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September 9, 2015 at 11:00 AM
When you're feeling ill, you just want to feel better as soon as possible. As the weather gets colder, the sickness season is upon us, so Quorn takes a look at what foods can aid your recovery.
Your body needs more calories to fight off illness than usual, so don't worry too much about your diet plan, focus more on getting better. Your energy levels need to be high, so try sticking to regular eating patterns as much as possible; this will prevent your symptoms from becoming worse and lengthening the duration of the illness.
You may feel that your appetite has been ruined by sickness, but make sure you stay well-nourished and hydrated. Try to eat and drink regularly, as it will help to give your body extra energy and stay strong.
Certain foods can help you to recover from sickness. Here are the best foods to give you a boost.
Soup – It's not just a myth that this can help you to recover. It helps to prevent dehydration and fight inflammation or congestion. Why not try Quorn Meatless and Soy Free Chik'n Tenders with noodles and a vegetable broth or Quorn's Thai-Style Chik'n and Coconut Soup?
Hot Tea – Warm liquids can soothe a sore throat and alleviate congestion. Freshly-brewed green tea supports your immune system which fights off infections. You can even try hot water with lemon. Ginger can help with nausea and sickness so maybe try to include this too if you're feeling a little queasy.
Citrus Fruits – There's no scientific proof that vitamin C can help you recover from a cold, but the soft white layer of skin surrounding citrus fruits contains flavonoids which boosts the immune system so why not try an orange or grapefruit with breakfast?
Ice Lollies – These can be a great way to hydrate if you don't feel up to drinking liquids. They can also help with a sore throat, and if it's made of whole fruit then it's even better for your recovery.
Spicy Foods – Spicy foods can help to relieve congestion. Why not try our Quorn's Chilli recipe or Thai Red Curry, which you can use as a mild base to add spices for your preferred heat.
Plain foods – We all know plain foods are good when feeling under the weather. Bananas, crackers and dry toast can help with stomach issues and recovery from general illness.
Overall, you need to ensure you are eating regularly, and including fiber and protein in your meals. Quorn have a variety of recipes which can help with this, and that incorporate some of the above foods.
Any Quorn products that you try will help you to make a delicious, nutritional meal for you and your family to enjoy. For the best results, be sure to follow the instructions on the packaging and feel free to experiment with our recipes to your own tastes. Our forward-thinking team of chefs are developing even more hearty meals for you to enjoy.
*Quorn Meatless and Soy Free products are a nutritionally healthy protein source. Protein contributes to the growth in & maintenance of muscle mass.


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Musica Sacra Appoints Janice L. Mayer Executive Director
Janice L. Mayer has been named Executive Director of Musica Sacra by the President of the Board of Directors, Scott Lethbridge. Ms. Mayer's leadership of the nonprofit choral organization will be effective January 2, 2013. In announcing the appointment, Mr. Lethbridge said, "Janice's long experience with the classical music world combined with her business acumen will be an invaluable asset to Musica Sacra."
Music Director Kent Tritle shared his enthusiasm for the selection, "I am so very excited to be working with Janice Mayer in this new capacity. I have long admired her sensitivity to artists and her depth of commitment to great music making. I am looking forward to a rich and meaningful collaboration!"
In accepting the appointment, Ms. Mayer said, "Over the years as an artist manager, I often placed soloists with Musica Sacra. The vocalists had meaningful artistic experiences, and the performances that I attended were outstanding. The chorus' dual commitment to performing masterpieces of the oratorio repertoire superbly, and to expanding the vocal repertoire through the commissioning, performing, and recording of works by leading contemporary composers, is of great importance to me. I look forward to working with the Board of Directors to realize Kent Tritle's artistic vision and maintain Musica Sacra's standard of excellence."
Janice L. Mayer joins Musica Sacra from Caminos del Inka, Inc., where she served as Executive Director. Caminos del Inka, Inc. was founded by conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya to discover, preserve, expand and disseminate the rich musical legacy of the Americas. During her distinguished career, Ms. Mayer has held positions of responsibility with the New York City Opera, The Shubert Organization, The Metropolitan Opera, the Van Cliburn Foundation, and Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS. She was a Vice President at Columbia Artists Management, Inc., and founded and directed Janice Mayer & Associates LLC., an international artist management firm based in New York. Janice Mayer has been engaged as a consultant by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, ML Falcone Public Relations, The Harlem School of the Arts, and The Copyright Society of the USA, among other organizations. As a volunteer arts leader, she is the President of the Board of Directors of Backshore Artists Project Inc., a nonprofit organization committed to the commissioning of chamber works. She was honored to be the first artist manager elected to the Board of Directors of OPERA America, serving for six years. A committed educator, she has taught in the arts administration programs at New York University and Purchase College, State University of New York. Janice Mayer holds a Master of Public Administration degree with a specialization in Arts Administration from New York University and a B.A. from Connecticut College.

subset: commoncrawl


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Indians sign Kotchman
The Cleveland Indians today announced that they have signed free agent first baseman Casey Kotchman to a one-year contract. He will earn $3 million in 2012 and there are incentives in his contract to earn more. The Indians have not yet announced the player that will be removed from the 40-man roster to make room for Kotchman.
Kotchman, 28, played with the Tampa Bay Rays last season and finished 8th in the American League in hitting (.306) and 10th in on-base percentage (.378). He also had 24 doubles, 10 home runs, 48 RBI, and a .800 OPS in his 146 games played. His batting average, on-base percentage, and games played were all career highs. In his 8-year career he is a .268 hitter with 59 HR, 332 RBI and .733 OPS, and where he really helps is his ability to limit strikeouts as he has just 289 strikeouts in 2588 career at bats. He is a former Baseball America MLB Top 25 Prospect for four straight years from 2002-2005 when he was in the Angels system.
Kotchman is a plus defender and should help improve the Indians' infield defense on the right side. Last year he finished the season with a .998 fielding percentage (2 errors in 1201 total chances), leading all Major League first basemen in that category for a fourth consecutive campaign (2008-11). His career .998 fielding percentage (11 errors in 6076 total chances) is the highest in Major League history for those with at least 700 career games at the position.
Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).
Follow Tony and the Indians Baseball Insider on Twitter @TonyIBI. Also, his new book the 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.


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Data Center
- Data Center
Is VDI right for your BYOD requirements?
Gone are the days when an employee would be issued a single desktop computer to use for all work-related tasks.Read More
- Data Center
Summary: The Eye in the Sky is Watching Us All
Follow my adventures at Harrah's Casino in New Orleans including a winning streak, decadent meals and life-long memories. Find out howRead More
- Data Center
Cisco SAP Competence Center
Yesterday I met Michael Missbach, Phd., who is the head of the SAP Competence Center based in Germany. Michael whoRead More
- Data Center
Cisco and SAP : State of the collaboration
The second day at SAPPHIRE 2012 has been as intense as the first day – After interviewing one of theRead More
- Data Center
Cisco Survey Tracks Top Cloud Concerns
As the role of cloud computing grows stronger, IT decision makers in 13 countries shared their plans and concerns inRead More
- Data Center
Cisco at Sapphire 2012
A quick snapshot of @ciscodc at Sapphire – As expected a lot of activities for this first day in Orlando. On theRead More


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Double Exposure | 2016 Residency and Exhibition | Announcement
(Image: Laura Hindmarsh, Wall Drawing (window) 2013, digital video 5.57 minutes, colour, no sound)
DOUBLE EXPOSURE | 2016 Residency and Exhibition
PhotoAccess is pleased to announce Australian mid-career artist Laura Hindmarsh as the recipient of the inaugural Double Exposure residency program, which will commence in March 2016. The Double Exposure residency, which is produced in partnership with Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centres (AGAC), and funded by the ACT Government's 2016 Arts Residencies ACT Program, offers one mid-career artist living outside the ACT the opportunity to make and exhibit new work in Canberra in 2016. The Double Exposure Residency exists to support experimental photomedia practice. It aims to introduce one artist to ACT audiences, and to contribute to public awareness of photomedia practice in a national and expanded art context.
Hindmarsh was selected following a national callout, by a specialist panel comprising Denise Ferris (Head of School of Art Australian National University), Anne O'Hehir (Curator of Photography National Gallery of Australia) and Janice Falsone (Director PhotoAccess).
Hindmarsh lives and works between London, UK, and Hobart, Tasmania. Working across the disciplines of drawing, video, performance and 16mm film, her practice interrogates mechanisms of production to the point of exhaustion or collapse. Her work has been exhibited at Standard Practice New York, Apiary Studios London, Centre for Contemporary Photography Melbourne, Ve.Sch Vienna, TMAG Hobart, DARK MOFO Hobart, QVMAG Launceston and PICA Perth. She has undertaken residencies through Contemporary Art Tasmania, Big Fag Press (Sydney), Bm:ukk in Residencie (Vienna), Cite Internationale des Arts (Paris) and Asialink (Japan).
For the Double Exposure residency, Hindmarsh says that she will 'seek to investigate an impossibility of the photographic medium, inverting visuality and resisting the fixity of photography. Experimenting with performative ways to examine the processes and materiality of photochemical film, the project looks to the gap between still and moving image, blindness and avisuality'.
Hindmarsh will spend seven weeks in Canberra throughout 2016 at the ArtSit at Gorman Arts Centre and will participate in three events: public event or workshop at Gorman Arts Centre, a talk or technical demonstration at PhotoAccess, and a solo exhibition at PhotoAccess in November 2016.
This project is funded by the ACT Government's 2016 Arts Residencies ACT Program.


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Put your logo on promotional cooking utensils today. Give your clients a hand outside of the office with some promotional cooking utensils. Your clients will be sure to appreciate a gift that will help them cook a delicious meal in the comfort of their own homes. From knifes, to spoons, to measuring cups, we have all the kitchen products your customers want. Our staff can help you find a great cooking tool or kitchen item that can be personalized with your brand and logo. When hosting an event, looking for a great corporate gift, or making adverting giveaways to promote your brand, ePromos offers many great kitchen utensils.


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my ignorant opinion:
The guitar looks very special with the transparent green finish and the fact that it's a hollow body eclipse makes it even more unique.
And I hate to sound like a brand-loyal jackoff here but it's an ESP, so I'll assume that the neck feels alright and that the tone isn't bad at all. :P
I recommend not selling the guitar unless you are really strapped for cash. That guitar is just way too beautiful and unique looking to give up.


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Seduced by Moonlight (Meredith Gentry Series #3)by Laurell K. Hamilton, Laural Merlington (Read by)
Now there are those among me who whisper I am more.
They fear me even as they protect me. And who can blame them?
I've awakened the dazzling magic that's slumbered in them for
thousands of years. But the thing is, I can't figure out why.
My aunt, the Queen of/i>/i>
I am Meredith Gentry, P.I. and Princess Merry, heir to the throne of Fairie.
Now there are those among me who whisper I am more.
They fear me even as they protect me. And who can blame them?
I've awakened the dazzling magic that's slumbered in them for
thousands of years. But the thing is, I can't figure out why.
My aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness, is no longer distracted by her usual sadistic hobbies. Her obsession has turned unwaveringly to me. The mission to get me pregnant and beat my cousin Prince Cel to the crown is taking longer than expected. Even though I spend each night with the Queen's Ravens, my immortal guards, no child has come of our decadent pleasures. But something else is happening. My magic courses through me uncontrollably. And as I lock my half-mortal body with their full-Sidhe blooded ones, the power surges like never before.
It all began with the chalice. I dreamed of it, and it appeared, cool and hard, beside me when I awoke. My guards know the ancient relic well - its disappearance ages ago stripped them of their vital powers. But it is here with us now. My touch resonates with its force, and they're consumed with it, their Sidhe essences lit up by it. But even as they cherish me for this unexpected gift, there are those who loathe me for it. Me, a mongrel, only half fey and part mortal. The Unseelie court has suffered for so long, and there are some who would not have it weakened further by an impure queen. My enemies grow in number every day. But they do not know what I am capable of. Nor, for that matter, do I. . . .
In Seduced by Moonlight, Laurell K. Hamilton brings the dark, erotic reign ofthe immortal fey to a startling new depth. Full of sensuality and the consuming anticipation of latent powers unleashed, this world of gods, shapeshifters, and immortal souls is unveiled in all of its supreme magnificence and its treacherous deceits.
Laurell K. Hamilton is the New York Times bestselling author of the Meredith Gentry novels, A Kiss of Shadows and A Caress of Twilight, as well as ten acclaimed Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri.
Editorial Reviews
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
—San Jose Mercury News
"A sizzling new series that blends supernatural fantasy with detective adventure . . . Memorable characters and wicked wit make it all delicious, ribald fun."
—Publishers Weekly
From the Hardcover edition.
Product Details
- 9781441803726
- Publisher:
- Findaway World
- Publication date:
- 08/28/2009
- Series:
- Meredith Gentry Series , #3
- Edition description:
- With Earbuds
- Product dimensions:
- 4.60(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.20(d)
Read an Excerpt
Chapter 1
A lot of people lounge by pools in l.a., but few of them are truly immortal, no matter how hard they pretend with plastic surgery and exercise. Doyle was truly immortal and had been for over a thousand years. A thousand years of wars, assassinations, and political intrigue, and he'd been reduced to being eye candy in a thong bathing suit by the pool of the rich and famous. He lay at the edge of the pool, wearing almost nothing. Sunlight glittered across the blue, blue water of the pool. The light broke in a jagged dance across his body, as if some invisible hand stirred the light, turning it into a dozen tiny spotlights that coaxed Doyle's dark body into colors I'd never known his skin could hold.
He wasn't black the way a human being is black, but more the way a dog is black. Watching the play of light on his skin, I realized I'd been wrong. His skin gleamed with blue highlights, a shine of midnight blue along the long muscular sweep of his calf, a flare of royal blue like a stroke of deep sky touched his back and shoulder. Purple to shame the darkest amethyst caressed his hip. How could I ever have thought his skin monochrome? He was a miracle of colors and light, strapped across a body that rippled and moved with muscles honed in wars fought centuries before I was born.
The braid of his black hair trailed across the edge of the lounge chair, fell over the side, and curled beside him on the concrete like some patient serpent. His hair was the only thing that seemed black on black. There was no play of colors, only a gleam like a black jewel. It seemed as if it should have been the other way around, that his hair should have held thehighlights and his body been all one color, but it wasn't.
He lay on his stomach, head turned away from me. He was pretending to be asleep, but I knew he wasn't. He was waiting. Waiting for the helicopter to fly over. The helicopter that would contain the press, people with cameras. We'd made a deal with the devil. If the press would just stay away enough for us to have some privacy, we'd make sure that at prearranged times they had something newsworthy to take pictures of. I was Princess Meredith NicEssus, heir to the throne of the Unseelie Court, and the fact that I'd surfaced in Los Angeles, California, after a three-year absence was big news. People thought I'd died. Now I was alive and well, and living in the middle of one of the biggest media empires on the planet. Then I'd gone and done something that was even better tabloid fodder.
I was looking for a husband. The only faerie princess born on American soil was looking to wed. Being fey, especially a member of the sidhe, the highest of the high royals, I wasn't allowed to marry unless I was pregnant. The fey don't breed much, and the sidhe royals breed even less. My aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness, would not tolerate anything less than a fertile match. Since we seemed to be dying out, I guess I couldn't blame her. But somehow the tabloids had gotten wind that I wasn't just dating my bodyguards, I was fucking them. Whoever got me with child, got a wedding. Got to be king to my queen.
The tabloids even knew that the queen had made it a contest between me and her son, my cousin, Prince Cel. Whoever got a baby first, won the throne. The media had fallen on us like a cannibalistic orgy. Not pretty, not pretty at all.
What the tabloids didn't know was that Cel had tried to have me assassinated more than once. They also didn't know that he'd been imprisoned by the queen for six months as punishment. Imprisoned and tortured, for six months. Immortality and an ability to heal almost anything does have some downsides. Torture can last a very, very long time.
When Cel got out, he'd be allowed to continue the contest, unless I got pregnant first. So far, no luck, and it wasn't for lack of trying.
Doyle was one of five bodyguards, the queen's own bodyguards, who had volunteered, or been volunteered, to be my lover. Queen Andais had had a rule that her bodyguards gave their seed to her body, or nobody. Doyle had been celibate for centuries. Again, immortality, if it goes wrong, can have some downsides.
We'd chosen one of the most persistent of the tabloids and made our arrangements. Doyle thought it was rewarding bad behavior; the queen wanted us to show positive images to the media. The Unseelie Court of the sidhe has a reputation for being the bad guys. We can be, but I'd spent my fair share of time at the Seelie Court, the bright and shining court that the media think is so perfect, so joyous. Their King Taranis, the King of Light and Illusion, is my uncle. But I'm not in line to that throne. I had the bad taste to have a father who was full-blooded Unseelie sidhe, and that is a crime for which the glittering throng has no forgiveness. There was no prison that I could go to, no torture I could endure, that would cleanse me of this sin.
They can say that the Seelie Court is a beautiful place, but I learned that my blood is just as red on white marble as it is on black. The beautiful people made it very plain at a young age that I would never be one of them. I'm too short, too human looking, and, worse yet, too Unseelie looking.
My skin is as white as Doyle's is black. Moonlight skin is what I have, a mark of beauty at either court, but I am barely five feet tall. No sidhe is that short. I have curves and am a little too voluptuous for the sidhe—that pesky human blood, I guess. My eyes are tricolored, two shades of green and a circle of gold. The eyes would be welcome in the Seelie Court, but not the hair. It's blood auburn, sidhe scarlet, if you go to a good salon and get the dye job. It's not auburn, and it's not human red. It's as if you took good red garnets and spun the jewels out into hair. It has one other nickname among the glittering throng—Unseelie red. The Seelie have red hair, but it's closer to human red, orangey, golden, true auburn, or true red, but nothing as dark as mine.
My mother made sure that I knew I was less. Less beautiful, less welcome, just less. She and I don't talk much. My father died when I was younger, and there is rarely a day that I don't miss him. He taught me that I was enough, beautiful enough, tall enough, strong enough, just enough.
Doyle raised his head, showing the black wraparound sunglasses that hid his own black eyes. The light glittered off the silver earrings that graced almost every inch of his ears, from lobe to pointed tip. The ears were the only thing that gave away the fact that Doyle wasn't pure Unseelie sidhe. Contrary to popular literature, and every wanna-be fey with ear implants, real sidhe do not have pointed ears. Doyle could have hidden the ears and passed for pure sidhe, but he almost always wore his hair back so that this one imperfection showed. I think the earrings were so you wouldn't miss them.
"I hear the helicopter. Where is Rhys?"
I didn't hear anything yet, but I'd learned not to question Doyle; if he said he'd heard something, he had. His hearing was better than a human's, and better than most of the rest of the guards. Probably something to do with his mixed heritage.
I sat up and looked back toward the wall of glass that led into the house. Rhys appeared in the sliding glass doors before I could call for him. His skin was the paleness of mine, but there the sameness ended. His waist-length hair was a mass of tight white curls framing a face that was boyishly handsome and would be forever. His one eye was tricolored blue, cornflower, and winter sky. His other eye was gone, lost long ago. Sometimes he wore a patch to cover the scars, but once he realized that I didn't mind, he seldom bothered. The scars trailed down his face but stopped short of his kissable, pouting lips. For sheer shape of the mouth, his was the prettiest. He was five foot six, the shortest full-blooded sidhe I'd ever met. But every inch of him that showed was muscled. He seemed to try to make up for the lack of height by being in better shape than the rest of the guards. They were all muscular, but he was one of the few who really took the weight lifting seriously. He was also the only one with washboard abs. He had the towels he'd gone for, in front of those abs, and lower, and it wasn't until he dropped the towels beside my chair that I realized he'd left his bathing suit in the house.
"Rhys! What are you doing?"
He grinned at me. "Bathing suits this small are like lies. It's a way for humans to be nude without being naked. I'd rather just be naked."
"They won't be able to print the pictures if one of us is nude," Doyle said.
"They'll print my ass, just not my front."
I looked up at him, suddenly suspicious. "And just why won't they be able to see the front of your body?"
He laughed, head back, mouth wide, a sound so joyous it seemed to make the day brighter. "I'll be hiding myself against your gorgeous body."
"No," Doyle said.
"And are you going to do anything picture-worthy?" Rhys asked, hands on his hips. He was totally comfortable nude. His body language never changed no matter what he was, or wasn't, wearing. It had taken two days worth of arguing to get Doyle into the thong bikini bottom he had on. He'd never participated in the court's casual nudity.
Doyle stood, and the front of the suit was tiny enough, and close enough in color, that I could see Rhys's point. If you didn't know how magnificent Doyle looked nude, you might think this was it, at a glance. From the back he looked almost as nude as Rhys.
"I am wearing this, and I am in public view."
"You're cute," Rhys said, "but if we want the tabloids to stop trying to snap pictures through the bedroom windows, we need to play fair with them. We need to give them a show." He spread his arms wide when he said the last, turning his back to me so I got the full view of the back of his body. The view was better without the bathing suit to break up the clean, muscled lines of him. He still had a wonderful ass, unlike some bodybuilders, who've taken the lack of body fat to a point where there is nothing soft on their bodies. You need a little softness to hide the lines of muscles, or it just looks wrong.
I could hear the helicopter now. "We're running out of time, gentlemen. I do not want to go back to having the photographers camped out in the trees outside the wall."
Rhys glanced back at me. "If we don't give the first tabloid a good show, they'll tell the rest that we lied, and we'll have them climbing all over us again." He sighed, and not as if he was happy. "I'd rather flash my ass to the entire country than have another photographer break his arm falling off the roof."
"Agreed," I said.
Doyle took a deep breath in through his nose and let it out slowly through his mouth. "Agreed." How little he liked it showed in the lines of his body, the way he stood. If he couldn't act better than this, Doyle would have to be excused from future photo opportunities.
Rhys came to the foot of my lounge chair and knelt on all fours, with his hands on the chair arms. He was grinning at me, and I knew he'd find a way of enjoying this. It might be duty, and he might prefer to just shoot the helicopter out of the sky, but he'd play fair, and he'd find a way to make it fun, if he could.
I gazed down his body, because I couldn't help it. I couldn't not look at him dangling there, close enough to fondle, close enough for so much. My voice was a little less than steady when I asked, "Do you have a plan?"
"I thought we'd make out."
"And what am I supposed to be doing?" Doyle asked. He sounded disgusted with the entire situation. He loved being my lover, loved the possibility of being king; he hated the publicity and everything that went with it.
"You can take one end, I'll take the other."
The helicopter was close now, perhaps hidden only by the line of tall eucalyptus trees that bordered the estate. Doyle flashed a smile, white and sudden as lightning in the darkness of his face. He moved with that liquid grace and speed that I could never match, and was suddenly kneeling beside my shoulder. "If I must, then I would have the sweet taste of your mouth."
Rhys darted a quick lick across my bare stomach that made me writhe and giggle. He raised his face enough to say, "There are other tastes just as sweet." The look in his eye, his face, held a heat and knowledge that stole the laughter from my throat and sent my pulse racing.
Doyle brushed his lips across my shoulder. The movement brought my gaze to his, and there was that same dark knowledge. A knowledge born of nights and days of skin and sweat and bodies, of tangled sheets and pleasure.
My voice came a little shaky. "You've decided to play. What made you change your mind?"
He whispered against my cheek, and just his breath hot against my skin made me shudder. "This is a necessary evil, and if you must parade yourself for the media, then I will not abandon you." That flash of a smile came again, like a surprise across his face. It made him look younger, almost like someone else entirely. It had only been in the last month or so that I'd known Doyle had a smile like that inside him. "Besides, I cannot leave you to Rhys. Goddess knows what he would do out here on his own."
Rhys ran a finger along the edge of my bikini bottom. "Such a tiny piece of cloth. They'll never see it if we're careful."
I frowned at him. "What do you mean?"
He dropped lower on the lounge chair so that his face was above that tiny piece of cloth, his hands sliding under my slightly raised thighs until those hands came up over my hips and hid the bright red cloth of the bikini bottom. He lowered his face just over my groin, and his hair spread across my thighs like a curtain.
I didn't have time to protest, or even decide if I was going to. The helicopter cleared the trees, and that was how they found us. Rhys with his face buried in my groin, his legs bent at the knees, feet kicking slightly over his bare ass, like a child with a piece of good candy.
I thought Doyle would protest, until he pressed his face into my neck and I realized he was laughing. Silently, shoulders shaking. He eased me back onto the lounge chair so that I was lying down again, still laughing, but hiding it from the cameras.
I started to smile and was glad my sunglasses were back in place. The smile started to turn into a laugh as the helicopter circled overhead, close enough to chop the water of the pool and send Rhys's hair tickling along my skin. My hair flared in the artificial wind like bloody flames.
I was laughing full out now, which made things besides my shoulders shake.
Rhys licked across the front of my groin, and even through the cloth it slowed the laughter, brought a catch to my breath. He rolled his eye up the line of my body, and the look was enough; he didn't want me laughing. He set his teeth into the cloth and grazed me delicately with his teeth. The sensation made me shudder, spine bowing enough to spill my head backward and open my mouth in a throaty gasp.
Doyle squeezed my shoulder, brought me back into my head a little. I was still shaky and had trouble focusing on his face. "I think we have had enough of a show for one day." He laid one of the towels across my stomach. He handed the other one to Rhys.
Rhys looked up at him, and I saw the thought to argue cross his face, but in the end he simply began to get up, spreading the towel as he moved so that the cameras didn't get a glimpse of the bikini bottoms. I'd half expected him to flash the camera, show the joke, but he didn't. He very carefully covered me with the towel, while the helicopter swirled overhead and the wind beat our hair around us. On his knees, he was fully exposed, and I wondered if there'd be photos with him politely fuzzed out, or whether they'd sell them to the European papers and not worry about it.
When I was covered completely, from thighs to just under the red bikini top, he scooped me up in his arms.
I had to shout to be heard above the sound of wind and machinery. "I can walk."
"I want to carry you." He seemed so serious when he said it, and it cost me nothing to let him do it.
I nodded.
Rhys carried me toward the house with Doyle walking a little behind and to one side of us. Doyle was being a good bodyguard, bringing up the rear, but he was also walking to one side, instead of directly behind us, so that he didn't ruin the photo opportunity.
He stopped at his chair and scooped up a third towel, then moved smoothly toward the house. I caught a glimpse of the gun wrapped in that towel. The helicopter circling overhead never knew that any of us was armed. They also couldn't see Frost standing just inside the sliding glass doors, hidden by a spill of drapes. He was fully dressed, and very fully armed. I think the reason I didn't mind the media games so much was that if no one tried to kill me, it was a good day. When that's your criterion for a good day, what's a few helicopters and some racy photos? Not much.
Meet the Author
Laurell K. Hamilton is the New York Times bestselling author of the Meredith Gentry novels, A Kiss of Shadows and A Caress of Twilight, as well as ten acclaimed Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri.
From the Hardcover edition.
Brief Biography
- Hometown:
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Date of Birth:
- February 19, 1963
- Place of Birth:
- Heber Springs, Arkansas
- Education:
- B.A., Marion College
- Website:
- http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/
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I was enjoying this book until about page 130, when Merry had the great transformation. I simply do not get it. Does Laurell not like Merry's character? Why on earth would she make Merry THE PRINCESS, soon to be queen a huge sperm bank? At one point, Merry is so upset of being deprived the opportunity of swallowing seed, instead of all the men's seed always being used to try and get her pregnant. For goddess sake, it was almost like Merry was swishing it around in her mouth like fine wine. If Merry is the one to be worshiped, especially now that she is a goddess; then why aren't the men worshiping her? The guards are not kings, why aren't they on their knees and putting out to Merry? Why is the princess doing all the menial labor with such shameless eagerness, like the men are doing her a favor by letting her taste? Perhaps if Merry were at least on equal footing between her and her men sexually, I wouldn't be this disgusted. Don't get me wrong, I love reading demented books as much as the next gal but having Merry anxious to please everyone like a love starved puppy is demeaning. Relationships are give and take. Just because someone is eager to be used as a Hoover vacuum doesn't make it right. I've never been so conflicted with a series. The fantasy in this series is phenomenal and like no other. The last 100 pages of this book were so good; I was riveted to each word. However, the sex is just goddess awful and they last for pages upon pages; it's not easy to just skip them. I'm so disgusted with Merry's sex life but I love Merry's character when she isn't draped or drowning in men (and women). I hate myself for saying this but I will read the next book in this series, Stroke of Midnight because sadly enough, I can't wait to see what happens next with the fantasy portion of this series.
Laurell K. Hamilton is usually so much fun to read. But, hey, what's happening in the Gentry series? I like the kinky sex scenes as much as the next reader but this books is beyond too much. All sex and no plot. Its just too predictable. And, I am sure there is some magical reason for why it wouldn't work, but really, you don't have to have sex EVERY night to make sure you get pregnant. A good doctor could put you on a schedule. Sheesh.
On the positive side, Merry is still alive, despite the best efforts of her Unseelie enemies. On the other side, despite her and her macho harem's best work, she is not pregnant. Other things are happening though. Merry's personal magic is growing by leaps and bounds, and her touch is enough to bring back powers others have lost, and then some. Even that does not endear her to the sidhe who see her as a miserable half breed, or worse. Someone is willing to risk the anger of the Queen of Air and Darkness to assassinate the royal heir. They are even willing to bespell the queen herself. When Merry and Auntie Dearest lay aside past squabbles to unite against the enemy for a magical showdown, the duel is one well worth the price of admission. ..................................... **** Merry Gentry is much more intense than the Anita Blake books. Despite having to rely on her guards for protection, Merry does not appear at all weak. At times, your brain will be stretched, trying to picture the fantastic creatures invented for the series, but at their hearts, even the strangest displays extremely human emotions that you can recognize. Be advised, you need to A. refresh your memory on who's who or what in the prior books as the cast continually expands and B. it's definitely NC 17. ****
WHile I have enjoyed the 2 previous books in this series, this one was tedious. The plot was sex, sex and more sex. If you condense what interests me about the series (the deities, their hierarchy) into a separate book, THAT plot would have been about 30 pages long. Glad I borrowed a copy instead of purchasing one.
I used to run to the book store with every new book. I would buy two copies of each book, so I would not have to share with the rest of my household. I could not finish this book! If I wanted pornography, I would buy it. I don't mind sex, sometimes it moves story, or is a good payoff (Jean-Claude - Killing Dance). This is smut without a story line.
We know Meredith is a princess and in line for the throne. We understand she is bringing back the powers that have been lost but where is the intrigue, where are the court politics and internal dynamics that really is making it difficult for her to be accepted by both courts. Very poorly written, sex is not going to keep me interested (especially now with sixteen sex partners and more to be added). Granted a sexual act brings back lost power and godhead.... getting to it gets pretty boring. I want a clearer explanation of the deities in the courts, who are they, what did happen to make them lose their powers. Also, if the author is going to rehash court politics......why not provide better insights into each of the (lesser) courts and how their internal politics play into the two (higher) courts, Air and Darkness against Light and Illlusion. Better explanation of the difference between the two and why and how they became two separate courts. Also, about the lesser courts why their loyalities are the way they are. And since Meredith is a child of two courts, why would the Sidhes of both courts be upset over her coming to the throne besides the fact that she is half mortal? Is there something in Sidhes history that says if a mortal becomes ruler what would happen? What about a half mortal? Also, a better explanation about the sixteen royal houses within the court of air and darkness. The only two things that keep me going and interested was what happen in the queen's chambers during her bloodlust and how Meredith became more royal by saving these men.....and Maeve's confrontation on Meredith's right to rule (court politics how its played against the queen's unresolved weaknesses and Meredith's growing strengths). Too many words, no substance.
I'm attempting to enjoy the 'Merry' books, but Hamilton's ploding plot development is making it hard. I keep comparing them to the well written, page-turning vampire-slayer books and get disappointed with each new installment.
I have always enjoyed Ms Hamilton and couldn't wait for the next book...until now. It's nice that Merry enjoys sex, but not getting out of the bedroom for three fourths of the book makes it repetitive. The last few chapters were back to the 'old' Hamilton and were great. But will I buy the next one? Probably not...unless I check the middle of the book to see if Merry is out of bed!
I¿ve tried to hang on through the second book and was barely able to make it through this one. It seems the more Ms. Hamilton writes about the character and her environment, the less she really has to say. The majority of the book can be reduced to a ¿his eyes were the color of ____ ¿the outer layer was this color, the inner layer was this color, AND then some magic happens. And now his eyes are the color of _____ ¿ the outer layer was this color, the inner layer was this color, AND then some magic happens and so on¿. By taking out the extensive descriptions of the people, their hair, their skin, the tri-colored eyes, the way they move, their power, the rules she has to follow in order to ¿survive¿, endless references to what had happened to someone in the past, behavioral characteristics that really don¿t matter (pouting for example)¿you end up with a book that has less than 2 to three pages of good stuff. Truly, I don¿t care about the sex. If I needed that, I could always go back to the earlier Anita Blake books (better written and easier to follow). But I do care about the direction that Ms. Hamilton is going. The last two Anita Blake books were ok¿but the last one was unreadable. Is this a trend? Has she hit that fictional brick wall? Has the well truly run dry?
While the sex is thrilling, some plot and originality would have been better. The main character of Merry is morphing into the character of Anita Blake, but without any of the wit and comedy. I hope Merry develops her own personality and style in the next installment.
I have enjoyed this series up to now, but was disappointed that nothing much happened in this installment. Well ... of course lots of sex happened and that's nice too, but a plot is pretty much essential, don't you think? And I agree that Merrie is becoming too much like Anita with all her talk of protecting 'my people,' and the sleeping together in a pile. Anita is a fabulous character. I would rather see Merrie stand alone as a unique character and not be written as an Anita-knockoff.
Maybe my 4th or 5th time reading this book, that's how much I enjoyed this series. I'm glad that I have something to read when I don't have anything new to read.
Great book
Merry Gentry books by Laurell k Hamilton
I thought this book added to the series very nicely. Can't wait until I get paid at midnight to purchase the next one. =)
deliciously evil and seductive


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Aretha: Lady Soul Tee
I use to say that a fake vintage concert tee is about as stupid as pre-sliced cheese. But now that spending $120 on an authentic vintage with the neck stretched out seems more than out of my league and I'm too lazy to slice my own cheese, I've converted on both and I love this shirt.
In such a case, Radiohead wouldn't want to be left there.
I'm not quite sure what you shouldn't stop believin' in, but I know one thing for sure. It's never good to stop believin'!
Sometimes I wish I went to a real university (and what I mean by "sometimes" is often). Regardless though, I', sure not afraid to pose -- especially if it's with this sweet retro tee.Added 8 Years Ago from Turntablelab
This one has the potential to fail miserably, but managed to win, with savvy design.
Preach it clever type t-shirt, preach it. Not only is this totally hipster, but also it's actually support, what I think, is a worthwhile cause!
I have to admit that when I first saw this tee, I was confused and frankly not interested. However, a closer look showed it to be an all over print of a clotheslines -- very cool!
Some may say this is a childrens shirt, but I assure you that it's only made in adult sizes. Besides, I passionately advocate the all over print.
Remember that one scene in that one movie? Remember how much better it would be if that same conversation was between a robot and a mouse instead of two people? Printed on American Apparel.
Oh no!! The warms are crawling in and out of your body. As if that wasn't fly enough, it's also a single color, all over print and It's great and ugly and everythign else good.
I like it it. Really simple, and super clever (but overly corny). One should says "cold." The other says "to cry on."Tags: shirts, t-shirts, tees, blue, women, mens, threadless, guy, girls mensAdded 8 Years Ago from Typetees
Honestly, i love about any shirt with an all over print. This simplistic,almost vintage print in all blue, well, it's that much better.
We'll just call this a really fun way to support our favorite band, the Beatles.


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Match all of the wizard tiles to defeat deadly Vikings! As a powerful wizard, you can arrange magical defenses. The black gemstone tower slows down incoming Vikings. Special land traps damage anyone who walks upon them. Each skill is color-coded!
Click Battle is one of our selected Action Games. Also very popular on this website right now are Kingdom Rush Frontiers, Storm Ops 4, Dead Zed 2 and Battle Panic.
Report game as broken
Cancel report of broken game


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UPTON-upon-Severn's tourist information centre is set to move out of the High Street within the next three months.
Despite some opposition, Malvern Hills District Council voted earlier this year to cut costs by moving the facility into the Heritage Centre at Upton's historic Pepperpot.
It is estimated this will save about £37,000 through reduced staffing costs and income from letting the vacated premises.
The council has now submitted a planning application for various alterations to the heritage centre, including door alterations and the installation of a roof light, and hopes to move the tourist service in November. Staff will be retained to work alongside new and existing volunteers at the heritage centre and Councillor Phil Grove, responsible for economic development, gave assurances that the offering to visitors will not suffer.
"The Heritage Centre building was significantly improved in 2010 and the council has set aside a capital budget to invest further in the building, to ensure it provides a first-class tourist information service alongside the heritage centre,"
he said.
"We are committed to ensuring visitors to Upton have a warm welcome and an enjoyable visit to this beautiful riverside town."
The decision to move the tourist centre continues to divide opinion.
Mike Ostick, vice chairman of the Upton Town Partnership, accepts the council has to cut costs and believes this is the best possible solution.
"Last year the heritage centre had 9,000 visitors and the tourist information centre about 30,000.
"To put the two together in a prominent place close to the High Street is a real magnet for visitors," he said.
"In the current economic climate, when councils have to save money, I think this is an ideal solution which will not really impact our offering to visitors."
But Malvern Hills District Councillor Roger Sutton, opposed the original decision back in February, and said his opinion had not changed, calling the move "one of the daftest decisions that we (the council) has ever taken".
"Upton is dependent on tourism and a proper tourist centre is absolutely crucial,"
he said.
"It is the first thing people see and for many years has had a dedicated and professional staff who are doing a first class job. I am yet to be convinced that service will be replicated in the Pepperpot."


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Huq Reviews "British Secularism and Religion: Islam, Society and the State"
It has recently come to the attention of some commentators that Europe and America have become more religiously pluralistic in the last few years. Even though in Europe it was a post-World War II hunger for a new low-cost surplus labor pool that drove this new pluralism, these commentators have come to the conclusion that grave errors were made. They are not happy about what they see as an unfortunate turn of events. In Italy, Oriana Falluci has warned from the steeples about Europe becoming a "a colony of Islam." In Germany, Thilo Sarrazin now tolls the (eugenic) bell for the intellectual decline of a Heimat flooded with Turks. In Britain, Melanie Philips spies decline and fall in the slivers of a woman's head covering. Ranging across the continent and globe, American commentators such as Bruce Bawer, and Mark Steyn and Christopher Caldwell mutter darkly around brewing revolution, discerning dire prospects in the darkening visages of Europe.
As troubling as this literature may seem—and I make light of it largely because mockery seems one effective riposte—it is also inflected by a deep and seemingly unwitting irony. These commentators tend to proclaim their embrace of liberal European values, even as they either explicitly or implicitly advance an agenda of exclusion, marginalization, and state-sanctioned discrimination with respect to European Muslims. To these commentators, those who argue that liberal values protect both the Christian and the Muslim are written off as dupes: Islam, that monolith that admits of no refracting gaze, simply cannot be assimilated to the liberal domain. Never mind that the chief attraction of liberalism (at least in the strand best exemplified by the British philosopher John Stuart Mill) is its universalism and its refusal to install arbitrary moral distinctions between human beings. To protect liberalism from itself, for these commentators, means to gut liberalism of the touchstone of its enduring appeal for the marginalized, the despised, and the forlorn.


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Are the Packers back on track?
Following nearly every Aaron Rodgers touchdown throw Sunday night – and there were quite a few – NBC Sports color commentator Cris Collinsworth couldn't help but talk about how Rodgers exuded confidence and carried a chip on his shoulder during pregame conversations.
On one hand, the reigning National Football League MVP would say the game isn't "easy" and that 2011 season the Packers offense had took some work. Then he said how the Packers entered Sunday night's game against the previously unbeaten Houston Texans feeling they – not the home team – were the favorite. Rodgers followed that up by saying Houston felt the same way.
After the game, Rodgers told his critics to "ssshhhh" before running off the field.
It's an interesting attitude to have.
Not many teams who feel they are the favorites to win a game (or a Super Bowl) can also carry around the "us against the world mentality." Those are two things that just don't go together.
Yet here we are, and no one can really blame them for it.
All week, sports talk radio across the country was asking "what's wrong with the Packers?" The consensus, by football people I respect, was that this was still one of the most talented teams in the league, but something just wasn't right.
No one, at least that I heard, was writing them off heading into Sunday night. In fact, the expectation was they would perform.
And they did.
Rodgers threw six touchdowns, and he got sharper as the game wore on. A bad overthrow of a wide-open James Jones seemed to get him back on track. It was vintage Rodgers, completing 65 percent of his passes (24 of 37) for 338 yards and a 133.8 passer rating.
That we're "surprised" by this is, well, surprising. Everyone knew – even the Packers themselves – that last year was going to be impossible to repeat. But he is this good.
We did learn a couple of things, however:
- Greg Jennings isn't the "end all, be all" to the offense. The injured 29-year-old receiver seemed to be gaining leverage in his contract negotiations as the team struggled offensively, but if we've learned anything about this Packers offense, it takes time to adjust. It took longer than most wanted for the team to work out a flow without Jennings, but Sunday night (and singular moments the previous weeks) proved that the Packers could get the ball downfield and create big plays without him.
- James Jones can be your No. 2 receiver. Jones is just a year younger than Jennings, but he's a guy for whom Rodgers has vouched in the past. The guy isn't a burner, but that's what Jordy Nelson is for. Jones just has to get open. And he does, at an amazing rate. Of his 23 catches, seven have been for touchdowns. He already has matched his career high from a year ago.
- Alex Green can be your running back. People might forget, but the 24-year-old out of Hawaii was picked in the third round of the 2011 draft for a reason. He has great versatility and is a perfect fit for this offense. Did he blow people's minds last night by averaging just 3 yards per carry? No. But remember, this Houston defense had been pretty good. Green was effective, proving he was worthy enough to not only sell Rodgers' play-action, but to create trouble in open space if he wasn't respected with an extra defender near the line of scrimmage.
- As I said before, the defense is better than last year. Now, we'll have to see how it can respond to the litany of injuries that are piling up in the front seven – Sunday may prove to be this group's last, best effort because of that. But for now, defensive coordinator Dom Capers' group has proven it can get pressure up the gut without the benefit of blitzing, and the secondary has proven it can take advantage of errant throws (see Cutler, Jay). The real key going forward is if Sam Shields and Casey Hayward can make these plays in tight coverage.
There wasn't really a sense of "panic" in Packers Nation following last week's stunning second half collapse to the Indianapolis Colts. It was more like resignation, which led to some finger pointing both in and out of the Packers locker room.
To me, that's a natural occurrence. This team entered the year with Super Bowl hopes. They didn't know how or why this was happening, yet there they were, playing inconsistently at 2-3 and in danger of following three games behind the NFC North leading Chicago Bears. Of course there were doubters.
Thus, the placement of the chip on the shoulder.
Then they played like the team everyone thought they were, fast, explosive, dominating. They knew they could do this, hence the confidence.
It's an odd mix, but one that could work for them the rest of the year.
devidia | Oct. 15, 2012 at 2:15 p.m. (report)
Is it just me or does this year bear a striking resemblance so far to the 2010 campaign which resulted in a Super Bowl victory? We're 3-3, faced with a multitude of injuries and some younger guys have stepped up to make big plays. History can sometimes repeat itself. We shall see.
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TosaJim | Oct. 15, 2012 at 11:20 a.m. (report)
The Packers will be fine....they just need to keep playing well and be consistent. They had a couple bad breaks (calls) and without those...they would be 5 & 1.....as Roger says over and over..."One call...that's all"
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Last week I bought new windshield wipers for my car and I was amazed at how much better I could see! These new wipers were like a miracle – with just a few strokes they swiped the windshield clean, giving me a clear view of the road ahead. For weeks I had been driving with impaired vision without even realizing it. I just assumed that everyone looked out windshields like mine, through streaks and skips and stripes, straining to see in the sun's glare. It's hard to say exactly how long my sight had been compromised because it had deteriorated so slowly, over a long period of time. This got me wondering what else in our lives might be performing less than optimally without our noticing.
There is a theory that says if you drop a frog into a boiling pot of water it will immediately hop out, but if you were to put that same frog into a pot of cold water and slowly heat it up, the frog will stay put, not noticing the heat or the danger. Now, I've never tested this hypothesis – and I have some serious ethical questions for those who have – but I can see the truth in it. I think it's natural to become so familiar with something that we don't notice subtle, but ultimately substantial, changes. We think we're doing just fine when, before we know it, the water is boiling beneath our feet. If we're not careful, long-standing relationships can erode as patterns of behavior ingrain themselves, diminishing our view of those around us. Our beliefs and opinions – our faith – formulated in our distant past and clung to with unexamined, habitual resolve, can fall prey to this fate as well. So, what are we to do? How do we avoid a frog's fate?
It's mostly up to us to notice when our view is getting cloudy. We all need to change our wiper blades from time to time, and much more frequently than we may think. When we do, we'll see the road more clearly, with all its attendant dangers and abundant opportunities. Sometimes, if we're lucky enough, someone – a trusted friend or a family member – may point out that our view has somehow gotten murky. A child comments that we're bringing too much work home from the office. A hymn at church unexpectedly brings tears to our eyes. Or our partner utters those ominous words: "We need to talk." Such windshield-wiping moments can be challenging, but they can also show us how beautiful the journey can be when the view is unobstructed. They can remind us of the miracles that happen when we are in relationships with those who see us clearly, even when we've lost sight of ourselves.
This day and every day, I wish you peace.


text:
Marcus J. Ertl (firstname.lastname@example.com)
Mon, 07 Dec 1998 22:31:23 +0100 (MET)
I've just installed ht://dig on my providers server. at home it
worked very fine, but on the server it doesn't find anything! In the
outputpages I can see, that ${words} contains the searchword, but
${logical_words} is empty! Whats wrong????
PS: Excuse my bad english!
--- Imagination is the foundation of reality.
ww.wisulizer: http://wwwisulizer.hypermart.net Tagtraum: http://www.tu-darmstadt.de/~st002556/ LARP-Ring: http://www.tu-darmstadt.de/~st002556/ring/ LARP-Bannertausch: http://www.tu-darmstadt.de/~st002556/xchange/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the htdig mailing list, send a message to firstname.lastname@example.com containing the single word "unsubscribe" in the body of the message.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Sat Jan 02 1999 - 16:29:48 PST


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Upton Congratulates Students at Kalamazoo Central
Kalamazoo Central High School wins President's 2010 High School Commencement Challenge
Congressman Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) made the following statement following today's announcement that Kalamazoo Central High School won the President's first annual 2010 Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge. The President of the United States will be the school's commencement speaker on June 10th.
"Congratulations to the students at Kalamazoo Central and the entire community whose remarkable outpouring of support made this extraordinary announcement possible. K-Central's place in the national spotlight is a testament to Kalamazoo, whose leaders stepped up with the profound gift of the Promise that provides our youth the opportunity to receive an education despite the very difficult economic climate.
"Having visited K-Central again just last month, I continue to be impressed with the students' passion to learn and to better themselves through education as they represent the leaders of tomorrow. Winning the Commencement Challenge is a great achievement for the students, parents and faculty - we have so much to be proud of here in Kalamazoo."


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The Ulm Study and the implications for the advisory services of the Dean of Studies at the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg
Search Medline for
|April 18, 2011
|February 13, 2012
|March 13, 2012
|April 23, 2012
Increasing the flexibility of medical degree courses as well as individual advice and curriculum planning are essential needs of pregnant students and student parents. The results of the Ulm Study gave the academic advisers in the Dean of Studies' office in Heidelberg a large number of suggestions on how to offer sensitive, competent and needs-based advice to this target group. Comprehensive reflection on many years of experience in giving advice and recent survey results leads to a series of concrete measures which will contribute to more family-friendliness in Heidelberg's medical school.
Advisory activities in the Dean of Studies' Office
Study deaneries have, in addition to their tasks of organising the core curriculum and the administration of students and course achievements, the task of providing advisory and information services to students across subjects regarding all aspects of university regulations and course organisation. The academic advisors do not evaluate the course performance of students but their study progression. If required, an individual curriculum is developed in consultation with the student, taking into account their personal life and study situation.
Pregnant students or students with children who require special support and initiatives in organising their studies and family life have always been an important group for the student advisory services in Heidelberg. The results of the study funded by the Ministry of Science of Baden-Württemberg, carried out by the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University Hospital of Ulm on "Family-friendly Medical Studies in Baden-Württemberg" [1] and the workshops held in the Dean's Office at Heidelberg on the presentation of the study results in December 2010 have given additional impulse to the Dean's Office and increased the awareness of the special situation of student parents.
We shall summarise the findings and the resulting consequences for the day to day advisory services of the Dean's Office at the Medical School of the University of Heidelberg. This paper presents the status quo of advisory services as well as possible and planned measures to improve family-friendliness at the Dean's Office of the Medical School in Heidelberg.
Findings from the Ulm Study, a survey at the Medical Faculty and a discussion at the workshop
Because the qualitative and quantitative survey of student parents at the Medical School in the Ulm Study only managed to survey 3.1% of the entire student body, it is not possible to speak of representative findings but many of the results provide interesting indications [1].
From our point of view, the most important results of the Ulm Study are as follows:
- 1.
- Students with children on average are 29 years of age, older than other students in their cohort and studying medicine for many is a second qualification.
- 2.
- The majority of student parents consciously planned the birth of their child and are planning to have more children while at university; often students even choose the most favourable phase of studies for pregnancy and birth.
- 3.
- The majority of surveyed parents said that having children prolonged their studies and that they had real problems balancing having family and education.
- 4.
- The students would like:
- better advice and information
- ability to pre-plan semesters, the option of choosing groups and group swaps
- no strict attendance requirement and options for compensating in case of exceeding allowable absences
- compulsory courses during core times (preferably in the morning)
- ability to bring children to classes
- special groups for parents
- part-time studying
- better infrastructure (childcare, parking, changing tables, etc.)
A survey by the Dean's Office at the Medical School in Heidelberg of all teaching and coordinators and Practical Year (PY) officers investigated factors restricting the compatibility of pregnancy and medical studies. The Dean's Office asked the teaching coordinators and the PY officers what issues must be taken into account in their subject or at their clinic in case of a student pregnancy and what practical steps are taken. The survey was meant to serve as a useful baseline for the Dean's Office in their advisory work. The aim is to enable pregnant students seamlessly to continue their studies and to avoid prolonging the period of study. The study yielded the following results:
- 1.
- Health hazards for pregnant students or the unborn child exist in subjects where students come in contact with chemicals, radiation, anaesthetic gases, infectious materials or blood. Where physical stress, such as emergency care or where long periods of standing in the operating theatre are to be expected, the maternity policy guidelines apply.
- 2.
- Many of the preclinical and clinical courses and the compulsory and elective courses during the Practical Year can be completed by pregnant students without restrictions. In other cases, compensating offers can be made to ensure that the training objectives are achieved in spite of the precautions. Only the electives in infectious diseases and orthopaedics during the Practical Year can not be taken. The PY supervisors of the electives in infectious diseases and orthopaedics do not see opportunities for pregnant students during the practical year in their clinic. In infectious diseases, dealing with infectious patients is a prerequisite and the orthopaedic clinic provides comprehensive training in the operating theatre central to the subject and, in contrast to surgery, cannot offer alternative educational opportunities on a ward or in rehabilitation.
- 3.
- Appropriate opportunities for compensating include learning using models, observing or taking minutes during experiments in the laboratory, working on a ward rather than in the operating theatre, postponing parts of the course or switching to alternative electives.
- 4.
- Because solutions must be sought individually, comprehensive advice from the careers officer in conjunction with the teaching coordinators in the institutions or clinics is critical.
The workshop "Family-friendly Medical Studies" on 17.12.2010 additional problem areas were discussed:
- 1.
- Family-friendliness and flexibility in medicine is not only an important topic at university but also in the recruitment of junior medical staff and scientific personnel, HR management in the clinics and medical CPD.
- 2.
- The possibility of networking "Family-friendliness in Medical School" with a project at the University of Heidelberg called "Study Models at Individual Speeds" [http://mwk.baden-wuerttemberg.de/index.php?id=2714] was discussed.
- 3.
- One employee in the Prenatal (Conflict) Advisory Services run by the diakonia reported her impression that medical students feel under extreme pressure to perform in comparison to students in other subjects which can lead to the view that an abortion is the only solution.
Reflections and Conclusions
Information and Networking
Student parents need a lot of information, support and networking. Here, the Medical Faculty and Deans' Offices cannot operate in isolation but must establish links with existing services run by the university, the city or the country, churches and so on. For example, KidS (Children at University), an initiative by the University of Heidelberg, the German National Association for Student Affairs (Studentenwerk) and the Equality Office collated all key institutions, advisory services, initiatives, childcare and financial support offers on the university's website in cooperation with local authorities and the state in a helpful and comprehensive way (http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/studium/imstudium/KidS/).
Advice on Organising Degree Courses
The deaneries are responsible for giving advice to students, their individual term plans and planning the academic progress of students. Thus it gives food for thought if 56% of students state a need for advice regarding curriculum planning that 93% of respondents at the same time said that they are not in regular contact with their academic advisor about their study organisation, with 62% of respondents even claiming they do not know that the academic dean's office offers academic advisory services.
Everyday experience cannot explain the survey results for the Dean's Office; particularly in the light of conscious pregnancy planning and raising children while studying advice is vital, sometimes even before pregnancy. From the outset, the academic advisors present themselves as a first point of contact for study-related problems and pregnant students and students with children are always made to feel welcome when dropping in and sensitive advice is given when giving advice regarding the extra difficulties of their situation.
Perhaps the Dean's Office is seen by some students primarily as a body dealing with course regulations and examinations rather than as a neutral advisory office offering to take up problems without negative consequences for the students' studies. The offers and advisory services the Academic Dean offers can thus be perceived as less low threshold.
The Dean's Office will develop strategies for engaging the target groups more effectively and encouraging them to regularly visit the academic advisor in the Dean's Office.
Increasing the Flexibility of Degree Courses
Increasing the flexibility of degree courses is a legitimate request from student parents; considering their group placement and exchange requests or the possibility of taking a break from the course and a flexible return to it should go without saying.
Similar requests have also been made by many other students who are in comparably difficult situations, for example, ill or disabled students, students caring for relatives, students who must self-finance their studies and foreign students, some of whom require support because of language problems, different learning cultures or problems with immigration issues. Students who began their studies at a later stage of life, often following a first qualification, who resume studying after a break or as extreme long-time students who have exceeded the regular length of study require advice.
Many students approach the academic advisory services with special requirements regarding study planning that are not limitations through personal or social hardships but through their additional commitments or special engagements while studying. For example students who study two degrees in parallel, students on scholarships or students on other forms of sponsorship, students with unusual commitments in competitive sports, art, music, politics or social or scientific projects, as well as students who are active on the student council or hired as tutors by the faculty or aspiring to study abroad.
From this angle, students with children are one of many student groups with legitimate needs and prioritisation of special groups is not possible. In addition, study regulations and principles of equal treatment and achievement of learning targets must apply to all students, even groups of students with special needs or problems.
In general, timetables cannot be adjusted according to the wishes and needs of students as many fixed aspects must be taken into account in the organisation of teaching. The number of teaching hours, examinations and group sizes are often specified by law, there are accommodation and staffing factors and, not least of all, didactic aspects of the curriculum. Grouping together certain types of students into their own groups seems difficult due to the heterogeneity of needs and is also questionable from a didactic point of view.
Structured part-time medical studies are also not really an option as extending the period of study, which under normal circumstances is already six years and three months, could not be justified. On the other hand, an individual study extension for students can be easily arranged as the state examinations must not be taken at fixed dates and credits gained do not expire. Individual solutions for part-time study in the Practical Year are available upon request for student parents.
Performance Pressure
The feedback from the prenatal clinic that medical students are under extreme pressure to perform, discouraging pregnant students and sometimes leading to abortions is disconcerting. A survey carried out in Heidelberg on motivation in medical studies (HeiMi 2010) confirmed that performance pressure and fear of failure concerns many students: 11% of surveyed students are frequently or constantly afraid of not being able the meet the demands of the course, only 31% of students have never been worried about possibly having to quit the course.
The idea of studying at an elite university can lead students to believe that only unburdened students who are able to fully perform permanently are welcome. Not only is the quality of teaching important for the motivation of the students but also supportive environments and the certainty that students are not perceived as a nuisance. The university must recognise it as a special achievement when students manage to combine studying with raising children and that their studies are completed with and for the children.
Concrete measures in Heidelberg
- Better advertising of the advisory services offered by Dean's Office, e.g. by promoting them on the homepage.
- Improved information through networking the Dean's Office with the advisory services offered by the university for student parents
- Responsiveness and flexibility in the organisation of studies for pregnant women and student parents
- Reducing presence requirements in some blocks and modules of some clinical courses or reducing attendance control. This is done in those teaching forms and course sections which permit independent study of the contents by the students at home, where possible supported by electronic media.
- Forum on the learning platform for networking and exchange of experiences among the students with children
- Ensuring prenatal advisory centres inform students that they should also approach academic advisors at the Dean's Office in case of problems.
- Requesting management to provide changing and nursing facilities in the Dean's Office
Competing interests
The autors declare that they have no competing interests.
- 1.
- Niehues J, Prospero K, Fegert JM, Liebhardt H. Familienfreundlichkeit im Medizinstudium in Baden-Württemberg. Ergebnisse einer landesweiten Studie. GMS Z Med Ausbild. 2012;29(2):Doc33. DOI: 10.3205/zma000803


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My brother in law and I went kayaking at Lost Lake in Fresno yesterday afternoon and at some point I felt compelled to start picking up the crap people (I use the term loosely) decided to toss into the lake. After a couple hours the webbing (which is now loose) on my bow was home to an impressive mound of shit that assholes (that's actually subdued language right there) had thrown into the lake or whatever the San Joaquin had taken to it. I filled four grocery bags with cans, bottles, broken bottles, bags and the usual shit that morons (who should be severely beaten in public until they die from it) throw into the lake. I didn't expect to happen upon the above items though. The San Joaquin and the lakes it flows into are lightly populated at most so the videogame is completely random (my PS3 recognized that it's a PS2 game so it might be playable) as was a random metal receptacle. If anyone knows what that is, please let me know. If you see anyone litter please bash their excuse for a human head into a nice worm digestible paste or at least report them to someone who will take them for everything they're worth. I seriously hate, loathe, would like to dispose of people who intentionally litter on a level you probably don't understand. Lost lake is a nice place, I'd like to keep it that way.
Are you ready kids??? I can't hear you!!! Oh....Who lives on a bunch of rocks under a lake??? Deet for mosquito's, Napalm for litterbugs.
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Fri Jul 27, 2012 2:40 AM
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Download the Game Design and Indie Game Marketing Freebook 07/19/17GameDev.net and CRC Press have teamed up to bring a free ebook of content curated from top titles published by CRC Press. The freebook, Practices of Game Design & Indie Game Marketing, includes chapters from The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, A Practical Guide to Indie Game Marketing, and An Architectural Approach to Level Design. The GameDev.net FreeBook is relevant to game designers, developers, and those interested in learning more about the challenges in game development. We know game development can be a tough discipline and business, so we picked several chapters from CRC Press titles that we thought would be of interest to you, the GameDev.net audience, in your journey to design, develop, and market your next game. The free ebook is available through CRC Press by clicking here. The Curated Books The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Second Edition, by Jesse Schell Presents 100+ sets of questions, or different lenses, for viewing a game's design, encompassing diverse fields such as psychology, architecture, music, film, software engineering, theme park design, mathematics, anthropology, and more. Written by one of the world's top game designers, this book describes the deepest and most fundamental principles of game design, demonstrating how tactics used in board, card, and athletic games also work in video games. It provides practical instruction on creating world-class games that will be played again and again. View it here. A Practical Guide to Indie Game Marketing, by Joel Dreskin Marketing is an essential but too frequently overlooked or minimized component of the release plan for indie games. A Practical Guide to Indie Game Marketing provides you with the tools needed to build visibility and sell your indie games. With special focus on those developers with small budgets and limited staff and resources, this book is packed with tangible recommendations and techniques that you can put to use immediately. As a seasoned professional of the indie game arena, author Joel Dreskin gives you insight into practical, real-world experiences of marketing numerous successful games and also provides stories of the failures. View it here. An Architectural Approach to Level Design This is one of the first books to integrate architectural and spatial design theory with the field of level design. The book presents architectural techniques and theories for level designers to use in their own work. It connects architecture and level design in different ways that address the practical elements of how designers construct space and the experiential elements of how and why humans interact with this space. Throughout the text, readers learn skills for spatial layout, evoking emotion through gamespaces, and creating better levels through architectural theory. View it here. Learn more and download the ebook by clicking here. Did you know? GameDev.net and CRC Press also recently teamed up to bring GDNet+ Members up to a 20% discount on all CRC Press books. Learn more about this and other benefits here.
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???????p??u??bn? replied to ???????p??u??bn?'s topic in General and Gameplay ProgrammingThanks for you the information, and I know that it isn't simple I just didn't need some overly complicated CIA type recognition. c:
???????p??u??bn? posted a topic in General and Gameplay ProgrammingHello, I was wondering if anyone one knows where I can find some tutorials on creating a simple facial recognition software with C#.
???????p??u??bn? posted a topic in For BeginnersI am currently reading C++ Through Game Programming, and since my birthday is tomorrow, I thinking of getting some c++ books, or something of that nature and would like to ask for some recommendations.
Thanks for the info, now I have to average but without a decimal vaule, I thought using double instead of int here double score4 = (score1 + score2 + score3)/ 3; would make it send out an average with decimals but it hasn't.
Thanks, I wasn't thinking about it linear so I didn't see the problem in the begining.
???????p??u??bn? posted a topic in For BeginnersI'm trying to make a program that takes three scores from the user then averages them, I think I almost have it down except that Im getting an error about not initializing one of my variables but I don't know where the problem lies. //Game Score Average //Program that gets three game scores from user and displays the average #include <iostream> using std::cout; using std::cin; using std::endl; int main() { int score1, score2, score3; int score4 = score1 + score2 + score3; //First score input cout << "Enter a number:"; cin >> score1; //Second score input cout << "Enter a second number:"; cin >> score2; //Third Score input cout << "Enter a third number:"; cin >> score3; //Three scores averaged cout << score4; cout << "\n"; system ("pause"); return 0; }
???????p??u??bn? replied to ???????p??u??bn?'s topic in For BeginnersMy first thought went I read your reply is "Well, maybe I should start looking for some general programming." But then I stop and think, I might just end up where I am now, trying to read an book and constantly losing interest probably because Its not the way I learn.
???????p??u??bn? replied to ???????p??u??bn?'s topic in For BeginnersYou may be right about me calculating this approach to learning, only because that was the best solution I found to learning, or attempt to understand c++. My frustration is not with programming or anything like that but with what I myself view as a lack of progress, maybe from someone else's prospective i'm doing totally fine, but i feel like I'm not getting anywhere, that is wear my frustration lies, I am totally motivated to learn, I just don't know what approach to take, and the current one I am following just bores me to death. On the flip side I feel like my not competent enough to approach coding on my own, because I still feel like a totally nub. Maybe I'm over-thinking this but I feel that if I keep doing it that way I am currently doing it I will never get anywhere.
???????p??u??bn? posted a topic in For BeginnersI have reached an impasse, or what I consider an impasse, I am currently reading Beginning C++ Through Game Programming, Third Edition by Michael Dawson, and I can't read more then a few pages before I have to put it down again. It took me about two weeks just to get through Chapter 1 Types, Variables, and Standard I/O: Lost Fortune. Its not that I'm a bad reader, on the contrary I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows in a Weeknight front to back, but I just can't seem to read this book. So my question is, can I learn programming from reading and doing the example projects, or should I switch to doing my own projects and referencing to the book and the internet when I reach a problem. This has become a really big problem for me as I'm a very fast learner (I'm Currently taking AP Classes and AICE) and my lack of progress, or what i perceive to be lack of progress, is really frustrating me, and the more frustrated I get the less I want to read the book, and the longer it will ever take for me to master this or any language in general. I would really like some feedback on this issue as I have read some topics on this and still haven't decided by myself.
???????p??u??bn? replied to ???????p??u??bn?'s topic in 2D and 3D ArtSorry for not specifying, I looking for concept art for humanoids, spaceships, creatures, and things like that. I really just want to find a website that offers free concept are or blueprints in 3 perspectives for modeling. I'm not an expert so i can't model something from only one view.
???????p??u??bn? posted a topic in 2D and 3D ArtI wanted to ask if there was some resource out there with concept art, or something similar to it, that could be used for 3D modeling that has a top, side, and front view of the drawing.


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|Back to Jan. Ed Reporter
|Globalization of Education Standards
At a February 2005 Education for All (EFA) conference, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings noted the likeness between NCLB and EFA. She said: "The No Child Left Behind Act and UNESCO's Education for All campaign complement each other." ("Mrs. Laura Bush Pays Tribute to UNESCO's Education for All Week," U.S. Department of Education, 4-27-2005)
Essential to global school reform are attitude, value, and behavior objectives that are present in the UNESCO-initiated International Baccalaureate Program (IB). The nonacademic issues have been incorporated into U.S. education standards that affect course contents, assessments, and teacher training.
Federally funded McREL (Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning) maintains a Compendium of Standards that includes an extensive list of Behavioral Studies and Life Skills standards and benchmarks. Most are either explicit or implied in IB Psychology and/or IB Social Anthropology.
Also identified with the nonacademic objectives is the U.S. Department of Labor's SCANS Report for America 2000, as well as several other sources.
Behavioral Studies and Life Skills tend to be vaguely worded. This has allowed these nonacademic outcomes to become an avenue for questionable content and activity, including controversial books and nosy surveys. As with IB schools that model UNESCO initiatives, even non-IB schools will contain similar questionable content when IB standards-based activity is used.
Under accountability mandates, children are required to be assessed for standards proficiency. Enter: the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
The Minnesota-based organization EdWatch (formerly MrEdCo) found that "under the guise of testing language arts, the NAEP test is primarily measuring the goals, attitudes, beliefs and values of our students." EdWatch discovered that in the 1996 NAEP, only 19% involved "measurement of academic ability or achievement. The other 81% measure only the demographics, attitudes, values, beliefs and behavior of the student, and personal matters about the student's family."


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Lenovo Canada Named Official PC Supplier for 2007 AMO Annual Conference
TORONTO, ON - August 16, 2007 - Lenovo - the world's third-largest personal computing company - has been named official PC Supplier for the 2007 AMO Annual Conference (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) conference being held from August 19th to the 22nd at the Ottawa Congress Centre.
As part of Lenovo's involvement, ThinkPad T60 laptops will be available in the Lenovo Internet Café - which will feature high speed internet access - allowing delegates to stay in touch with work and home while attending the conference. In addition, ThinkCentre M55 desktops along with live action screens will be set up in a demonstration room (a new service available to delegates this year) where delegates can learn about new software and electronic tools through hands-on training and demonstrations.
"We are delighted with this partnership and are excited about having the opportunity to showcase our best engineered PCs to municipal and provincial government leaders from communities across Ontario," says Janice Dawes, Lenovo Canada's Marketing and Strategy Executive.
"Our delegates come from across Ontario to learn about new opportunities to serve their communities better and new technology is an important and growing part of the equation," says Pat Vanini, AMO's Executive Director. "We are pleased to have Lenovo as the official PC supplier to the AMO Conference."
During the conference one lucky delegate will win a thin and light Lenovo ThinkPad T61 - perfect for highly mobile users who work in an office or on the road. The winner will be announced at the Annual Banquet taking place on Tuesday, August 21st. Lenovo representatives will also be on hand throughout the conference to answer any questions delegates may have and as an added treat Lenovo's mini cooper car will be on display in the Exhibit Hall.
About Lenovo Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is dedicated to building the world's best engineered personal computers. Lenovo's business model is built on innovation, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction as well as a focus on investment in emerging markets. Formed by Lenovo Group's acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets reliable high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services worldwide. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information, see www.lenovo.com/ca .
About AMO AMO is a non-profit association of municipal governments in Ontario. AMO's 400 plus member municipal governments govern and provide key services to about 10 million Ontarians and one in three Canadians.


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Do People Spend More on Gadgets as They Get Older?
This Friday's USA Today featured a look at the fact that Tech giants target older buyers — and their cash. I understand the move from a market perspective, but I'm not sure people in their 50s and 60s (most notably my parents and their friends) will ever be as in tune or interested in technology as younger generations. Am I being ageist? USA Today reports:
Many 50-plus consumers "have been using personal computers and Sony Walkmans since they were 20 or 25 years old," he says. "They've spent years updating their cellphones, buying MP3 players, installing GPS navigators in their cars and shopping for the latest gadgets."
Combine that tech history with this demographic's colossal size (now more than 91 million) and its trillions in spending power — and it adds up to a massive sales opportunity for tech companies, most of which have not courted older adults before.
What do you think? Do people in their 50s spend more on gadgets than younger people?


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Anfy includes 40 Java applets for the ultimate effects and navigational menu. You can add the applets to your Web pages and use the editor to fully configure all options using a friendly GUI.
A Fluent OpenStack client API for Java.
A TWiki appliance that is easy to use and lightweight.