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Promo letter opener featuring a built-in ruler and magnifier.
This colorful promotional pen is cool and comfortable and its price is also budget friendly!
This colorful custom imprinted pen is cool and comfortable and its price is also budget friendly!
Your customers will no longer need to scramble for a coin with this unique lottery scratcher and custom keychain.
This promotional highlighter with fade resistant ink will be the highlight of your next promotion!
New home owners will love this house-shaped imprinted envelope slitter.
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Cut up a pizza and open your favorite bottled beverages with these handy promotional pizza cutters and bottle opener combos.
Make your direct mail really stand out with promotional direct mail items from ePromos. Find a wide selection of easily mailable promos that will help your next direct mail piece make a bigger impact.


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Oil and gas services company
Miclyn, which provides service vessels for the expanding offshore oil and gas industry across Asia and the Middle East, said on Thursday that its last three vessels and crew operating in Iran ceased work at the end of 2012 and were withdrawn over the past week. The move had been considered for some time because of international sanctions against Iran, it added.
"It's been a difficult process for both management and board members, weighing up the company's potential legal and ethical responsibilities under the sanctions against our responsibility to protect our assets and most importantly out people operating in Iran and our ability to manage their safe withdrawal," the company said.
"In the end a decision was made to make an immediate, unannounced withdrawal to ensure the safety of the company's people and recovery of its vessels."
The provision, which will cover receivables and deposits which may not be recovered, will impact earnings for the first half of 2013, Miclyn said.
The company, whose biggest shareholders are CHAMP Private Equity and Hong Kong private equity firm Headland, is based in Singapore while listed on the ASX.
However, the provision does not affect the underlying value of the company, said Miclyn, adding that it is confident the ships can be redeployed in the Middle East "reasonably quickly on similar or better returns than they were achieving in Iran".
The Australian Financial Review

subset: commoncrawl


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Olive Garden - November 2012
205 E Merritt Island Causeway
Merritt Island, FL 32952
(321) 459-0306
I'll be honest... I haven't been to an Olive Garden in almost ten years. My previous experience with the Olive Garden chain is that, depending on the management and staff, some are pretty good and some are not so good.
Recently, I saw a commercial for the Olive Garden "Dinner Today & Dinner Tomorrow" limited time dine-in promotion. For $12.95 you get to pick 1 entree from their list of 5 to eat in the restaurant and another entree from the list "to go." In addition, you get unlimited soup or salad and bread sticks to start. Sounds like a great deal, right? I really wanted to try it!
I happen to be running errands in Merritt Island and thought I would give the promo a try for lunch. This was my first time visiting the Merritt Island Olive Garden location.
Upon entering the restaurant, the staff was polite and attentive. We were promptly seated. My first impression of the restaurant was how dirty the fabric on the chairs was. It literally freaked me out. It made me question how clean the other parts of the restaurant were.
Our service was prompt, polite and attentive. The glass wear was less than squeaky clean however.
For food, I ordered the Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Tomato Florentine soup to start. I ordered the Fettuccine Alfredo as my take home entree. My dining companion ordered the salad to start and the Braised Beef & Tortelloni. My soup was adequate, although I have to admit my appetite wasn't the greatest after seeing the chairs and glass wear. The standard Olive Garden salad was good as always. I've never been a fan of the Olive Garden bread sticks. They are a bit dry for my taste. They tasted as I remembered.
The pasta for both entrees, in my opinion, was overcooked. The sauces and meat did not thrill me. The meat in both the Meat Sauce and in the Braised Beef & Tortelloni, had a strange texture to me. In our opinion, the Marsala sauce in the beef dish tasted sort of like maple syrup.
Later on that evening, I prepared my take home entree; the Fettuccine Alfredo. It was by far the shining star of the meal. It tasted quite delicious. I liked that the sauce for the take home meal was given to us separately. You could control how much sauce you added to the pasta.
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Friday, November 2, 2012
Olive Garden - Merritt Island
Posted by Christine at 4:29 PM
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15th Oct 2012
Is Facebook's new 'want' button the innovation that it has been looking for to drive social commerce to the big time?
With the announcement that it is trialling a new 'want' button, Facebook has taken a decisive step to increase its influence in ecommerce.
Launched this week as part of a US-only pilot scheme, the new button forms part of a new applicationcalled 'Collections' that allows retailers to create a catalogue in Facebook and post 'like', 'want' or 'collect' buttons on product images within newsfeeds.
Facebook members are able to 'want','collect' or 'like' a product and, in a feature similar to Pinterest's 'pinboards' feature, they can collate products into a 'wishlist' and are offered the chance to buy the goods from the retailer's own site.
So far, seven retailers, including Pottery Barn, Victoria Secret and Wayfair, are testing the feature as part of the trial.
The pilot is the latest ecommerce push from the social network, following its recent social gifting venture that allows users to buy and send real gifts, and represents another attempt to increase revenues outside of web advertising.
"Cracking the commerce side of the business is essential if Facebook is to turn around the negative perception of its future profitability," says Mark Cluer, MD of PMA Digital."In the wake of its share price dive post-IPO, Facebook has been under pressure to come up with ways to increase its value. The 'want' button is surely an attempt to convince investors of Facebook's future value."
So far, efforts to drive 'Facebook commerce' (f-commerce) have seen little success. Earlier this year Bloomberg wrote a damning report on the state of f-commerce, detailing how a growing number of large retailers were shutting their Facebook storefronts, with the likes of GameStop, Gap Inc., J.C. Penney and Nordstrom all having closed their Facebook stores in the past year.
Some remain convinced that ecommerce via Facebook is the archetypal round peg and square hole - Forrester Research's Sucharita Mulpuru has highlighted that while Facebook is the most visited site on the web, its users go there to socialise rather than shop, equating it to "trying to sell stuff to people while they're hanging out with their friends at the bar."
But there are still many that see the potential of f-commerce. Reuters recently interviewed a host of start-ups, such as Fab.com and BeachMint, that remain confident that Facebook will be the next great ecommerce platform, and that despite slow uptake, the infrastructure and sheer volume of users will be enough to ensure that it will take off.
So will the introduction of the 'want' button represent the tipping point for f-commerce? MyCustomer.com spoke with a number of experts to gauge their opinions.
Building on Pinterest interest
Tamara Littleton, CEO of eModeration, believes that Facebook could be set to capitalise on the immense popularity of Pinterest with the introduction of the new features.
"It's a much more direct version of Pinterest, isn't it? On Pinterest you say 'look at that, that's lovely!' hoping that your friends might take notice. But Facebook already tells your friends when it's your birthday. Now it will also tell them what they should have bought you - and give them the chance to dive off and make that purchase right here, right now," she says.
"It's also stepping on Amazon's toes, by encouraging users to build wishlists, which will make targeting better. But Facebook needs to be careful that it doesn't upset users (again) by appearing to abuse their personal data. Assuming it's not intrusive to users, it's great news for brands. If you see that your friends 'want' something, you're bound to be intrigued, and want to find out more about the product."
Marc Warren, MD of Periscopix, believes that the offering is more sophisticated than Pinterest, and believes that it could pave the way for a more ambitious move by Facebook.
He says: "It's been compared to 'pinning' on Pinterest, but the big difference to me is that it has Facebook's advertising model behind it. If Facebook can combine what consumers 'want', with what brands are advertising, and add to that the opportunity to buy through the site, it's got a winning formula.
"Presumably Facebook will eventually integrate this to Facebook Exchange. This could do two things: build a more detailed profile of users based on stuff they want to buy from outside Facebook; and make advertising and retargeting more effective on Facebook."
But while Justin Bowser, MD of HTK Horizon, believes that it looks like a good idea on the surface, he also sees a couple of potential areas of concern for the new endeavour.
"Amazon has had a 'wishlist' for a while now, and I'm seeing start-ups like Global Dawn entering the online commerce space with similar 'preference graph' technology," he says. "If used well, this extension to the social graph could help online commerce merchants to improve the relevance of targeted offers."
But he adds: "I see two downsides. Firstly, yet more of a retailer's valuable customer behaviour data will sit with Facebook – which not everyone will see as a good thing. Secondly, this could go horribly wrong if ad re-targeting isn't applied with the appropriate degree of subtlety. People will soon stop clicking 'want' if all they see for the next 2 hours is ads for the whatever-it-was they 'wanted'!"
Social commerce game changer?
So, ultimately, will the 'want' button be the game changer that Facebook has been looking for and that will drive social commerce to the big time? Opinion is sharply divided.
Richard Britton, managing director of CloudSense, believes the button is exactly what Facebook needs to convince brands to commit to the concept of f-commerce.
"Facebook has been working for a long time behind the scenes to make the site more attractive as a retail channel," he suggests. "Ultimately, advertisers want to drive sales and Facebook wants to demonstrate its value as a sales platform. If Facebook can do this through the 'want' innovation, taking a percentage of each sale for itself, both brands, shareholders and customers will benefit."
And Britton says that how brands integrate the new functionality into their purchasing process will influence how successful it is for them.
"The 'want' button is all about generating sales. The simpler brands can make the buying process, the more likely they are to boost sales. Each extra step in the sales process makes a conversion less likely. The main benefit of f-commerce should be a quick, easy and secure purchasing process, where customers can buy without leaving the site. For this to become a reality, brands need to integrate f-commerce into their sales and order management systems.
"For organisations to take full advantage of the potential of Facebook's new 'want' offering most will need to firstly remove the silos between business systems to deliver a more granular view of customers. This will enable advertisers to better understand customer behaviour and better target customers via Facebook. With technology analyst house IDC suggesting that in the next three to five years, between 10 and 15% of consumer spending in developed countries could be via sites such as Facebook, integrating f-commerce into a multi-channel offering is set to become a necessity rather than an option."
Others are more circumspect about the potential of the innovation, however.
"There is huge potential for brands if Facebook can motivate users to transact on the platform – or at least express the desire to buy a product. But for whatever reason, there seems to be a resistance by users to buying through Facebook, and I can't see that the 'want' button will change this very quickly," adds Cluer.
"My concern is that users view Facebook as a social environment rather than a commercial one. As more and more commercial messages are introduced, there is a real danger that users will leave. I can't see the 'want' button shaking up online commerce to any large degree, but it's an interesting experiment."
Steve Richards, MD at Yomego, is similarly wary to predict the impact of Facebook's new addition – and points to the way Pinterest is used to demonstrate why it may not be the saviour of f-commerce.
"This is a hard one to say - as it really depends on so many behavioural factors that we're a long way from understanding. For example - in many ways, Pinterest is one large compendium of things that people 'want' - and although many brands have embraced it, I have yet to see any case studies where adoption of Pinterest by a brand has led to an increase in sales. In some ways, part of the appeal of Pinterest is that it is 'virtual' - you don't need to actually buy these things for people to appreciate your curation of them – so for customers, the ability to buy is not necessarily the point. And of course, Pinterest has a famously female, 18-30 skewed demographic of users. For this to be successful in the long-term, it will need a wider appeal.
"Will the brands and consumers the 'want' button attracts be more of the 'aspirational lifestyle' type, or the 'everyday purchase'? Will we be solely in the realm of the 'Amazon gift list' - where you can see what to buy your friends for Christmas or a wedding gift? And how will consumers react? I think for most aspects of the 'want' button, we're too early to draw conclusions."
Nonetheless, irrespective of Facebook's latest effort, both Richards and Bowser believe that social commerce could have a future.
"The 'want' button isn't a social commerce game changer – but it's a step in the right direction to killing the Groupon model," says Bowser. "Social commerce will hit the big time when we can successfully combine things like 'like', 'want' and 'need' into an overall social context. Ecommerce vendors need the thought leaders who will 'want' a new item, but for their bottom line they also need the long tail (or the 'herd') who will follow up with 'likes' and peer-influenced purchases. It's the combination of technology with psychology, sociology, anthropology – and it's very, very exciting."
RIchards concludes: "I don't know if this will be 'the' game changer - but it certainly has the potential to be one of them. I would anticipate there being many more moves in the social commerce space in the coming months, particularly around interaction between existing loyalty schemes and social."


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Chasing his third title of the season, O'Sullivan was in superb form and in the final frame racked up a 143 break - the highest of the tournament so far.
"I knew I had to raise my game because I heard how well Shaun had been playing here," said O'Sullivan.
"I suppose that did me a favour in that I was more focused."
Murphy, who won the Malta Cup six days ago, made an encouraging start, stealing the first frame with a 70 clearance after O'Sullivan missed a straightforward pink.
The following three frames were each a story of breaks, 76 and 113 from O'Sullivan, 76 from Murphy as they quickly arrived at the mid-session interval at 2-2.
O'Sullivan's hot streak continued in the fifth frame as a 101 break enabled him to lead for the first time at 3-2 before Murphy replied by winning a relatively scrappy sixth.
But from that point on O'Sullivan took control, leaving Murphy to mull over a fourth semi-final defeat of the 2007/08 campaign, after also losing at the same stage of the Grand Prix, Northern Ireland Trophy and UK Championship.
"I feel the only real difference was that Ronnie got the better chances," said Murphy.
"What should be noted is the amount of respect that Ronnie paid me on the table.
"Every time he was playing safe he concentrated on putting the cue ball in the precise position that would make it as tough as possible for me."
Now only Selby can prevent O'Sullivan becoming the third player after Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry to reach the milestone of 20 world ranking tournament successes.
The man from Leicester beat Stephen Hendry 6-4 to book his place in the final.
Hendry knocked in two century breaks while Masters champion Selby's highest run was a score of 71 in the fifth frame which edged him 3-2 ahead.
Hendry levelled the match at 4-4 thanks to a superb 124 clearance but the Englishman took the ninth and 10th frames to secure his victory.
"I'm really happy with my game, why shouldn't I be after the Masters?" said the 24 year-old, referring to his capture of the Masters title at Wembley in January.
"Early doors I was struggling for whatever reason but when I needed to perform I did and that's what I've been doing lately.
"I couldn't feel any better than I do at the moment."
Hendry refused to be too downhearted after reaching his first ranking event semi-final since the 2006 UK Championship.
"Obviously I'm disappointed but I'm still going to take a lot of positives from the week. I'm playing a lot better," said the 39-year-old former world champion.
"I played well but the difference was Mark's safety. He was excellent in that department and I wasn't tight enough.
"Mark kept putting the cue-ball in the most awkward positions possible for me. You could tell he's the form man."
What are these?


text:
Latest question:
How do you think the new GigE standards will influence the machine vision industry?
Respond or ask your question now!
Based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Mercury serves customers in North America , Europe and Asia through its direct sales force and a network of subsidiaries and distributors. Visit Mercury on the web at www.mc.com.
Forward-Looking Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, as thatterm is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including those relating to the PowerStream 6100 system. You can identify these statements by our use of the words "may," "will," "should," "plans,""expects," "anticipates," "continue," "estimate," "project," "intend," and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic and business conditions, including unforeseen weakness in the Company's markets, effects of continued geo-political unrestand regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology, and methods of marketing, delays in completing engineering and manufacturing programs, changes in customer order patterns, changes in product mix, continued success in technological advances and delivering technological innovations, continued funding of defense programs, the timing of such funding, changes in the U.S. Government's interpretation of federal procurement rules and regulations, market acceptance of the Company's products, shortages in components, production delays due to performance quality issues with outsourced components, and inability to fully realize the expected benefits from acquisitions or delays in realizing such benefits, challenges in integrating acquired businesses, and achieving anticipated synergies, and difficulties inretaining key customers. These risks and uncertainties also include such additional risk factors as are discussed in the Company's recent filings withthe U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2005 . The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made.Contacts: Eran Strod Director of Product Marketing, Defense Business Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. 978-967-1737 / email@example.com Kathy Donahue Public Relations Manager Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. 978-967-1126 / firstname.lastname@example.com
MCexec and MCOE are trademarks, and PowerStream and RACE++ are registered trademarks of Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. Product and company names mentioned may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respectiveholders.
SOURCE Mercury Computer Systems, Inc.
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(my permanent mood)
grad student burnout
movies: amelie, princess mononoke, kids, goodfellas, the room, La Planète sauvage
food: Salvadorian food
music: sleep, dystopia, electric wizard, bongzilla, bongthrower, bongripper, belzebong, bong, chopin, debussy, liszt, old and in the way, wu-tang, souls of mischief, bill evans, Thelonious Monk, beat happening, the cure, eric clapton, christian death, doc watson, nick drake, sigur ros, mogwai, acxdc, doom, no cash, cumbia, ragtime etc etc etc... I'm drawing blanks here. I love stoner doom as well as straight edge. is that bad?
(oh and if you want to geek out on old blues/folk music, I'm your guy)
Mexican food
educational youtube channels
philosophy and praxis
working on that one Chopin piece I'll never finish
you chose a useless major


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Gaviglio dominates Drillers, Cards walk off 2-1
By Springfield Cardinals | June 11, 2014 12:09 AM ET
Springfield, MO - 2B Jacob Wilson belted the game-winning, solo home run to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning and lift the Springfield Cardinals to the 2-1 walk-off win against the Tulsa Drillers before 3,339 fans at Hammons Field on Tuesday night. RHP Sam Gaviglio dominated the Drillers through his seven innings, striking out a season-high 11 batters with only one run allowed.
Gaviglio and Tulsa RHP Jonathan Gray put on a show throughout the first half of the game, alternating scoreless innings in a pitchers' duel. Gray lasted the first five frames, walking only three Cardinals while not allowing a single hit. However, Gaviglio matched Gray in each frame, notching his 11 strikeouts, the most by any Cardinal this season, through his first six scoreless innings while scattering only four hits.
Gaviglio retired the first out in the seventh as well, but the Drillers (35-28) broke through after that. 1B Harold Riggins reached on an infield single, before being retired at second base on a fielder's choice hit into by 3B Joey Wong. With Wong at first, RF Jared Simon placed an RBI double inside the left field line, bringing in Wong for game's first run and the 1-0 lead.
Tulsa RHP Ryan Arrowood had kept the Drillers no-hitter going through the sixth, but the Cardinals (30-34) ended the no-hit bid and tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. With two down, All-Star 1B Jonathan Rodriguez launched a solo home run to left-center field, squaring the score at 1-1.
LHP Justin Wright (W, 2-0) took over on the mound for the eighth and picked up right where Gaviglio had left off, striking out four through two scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth.
With the 1-1 tie still intact and LHP Kraig Sitton (L, 2-2) on the mound for the bottom of the ninth, 2B Jacob Wilson led off the final frame with a towering solo home run to right field, catapulting the Cardinals to the 2-1 walk-off win.
Click here for the complete box score from Tuesday's game.
Guarantee Individual Promo Items with the brand-new Promo Seats
With the current homestand full of must-have Promotional Items, now is the time to get your Promo Seats and guarantee individual Promo Items!
The brand-new Promo Seats Package includes one Diamond Box Ticket for a game featuring a Promotional Item and guarantees that you receive one of that night's Promotional Items, plus a portion of the ticket sales will benefit the Hamels Foundation Cardinals Youth Initiative to provide tickets for area youth and non-profit organizations.
By purchasing the Promo Seats, fans will have an item reserved for them regardless of where they are in line or what time they arrive at the game. And, for the first time, out-of-town fans that order a Promo Seat Package can choose to have their Promotional Item mailed to them for an additional shipping and handling charge of $10 per item. Both out of town fans and those unable to make the game may donate their game ticket to the Hamels Foundation Cardinals Youth Initiative.
Promo Seat Packages are just $28 each and there are only 61 available for each game. Call the Ticket Office at (417) 863-2143 right now to order yours!
Click here for more information on Cardinals Promo Seats.
Trevor Rosenthal Bobbleheads, Country Music Fireworks, Military Appreciation Night and much more this week
The Cardinals continue the homestand with Wednesday Night Baseball vs. Northwest Arkansas this Wednesday at 7:10pm. Gates open at 6:10pm.
The homestand also includes -
-417 Magazine Trevor Rosenthal Bobblehead Giveaway (2,500) and "Buck a Brat" Night with $1 bratwursts this Thursday. First Pitch is 7:10pm, gates open at 6:10pm.
-AM Pyrotechnics Friday Night Fireworks featuring the Superstars of Country Music this Friday. First Pitch is 7:10pm, gates open at 6:10pm.
-Mid Missouri Credit Union / Fort Leonard Wood Military Appreciation Night with Military Appreciation Fireworks after the 7:10pm game on Saturday, June 14, as well as a Camo Themed Jersey Auction during the game. Gates open at 6:10pm.
For information about becoming a Season Ticket Holder, organizing a Group Outing, booking a The Cup Birthday Party or ordering Individual Game Tickets right now, call the Front Office at (417) 863-2143 or visit SpringfieldCardinals.com.
Click here for the complete 2014 Promotional Schedule and to get your tickets right now.
Escape to Cardinals Baseball!
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.View More


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Fun cruise-not perfect: Liberty of the Seas Cruise Review by Cruuuz Dawg
Overall Member Rating
Fun cruise-not perfect
Destination: Bahamas
Embarkation: Miami
Getting checked in at Port of Miami was a bigger hassle than I had expected. We are diamond members so actual check in was quite easy. However, the line to get on to the ship itself was quite long, and we weren't sure why. From luggage drop off to on the ship was the better part of an hour, which to me is too long.
We proceeded to the Windjammer which was packed beyond belief. The food was good and it was the usual first day buffet. Our stateroom was then ready so we headed downstairs. We had a JS on the 9th deck, almost right between the two banks of elevators. That worked out quite well. The stateroom was great - love the walk-in closet and the flat panel TV.
Our stateroom attendant was, well, less than attentive. There was an ashtray on the balcony More with a cigarette butt, we didn't get ice or extra towels after asking, we never got the sea pass statement, well I could go on. He was personable but not the best.
We also found the service to be spotty in other parts of the ship. The guy working the Seattle's Best coffee bar only did one thing at a time. He would never make it at Starbucks on land! On the plus, we had great wait staff in the dining room. Fortunately, the Windjammer was also fairly empty at breakfast time and during mid afternoon.
The entertainment was great. They did a good job to pack in a lot of activities. Disembarking was very easy - we were in our car by 7:30 AM.
We found out the reason that the Liberty only did a 3 night cruise was because AFLAC had chartered the ship for 4 days beforehand. Very odd. Of course, this is the only opportunity to take such a great ship for a 3 night cruise. I just wonder if that is why the service wasn't as good as we would expect on RCCI. Less
Published 11/02/10
Cabin review: JS9280 Junior Suite
I can't over emphasize how great the Junior suites are on the Freedom class - the walk in closet is bigger than the one in my first house!Read All Junior Suite (JS) Reviews >>
Read Cruise Critic's Liberty of the Seas Review >>
Ship is really showing her age
Father Son Weekend Away
Worse cruise service ever!
Fabulous vacation!
Fun for my whole family
So Much To Do
Ship is really showing her age
Father Son Weekend Away
Family vacation around the Med...
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Hot Topic-Shoes-Sneakers-Groove Mixmaster Pink Zebra High-Top Sneakers
This led me to believe these were Supras.
These adorable heels are a must have! Featuring fabric with floral print design, corset lace up back heel, round closed toe, smooth lining, and cushioned footbed. Approximately 5 1/2 inch heels and 1 1/2 inch platformsAdded 6 Years Ago from AmiClubWear
A lovely little pump in a shade of biscuit is accented with multicolored stripe heel of three inches. A great go-to shoe for your spring wardrobe.Tags: shoes, heels, pumps, kate spade, stilettos, neutral, nude pumps, woman's shoesAdded 7 Years Ago from Kate Spade


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Crescendo (thanks for the welcome) graciously directed me to make an introduction. I should, anyway, if I want my personality analyzed from the "what kind of writer are you" test.
So, a general and somewhat fluffy idea can be found here.
(Crescendo, I'm already starting to feel introduced.)
Now for specifics:
I like stories that involve death, destruction, and pushing angelic protagonists past their breaking point.
I like Tank Girl and Star Trek. And Reverend Horton Heat.
"Haunted" is how the "Canterbury Tales" should have been written.
I crack a lot of dark, dry jokes.
When I was in high school, I went through a 2-year phase where all the books I read were biographies of infamous serial killers. I still have a special place in my heart for Jack The Ripper.
I like to get pedicures.
That felt good.


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It's hard to believe that one season of Disney's Mickey Mouse Club could yield so many stars.
Back in the '90s, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Ryan Gosling all shared a stage as child actors/singers/dancers on the show. Now, they're all grown up and uber famous, which is something Spears says is a delight to behold, especially when it comes to current "it" actor Gosling.
"Oh, I'm a huge fan; I think he's amazing," Spears told U.K.'s Stylist magazine. "I think he's a wonderful little actor. He definitely has that 'something' on film, on camera, which is really cool. So I'm very happy for him."
She also dished about her home, her dream vacay and her pre-show rituals:
What's her L.A. home like?: "My house is very traditional. And I love 'shabby chic.' It's a very homey-cozy vibe. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen actually; maybe my kids will be doing their homework or that kind of thing when they get home from school. I love my kitchen."
Her idea of a dream vacation: "It would be with my children, of course, and my boyfriend Jason (Trawick), and really that's it. We'd probably just go skiing somewhere really beautiful and have hot chocolate, in a cabin ... "
Before she goes onstage, she listens to...: "Well, I usually listen to a lot of hip-hop in my dressing room when I'm getting ready to go on stage, so Jay-Z a lot recently. And a lot of rock stuff like Aerosmith. That really gets me going and pumps me up. And then, of course, there's Jessie J and Adele."
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Melbourne International Brass Festival
Page Tools
Showcase Concert, Melbourne Town Hall, August 6
Clearly, this festival is outgrowing its home base. The Australian National Academy of Music hall would have been unable to accommodate Saturday's final event audience. Many of the preceding week's exercises - masterclasses, recitals, specialist demonstrations - might have attracted select groups, mainly practising musicians; the last hurrah featured many of the international guests attracted to this singular enterprise and, as a showcase, contained something for everyone.
Mind you, the opening gambit from the Australian Chamber Brass Ensemble would have puzzled a lot of people.
Director Fabian Russell took his forces through the powerful interlude between the final scenes of Act 3 in Berg's opera Wozzeck, a passionate summing-up of the work's catastrophic events. Deftly arranged and treated with care, this extract got things off to a grim start.
The following arrangement of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition featured in a recent Academy of Melbourne program, but was well worth hearing again if only for the remarkable devices used to imitate the piano original, in particular muted trumpets trilling on high notes and the all-purpose employment of the horns.
American expert Michelle Perry played a short horn solo, a Reverie by some unknown composer; we were dependent on ABC Radio announcer Derek Guille for program details and his enunciation failed us on several occasions.
This bagatelle acted as a scene-change interlude and showed Perry's eloquent line, marred by some unfortunate errors at the piece's opening and conclusion.
Next, the Kew Band wound up the first half with a large bracket, beginning with a standard march, The Waltonian by J. J. Richards, which brought us firmly into A-grade band territory.
A well-known Melbourne artist, trumpeter Geoffrey Payne, played solo in a truncated version of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.
Norwegian tuba virtuoso Oystein Baadsvik produced a work of garbled provenance involving multiphonics and other sound-production techniques; the fascination of this artist is his instrument's amazing agility, with all the flexibility of a trombone and clarinet combined.
The Kew Band supported Baadsvik with a fairly predictable excitement-generating big-band backing, the stalwart soloist playing with bravado and infectious enthusiasm.
The second part of the night promised more guests and lots of jazz, but a few of us had had enough after a two-hour first half, especially the final lengthy item from the expert Kew players, Phillip Wilby's Paganini Variations, which gave every group plenty of exposure.
If you had stayed the course, you would have heard the best that this solid festival has to offer; but for the everyday punter, half the program was ample.
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Through these blogs we are trying to make the organization and our way of working more accessible.
Please contribute ideas, information and criticism.
And the pig fodder seed mix is taking off. Our gilt Octavia should be pregnant by now. The boar we borrowed from local Lop breeder Carole Barr (www.pigsandpoultry.co.uk) doesn't seem to be interested in our girl any more, so job done, hopefully. The gestation period is 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days, and the piglets weaned around 4 or 5 weeks. This field will be ready for them by then so they will have lots of excellent rooting and nutrition before we sell them on.
During the recent 'Terminal Convention' Symposium in Cork, our erstwhile Ruskinite-Reformer and keen Big J R blogger Alistair Hudson began his own presentation by showing David Shrigley's animation 'An Important Message About the Arts'. Intended as a useful propaganda tool for yet another UK institution threatened by massive government cuts – in this case the Arts Council UK – Shrigley's animation used the characters of a farmer and his son to make a case for Art's economic viability (as a key driver in both the Creative and Tourism/Leisure Industries) and, perhaps more predictably, for Art's assumed cultural and civilising values. As Alistair pointed out though, the twin towers of economy and truth tend to overlook the question of art's use-value.
In the light of this, Alistair went on to pose a series of key questions which tend to loosely underpin the Grizedale way - what kind of thing would artist's do if they decided to make themselves useful? What can artists begin to do as citizens? What would art look like if it wasn't reduced to monetary imperatives on one hand or the need to 'inform' the masses from the dizzying heights of culture on the other? What would happen if artists didn't necessarily commit to producing luxury consumer goods for London centric art market? In other words, what happens if we began to re-look at the possible use-value of art?
As it turns out, these are also questions that big J R had begun to ask in the latter part of his career – the bit where he moved to asking questions about the morality of aesthetics (and also the bit where people began to think he was barking mad started to ignore him). It seems these questions also drove some of big J R's thinking behind his support for Mechanics Institutes: as educational centers for the working class, as places where art, science, theatre and music would all combine to provide a rounded education.
These questions of art's use value, and the role they can play in education, are perhaps more pertinent today than they were in Ruskin's time. As Universities are now asking students to take up 9K loans per year to cover their Higher Education fees, and as the UK government is proposing 'employability' league tables for every HE course in the country (to help prospective students and their parents chose the courses of study most likely to get them a job), it's maybe time to give this all a little more thought? Being involved in Higher Education myself (running the both the Fine Art and History of Art Degree Programmes at Liverpool School of Art and Design – part of Liverpool John Moores University which, incidentally, can trace its roots back to an Arts and Mechanics Institute that was set up in Liverpool in 1823) I'm really interested in continuing a critical Ruskinian re-invention by beginning to pose two key post-Ruskinian questions myself – Just what kind of job is to be done by artists in today's increasingly instrumentalised and economically driven society? And, in the light of this, what kind of work does making art become?
So, over the next months I'm proposing to ask these questions, Flip camera in hand, of anybody who is willing to attempt an answer (admittedly this may not be many). I'll also try to link this to some of the goings on down Coniston Institute way and, of course, attempt to seek some help and guidance from the legacy of Big J R as I go. I also have a feeling that cheese, vegetables and soup may figure prominently in this analysis.
Saturday 27 August
1100 - 1600 hrs
Admission Free
website design & build by theusefularts.org.


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Communications Minister
Senator Conroy acknowledged that Mr Quigley had made errors in his statements about a corruption investigation at his former employer, Alcatel, but said he was "absolutely satisfied" with his conduct.
The minister did not name The Australian as the media outlet leading the criticism of Mr Quigley but he took aim at the newspaper's owner,
The comments are the strongest show of government support for Mr Quigley since the media criticism and signal another stoush between Senator Conroy and News Ltd, which has published strong criticisms of the $35.9 billion NBN project.
"Mike Quigley is the victim of an absolute smear campaign by the opposition, by some sections of the media, who are trying to smear his good name," Senator Conroy told Sky News on Wednesday morning.
"Mike sought information from Alcatel when these queries first came up. They gave him some information. He put it out publicly [and] he informed me.
"He then received further information [from Alcatel] saying 'we're sorry, the information we gave you was incorrect'.
"And on Friday when Mike got that information he spoke to me. He said 'I'll put out a statement, I'll apologise, I've not been given completely accurate information'."
Senator Conroy said Mr Quigley had been upfront about the Alcatel corruption probe.
An investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the US found that some Alcatel employees had offered bribes in countries including Costa Rica to gain contracts.
Mr Quigley initially said he was not responsible for Costa Rica but confirmed on Friday that his position as Alcatel president and chief operating officer included being in charge of Costa Rica staff as well as 15,000 other employees.
"There is no suggestion that Mike Quigley was involved in any of the rogue practices by rogue individuals – individuals who are in jail," Senator Conroy said.
"It is as absurd for Mike Quigley to be held responsible for the behaviour of rogue employees as it is for John Hartigan, the CEO of News Ltd, to be held responsible for the activities of people at Melbourne Storm."
News Ltd is the major shareholder of the Melbourne Storm, which was found to have rorted the rugby league salary cap.
The Australian Financial Review


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Meringue pullover in Roman Stitch by Dawn Leeseman
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© Crystal Palace Yarns
Meringue pullover in Roman Stitch
This pattern is available for free.
Sideways pullover designed for discontinued Meringue yarn.
Pattern discontinued from CPY website; link is to the wayback machine.
For more information, see: http://web.archive.org/web/20070623191734/http://www...


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James W. McKeand wrote:
> The lack of upload speed makes me thing your upload traffic is going
> into one of the low/blocked queues.
Sounds to me more like an MTU issue. Padraigh, check with your ISP what
your MTU should be, or check what it is set to on your DSL modem and set
it the same in the Interfaces->WAN section on your m0n0wall.


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Slowly making our way along th…Microblog posted by twitter on Oct 12th, 2009
Slowly making our way along the River Gambia – green, humid & full of life. On a dirt rd – tarmac ended just past the President's village…
Welcome to the microblog - updates from the road sent by SMS (via Twitter) whenever we have mobile phone coverage. The full updates are over on the main blog, and you can also follow us on Twitter.
Slowly making our way along the River Gambia – green, humid & full of life. On a dirt rd – tarmac ended just past the President's village…
Another day in The Gambia, another hostel-that's-really-a-brothel. (We're on the move again, heading upriver to E. Gambia.)
Odd feeling: still no internet, radio signal's been dead for 2 days, & no free press in Gambia. I do hope the world's OK :)
Site updates coming when we find internet (rumour is that it's been down in Gambia for days, but can't get online to check if that's true :)
Saw an expat shop (Gambia) and went in 'for a look'. Cheese! Bacon! The Economist! 1 weeks' budget in 1 hr! (Have we become expats already?)
On a ferry, crossing the Gambia River, which we'll soon be following into inland Gambia. First, a few days nr Banjul, visa sorting.
First taste of The Gambia: in the bar of our motel-that's-really-a-brothel talking to a schoolboy and a policeman about education.
A brilliant windy, rainy day into The Gambia – country no 7 of our trip. Very odd to be speaking English again after 7 months (!) of French.
Going for nine days of back-to-back cycling, albeit short days, to get our fitness back. We're seven days in now, and feeling it…
More rural Senegalese roads today, cycling past millet and peanut harvesting in full swing. Now in Kaolack, two days from the Gambia.


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The domestic battle between
Qantas is set to swap fuel-guzzling 747 jumbo jets for renovated single-deck 767s on flights from the east coast to Perth, and both airlines are reducing frequencies on the "golden triangle" between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
Scheduling data obtained by The Australian Financial Review and confirmed by the airlines shows a spike in flight cancellations by Virgin in August as it reduced frequencies on golden triangle routes to maintain passenger loads. That trend continued in September and corresponded with an increase in cancellations at Qantas.
"We have always said we would increase or decrease capacity as our competitors do to protect our position in the market, and we have the flexibility to do that," Qantas chief
"We will now reduce capacity to ensure the Qantas Group retains around 65 per cent of domestic market share, which is the profit maximising level for us."
Market sources say the recent influx of larger aircraft and a more aggressive flight schedule at Virgin Australia, and the decision at Qantas to match that extra capacity, has hurt profitability at both airlines.
While airfare categories have not moved much in terms of headline prices, both carriers have been forced to sell more low-yielding fares to fill seats on aircraft while passengers loads declined. Neither Qantas nor Virgin has been able to fully recoup the cost of the carbon tax through fare increases.
Any move to temper domestic growth will be welcomed by investors and analysts, who have revised their earnings expectations to factor in weaker yield growth at Virgin and yield contraction at Qantas in 2013.
Virgin spokeswoman Danielle Keighery said the airline had only cancelled services where there was minimal disruption to customers and when flights were closely stacked together.
"We constantly monitor the market, and, in line with guidance, we still see capacity growth will be between 8 and 9 per cent",in the first half, Ms Keighery said.
In a recent note, Royal Bank of Scotland analyst Mark Williams said capacity growth on the top-10 domestic routes could fall to just 3 per cent between September and December as both carriers retreated.
Virgin's domestic schedule, published at the beginning of June, pointed to a first half capacity increase of 10.2 per cent, according to the data seen by the AFR. After initially adding services in June and July on top of that schedule, Virgin switched to large-scale frequency reductions in August and growth is now tempered to about 9 per cent.
Qantas's domestic schedule flagged growth of 8.6 per cent, though after cancellations of services through June, July and August growth is nearer 8 per cent. That level will fall again after changes Qantas is expected to announce, including the 747 jumbos on Perth routes being replaced with renovated 767 aircraft.
The Australian Financial Review