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In the same way as mass-participation events in running have captured the public imagination, cycling events in which everyone can take part have burgeoned in popularity since they were first introduced in the UK in the late 1990s, with a raft of events now covering a range of distances, many selling out within days and offering the chance to be involved to thousands of entrants. Fitter, Further, Faster is a complete guide to how to prepare for road riding and sportive events aimed both at first timers and those more experienced. Organised around a six-month timeline that shows readers how to prepare for an event, it looks at training plans - for speed, endurance, pacing, technique and attitude on climbs - leading up to the event itself and subsequent effective recovery. It covers diet, how to cope in all weathers, the rules and etiquette of road riding, the mind, the body, coping with injuries and breakdowns and on-the-bike nutrition. Showcasing some of the best sportives in the world, the book is filled with high-quality photographs and illustrations, along with case studies and personal accounts from leading riders.
"Essential, inspiring, handbook for those who want to improve their road riding. Fitter Further Faster is an accessible, clearly written and comprehensive guide for road cyclists. Whether you are a beginner or a more experienced rider, this book is crammed with handy information, presented in a format that is easy to digest and accompanied by inspiring and illustrative images. The writers clearly know their stuff, so even the more experienced cyclist will find this book informative – and yet, if you are very new to cycling, you won't feel patronised or overwhelmed by technical jargon." – Jennifer Stuart-Smith,
Total Women's Cycling
"Fitter, Further, Faster is squarely aimed at the sportive rider and is written by three writers who bring their own experience and knowledge of cycle training to the fore. Cleverly organised around a six-month timeline the book explains how to prepare your mind and body for an event and how to cope with the ride itself and, just as importantly, guides you through the steps to take to make your recovery more effective. Fitter, Further, Faster, as the title implies, will help you to attain your personal goal." –
"… what is particularly praiseworthy is the structured approach to the countdown from six months to the event itself." –
"What sets Fitter Further Faster apart is how it walks you through your sportive preparation, beginning with setting your first goals six months out, through to your last-minute checklist, then warming down and assessing your progress after the event. A comprehensive strategy for the sportive starter or improver." – Derri Dunn,
Cycling Active
"a complete guide to how to prepare for road riding and sportive events aimed both at first timers and those more experienced." –
PT magazine


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Rascal Flatts Goes To The Derby, Andy Griffith Goes To The Opry – Today In Country Music History
Rascal Flatts had the crowd on their feet before the Kentucky Derby in 2010, Dierks Bentley went to the land down under in 2009 and Andy Griffith debuted on the Grand Ole Opry stage in 1954.
Here's the complete list for Today In Country Music History for 01 May, 2012.
- Rascal Flatts sang the national anthem before the Kentucky Derby at Louisville's Churchill Downs in 2010.
- Dierks Bentley performed in Australia for the first time, opening for Brooks & Dunn in Perth, in 2009.
- George Strait picked up a gold album for "Troubadour" in 2008.
- Charlie Robison married Emily Erwin of the Dixie Chicks in 1999. The couple later divorced.
- Tracy Lawrence's "Alibis" hit Number One on the country singles chart in 1993.
- Charley Pride joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1993.
- The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. 2 was released in 1989.
- Alabama's "Mountain Music" peaked at Number One on the Billboard country singles chart in 1982.
- Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan taped the first installment of The Johnny Cash Show at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium in 1969.
- Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas in 1967.
- Andy Griffith debuted on the Grand Ole Opry in 1954.
Here's George Strait doing what he does best, being a Texas Troubadour.
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Dave D.

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[Letter postmarked on 4 November 1942 at 4 p.m. at Alton, Illinois. Addressed to Miss Crystal K., Berwyn, Illinois. Return addressed to Richard N., Portage Des Sioux, Mo.]
November 4, 1942
Alton, Ill.
above Dam
1:00 o'clock
Hello Darling,
How is my little wify now? I am fine, dear. This whole patrol [I] felt as though I could lick the world – do you know why, hon? I think you do, hon.
The trip back was uneventful. The train was 10 minutes late out of Chicago and 15 minutes late into Alton. I had a whole seat for my self to sleep in until 5 minutes before the train left Chicago. 3 Navy men came on and one plunked himself next to me. Darn. He was a cook on those invasion barges we saw in St. Louis going up the river. He said the barges were all right in the rivers but as soon as they got in the lakes it was bad. They went in circles, got flooded, and hit a lot of things. He said once they hit the lake he couldn't cook any thing, either.
After I got off the train, I was going to take a bus into town. As a car was passing and I wiggled my thumb and they stopped for me and took me to the bridge. Then I walked the rest of the way to the boat above the dam – about ½ mile and picked up the boat at 7:30. This whole patrol has been very cold. Every morning, there was ice on any small pools of water. Very little sunshine.
Honey, these liberties don't do me any good, honey. I get home and I don't want to go back. When I do get back I keep thinking of the things we did when I was home and I want to turn around and come tearing right back to you. I don't think I will ever forget that Saturday night at your house – will you, hon?
Well, darling, I haven't much more to say because I said most of it at home. That was quite a talk we had that night, wasn't it? I will close now honey by telling you I love you more every minute and will continue to do so, hon. Good-by now. Keep those wonderful letters coming, hon.


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January 4, 2007
John Ball Returns to the Chicago Storm
John Ball played with the Storm for five games in 2005. He's now joining the team again. He has 204 career goals.
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CHICAGO – Welcome back. Midfielder John Ball played for the Storm for five games. Now he's coming back to Chicago. Thursday, the Storm traded midfielder/forward Semir Mesanovic, forward Elvir Kafedzic and a first round draft pick in the 2007 MISL Amateur Draft to the California Cougars for Ball.
A 12-year veteran of the Major Indoor Soccer League, Ball played 10 seasons with the Cleveland Crunch and Force (1995-2005), winning two championships (1995 & 1999). The Chicago Storm acquired the Hartford Connecticut native in the 2005 MISL Dispersal Draft. As a member of the Storm he played in five games, scoring three goals and two assists before being traded to California for forward Anthony Maher and midfielder Andy Rosenband.
Over the course of his MISL career, Ball has played in 354 games, scoring 204 goals, 156 assists and 396 blocks. The Southern Connecticut State University standout has earned seven MISL Player of the Week honors, been named to two All-MISL teams (2001 & 2005), is a three-time MISL All-Star (2001, 2003 & 2004), the MVP of the 2003 All-Star game and was named to the 1996-97 MISL All-Rookie team. John also represented his country as a member of the U.S. National Futsal Team on multiple occasions.
"We made several moves during this past off season, with the sole purpose in mind of putting our team in a position to capture an MISL Championship," said Storm COO and GM Brian Loftin. "As (head coach) Steve (Morris) and I assessed the progress of our team over the first two months of the season, we both agreed that we were a piece or two away from where we need to be. Adding John Ball into our new mix of players gives us another dimension, and we believe strengthens our overall team level."
The Storm acquired Mesanovic in December 2005, via trade with the Milwaukee Wave. Mesanovic played in 27 games for Chicago, scoring 15 goals and four assists as well as four blocks. For his career, the Duboj Bosnia native has 26 goals, seven assists and 19 blocks.
Chicago acquired Elvir Kafedzic in the 2006 MISL Dispersal Draft. In eight games with the Storm Kafedzic scored one goal, three assists and a block. The 24 year old is only in his third season in the MISL, tallying nine goals, four assists and three blocks in 32 games with Chicago and the St. Louis Steamers.
All three players have a chance to play against their former teams this Saturday as the Chicago Storm hosts the California Cougars at 1 p.m. at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.
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Ford doesn't want to answer 'Star Wars' questions on the late-night show, and gets upset when Chewbacca, the iconic figure from the movie franchise, appears among the audience.
Harrison Ford confronted an on-screen friend from his past on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!". It all began as host Jimmy Kimmel wanted to ask Ford questions about "Star Wars", but the actor said he didn't want to talk about the movie.
The 70-year-old, however, agreed to take questions from audience as long as it's not about "Star Wars". Then apparent fans of the sci-fi movie franshise, dressing in Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia costumes, stood up and asked silly questions like "Do you like being in movies?" and "Are you hungry?"
The next person who got a chance to talk to Ford was Chewbacca, the companion of Ford's character in "Star Wars" films. The tension got high all of sudden, with the Han Solo depicter ranting, "You son of a b***h, what do you want?" While Chewbacca spoke in a language that no one undestood, Ford continued lashing out at the furry figure, "You're the one who couldn't keep it in your furry pants!"
When Kimmel said, "Actually, he doesn't wear pants," Ford replied, "I rest my case!" Kimmel explained that he invited Chewbacca so that Ford and his estranged mate could patch things up between them, but Ford seemingly couldn't apologize Chew as saying, "He knows what he did. She was my wife, you Wookiee sack of s**t!" Ford then asked Kimmel to choose side, before he stormed out of the studio.
Ford stopped by the ABC late-night show on Wednesday, April 17 to promote his new movie "42". Things are still good between the "Indiana Jones"star and the comedian since the on-air confrontation was clearly being set up to bring good laughs.


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1 Junkins Ave., Portsmouth, NH, 03801, Tel: (603) 610-7281 Fax: (603) 427-1575 Email:
About the Coalition
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March 24, 2005 - House Education Committee retains HB684 for further study, sends melded bill under title of HB616 to House Finance for consideration.
March 15-18, 2005 - House Education Committee's Subcommittee on Ed Funding considers HB684 and other ed funding bills, deciding to meld one proposed by the Governor and built upon HB684 principles with HB616 proposed by Rep. Fred King.
Feb. 22, 2005 - House Education Committee holds hearing on House Bill 684, and the panel's Subcommittee on Education Funding also reviews the bill at an afternoon subcommittee hearing.
Feb. 2, 2005 - Coalition's education funding plan is assigned House Bill Number 684 and sent to the Education Committee for review.
Jan. 4, 2005 - Coalition announces filing of Legislative Services Request for a new targeted aid education funding bill.
1 Junkins Ave., Portsmouth, NH, 03801, Tel: (603) 610-7281 Fax: (603) 427-1575 Email:


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The Growth Of Mormonism And The 2012 Election
(MintPress) – As one of the fastest growing religions in the U.S., Mormonism continues to expand its social and political influence. With more than 6 million Americans adhering to the faith and 14 million worldwide, Mormons now represent a considerable voting bloc in both state and nationwide elections.
Although the main branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) abandoned polygamy in the early 20th century, many Americans still view the faith as "cultish" and "anachronistic." However, as Mormons continue to grow in size, their mainstream influence has begun to take hold in American politics through the help of clever advertising campaigns.
This has translated into growing political clout for the church, including most notably, the Republican party's nomination of Mitt Romney for president.
Mitt Romney: "I am a Mormon"
Romney is the first member of the Mormon church to win a major party nomination for the presidency. Even if Romney fails to win the election next month, his rise, and the rise of Mormonism in America, shows the overall palatability and influence of this growing branch of Christianity.
Mitt Romney ran for president previously, unsuccessfully, in 2008. During the campaign many of the Republican challengers questioned his faith and his commitments to the base of Republican voters, most of whom are non-Mormon. Being the first of a certain religion, ethnic or racial group to take a leadership role on a national stage can pose challenges.
Much like John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic president labeled by critics as a pawn of the Vatican, some critics have similarly accused Romney of subtly subverting his public duty as an elected official and giving special attention to issues that can advance Mormon causes.
Although Mitt Romney has previously said, "If I am fortunate enough to become your president, I will serve no one religion, no one group." He and the Mormon church have had to overcome major hurdles in order to gain mainstream acceptance with the American public.
The negative image of Mormonism became such an issue that leaders of the church decided to launch a multimillion dollar ad campaign to combat alleged stereotypes about the faith. In late 2011, with the help of Washington D.C. advertising groups Ogilvy & Mather and Hall & Partners, the LDS church started the "I'm a Mormon" ad campaign to show the multi-cultural, "mainstream" face of the church.
Mitt Romney was a Mormon pastor for 10 years, an experience that he believes has helped him understand family and community issues. While not involved directly in the campaign, Romney and his family have made generous annual donations to the church, and at times have occupied senior leadership positions within the LDS hierarchy.
The television, internet and billboard ads featured a single father in New York city, a fashion designer and a professional surfer, among others. The hope for those planning the campaign was to combat the "cultish" and "sexist" labels that non-Mormons most frequently used to describe the religion in focus groups.
The church has continued to struggle with the legacy of racism and segregation. Although Joseph Smith, the founder of the church, opposed slavery in the 1800s, his successor, Bringham Young, banned African-Americans from the priesthood and decried the evils of interracial marriage.
It was not until 1978, long after desegregation, that the Mormon Church performed interracial marriages and allowed African-Americans to enter the priesthood. However, textbooks in Mormon schools continued to recommend same-race marriages until 2011, when the textbooks were updated. According to a section from a Mormon school textbook published last year:
"We recommend that people marry those who are the same racial background generally, and of somewhat the same economic and social and educational background (some of those are not an absolute necessity, but preferred), and above all, the same religious background, without question," wrote Spencer Kimball, LDS president from 1973-1985 in a textbook.
Mitt and his wife, Ann Romney, have been major supporters of the church for years, giving $1.1 million to the LDS Church in 2011. Although Mitt Romney found nothing "sinful" about interracial marriage when questioned about the topic on the campaign trail in April, the legacy of the church remains a challenge for his campaign and for church leaders attempting to move beyond the unfavorable LDS past.
While there is still prejudice against the faith across the U.S., the ad campaign appears to have helped boost the mainstream appeal of the Mormon faith.
As Americans prepare to head to the polls next month, few voters appear to be concerned about Romney's faith, as a recent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life Poll finds that just 13 percent of voters are concerned about Romney's religion and his commitment to maintaining separation of church and state.
White Evangelical Christians, a key constituency in the Republican Party, appear to have largely embraced Romney as their candidate. Romney has received major endorsements from prominent Evangelicals within the Republican Party by making clear to Evangelical conservatives that a vote for Mitt Romney is not a vote endorsing Mormonism, but rather a political move.
Former Arkansas governor and ordained Evangelical minister Mike Huckabee gave his stamp of approval in August, saying, ""Let me clear the air about whether guys like me, an evangelical, would only support an evangelical. Of the four people on the two tickets, the only self-professed evangelical is Barack Obama, and he supports changing the definition of marriage, believes that human life is disposable and expendable."
Obama has faced his own challenges with defining his faith. In the same Pew Forum poll, 19 percent of respondents were concerned about President Obama's faith, with 17 percent believing that the president is a Muslim. Although Obama's father was a Muslim, Obama has publicly declared that he is a Christian.
State politics grow to national politics
While there is no formal Mormon lobby, the influence of the LDS church is palpable in the daily life of those living in the state of Utah, home to the church's global headquarters in Salt Lake City. Seventy-seven percent of state legislators self-identify as belonging to the Mormon church, according to a questionnaire conducted by the Salt Lake Tribune, a statistic that some believe is lower than actual numbers.
While most Mormons, including Romney have shown public support for maintaining a divide between church and state, the overwhelming composition of Mormon legislators in Utah has translated into strict state controls on the sale of alcohol, gambling, immigration and gay rights, among other issues.
The increasing Mormon political clout is largely due to their sheer growth in numbers. Although they comprise less than 2 percent of the overall U.S. population, the Mormon faith is the fastest growing in America.
According to the 2012 Religious Congregations and Membership study released in May, Mormons outpace all other American religious groups in growth. Although Mainline Protestants and Catholics represent roughly a quarter of the U.S. population respectively, the number of parishioners are in decline.
The Mormon Church has also grown considerably worldwide, particularly in Canada, and Caribbean countries. Currently there are 14 million followers worldwide, with 273,000 converting to the faith in 2010.
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Tales At Twilight show tonight CANCELLED
Very sorry, folks – our singer was injured this morning, and though she'll be ok she is unable to perform this evening. We're hoping to reschedule and will keep you all posted.
Thank you for your understanding!
New Show Announcement
Hey there, swingers! We've been quiet for much of this fall while busy with our families and various work projects, but we're very pleased to announce that we'll be swinging our way up to the Detroit suburb of Birmingham, MI for a family concert at First United Methodist Church Of Birmingham on 23 January 2015! We'll be posting more specifics about the date very soon, but in the meantime we hope you enjoy this holiday classic by Bill Evans:
Albuquerque concerts rescheduled!
NOTE – our concerts at St. John's United Methodist Church have been rescheduled for January 11/12, 2014. We'll be making a guest appearance at the St. John's 5pm Jazz Vespers Service on Saturday, 11 January, and performing our full set the next afternoon (12 January) at the St John's Family Life Center at 2pm.
We're SO excited to meet our new Albuquerque friends!
Buy1/Get1 on Black Friday
We're running a Black Friday special today – buy a single copy of either our debut or Swings! CD and get the second one for free! This offer is good until 11.59pm on November 29, 2013.
If you miss this sale, you can still take advantage of our budget-friendly holiday packages at our store and bring jazz to all the little people in your life:
Buddy Bundle
5 CDs for $40+s/h
Playground Pack
10 CDs for $70+s/h
The Whole Shebang
Coal Train Railroad debut CD, "Live In Monophonorama" digital EP download, and "Coal Train Railroad Swings!" CD
CTRR live at the Nashville Puppet Festival this Fri-Sun
Hey, swingers – we're going to be performing as part of the Nashville International Puppet Festival at the Main Branch library this weekend! You'll find us at Church Street Park (across the street from the library's main entrance) at the following days/times:
Friday 6/21 – 2pm
Saturday 6/22 – 11am
Sunday 6/23 – 1.30pm
All the CTRR shows are FREE and open to the public. You can find more information here at the Main Branch Library website.
Swingin' At Cheekwood 13 June
It's been a while since we've gotten to hang with our beloved Coal Train hepcats and hepkittens, so we're SUPER psyched for our first summer show next Thursday (13 June) at Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum Of Art!
The performance, part of Cheekwood's Family Night Out series, begins at 6.30pm. Children of Cheekwood members are admitted free. Complete admission and event details are here.
Please come and swing along with us – we've missed you all!
A spring update and summer shows
Hey, Swingers! We've been on a temporary hiatus since our Memphis gig but that doesn't mean we've not been busy:
Katy has been tending to Rain For Roots, an album of songs about Bible stories for young children, which came into bloom in 2012. Katy's collaborators on RFR include Nashville recording artists Sandra McCracken, Flo Paris, Ellie Holcomb, and best-selling children's author Sally Lloyd Jones.
After finishing out a busy fall 2012 with Emmylou Harris, Chris produced new albums for Haitian folksinger Beken and UK songwriter Danni Nicholls. He is currently writing for some upcoming projects and occasionally venturing back to NYC to perform with Mario The Magician and the Sleight-Of-Hand Band.
Looking forward to this summer, we're pleased to announce that we'll be returning to both Cheekwood Botanical Garden and the Nashville Main Branch Library for concerts in June, and we're also on the verge of announcing our first performance west of the Mississippi in August! You can check our "live" page for the most current information.
We hope you've all been well and are very much looking forward to swinging with you this summer!
Chris & Katy
We're headed your way, Memphis!
We're excited to announce that we're starting 2013 by adding a new stop – Memphis, TN – on Coal Train Railroad's journey of jazz around the US!
You can come see us next Saturday morning, 12 January 2013, at the beautiful Germantown Performing Arts Centre (GPAC). We'll be holding performances at 9.30 and 10.30am for GPAC's "Peanut Butter & Jam" sessions. Tickets ($8 per child with 2 accompanying adults) can be reserved here at GPAC's ticketing page.
Stay tuned for more exciting announcements about our 2013 performance schedule. Here's a hint of where you'll likely find us later this year…
We're currently #11 on the Sirius XM KiDS Place LiVE chart!
Coal Train Railroad's klezmer-inspired "Do It Again" is scaling SIRIUS XM'S KiDS Place LiVE 13under13 Countdown, neck-in-neck with Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars and the soundtrack of "Brave"! Many thanks to the mighty Micah Hulscher, Derico Watson, and Jeff Coffin for helping make that track a listener favorite.
You can track our chart progress at the KiDS Place LiVE fan site and request more CTRR jazz here at the Sirius XM KiDS Place LiVE website!
We're partnering with National Wildlife Federation for our Wolf Trap debut next week!
OK, kids – hot off the presses of Wolf Trap and The National Wildlife Federation, here's the lowdown on our Wolf Trap concerts next Tuesday and Wednesday, July 10-11:
Nashville's acclaimed "jazz for kids" combo Coal Train Railroad will announce the adoption of its song "Dirt" by The National Wildlife Federation's (NWF) Be Out There movement on July 10 and 11 at the group's DC-area debut at Wolf Trap Children's Theatre-in-the-Woods, presented by Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts and the National Park Service. Railroad will perform songs from their hit CDs including the track 'Dirt' which is the official song for NWF's Be Out There campaign. During Coal Train Railroad's appearance at Children's Theatre-in-the-woods, NWF's Be Out There stickers will be available for children, as well as additional information for parents about this important initiative.
"We're thrilled to see our song 'Dirt' used to promote an outdoor lifestyle for kids that will re-connect them to nature and get them a little dirty – and healthy!" says Coal Train Railroad producer/co-creator Chris Donohue, "Wolf Trap's beautiful Theater-in-the-Woods is a perfect place to celebrate the joys of being outside while laying down some jazz."
Led by Donohue, bassist for the likes of Emmylou Harris and other music luminaries, and vocalist/co-creatorKaty Bowser, Coal Train Railroad performs original jazz songs from a child's perspective that cover topics of interest to kids: dirt (of course), bellybuttons, and underwear-clad superheroes battling monsters! Kids in the audience are encouraged to riff, sing, and dance along with the musicians. The group followed up its acclaimed debut recording (named a Kids Pick Of 2010 by Time Out New York Magazine) with a Summer Podcast Series, a digital EP entitled "Live in Monophonorama", and a February 2011 debut at New York's prestigious Lincoln Center. The group's enthusiastically-received second full-length album, "Swings!", was released in December 2011 and features a guest appearance by Dave Matthews Band/Flecktone veteran Jeff Coffin.
Be Out There is NWF's national movement to help American families raise happier, healthier children with a life-long love of nature. Kids today spend twice as much time indoors as their parents did, missing out on the simple pleasures and lasting mental and physical health benefits of daily outdoor time. Be Out There provides parents with tools and solutions to make being outside a fun, healthy and automatic part of their children's everyday lives.
"Besides being so much fun, getting exposure to dirt or mud can actually help kids lead happier, healthier lives," said Meri-Margaret Deoudes, Vice President of NWF's Be Out There movement. "Coal Train Railroad's music married with Wolf Trap's outdoor theatre are in perfect harmony with our mission to get kids back outside experiencing the many benefits that come along with playing in the great outdoors. "
Wolf Trap Children's Theatre-in-the-Woods is a unique outdoor venue located within America's only National Park for the Performing Arts behind the Filene Center. A tradition for generations throughout the Washington D.C. area, Children's Theatre-in-the-Woods offers music, dance, theatre, puppetry, and storytelling. Performances are recommended for children 4 and up. Ticket prices range from $8 to $10 and children under two are free. Theatre-in-the-Woods patrons are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch to enjoy after the show and take part in National Park Service Programs. The 2012 season will run from June 26 through August 11. New in 2012, the Theatre-in-the-Woods programming plan features one performance per day, Tuesdays – Saturdays, at a new time of 10:30 am. For more information on Theatre-in-the-Woods, visit the Wolf Trap website at www.wolftrap.org.
"Our goal this season is to present performances that mirror the diverse programming of the Filene Center and The Barns at Wolf Trap," said Erin Perry, Assistant Director Of Education Outreach at Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. "Wolf Trap Children's Theatre-in-the-Woods' beautiful, natural setting is the perfect venue for children to enjoy the performing arts. Our theatre may be the first place children see a play, rock concert, ballet, puppet show, or jazz band, so we strive to bring in inspiring, creative, dynamic, high-quality groups like Coal Train Railroad. The band's relationship with NWF is icing on the cake, and weare thrilled to support the partnership between Coal Train Railroad and NWF."
DIRT (The Movie)
It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood, so where was everybody? Out at the dirt pile, of course! Enjoy a glimpse into Coal Train Railroad's neighborhood and the kids who inspired Dirt! You can find Dirt and the rest of the songs from Coal Train Railroad Swings at our store. Now go get dirty!
CTRR makes (another) Time Out New York Kids "Best-Of" list
This is turning out to be quite a week – yesterday we not only got to formally announce our upcoming concerts at Wolf Trap Children's Theatre-in-the-Woods this July 10/11, but we also heard that CTRR had been selected as one of the Top 25 "Best Bands For Kids" by Time Out New York Kids Magazine!
It's a thrill to share this honor with such performers as They Might Be Giants, Dan Zanes, Gustafer Yellowgold, Justin Roberts, and twenty distinguished others. Our sincerest thanks to the editorial staff at TONYK and to all of our loyal hep-cats – we're blown away by your support.
We're bringing jazz to Wolf Trap!
We're delighted to finally share the news that we're making our second major debut in the northeast as part of Wolf Trap's Children's Theatre-in-the-Woods 2012 Season!
Wolf Trap's picturesque Children's Theatre-in-the-Woods is a unique outdoor venue located within America's only National Park for the Performing Arts behind the Filene Center. A tradition for generations throughout the Washington D.C. area, Children's Theatre-in-the-Woods offers music, dance, theatre, puppetry, and storytelling.
Swinging along with us those days are two acclaimed talents in the DC jazz scene. On piano, we welcome Washingtonian Magazine's "Best In Jazz" pianist Bill Harris. Bill has released four CDs both as a solo artist and as leader of the Compass Quartet (featuring Albert "Tootie" Heath), served as Musical Director for the inaugural year of the Smithsonian's IMAX Jazz Cafe, and has performed at jazz festivals and other legendary venues nationwide. Drummer Tony Martucci has been featured on numerous CDs (including two as bandleader), toured on four continents, and worked with such artists as Mose Allison, Gary Burton, Joe Henderson, Joshua Redman, and Sonny Stitt.
Our concerts, sponsored by Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts and the National Park Service, will begin at 10.30am on July 10 and 11. Tickets are $8 (children under 2 are free) and will go on sale this Saturday, April 28. Tickets may be purchased online, by phone at 1-877-WOLFTRAP, or in person at the Filene Center Box Office. Click here for complete ticketing information and policies.
Lincoln Center in 2011, Wolf Trap in 2012…we can't wait to see where the music will take us next! (:
Summer 2012 shows (mostly) announced
Heads up, Nashville swingers: you can now check out some of our summer itinerary at the "live" page of our website.
FYI, there's a big announcement coming next month about another very prestigious (and beautiful) out-of-town gig we've just confirmed for July. That's all we can tell you for now…except that it's in the northeastern contiguous United States. (;
More soon!
CTRR live webcast from Parnassus Books on February 4
To our friends in Nashville and around the world: our quartet will be coming to you live this Saturday (February 4) at 3pm CST from Parnassus Books, Nashville's newest independent bookstore co-owned by Karen Hayes and best-selling author Ann Patchett!
Anyone can register to watch the show on StageIt.com. As this is our first webcasting experiment, we've made just 25 "tickets" available on a pay-what-you-can basis (StageIt asks that you purchase $5 worth of "notes" up front, though you can use those on any upcoming StageIt performance). Wherever in the world you may be watching from, please email your feedback afterward on how we can make it even cooler the next time.
To our Nashville friends – come prepared to swing and, of course, read a book with us. See you there!
A Musical And Literary Start to 2012
We'd like to start the new year off by thanking everyone who ordered our new "Swings!" record for the holidays – you kept us very busy during November and December!
There are lots of great things ahead for CTRR in 2012 starting with two performances at the Nashville Main Branch Library this month. We'll be featured performers in the Children's Theater on January 20 and 21 with shows at 10.30 and 11.30am on both days. Not only will we play a full set of music, but we'll also be sharing aloud a favorite book with help from some special library friends.
On February 4, we'll hold our first-ever webcast concert via StageIt.com at Parnassus Books (located in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville) at 4pm. It'll be the first chance that our friends around the world can join us for a live show via the web!
Also, for a limited time you can join 5,000 other people who have already downloaded our free ten-song CTRR/Noise Trade sampler (and we'll thank you in advance for your generous tips that are used to pay our recording and manufacturing expenses).
More news coming soon, so watch this space!
CD Release Party this Saturday at Ugly Mugs
We are lovingly grateful for The Nashville Scene's feature of our Swings! CD release concert this Saturday. Many, many thanks to Jim Ridley. Read on:
"There are far worse things to indoctrinate your kids into than jazz. These pied-piper pushers of syncopation mean to serve as your children's gateway to everything from Blossom Dearie to the giant who gives the group its punning name, just as Schoolhouse Rock hipped '70s youngsters to Dearie and Bob Dorough. Bassist-producer Chris Donohue has played or recorded alongside a roster of stellar artists — Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello and Robert Plant, to name just a few — but he sounds like he's having the time of his life backing Nashville singer-songwriter Katy Bowser, whose bubbly, burbling delivery meets your sugared-up tots on common ground. On "I'm Diggin' Me," the first track on their new CD Swings!, Bowser comes on like Junie B. Jones fronting an Ella Fitzgerald session, slinging syllables like snap pops as she takes pride in her Wonder Woman Underoos. But don't worry that you're getting OK-for-kids jazz — or worse, a dose of musical castor oil you choke down "because it's good for you." This is all cheery, hip-swinging insouciance, and jaded jazzbo parents will have no problems joining their tots on board." — Jim Ridley
Zooglobble weighs in on CTRR Swings!
Here's yesterday's review of CTRR Swings! from Stefan Shepherd at www..com:
"There are not many artists who play jazz for kids, which is a sad thing. Sad not because Jazz Is The American Art Form and more kids should be aware of their country's musical heritage (even though that statement is true). Sad because jazz can be one of the most playful musical forms, and who plays better than kids?
On their second album, Coal Train Railroad Swings!, Nashville's Coal Train Railroad are every bit as playful as their pint-sized primary audience, adding several musical exclamation points to that in the title. From the get-go vocalist Katy Bowser throws herself into the preschool-focused lyrics with abandon. On the swingin' leadoff track "I'm Diggin' Me," Bowser sounds hopped up on pixie sticks as she fully inhabits the bouncing-off-the-walls-let's-play-superheroes! narrator. On big band-inspired "Dirt," I love the way Bowser throws off the word "dirt" at the end of every line, a statement of fact mixed with "what-are-ya-gonna-do?" insouciance. And I think you can probably guess the vocal approach she takes on the gypsy-jazz "I Hab a Code."
Which isn't to imply that the music is just jokey — they come from a kid-centered focus. Bowser can turn in gorgeous vocals as well, as on "With A Box." And she's very ably backed up by her CTRR co-founder, producer and bassist Christopher Donohue, and the rest of the band. They provide great accompaniment, playful when necessary, solid through and through. The album is very preschool-focused lyrically, which may very well restrict the repeatability for folks when kids aren't around, though the album closer, the gorgeous "On Our Swings," is a worthy successor to the West Coast jazz sound Vince Guaraldi made famous to a broad audience via the Peanuts TV specials.
The album is more appropriate for kids ages 2 through 7, though that's a lyrical distinction — musically, it works for everyone. You can hear the whole 27-minute album via the widget at the bottom of the page.
I liked Coal Train Railroad's debut, but I really like Coal Train Railroad Swings!. If it's not quite the all-ages classic that Medeski Martin & Wood's Let's Go Everywhere is, it gets close. It's musical, smart, and, most importantly, fun. Definitely recommended."
A swingin' head of steam
The launch of the new record has been amazing – thank you to all of our new friends and fans!
Here's an early review from Jonathan Rogers at www.rabbitroom.com:
I didn't know it, but I loved jazz when I was a kid. I was a huge fan of the Vince Guaraldi trio. I didn't know that either. I only knew that the music for A Charlie Brown Christmas was one of the best things I had ever heard. It was a risky move to pair grown-up jazz music with an animated children's show in 1965; it would be a risky move now, in the era of Thundercats and Sponge Bob Squarepants. But the Charlie Brown specials have always made it seem that jazz for kids is the most natural thing in the world.
The jazz combo Coal Train Railroad–Katy Bowser, Chris Donohue, and a rotating cast of exceedingly talented instrumentalists–works on that very assumption, that jazz is great music for kids. More to the point, they demonstrate that jazz and kids are a natural combination. Their new record, Coal Train Railroad Swings, releases today. Musically, this is the real deal. Inspired by traditional swing jazz and seasoned with a dash of polka and a little bit of Tom Waits, the musicianship is stellar. Katy Bowser's vocals are a miracle–expressive and very fun, but also technically astonishing. She performs a vocal run at the end of "Get My Wiggles Out" that is positively pyrotechnic. One wonders if she could possibly do it the same way twice.
That's Coal Train Railroad Swings! for you: genuine virtuosity in the service of a song about getting one's wiggles out. The same virtuosity is exercised in songs about going to the pool, leaving a lunch bag out in the rain, suffering from the common cold ("I Hab a Code"), and getting dirty (of dirt, Katy asks, "What am I supposed to do? This stuff is everywhere!").
The subject matter is perfectly relevant to the toddler set, but there is no condescension here. I have heard Katy Bowser speak of "inviting children into the conversation" with her art. To put it another way, Coal Train Railroad says to kids, "Jazz is your music too." Indeed, in many ways, children are more ready for jazz than adults. For a baby learning to speak, talking is a lot like scat-singing. A baby plays with the sounds and rhythms of words before he knows exactly what to do with their meanings. Katy tells of her baby daughter Story's ongoing riffs on the words "broccoli" ("bockly") and "book," repeating them over and over with different intonations and pronunciations and cadences.
The great revelation of Coal Train Railroad's music is that jazz, which seems urbane, highbrow, and frankly intimidating to many grownups, can be entirely accessible. I don't even own a turtleneck, but still I love this music. Watching my own children enjoy Coal Train Railroad Swings! has reminded me that jazz, that great American form, is my music too.
Swing early!
With pre-orders chugging their way across the world, Coal Train Railroad is available digitally TODAY, only through Bandcamp. (All other orders begin December 1.) You could be swinging in a matter of minutes!
CTRR live – December 2011
As we count down the minutes until our shipment of CTRR Swings! CDs arrives, it seems a great time to let you know about some live shows in Nashville next month:
December 13-14 / 9.30, 10.30, 11.30am / Nashville Main Library Storytime We return to visit our human and puppet friends at Nashville's Main Branch Library! We'll accompany Professor, Library Pete, and Mary Mary during their book readings and activities, and also perform a few songs from our new record in public for the very first time!
December 17 / 4pm / CD Release Concert at Ugly Mugs Coffee & Tea Our favorite local coffeeshop was the site of our first CD release party (and first-ever public performance) back in January 2010, and was the sponsor of our "Jump@7″ podcast. What better place to celebrate the release of our second CD and play a full set for our neighborhood crowd? This set will focus on new songs, but we'll of course play a few CTRR standards from the first album.
Pre-order today and get a head-start on learning these new lyrics so you can sing along with us! Our pre-order specials are in place until midnight tonight.
CTRR Swings! pre-order specials end November 25
Boy, talk about a quick turnaround – exactly three weeks ago we finished tracking the new CTRR Swings! album, and we're already anticipating shipping off the first round of pre-orders this Friday!
Speaking of "Black Friday", it's the perfect time to show your support for local businesses and independent music by snapping up some copies of our new album for the little hep-cats in your world. Take advantage of our Buddy Bundle or Playground Pack bargains and you can check quite a few names off your gift-giving list, too!
Single copies can be ordered NOW for $10+s/h and we'll continue these pre-order specials through this Friday, 25 November:
Buddy Bundle: 5 CDs for $40+s/h
Playground Pack: 10 CDs for $70+s/h
The Whole Shebang: Coal Train Railroad debut CD, "Live In Monophonorama" digital EP download, and "Coal Train Railroad Swings!" CD $20+s/h
Swings! videos
Swings! has swung!
We've officially wrapped the new record and it's off to manufacture this week! Among the various moments of ridiculosity contained therein, these ten new and hard-swinging Coal Train Railroad songs contain vignettes about battling super-villians in your underwear, turning boxes into biospheres, and losing one's favorite blankie to a hippo. We can't wait to share them with you in a couple of weeks!
Single copies can be ordered NOW for $10+s/h, plus we're offering these pre-order specials:
Buddy Bundle: 5 CDs for $40+s/h
Playground Pack: 10 CDs for $70+s/h
The Whole Shebang: Coal Train Railroad debut CD, "Live In Monophonorama" digital EP download, and "Coal Train Railroad Swings!" CD $20+s/h
Here are a few random images from our week in the studio. Video to come soon!
We're in the studio today!
The last ten months have certainly been exhilarating! We released a new EP, welcomed the newest addition to the CTRR family, had our debut CD named a best kids' album of 2010 by Time Out NY Kids Magazine, made our debut at Lincoln Center, and performed summer concerts at the Nashville Puppet Festival and Cheekwood Botanical Gardens.
So now, to wrap up 2011 with a big bang, we're recording our new album "Coal Train Railroad SWINGS!" today and tomorrow at Swinglewood Studio!
This collection of ten brand-new Coal Train tunes will begin shipping later this month in time for the holidays. You can help give our "swing" a push (and gain access to great package deals) by pre-ordering your copies today from our website.
Single copies can be ordered for $10+s/h, plus we're offering these pre-order specials:
Buddy Bundle: 5 CDs for $40+s/h
Playground Pack: 10 CDs for $70+s/h
The Whole Shebang: Coal Train Railroad debut CD, "Live In Monophonorama" digital EP download, and "Coal Train Railroad Swings!" CD $20+s/h
Thanks for staying tuned to our website this week for updates and video from the recording sessions!
CTRR live at Musician's Corner this Saturday
We're taking a quick break from production of the new record to play Musician's Corner this Saturday (22 Oct) at Centennial Park! Be there at 3pm sharp with your dancing shoes and outdoor voices at the ready.
Preorder The New Album "Coal Train Railroad Swings!"
The last ten months have certainly been exhilarating! We released a new EP, welcomed the newest addition to the CTRR family, had our debut CD named a best kids' album of 2010 by Time Out NY Kids Magazine, made our debut at Lincoln Center, and performed summer concerts at the Nashville Puppet Festival and Cheekwood Botanical Gardens. How to follow all of that up? By heading back to Swinglewood Studio next month to record our second full-length album!
"Coal Train Railroad Swings!", a collection of ten brand-new Coal Train tunes, will begin shipping in late November 2011. You can help give our "swing" a push (and gain access to great package deals) by pre-ordering your copies today from our website. You can order single copies for $10+s/h, or choose from these pre-order specials:
Buddy Bundle
5 CDs for $40+s/h
Playground Pack
10 CDs for $70+s/h
The Whole Shebang
Coal Train Railroad debut CD, "Live In Monophonorama" digital EP download, and "Coal Train Railroad Swings!" CD
Be sure to watch our website for updates and video from the recording sessions, and have a swingin' September in the meantime!
Back to Lincoln Center!
Hey, New Yawk – come and meet our amazing friend Mario The Magician this Saturday morning at The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center! Mario is a brilliant magician and entertainer that you simply can't afford to miss. Old-time jazz will be provided by The Sleight of Hand Band featuring Avi Rothbard (gtr), Aaron Heick (sax), and CTRR's own Chris Donohue and Tanner Jacobsen on bass and drums.
11am showtime/admission free.
The Tennessean talks CTRR and music for kids
Thanks to Jessica Bliss for her fantastic article on the kid's music scene in Nashville in The Tennessean- lots of great insight. We loved talking to her, and Story enjoyed her first official photo shoot for Coal Train! (Can you tell?)
Lincoln Center – The Movie
We're pleased to present, courtesy of Seamus Frawley at American Made Media, the mini-documentary of our Lincoln Center performance in February (narrated by the fabulous Ms. Milkshake). Two complete performances of "Bellybutton" and "Spider And The Fly" follow the movie!
Kids Rock Nashville
Our Kids Rock Nashville interview is coming up this Thursday, February 24, at 4p CST! You can listen live in Nashville on 107.1FM or stream it live here.
A New York Story…With Jazz
The Donohue and Hutson families arrived in Manhattan Thursday afternoon with only hotel check-in and a hearty dinner on the agenda. We were accompanied by filmmaker Seamus Frawley and his wife Lindsay Lawler, who were kind enough to donate their time and talents to document the weekend on film and assist with various other logistical tasks. Baby Story was nonchalant about the air travel and airport shuttle, staying comfortably nestled against her parents the entire trip.
We rehearsed Friday in the A Room of Michiko, a studio in midtown designed specifically with the needs of jazz musicians in mind. There we met our old friend Tanner Jacobsen (drummer on the CTRR debut album) as well as a new friend, the exceptionally talented pianist/educator Asen Doykin. Asen came highly recommended to us by a mutual friend, and from the first notes of his lush and playful interpretations of the CTRR repetoire we immediately settled into an afternoon of jamming with wide smiles on our faces.
Call-time was 9am at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center on Saturday. The staff and technical crew of the Atrium could not have been more helpful, anticipating all of our needs and treating us like cherished members of the extended Lincoln Center family.
It has been our experience that parents and caregivers prefer (understandably) to arrive with their kids with as little down-time as possible before a childrens' event begins, and so tend to turn up only a few minutes prior to its designated start time. How thrilling, then, to see the Atrium filling up with little New Yorkers ready to swing a full half-hour before downbeat! This continued until shortly after the concert began, when the Atrium staff was forced to close the doors and admit more people only as space became available.
Having such a wonderfully active and engaged capacity crowd to play for (and with), we had so much fun during the show that for a moment we were concerned that we'd go over our time without getting through our entire set. As it happened, we finished with enough time to take a couple of questions and also lead the crowd in a rendition of "Happy Birthday" for Tanner. As Katy made her final exit into the front rows to shake some (mostly little) hands, Asen, Tanner, and myself launched into a few instrumental choruses of "Straight, No Chaser" (which seemed entirely appropriate considering that Thelonious Monk, the tune's composer, was raised only two blocks away). After the concert, we celebrated and caught up with family members and dear friends at PJ Clarke's, just around the corner.
When our return flight from LGA had to be re-routed yesterday at the very last minute, Team Coal Train's quick reflexes and some very helpful USAir gate agents ensured that we arrived safely back in Nashville last night. The now-seasoned traveler Story Jane again took the whole journey in stride, eating and sleeping comfortably for most of the trip.
We are deeply grateful to Tom Dunn, Hillary Plate, Jordana Phokompe, Brant Murray, Marian Skokan, and the rest of the staff of the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center for their enthusiasm, kindness, and professionalism. We're also indebted to all of CTRR's fans, friends, and Kickstarters for their ongoing support as we share our love of jazz with kids around the world. We could not have imagined or asked for a more stylish or exciting New York debut.
We're going to make sure we meet again in New York sooner rather than later. In the meantime, we'll keep you posted on the development of a short documentary film about Coal Train's journey to Lincoln Center!
Thank you again, one and all,
Chris (& Katy)
Ready…set…swing, New Yawk!
The big day is here at last! Come rain, flurries, or chilly sunshine we'll see you 11a today at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center. The show is free and open to the public, so grab your favorite grownups and come swing along with us!
Coal Train Railroad's NYC debut on February 5
Come jam with us on Saturday, February 5th at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center! The 11am show is free and open to the public, and we'll also have the chance to chat with audience members during a Q&A session.
Joining us on this date: Tanner Jacobsen, a dear friend and brilliant Brooklyn-based drummer/composer featured on our debut CD, and the amazing NYC-based pianist/composer/educator Asen Doykin on piano. We couldn't be more excited about getting to work with such talented musicians.
We'd like to say thanks again not only to the staff of the Rubenstein Atrium for the invitation to play in their beautiful space, but also to our Kickstarters for their generosity and vision – we'll be swinging our hardest for all of you!
In the meantime…
Several holidays, snow days, and one adorable baby girl later, January is flying by here on the Coal Train Railroad. Katy and Kenny have been nesting with little Story Jane, while also finding time to record a bit and take care of home projects. Chris made a quick trip to Australia with Emmylou Harris, recorded a new album with Tiffany and co-wrote a single for her latest movie, and is preparing to co-produce an EP for Chicago roots-rockers The August.
Watch this space for more developments as our Lincoln Center performance draws near (just two weeks from this Saturday!)
A new Story to share!!!
We're thrilled to be able to formally introduce Miss Story Jane Hutson, born to Katy and Kenny last Thursday (30 December)! Our hearts are bursting with joy and celebration for this captivating little girl. Many, many congratulations to Story and her sweet parents…
We're officially NYC bound
We've surpassed our goal on Kickstarter…oops, correction – YOU'VE made it! Thanks so much to all of our patrons for making this dream happen for us. CLICK HERE to see our "over 100%" plan.
We – Coal Train Railroad & Co – will see you at the David Rubenstein Atrium At Lincoln Center on February 5 at 11 am!
Lincoln Center – the home stretch
Only 48 hours left to raise the last $370 needed to complete our journey to Lincoln Center in February!
The campaign ends this Saturday (18 December) at 9.37am CST so thanks for spreading the word about the little Coal Train that could…
View Coal Train Railroad – Nashville to NYC in a larger map
Update: The Road To NYC
Thanks to our Kickstarter friends we're 81% of the way to Lincoln Center!
We have just 3 days left to cover the remaining 169 miles (or $380) and reach our Kickstarter target, so thanks for continuing to spread the word of our NYC debut to friends, parents, and all lovers of family-friendly jazz.
View Coal Train Railroad – Nashville to NYC in a larger map
We're updating the above Google Map daily, and you can also check our real-time progress in the Kickstarter widget on the right-hand side of this page.
We're on Ages 3 and Up's Best of 2010!
Delighted to be in Ages 3 and Up's top 21 of 2010! A special surprise from one of our favorite kid's culture blogs. We're honored to be in such good company on such a great site!
CTRR a Time Out New York Kids pick of 2010!
More great news out of NYC: Time Out New York Kids has named our debut CD one of their top kids albums of 2010! In addition, there's a post about the Monophonorama EP and upcoming Lincoln Center performance here on the magazine's Joyride blog. We're very honored by the attention – thanks, folks.
OWTK's first take on "Monophonorama"
A nice mention of the new EP went up yesterday on Out With The Kids – check it out!
CTRR named a Zooglobble top debut of 2010!
We're honored to have been granted a place on Zooglobble's Best Kids Music Debuts for 2010. As parents and working musicians, we wholeheartedly endorse Stefan Shepherd's views on the need for stylistic diversity in family music!
"Live In Monophonorama" is on the air!
Our new "Live in Monophonorama" EP has officially hit the (digital) airwaves and is now available at our online store!
Included in this collection of new recordings from the 2010 Summer Podcast Series are two CTRR standards arranged for voice and piano trio, our version of "Bicycle" by The Jellydots, the funky "Spider and the Fly" (written by our dear friend and KC jazz legend "Mama" Myra Taylor), the folk classic "Chocolate Ice Cream Cone", and a quirky original Coal Train jump-blues entitled "Jump@7".
Give your kids the gift of jazz for the holidays!
We're (metaphorically) over 1/4 of the way to Lincoln Center!
Here's a mapped illustration of where our Kickstarter campaign has us on the road to our New York City debut in February. As you can see by the red arrow, we're about to pass Johnson City, TN and making a beeline for the Virginia border. Just about two weeks to go to hit our target – The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center. All reet, Kickstarters!
Don't forget – the "Live In Monophonorama" EP hits our BandCamp site at the stroke of midnight tonight…
Thanks, Kickstarters!
Our Kickstarter status this morning has the Coal Train rumbling just to the south of Lexington, KY on its way to New York City and our February 5, 2011 debut at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center. Thanks to all of the Kickstarters who have taken us this far! You'll notice we've added a Kickstarter widget in the sidebar to the right so you can monitor our progress.
More news coming shortly about the release of our "Live In Monophonorama" EP on Wednesday, a very prominent New York entertainment publication that's taken notice of our music, and our upcoming appearance at the East Nashville Christmas Fest…
We made the OWTK 2010 Gift Guide!
Plenty of reasons to be thankful today – Jeff Bogle has included the Coal Train Railroad debut CD in OWTK's 2010 Holiday Gift Guide, our new "Live In Monophonorama" EP hits in just five days, and our Kickstarter friends have gotten us nearly one-quarter of the way to Lincoln Center/NYC with twenty days to go!
A New York City debut in 2011 – and how!
We're thrilled to announce that Coal Train Railroad will be a featured artist of Lincoln Center's Meet The Artist Saturday family workshop series on February 5, 2011 at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center in New York City!
To help offset the cost of airfares, hotel rooms near Lincoln Center (so Katy can comfortably travel and settle-in with her brand-new baby girl, due in early January), and other related logistical expenses, we're conducting a Kickstarter "crowdfunding" campaign. For CTRR friends and fans that would like to help us underwrite this dream come true, we're offering several different premiums to show our sincerest thanks!
The librarians approve.
Big thanks to Kids' Music for Libraries for their glowing review. It's always great to hear anyone- let alone a librarian for kids- enjoying what Coal Train Railroad is up to!
As Nashville knows, we Coal Train cats dig our libraries.
Podcast Six: Jump@7!
Good morning, kids! School is in session again, so we've dedicated this final edition of the Summer Podcast Series (brought to you by Ugly Mugs Coffee & Tea) to getting up early. Click on the player below and you'll hear Ella Mae Morse talk about her encounter with forty cups of coffee, three year-old Evan discuss his own personal morning routine, and the world premiere of a brand-new CTRR song entitled "Jump@7″! We still can't figure out how Shorty Peppertone managed to fit all those farm animals into the studio…


text:
Eighty kilometers north of Durban, along the beautiful Dolphin Coast, lies Zinkwazi's subtropical lagoon and beach conservancy, a nature lover's wonderland of walks, fishing, spectacular birdlife, indigenous forests, watersports and endless beaches. Close to Zululand's wealth of splendid game reserves, tribal life and historical sites, Zinkwazi's 7 km lagoon is a child's paradise with everything from table tennis to tree houses. Enjoy the great outdoors in comfort at Zinkwazi.
- Wifi
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Nearest Airports
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text:
*Darkest Shadow* / ZeRo BaSs
Credits & Info
- Uploaded
- Jan 22, 2008 | 3:38 PM EST
- File Info
- Song
- 1 min 57 sec
- Score
- 4.44 / 5.00
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- Score:
- Rated 4.44 / 5 stars
- Plays & Downloads:
- 116,080 Plays | 28,952 Downloads
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Author Comments
Rated 5 / 5 stars
I love it. Which is scarce with your tunes, cause they usually have a more generic techno sound to 'em. Got more stuff like this? This is probably the only song I've downloaded all weeks, so it's pretty obvious that I love it.
The drums make it pretty damn great, but some just a bit more realistic drums, especially on the rather weak snare(s) (while still not sounding totally acoustic) would probably make some fatter, more intense drums. I love the beat and patterns tho, completely filled up with awesome.
well gud
Thanks SBB :D
Rated 5 / 5 stars
Awesome awesome made of awesome and even more awesome ontop of awesome.
Love it, sound's like Made of Fire on the dark side or something.
Did I mention it was awesome?
^_^ Thank you NitoX72!
Really Really and Really Thanks my friend
Rated 5 / 5 stars
o LOL
awesome. the breakbeat and the melo its awesome!
only i didnt really like the guitar. its sounds too cheap :/
i dont know if you know but, the melo around 1.22 is ripped of a midi.
and the song is kinda based on that... too bad i noticed :(
nonetheless, i admire your music and youve got yourself a fan :D
Thank you!!
Rated 5 / 5 stars
Survey says: INCREDIBLE
This is awesome! I don't know how esle to say it...
So THAT's what the lyrics say in the beginning of Heart of Rave... "No one can stop us now..." Sweet.
And champiness is right, this does have the same feeling as Made of fire does... but this one is, IMO, a little more heavy-ish.
5/5, 10/10, and faved. Spectacular song!
-Sa'th, ZeRo-BaSs #1 fan.
Ehy Saroth!
Woah you recognized the lyrics from *Heart of Rave* You are a real fan :)
Thank you..your reviews always makes me happy =D
<3 to Saroth
Rated 4.5 / 5 stars
Another Great Song From The Same Great Artist
Absolutely Lovely In Every Way, and while I could blather on about you not enacting my idea, I'm not that self-centered or idiotic. You've got your own work, and it's absolutely great. What really struck me about this song right away was that it sounded like a darker take upon my most favorite of your songs, Made Of Fire, but with so much of its own material that it IS its own song. The Lyrics are right. No One CAN stop you now. :)
Yes.. it sounds a bit like *Made of Fire* but this song more (dark) rock and less Drum 'n Bass :)
Thank you for your awesome review Champiness!!!


text:
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Raychem systems can be fitted directly on the existing floor (wood, plaster, concrete), avoiding unnecessary dust, dirt or noise!
The T2QuickNet mat, is only 3mm thick so floor height gain is not a problem. Even the self-regulating system T2Red and T2Reflecta is a mere 13mm thick.


text: Science Saturday set for March 16 Posted: March 07, 2013 Author: Betsy Compton The University of West Alabama's College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics invites elementary to high school students in and around Sumter County to the next in its series of Science Saturdays on March 16 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Bibb Graves Hall on the UWA campus. Dr. Jing Chen, a UWA professor, will present a workshop entitled "Mathematics in the Cards." Students will learn several mathematical concepts through learning magic tricks with playing cards. The workshop is designed to make students realize that mathematics is fun to study. Science Saturdays are designed to give young students early exposure to the world of science and mathematics. The sessions create excitement and enthusiasm that students need not only to learn the basics of science, but also gain the tools to further their studies in the field. The workshop is free and open to all children in fourth through twelfth grades. Spaces are limited. For more information or to reserve a spot, please contact Rosie Campbell or call 205-652-3414. For more information please visit Science Saturday's website. See More UWA News


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How to Become a Moderator in Kongregate?
Ever wanted to silence those annoying trolls in chatrooms? Ever wanted to have more power? Then this guide is for you. Some parts in this guide are not fully necessary though.
How to Become a RuneScape Moderator?
Being a moderator is an important responsibility in RuneScape. With this responsibility comes a silver in-game crown, elevated report status, and ability to mute for up to 48-hours. Trusted members...
Read More »
How do i become a Moderator on Chatango?
The best way to become a moderator of any website is to become a member. You then need to prove that you can use the site regularly and responsibly. Then contact the site owners after being a membe...
Read More »
How Can I Become A Forum Moderator?
Hey!Contact them to get the job on here:http://skyscraperpage.com/site/contact/http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/sendmess…Good luck!₮ ᗪᴀʀᴋɴᴇss ₮
How to Become a Club Penguin Moderator?
The creators of Club Penguin launched their unique Web site in October 2005 as a safe online community especially geared towards younger children. It is a site in which they can play games and chat...
Read More »


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Tag Archives: how to
7 Steps to Bow Tuning – Part 1
Posted on June 19, 2013
Follow this process and you will find yourself with an efficient and accurate bow that will lend itself to confidence in the field come opening day. Check out the first 4 important steps to bow tuning! Every archery setup has one thing in common—they all fire a similar projectile. The … more


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Woman Beaten In Santa Ana Dies
Annie Hung ``Kim'' Pham of Westminster was pronounced dead at ,
Pham was beaten about Saturday outside the Crosby Bar and Nightclub, 400 N. Broadway.
A woman suspected of taking part in the attack was arrested Monday, Bertagna said. Investigators were showing photo line-ups to about eight or 10 witnesses today, Bertagna said. The suspect's name has not been released.
Four other suspects -- two women and two men -- were still at large, police said.
Pham was waiting to get into the nightclub with friends when an argument started with another group of patrons, according to police. The dispute escalated into a fight that left the victim severely beaten.
Patrol officers called to the scene found Pham unconscious on the sidewalk, police said.
Pham graduated from
Downtown Inc., a coalition of
Anyone with information or cellphone video of the brawl was asked to call police at


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saturate cinemas with a glut of shoddy franchise flicks, and only a few are going to stick, no matter the star.
As one Democratic strategist told The Daily Beast, "For a very small investment, you could saturate TV" in South Dakota.
Mix it together and let it sit for about ten minutes so the chia seeds can saturate.
saturate the American public until we forget that anything or anyone else exists or is even an option in 2012.
To cleanse the head from lice, rub the scalp and saturate the hair with kerosene.
saturate the residue, when cold, with carbon dioxide and redistil.
I continued, in merciful leisure, to saturate myself in the golden glow of the Sicilian poets.
saturate the cake with orange juice to which has been added a little lemon.
He refused to leave the room until he had been permitted to saturate me and my cushion.
saturate the spot two or three times, and then wash out in soapsuds.
1530s, "to satisfy, satiate," from Latin saturatus, past participle of saturare "to fill full, sate, drench," from satur "sated, full," from PIE root *sa- "to satisfy" (see sad). Meaning "soak thoroughly" first recorded 1756. Marketing sense first recorded 1958. Related: Saturated; saturating.
saturate sat·u·rate (sāch'ə-rāt')
v. sat·u·rat·ed, sat·u·rat·ing, sat·u·rates
Abbr. sat.
To imbue or impregnate thoroughly.
To soak, fill, or load to capacity.
To cause a substance to unite with the greatest possible amount of another substance.
To satisfy all the chemical affinities of a substance; neutralize.
To dissolve a substance up to that concentration beyond which the addition of more results in a second phase.


text:
Go Hog Wild In The Sack With Bacon Lube
Everything is better with bacon, even your sex life. Now you can get all greased up like a wild carnival hog while porking with BaconLube. Yes, it's what it sounds like. Originally invented as an April Fool's joke, bacon trailblazers J & D foods (of Baconnaise and BaconSalt fame) decided to make bacon-flavored lube a reality. Why? Because apparently, people out there in the world are really turned on by pork. Oh, hogwash. That's just gross. [Huffington Post]


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News & Events
President's Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Request for the FDA
Statement of
Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D.
Commissioner of Food and Drugs
Food and Drug Administration
Department of Health and Human Services
Before the
Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
U.S. Senate
April 18, 2013
Good morning Chairman Pryor, Ranking Member Blunt and members of the Subcommittee. I'd like to extend my congratulations to you, Chairman Pryor, in your new role on the subcommittee. I am looking forward to working with you and your staff. And I would like to thank the Subcommittee for its past investments in FDA, which have helped us meet the demands of our broad and increasingly complex mission.
I. FDA plays a vital role in the health of our citizens and our regulated industries
Congress has given FDA responsibility for a vast range of products that are central to the health and well-being of every American. From spinach and frozen dinners, to vaccinations that save millions of children's lives, to new medicines for the treatment of major killers like cancer and heart disease, Americans rely on products overseen by FDA every single day. A short list of what FDA oversees includes:
- The safety of most of America's food supply;
- The safety and effectiveness of drugs, biologics, vaccines, and medical devices;
- The safety of the blood supply;
- The development of medical countermeasures to address chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats, and infectious diseases;
- The safety of products that emit radiation;
- The quality of mammography facilities services;
- The safety of dietary supplements and cosmetics;
- The nutritional quality of infant formula;
- The safety of animal food and feed as well as the safety and effectiveness of drugs for use in livestock, pets, and other animals;
- And most recently, FDA has been charged with reducing harm from tobacco use.
The products we oversee are capable of producing great benefits: sustaining human life, reducing suffering, treating previously untreatable diseases, and extending lives. FDA's recent approval of the first drug to treat one of the causes of cystic fibrosis, as well as the first bionic eye system for a rare genetic condition, illustrate the ability of these products to transform lives.
Without proper oversight, however, many of these products are also capable of causing great harm. We need only look at the recent outbreaks of foodborne illnesses from peanut butter or the newest report of counterfeit cancer drugs being imported into the US to understand those risks.
FDA has a dual responsibility to the public health—to make safe and effective products available to Americans as quickly as possible, while at the same time protecting our citizens from those products that injure or kill. Our citizens' health depends on both.
We also recognize that the producers of our nation's food and medical products are vital to the health of our economy—and a strong FDA is vital to their health as well. Our history shows that when there is public trust in FDA's oversight, our industries flourish. Conversely, when food and medical products cause serious harm, the result is often severe economic damage across the industry involved—to offenders and non-offenders alike.
II. FDA carries out its far-reaching responsibilities with few taxpayer dollars
FDA is a true bargain among Federal agencies. Added together, the products we regulate represent more than 20 cents of every consumer dollar spent on products in the U.S. Americans each pay about $8 a year for FDA's appropriations, which is substantially less than the amount Americans spend each year on snack chips alone.
And putting money into FDA is a smart investment. For about two cents a day, Americans get an extraordinary array of public health benefits, including: (1) life-saving medicines approved as fast or faster than anywhere in the world, (2) confidence in the medical products they rely on daily, and (3) a food supply that is among the safest in the world. But maintaining this level of performance for the American public, especially related to food safety, demands a fully-funded FDA.
Although FDA continues to be an effective and efficient investment, our job has become increasingly demanding. We are in the midst of dramatic technological and market-based changes in the way that foods, drugs, biologics, and devices are produced—from personalized medicine and nanotechnology to the globalization of our food and medical product supplies. Congress has also continued to pass new laws and expand our responsibilities. While we welcome these new responsibilities, they don't always come with added resources. These changes force us to stretch our limited resources, while finding ways to ensure the safety of a global supply chain. Our scientists must also adapt to, and even drive, new science and technology so that we can accelerate medical product innovation rather than impede it.
Let me say a few words about the impact of globalization, which I believe to be among our greatest current challenges. Not that long ago, FDA's job was to oversee a largely domestic market of food and medical product suppliers. Most of the facilities in which these products were stored and manufactured were within our borders and relatively easy to inspect and oversee. Most of our producers and manufacturers were accustomed to operating under the rules of a modern regulatory system and most lived up to our high standards.
We have now entered a brave new world—a world in which, very soon, the majority of our food and medical products will come in whole or in part from foreign countries. In the last ten years, the number of imported shipments of FDA-regulated products has skyrocketed – in 2012, approximately 28 million shipments of imported food and medical products crossed our borders. That includes 50% of our fresh fruits and 20% of our fresh vegetables, around 80% of our seafood, and 40% of drugs on our shelves. Eighty percent of the manufacturers of active drug ingredients are located outside the U.S., and more than half of medical devices are imported. Most of the increase in imports is coming from China and India, countries with limited regulatory oversight. Many other imports are from developing nations with even less regulation.
The vast increase in imported foods raises the risk of contamination and illness. Of the imported produce and seafood refused entry at the border, 70-85% is for potentially dangerous violations, including the presence of disease-causing organisms and chemical contamination.
The global marketplace also increases the threat of deliberate adulteration, fraud, and counterfeiting. Criminals exploit how hard it is to inspect and track products through the global supply chain. Chinese suppliers of heparin, a critical drug to prevent blood clots, substituted a lower-cost, adulterated raw ingredient in their shipments to U.S. drug makers, causing deaths and severe allergic reactions. Chinese suppliers of wheat gluten substituted melamine, an ingredient used in making plastic, which was toxic when it was used in U.S. pet food and dairy products. The contaminated food sickened and killed pets across the U. S. and put many people at risk.
The global supply chain itself is becoming increasingly complex. Each product may pass through a number of foreign links in the chain, and each additional link increases the risks to American consumers. Consider canned tuna. Once primarily canned in the U.S., tuna processing and canning is now outsourced to foreign facilities, and tuna often takes a circuitous journey through processors and canners in Southeast Asia, Africa, and/or Latin America, before it is ultimately shipped to the U.S. for distribution to our grocery store shelves.
The world has changed and our historical regulatory approaches and tools—such as hoping to intercept products at our borders—are outdated and often inadequate. Border inspections will remain important but they cannot guarantee the safety of even a small fraction of our 24 million food and medical imports a year. Globalization demands a major change in the way FDA fulfills its mission. If we are to continue to promise Americans a safe food and drug supply, FDA must continue to transform itself—from a primarily domestic agency to one that uses innovative global strategies to secure a vast global supply chain. Although challenges lie ahead, we have already made strides toward this goal using the resources you have provided.
III. We are delivering results that help Americans every day
A. Implementing Major New Laws.
We are partners with Congress in implementing the policies in three major new laws and several smaller ones that add to FDA's responsibilities in advancing the health of Americans.
1. The Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA). With the passage of FDASIA last year, Congress granted us important new authorities, reauthorized human drug and device user fees, and authorized new user fees for generic human drugs and biosimilars. These authorities and fees are intended to increase the speed and predictability of medical product reviews, better protect the drug supply chain, reduce drug shortages, and speed the review of more affordable versions of drugs that are essential in holding down health care costs. We are working hard to implement FDASIA and achieve these important goals.
- Drug approvals. We continue to run a state-of-the-art drug approval process that brings important new drugs to Americans quickly and safely. In 2012, FDA approved 39 novel medicines, and the great majority were approved in the U.S. before any other country in the world. The drugs included 13 treatments for cancer patients, 13 orphan drugs, and the first brain imaging agent to help rule out Alzheimer's Disease. Recognizing the need to bring safe, life-saving drugs to Americans as quickly as possible, FDA approved some of them in as little as 3½ months.
- Medical Device Approvals. Over the past decade, important indicators of the efficiency of the FDA's medical device review program, including the average length of review and the size of the backlog of overdue applications, had steadily worsened. Since 2011, FDA has worked intensively to turn this around. Almost every major indicator has now reversed: review times are getting shorter and backlogs are shrinking. This important turnaround will allow the industry to bring safe and effective devices to market more quickly and at lower cost.
- Drug Safety. FDA has also used your investments to improve our oversight of the safety of marketed drugs. The new Mini-Sentinel system allows us to quickly assess potential drug safety problems using data from over 130 million patients. FDA used Mini-Sentinel to assess reports that a new blood thinner, Pradaxa, was causing more bleeding than similar drugs. The results gave reassurance that bleeding rates were not higher with Pradaxa than with the other drugs.
- Drug Shortages. FDA prevented 282 drug shortages in 2012—87 more than in 2011. Early notification to FDA of potential shortages has made a huge difference in our efforts. In 2012, we cut the number of new shortages by more than half (117 v. 251).
- Affordable drugs. FDA is working to provide Americans with better, quicker access to affordable generic drugs and is also implementing an abbreviated pathway for approval of biological products shown to be "biosimilar to" or "interchangeable" with an FDA-approved biological product. Biosimilars are products that are similar to approved biologics, and while biologics are among the most important drugs Americans use today, they are also the most complex and expensive. We are developing a science-based process for bringing safe and effective biosimilar and interchangeable products to market, which should increase competition and create substantial savings for patients, healthcare providers, and insurers.
2. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Even though the U.S. food supply for humans and animals is among the safest in the world, the current rate of foodborne illness remains too high—according to CDC estimates, roughly one in six Americans (or 48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases each year, leading researchers to estimate a cost of more than $75 billion due to medical expenses and lost productivity. This does not include costs to the food industry or public health agencies. These are preventable human and economic costs, and they reflect an outdated food safety system. FSMA, the most sweeping reform of our food safety laws in more than 70 years, creates a modern food safety system that shifts our traditional focus—responding to contamination after it occurs—to preventing it before it happens. This new prevention strategy involves all participants in the food system, domestic and foreign, government, industry, and consumers, doing their part to minimize the likelihood of harmful contamination.
FDA is working on regulations on the kinds of risk-based measures food producers and importers should put in place to reduce the risk of contamination. We take pride in our release earlier this year of two proposed rules that set science-based standards for the prevention of foodborne illnesses – one on safe growing and handling practices for produce and another on prevention practices in facilities that process, handle, and store food. Before drafting the proposed rules, FDA conducted extensive outreach with farmers, manufacturers, consumer groups, state and local officials, and the research community. We have just completed three public meetings across the country to get additional input from stakeholders.
The proposed rules are built on existing voluntary industry guidelines and recognized best practices for food safety. Many producers already follow these guidelines, so compliance will be less of a burden. For those who need to add new food safety practices to their operations, FDA, in collaboration with USDA, will offer technical assistance and guidance.
FDA is committed to working with industry members to provide the support they need, especially the smallest businesses. We know that our rules and oversight practices must be responsive to the diversity of operations covered by FSMA, be risk-based and flexible, and address small business concerns. That's why we've included a number of exemptions for small businesses, including one for farms. The produce rule would also exempt low-risk products, like potatoes that are rarely consumed raw, or that will be further processed with a step that kills bacteria—like vegetables that will be canned. We've also proposed that small farms and other small business be given extra time to come into compliance with both rules.
3. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act). The Tobacco Control Act gives FDA responsibility to reduce death and disease caused by tobacco and to lessen tobacco use, especially the initiation of smoking, by children and teens. This program is entirely supported by tobacco industry user fees. Since enactment, FDA has worked to enforce a ban on cigarettes with candy and fruit flavors, to make them less appealing to kids; prohibit claims like "light" or "mild" that misleadingly imply products are safer; and enforce new smokeless tobacco warnings. FDA has also joined with States and Territories to enforce laws against under-age sales. We have conducted over 131,000 retail inspections and sent over 6,800 Warning Letters and 420 Civil Money Penalty complaints to retailers.
4. Other New Authorities
FDA is also implementing other recently enacted laws. Last month Congress passed the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act, strengthening FDA's authority to prepare for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats, as well as infectious disease emergencies like pandemic flu, and to support rapid deployment of medical countermeasures. FDA is also carrying out new requirements in the Affordable Care Act, including provisions on biosimilars and nutrition information on menus.
B. Safeguarding the Global Supply Chain
Using the public's investments, the agency is working to transform itself into a public health agency capable of preserving the safety of our food and medical products in a complex global marketplace. We are developing better enforcement and regulatory tools, encouraging greater industry responsibility, increasing transparency and accountability in the supply chain, and increasing collaboration with international regulatory counterparts and other third parties.
1. Foreign posts. To enhance our ability to oversee import safety, we now have 12 permanent FDA overseas posts in key locations around the world: three in China, two in India, three in Latin America, two in Europe, one in the Middle East, and one in South Africa.
2. Foreign inspections. FDA conducted over 2,700 foreign inspections in FY 2012, the largest number ever, exceeding last year by 23%. We are on track to surpass that record this year.
3. Border screening. To make the most of our limited border inspection resources, FDA developed PREDICT, a sophisticated computer screening system that uses intelligence from many sources—such as intrinsic product risks, past inspection results, and information about such threats as extreme weather that could spoil a shipment—to flag the riskiest imports before they arrive. This allows FDA to focus its border resources on those imports that are most likely to pose a danger, and at the same time easing entry of low risk products. PREDICT has helped stop many contaminated products at the border. Recently, PREDICT flagged a large shipment of cucumbers from the Dominican Republic, which were contaminated by Salmonella. PREDICT has also identified products with illegal pesticides, heavy metal contamination, filth, and decomposition, as well as substandard medical devices and improperly canned food.
FDA also developed mobile handheld devices that allow our investigators to immediately identify products that may be counterfeit or adulterated. The counterfeit detection device uses light waves to detect irregularities in the chemical composition or labeling of a drug, while the chemical detection (IMS) device identifies inappropriate chemical compounds in a product. The IMS recently identified an unlawful prescription drug—one taken off the market because it can cause heart attacks and strokes – in a large number of imported dietary supplements for weight loss. We hope to fund the development and use of more such mobile handheld devices.
4. Collaboration with other nations. To address the vast number of imports successfully, we must build a global public health safety net by partnering with other nations. FDA has signed over 120 international arrangements with foreign counterparts to create mechanisms for information sharing and collaboration. We are actively using information from, and conducting joint inspections with, trusted foreign counterparts, and engaging in harmonization efforts on foods and medical products. For example, we have signed an arrangement with Brazil, Canada and Australia to implement a Medical Device Single Audit pilot program under which a medical device inspection done by one regulator can be relied on by other regulatory agencies. Such programs can cut duplicative requirements for industry and allow us to better allocate our resources.
C. Supporting Biomedical Innovation
The U.S. food and biomedical industries are among the most successful and respected in the world and FDA plays a key role in that. FDA is sometimes viewed as a barrier to the economic success and innovation of both industries, but that does not take into account the benefits FDA regulation brings them. Public confidence in a strong FDA fosters consumer trust in the safety, effectiveness and quality of the products we regulate. This, in turn, helps producers build their markets. For example, as FDA became the model for science-based drug approval around the world, its high standards spurred decades of medical advances and turned the U.S. pharmaceutical industry into the world leader in innovative medicines.
As you know, I have made it a priority to help U.S. biomedical companies maintain their status as world leaders in innovation. It is well known that advances in biomedical research are not being translated into real world products as swiftly and surely as we all would hope. The time and costs of developing new drugs has been increasing. Yet despite increases in research and development, the pipeline of new, innovative drugs remains disturbingly limited. Serious public health needs, such as treatments for autism and Alzheimer's disease, are not yet being met, despite years of research and investment. And many drugs are not revealed to be unsafe or ineffective until the last stages of development, wasting valuable time and resources. Through its regulatory science programs, FDA is committed to helping to develop new knowledge and tools that can help translate basic scientific discoveries and approaches into life-saving medicines, and reducing the time, complexity, and cost of drug and device development.
Investment in FDA allows our scientists to support innovation through a range of activities, including:
- The Innovation Pathway, which cuts the time and cost of developing and reviewing breakthrough device technologies—the first to benefit from the Pathway was a robotic arm controlled by a microchip in the brains of patients with spinal cord injuries or amputations;
- Greater use of genetic data to advance personalized medicine, especially in cancer therapies;
- New scientific tools and partnerships to learn earlier in development whether a drug or device will work and be safe, saving time and money now wasted on late-stage product failures;
- More guidance to industry early in technology development to help bring important new products, like the artificial pancreas, to market more quickly; and
- More collaboration with companies earlier in development. When companies come to us for help early in the process of testing their products, experience shows that they can shave up to five years off their development time. That's a dramatic shortening of the path to market.
D. Stretching Budget Dollars
We have also made belt-tightening a priority. We have consolidated our information technology infrastructure and administrative functions across FDA, and put in place controls to cut the cost of travel, training and conferences. We are avoiding additional rent costs by making better use of existing office space through tele-work and office-sharing, and we are reviewing contracts to cut service and product duplication.
IV. Current Budget Requests
The budget includes $4.7 billion, an $821 million increase from FY 2012. Of this requested increase, user fees account for 94% ($770 million). Mindful of the need to reduce spending, we seek a reduced budget authority in several areas, including a $15.4 million decrease for human drug, biologic, and medical device programs. We are also asking for a small number of increases, which are necessary to meet our growing duties and preserve the safety of our food and medical products:
- An additional $43 million to carry out our responsibilities under FSMA and to modernize our food safety system. These resources will go to building prevention-based food and animal food and feed safety systems, to reduce the toll of foodborne illnesses.
- An additional $10 million, above FY 2012, for overseeing the safety of goods from China. This increase will add 16 new inspectors in China, who can conduct more inspections and train Chinese counterparts, strengthening our ability to prevent safety problems before products reach the U.S.
- An additional $3.5 million, above FY 2012, to improve the development timelines and success rates for medical countermeasures intended to protect against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats and new infectious diseases. The top priorities for these funds include care for U.S. soldiers suffering from traumatic brain injury, treatment of acute radiation syndrome, and supporting rapid deployment of critical medical countermeasures in emergency situations.
- An additional $17.7 million to permit us to equip and obtain certification for four already-constructed buildings, including two labs, on the White Oak campus, so that they may begin carrying out research to support biomedical advances. Without these funds, the labs cannot be used and the $300 million cost of constructing them will have been wasted. Moreover, we will need to continue to pay rent for the old space occupied by FDA staff.
Under agreements negotiated with industry, we seek an increase in current law user fees of $500 million to support our drug, device, animal drug, animal food and feed, color additive, export, and tobacco product programs. We also seek $269 million in proposed user fees, including $225 million for food facility registration and inspection, and imports, $31 million for animal drug application fees that are up for reauthorization this year, $19 million to strengthen our oversight of cosmetic safety, and $15 million for reinspection of medical product facilities.
I know that some of you have expressed concern that proposed user fees for food producers will impose unexpected burdens, especially on small producers. Please be assured that food-related user fees, if authorized, will be developed in close cooperation with stakeholders.
FDA's oversight of our food and medical products supply is indispensable to the health and well-being of every American. We carry out our broad public health responsibilities effectively and with few taxpayer dollars--even as those responsibilities are expanding as a result of new legislation, technological advances, and a globalized marketplace. Our FY 2014 budget targets our spending efficiently, on programs that are essential to providing Americans with the safe foods and effective medical products they expect. I look forward to answering your questions today and to working with you in the coming year.


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Design News For April 8, 2014
This Texas Compound Redefines Ranch Living
- This stunning compound proves everything is bigger in Texas — Curbed
- How to keep your patio furniture looking new — Houzz
- These home apps could save you thousands (seriously!) — HuffPost Home
- Would you ombré your staircase? — Real Simple
- This pop-art installation is worthy of a lawn party — Architectural Digest
- Make this indoor/outdoor furniture a must for Summer lounging — Remodelista
- So, what's the difference between tartan and plaid? — House Beautiful
Source: Pieter Estersohn / Architectural Digest via Curbed