic, environmental, and cultural components. Such inter-individual variability can even be seen in functional neuroimaging studies of basic emotional responses which reveal marked differences in patterns of neural activity between individuals in the same emotional states (Davidson and Irwin 1999; Eugene et al. 2003). Nonetheless, neuroimaging work on viewing artworks such as film and paintings demonstrates reliable and consistent patterns of neural activation across individuals when we share common experiences, such as watching an exciting scene in a film or beholding a particular painting (e.g., Hasson et al. 2004; Kawabata and Zeki 2004). Shared experiences across individuals, such as may be induced by perceiving an artistic work, have the potential to put us on the same interpretive plane as our fellow spectators. We speculate that shared activations during shared experiences might be one of the reasons why we can communicate—through art—impressions and emotions that might not be possible to express through words. What is clear so far is that more in-depth inquiry into the aesthetic evaluation of artworks should turn toward investigation of the underlying physical properties and changes within the brain as it is solely this organ that is responsible for generating and evaluating aesthetic experience. For such reasons, in recent years, philosophers, physicists, engineers, and biologists who study the brain have increasingly been interested to a scientific approach to the study of aesthetics in a number of domains, giving rise to the emerging field of neuroaesthetics (e.g., Fritz et al. 2009; Jacobsen et al. 2006; Koelsch 2010; Limb and Braun 2008; Nadal et al. 2008; Zaidel 2005; Zatorre et al. 2007; Zeki 2000).
Although it is sometimes dismissed as reductionism, neuroaesthetics is not seeking to demonstrate a universal formula of aesthetic appreciation or of creativity that would overcome the complexity of art and at least 2,000 years of aesthetic studies. As a matter of fact, we cannot accept, to quote Oscar Wilde, "any theory of beauty in exchange for beauty itself, and, so far from desiring to isolate it in a formula appealing to the intellect, we, on the contrary, seek to materialize it in a form that gives joy to the soul through the senses. We want to create it, not to define it" (Wilde 1942). To this end, the aim of neuroaesthetic inquiry should not be the definition of rules or criteria for what makes a work of art successful or beautiful but could instead be to provide artists with an understanding of how their work alters or impacts the neurophysiology of the beholder. Indeed, during past centuries, writers and philosophers including Plato, Immanuel Kant, and art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann have tried to grasp the intimate essence of the beholder's aesthetic experience and to define the concept of aesthetic judgment. Still, these important figures of Western thought never had the opportunity to directly see what happens in our brains when, for example, we experience a work of art.
Just as fMRI is facilitating research into how we learn and perceive dance, we can use the same technology to begin to investigate the neural underpinnings of aesthetic perception (keeping in mind, however, the significant limitations of an experimental setup where participants lie in a scanner and perceive reproductions of artistic works on a computer screen). The first functional neuroimaging studies on aesthetic perception investigated perception and evaluation of paintings. These experiments demonstrated common engagement of prefrontal cortices when subjects viewed aesthetically pleasing paintings, as opposed to paintings they disliked, regardless of the category of painting (Cela-Conde et al. 2004; Kawabata and Zeki 2004; Vartanian and Goel 2004). More recent work has demonstrated that activity within these areas is significantly biased by subjects' prior expectations about the hedonic value of stimuli (Kirk et al. 2009). These authors demonstrate how a number of external factors can bias brain activation while viewing art works, which was then associated with less impartial aesthetic judgments. The fact that external influences can bias brain activity and consequent aesthetic judgments might offer a scientific explanation as to why we may come to reevaluate more positively a work of art we initially disliked (for example, when we realize who the artist is and that the artist is universally respected or when a work of art is located in a renowned art gallery, cf. Kirk et al. 2009).
Over the past decade, an ever-increasing number of scientific works are providing us a new and privileged point of view of how art perception influences the brain (see (Chatterjee 2011; Di Dio and Gallese 2009). Equally importantly, the cross-fertilization between science and art has fueled an interest to study other forms of human artistic expression beyond painting and sculpture, including dance (Calvo-Merino et al. 2008, 2010; Di Dio and Gallese 2009; Hagendoorn 2004; Cross et al., It is very beautiful, but I cannot do it: The relationship between aesthetic evaluation and action experience in sensorimotor cortices, manuscript in preparation). Dance provides particular challenges and opportunities for the field of neuroaesthetics as it is neither represented by static pictures nor is its perception and evaluation primarily restricted to the visual system. Experiments aiming to investigate affective evaluations of dance make use of dynamic visual displays of a body or bodies moving through space, sometimes with the addition of music. As discussed in the previous section, observation of dance activates much more than just visual regions of the brain, including premotor and parietal cortices (Calvo-Merino 2010; Cross 2010). The first neuroimaging study to investigate aesthetic responses to dance has demonstrated the active engagement of sensorimotor brain areas when observing dance movements that one finds to be aesthetically pleasing compared to those judged to be less pleasing, thus suggesting a possible role for the motor system in dance appreciation (Calvo-Merino et al. 2008). The complex and scenographic use of human bodies evokes visceromotor and somatomotor resonance, in addition to activating emotional and reward-related centers within the brain (Cinzia and Vittorio 2009). Recent research seems to suggest that multisensory perceptions are generally preferred to perceptions in just one of the sensory domains (Ward et al. 2008). To this end, dance might be a particularly good candidate art form for investigating more complex questions of aesthetic appreciation as watching dance evokes sensation across the visual and sensorimotor domains (and the auditory domain as well, if music or sound is involved).
Although the study of dance neuroaesthetics is only just beginning, it is a field ripe with possibilities for future work, which could be of substantial benefit to individuals in the dance community as well as the brain sciences. As discussed by Hagendoorn (2010), literally millions of dance videos can be viewed on YouTube, some of which boast over 200 million views. These videos range from the polished productions of Lady Gaga and the Nederlands Dans Theatre to low-fidelity home videos of dancing babies or people bursting into dance at a Belgian train station. One possibility for future work to explore is whether when people watch different styles and forms of dance common patterns of brain activation emerge when viewing aesthetically pleasing dance, independent of dance style or staging context. Work in this vein has the potential to inform not only scientists engaged in neuroaethetic studies but also choreographers. For example, findings from such investigations could inspire innovative new dance works where notions of style (i.e., contemporary dance, break dance, classical ballet, square dance) and context (costumes, lighting, stage, etc.) are blended or interchanged in innovative new ways that neuroimaging data suggest might be successful. Similar ideas about using psychological and neurophysiological data to inform the choreographic process are discussed at length by Hagendoorn (2003, 2010). Another question dance neuroaesthetics might address that would be of interest to the dance community concerns what differences are manifest within the brains of dance aficionados and those who attend dance performances only when they are dragged to them against their will by an enthusiastic friend, family member, or partner. Are some people's brains just not responsive to watching dance at all? How might this be related to one's desire to dance oneself? Is dislike of dance a stable neurophysiological trait, or might different interventions change people's responses to dance, both at affective and neural levels? Exploring such questions will take the first steps to address the challenge to answer bigger questions about why we enjoy dance, such as what it is about dance, precisely, that makes us want to watch or perform it ourselves.
Long ago, Hippocrates understood how perceptions, feelings, and creativity were intimately correlated to the mind, but even more so to its most tangible physical element, the brain. Since accruing evidence from the brain sciences lends support to this assumption, every form of art, dance included, has the potential to be better understood through investigating how the brain responds when perceiving art. We are convinced that an increased understanding of expert and novice dancers' brains, as well as the patterns of neural activation observed in dance spectators' brains while watching dance, will not only help unravel how the brain learns and represents complex actions but might also help us understand why the arts have such importance in our society. Exploration of the neural mechanisms associated with art appreciation, such as the biological reasons why certain works or performances are more popular than others, is undoubtedly of considerable artistic and commercial value (Ariely and Berns 2010). Vice versa, studying the nature of aesthetic appreciation can also help us to better understand the mechanisms underlying perception and the strategies our brains use to process the world around us. In the 10 years since Zeki's seminal publication of Inner Vision, the number of neuroaesthetic studies has multiplied exponentially, and the field continues to gain momentum. However, as Chatterjee (2011) warns, it is critical that future studies in the neuroaesthetic domain should make clear what, precisely, neuroscientific data add to the study of aesthetics that behavioral experiments alone cannot achieve. We strongly believe that this caution should be taken seriously by future studies investigating the neuroaesthetics of dance. If it is, future work on how dance learning and observation interact with aesthetic experience has the potential to advance our understanding of dance creation and appreciation.
For a more detailed account of the functions and evolution of dance throughout history, the interested reader is referred to works by Dils and Albright (2001) and Jonas (1998).
We fully acknowledge that the expression of dance is by no means limited to the human body. Convincing representations of dance can be seen in hand-drawn and computer-generated animation films, marionettes, Sony's Asimo robots, and even stop-motion films of a break-dancing Lego action figure, such as those we are currently working with in our laboratory. Moreover, a cursory look on YouTube provides ample evidence that a veritable menagerie of non-human species also "dances," ranging from cats and dogs to cockatoos and honeybees. A critical evaluation at what actually qualifies as dance is beyond the scope of this paper, and here we focus on intentional dance performed by human agents.
It must be noted, however, that each of these studies represents a small step toward understanding how dance is perceived, represented, and expressed through the brain. It is not yet possible to measure brain activity while dancers are upright, weight-bearing, and moving through space as they might do on stage, in the club, or at the studio. Bearing this fact in mind, we can still use functional neuroimaging techniques to begin to understand the relationship between observing and moving the body in dance contexts.
It is of note that a recent neuromorphometry study of expert ballet dancers has demonstrated an altered morphometry of several of these same neural regions (Hanggi et al. 2009). Such a finding begs the question of whether experience is sculpting the brain to respond when observing dance in such a manner or whether individuals with "dance-disposed" brains are more likely to train to be dancers. Such questions are certainly worthy of further investigation.
We thank Rick Ramsey and the anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on a previous version of the manuscript. EC acknowledges support from a postdoctoral research fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.


text:
Effective + Skin Lightening Q&A
Does glutathione whitening injection work? (Photo)
Are they really effective ??? how many injection should i get before my skin lights a degree or two READ MORE
Benoquin Safety for Skin Lightening Safe?
Is benoquin safe for skin lightening if used in diluted form, like mixing in a vaseline body lotion? Will it cause skin lightening? Additional... READ MORE
Does melarase am lighten the skin?
Does melarase am lighten the skin .because I am only interested in using am .if so by how many days I could see the change.my main is to lighten the... READ MORE
How can effectively I lighten my skin tone and complexion without using any harmful chemicals?
Will Hydroquinone 4% Lighten a Flat Mole and Improve Its Appearance Cosmetically? (photo)
Please let us ignore the fact that hydroquinone may be carcinogenic and simply concentrate on whether it can benefit me cosmetically. I have asked... READ MORE
What is the Most Effective Skin Lightener?
What is the most effective skin lightener for topical use that can be bought without prescription? What ingredients are the best to look for when... READ MORE
Is liquid hydroquinone just as effective as a cream form or is it better?
I've heard liquid hydroquinone is more effective than a cream form because it penetrates better. I know the Obagi C Rx line has a liquid form of... READ MORE
Is Sepiwhite an Effective Product for Skin Lightening?
This is a link for a facial lightening/whitening cream I was planning on buying, along with one for whole body; I was wondering if these products are... READ MORE
Does 6% Glycolic Acid Lotion Work?
I have started to use 6% glycolic acid lotion? will it work to lighten my skin color? if yes then how many days will it take and will it peel my... READ MORE
How can I lighten my skin fast but safe?
Okay well addition to getting a Rhinoplasty, I also want to lighten my skin. Can anyone give me a safe,VERY EFFECTIVE solution to lightening my skin,... READ MORE
Skin lightening glutathione pills?
Do these Glutathione pills work? I read a bunch of reviews saying it takes 4-6 months for darker skin afro americans to see a change & to swallow... READ MORE
Skin Lightening Injections and Pills
Hello , I'd like to lighten my skin all over and even it out .. I heard about the skin whitening injections .. i'm not sure of how effecient... READ MORE
I have dark inner thighs, buttocks and armpits. I am a very light fair skinned 16 year old boy. What natural options can I use?
What are natural and effective ways in which I can bleach and rejuvenate the skin and what type of natural treatments are recommended to allow skin... READ MORE
Can msm, vitamin c lighten my skin effective?
Currently I am trying to whiten my skin and I am using the following Glutathione. Capsules Msm powder Vitamin c Will it lightens to 3 shades from my... READ MORE
Are Dr. James whitening capsules effective and safe?
I'm just 16 yr old girl I'm going to Buy Dr. James whitening capsules are they really effective? are they safe? READ MORE
Can Pearl Powders, Fibroin, Glutathione Whiten Skin?
It is very popular in Asia that people use pearl powders, fibroin, glutathione injection to lighten skin. Do they work? READ MORE
Lightening the Genital Area with Q-switch Laser?
Does q-switch laser (1064 nm) lighten a dark genital area?I am asian but on the fairer side but my genital area is much darker than the rest of my... READ MORE
L-glutathione Liposomal for Skin Lightening? (photo)
I am Indian.I have a brown skin color.I was wondering whether taking L-glutathione would make my skin tone lighter and if so by how many... READ MORE

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Kai Ryssdal: If I knew how to say thank you in Greek right here, I would. Wall Street got a nice little bump today courtesy of the Eurozone. Huddling for yet another emergency summit in Brussels this morning, European leaders hatched yet another plan to save Athens from itself and perhaps protect the future of the Euro.
Marketplace's Stephen Beard is on the line from London. Hello Stephen.
Stephen Beard: Hello Kai.
Ryssdal: All right, so it feels like we've been doing Greek debt for, I don't know, ever, and frankly, the details are a little fuzzy. What's in the news today?
Beard: Greece will get a second bailout -- that's the headline. Europe and the IMF will lend it an extra $155 billion; that's on top of the $160 billion they've already had. And most significantly, there'll be some debt relief. The repayment term for existing EU rescue loans will be doubled to at least 15 years; the interest rate will be cut in half. Which technically sounds a lot like a default, albeit a partial, selective, temporary default.
Ryssdal: Explore that term for just a second: selective default. It sounds like that's a bad thing, but everybody's OK with it?
Beard: Well, we'll wait and see whether they're OK with it. This was the reason, this goes to the heart of the disagreement between France and Germany, because the Germans were insisting that there should be some pain for private investors, that it shouldn't be just the taxpayers -- and particularly the German taxpayers -- who would suffer as a result of, as they see it, Greek fecklessness. They wanted to see the banks that bought Greek government debt take a hit. Now it's not clear whether the banks are going to take much of a hit, because under this deal, we're told, it will be voluntary. Any discounts they take will be voluntary, but as far as the rescue loans are concerned, that they've already had from the EU and the IMF, the terms are being rewritten. And some people say that is a default.
Ryssdal: Can we say now, Stephen, that our long, national Greek debt nightmare is over with? And we're not going to have to do more of these stories?
Beard: No. I don't think so. The markets liked the look of this deal today; they jumped with relief. An agreement is obviously better than no agreement, and this deal may well take the pressure off the Eurozone bond markets and off the Euro itself -- for a while. But the deal doesn't address the fundamental problem, the fundamental flaw in the whole Euro project: the fact that you've got 17 different economies using the same currency with the same interest rate, but all running their own different public spending plans. Many analysts say, for the long term stability of the Euro, the Eurozone's going to have to integrate a lot more; it's going to have to become much more like a United States of Europe, with central control over public spending and issuing a Eurozone bond backed by the whole group. That's going to be fantastically unpopular in some countries, though especially Germany.
Ryssdal: Let me ask you this self-centered question here, Stephen: one of the reasons that American debt and American interest rates have remained so low is that we look really good compared to Europeans, right? Do we now look relatively worse, that Europe is mending, Greece is mending?
Beard: In the short term, perhaps, yes. The hedge funds may be looking around for something else to pick on, some other government bond to kick around. But in the medium to longer term, since this deal doesn't address the fundamental problems with the Eurozone, it seems unlikely that there's going to be a major shift, and that everyone's going to say, the Euro is the currency of choice, we can forget about the U.S. dollar.
Ryssdal: Marketplace's Stephen Beard in London with the latest on the not-yet-over Greek debt story. Stephen, thank you.
Beard: OK Kai.


text:
As the train sped from Madrid to the town of El Ferrol in north-western Spain, Yesica Medina paced up and down between passengers with her six-week-old daughter in her arms, cradling her child to stop her crying on the long journey home.
Mercifully, the baby finally dropped off to sleep and Yesica returned to her seat in the first-class carriage intending to place baby Teresita in a cot on the seat opposite.
At her side was her husband, Daniel Castro, and across from him sat Carlos, the couple's seven-year-old son, who was playing with a dinosaur toy he had bought on his first visit to the Spanish capital.
At that instant, the family could have had no idea they were about to be caught up in – and miraculously survive – Spain's worst rail disaster for almost 70 years.
"At the exact moment I sat down, that exact moment, the…
View original post 796 more words


text:
It's the little things like this that will go much further in helping a wife along than husbands constantly pressuring them. Good call on not letting her take it. Hope you're feeling better!
This is a discussion on Got my wife thinking. within the Concealed Carry Issues & Discussions forums, part of the Defensive Carry Discussions category; I couple nights ago my wife and I were staying in the Salt Lake city area (Layton) at the La Quinta Inn. Earlier that day ...
I couple nights ago my wife and I were staying in the Salt Lake city area (Layton) at the La Quinta Inn. Earlier that day I ate something that didn't agree with me, so I was up at 3am dying on the toilet. She asked if she could get me anything at the Walgreen's across the street (24 hrs) I told her she's not walking alone at 3am in the city, so she said "well you have a gun right?" Yes (me) "well I'll take it with me" NO---- you don't have a permit. Well this got her thinking "maybe I should get one." She has always thought I had mine, so she didn't need one. Now she's thinking differently.
Μολὼν λαβέ
USN 78-82/USAF 82-93 Medically Retired
Desert Shield/Desert Storm
DAV Life Member
NRA Life Member
It's the little things like this that will go much further in helping a wife along than husbands constantly pressuring them. Good call on not letting her take it. Hope you're feeling better!
Glock 27
"Criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot."
Funny how the small things can get them to start thinking.
I hope that interaction helped your death ala toilet.
God is love (1 John 4:8)
Get back to where ever you ate and get some carry-outs to take home. As long as she keeps thinking that way, you're all set.
Disclaimer: The posts made by this member are only the members opinion, not a reflection on anyone else, nor the group, and should not be cause for anyone to get their undergarments wedged in an uncomfortable position.
Kudos to her, and to you both.
Oh, yeah ... About the carry-out idea? "Can" that. You've had enough, bub. 'Course, it appears to have done her some good, eh? Tough choice.
Your best weapon is your brain. Don't leave home without it.
Thoughts: Justifiable self defense (A.O.J.).
Explain: How does disarming victims reduce the number of victims?
Reason over Force: Why the Gun is Civilization (Marko Kloos).
That's a great position to build upon. Now that she's thinking about it, get her into a class where she can learn about the law, the purpose of CCW, etc.
It sounds as if she's on her way to getting her permit...congrats!
Proverbs 27:12 says: The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.
Certified Glock Armorer
NRA Life Member
If you understand, things are just as they are... If you do not understand, things are just as they are....
- Zen Saying
Bad Rugergil, bad.
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around laws. Plato
Yep. Eventually something will hit home and make a person realize that maybe they should have their own permit.
Glad it was this and not something like being attacked that got your wife thinking about it.
,=====o00o _
l_--- \___l---[]lllllll[]
(o)_)-o- (o)_)--o-)_)
good for her in getting that thought process going, and good for you for not letting her take
my luck in that situation my wife would have got caughtOriginally Posted by grady
good strategy PatrioticRick
wife already has her CHL....so....now....what can I get my wife to consider when I'm suffering on the toilet......
Certified Glock Armorer
NRA RSO, Instructor
Independence is declared; it must be maintained. Sam Houston-3/2/1836
If loose gun laws are good for criminals why do criminals support gun control?
Good about her thinking of getting the permit, but armed or not I still wouldn't want her out at 3 A.M.
Off topic, always pack loperamide when going on a trip. I keep some in the console of my car too. You just never know when having that stuff handy can be useful.


text:
[Date Index]
[Thread Index]
[Author Index]
v5.2 preferred for stability over v6.0
With my recent experience with the inability of v6 to
find a simple limit (easily found with 5.2 and, incidentally,
with another system), and reading over the confusion in the posts
here recently, I've decided to do any serious analysis with
v5.2 instead of v6.0.
This seems to be another typical case of *.0 versions full
of buggy new ideas with incomplete development. The worst
part is the hopelessly misconstructed and unexplained new
'documentation center'. Whatever improvements there are in
v6.0 are so incompletely developed, and poorly explained
(if at all) as to not be worth the upgrade.
Hopefully Wolfram is paying attention, and I would guess
that we are the primary debuggers. I, for one, would like
a pay increase.


text:
Visit our other Wisconsin Historical Society websites!
The Wisconsin Historical Society has statutory responsibility to collect, maintain and make available for use, permanently valuable records of Wisconsin's state government. The Society maintains the State Archives to fulfill the following mandate:
"The historical society, as trustee of the state, shall be the ultimate depository of the archives of the state, and the board (Public Records Board) may transfer to the society such original records and reproductions as it deems proper and worthy of permanent preservation, including records and reproductions which the custodian thereof has been specifically directed by statute to preserve or keep in the custodian's office." Wis. Stat. 16.61(13)
Our holdings include the following:
State government records in the State Archives can be accessed by the public and state employees with the assistance of our staff, either in person by visiting the Archives Research Room, at your local Area Research Center or remotely via email.
Learn about our Local Government Records
Visiting the Library and Archives
Contact the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives by phone at 608-264-6460 or by email below:
© 1996-2017 Wisconsin Historical Society, 816 State Street, Madison, WI 53706


text:
It hasn't been nearly as long as I thought but it's certainly been a while since I've posted. I helped out with one of the MIX09 keynote demos – the Silverlight 3 "Gratuitous Graphics" demo. Instead of keeping it tied up on my machine, I thought I'd share it:)
Try it here! (click "Open" if prompted)
I'm fixing a problem with the linked source; for now, you'll need to download and build the project (see link below.)
The Demo
Some of you may recall a very similar demo from MIX08 done with WPF. When the internal builds of SL3 included the new Perspective 3D feature as well as custom pixel shader support, I thought, "I wonder how hard it would be to replicate the WPF demo?" Turns out it wasn't very hard.
While visually they're very similar, the mechanism for creating the 3D look is different. WPF uses a 3D model and 3D rendering. In SL3, it's a perspective transform exposed as the Projection property on UIElement. It's of type ProjectionPlane which allows you to apply a perspective transform by specifying rotations about the X, Y and Z axes.
· SL3 Projection Property
o The 3D effect was created with UIElement.Projection property.
· Custom Effects
o I used the ones for WPF found on codeplex. These are written in HLSL (looks very similar to C.) I added some custom properties to these exposed on the defined Effects classes (e.g. I created the "ColorKey" property on the ColorKeyAlphaEffect so that you can dynamically pick which color to key from.) If you're going to edit or create any of your own effects, you'll need the Microsoft DirectX SDK to compile the shaders.
· Custom Physics Model
o I built a very simple physics model to create the bounce effect. I could have used the animation easing functions but I geeked out and used some long lost stuff I learned in college.)
· DataGrid & Validation
o Aside from video and images, the demo shows how you can apply the bouncy effect to standard controls. Inside the DataGrid, I took advantage of some of the new validation support in SL (try entering a 3 or more letters for the State and press "tab".)
Net, you get something that looks like the following (RippleEffect applied):
And for pure gratuitousness, double-click on the top 5-10% of the top edge of the floating frame; you should get a nice little flip:
Otherwise, I've zipped up the entire solution (after doing some simplification) and made it available for download. If you have any questions about the code, let me knowJ
Download here:
Download here:


text:
- log in
- account
Intellectual Property And Patents Are BIG BUSINESS – All By Themselves
Posted by Henry Dewing on September 30, 2011
The tech industry has been percolating and I have noticed a few transactions based on intellectual property (IP) portfolios recently — most notably:
- Nortel sold about 6,000 patents to a consortium of Apple, RIM, Ericsson, EMC, Microsoft, and Sony for $4.5 billion (outbidding Google, the stalking horse bidder in the auction) in July.
- Google bought Motorola Mobility — with its 17,000-patent portfolio — for $12.5 billion in August.
- Google acquired 2,053 patents from IBM for an undisclosed amount in two separate transactions in July and August.
Two things strike me as I look this list and neither is that insightful — there's a lot of money changing hands and Google seems to be VERY interested in acquiring IP. So what is a patent worth, and why is Google leading this charge? Even if you've been hiding in a cave in Tora Bora, you would likely know that Google is girding for a battle between Android and iOS. Apple (who was part of the consortium that outbid Google for Nortel's IP portfolio) wants to enforce patent rights related to the iPhone, and Google wants Android phone makers to be able to build devices and sell them unfettered by legal entanglements.
Is that the value of an idea — to use the force of law to protect your ongoing business? Part of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act signed by President Obama on September 16 legislates that patents will be granted to inventors that file first, rather than the inventors that actually originated an idea first, which would seem to favor inventors with the wherewithal to quickly file patents . . . having a legal team on standby sounds like a large business protecting its revenue, not a start-up driving innovation.
I had always thought the purpose of a patent was to protect the inventor who built a better mouse trap and was injecting innovation into the economy. Patents can, and still will, serve that purpose, but the value of an idea is being legislated to be more about the patent on the idea than the products and business it spawns. After all, the $4.5 billion for which Nortel sold their patent portfolio exceeded the proceeds from selling their four major product groups by about $500 million.
So what's the implication for Vendor Strategists reading this blog? Protect your intellectual property! The rules of the game are changing to favor those who file for patents swiftly, and the value of that intellectual property has never been higher in the market. Capture new ideas from your labs and move to file quickly. Small entrepreneurs who have great ideas need to be sure to file or engage the services of a patent attorney early — even using forms from services like www.legalZoom.com can get you into the US Patent Office quickly and cheaply.
Excellent blog
Comment from mohsin khan (not verified) on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 04:29
Excellent blog
Search Forrester's Blogs
Predictions 2017
The dynamics that will shape the future in the age of the customer »
Free Webinar
Planning for innovation and risk in the wake of Brexit »
Forrester's CX Index
Predict how actions to improve CX will affect revenue performance.
Measure the customer experiences that matter most »
Analyst Blogs
- Amy DeMartine (7)
- Andre Kindness (32)
- Charles Betz (1)
- Chris Gardner (2)
- Christopher Voce (8)
- Dave Bartoletti (29)
- David Johnson (52)
- Doug Washburn (37)
- Eveline Oehrlich (21)
- Frank Liu (10)
- Glenn O'Donnell (30)
- JP Gownder (110)
- Laura Koetzle (1)
- Lauren Nelson (11)
- Michele Pelino (6)
- Milan Hanson (6)
- Naveen Chhabra (4)
- Richard Fichera (150)
- Robert Stroud (16)
- Sophia Vargas (7)
- Stephanie Balaouras (1)


text: Emraan Hashmi, the serial kisser is at it again. What began in Murder has come to be a trademark in all his films and so will Emraan be doing the same in his first ad film too? The ingredients of a Emraan Hashmi potboiler are all present in this ad film too.


text:
Management Toolkit
The Invasive Species Ireland Management Toolkit is intended to provide information to anyone wanting to learn more about how to manage invasive species.
The tool kit contains the following information:
- Management quick guide.
- Risk Assessment for non-native cialis no prescription species recorded in Ireland and species that have not yet arrived.
- Invasive Species Action Plans for prioritised high impact invasive species.
- Best Practice Management of some widely establish invasive species.


text:
Your browser does not support iframes.
When the 2011 Lancaster County Recreation summer swim team season rolls around and it's time to open the county pool, a new coach and pool manager will be in charge.
At the recent Lancaster County Sharks' swim team banquet, veteran coach Midenna Anderson announced her retirement from both jobs.
Filling the void will be a task.
Anderson has dedicated the last 15 years to being the Sharks' head coach. She also served as the pool manager.
It's a job she handles well, deftly balancing the task with a smile and needed discipline.
With only a few weeks of summer vacation left, the thoughts of parents and children alike are turning back toward school and all that entails.
For many, that means new clothes, backpacks and school supplies.
But for those parents who are are out of work or struggling to make ends meet, it just means one more thing to stress out about. If you can barely pay your rent, how will you afford school supplies for your children?
Lancaster County Council should initiate a program that would allow for nonviolent offenders to serve their time at home.
Those who serve their time through the program would have to wear electronic-monitoring devices that monitor where they are through GPS, or global positioning system, technology. The technology would allow authorities to easily keep tabs on those sentenced to home detention, as GPS technology would pinpoint where they are at all times.
Maybe you sat in the stands. Maybe you were a coach. Maybe your child or grandchild played on a team.
You got caught up in the action. You shouted instructions from the stands, cheered the players and questioned the umps' call.
You moaned the dropped ball, the swing that didn't connect and the failed stolen base attempt.
You felt the adrenalin rush of the home run, the clinched glove holding the ball and the slide that worked.
You dealt with the heat, rain and late games.
In an effort to repair the roads and infrastructure in their neighborhood, a group of Indian Land residents want to create their own tax district.
Residents of the Brookchase neighborhood, located off U.S. 521 near Inspiration Ministries' City of Light, have gathered enough signatures on a petition to lobby Lancaster County Council for an election to create a special tax district. The petition calls for the special tax district as a means to generate funding for work left unfinished by the neighborhood's developer.
An Indian Land woman is hoping to get a referendum on the ballot in November 2012 that would let Lancaster County voters decide whether they want to OK the Sunday sales of alcoholic beverages at restaurants in the county.
We not only favor putting the referendum on the ballot, we also favor approving the referendum. We believe Lancaster County restaurants should be allowed to sell alcoholic drinks on Sunday if they want to.
Why not?
What's the point of restricting Sunday sales of alcohol at Lancaster County restaurants?
A clerk at a cell phone store told police she was pistol-whipped by two teenagers who robbed the store Tuesday night.
The woman told Lancaster police that two teenagers, who appeared 16 or 17 years old, came into the Cricket store at 1129-A S.C. 9 Bypass West about 6:40 p.m. The woman said she was talking on her Apple iPhone to her boyfriend when the teens came in and she laid the phone on the counter, a Lancaster Police Department incident report said.
At first, Maj. David Belk didn't give his nomination for Lancaster County's Employee of the Quarter much thought.
As second-in-command at the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office, Belk, 48, saw his name listed along with several other county employees on this quarter's ballot for the employee award. He figured that's where the attention would end.
But as County Council neared its July 27 meeting, several council members urged Belk to make sure he was in attendance.
When Pat Parsons crested the hill near Bojangles' on U.S. 521 about 7 a.m., Aug. 4, 2008, he saw flames shooting from the roof of the historic Lancaster County Courthouse.
Parsons, then a sergeant with the Lancaster Police Department, had received a call from his lieutenant, James Kirk, that the 180-year-old building was on fire and that he was needed at the scene.
"My first thought when I crested the hill was, 'Please let this be an electrical fire, an accident,' but I knew in my gut it wasn't," Parsons said.
Eddie Leaphart hopes a local yard sale will help provide food and shelter for victims of the Haiti earthquake.
Leaphart, owner of a small home repair company in Lancaster and frequent visitor to Haiti, has been busy raising funds for his next trip to the Carribean country.
During his last trip to Haiti in May, Leaphart distributed several tents and bags of rice using money he had raised in Lancaster County. And with help from Lancaster's At Salon Dimensions, he's hoping to replicate those efforts.
Copyright © 2017
The Lancaster News is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Lancaster County and Lancaster, South Carolina, and the surrounding area..


text:
Kenny Chesney Feels That The Show Must Go On
Ouch? Gay country artist (don't front) Kenny Chesney is one tough queen. He got his foot caught in an lift mechanism right before his concert the other night, and still went on. You can't keep a good bitch down.
Chesney was performing in Columbia, South Carolina. A lift brings him to the stage to begin his show and his foot was trapped between the device and the stage itself at Williams Brice Stadium. Ow? Ever get your hand caught in a revolving door? It took about thirty seconds to free him from the death trap. It must have reminded him of his marriage to Renee Zellweger. How's he supposed to meet other men in downlow Nashville when she keeps scrunching her face at him and demanding attention?
Big Ken didn't talk about his injury on stage, but he did wince a lot and limp. Those fans should be touched. A papercut would send me flying back to my limo and on to the afterparty.
Kenny was the final act that night on the Poets & Pirates tour, featuring LeAnn RImes and Brooks & Dunn.


text:
Do you love your food the way I LOVE mine? If so, these are tragedies if they happen to us!
Does your pet ever run out of your food and have to run out thus making your feeding time late?
Do they sometimes get the wrong kind of food because they were out of your usual because they bought it last minute?
Have you had to go hungry all night because they didn't or just wouldn't go out in the evening for more food?
Reilly here! I just happen to have a solution. I found this place called PetFoodDirect that delivers food right to your door! AND they always have what you want. They also have automatic home delivery so that your pet doesn't have to worry about ever running out of your food or having to go back online and re-order your food. It comes on a regular basis!!! Isn't that amazing!
That's cool! Hey Reilly did you know they also have cat food too? So for those families that have "those" animals as a part of their family, they can also get their food as well. That way everyone is happy.
Hey that's neat. Yeah, good for everyone in the family I guess. They even have some other products like beds and some great links to other sites that will get all your needs.
Don't we know of another site that allows for home delivery? But for our heartworm and flea needs?
Yeah we do Chip! They call themselves PetCareRx to make pets think of a pharmacy. I guess they are, but for us dogs and other household non-people residents. Come to think of it, we need this too much around my house! This home delivery will send you your medical needs. Like Chip said, heartworm and flea products but also vitamins and other medical needs. They say that they are better priced than the vet and allow your pet to stay home and order in their sleepwear instead of using their cars and wasting gas simply to pick up our medical needs. I guess that's okay with me – – I am important, after all.
If it involved a ride in the car, that's a great thing in my book. But our pets would rather have the convenience of both of these sites that allows our products to be delivered straight to the door.
I think these sites are so great, Reilly, I put a link to both in the main menu of the store so anybody can stop by to order what they need.
Hey, as long as I have a full belly and feel good I'm happy!


text:
So if it's best camcorders, than where are Sony CX700?
Why isnt there a review about Sonys 2011 top of the line consumer
camcorder the CX700. Its not like you to miss out on a camcorder
like that.
This is an excellent piece of kit. We bought one recently and took it to Italy. I use a Canon 50D for stills and my wife was using this for stills and video. The stills quality was better than I though it would and the video quality is unbelievabe.
Does anyome know of a media streamer that will partner it???? At this point I am just looking for a streamer that excels with video. If it's good for audio than that will save me buying a Sonos later.
More information -
Trusted Reviews is part of the Time Inc. (UK) Ltd Technology Network
Get TrustedReviews' award-winning reviews and advice delivered to your inbox for free!


text:
Basket Empty
Your basket is currently empty.
Items you add to your basket will appear here.
Sign in to view existing basket.Sign In
With overt nods to krautrock, musique concrete and post rock and sidestepping the shortfalls of much homogeneous contemporary electronica, Clark's music has a payfulness and freedom that belies the intricate planning that has gone into it - repeated listens reveal the different layers that have been built up and the microscopic shaping of the sounds within. This is a big full-on beast of an electronic album that proves his evolution from Warp roster newcomer to a standout 1st league artist. Varied, layered and richly textured music that stands the test of time.


text:
Urban agriculture can be traced back as far as ancient Egypt. It was even popularized recently (relatively speaking) as victory gardens during the first half of the 20th century. The present day economy presents its own unique set of challenges, so when we were formulating just how the heck to grow vegetables in urban areas in 2008 and survive, the SPIN (small plot intensive farming) guide became an invaluable resource. They have recently updated it and it's worth a close look for anyone looking to break into farming, or looking for new marketing or growing ideas. From SPIN:
SPIN-Farming, which is the sub-acre production system in use at Garden State Urban Farms, has released the latest print guide in its learning series for urban and suburban-based farmers. SPIN-Farming 2.0: Production Planning & Crop Profiles quantifies exactly how much money a farmer can generate for 40 crops grown on less than an acre. SPIN stands for "small plot intensive," and it is a system that combines intensive production with a direct marketing business model.
With SPIN-Farming 2.0 crop profiles, for the first time ever, sub-acre farmers can benchmark their sales revenue from selling produce directly to consumers at farmers' markets. The benchmarks were compiled by Wally Satzewich, creator of the SPIN-Farming system, based on his experience at his multi-sited backyard urban/peri-urban farm operation in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
"Agriculture is one of the most extensively researched, analyzed and documented industries in the world," says Satzewich. "But not much of the data and analysis are relevant or useful to the SPIN farmer whose success depends not on hundreds or thousands of acres, but on producing high yields from small land bases and selling locally." According to Roxanne Christensen, co-author of the SPIN-Farming guides, "Crop prices at farmers' markets have not been tracked because, until recently, it wasn't a big business. But direct marketing of local foods has become a $1.2 billion industry in the U.S. and has grown exponentially over the past decade. SPIN-Farming is working to encourage and support the professionalization of an industry that has historically been fragmented, unorganized and unrecognized, and one that will have significant economic impact, especially in cities."


text:
|Topic Review (Newest First)
Seafarer 24 centerboard/swing keel
I somehow missed this area of the forum, so when I unexpectedly purchased a '73 Seafarer 24 cb (centerboard - swing keel) I posted in the boat buying section. Here is a link to my thread:
I haven't even been told yet where to see the boat, an ebay purchase through some broker, not a good experience so far. He set up two boat sales to end on a Friday night, his choice. Then he ignores his business for the entire weekend and all of today so far. I was able to instantly pay his fee, then no other options for completing the payment were available. Several emails and phone calls resulted in him leaving a message with his phone number - which I'd been calling.
Hopefully there is good reason (I doubt it) for the hassle and it will all work out. His auction specified 7 days to remove the boat, I certainly hope that the countdown begins after I've been told where the boat is.
Anyway, I like to see helpful information and knowledge organized for others to find when searching, so I wanted to post the link here and will start any new thread's here.
I'm delighted to see other Seafarer owners are on this excellent, knowledgeable, helpful site.
|Posting Rules
You may post new threads
You may post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


text:
Moderators: Tealer, Indaswamp, Dep6, Preacher1011, lostpup, La. Hunter, steve-o
(This is the duck camp we stayed near--we slept outside )
Admin2 wrote:Bear bait?
Rat Creek wrote:Widgeonator:
What is the limit on dove in CA? or whereever you hunted?
I hunt MO and the limit is 12. It looks like you have 17-18 birds. I'm jealous.
Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 2 guests


text:
Live The Internet With Karotz: The First-Ever Facebook Hardware
Karotz is the new intelligent gadget that learns and as a result will enhance your lifestyle, change the way you communicate and entertain you with music and media. Violet launches its latest Smart Rabbit Robotic companions called Karotz- the only Facebook hardware in the world. It turns social networking into a natural way of life allowing people to interact without a computer or smartphone.
By Forman Forhad On February 6, 2012 Respond
Add To Bookmark Add To Readlist
Add To Bookmark Add To Readlist


text:
A softly, softly approach to CCOs
Opinion by Councillor Cameron Brewer
In the first round of the Auckland Council's draft 2013/14 budget passed at today's Strategy & Finance Committee, it was disappointing only $10.4m was cut from the CCOs collective draft operational budgets. Nothing was cut from the Mayoral Office budget, nor were any of his massive debt-funded pet projects put up to be trimmed.
There is growing public concern at the cost and power of the council-controlled organisations. Yet today the Mayor only proposed relatively nominal cuts from these massive departments. He should've gone in harder. Rather, he's gone for the softly-softly approach and is tip toeing around them.
There's a lot of fat in the CCOs which soak up a lot of council's annual $3b operational budget. For starters they collectively employ 564 people who earn over $100,000 which includes 82 people who earn over $200,000, according to the 2011/12 Annual Report.
It's also disappointing that the Mayor blankly refuses to reconsider any of his big capital expenditure project priorities.
He's gone around cutting the council's operational expenditure, which in parts will affect service levels such as no longer mowing council-owned roadside berms in the former Auckland City area. Today all those cuts were endorsed, without even looking at the bigger picture first.
The Mayor really needs to focus on some of his massive capital projects that will drive council's debt escalation which is already nearly $3m a day. For example we're set to spend $180m next year alone on the City Rail Link, without any Government commitment whatsoever. Let's have another look at that for starters.
Today a majority of councillors signed off a raft of cuts and additions for the draft 2013/14 budget. I argued that instead of focusing on the 'rats and mice' at the start of the eight-month budget process, the Mayor should have gone in hard on the big CCOs, put all his multi-billion dollar pet projects and promises on the table, and offered up some savings from his own office.
The Mayor has shown his hand. He's keen to keep average rates increases relatively low, but at the cost to some core council departments and services, as well as increasing many regulatory fees on Aucklanders.
Ratepayers will be disappointed that the Mayor's own office's budget remains untouched, the CCOs have got off way too lightly, and no one's allowed to touch the Mayor's pet projects.


text:
Virgin shows off her slender Latina body in her grey dress. The dress and blue lingerie slides off, and she is naked. On her bed, she shows off her hairy pussy and masturbates while fingering herself.
Puffy Nipples, Masturbation, Tattoo, Lingerie, Hairy Ass, Hairy Arms, Brunettes, Striptease
Adobe Flash Player is required to play this movie.
Please click here to download it now.


text:
Fiberglass hood blocking
View Single Post
69 widetrack
Faith - Respect - Trust
Last photo:
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Ontario
Age: 61
Posts: 3,508
Edits: 0
Thanks: 192
Thanked 642 Times in 575 Posts
69 widetrack's Photo Album
Just a few questions...What grit of paper are you using to block the hood out with?
The reason I ask is because it looks real smooth and using a fine grit paper makes blocking to get a large panel straight very difficult.
Another question, what type of block are you using and how much pressure are you putting on the block?
If your using a small small block on a large area it can take for ever to straighten a large panel if you can get it totally straight at all...I see your using guide coat and that's excellent, when you block a panel, there should be minimal pressure put on the block, let the paper do the work. If you apply a lot of pressure, you are actually digging out the substrate, and effectively turning your block into an eraser to remove the guide coat.
From what I've read on your posts you have applied 1 coat of epoxy, putty, and 6 coats of 2K primer...that is a lot of material and just thinking about your blocking methods.
69 widetrack
View Public Profile
Find all posts by 69 widetrack


text: Another under-$10 name that's trending very close to triggering a major breakout trade is DRDGold ( DRD), which is engaged in the exploration, extraction, processing, and smelting of gold in South Africa. This stock has been trending bullishly for the last six months, with shares up 16%. If you take a look at the chart for DRDGold, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending strongly for the last four months, with shares soaring from a low of $5.35 to its recent high of $7.89 a share. During that uptrend, shares of DRD have been mostly making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. Also during that run, the upside volume for DRD have been tracking in bullish. Shares of DRD are now starting to bounce right off its 50-day moving average of $7.30 a share and it's quickly moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade. Market players should now look for long-biased trades in DRD if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $7.62 to $7.89 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 55,605 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then this stock will set up to re-test or possibly take out its 52-week high of $8.16 a share. Some possible upside targets off any move into new 52-week high territory above $8.16 a share are $9 to $10 a share. Traders can look to buy DRD off any weakness and then simply use a stop that sits right around its 50-day at $7.30 or right near its next major support level at $7.10 a share. One could also buy DRD off strength once it takes out those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits just below its 50-day at $7.30 a share.


text:
Caitie's Bedroom: After
With display stands for her jewelry, Caitie can grab a necklace on her way out the door and easily put it back at day's end. A charger keeps her phone and iPod at the ready.
To buy: Linear White 4-drawer bedroom dresser, $450, jcpenney.com. Traditional Series oval mirror in true black, $257, wayfair.com. Multicharger, $40, oxo.com.


text:
The baseball team led 14-5 after seven innings, but had to hold off a Youngstown State comeback attempt before defeating the Penguins 14-12 in the Horizon League series opener Friday night at Nischwitz Stadium.
YSU opened the scoring with a run in the first, only to see the Raiders answer with three in the bottom of the frame, the big play being a RBI single by Brad Macciocchi, who also scored on the play as the hit got by the center fielder.
The Penguins tied it in the second, but WSU took control from there, taking the lead for good with three runs in the third, including a two-run double by Sean Murphy, two more in the fifth on a John Brodner home run, his second of the season, and three more in the sixth, two on a Murphy triple to right center.
Youngstown State tallied a pair of runs in the seventh before Wright State added three more in the bottom of the inning, two coming on RBI singles from Macciocchi and Joe Ford.
YSU scored seven runs in the eighth, all with two out, before Andrew Elliott picked up the final out on a strikeout. The junior righty then struck out the side in the ninth to earn his 12th save of the year.
Joey Hoelzel (7-3) picked up the win as he pitched the first six innings, allowing three runs while striking out four.
Offensively, Murphy was three for three with four RBI, three runs scored and three stolen bases while Macciocchi and Andrew McCafferty each had three hits and scored four times.
Wright State (26-18, 19-2 Horizon) and Youngstown State (10-29, 4-11 Horizon) continue the three-game set with a game Saturday starting at 5:00.


text:
2008 MCASD Benefit Auction framing beginsFebruary 25, 2008 – 7:21 pm
The Frame Maker is once again proud to be supporting the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego this spring with our contribution of museum quality framing services to MCASD's 2008 Benefit Art Auction.
This one of a kind collection of contemporary artwork is provided by collectors, galleries and the artists themselves and includes work by Robert Irwin, Victor Vasarely, Richard Serra, Gregory Crewdson, and many other noteworthy artists.
It is both our pleasure and privilege to handle these unique pieces for MCASD, and we are grateful for their confidence and trust in us throughout the year when their exhibitions require framing services.
See the MCASD online catalog entry for this piece.


text:
Congressman Weber Named Vice-Chair of Energy Subcommittee for the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Randy Weber (TX-14) was named Vice Chair of the Energy Subcommittee by Chairman Lamar Smith (TX-21) of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology Committee.
"I am humbly honored to be given this opportunity by Chairman Smith," said Congressman Weber. "Texas 14 is an energy-rich district, is home to five ports, has countless refineries, and is the last stop of the potential Keystone Pipeline. I will prioritize working towards energy independence, and helping further our programs at NASA including the Johnson Space Center."
"In the new Congress, the Science Committee will promote policies that support our nation's space program, encourage energy independence, expand scientific education, fund basic research, and enhance the development of new technologies," said Chairman Lamar Smith. "All of this work begins in the Subcommittees. I look forward to joining Rep. Weber to advance policies that spur innovation, job creation and economic growth."
Established in 1958, the Science, Space, and Technology Committee has jurisdiction over all non-defense federal scientific research and development. The Committee has jurisdiction over programs at the following federal agencies: NASA, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, FEMA, the U.S. Fire Administration, and United States Geological Survey, among others.


text:
Catching the Spark
I wish I got story ideas from reading nonfiction. I know a lot of writers do. It seems like the logical choice. Usually, though, when I read nonfiction, I'm reading to educate myself. I think if I read nonfiction just for pleasure, I might be more open to the creative spark. Maybe I'm concentrating too hard. I'm not sure.
For me, reading fiction is what gives me the spark. The more I read, the more the stories sort of mulch together, and suddenly ideas leap out and strike me like lightning bolts.
Everyone knows that there are wizard bones under the marsh mud and that the fish and the birds that live in the marsh are strange creatures. They have got magic in them.
These two lines from Kelly Link's The Wizards of Perfil sizzle with energy for me. Look at all those fabulous elements. Wizard bones. Magic that leaks like it's radioactive. Strange marsh creatures. Subterranean power sources. The idea that all this fantasy is common knowledge. And that's why Kelly Link is boss, because pretty much every line she writes is crammed full of amazing. It makes my fingers hungry.


text:
Dr. Otis Brawley: Fighting Patient Mistreatment in America
The Commonwealth Club
Monday, October 29, 2012 from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM (PDT)
Who's Going
San Francisco, California
London, United Kingdom
Florence, Italy
Event Details
Dr. Otis Brawley: Fighting Patient Mistreatment in America
Otis Brawley, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President, American Cancer Society; Co-author, How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks About Being Sick in America
Lisa Aliferis, KQED Health Editor - Moderator
Finance, Brawley asserts, is inextricably linked to health care in America's current system. Even the very procedures patients undergo, he says, are frequently determined more by doctors' expected payment for performing them than their actual appropriateness in mitigating the ailment with which the patient is afflicted. Brawley will discuss the extent of this problem as well as possible solutions.
When & Where
The Commonwealth Club
595 Market St
San Francisco,
Monday, October 29, 2012 from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM (PDT)
Add to my calendar
The Commonwealth Club
The Commonwealth Club is the leading national forum open to all for the impartial discussion of public issues.


text:
Over the course of these two weeks at the Open, 3,000 racquets will be strung and restrung. There is one central nerve system where this all goes down, where coaches dump off racquets and pick them up later.
There's one big name who hand delivers his racquets: James Blake. "Blake will bring in two racquets," said Joel, who works for Wilson. "He wants them strung up but then he leaves them overnight so they set. It'll lose a little tension that way."


text:
Mens Winter Hats
33 Items Available
Read More
From classic beanies, traditional deer stalkers and knitted bobble hats, our range of mens winter hats cater to all tastes and needs.
Copyright © Mountain Warehouse Ltd - Company Registration No: 3411738 VAT Registered: GB 796 3471 82
Sorry, unfortunately we no long support older versions of Internet Explorer. You can easily update your browser or get an alternative by clicking here.


text:
The cylinder A has a steam chest B, which contains therein a slide valve C to cover the ports at the ends of the cylinder.
If they are, we must open the steam chest, first turning off all steam.
What may be done to shut off steam pressure from the steam chest and low-pressure cylinder?
The receiver is by some called the steam chest of the boiler.
Now, setting the engine on one of the dead centres, remove the cover of the steam chest and proceed to set your valve.
This cuts off the supply of live steam coming from the steam chest.
One shot from the enemy exploded the New London's boiler, and another disabled her steam chest.
Will I have to enlarge the steam chest; the valve uses the whole length of it now?
In Worcester's engine the steam in the steam chest pressed directly on the water that was to be forced up.
The heat of the steam chest warms the type, and quickly dries the pulpy paper and the plaster of Paris.


text:
Joint Press Release
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Office of Thrift Supervision
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Office of Thrift Supervision
For immediate release
October 7, 2008
Agencies Seek Public Comment on Proposed Rulemaking to Lower Risk Weights for Claims on, or Guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie MacThe federal bank and thrift regulatory agencies announced today that they will request public comment on a joint notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) to allow a banking organization to assign a 10 percent risk weight to claims on, and portions of claims guaranteed by, the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac). Claims include all credit exposures, such as senior and subordinated debt and counterparty credit risk exposures, but do not include preferred or common stock.
The agencies believe reducing the risk weight from the current 20 percent is appropriate in light of the financial support the Treasury Department announced in September to provide to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac through senior preferred stock purchase agreements. Under the proposal, the 10 percent risk weight would apply as long as these agreements remain in effect.
The NPR is being issued by the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of Thrift Supervision. Public comments are due 30 days following publication in the Federal Register, which is expected soon. The draft Federal Register notice is attached.
Federal Register notice: 76 KB PDF | HTML
|Media Contacts:
|Federal Reserve
|Deborah Lagomarsino
|David Barr
|Kevin Mukri
|William Ruberry
Last update: October 7, 2008


text:
CANADA STOCKS-TSX advances as resource shares climb
* TSX up 68.48 points, or 0.46 percent, at 14,942.41
* Six of 10 main index sectors decline
By John Tilak
TORONTO, March 20 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index climbed on Friday as shares of oil producers and miners rose with commodity prices, helping the index record a weekly gain.
Oil, copper and other commodity prices benefited from weakness in the U.S. dollar, which has been choppy since the U.S. Federal Reserve released a cautious policy statement on Wednesday that signaled it was moving toward raising interest rates but at a slower pace than some had expected.
The price of U.S. crude oil jumped 4 percent on Friday, while copper prices gained more than 3.3 percent and the bullion price advanced 1.8 percent.
"Fear of an imminent interest rate hike appears to be dissipating, but the prospect of one seems to have created greater volatility in the market," said Michael Sprung, president of Sprung Investment Management.
"We are in a rather uncertain period," he added. "The market is likely to trade sideways from here."
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index closed up 68.48 points, or 0.46 percent, at 14,942.41. Six of the 10 main sectors on the index were in the red, but gains in the heavily weighted energy and mining sectors helped overcome the broader weakness. Continued...


text:
I featured Heather on my blog last year. It was particularly pertinent because my youngest brother and his wife will have to leave their home (next month yay) because of loose fill asbestos contamination.
I hope Heather continues to not only survive but thrive. And I love that she is reaching out to others.
Thanks for this important share. I had never heard of this disease. I wish Heather all the best, and it's wonderful that she continues to raise awareness and that you are doing the same.ReplyDelete
I read about Heather last year, and how she beat the odds and celebrates every year. I didn't know the details of her cancer though. Wow, is asbestos is some nasty stuff.ReplyDelete
Thanks for sharing this, Mason. Wishing Heather all the best as she moves on with her life. I hope, too, that someday, this is something that will be a distant memory.ReplyDelete
Thanks for shining a light on this. Thank goodness Heather survived and is sharing her story so others can perhaps be helped.ReplyDelete
Hi Mason - I'm joining in this year on Saturday ... but you've put in some facts I didn't know. I have to say Heather is a shining beacon for others who are ill and can be cured, or live longer ...
It's wonderful and I'm sure this blogging fraternity will take note .. cheers Hilary
Wow. This is important stuff. Second hand exposure to many things can cause us harm. We need to think about that. Prayers are lifted that Heather continues to beat this disease.ReplyDelete
What a touching story. Heather is truly an inspiration.ReplyDelete
This is an amazing story--tragic, yet uplifting in how she and her family are coping. So glad you hosted her today.ReplyDelete


text:
Us Card - GirlsStay Home Club
US. Because everyone else sucks. #galentinesday
SHC cards are professionally printed in Canada on beautiful 14pt silk cardstock. Inside is uncoated and blank so you can add your own message. Card is protected & packaged in a clear plastic sleeve with matching white envelope included and "blank inside" sticker on the packaging.
Size: 11 x 15 cm