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Articles by Pennsylvania
Australian Golfer Robert Allenby Kidnapped, Robbed And Beaten In HawaiiAustralian Golfer Robert Allenby was kidnapped and beaten in Hawaii.
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Trazodone Prescribed At Atlanta Hospital Causes Hours-Long Erection; Victim Confined For 10 DaysA veteran suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder will file a lawsuit against the Atlanta VA Medical Center for prescribing him in December the drug Trazadone, which is an anti-depressant. The medication worked, but it had an unexpected side effect that Edward Stalling found "hard" to forget.
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Green Coffee Bean Diet Not True? Paper Backing The Study Has Been RetractedTwo out of three authors of the scientific paper that started the green coffee diet trend recently retracted it
You Should Not Use Baby Wipes That Have Been Called Back After Some Were Found Bacteria-InfestedNutek has recalled 10 brands of its baby wipes as complaints of bacterial infection were reported.
Fox News Concludes That Young Women Are Too 'Hot' And Dumb To VoteFox News show asking young women not to cast their votes raises angry reactions.
Fears Of Infection Spread Prompt Some US Hospitals To Refuse Ebola PatientsMedical historian Dr. Howard Markel of the University of Michigan said this won't be the first time health practitioners will refuse patients afflicted with a deadly virus as like that of the Ebola.
Police Charges 10-Year-Old Boy With Murder As Adult For Killing 90-Year Old WomanThe police had filed homicide charges against a 10-year-old Pennsylvania boy for killing a 90-year-old woman. The incident happened on Saturday when Tristen Kurilla visited his grandfather, Anthony Virbitsky, who looked after the victim, Helen Novak.
'The Voice' Season 7 (2014) Week 3- Part 1 Recap, Spoilers: More Artists Recruited In Final Blind AuditionsMore artists performed and were recruited on the teams in "The Voice" Season 7 (2014) Week 3 of the Blind Auditions. Head inside for detailed recap.
Latest UFO Sighting: Fireballs Lights Up Sky In Utah [Watch Video]An object dazzling in blue, green and white colours lit up the skies of Utah.
Alien Sighting: Couple Say They Have Been Capturing 'Green Entities' Inside Their House Since 2012A couple claim to have noticed aliens, orbs and green entities in their house.


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Since in the non-winter seasons, I carry a Kel-Tec P3AT.....
And I carry it in a wallet holster......
If I'm wearing pants-----I'm carrying! :-D
Who carries around the house????
Since in the non-winter seasons, I carry a Kel-Tec P3AT.....
And I carry it in a wallet holster......
If I'm wearing pants-----I'm carrying! :-D
Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. It kind of depends. I'm working on carrying more often, home is a good place to start.
My CCW goes on with my clothes and comes off with them at night. The only time I don't have it is where it is illegal.
as i hear more and more stories of people breaking into peoples homes and killing everyone ,i carry in the house more and more.
im more likely to have a gun within reach if im at home.the one place you wanna relax and feel secure.i just dont feel secure without a sidearm.
Now that I have the Kel-Tec P3AT. It's in my front pocket at all times. When I get home I take my side arm off a put it in a drawer.
yes sometimes i carry at home mainly because i don't even think about my weapon being on me
The rule at the house: If you see a gun out, consider it LOADED & on DUTY. Carry @ home = no. I am more concernd about coming back into my house after being away for awhile.
Sometimes I carry at home but my 185 lb. Mastiff makes me feel fairly protected when I'm not packing.
:wink:Originally Posted by Porterfield
My aunt breeds Mastiffs and shows them, they're great dogs... very big dogs!
Since we have no kids at home I always have a hand gun within easy reach. When someone comes to the door I have one concealed on me. We keep about six loaded hand guns on duty at home. It would be hazardous to anyones health to crash into our house.
Yes, and it's a good thing I do... It saved my family once!
I'm a believer!
are you free to elaborate?
would love to know more.
Sure, NRA did a write up on our story. Click on the www at the bottom of my post, then you can read their article... They were pretty thorough, with only a couple of small discrepancies...
I'll say this about NRA, they were the only ones that seemed to care.
Same here.Also have an alarm system that during the day that tells when a door are window is opened,even which one.At night after the dog comes in for the night it is set for all the windows and doors to dial the monitor people.When we go to bed set it to activate the motion detectors.Had to replace the front door lock twice.One was a piece of mental in the lock,the last time a lock pick broke off in it.We use to leave the dog and cat food on the patio in the back of the house.Possums would climb the fence and the dog would go to the back door and bark.I just got the single barrel .410 and killed them.One night he started raising hell and I checked and saw nothing.The next morning the wife ask what I was doing to the plastic box that the phone and TV cable connections were in.The box was ripped of the side of the house and they had tried to cut the security tag on the power meter but ended up twisting it off.The wire cutters could not cut the hardened wire but left marks where they tried.We live in the country and or on a rual elect coop and they also sell the alarm systems.So I mount the box back and call the power company to replace the meter tag.Now for the scary part.A friend that works for the power company lives down the street and he came out to replace the tag.At 3 in the after noon the same day his front door was kicked down but the alarm system scared them off.No more dog and cat food left out.I think his mistake was having his name on the mail box and telephone number listed.See the name on the mail box and call several times to see if some body is home.I talked to the local county deputy that patrols our area and he said when they cut the phone line and pull the power meter it is not your usual drug addict and ask do you have a safe in the house and I do, a big one.The only people that come in the house are the termite inspector and my drug head loud mouth grand son that ever saw it in the bed room that I know off.Sad to say but the grand son does not want to get off drugs.He actually draws a social security check every month because he was judged to incompedent to ever hold a job.Fried brain.He is only 23.Social services says it is cheaper than to put him in a mental hospital.He is not allowed in the house any more.So every body that pays S.C. tax buys his pot,his favorite drug now.Sorry for the long post and don't put your name on the mail box.Originally Posted by TxPhantom
Sorry I don't see a link at the bottom of your post??
Click on the WWW botton...Originally Posted by chromedome1954
I said yes, but don't always carry. I have two handguns located in the home. With no children and few visitors...I feel safe with them about....
Kansas has passed open carry, but it hasnt gone onto effect yet. When I'm outside in town doinging yard work or something, I don't. Inside I'm armed to the teeth! At the country place, YOU BET!

subset: commoncrawl


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2 Recommendations
beccams's recommendation
make your own handbags there are about five or six differnt purse styles to choose from then on some of the bags you can choose a leather color for the handles and trim, then you get to chosse a pattern from hundreds and you have your own handmade purse.
AGD's recommendation
You can customize your own handbag here. Add whatever print you like. I think that's pretty cool, right?
My Collections:


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Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Asset Management's emerging markets group, said another financial crisis is inevitable because the causes of the previous one haven't been resolved.
"There is definitely going to be another financial crisis around the corner because we haven't solved any of the things that caused the previous crisis," Mobius said at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo today in response to a question about price swings. "Are the derivatives regulated? No. Are you still getting growth in derivatives? Yes."Sponsored Ads
Mobius Says Financial Crisis 'Around The Corner' – Bloomberg
Monthly Archives: May 2011
Sex Trafficking of Americans: The Girls Next Door | Vanity Fair
"There are basically two business models: manipulating girls through violence—that's called 'gorilla' pimping—and controlling them with drugs," says Patel, who prosecuted the case of New York–based trafficker Corey Davis, a.k.a. "Magnificent." A high-living, highly educated pimp who kept the slave master's manifesto The Willie Lynch Letter and the Making of a Slave in his Mercedes, Davis, Patel says, made sex slaves out of, among others, a 12-year-old runaway and a university coed on a track scholarship. To force them to do his bidding, Davis allegedly sliced a girl in his "stable" with a box cutter and stomped others into submission with a special pair of Timberland boots—a technique known as "Timming." Another female, a 15-year-old patient of Dr. Sharon Cooper's, was zipped into a duffel bag and deposited by her pimp on a six-lane highway. The pimp of Caroline (a former Connecticut 4-H Club member) plucked out her fingernails one by one until she passed out from the pain. Natalie, an ex–Catholic schoolgirl rescued by gems, was from the age of 13 tortured or beaten with water, belts, chains, even a bag of frozen oranges. "Pimping," Natalie says, "is not cool. A pimp is a wife beater, rapist, murderer, child-molester, drug dealer, and slave driver rolled into one."
Sex Trafficking of Americans: The Girls Next Door | Politics | Vanity Fair
Arab League to seek U.N. membership for a Palestinian state – CNN.com
The 22-member Arab states will seek membership for a Palestinian state — with East Jerusalem as its capital — during the next United Nations session in September, according to a statement released through QNA Saturday by the Ministerial Committee on the Arab Peace Initiative.
Report: Arab League to seek U.N. membership for a Palestinian state – CNN.com
Love Don't Cost a Thing: Can Educating Girls Alone Curb China's Mistress Epidemic? – TIME
Throughout China's dynastic history, keeping mistresses was not only tolerated, but actually had the official seal of approval from the men at the top. The country's emperors maintained legendary harems of concubines, as did noblemen, wealthy merchants and anyone seeking to enhance their social status. Indeed, the country's most famous classic novel, Dream of the Red Chamber, relates the story of an imperial concubine in the Qing dynasty who supports her entire family, including its own numerous concubines, thanks to the emperor's patronage.
Love Don't Cost a Thing: Can Educating Girls Alone Curb China's Mistress Epidemic? – TIME
Syria: If Protesters Don't Get Assad, the Economy Will – TIME
As the crisis in Syria continues, many observers are beginning to say that if the protesters cannot overthrow the regime, the economy will. With political uncertainty at a suffocating level, the Syrian pound has fallen against the U.S. dollar. As a result, Syrians are feverishly hauling their money out of banks — about 8% of all banks deposits have been withdrawn — and shifting it into more stable foreign currencies. GDP was predicted to grow at a steady 6% this year. Now, predictions are closer to a negative 3% contraction. "I think the crackdown on protesters will succeed in the next two months," a senior western diplomat in Syria says. "But in six months time, the economy will have taken such a battering that [President Bashar al-]Assad will have lost the support of the majority of Syrians."
Syria: If Protesters Don't Get Assad, the Economy Will – TIME
Israel braces for border clashes in coming days | ajc.com
A senior Israeli military official says the army is bracing for the possibility of renewed violent protests along the country's borders in the coming days. The official could not be identified under military police
Facebook-organized demonstrators are promising unrest on the 44th anniversary of the 1967 Mideast war this weekend.
China's so-called "String of Pearls."
Furthermore, just as the Pakistanis want to use China as a bulwark against India, China — while not shying away from strategic competition with India — must at the same time be careful not to unduly antagonize India. For China is building or upgrading ports not only in Pakistan and Burma, but in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, too. The point must be emphasized that it is unclear exactly what China intends for these Indian Ocean ports — China's so-called "String of Pearls." India already feels surrounded by China and has greatly enlarged its own naval base at Karwar, in the country's south, partly in response to Chinese construction work in Gwadar. Given that India and China may soon constitute the world's largest bilateral trading relationship, China must tread carefully. After all, it has always claimed to its neighbors that its rise is benevolent and non-hegemonic.
Indeed, Gwadar is important: not for what it is today, but for what it will indicate about Beijing's intentions in the coming years and decades.
The U.S. Postal Service Nears Collapse – BusinessWeek
Congress gave him until the end of 2011 to report on the USPS's woes. But Herr and his team concluded that the postal service's business model was so badly broken that collapse was imminent. Abandoning a long tradition of overdue reports, they felt they had to deliver theirs 18 months early in April 2010 to the various House and Senate committees and subcommittees that watch over the USPS. A year later, the situation is even grimmer. With the rise of e-mail and the decline of letters, mail volume is falling at a staggering rate, and the postal service's survival plan isn't reassuring. Elsewhere in the world, postal services are grappling with the same dilemma—only most of them, in humbling contrast, are thriving.
Medvedev Uncorks a Stunner on U.S. Missile Defense Shield – FoxNews.com
It wasn't merely that Medvedev had chosen a date almost comically far into the future to suggest when the two nations might come to terms; the particular date he chose carried special meaning. 2020 is the year when the State Department has estimated the U.S. will deploy the SM-3 Block IIB, a missile still on the drawing board but being designed to intercept medium- and intermediate-range missiles that might be launched from the Middle East.
Since the Russians purport to see the Block IIB as a threat to Moscow's own ballistic missile arsenal, Medvedev's reference to the projected date of its deployment, in an otherwise cordial photo-op with the American president on the sidelines of an international summit, sent an unmistakable signal.
"He puts that marker out there," explained Michael McFaul, the senior director for Russian and
Medvedev Uncorks a Stunner on U.S. Missile Defense Shield – FoxNews.com
South China Sea Oil Rush Heightens Conflict Risk as U.S. Emboldens Vietnam
Vietnam protested to China over an incident yesterday in which it says three Chinese vessels cut the survey cables of a ship belonging to Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, more commonly known as PetroVietnam. The confrontation occurred inside lot 148, 120 nautical miles off the coast of Phu Yen province, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hanoi said in a faxed statement. Lot 148 is also claimed by China.
China asserts "indisputable sovereignty" over most of the South China Sea, including oil and gas fields more than three times further from its coast than they are from Vietnam. Exploration in waters under China's jurisdiction infringes its "sovereignty and interests and is illegal," the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said May 12.
South China Sea Oil Rush Heightens Conflict Risk as U.S. Emboldens Vietnam – Bloomberg


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EM Morning Roundup: China's January Exports Jumped, India's Inflation Eased
An excellent piece on Financial Times on why emerging markets ETF's underperform the benchmark and why hedge funds can beat ETF's. It all boils down to liquidity.
China's exports in January rose 10.6% from a year ago, well ahead of the expected 0.1% growth. Imports grew 10%, also better than expected. Chinese equities advanced a second day. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index gained 1.5%. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index advanced 1.4%. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3%.
Danone raised its stake in China Mengniu Dairy (2319-HKG) from 4% to 9.9% by agreeing to pay $663 million. Shares of Mengniu rose 3%.
Inflation eased in January. The CPI rose 8.8% from a year earlier, lower than the 9.9% in December.
India is likely to scrap talks with Vodafone (VOD) aimed at resolving a retroactive $2.6 billion tax bill, which likely will further dampen foreign interest in direct investments there. The S&P BSE 100 Index gained 0.2%.
Thailand will end its loss-making rice subsidy program this month, a popular policy that wins Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra support of rice farmers.
The Constitution Court said Thailand will complete its election. A makeup voting section will be held on April 20. The Thailand SET Index rallied 1.4%.
America Movil (AMX) reported 16% rise in profits in the fourth quarter as consumers paid for more mobile data and TV services.
Budget airline Viva Aerobus postponed its IPO, citing market conditions. The company had planned to raise $200 million.


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looking for $600 for my turbo. It's a turbonetics t3/t4 50 trim stage 3 .63 a/r. It's a Ball bearing turbo with the antifreeze cooling ports to keep the turbo from over heating. This turbo retails for over 1,200 bucks, since it's used i'll cut half the price.
Reason for selling: need to upgrade to a bigger one.
Located in staten Island, NY 10303
Oil and water cooled ports


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The display and use of drug information on this site is subject to express terms of use. By continuing to view the drug information, you agree to abide by such terms of use.
GENERIC NAME: NEOMYCIN/POLYMYXIN/DEXAMETHASONE OINTMENT - OPHTHALMIC (NEE-oh-MYE-sin/POL-ee-MIX-in/ DEX-a-METH-a-sone)
BRAND NAME(S): Maxitrol
Medication Uses | How To Use | Side Effects | Precautions | Drug Interactions | Overdose | Notes | Missed Dose | Storage
USES: This medication is used to treat conditions involving swelling (inflammation) of the eyes and to treat or prevent bacterial eye infections. This product contains neomycin and polymyxin, antibiotics that work by stopping the growth of bacteria. It also contains dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory corticosteroid that works by reducing swelling.This medication treats/prevents only bacterial eye infections. It will not work for other types of eye infections and may worsen them (e.g., infections caused by viruses, fungi, mycobacteria). Unnecessary use or overuse of any antibiotic can lead to its decreased effectiveness.
HOW TO USE: This medication is applied to the eye(s), usually 3 or 4 times a day or as directed by your doctor.Do not wear contact lenses while you are using this medicine. Sterilize contact lenses according to manufacturer's directions, and check with your doctor before you begin using them again.To apply the eye ointment, wash your hands first. To avoid contamination, be careful not to touch the tube tip or let it touch your eye or any other surface. Tilt your head back, look upward, and pull down the lower eyelid to make a pouch. Place a 1/2 inch (1.5 centimeters) strip of ointment into the pouch by squeezing the tube gently. Close the eye and roll the eyeball in all directions to spread the medication. Try not to blink and do not rub the eye. Repeat these steps for your other eye if so directed. Wipe the tip of the ointment tube with a clean tissue to remove extra medication before recapping it. Apply as often as directed by your doctor.If you are using another kind of eye medication (e.g., drops or ointments), apply the eye drops first and wait at least 5 minutes before applying this eye ointment. Use eye drops before eye ointments to allow the eye drops to enter the eye. If you are using another type of eye ointment, wait at least 10 minutes after using this medication before applying it.Do not use this medication more often than prescribed or for longer than 10 days unless directed by your doctor.Use this medication regularly in order to get the most benefit from it. To help you remember, use it at the same times each day. Continue to use this medication for the full time prescribed, even if symptoms disappear after a few days. Stopping the medication too soon may allow bacteria to continue to grow, which may result in a return of the infection.Inform your doctor if your condition does not improve in a few days.
Report Problems to the Food and Drug Administration
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit the FDA MedWatch website or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
Selected from data included with permission and copyrighted by First Databank, Inc. This copyrighted material has been downloaded from a licensed data provider and is not for distribution, except as may be authorized by the applicable terms of use.
CONDITIONS OF USE: The information in this database is intended to supplement, not substitute for, the expertise and judgment of healthcare professionals. The information is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, drug interactions or adverse effects, nor should it be construed to indicate that use of particular drug is safe, appropriate or effective for you or anyone else. A healthcare professional should be consulted before taking any drug, changing any diet or commencing or discontinuing any course of treatment.
Need help identifying pills and medications?
Use the pill identifier tool on RxList.


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This week's Rolling Stone cover story is a Q&A with President Obama, in which he defends the federal crackdown on medical marijuana operations in Montana and elsewhere. Jann S. Wenner asks...
You vowed in 2008, when you were running for election, that you would not "use Justice Department resources to try and circumvent state laws about medical marijuana." Yet we just ran a story that shows your administration is launching more raids on medical pot than the Bush administration did. What's up with that?
Here's what's up: What I specifically said was that we were not going to prioritize prosecutions of persons who are using medical marijuana. I never made a commitment that somehow we were going to give carte blanche to large-scale producers and operators of marijuana—and the reason is, because it's against federal law. I can't nullify congressional law. I can't ask the Justice Department to say, "Ignore completely a federal law that's on the books." What I can say is, "Use your prosecutorial discretion and properly prioritize your resources to go after things that are really doing folks damage." As a consequence, there haven't been prosecutions of users of marijuana for medical purposes.
The only tension that's come up—and this gets hyped up a lot—is a murky area where you have large-scale, commercial operations that may supply medical marijuana users, but in some cases may also be supplying recreational users. In that situation, we put the Justice Department in a very difficult place if we're telling them, "This is supposed to be against the law, but we want you to turn the other way." That's not something we're going to do. I do think it's important and useful to have a broader debate about our drug laws. One of the things we've done over the past three years was to make a sensible change when it came to the disparity in sentencing between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. We've had a discussion about how to focus on treatment, taking a public-health approach to drugs and lessening the overwhelming emphasis on criminal laws as a tool to deal with this issue. I think that's an appropriate debate that we should have.


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Post VANOS seal replacement question
Ok so a couple weeks ago I replaced the VANOS seals and could immediately tell a huge difference. I'm way past the break-in mileage and now it seems that the car has went back to its sluggish ways again. No SES or EML light....it just feels slow again. Any suggestions?
any ideas?
Might be your call to do so but you can re-do everything. My issue is that when it's extremely cold and I do my cold start I hear a metal knocking sound which I think is one of the pistons..... Looks like in the spring I have to do the job over again.
u either got used to it, or it's a fluctuation in weather's temperature. my car runs the fastest at night or during cold weather due to lower temperature, in the summer or high temps, it feels like running slower...
below 3k its just dead again...pulls hard after 3k..just like before I did the seals. I just don't think I have the energy to care anymore..LOL Its been exhausting chasing all these damn gremlins.
Check your DISA for proper operation. If it is stuck open or not moving it would cause the issue you describe.
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| Français
Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaida-style group, released a statement on May 11, 2012 claiming responsability for the double Damascus blasts that occured on May 10. The PR states that these bombings are in response to the unjust aggression by the regime against the people. Jabhat al-Nusra said that the double bombings targeted the headquarters of the military establishment located in revolutiont street, in the center of Damascus. It issued a direct threat to all military and security headquarters to take these bombings as a lesson and will face the same outcome if they are invovled in repression and brutality against the Syrian people.


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For once, supermodel Miranda Kerr has her valuable assets firmly under wraps. In a demure, dark-blue Victoria Beckham dress, she is darting around Los Angeles between interviews to promote the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which will be lighting up our screens with lingerie night.
Her input, it must be said, is possibly unnecessary; the recorded show will be watched by tens of millions in 184 countries. But the 29-year-old Australian beauty is nothing if not on-brand. "Under this, I'm wearing the Victoria's Secret Fantasy Bra, and lacy pants," she informs me, with a saucy smile. "In case you were wondering."
A few weeks earlier, much to the envy of every male friend — and a fair few female ones too — I copped an eyeful of Kerr's pants up close at the live show itself in New York. Featuring 40 of the world's most comely models, clad in skimpy smalls and accessorised with feathers, foliage and five-foot wings, the annual pageant of pants and bras, sequins, stilettos and spray-tans has become one of the biggest events in the fashion calendar, employing more than 1,000 people and costing an estimated £7.5 million to stage.
And Kerr — who has a lucrative contract as an "Angel", one of the official faces, and bodies, of the brand — is undoubtedly the star of the show. When she emerged, sporting a forest-green corset festooned with Swarovski crystals plus a matching cape, and sashayed down the runway in towering Nicholas Kirkwood heels, the photographers flew into a frenzy, and the audience greeted her with a cheer even rowdier than that reserved for Rihanna and Justin Bieber, both performing at the event.
The next morning, Kerr's dimples filled the front page of the New York Post, America's biggest tabloid. Today, though, she's acting coy when I ask her how it feels to be the most popular Angel. "All the Angels are so different, they all have their unique charm and unique, individual personality," she demurs. "But when I saw myself on the front of the paper the next day, I was, like, 'Wow, that's amazing'."
As the reigning Queen of Pants, she has an appropriately high-profile King: her husband of two years is the British actor Orlando Bloom, 35, star of Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lord of the Rings and its upcoming prequel, The Hobbit.
Quite how the couple co-ordinate an A-list film career, international modelling commitments, homes in New York, Los Angeles, Sydney and London, and their 23-month-old son, Flynn, is anyone's diary-juggling guess. "I am really lucky that I can take my son with me to work," Kerr concedes. "But it is all about compromise, meeting each other in the middle, and accepting that we both have busy careers but that at the end, family is the most important thing."
After her Twitter account was hacked last month, Kerr was forced to quash rumours that she was pregnant again. "Carrying two around the world would be quite a challenge. It's a lot of extra luggage. But I love being a mum; I kind of wish that I had done it sooner," she gushes.
For in spite of all the continent-hopping glamour, Kerr likes to paint herself as quite the happy housewife, also quashing more rumours, this time that the Bloom-Kerrs are on a break. "I love to get in that kitchen," she insists. "I just spent two months in South Africa with Orlando while he was filming Zulu," she reveals. "It was great to spend time on set with him, and just be there for him, being a mother and a housewife.
"We haven't decided where we'll be spending Christmas yet," she claims, though I suspect that's a pap-dodging ruse; the family is followed and photographed everywhere, apart from their English countryside retreat. "It is a total secret where that is. It's the only place we go where we can completely get away from everything," she says.
But wherever she, Bloom and Flynn will be opening their stockings, Kerr will be playing chef. "I'll be roasting vegetables, stir-frying spinach and garlic and doing a slow-roast chicken with coconut oil, turmeric, garlic and onion. I slow- roast it for eight hours," she tells me.
Her approach to eating is, she says "80 per cent healthy, 20 per cent indulgence", though it's probably safe to say she won't be emptying the Quality Street tin. "We are in our underwear a lot, shooting for Victoria's Secrets campaigns, so it's kind of a continual process of preparation," she admits. Not least the waxing regime, I would imagine.
Kerr's million-dollar body is a thing to behold. She was back on the catwalk for Balenciaga three months after giving birth, a feat she puts down to "butt-lifts, breastfeeding and eating healthy".
A yoga and Pilates devotee, she ramps up her workouts with her trainer from her usual four times a week in the run-up to the Victoria's Secrets shows. "The focus, for me, is always on lifting my butt, so I do a lot more exercise around that area, with squats and lunges, leg-lifts and resistance training with ankle weights," she says. "And I like to do my workouts at home so that I can be with my son. Sometimes I will do squats while holding him as a weight. He likes that; he thinks it's funny."
For those of us without a baby Bloom to hand, Kerr has other workout tips too. "Something that I think is good for everyone, but particularly young mothers, is to put the music on that your child enjoys and dance around the house. You can really have a great workout." Flynn, for the record, is a fan of Bieber, Elvis and the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.
Kerr grew up in the small country town of Gunnedah, New South Wales, and still hankers after horses and the great outdoors. She has her own organic skincare range, Kora, and a few years ago posed for Rolling Stone Australia naked and chained to a tree, to highlight the plight of koalas.
"I like to be in nature; when we're in London, I spend a lot of time in Hyde Park," she says. Her favourite restaurant is Mayfair's La Petite Maison, and she shops at Portobello Market. But the thing she misses about the city most of all, when she's elsewhere? "My mother-in-law. She's so funny, I just love her." Model behaviour indeed.
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, December 22, 9pm on E!
- More about:
- Models
- Victoria's Secret


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Previous to I get rid of simplifying this specific theory I need it to get noted that the is a theory. It isn't confirmed, the fact is scientists have got consistently found imperfections within the concept when they examine energy and mass with the quantum degree. As an illustration we've been capable of send lighting faster as opposed to exceedingly fast. Using this type of gentle we have delivered data from location to a new one of course, if you could send data then you can certainly give anything if your technology is usually refined. I explain to you this currently essential to question intended Michelle facts just like the big bang, dark subject, as well as anti-matter. Today then up on explaining the idea regarding relativity!
1st lets explain the reason it is called the theory regarding relativity. It can be the theory of relativity because a large section of the idea states that will everything is essential contraindications. That the measurements that you simply I take advantage of aren't going to be total. To suit your needs and myself on earth one particular minute always takes up duration (well in fact they don't nevertheless that is far too Papalini and clothing difference is completely minuscule dependant upon where you stand within the planet). On the other hand if I were being on Jupiter then the 1 tiny would take up a different length of time.
The idea states which gravity affects acceleration. Lets say there are actually 3 people two are printed two several planets along with the third was in space as a possible onlooker. Michelle lets say that the two people about the planets are usually a similar for all intents and purposes generally there clones and they are all should do a similar activity inside a specific amount of their time. Properly they are all will do the task and finish concurrently proper? Even so the person inside space observing these would see one individual did his / her activity faster. The theory associated with relativity states that the higher the gravity then your slower you have. However since everything cuts you decelerate as well , nor know that your scaling down because the neurons in the brain are generally slowing.


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Tuesday August 6th, 2013 12:51am
As a 9-year-old kid, bald from chemotherapy and wearing a chest protector to protect the port in his chest where doctors put in the needles through a vein in his shoulder for treatment, Mike Francia could be found on the soccer and baseball fields in Connecticut, not letting Hodgkin's lymphoma keep him from playing.
Francia's parents, Richard and Ann Marie, never told their son he couldn't play, even through hospital stays, the nine months of chemotherapy and another month of radiation. And now a decade later, Francia is cancer free and taking the fields for Villanova's fallball practice with a unique perspective and a stronger will.
"I think that changed my outlook on it a lot. I played sports all the time," Mike Francia said. "They never really told me I couldn't do anything. I guess that's why I felt 'normal' because I was not unable to do anything. I think that's one of the best things my parents did, letting me play baseball and soccer."
The Wilton High School all-time points leader is ready for the next challenge in his life, adjusting to the speed and high level of play at a top Division I lacrosse program. But he knows about overcoming challenges.
"There's plenty of people with the ability, but what will differentiate Mike is his attitude," John Wiseman, his coach at Wilton, said.
At 9, Francia was sick and got an X-ray that received a mass in his chest. That X-ray eventually led to the diagnosis Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer that originates in the blood's white blood cells. Francia bounced from hospitals in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York for his nine months of treatment, with the bulk of the treatment coming at New York's Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Mike's parents were upfront about the diagnosis and what he'd be going through. Mike credits his close-knit family for getting him through the process with someone new from his family visiting him in the hospital almost every day.
"I think if it would have happened to me at this age I would have taken it a lot worse," he said. "I understood what was going on and my parents were very good about it and explaining what I would be going through."
It wasn't always easy living an active life. Mike got a bath after a soccer match on a hot day during the time of his chemotherapy. He was shivering so badly that he rushed to the hospital and had to stay for about a week. As a result of chemotherapy there was Neutropenia, where there are lower-than-normal amounts of certain types of white blood cells, increasing the risk of infections spreading.
Shortly after his battle with cancer, he picked up a lacrosse stick at the urging of his cousin, who played at Bucknell.
"Once I started playing I fell in love with it and always wanted to have a lacrosse stick in my hand," he said.
That led to a standout high school career, and now a spot at Villanova.
"I went up to his Darien game in 2010 to scout two of our current freshmen (Kolderup and Maybell) and this little attackman from Wilton stole the show," said assistant coach Simon Connor, who recruited him to Villanova. "He plays with great energy, gets his teammates involved, never takes possessions off, and can create offense in a variety of ways. Mostly, however, I loved his leadership."
Wiseman credits Francia's versatility as the main reason he'll succeed in college. The attackman took on many roles during his four varsity years at Wilton. His first two years he was the finisher with Peter McMahon (Bryant) feeding him the ball. Later in his high school career, he became the set-up guy.
That's a role he's expected to fill at Villanova; he's being groomed to take over Kevin Cunningham's spot as the offense's quarterback next season.
"Mike's not a one-dimensional kid in terms of ability. He's just such a team player that he'll do whatever role you provide him" Wiseman said.
Francia said he fell in love with Villanova and was adjusting to the speed of the game on the field. He committed during a visit and has been making himself feel at home.
"They speak to you as a person and not a recruit. They want to make sure that you're going to be happy as well, because they don't want someone who's unhappy on their team," he said. "We went on the field and it just felt amazing going in the locker room. Going on my official visit, you talk to all the guys on the team and you don't find a bad person on the team."
"It seems as though everyone who meets him, from upperclassmen to administration, makes a point to tell us what a great kid he is," Connor said. "Mike is the kind of person, however, who could fit into any setting."
"Mike's a really great young man with a very positive and happy demeanor. He seems to have things in perspective," Connor said. "I can imagine that going through something like that could shape you in a lot of different ways. Mike, obviously, made the most of it."
The experience as a child has shaped Francia into the man he is now. He used to never talk about his battle with cancer, but now speaks openly about it and tries to help others going through similar experiences.
"You could help more than you think by sharing a story that happened to you. You can help someone that's going through it, even someone that's having a hard time with something. You don't realize you can help somebody else until you talk about it," Francia said. "After I spoke at Relay for Life I had people say it's changed the way they look at things and it's helped them. And that's what you look for, is your story to help other people."
"He's balanced, he's grounded, he's got incredible perspective. A lot of that was forged by what he went through as a kid with cancer, but a lot of that started with a great foundation from his parents," Wiseman said.
And a big reason he chose Villanova was for its strong academic program. He hasn't picked a major yet, but he has been enjoying his economics classes.
"I just take it day by day," Francia said. "You just have to realize that you're lucky to play on the Villanova field each day, go to school at Villanova. I'm one of the luckiest kids in the country, so I try not to take that for granted."
As an undersized player (5'7", 165 pounds), there were some reservations from schools about Francia. But the kid from Connecticut knows a thing or two about battling back from adversity.
"I think everybody knew of him, but there might have been some doubt due to his size. I don't think anyone questioned his ability," Wiseman said. "People have been saying that about Mike Francia his whole life and he's proved them wrong every time. I'm not sure I'd bet against him."


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Mrs. Toymaker told them about the famous canary birds raised in the Harz Mountains.
In this ancient sea the Harz Mountains formed a rocky island.
Again, at a village near Quedlinburg, in the Harz Mountains, it was resolved to put a herd of sick swine through the need-fire.
One who should visit the Harz Mountains would see—might see, rather his own colossal image shape itself on the morning mist.
What had happened on that afternoon in the Harz Mountains I could not at all imagine.
The whole of Hanover dips from the Harz Mountains to the north, and the rivers consequently flow in that direction.
Yet are there right noble kinds likewise to be found in the Harz Mountains, nigh to their native country.
Modern ropeways worked with wire ropes date from about 1860, when a ropeway was erected in the Harz Mountains.
Hercynian, her-sin′i-an, adj. of or pertaining to the forest-covered mountain region of northern Germany—apart the Harz Mountains.
The drawings, both in 1874 and in 1878, mark a strong artistic advance upon similar work in the Harz Mountains.


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Cadillac Escalade, EXT and ESV Forum - 1999 - 2006 Discussion, Led map light issue in Cadillac Escalade Forums; Originally Posted by Mark Edward Morrison That's what I have in my interior of mine. The 6000K just kind of ...
- 12-29-13 12:26 AM #16Originally Posted by Mark Edward Morrison
Mine my dads h2 and my moms 02
Now I need to get a resistor to create a false load on the circuit for the map lights and visor lights
I ordered most of the LEDs from amazon in the same color
Now to chose LEDs or hids for the back up lights(tired of the yellow look)
Also have to replace the puddle light bulb(going to get it when I do the exterior lights)
I was thinking of getting these for the front blinkers
As I can get the led peanut bulbs for the side marker lights in the front then the conversion will be complete that is after I get the resistior to create the false load to trick the light out feature on the bcm(it sucks)
I just don't understand why you have to use resisters on your truck? I have all LED's and mine work perfectly fine? Just wonder why you would have use them and I didn't on my 04? I hope you get it working perfectly!
- 12-29-13 03:02 AM #18Originally Posted by Mark Edward Morrison
it even baffled the service manager at my dealer
I wonder if I got some defective bulbs as I got 6 for all three trucks and the 02 is the only one that doesn't do this mine and my dads does so when I can I am going to try the ones in the 02 in mine to see what it does
This has me stumped
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- 12-29-13 03:48 PM #19Cadillac Owners Member
- Automobile(s): JDPotter
- Join Date
- Dec 2013
- Age
- 59
- Posts
- 1
Re: Led map light issue
My map lights will be bright when door is open.Once door is closed and lights dim,I can turn either map light on and they will be very dim/
- 12-29-13 06:08 PM #20Originally Posted by JDPotter
Going to get a load equalizer resister and patch in line before it branches out and see if that fixes the problem
For those who are wondering I got the 80watt Cree LEDs for my back up lights hopefully they will be nice and bright
Update here is a list of resistors needed for each bulb type and the rating for each size bulb
Given the map lights and visor lights run off the same curcuit I think putting one on the main curcuit will fix the bulb out issue any of us are having
- .6 Ohm 5W resistors are ideal for use with 194 / T10 / BA9S LED Bulbs
- 1 Ohm 10W resistors are ideal for use with Festoon LEDs
- 25 Ohm 25W resistors are ideal for use with signal and brake LEDs
- 6 Ohm 30W resistors are ideal for use with signal and brake LEDs
- 6 Ohm 50W resistors are ideal for use with signal and brake LEDs (typically work the best out of the 3 available for signals and brake lights)
This list is off the ddm tuning site so i just wanted to pass it on for us led convertors who are having issues
Going to find the main power feed for the lights soon along with a ground
Re: Led map light issue
What specific bulb are you using in your swivel map lights? I am using a vled 6 k bulb (I will have to pull the lens to see which model bulb). I am wondering if my choice of map light bulb is exacerbating my dim condition.
- 12-30-13 01:04 PM #23Originally Posted by Retrax
I do have some other LEDs on order just waiting for them to ship out that have a resister built in if they work I will post the link
If not then a trip to the local radio shack will be in order
Retrax, I am using all 6000K LED's from a company called fyreflys out of Houston, Tx (I am in OKC) and mine are fine. I have had them in for close to a year and no problems and I am not using any resistors? I am using a TRIDON LCM lighting control module, which I just thought of all the sudden. I don't use resisters and I don't have resistors for my blinkers or any of my other exterior lights due to the TRIDON LCM I installed. It might be why I am not having troubles with my interior lights? I HIGHLY recommend a TRIDON LCM, I hate hacking up lines using resistors and such. Don't take my word for it though do some research on the TRIDON LCM, I am glad I installed one in my truck, I don't have any problems with my LED's, inside or outside my truck. Good Luck!!
- 12-30-13 09:21 PM #25Originally Posted by Mark Edward Morrison
If I can keep from hacking or splicing my wiring and have LEDs I will be on clouds nine as what's the point of going with led when you still need a regular bulb or a load resistor in the circuit
Will it work with the blinkers also????
Found it but I still need to know will I still have issues with my map and reading lights??
I have been wanting this to finish my led conversion and I am happy to find out I don't need to splice in load equalizers for my blinkers
Cadillac Man, it works with my LED blinkers. I came across the Tridon LCM doing some research and bought it. If I recall it's a heavy duty LCM that LED's don't seem to affect it like a regular LCM. I am not really sure if that's why my interior lights aren't missing up but it is the one thing I have different than you? I think I got it at RockAuto or Amazon if I recall. Here is some more info, I know I didn't pay his amount for it though:
Tridon/Hazard Warning Flasher
Features & Benefits
The Tridon® LM487 is an electronic lighting control module (LCM) that operates at 12 V. Lighting control modules are the newest technology of turn signal flashers for late model vehicles in the automotive aftermarket. This LCM is applicated to various General Motors vehicles from 2002-2008. The LM487 is LED compatible, patented and is proudly made in the U.S.A. by Novitá Technologies Inc.
Hope this helps you out.
- 12-31-13 01:21 PM #27Originally Posted by Mark Edward Morrison
Going to wire in a resistor if the LEDs I am getting don't work on my map and reading lights(they show that they have a resistor built in so going to wait and see on the interior lights)
Love the LEDs as they are bright
Good deal Cadillac Man, I hope it works for you on the interior, I KNOW it will work on the exterior, I have NO resistors and I have NO hyper flash. I hope it works for you buddy!
- 12-31-13 03:01 PM #29Originally Posted by Mark Edward Morrison
You got one heck of a deal bro!! They can be a bit stubborn to remove due to the pins, try a flat blade screw driver and "gently" pry it out and then plug in the new one, that's it!
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text: Now that the NYS bill has erased much of my "wish list", i think i will focus on something that i can still buy legally, that i have wanted to purchase for some time now. I want a 30/30 lever action rifle, but am unsure what manufacturers i should avoid, and which ones i should look at. The Mossberg tactical lever action 30/30 looks neat, but i am leaning towards a good old fashioned wood stock 1895. Any suggestions? thanks. bunker


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The Jamestown City Council is comprised of four elected positions as well as the Mayor of Jamestown, Katie Andersen. The Council meets the first Monday of each month with the exceptions of holidays where they will meet on Tuesday. Special City Council meetings may be called as needed.
Pam Phillips


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Skip the Foreplay
With a band name like Skip the Foreplay, it is a pretty safe bet that audiences will not be holding hands singing "Kumbaya" while swaying to and fro. And on their new album "Nightlife," the bandmates hold true to this by going hardcore right off the bat with a 46-second instrumental intro song, "St4p," that grabs you by the collar and slaps you silly with guttural vocals and brain melting guitar work – a taste of things yet to come.
There is some melody in their songs too, though, which helps set Skip the Foreplay apart somewhat from other metal bands with their type of grating "Cookie Monster vocals" rather than actual singing. In fact, just about all the songs on "Nightlife" have their fleeting moments of gentility, but these often seem out of place and more of a set-up for a blast of screaming vocals and pummeling drums sure to follow. There is even a DJ in the band, and this adds an interesting layer of beats, electronic dance sounds, dub-step, hip-hop and house – but not in a way that makes for well-arranged songs. The band is: Fillion on vocals, Chuck on guitar, Mathieu on guitar, Julien on bass, Marc-André on drums and DJ Phil on synthesizer.
"We play party music. It's a mix of hard metal and dance music, not really hardcore, it's more like party core," the band is quoted as saying. If you like your music to dive headfirst into the action with no cuddling or afterglow, Skip the Foreplay is for you.
Based in Montreal, this is Skip the Foreplay's first full-length CD on Epitaph Records. Their fans seem to like it – the critics, not so much. Many of the songs sound like they are composed of various unassociated pieces spliced together with no rhyme or reason, as if it is an attempt to add color and texture to the yawn-inducing angry shouting/guitar grinding on every track.
"Nightlife" does have its moments of techno ambience – earning the band yet another descriptive adjective: "trancecore" – like on "Dinner with Snooki." This track lasts only over a minute, though – just about as much time as anyone could probably stand being around her.
The CD finishes with a cover of electro-pop duo LMFAO's "Champagne Showers," begging the question, "Why?" It is just more of the same unintelligible snarling backed by random electronic/metal noise.
For those who want to see for themselves what Skip the Foreplay is all about, the band plays El Corazon in Seattle on Oct. 12 with Abandon All Ships and For All Those Sleeping.
Reviewed by Matt Nagle
Obey The Brave
"Young Blood"
Obey The Brave is certainly doing something right. The band, based in Montreal and Ottawa, was formed in January and has already been signed to Epitaph Records, released their debut album and done a United States tour.
The band consists of Alex Erian on vocals, John Campbell and Greg Wood on guitars, Miguel Lepage on bass and Stevie Morotti on drums. Their label describes them as "an exciting, adrenaline-charged metalcore band." That description is quite accurate. This is headbanging music.
"Lifestyle" starts the album off. The song is heavy and short, clocking in at 1:20. Erian's lead vocals are somewhat harsh, and his bandmates support him with spirited backing vocals. Erian delivers an approach to life: "I keep fighting for what's wrong/ one day at a time."
The drums are up in the mix on the second track, "It Starts Today." It starts much faster than the first song, then a tempo change shifts it into slow, heavy mode. "Asleep all day/ we live large, stronger every day."
"Self Made" displays more of the gang backing vocals and tempo changes. The strong production on the album is quite apparent here.
Morotti really shows his talent on "Live And Learn," where his drumming is all over the place. One of the guitar lines is quite melodic, adding some contrast to the rest of the composition.
"Grim" is an instrumental, about 30 seconds long. It consists of eerie sound effects and a very deep bass line. It leads into "Get Real," which begins with very heavy guitar. Erian spouts off on the status of his life. "Same $#!& different day/ I'm sick of all this drama."
"Time For A Change" is a fast-paced tune. The lyrics are about abandoning a nine-to-five job and making music a career. "We rock the places far away/ you come for it every day."
"Unstoppable" is slow, grinding and heavy.
"Burning Bridges" has what sounds like keyboards, or perhaps synthesizer, in the background.
Some of Obey The Brave's songwriting techniques, such as the frequent use of tempo changes, can make their songs start to sound alike. But they have considerable talent and the production of their debut album helps overcome their shortcomings.
Reviewed by John Larson


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If I am fishing for Steelhead, with proper license and permit, and I catch a Chinook salmon without a salmon permit. Can I legally take a "safe for the fish" picture with the fish before releasing it?
I am not saying beaching the fish or tossing it up on shore for a picture but can I take a picture of it in the water or have someone take a picture of me just barely holding it out of the water before releasing?
If it is out of season, and I legally can not harvest/target chinook could I take a picture with one if it were caught?
As long as you exercise caution when handling the fish and don't cause mortality, you can take a picture with your fall Chinook before releasing.
Answered on:
Wednesday, October 23, 2013 - 4:07 PM MDT


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Vantiv is a payment processing company that recently went public. Structured into two major lines of business, one on the merchant side and one focused on financial institutions, Vantiv continues to experience rapid business expansion. Each division has its own sales force, which are naturally increasing to support the exponential growth. Reliant on traditional, passive marketing techniques, such as print advertising, trade show participation and direct mail. Vantiv recognized the need to upgrade its marketing organization and evolve into a digital marketing company. In addition, marketing wanted to take more of a thought leadership role with sales, collaborating with them on lead generation and help them to be more productive and successful.
After evaluating several competitive products, Vantiv selected Marketo due to its superior functionality, usability, and, because it demonstrated the best solution to transform the company from traditional marketing to digital marketing. Immediately after Vantiv implemented Marketo, the marketing team started getting so many responses from its e-mail campaigns they had to quickly implement procedures to ensure they were not hitting the same contacts multiple times. Vantiv can now use creative campaigns and programs to draw more traffic to their website, generate leads, nurture them through Marketo, and then turn them over to the sales force when they are fully qualified.
With Marketo, the sales team's productivity has soared. As opposed to just buying target lists and blindly calling prospects, the sales team now gets qualified, nurtured leads from marketing. This allows sales reps to prioritize their day and quickly determine which leads have the best potential for success and also enables the reps to have more meaningful conversations with prospects to close more business. In fact, marketing is providing sales with leads that close the deal 75% of the time. This has created a whole new level of partnership for sales and marketing, which builds a strong foundation for continued growth.


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Binge drinking a problem for older adults too: study
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Binge drinking is usually seen as a problem of college campuses but many older adults may be overindulging in alcohol as well, according to a U.S. study published on Monday.
Using data from a government survey of nearly 11,000 Americans aged 50 and up, researchers found that 23 percent of men and nine percent of women aged between 50 and 64 admitted to binge drinking in the past month.
Among adults age 65 and older, more than 14 percent of men and three percent of women reported bingeing on alcohol which was defined as having five or more drinks on one occasion, on at least one day in the past month.
Alcohol binges are often considered a problem of youth.
One recent government study found that among U.S. college students between the ages of 18 and 24, 45 percent reported a recent drinking binge.
But the new findings, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, show that older adults can be susceptible too, according to Reuters Health.
"We feel that our findings are important to the public health of middle-aged and elderly persons as they point to a potentially unrecognized problem that often 'flies beneath' the typical screen for alcohol problems in psychiatry practices," researcher Dan Blazer, of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, said in a statement.
Blazer and colleague Li-Tzy Wu based their findings on a national health survey conducted between 2005 and 2006.
Along with binge drinking, the survey looked at so-called at-risk drinking -- drinking habits that could have negative effects on a person's health. Continued...


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Welcome to Bella Sera
Inspired by timeless Italian traditions, a passion for great food and exceptional service, Bella Sera provides the perfect canvas for your intimate gathering or grand celebration, creating an unforgettable experience. Every time.
Weddings at Bella Sera
"You and your staff paid so much attention to every detail. From the food to the service to the atmosphere, everything was first class. Bella Sera is a beautiful establishment with wonderful staff. Thank you again for everything."
- Kathy, Bride
Events at Bella Sera
"The Bella Sera team is prompt, professional, flexible, responsive, and simply a pleasure to work with. I cannot say enough about how wonderful-and stress free-my experience with was. Enchanting!"
- Jamie
Bella Sera- Where Food is a Passion
"Your catering service was one of the best I have ever seen both in the quality of food and service. Everything from the appetizers to desserts were fresh and delicious. I certainly hope to use your business in the future. You are truly to be complimented for your exemplary service!"
- Curt and Carolyn
The Bella Sera Experience
"Everything was wonderful! The service, the food, the room, everything! My daughter had a truly memorable experience for her shower! Thank you so very much for making it such a beautiful event!"
– Mary Anne F.


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Posted by A.C. Douglas on 23 November 2015 | Permalink
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 06 November 2015 | Permalink
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 02 November 2015 | Permalink
Russell Thomas, speaking to Anne Midgette [here]: "The conversation about blackface is a distraction. It's not about whether or not Mr. Antonenko was painted dark. It's also not about whether whites should be allowed to sing Porgy and Bess. It's about this: Why aren't the stages representative of the communities in which they are located?"Answer: Because it's unimportant, no pressing matter, and "a distraction". What matters on theater stages, the ONLY thing that matters — whether what's being presented is straight drama, musical comedy, opera, or what have you — is the excellence of the presentation and performance of the artwork being staged. Period. Full stop. Everything else — everything — is but of ancillary importance and only a hypersensitive, corrupted postmodern sensibility would argue otherwise.
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 16 October 2015 | Permalink
Seeing "Otello," I tried to imagine how I would have responded if I hadn't known the story before. Would I have felt something was missing without the makeup? And no, I don't suppose I would have. What I did miss, in the production's first half, was any sense of what set Otello apart. Aleksandrs Antonenko, in the role, tended to blend into the crowd in the early scenes. Even a red scarf, anything, to set him apart might have helped relieve that black-and-gray canvas, and something to indicate that he had come from a culture different from the one he now inhabits.How about markedly darkened skin (but not grotesquely darkened as in "blackface") that would instantly have shown Otello to be "from a culture different from the one he now inhabits" — you know, just as Shakespeare intended? You think that might have done the trick? Of course it would have, you mealymouthed twit. It's not for nothing, you know, that Shakespeare didn't title his play merely Othello but Othello, the Moor of Venice.
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 01 October 2015 | Permalink
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 18 September 2015 | Permalink
We've had occasion to say something about this [new 2015] production in a prior S&F entry based on a live audio stream of the premiere by BR Klassik Radio as well as on act-by-act production photos and verbal descriptions of the physical action so this new HD video [of the entire production] held no surprises for us as far as the staging is concerned. We previously called that staging sophomoric and sophomoric is what it proved to be, from the conceit of Act I's blatant if only tenuously symbolically apposite allusion to M.C. Escher's impossible staircases leading nowhere, to the bizarre sci-fi futuristic prison of Act II (yes, this is a Regietheater staging — what else? — and Act II is set in a prison run by the henchmen of this production's tyrannical König Marke wherein Tristan and Isolde are held captive along with Kurwenal), to the imagined symbolic rightness of Act III's utterly black, all but featureless blank stage and background with its reappearing, floating, Isolde-filled triangles of light (perhaps a reference, if reference they indeed are, to the tent-like structure Tristan and Isolde jerry-rigged in the prison of Act II to hide them from the searchlights of König Marke's henchmen, but given Katharina's sophomoric Regie mentality we shudder to think what else those triangles might be a reference to), not to again speak of the imbecile close of the music-drama in this staging wherein Isolde, at the close of her Verklärung, is ripped away from Tristan's corpse and dragged off by König Marke very much alive as if she were mere chattel (as indeed she was originally intended to be). Finally, after having seen the full production, to all the above we now feel compelled to add how appalling the disconnect is, emotional and intellectual, between this staging and the nonpareil transcendent work created by Katharina's great-grandfather more than 150 years ago in what proved to be an ironic attempt to compose an opera that could be mounted quickly and easily even by theaters of modest means. We do, however, have to give Katharina credit for cleverly and neatly doing away with the magic love potion thing upon the magic of which potion even those who ought to know better are still wont to lay blame for the lovers' out-of-control passion for each other.If you think this all quite horrid we assure you the actual witnessing of this Regietheater staging is a full order of magnitude more painful than is the reading about it. Currently, following Bayreuth's lead, Regietheater Wagner can be seen on the stage of almost every major opera house worldwide, New York's Metropolitan Opera, arguably the world's most important opera house, included,** which opera houses are the only established opera venues with the wherewithal, talent, and facilities to stage Wagner's stageworks properly. And so, to restate the opening question, What damage, if any, would be done to world culture were it the case that in no competent public venue could the stageworks of Richard Wagner be seen presented true to the way Wagner set them down with their hallmark, artform-defining organic unity of music, text, and stage picture that's the unique and special genius of Wagner's art? For an informed some, ourself included, the answer is manifestly clear: appalling damage; damage so appalling as to be virtually unthinkable. Curiously and inexplicably, the jury of the opera world is still out on the question even after some 43 years of accumulated hard evidence arguing against Regietheater Wagner as Werktreue Wagner and so the unthinkable threatens perennially to become appalling, permanent reality worldwide. This may seem a thing of concern only for dedicated Wagnerians who are but a small minority of audiences for opera. But a moment's reflection will reveal just how tragically myopic is such a view. For absent the existence of genuine Werktreue presentations of Wagner's stageworks, opera audiences, existing and new, will be denied the essential fundamental references necessary to understand and assess the value and worth of those stageworks as well as the value and worth of their creator and the impact of both on the shaping and development of the artform, not to even speak of being denied the sheer, soul-enriching pleasure of experiencing the full sense and spirit of the stageworks themselves as their creator imagined them experienced. Appalling damage indeed and no small matter as we're certain most, if not all, will agree.
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 01 September 2015 | Permalink
In Anne Midgette's review of the Met's _Otello_ for _The Washington Post_, she writes: === Begin Quote ===
Before the opening, the Met announced it was dispensing with the usual dark makeup, a wise decision because it didn't affect the drama a bit....
=== End Quote === I, of course, didn't see the production but if what Ms. Midgette wrote is really true, there's something terribly — fundamentally — wrong dramatically with this production. With an un-made-up Caucasian Otello it's not possible theatrically to establish and maintain what is absolutely essential — absolutely central — to this tragic drama: Otello's "otherness" as I put it some two months ago [i.e., in our above S&F entry] as outwardly signified by his blackness (or "Moorishness"). Absent that outward constant signifier of Otello's otherness, which otherness "drives his every action and reaction in the drama", we're left with nothing more than a half-demented, murderously jealous brute blindly acting out his mad rage. Hardly a tragic hero. ACD
———————————————Dennis ______ wrote: >Otello's blackness is the essence of his standing as a Romantic hero. >That blackness is vital to the character and all that stems from it to >form the action of the opera. It may be subtly suggested, or it may be >overtly shown; but it needs to BE THERE. It simply cannot be ignored: >forcing Otello's "blackness" to be a product, merely, of the opera >goer's imagination is a totally modern approach. It's a perfectly valid >approach in SOME works, as Paul _______ notes in his post; but it is >one totally inappropriate to an opera steeped in Romantic tradition. Good points all. I would only further suggest that anyone who imagines Otello's visible blackness (or "Moorishness") is anything other than essential — central — to both the character and the opera should ask himself why Shakespeare made his wholly fictional Othello, from which character Boito's Otello is taken as is, of course, Boito's libretto taken from Shakespeare's play, a black (a Moor). Does anyone seriously imagine Shakespeare did that willy-nilly just for the hell of it or, just as bad, to be true to his fictional source (a story titled "Un Capitano Moro" by Italian novelist Giovanni Battista Giraldi ("Cinthio"))? The very idea is, of course, thoroughly preposterous. Shakespeare made his Othello a black (a Moor) in an all-white society because Shakespeare saw in the device powerful and tragic dramatic possibilities and a perfect outer signifier of his character's otherness — an otherness that underlies and drives his Othello's (and Boito's Otello's) "every action and reaction in the drama", as I've previously put it, which is to say it's absolutely central to the character and to the drama both in Shakespeare's play and Boito's libretto and MUST be shown *explicitly*. ACD
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 05 August 2015 | Permalink
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 25 July 2015 | Permalink | Comments (3)
In the [Tannhäuser] overture's opening episode, the chorale (called the "Pilgrim's Chorus") represents merely the weary progress of Christian pilgrims, first toward, then away from an imagined physical point; i.e., a pretty much matter-of-fact affair. In the closing episode of the overture when the chorale reappears with a ff return to triple measure in the trombones rising above, against, and in opposition to the furious, frenetic, and insistent ff rapid runs of duple measure 16ths in the strings (representing the dithyrambic claims of the Venusberg), it's not merely a recap of the chorale of the overture's opening episode but its apotheosis, a declaration of the triumph and redeeming power of self-sacrificing love over the selfish, ensnaring claims of the flesh promoted within the Venusberg. In all the readings of this overture we've heard to date [now including the present reading by Maestro Nelsons], the chorale's appearance in the overture's opening episode is taken almost as broad, slow, and triumphant (in the trombones) as its reappearance in the overture's closing episode, which is, of course, rhetorically absurd, both musically and dramatically, and, further, serves to blunt that closing episode leaving it nowhere to go dramatically except into the dumper. The Venusberg episodes (the overture's center episodes) are then taken too slow as well, both as a matter of proportion (to the too-slow opening chorale), and also as a misguided attempt at the sensuous rather than the dithyrambic for the Venusberg center as a whole, which is also wrong rhetorically, both musically and dramatically.So much for Maestro Nelsons's reading of the concert's opening work. Next came the aria "In fernem Land" from Act III of Lohengrin with Mr. Kaufmann as soloist who here turned in his typically superlative performance both musically and dramatically and by so doing all but forced Maestro Nelsons to get his reading right as well. Closing the concert's first half was the famous (and famously misnamed) "Prelude and Liebestod" stitched together from Wagner's great(est) masterpiece Tristan Und Isolde with, of course, Ms. Opolais as soloist who here acquitted herself competently and most bravely as did Maestro Nelsons. The concert then undertook an abrupt descent from the sublime to the soapy and we were treated so some Italian opera goodies which delighted the audience no end and with which Maestro Nelsons seemed more at home. We were given, one after another, "Mamma, quel vino è generoso" from Act II of Cavalleria rusticana (Mr. Kaufmann); "Un bel di" from Act II of Madama Butterfly (Ms. Opolais); the "Intermezzo" from Cavalleria rusticana (the BSO); "Tu, tu, amore?" the love duet from Act II of Manon Lescaut (Ms. Opolais and Mr. Kaufmann); and "O soave fanciulla" the Finale from Act 1 of La Bohème (Ms. Opolais and Mr. Kaufmann). As we've only passing familiarity with all these works as with Italian opera generally we can say only that they all sounded just fine to us but, for the aforementioned reason, no great confidence can be placed in our judgment on this matter. The concert closed in spectacular fashion with Respighi's spectacular orchestral tone poem The Pines of Rome complete with auxiliary brass choirs placed in several strategic locations around the great auditorium's balcony. Most impressive, both the work (which has one of classical music's most stirring closing movements) and the performance itself albeit, again, Maestro Nelsons's tempi were markedly on the draggy side. All in all, an inaugural concert of which the BSO, Maestro Nelsons, and Boston need not be ashamed although it struck us as more than a little, um, curious that the inaugural concert of a symphony orchestra with its new music director on the podium should be programmed by that music director almost entirely with music of the opera and with opera stars as soloists.
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 30 May 2015 | Permalink
I challenge @alexrossmusic to defend (or at least explain) promoting this "music" by giving it notice.The Twitter ID "@alexrossmusic" belongs to Alex Ross, one of the nation's most prominent and respected classical music critics, a best-selling author (The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century), and the classical music critic for The New Yorker, one of the nation's most prominent and respected journals, and the "music" referred to is this; something only a Cagean or Stockhausean fundamentalist gone off the deep end would or could mistake for music. Mr. Ross's responding tweet — deleted by Mr. Ross almost as soon as it was posted and which tweet we didn't think to make a verbatim record of simply because we never imagined it would be necessary — was brazenly and uncharacteristically arrogant and self-important and made no attempt whatsoever to either acknowledge or answer our challenge. As Mr. Ross is hardly the only classical music critic, print and/or digital, professional or amateur, guilty of promoting cacophonous noise (literally noise) masquerading as music under cover of being "performed" by legitimate musicians and being declared music by one or more classical music critics, one might imagine we're here picking on Mr. Ross for personal reasons but in so imagining one would be wrong. We singled out this particular instance because it's so off-the-chart egregious and because Alex Ross is Alex Ross who in his intensified zeal to promote new music (a perfectly honorable, necessary, and, especially for one in Mr. Ross's position, obligatory enterprise) since the publication of his above noted bestselling book has here done all classical music a grievous disservice. No matter how illustrious one's professional stature, one cannot hope to convince or persuade a potential audience for classical music, whether classical music of the new or canonical sort, by treating that potential audience as if it were made up of tone-deaf idiots who can be persuaded that actual noise is actually music simply on the say-so, explicit or implied, of an acknowledged expert. It's time, long past time, that classical music critics of all statures within the profession embarked upon a searching, brutally frank, no-holds-barred reassessment of their professional selves and the effect of their work upon classical music audiences both existing and potential.
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 23 May 2015 | Permalink
IAN wrote: "How dare something like politics, imperialism, contemporary audiences or that Butterfly is a child interfere with all the twirling parasols and cherry blossoms out the wazoo! And a great big cheery hello to that evergreen bete-noire of people who'd rather spend the day with a recording and posting outrage on Opera-L than darken the lobby of an actual opera house, the Bieito Ballo." And speaking of politics, imperialism, contemporary audiences and bêtes noires... The first thing one must understand about so-called Konzept opera stagings such as the Bieito _Ballo_ horror noted above (or pretty much any Bieito Konzept opera staging) is that they're NOT undertaken to make an opera "relevant to modern audiences" although that's the most common defense/justification in behalf of such stagings as IAN's above remarks demonstrate. The very idea is preposterous. Konzept opera stagings are almost always undertaken for a dual purpose: to energize the jaded operagoer and to give the Regie the opportunity to establish himself (or herself as the case may be) as a unique and separate creative entity (i.e., separate from the opera's original creator) never mind that it always involves the hijacking of the work of the opera's original creator. And there's also a more practical reason for undertaking a Konzept opera staging: it's a piece of cake, creatively speaking, as opposed to coming up with a new and resonant Werktreue opera staging fully faithful in sense and spirit to the opera creator's original intent as made manifest in the opera's score (music, text, and stage directions). Any hack can do the former. It takes a Regie of genuine and uncommon creative gift to accomplish the latter. Unhappily, as Regies go, the former are legion, the latter almost as rare as unicorns. ACD
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 20 May 2015 | Permalink
I've never seen _Klinghoffer_ and was looking forward to the HD telecast of the opera just to discover what all the fuss was about. That now looks like an event unlikely to take place. There is, however, something I can say about such operas generally (i.e., operas grounded in real, historical events still alive in living memory which would include Adams's _Nixon_ and _Dr. Atomic_) which is that as intended works of art they're a really bad idea from the get-go. The reason for that is that it's all but impossible for a viewer to, at least subconsciously, NOT overlay and/or graft his thinking, biases, and prejudices concerning what was true or perceived as true about the historical case and its surrounding context onto the operas even though the operas themselves may not even so much as have touched on any particular point(s) in question. Once that happens, the work instantly degenerates into propaganda (agitprop) and so becomes, poetically and aesthetically, of little value or worth in its totality as an artwork. Such was true of _Nixon_ and _Dr. Atomic_ (the latter of which two operas has some sumptuous and genuinely beautiful music) both of which operas I did see. Opera creators would do well to stay away — far away — from involving themselves in the creation of such operas — unless, of course, it's their intention to create such Brechtian-poisoned crap.
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 18 June 2014 | Permalink
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 31 May 2014 | Permalink
We ALL need to talk. Arts administrators, Directors and Conductors, Audience members, Conservatoires, teachers, Families, Friends, Singers and Press and Critics and Opera Companies… EVERYONE. All of you who have known and love Opera...and still do. All of you who know it to be the Art form that is about celebrating the human voice, the human voice at its most Olympian heights of expression. [...] [Opera] is not about lights, it is not about costumes, it's not about sets, it's not even about sex or stature… It is ALL about the human voice. [...] All the visual messages that a production and costume brings to an opera does not alter ( even though they can try very hard) the fact that it's true success in moving and making an audience love the Art form lies in the voice that sails across the pit to the audience and into their ears. ... [Opera] is about and really ONLY about communication through great singing. [...] OPERA is ALL about the voice. Many of those who think they know me and may be surprised by this. But it's not an opinion, it's a FACT [all caps for emphasis Ms. Coote's].This sounds like a rant coming from a TOF (TOF: True Opera Fan — like a teenage movie fan only worse; much worse), not an opera professional. So, opera is all about the voice, is it? Well, in certain limited cases we suppose that's true, and most particularly true of those operas belonging to the so-called bel canto opera era. They are indeed "all about the voice" by design as, after all, there's precious little else there all the rest being nothing more than platform and pretext for the showcasing of voices and singing. But Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier is no such opera. It's a genuine dramma per musica — a genuine music-drama — as are all Wagner's mature works and even several of his earlier operas (Der fliegende Holländer, Tannhäuser, and Lohengrin) as well as all Mozart's mature works (the so-called Da Ponte operas and even his Singspiel, Die Zauberflöte). None of these stageworks are "all about the voice". They're all about the (music-)drama the singers and singing being just one part of the performance apparatus which exist solely to serve the central (music-)drama. And since when has it been improper and in bad taste to comment on the physical appropriateness of the (singer-)actors in a fully staged presentation of a (music-)drama? Answer: never. It's all fair game for, and in fact a professional obligation of, the professional opera critic to make such comment and has been since Day One. The problem in this particular case was not a fault of the critics but of the inexperience of Ms. Erraught and the advice of her advisors (not to even speak of the production's director) who should have known better than to allow her to accept the role of Octavian in a fully staged version of this opera even though she is more than up to the role vocally and acting-wise.
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 20 May 2014 | Permalink
"Life is a bitter, painful fight" – the words, coming from the cavernous bass voice on the platform, reverberate round the tent until [director Graham] Vick interrupts to explain the emphases he wants. The temperature may be chilly but the mood is collaborative, and the atmosphere starts to heat up when another operatic bass starts to declaim simultaneously from an opposing platform. The scene also involves two stagehands, who hold placards emblazoned with the slogans "Homosexuality is a sickness" and "Our simple freedom is the right to carry a gun". Vick, pointing to the first singer, interrupts again: "Don't sing to him – sing to the world." It is doubtful that the 19th-century Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky envisioned such a scenario when he wrote Khovanshchina, his epic tale of social and political conflict – but it encapsulates much of what Vick's work is about. A long-time Russophile, he wants to draw parallels between the society portrayed by Mussorgsky, riven by political and ethno-religious strife, and the world we live in today. The opera, which Mussorgsky left incomplete, is being sung in English under a new title, Khovanskygate: A National Enquiry.Read the whole thing here.
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 11 April 2014 | Permalink
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 24 March 2014 | Permalink
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 20 March 2014 | Permalink
When it comes to classical music and American culture, the fat lady hasn't just sung. Brünnhilde has packed her bags and moved to Boca Raton. Classical music has been circling the drain for years, of course. There's little doubt as to the causes: the fingernail grip of old music in a culture that venerates the new; new classical music that, in the words of Kingsley Amis, has about as much chance of public acceptance as pedophilia; formats like opera that are extraordinarily expensive to stage; and an audience that remains overwhelmingly old and white in an America that's increasingly neither. Don't forget the attacks on arts education, the Internet-driven democratization of cultural opinion, and the classical trappings—fancy clothes, incomprehensible program notes, an omerta-caliber code of audience silence — that never sit quite right in the homeland of popular culture.Clearly, this is not claiming that classical music is dead in contemporary mainstream American culture but a suggestion that it finds itself in serious trouble; viz., as the rest of the article makes clear, relegated to the culture's deepest hinterlands, its outermost margins. (Although the article negligently does not make note of it, this silent, insidious process had its beginnings in the mid-1960s and became more pressing with each passing year since and has today reached a degree that's perhaps the most extreme it's been since America became a fully developed nation sometime in the mid- to late-19th century.) And following those lede grafs, that is what the balance of this article is all about; the thesis it attempts to support and prove using statistical evidence of the inarguable migration. And that's it. No requiem, no funeral. The article's author even hopes classical music in American culture is due a comeback (see the article's closing graf). The above commentary published here in an attempt to inject a modest measure of clear-eyed sanity into the presiding hysteria.
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 31 January 2014 | Permalink
⚫ Anthony Tommasini for The New York Times: Mr. Wuorinen has written an intricate, vibrantly orchestrated and often brilliant score that conveys the oppressiveness of the forces that defeat these two men, whose lives we follow over 20 years, starting in 1963 when they take a summer job herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain. But the same qualities in Mr. Wuorinen's music that can captivate listeners — ingenious complexity, lucid textures, tartly atonal harmonic writing — too often weigh down the drama in this work. To his credit, there is not one saccharine or melodramatic touch in the score. Still, you yearn for the music to sing, to convey the moments of romantic bliss and sensual pleasure that the uptight Ennis Del Mar and his more daring companion Jack Twist experience. For long stretches, though, Mr. Wuorinen's music comes across as a little too brainy and relentlessly busy.
⚫ Andrew Clements for The Guardian: [H]owever striking it is, Wuorinen's rather dry, often etiolated music, sometimes recalling late Schoenberg, sometimes serial Stravinsky, rarely transcends the text enough to enhance the drama rather than just adding rather terse punctuation and commentary to it. The tenebrous opening certainly signals the tragedy that is to come, but when it does, with Jack's death almost two hours later, there's nothing to deliver the gut wrench needed; Ennis's final monologue merely hints at the expressive world the music might have explored. [Wuorinen's] generally sparse scoring at least means that a great deal of Proulx's text gets across in the performance, but that's a mixed blessing. There are far too many words: her original short story is a model of economy, but where most librettists pare down their sources, Proulx too often expands hers, adding explanations and back story, even whole scenes, that are not to be found in her original narration. Some subsidiary characters just aren't needed, and though the opera is played straight through, in two acts of 11 scenes each without an interval, the pacing is uneven and the drama sometimes holds fire just when it needs to be moving remorselessly on.
⚫ Shirley Apthorp for The Financial Times: [T]here is nothing particularly provocative about Annie Proulx's stark short story of two men sharing an impossible love in an inhospitable environment. It is very much the stuff of operas. Since Proulx wrote Wuorinen's libretto herself, and the creative team stayed well away from the temptation of echoing Ang Lee's film, the opera stands on its own. It is more explicitly tragic than the story. Ennis barely speaks at the beginning, but his part evolves as the work progresses, until finally, after Jack's death, he can express his love in lyrical lines. Proulx's text gives her characters words that were only implied in her original tale. Too many words; less would have been more. A superlative author is not automatically a consummate librettist.
Wuorinen's score is as perilously close to sentimentality as it is possible for atonal music to be. Though he cites Moses und Aron as an inspiration, the music is unashamedly pictorial, echoing early Alban Berg more than late Schoenberg.
Posted by A.C. Douglas on 29 January 2014 | Permalink