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A product of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, the 33 volume Tom Swift Jr. series was published by Grosset & Dunlap from 1954 to 1971 with a Tom Swift Jr. Activity Book published in 1978 by the Elephant Books division of Grosset & Dunlap.
Volumes 1-17 were issued in a blue tweed paper binding with full color dust jackets. In 1961 the change over to picture cover books was made. Volume 18 was issued in a one-time-only wrap picture cover and the previous volumes (1-17) were issued in a blue spine picture cover. Starting in 1962 with Volume #19 all volumes were issued in a yellow spine picture cover and the blue & wrap spine editions discontinued. All 33 volumes can be found in this style of binding.
In 1972 and again in 1978 the Tempo division of Grosset & Dunlap released several of the titles in paperback. New art was used and a few of the titles were changed.
Jim Lawrence authored the majority of the books (vols. 5-7 & 9-29). Graham Kaye did the covers for all the dust jacket editions (vols. 1-17).
The Books - Publishing Data - Paperbacks - Authors & Artists - Foreign Editions - Swift Game - Cover Art
Tom Swift, Jr. - The son of Tom Swift Sr. and Mary (nee Nestor). He is 18 years of age throughout the run of the series, and is described as lanky, blond, crew-cut, possessed of deep-set blue eyes, and closely resembling his famous father. Virtuous, brave, and very, very smart, Tom Jr. has the same love of adventure his father did. Typically depicted in illustrations as wearing slacks and a blue-striped t-shirt, even under the sea.
Tom Swift, Sr. - The protagonist of the previous series, now married to his longtime sweetheart, Mary Nestor. Tom Sr., unlike his own father, Barton, is still relatively young and vital at the time of Tom Jr.'s adventures and frequently assists his son from behind the scenes while operating Swift Enterprises, the now mammoth family business.
Mary Nestor Swift - Tom Sr.'s wife and the mother of Tom Jr. and Sandra. While Mrs. Swift appears throughout the series, she seldom has much to do, not unlike Laura Hardy in the Hardy Boys series.
Sandra "Sandy" Swift - Tom's pert blond 17 year old sister. Headstrong and brave, she is also a trained pilot and aircraft demonstrator.
Bud Barclay - Tom's best friend, who accompanies Tom on all his adventures. Bud is utterly devoted, a dependable quipster, sometimes prankster and a highly qualified pilot in his own right. He is black-haired, the same age as his pal though a bit shorter and huskier, described as a natural athlete who likes to play for fun. His platonic date is Tom's sister, Sandy.
"Uncle" Ned Newton - Tom Sr.'s longtime loyal pal & financial wizard, and the father of Phyllis Newton
Phyllis "Phyl" Newton - Daughter of Ned Newton and Tom Jr.'s customary social date. Facing death, Tom Jr. declares his love for Phyllis in Tom Swift on the Phantom Satellite.
Charles "Chow" Winkler - A comic relief character, successor to both Mr. Damon and Rad Sampson. A roly-poly "former chuck wagon cook" born in Texas, he is an older man, beloved for his gaudy western shirts, cowboy hats, bizarre culinary concoctions (like Armadillo Stew), and for such expressions as "Brand my space biscuits!". He accompanies all Swift expeditions - even in outer space!
Unlike the Swift Sr. series, this series offers many recurring characters of lesser rank. Most work for Swift Enterprises, such as Harlan Ames, Slim Davis, George Dilling, Arvid Hanson, Phil Radnor, Hank Sterling, Art Wiltessa, and Miss Trent - secretary for both Tom Sr. & Tom Jr. and lone female among recurring Swift Enterprises employees.
The Junior series is firmly set in the same "world" as the Senior series, taking place in Shopton, NY, near Lake Carlopa. Many mentions are made of the senior Swift's inventions. Diving Seacopter has several references to the first series, including a visit with Tom Sr.'s old housekeeper, Mrs. Baggert. Other volumes feature a rocket named after the old family retainer, Eradicate "Rad" Sampson; The Damonscope, a radiation-detector, named after Tom Sr.'s friend, Mr. Wakefield Damon; and a planetoid named in honor of Tom Swift Sr.'s father, Barton.
The fictional countries of Kranjovia and Brungaria were the (presumably) Communist, (seemingly) Eastern European Cold War enemies of the USA. Tom was in repeated conflict with them over the course of the series, thus providing a patriotic as well as personal impetus for the Swifts.
Two critical inventions in the Swift Jr. series are Tomasite, a wonder material that does just about anything, and the Repelatron, a device that seemingly does everything else. Additionally, Tom Jr.s Flying Lab, The Sky Queen, appears throughout the series.
The Space Friends are mysterious beings introduced in the first volume, who contact the Swift using mathematical symbols. They even send an "ambassador" of sorts in Visitor From Planet X. Though a constant plot element throughout the series, the whole Space Friends scenario is never resolved.
Formats: DJ, Blue Spine PC, Yellow Spine PC, Paperback
Author: William Dougherty
Illustrator: Graham Kaye
This brand new series of adventures for boys introduces Tom Swift Jr., son of the famous inventor of a
generation ago. Young Tom is now an inventor in his own right. As an associate in his father's great enterprise at Shopton, his brilliant mind is seething with the inventive genius that will make him even better known than his father.
In this first exciting book of the new TOM SWIFT JR. series, Tom's gigantic flying laboratory will carry you faster than sound into a thrilling struggle against a gang of international enemies. Tom must overcome the scheming of this game as well as terrific mechanical problems to build his fabulous aircraft, which will soar straight up from the ground, fly at supersonic speeds, and carry scout planes in it's own hanger.
When the Sky Queen is completed, Tom and his friend Bud Barclay take off for South America where the same enemies are seeking to gain control of a mountain of uranium. The tense action of their adventures fills every chapter.
Each scientific detail of this fascinating story has been carefully checked. Tom Swift's inventions may be years ahead of the time, just as his father's were in their time, but they are all plausible and some day you may see them in use.
Author: John Almquist
Illustrator: Graham Kaye
The Jetmarine, the second great invention of Tom Swift Jr., takes the young inventor into a desperate battle with bold modern pirates who have been ravaging the sea lanes off our southern coast.
The atom-powered, two-man submarine is launched just in time for Tom and his pal Bud to set out to rescue Tom's father, who has fallen into the hands of the pirates. The wily enemy pulls no punches in trying to wreck the amazing Jetmarine that outspeeds any sub and is able to plunge miles to the ocean floor. Breathtaking running battles through hurricanes and gunfire, thrilling struggles with undersea monsters, imprisonment and escape from the pirate stronghold are part of the excitement of this second book in the new TOM SWIFT JR. series.
From the moment Tom innocently picks up a strange coin imprinted with the head of a dog, things begin happening -- not only to Tom, but also to his father, his uncle, to Bud Barclay, and Chow the cook. The pace continues from the Swift plant at Shopton to the Caribbean -- on and under the sea, in the air and inside the pirates' secret hideout.
The third volume of the new Tom Swift Jr. series takes the brilliant young inventor into outer space in a rocket ship of his own design.
On Fearing Island just off the Atlantic Coast, Tom's space craft project attracts the attention of the spies and agents of a foreign scientist whose plan is to rule the world and space.
Tom Swift's advantage over his competitors is that he has perfected a rocket fuel which can carry his ship into and out of orbital flight. But it takes all of Tom and Bud's ingenuity to outwit the ruthless efforts of the foreign scientist and his desperate gang of henchmen.
The flight through space makes thrilling reading--the more exciting because you know the details of the flight are scientifically accurate.
Readers of Tom Swift and His Flying Lab, the first book of this new series, will recall the message that came in the shape of a meteorlike object falling into the Swift plane enclosure. In this story another message from the same mysterious source proves very valuable to Tom as he is flying through space.
Author: Richard Sklar
When the Swift Enterprises undertakes to set up an atomic laboratory for the U.S. Government, Tom Jr. goes to work on a giant robot that can function by remote control when exposed to deadly atomic and hydrogen rays. The invention intrigues the interest of a band of clever bank robbers who think they can use the giant robot in their work.
How they interfere with Tom's invention by means of flocks of mechanical crows; how a mad scientist joins the robber gang and almost succeeds in destroying the atomic laboratory from within its well-guarded walls; how, one by one, the clever criminals are outwitted and captured by Tom and his friend Bud; how the giant robot is completed in time to perform his part in the saving of the laboratory are all told in this exciting yarn.
Tom Jr. has had many close escapes before, but in this story all of his ingenuity and quick thinking are required to prevent disaster and to save his own life from the fiendish device of the enemy's mechanical crows.
Formats: DJ, Blue Spine PC, Yellow Spine PC
Author: Jim Lawrence
Furious Antarctic storms and ruthless enemies stalk Tom Swift Jr. and his latest atomic invention, the earth blaster, in book number five of this thrilling science-adventure series.
When Tom chooses the South Pole as the spot to hunt for molten iron with his earth blaster, his closest friends raise their eyebrows. Even Chow Winkler, the expedition's genial Texan cook, says, "Brand my thermopile, if the young inventor ain't plumb loco!"
First Tom has to convince the skeptics about the value of his earth blaster. Preliminary tests prove that it is one of the greatest inventions the world has ever known.
When spies of the Kranjovian government learn about the project, it becomes a race to see who will reach the South Pole first. Tom risks his life and all the funds of Swift Enterprises to launch the expedition. With his pal Bud Barclay,
Chow, and a group of top-flight technicians, he braves the white fury of the Antarctic ice barriers to set up operations. But the Kranjovians seem to have beaten him to it!
In the nerve-racking and chill-packed days that follow, the young inventor is faced with one of the greatest challenges in his career. The outcome hangs in the balance down to the last page of this dynamic story. Read it to see how Tom Swift Jr. startles the world when his atomic earth blaster starts the most phenomenal gusher known to man!
A space station 22,300 miles above the earth is Tom Swift Jr.'s latest project!
Tom's plans for his gigantic hub-and-spoke outpost of the universe calls for twelve laboratories. Solar batteries will be produced in one laboratory, another will be a celestial observatory, and another a radio broadcasting and TV station relaying programs over one third of the earth.
But the project is beset from the start by a fiendish enemy, and also that weird phantom of outer space, Zero Gravity.
Tom comes to grips with the problem of weightlessness by inventing a Zero chamber. Here, in order to master the helpless feeling encountered in space, men are trained to develop a new set of muscular reflexes. Crewmen crawling like flies up and down the walls and across the ceiling of Zero G creates momentary comic relief.
But this is only a prelude to an exciting drama which takes place on a Pacific island, where Tom's rocket fleet is about to blast off. Strange warnings that terrify the natives nearly wreck Tom's plans. How the young scientist overcomes all obstacles and launches his space station makes a gripping book. And each technical detail of this fascinating story has been carefully checked. For those who enjoy the thrill of adventure and the chill of mystery, Outpost In Space is must reading.
In his unique invention the Ocean Arrow, an "underwater helicopter," Tom Swift Jr. embarks on a precarious search for a lost rocket from space.
The rocket, containing evidence of living things on another planet, was directed to Swift Enterprises for scientific study. But its course was mysteriously changed while the rocket was hurtling toward earth--and its landing site is unknown!
Tom suspects that the rocket lies underwater, somewhere off the coast of South America, Accompanied by his friends, Bud Barclay and Chow Winkler, and two expert oceanographers, the young inventor sets out in his diving seacopter to locate the rocket.
But a group of unethical scientists have uncovered a clue to this valuable treasure from space. In their own undersea craft, they try to thwart Tom in his attempt to claim the rocket which rightfully belongs to Swift Enterprises.
Unexpected dangers confront the Swift expedition every mile of the seraph for the scientific prize. When the Ocean Arrow is trapped in a crushing, underwater landslide, Tom and his companions nearly lose their lives. How they overcome subocean hazards, as well as their cunning enemies, makes one of the most exciting stories to date in the Tom Swift Jr. series.
Author: Thomas Mulvey
"Tom, that strange gas is fantastic--disintegrates everything it touches! What do you think it is?"
Fascinated by the amazing report from a pilot who crash-landed in the African jungle, Tom Swift Jr.'s eyes glow with curiosity as he replies: "Sounds like antiprotons rampaging. Such a phenomenon is unknown on earth. This may be the greatest discovery of the century. It could revolutionize the whole science of atomic energy. Let's investigate that taboo mountain."
Although several of the young inventor's associates view his latest expedition with skepticism, Tom sets off in the Flying Lab for the Dark Continent to fathom the secret of the mysterious mountain. The deadly vapors which have terrified the natives for generations challenge even the scientific genius of Tom and his companions.
When their atomic drill inexplicably is sucked into a forbidding peak. A series of startling events threaten the Swift expedition. How Tom, with his new invention the Terrasphere, conquers a heretofore unknown, violent quirk of nature brings this breath-taking story to a spectacular finish.
Consternation and panic grip the world as a strange new moon shoots earthward. Millions of people are relieved when the weird, glowing runaway moon in the sky finally goes into orbit 50,000 miles from earth.
Tom Swift Jr., who has developed a machine that will produce artificial earth-type gravity in the airless void of space, makes plans to explore this new satellite. In the gigantic, atomic spaceship Titan, Tom and his associates land on the mysterious moonlet and claim the bleak but fabulously rich possession for the United States.
While exploring the satellite to pinpoint the best location for setting up the young inventor's atmosphere-making machine, Swift expedition scouts discover a spaceship belonging to a hostile nation. Claiming first right to the moon because of prior landing, the foreign scientists try every means to annihilate Tom and his group.
How Tom succeeds in proving the Brungarian claim invalid, and saves his associates from being set adrift in outer space, will keep the reader spellbound to the very last page of this spine-tingling adventure.
"There's part of Bud's wrecked plane!" Hovering his new cycloplane, the Drumhawk, in turbulent skies above the wilds of the New Guinea jungle, Tom Swift Jr. points to the sheared-off wing of his friend's plane. The area, flanked by two extinct volcanoes, is as forbidding as the deserted native huts clustered in sinister shadows.
Without Tom's latest aircraft, which uses ultrasonic rotating drums to provide lift, a rescue attempt would be impossible. Battling violent weather conditions, the young inventor lands the Drumhawk and organizes a rescue expedition.
Hazards are encountered from hostile natives who fire barrage after barrage of razor-sharp stone missiles and from a scientist with a deadly ray weapon. Tormented constantly by crafty enemies and nature's perils in the search of Bud, the rescuers unearth a clue that the young pilot is a prisoner of an unscrupulous group of white men who have discovered a fabulous ancient secret and are utilizing it for nefarious purposes.
How Tom, at the risk of his own life, outwits Bud's captors and opens up a new field for science makes tense, exciting reading.
From the moment Tom swift finds himself tossed about helplessly in an undersea geyser to the time he faces possible death at the hands of his enemies, the young scientist fights to overcome many obstacles in putting his two latest inventions to use.
When Tom discovers that helium on the ocean bottom had caused a geyser, he plunges into the task of building an underwater city of derricks and pipelines to capture the gas. His astounding new water-repelling machine and phenomenal hydrodome make the gigantic operation possible.
While at work at the undersea mountain site, Tom and his pal Bud Barclay uncover what seems to be a pirate treasure, but find in the leaden chests a cache of death-dealing destruction. Time and again the young scientist's plans are nearly wrecked. A sinister, hooded figure attacks him in his laboratory, and a mysterious submarine nearly costs him his life.
How Tom outwits his ruthless enemies and saves his country from grave danger makes a nerve-tingling story, packed with swift, tense action and high voltage suspense.
SPEED-AND MORE SPEED-go into the mammoth project of completing Tom Swift Jr.'s newest type of spaceship. It is a race against time and the stakes are high. First, Tom's foreign enemies appear ready to launch a manned moon rocket of their own. Second, the young inventor's friends on another planet propose a rendezvous in outer space, in the desperate hope that Tom and his scientist associates can help them conquer the unknown disease that threatens life on their planet.
From the first test flight to the day the Challenger roars moonward, Tom meets with frustrations and sinister perils, more challenging than he has ever encountered. In a neck-and-neck race with the enemy's rocket ship, Tom's fabulous invention, the super-repelatron, plays a dramatic part in heading off a crash landing on the bleak planet. One of the greatest thrills of the young space pioneer's life comes when he guides the Challenger alongside his planet friends' spaceship.
In this fast-moving, gripping drama of Tom's double victory in outer space you will find all the exciting elements that have made the Tom Swift Jr. series the Number One choice of boys who thrill to mystery and adventure.
Illustrator: Graham Kaye
A MIGHTY TASK faces Tom Swift Jr. in his exciting, new project - colonization of the moon.
To accomplish this astounding feat, Tom must perfect his latest invention, the matter maker, which will be essential for life on the moon. Not only must this amazing solartron manufacture oxygen and fuel, but also food and other materials in sufficient quantity to support the moon pioneers for some time.
From the moment the young scientist-adventurer starts planning for this daring venture, danger and mysterious happenings plague almost every step of his progress. A crushing blow comes when he discovers that one of the solartron's precious secrets has fallen into the hands of an unscrupulous scientific group. Unwilling to admit defeat, Tom and Mr. Swift proceed to their Outpost in Space to conduct crucial tests on the matter maker.
Just as success seems assured, the young scientist suffers the most devastating blow of all when his father mysteriously vanishes in the dark void of endless space. Frantic, Tom instigates a search that leads to the farthest planets.
As you read this taut, nerve-tingling story of Tom's exploits, you will live every tense moment of his triumphs and electrifying adventures.
Formats: DJ, Blue Spine PC, Yellow Spine PC, Paperback (as Tom Swift In The Jungle Of The Mayas)
Enraged Jaguars, violent winds of hurricane force, and a mysterious "giant" who roams the jungle around the Mayan village in Yucatan, Mexico, where Tom is encamped, are only a few of the perils that the young inventor encounters during his thrilling expedition.
But even more feared by the young inventor is an unknown saboteur, intent on destroying Tom's two latest inventions--the electronic retroscope camera and his "parachute" plane, designed for landing in small areas.
Undaunted by the hazards that surround him and assisted by teh friendly natives, Tom perseveres in his objectives. He tests his paraplane for landing maneuverability in densely grown jungle areas, and uses his retroscope (magic to the natives!) to restore--photographically--ancient carvings and writing on old Mayan relics. Tom is astounded when he discovers that some of the carved symbols are similar to the mathematical symbols used by his mysterious friends in outer space to communicate with him.
Is it possible, Tom wonders, that beings from another planet actually landed in Yucatan centuries ago?
What happens to Tom and his friends as they seek the answer to this question in the dark depths of a buried temple will hold every reader in gripping suspense to the last line of this challenging adventure.
Formats: DJ, Blue Spine PC, Yellow Spine PC, Paperback (as Tom Swift and The City Of Gold)
"We're trapped a mile below the ocean's surface," Tom Swift announces to his companions as calmly as possible. His father and Bud Barclay exchange fearful glances in the air-bubble elevator stopped in its undersea descent by a jammed cable.
This close call is only one of the many hazards which beset Tom on his most challenging deep-sea venture - a trip to the ancient city of gold on the ocean bottom.
Here, with his pal Bud Barclay and other members of the Swift expedition, Tom tests his two new inventions. With the de-organic-izer, which employs revolutionary scientific principles, crusts of centuries-old sea growth are removed from the city's buildings and the original gold luster restored. With his other astounding invention - the spectromarine selector - Tom searches for a valuable new rare metal. He must succeed, if his father is to fill an important government rocket contract.
A terrifying sea monster, an abandoned submarine containing human skeletons, a near-fatal leak in the hydrodome over the scene of operations, and the unexpected appearance of an enemy fail to daunt Tom in his mammoth undertakings.
How the young scientist-inventor achieves his goals is told dramatically in this thrill-packed story of undersea adventure.
A solution to the prohibitive cost of producing vehicles for further space explorations is Tom Swift Jr.'s new goal. But the success of the young scientist-inventor's project is threatened by the wily Li Ching, a renegade scientist. Banished from his native land because of rebellious acts, Li Ching is now the leader of a ruthless group intent on pirating scientific secrets.
But Li Ching and his nefarious confederates are only partially responsible for Tom's troubles. Olin Whaley, an unscrupulous international criminal, proves to be a second formidable obstacle.
Despite the ever-present threats of sabotage and piracy, Tom and his friend Bud Barclay are soon taking Tom's latest invention, the Space Kite -- a two-man craft for training future space pilots -- on its test flight. The experiment turns into a harrowing experience when the boys are nearly marooned in outer space.
Undaunted by the failure of the Space Kite, Tom quickly discovers the defect and decides to build a larger craft, the Cosmic Sailer. Certain that he has found the key to economical space explorations, the young inventor still has to conquer the sinister forces working against him. How Tom and the Cosmic Astronauts meet this challenge will keep the reader taut with suspense.
Tom Swift Jr. and his associates at Swift Enterprises wait breathlessly for what may well be the most important scientific event in history -- the arrival of the visitor from Planet X -- a visitor in the form of energy. But there are factions at work determined to snatch the energy, which Tom has named Exman, from the young scientist-inventor's grasp. First, a series of unexplainable, devastating earthquakes threaten to destroy a good portion of the earth, and Tom suspects the Brungarian rebels who obviously would like to capture Exman and use the space visitor to further their own evil purposes.
With the security of Enterprises and Exman at stake, Tom creates two of his greatest inventions -- a Quakelizor to counteract the simulated earth tremors, and a container or "body" to house the energy from outer space.
If the earthquakes cannot be stopped, the entire world will be threatened by destruction, and the Brungarian forces will conquer the earth. How Tom utilizes all his scientific knowledge to produce swift-action results and outwit the Brungarians makes one of the most exciting Tom Swift adventures to date.
Formats: Wrap Spine PC, Yellow Spine PC
Illustrator: Charles Brey
Tom Swift Jr. has invented the amazing electronic hydrolung which instantaneously extracts oxygen from water and allows divers to have virtually unlimited time underwater without the fear of running out of air.
A Jupiter probe missile designed and built by Swift Enterprises on behalf of the United States government has been lost deep in the ocean through the actions of the Brungarians.
Containing top secret scientific data, the probe must be recovered at all costs. In a race against time and the agents of the evil Brungarians, who are equipped with a new stealth submarine, Tom and his friend Bud Barclay use the electronic hydrolung and team up with the United States Navy to rescue the probe.
Formats: Yellow Spine PC
An atomic-powered car that travels on land, water, and through the air -- Tom Swift Jr.'s latest invention -- is an extraordinary achievement. But even its young inventor could not anticipate what a dramatic role the Triphibian Atomicar would play in a technical aid mission which takes Tom and his top-flight engineers to the untamed Asian land of Kabulistan, to help the new republic develop its natural resources.
Time and again Tom must pit his skill and courage against fierce, nomadic tribesmen. But this is not a one-sided conflict between the ancient and the modern. Beneath the façade of thunderous hoofbeats, spears, and scimitars is a scientific mastermind bent on destroying the members of the Swift expedition in order to conceal from the Kabulistan government his discovery of a fabulous ruby mine lost for two centuries.
After a series of danger-packed episodes, Tom and his pal Bud Barclay are caught in a seemingly inextricable, underground trap. How Tom builds a "do-it-yourself" rocket in a cavern laboratory and sends it homing for aid is a brilliant stroke of ingenuity.
The young scientist-inventor's daring exploits in the primitive Middle East country of Kabulistan will keep the reader breathless with suspense until the last page of this gripping story.
"Someone has stolen your invention!" Bud Barclay tells his pal Tom Swift Jr. And when a scientist in France publically tests a helium-extraction machine, it seems Bud is right. The machine explodes, precisely as Tom predicted any model made from his own unperfected plans would do. But the explosion is only the beginning of one of the strangest mysteries in the young scientist-inventor's career. Time and again he is forced to combat a sinister secret enemy while he works to complete his megascope space prober, designed to "keep an eye on the universe."
Meanwhile, Bud is offered the opportunity to participate in a manned government space probe to Venus. Although the AstroDynamics Corporation, a competitor of Swift Enterprises, is directing the project, Tom encourages his friend to make the flight in the interest of the United States.
When another secret invention of Tom's becomes the target of his enemy, all evidence points to the fact that an unidentified traitor at Swift Enterprises is in league with a criminal mastermind outside the plant.
How Tom is trapped when he unmasks his enemies, how he engineers a bizarre escape, and how he executes a fantastic rescue when Bud's spaceship goes out of control on its flight to Venus are just a few of the suspense-filled highlights in the young space pioneer's latest challenge.
A violent explosion in space touches off one of the most thrill-packed adventures in Tom Swift Jr.'s scientific career. The appalling news that a cargo rocket has disintegrated while en route with vital supplies to Swift Enterprises' research base on the asteroid, Nestria, sounds a grim warning that the lives of Nestria's personnel are at stake.
To rescue the marooned men, Tom undertakes a hazardous voyage to Nestria, only to find the way blocked by an invisible barrier of deadly radiation created by an unknown enemy whose objective is possession of the base.
Tension mounts at Swift Enterprises when a mysterious Oriental is shot while attempting to warn Tom that his life is in danger from the Black Cobra. The Oriental's mumbled warning, plus some revealing data collected by United States Intelligence, sends Tom winging to a secret fortress in South America for the first encounter with his inscrutable foe.
But the decisive encounter is destined to take place in space. How Tom uses his new invention, the magnetic deflector, to crack the radiation barrier around Nestria, and how the young space scientist and his crewmen pit their wits and courage against the asteroid pirates and their diabolical leader, the Black Cobra, will hold every reader breathless with suspense.
From the very moment that Tom Swift Jr. agrees to help the government of Ngombia build a highway to link the jungle-separated provinces of the new African nation in a task that has stumped the best engineers in the United States he is beset by mysterious attacks aimed to defeat the project.
Construction of the road is urgent. At stake is the economic future of this friendly country. But no conventional highway will do. For existing engineering methods can not be used to bridge the seething, bubbling swamp in the rain forest.
Tom comes up with an amazing scientific solution to the problem ñ an aerial highway over the jungle at treetop level, supported only by invisible repelatron beams.
Deep in the jungle, fantastic-sized creatures - throwbacks to the dinosaur age - and an eccentric scientist, missing for twenty years, add to the harassment's besetting the Swift work crews.
In a series of dangerous adventures, Tom must out maneuver the sinister forces working against him and the Ngombian government, win the trust of the hostile scientist, and carry through the skyway to a successful
Tom Swift and his pal Bud Barclay embark on one of the greatest scientific adventures of the century -- a daring underwater crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, equipped only with Tom's electronic hydrolung suits! Hundreds of miles from land, the hydrolung batteries inexplicably go dead and the two boys are dramatically rescued in the dark of night. Examination of their equipment reveals sabotage.
A complex clue leads Tom to believe there is a connection between the sabotaging of the hydrolung and the sinking of the SS Centurion--which went down in mid-Atlantic with a fortune in gold bullion and a world-famous statue aboard. After making good on their second attempt to accomplish the nonstop swim under the Atlantic, Tom and Bud are given the assignment of salvaging the Centurion's valuable cargo. To locate the sunken ship, Tom designs the aquatomic tracker, an astounding device that detects and identifies metallic and chemical traces left by an object in water, then tracks the object.
How the young scientist-inventor outwits the vicious saboteurs and traps the most fiendishly clever mastermind of crime he has ever met makes a fast-moving story of super-suspense.
A weird green object has appeared in outer space! The United States Government requests Tom Swift Jr. to investigate this menace to earth's radio communications and threat to national security. But the Orb exerts an electromagnetic power that endangers Tom's spaceship and he is forced to return to earth.
Since it is impossible to land men, Tom designs robot astronauts, equipped with his new three-dimensional TV cameras as "eyes", to probe the Orb. While working feverishly to perfect his Video Viking robots, the young inventor discovers that the Orb has succeeded in communicating its hostility to a ruthless scientific group on earth and has ordered the leader of Q to destroy Swift Enterprises.
After vanquishing his earth enemies, Tom launches his robots. The startling three-dimensional images of an unheard-of phenomenon that the Video Vikings send back during their probe of the Orb result in Tom's making another attempt at a manned landing.
The dramatic showdown with the master brain of the Green Orb climaxes one of the most daring space exploits in the young scientist-inventor's thrilling career.
Illustrator: Edward Moritz
An unidentified rocket ship crashes into the Swifts' outpost in space and vanished before Tom can track it down.
Shortly after comes the startling news that a Mars probe rocket, vital to the United States space program, has failed to respond to signals to bring it back to earth. Tom is confident that with his latest invention -- the Polar-Ray Dynasphere -- he can retrieve the stranded missile. But a web of espionage threatens his plan. A clue to the solution of the mystery prompts Tom to accept an invitation from the young Prince Jahan to visit his native land of Vishnapur in the snow-peaked Himalayas north of India.
In this remote Oriental kingdom, Tom and his pal Bud Barclay visit a strange lake of death and sight the tracks of a weird monster said to prowl the lake at night. Tom conceives an ingenious plan for draining the poison lake with the Dynasphere mounted aboard his new spacecraft, the Dyna Ranger, so that the valley may be turned into valuable farmland.
Fireball missiles and a hairbreadth encounter with a charging tiger are only two of the perils that confront the daring young inventor in this colorful, thrill-packed adventure.
A weird blast of sound engulfs an American city. Tom is caught in the panic while visiting there to demonstrate his new sonic boom deadener--the Silentenna--at a Noise Reduction Conference. A top-rank scientist, John Wyvern, who is also attending the conference, mysteriously vanishes the day of the sonic attack.
Attempts on the lives of both Tom and Wyvern's pretty daughter intensify the young inventor's determination to solve the mystery. A clue to John Wyvern's whereabouts takes Tom to the sun-scorched Australian Outback, where he uses his latest invention-- robot bloodhound--to track down the missing scientist, but a deadly bush fire wipes out the trail.
Meanwhile, other cities in the United States have suffered terrifying eruptions of sound. The President receives an unsigned ultimatum, threatening an all-out sonic blitz unless the blackmailer's price of ten million dollars is paid.
Tom's Silentenna offers the only hope of defense--but to perfect it he needs a special liquid-crystal device which only the missing scientist can supply. The young inventor's race against time to thwart the unknown sonic enemy will keep every reader's pulse pounding with excitement and suspense
The young scientist-inventor embarks on one of the most challenging missions of his adventure-packed career. The mission: recover a valuable cache left on Earth thousands of years ago by colonists from another planet. Can Tom locate it before his deadly foe the Kranjovians seize the capsule?
Clues to the cache lead him to a location beneath the ocean floor -- near strange Easter Island, with its eerie ruins. Further search is impossible until Tom can invent and build a manned, burrowing mole-mobile--the Geotron.
Tom and his close pal Bud Barclay race against time in an equally challenging project: to build a unique aquarium and stock it with rare species of deep-sea life. If they fail to meet the deadline, a donor's bequest goes to the despotic Kranjovian government.
Their desperate contest with the Kranjovians propels Tom and Bud into a series of hair-raising perils. Tom's weird ordeal as a "bird man" of Rano Kao; the boy's narrow escape from being buried alive in a cave; their life-or-death undersea duel for the priceless cache -- all go to make up this electrifying, suspense-filled adventure.
Illustrator: Ray Johnson
Tom Swift Jr. realizes one of his greatest ambitions when the U. S. space agency commissions him to do a comet probe. With his latest invention, the telesampler, Tom hopes to glean unknown scientific facts from the next comet to pass near earth-- and even, perhaps, make a manned landing. But his erstwhile enemies the Brungarians are a threat to the daring research project and U. S. scientific prestige.
Meanwhile, weird unidentified flying objects blazing across earth's skies are causing the U. S. Department of Defense great concern. When Professor Feng, of the University of Heildelberg, gives Tom a strange clue to the UFO's -- a clue that dates back to the Middle Ages -- the young space scientist is soon caught up in a web of danger and intrigue.
How Tom succeeds in solving the complex riddle of the UFO's -- just in time for a desperate race with a deadly comet as earth's fate hangs in the balance -- makes one of the most tension-packed, thrilling stories in the Tom Swift series.
When weird masked raiders attack a United States spaceport, Tom's plans for his latest space exploration project are jeopardized. The project would launch astronauts on a newly sighted planetoid for an epic voyage around the sun. First, Tom must prove that his latest invention, the Duratherm Wing, can bring reentering spacecraft safely down to earth. A fiery mishap on the test flight is only the beginning of Tom's troubles. Fake evidence results in the young scientist-inventor being accused of masterminding the spaceport raid.
In the meantime, another small planet has been mysteriously captured by earth's gravity. On an expedition to the strange planetoid, Tom discovers a fantastic prize. But grim developments follow. The planetoid is sinking into the atmosphere and threatens the continent of North America with the most terrible catastrophe in history! How Tom meets this challenge with high courage and scientific know-how, and how he outwits his insidious enemies, will bring cheers from his worldwide legion of fans.
"Moon Serpents!" Astronaut Bud Barclay gasps into the microphone of his space suit. Tom Swift Jr.'s investigation of the phenomenon reveals that the giant, writhing reptilian forms are caused by gas vapors. When Tom captures a sample of the gas in a metal flask for analysis, he shoots up from the moon's surface into space! Through quick thinking the young scientist-inventor rescues himself and realizes that he has discovered a new powerful energy, which he calls Serptilium.
At this time, a large railroad network is in the market for an advance method of rail travel. A contract will go either to Swift Enterprises or to a rival firm, Cosmoprises -- whichever designs the best super-speed train.
How Tom, using Serptilium, develops his invention and defeats Cosmoprises' evil attempts to win the prized contract makes exciting reading for all Tom Swift Jr. fans.
Author: Richard McKenna
What are the green glowing bubble creatures that the young scientist-inventor encounters in the depths of the Pacific Ocean? How do they rescue Tom and his pal Bud Barclay from an attack by the fish men?
Tom's electrifying adventures begin deep in the Mariana Trench where he has based his newest invention, the Dyna-4 Capsule, in a hunt for rare metals. A super submarine, the craft has been especially designed for deep-sea research and exploration.
On orders from Washington, Tom takes time out from his own project to recover5 a stolen vial containing a highly destructive explosive. The top-secret mission turns into a danger-filled whale chase in the Dyna-4 and leads to a showdown with Tom's ruthless foes.
In the biggest, fastest spaceship ever designed by Swift Enterprises, Tom Jr. plans to make a grand tour of the planets in the solar system. But a group of criminal scientist's bent on conquering the universe is out to steal Tom's magnificent Cosmotron Express and destroy the young scientist and Swift Enterprises.
Determined to foil the fiendish plot, Tom and his pal Bud Barclay locate the enemy's fortress laboratory but are captured. The boys make a daring escape, only to be faced with an even more grim challenge in their next encounter with the enemy. Pursued on their phenomenal interplanetary journey, they become the targets of VIPER's frightening weapon, the enormous Orb. How Tom, using his revolutionary device the Spider Crab, thwarts the feared, vicious leader of VIPER and his evil followers climaxes this gripping story of scientific combat.
Author: Vincent Buranelli
Illustrator: Bill Dolwick
With his latest invention, the Transmittaton, Tom Swift Jr. solves two baffling scientific mysteries. This ingenious device can atomize objects, send them great distances, and reassemble the atoms. What happens when Tom uses the Transmittaton to prevent a catastrophic invasion of Earth by ghosts from another galaxy is only the beginning of a series of spine tingling adventures for the young inventor.
At the same time Tom and his father are asked to take on an important mission. They are to locate a prehistoric giant mammal believed to be entombed in solid ice in the Andes Mountains and transport it to the United States. Despite attempts by the Swifts' crafty, vicious enemies to sabotage the project, father and son accomplish their dangerous mission with the aid of Toms Transmittaton.
Unexpected thrills and high-voltage suspense fill every page of this gripping story.
Published by Elephant Books division of Grosset & Dunlap
Illustrated by Tony Tallarico.
Copyrighted by The Stratemeyer Syndicate.
The cover art was adapted from the Tempo edition of Jetmarine.
Various children's activities such as color-by-number, connect-the-dots, etc.
All U.S. books were published by Grosset & Dunlap.
Initially priced at 95¢ in 1954, the price was raised through the years to $1.00, $1.25 and finally $1.50 by the time the final volume was released in 1971.
Volumes 1-17 were issued in a blue tweed paper binding with full color dust jackets.
In 1961 the dust jacket editions were discontinued and the change to picture cover books was made.
Volume 18, The Electronic Hydrolung was issued in a one-time-only wrap picture cover (the cover illustration wrapped around on to the spine.) Subsequent editions of this title were issued in the yellow spine format.
The previous volumes (1-17) were issued in a blue spine picture cover. The blue spine was used for only one year. There is speculation that G&D thought the blue spine editions may be confused with the PC Hardy Boys books being published at that time but this has not been confirmed.
My research indicates that the blue spine PC's were issued in at least two different editions, both with and with out the $1 price box on the cover, and with different title listings. Presumably the editions with the "$1 Box" are the first PC editions.
Starting in 1962 with Volume #19, Triphibian Atomicar, all volumes were issued in a yellow spine picture cover and the blue spine editions discontinued. All 33 volumes can be found in this style of binding.
The original endpapers were a blue & white scene of Tom staring out a window and were used for the DJ and blue spine editions. The wrap & yellow spine picture covers editions used a crudely redrawn black & white copy of this scene.
All hardcover volumes in all formats have the page tops stained a medium blue.
1972: Tempo Publishing (a division of Grosset & Dunlap) reprinted Volumes 14-17 in an oversized paperback format which sold for 95¢. These volumes featured new cover art (artist unknown) but used the same Graham Kaye internal illustrations as the hard cover books.
#14, Electronic Retroscope was retitled: Tom Swift In The Jungle Of The Mayas
#15, Spectromarine Selector was retitled: Tom Swift and The City Of Gold, which is not to be confused with volume 11 of the Tom Swift Sr. series, Tom Swift In The City Of Gold.
1978: Tempo Publishing reprinted Volumes 1-4, 6, 8 in a standard size paperback format which sold for $1.25. These were also sold in a slip-cased boxed set. These volumes featured new cover art (reported by one writer as Ken Barr although he is not credited in the books) and new internal illustrations by Tony Tallarico.
#6, Outpost In Space was retitled Tom Swift and His Sky Wheel


text:
The Westmorland Gazette has been shortlisted in the most prestigious newspaper awards in the country.
The newspaper has beaten off competition from hundreds of other weekly titles and will learn whether it has won the title of Weekly Newspaper of the Year (for papers with a circulation above 20,000) at a glittering ceremony to be held at the Lancaster London Hotel on May 16.
The Society of Editors' Regional Press Awards celebrate the best of British regional and local newspaper journalism.
Chairman of the judges Paul Horrocks said: "Once again the judges have been astounded by the scale and quality of the entries that come out of the regional and local press."
The Weekly Newspaper of the year category seeks to recognise newspapers that offer service to the local community, great exclusives, successful campaigns and outstanding journalism.
In its award entry, the Gazette highlighted the depth and breadth of local news coverage; regular in-paper supplements, including Estate and Country; and successful campaigns such as Driving Hospice Care, which raised £42,000 in just six weeks to buy 4x4 vehicles for Hospice at Home nurses.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The Indian smartphone market is witnessing a transition currently as Apple and Samsung are being beaten by a couple of aggressive local competitors. The growth in sales of the Indian based vendors including Micromax and Karbonn is fueled by the Indians who are buying their first smartphone.
Talking of Micromax, how is it possible for a local vendor to compete with global market leaders? Well, the answer is quite simple as Micromax is facing all success with its price strategy.
As the phablets are the talk of the town these days, almost every company is launching one in this genre with a desperate need to gain the consumers attention. It all debuted with Samsung with the launch of Galaxy Note in 2011 and later, every vendor has jumped to the bandwagon.
Click here for more Micromax A115 Canvas 3D Images....
Click here for more Galaxy Grand Duos Images....
But, the India based vendors including Micromax have sought a their own way to succeed. As Galaxy Note and Note 2 were priced too high, making it impossible for all consumers to get their hands on one, Micromax came up with Canvas A100, a phablet at Rs 9,999. This move of the company paved way for the success of low cost phablets and several others started adopting the strategy.
So far, Micromax has launched a total of five phablets at different price points including the latest one - A115 Canvas 3D at Rs 9,999. Also, seeing the success of low cost phablet, Samsung announced the Galaxy Grand in India at Rs 21,500 and has achieved scorching sales for it.
For those cosnumers who are looking forward to buy a low cost phablet, it would definitely be challenging to figure out the right device as the market is flooded with numerous options. Hence, GizBot is here to solve your confusion and help you decide if Galaxy Grand Duos or Canvas 3D would suit your needs.
Form Factor
While the form factor of A115 Canvas 3D is not known, Galaxy Grand Duos measures 143.5 x 76.9 x 9.6 mm and weighs in at 162 grams.
Further, both A115 Canvas 3D and Galaxy Grand Duos come with a 5 inch multi-touch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels and a pixel density of 187 ppi.
The display on Canvas 3D is capable of 3D video playback without the necessity of wearing 3D glasses.
A115 Canvas 3D is equipped with a 1.2GHz dual core MTK 6577 and Galaxy Grand Duos is packed with a 1.2GHz dual core Cortex A9 processor. The dual core MTK6577 supports advanced design for a substantial increase in the browser and application performance, full HD 1080p video playback, glasses-free 3D, screen display brightening technology, zero-delay camera and many other high-end mobile phone functionality.
On the other hand, Cortex A9 processor offers an overall performance enhancement of above 50% as compared to ARM Cortex A8 and is flexibleto scale across a wide variety of markets and applications.
Both A115 Canvas 3D and Galaxy Grand Duos run on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS and hence, they will come with features including Project Butter, Google Now, improved camera interface, Paper Artist, high resolution contact photos and more.
Also, Galaxy Grand Duos comes with several exclusive features that came along with Galaxy S3 including Smart Stay, Direct Call, AllCast Share, PopUp Play, Buddy Tag and more. On the other hand, Canvas A115 3D comes with Micromax 3D Space feature that offers access to 3D videos and also has preloaded 3D games.
A115 Canvas 3D has a 5MP rear camera with autofocus and LED flash and a VGA front camera for video calling. In comparison, Galaxy Grand Duos has an 8MP rear camera with autofocus and LED flash and a 2MP front camera for video calling.
Galaxy Grand Duos scores more in this segment with 8GB internal storage, 1GB RAM and a micro SD card slot supporting up to 64GB additional storage. On the other hand, Canvas 3D has 4GB internal storage, 512MB RAM and a micro SD card slot with support to up to 32GB expandable memory.
Internet Connectivity
Both the handsets come with average 3G download speed, Bluetooth 4.0 and micro USB 2.0. However, Galaxy Grand Duos has dual band Wi-Fi as compared to single band Wi-Fi in Canvas 3D. The dual band Wi-Fi operates on more than two different network frequencies allowing the consumers to enjoy the benefits of a stronger internet connection.
A115 Canvas 3D is loaded with a 2,000 mAh battery providing 225 hours standby and 4.5 hours talk time. At the same time, Galaxy Grand Duos is powered with a 2,100 mAh battery offering 440 hours standby and 10 hours talk time.
Galaxy Grand Duos is priced at Rs 21,500 and is available via 15% cashback from Samsung. Micromax A115 Canvas 3D has been launched at Rs 9,999 and is listed on online retailer Saholic for sale.
The End...
Both A115 Canvas 3D and Galaxy Grand Duos are mid-range devices with few similar specifications. Based on Jelly Bean, both will offer almost same user experience to the consumers.
When it comes to good camera features, increased memory options and long battery backup, Galaxy Grand Duos could be a better option. On the other hand, if a low cost device with 3D support is your choice, Micromax A115 Canvas 3D should be a good one.


text:
Maybeline Great Lash Mascara in Blackest Black
That familiar pink-and-green tube has been a beauty staple of mine ever since Mom let me play with hers when I was a kid. The latest twist on this classic is Blackest Black, a rich but surprisingly light application with a curved brush that looks like you drew on lashes with a Sharpie. I love it.


text:
Fred, an amiable drifter, crashes a stolen car into the Paris Metro in order to escape mob hit men. He discovers a vast enclave of folks who live underground.
Luc Besson's first feature was the widescreen, black and white, wordless absurdist science fiction film Le Dernier Combat (The Last Battle). After that, he moved towards a slightly more conventional area with this romantic thriller – which retains the love of weird incidental characters and surreal detail, but also develops some of the action movie muscles that would emerge in Besson's later, more obviously commercial work.
Christopher Lambert's enigmatically-named Fred, in a dinner jacket and spikey punk hairdo, makes an intriguingly offbeat mooncalf hero, on the run from the heavies surrounding elegantly-coiteured and cockatoo-plumed Isabelle Adjani. Among the interesting denizens of Besson's bande dessinee-style Paris underground are le rolleur (a skating pickpocket), le drummer (a busker-philanthropist whose rhythms drive the movie). Big Bill (a handcuff-breaking muscle-man) and the florist (a would-be blackmailer), while the Maigret-look rumpled cop in charge of policing the chaos is partnered by an ambitious gloryhog nick-named Batman.
The plot is reduced to the broadest strokes (some stolen paper barely even qualify as a McGuffin), allowing Besson to explore the nooks and crannies of his extraordinary location (various Parisian authorities and vandals are to be complemented for their imaginative art direction and set decoration).
Stylish, if insubstantial, and with a lot of comic‑adventurous flair, this wholly pleasurable jeu d'esprit plays less like an action movie than a virtuoso jazz ensemble improvisation, with various riffs and licks spun off as odd characters do their own pieces and then recede into the background. A film of wonderful small moments: Adjani descending a staircase in a flouncy dress, Lambert dooby‑dooby‑doing to himself as he smashes up his car.
More style than substance here but what style it is and what little gems of cinematic moments collect together in this enjoyable ensemble.


text: The KeraCare Detangling Shampoo is a beauty bath for hair that produces a rich lather as it lightly conditions and cleans hair for a healthy–looking appearance and feel. The Detangling Shampoo is pH–balanced and excellent for relaxed, permed or colour–treated hair, removing excess oils from the hair and scalp with out over–stripping. Minimizing hair breakage through its superior detangling, this shampoo will leave the hair soft and shiny.


text:
Join Dr. Rober Kathol as he discusses alternative payment models being tried to sustain value-added care for medical patients with BH comorbidity and behavioral health patients with medical comorbidity.
Alternative Payment Models for Sustaining Integration – Dr. Roger Kathol
Join us for a webinar on Friday, July 26 at 1pm EDT. Register now!
Overview: Segregated medical and mental health reimbursement for behavioral health (BH), i.e., mental health and substance use disorders, conditions in the United States is associated with non-treatment of nearly seventy percent of BH patients and ineffective treatment of another twenty percent. Only five to ten percent of BH patients, whether seen in the medical and BH sector, receive outcome-changing care. Further, while there is a perception that most seriously mentally ill patients are seen in the BH sector, in fact, most are seen and either untreated or ineffectively treated in the medical sector. For this reason, if health reform is going to bring value to patients with BH conditions, a new approach to support for BH services will be necessary. This presentation will discuss alternative payment models being tried to sustain value-added care for medical patients with BH comorbidity and BH patients with medical comorbidity and suggest one that is most likely to succeed.
7/1/2017 » 10/21/2017VOLUNTEER at the CFHA CONFERENCE!
9/7/2017Research and Evaluation Committee Meeting
9/13/2017PCBH SIG Meeting
10/19/2017 » 10/21/20172017 Conference: "To Integration & Beyond: Creating Solutions for a Connected, Sustainable Future"
Collaborative Family Healthcare Association, P. O. Box 23980, Rochester, New York 14692-3980 USAPhone (585) 482-8210 Fax (585) 482-2901 firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
At the William Hotel, a 20th-century mansion that once functioned as a private clubhouse for Williams College alumni, the guest suites are saturated with monochromatic color palettes. Mason Wickham, principal at In Situ Design, says the hues used in the ...Read More »
Tag Archives: New YorkFeed Subscription
Chesapeake to Convert Midtown Manhattan Hotel to Hyatt Brand
ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Chesapeake Lodging Trust announced that it has entered into a franchise agreement with a Hyatt affiliate to convert its current Holiday Inn property located at 30-32 West 31st Street in New York to the Hyatt Herald Square in the ...Read More »
Edition Hotel Planned for Times Square
Despite taking some time to get off the ground, it looks like investor interest in Marriott's Edition brand is growing. Following the sale of three Edition properties—located in London, Miami, and Manhattan—to owners affiliated with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, ...Read More »
Despite Supply, Hoteliers Optimistic About Super Bowl
On Feb. 2, Super Bowl XLVIII—the biggest sporting event of the year—will invade MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The game and the lavish celebrations leading up to it are expected to infuse as much as $600 million into the ...Read More »
North America's Tallest Hotel Opens in New York
NEW YORK—Marriott International and G Holdings announced the opening of the 378-room Courtyard hotel and 261-suite Residence Inn hotel in Midtown Manhattan—the tallest single-use hotel in North America. Built and owned by G Holdings and managed by Interstate Hotels and ...Read More »
The New York Marriott Marquis Sold for Mere $20 Million
Everyone knows that real estate in New York City is expensive—especially hotel real estate, as the transaction market picks up and more buyers come to the table. But a recent deal for the New York Marriott Marquis, located in the ...Read More »


text:
'Divas, Dudes and Dancers'
Present Music performs at the Wherehouse
The other sources of
programming inspiration are Artistic Director Kevin Stalheim's extensive
knowledge of contemporary music and the group's commitment to sharing concerts
with local artists. This time, the featured composer, duYun, accompanying
herself on laptop, will perform a set of original songs and join the Present
Music ensemble in two of her longer works. Stalheim
described her music as very complex, precise, gestural and unique, a kind of
moody, alternative pop; hence the diva assignation. Stalheim invited
choreographer-dancer Kelly Anderson and singer Robin Pluer to represent the
"divas" of Milwaukee, and enlisted three local "dudes" to complete the bill: composer
Chris Burns, choreographer Luc Vanier and accordionist Stas Venglevski.
Dancers Jaimi Patterson
and Steven Moses will perform Vanier's new duet, titled Love's Fodder, to electronic music Burns created with computer
programs and files of his own design. Vanier's
piece for the Milwaukee Ballet this season impressed me with its beauty and
searching spirit. He described the subject here as "intimacy and repetition." When a pas de deux in any style works, he said, it's because both dancers
give up their egos, their habitual ways of interfacing with the world that, if
clung to, limit them. He means this as a metaphor for all our relationships.
The dancers must pay attention to one another to solve each choreographic
problem and dance the dance, over and over and always anew.
Anderson, a member and resident choreographer of Danceworks Performance Company who is known for her pop aesthetic and vaudeville approach, will dance her own work. Sebben Crudele was originally created for the recent Milwaukee Opera Theatre production 26. She described the dance as a "tasteful burlesque," a soul-bearing striptease to a slip performed for an unseen lover before whom she feels vulnerable. In 26, it occurred before any narrative framework emerged, and it needs no other context than this thoughtful Present Music nightclub entertainment.


text:
Story: Ken Haller, a pediatrician by day and versatile performer at night, has packaged an abundance of nostalgia with a bit of American history and even sociology into 90 minutes of entertainment titled The TV Show! In addition to themes from various TV series, Haller dips as well into original musicals made for TV in the medium's 'golden age,' and even offers up an amusing medley of melodies for TV commercials written by one Barry Manilow "before he was Barry Manilow."
Highlights: Haller has an easy-going style that meshes well with cabaret's informal appearance. He jokes casually with the audience about his upbringing in Hicksville, New York, a Long Island suburb that actually was named for its founder, a 19th century merchant named Hicks, leading to a rather unfortunate appellation. While maintaining an upbeat and humorous approach to his selection of tunes, Haller also makes poignant observations about growing up 'different' in the America of the 1950s and '60s, a time when Haller observes there were limited options for gay people such as he.
Other Info: While Haller's voice can be described as adequate or 'functional,' he carries himself with confidence and a bit of bravado and knows well how to utilize the cabaret form to shape a story with music. In this case, he's aided greatly by the considerable skills of musical director Al Fischer, who serves as pianist, good buddy, foil and noble accompanist on Haller's tribute to the small screen.
The show is a mixture of familiar tunes, such as the theme from Cheers performed with a surprisingly effective slow beat or Best Friend, the theme from The Courtship of Eddie's Father. The latter is particularly ironic, since star Bill Bixby was Haller's first crush when Bixby co-starred with Ray Walston in the early '60s comedy, My Favorite Martian. As Haller wryly noted, Bixby's character, reporter Tim O'Hara, spent most of the time searching for his invisible 'Uncle Martin,' and was a truly terrible reporter, since he was sitting on the 'scoop of the century.'
What better way to kick off the evening than with This Could Be the Start of Something Big, written by and the signature tune for Renaissance man Steve Allen, who was the first host of The Tonight Show as well as memorable series such as Meeting of the Minds on PBS?
Haller referred to a number of shows that incorporated magic, witchcraft or mystery in a clever montage that blended together the themes of Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie and The Patty Duke Show ("identical cousins, which are genetically impossible," he noted). We heard snippets of I Love Lucy and Bonanza and even a tune about TV and suburbia, Somewhere That's Green, from the Broadway show, Little Shop of Horrors.
A segment devoted to two superior TV musicals, Cinderella by Rodgers and Hammerstein and Evening Primrose by Stephen Sondheim, demonstrated how television could bring high art to a medium often condemned by its detractors as low-brow. Haller, though, is an unabashed fan of TV, and makes no apologies for the hours of education and entertainment it has brought him from his Irish Catholic upbringing on Long Island to contemporary times.
Fischer showed his prowess on the keyboards with a quick and clever homage to various genres mentioned by Haller, whether children's fare (Sesame Street), documentaries (National Geographic), holiday shows (A Charlie Brown Christmas), doctor series (St. Elsewhere), science fiction (Star Trek), police series (Hill Street Blues) and even 'cop/lawyer shows' (the famous two-note beginning to Law & Order).
A bit featuring characters from Gilligan's Island performing Hamlet via opera was likely better on paper than it appeared on stage. However, Haller recovered with an affecting version of It's Not Easy Being Green from Sesame Street when referencing his own identity. A knowing comment about the importance of sexual tension for famous TV couples (Cheers, The X Files, Moonlighting) culminated in a satisfying rendition of the latter's theme song.
Just as he began the concert with homage to the legendary Allen, Haller concluded his one-act set with a tribute to two of the small screen's most beloved and enduring leading ladies, Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Burnett. He quoted Moore's landmark character, Mary Richards from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, about who or what actually comprises a family and sang her familiar theme. Then, for an encore he imitated Burnett's famous show finale with an empty bucket and a heart full of love and delight.
The TV Show! is not for snobs but a pleasant evening for everyone else.
Cabaret: The TV Show!
Performer: Ken Haller
Venue: Kranzberg Black Box Theatre
Dates: Run concluded


text: Yarrow Hotel features airport pick-up service and puts you within a 15-minute drive of Harbin Amusement Park and Heilongjiang Provincial Museum. You can relax with a drink at the bar/lounge, and the restaurant is the perfect spot to grab a bite to eat. This upscale hotel is also within a short drive of Saint Sophia Church.


text:
Despite all the reasons offered me, I just can't manage to feel exploited or condescended to by ''Bulworth.''
Is the Senator, as written and played by Warren Beatty, just another morally depleted white man who turns to African-Americans for spiritual renewal? I have no problem with African-Americans being seen as a source of spiritual renewal so long as there is a trade-off based on a good deal more than patronization or manipulation.
Worse still, is J. Billington Bulworth (and by extension, Mr. Beatty) a White Negro, who strides the meaner streets of black life savoring its dangers for recreation? I think not. What is intolerable about the true White Negro is that he plays -- just for the thrill of it, just for the funk of it -- in the costume of race. So intent is he on his own performance that he utterly ignores or dismisses the actual Negroes in his path and ends up feeling that when it comes to authenticity and hipness, he has just about eclipsed them.
Senator Bulworth starts rapping -- even briefly dressing, and trying to walk and gesture like a South-Central homeboy -- to deliver no-holds-barred political views. Middle-class whites, blacks, Asians and Latinos all over the world rap these days for all sorts of reasons, including fun, profit and testosterone gratification.
Bulworth's rapping has neither self-serving ambiguity nor all-purpose piety. That puts it many cuts above the average political speech. And he doesn't eclipse the blacks he meets. He listens to their talk about their circumstances -- you can see him taking it in with the shock of a man who has never had to think there was something he didn't know -- and he does what politicians are supposed to do. He takes those words to the larger world.Continue reading the main story
Besides, this isn't a naturalistic movie. When Bulworth bursts into rhyme, he is doing what people in musicals do: using some form of song to say what can't be said in everyday speech.
What we have here is partly an idealistic political fantasy, Frank Capra style, and partly a nihilistic musical, rap style. And if Mr. Beatty sounded like an authentically black rap virtuoso, he would undercut the movie's point and its comic charm. He is supposed to sound the way we all do when we come into contact with things that shake us up: awkward, then ardent; ricocheting from the embarrassing to the eloquent.
The movie is filled with those little shivers of exotic-erotic excitement that so often mark cross-racial and cross-class encounters and so often distress people who feel them despite their nobler intentions. It would be ridiculous to suppress these; the less naturalistic a movie is, the more emotionally forthright it has to be.
Bulworth looks pretty silly in that after-hours South-Central club, flailing around excitedly with the delicious young Nina (played by Halle Berry), spinning records, happy to be taken for Clint Eastwood and George Hamilton. But it's hardly surprising that he might prefer it to his usual round of activities.
And this goes both ways. The young black women who attach themselves to him find riding around in a limo and providing rap backup vocals at political fund-raisers a lot more interesting than working at McDonald's. Blacks can have just as much fun with these encounters as whites. ''You're my nigger,'' Nina tells him with a smile, just the way black disk jockeys in the 1960's used to say, ''Here come our blue-eyed soul brothers'' whenever the Righteous Brothers began to croon ''You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling.''
It has been said that most of the black characters in ''Bulworth'' are all-too-familiar caricatures. But are those two loud, giggling South-Central girls, Shaneequa and her friend, any more laughable than the Senator's craven, hysterical campaign lackeys? Is Don Cheadle's gang leader more broadly drawn than Paul Sorvino's insurance lobbyist? Sometimes I think that caricatures of middle-class people seem less broad than those of working-class people because they remind us middle-class audiences of people we know. Besides, ''Bulworth'' is a farce and a romance. This means that all of the surrounding characters are types to some degree, while the pair at the center begin as types and struggle to become fully human.
It was accidental but instructive to read Lani Guinier's book ''Lift Every Voice: Turning a Civil Rights Setback Into a New Vision of Social Justice'' (Simon & Schuster) the same week that I saw ''Bulworth.'' It, too, is a nasty but real-life political farce that made just a few of the people involved more human in the end.
The book begins with Ms. Guinier's account of how President Clinton nominated her as assistant attorney general for civil rights then left her to twist slowly in the wind (say nothing to the media, his people ordered her) as conservative opponents unleashed a successful campaign to discredit her views. Whereupon the President withdrew the nomination, declaring that while he had been unacquainted with those views, he now found them unacceptable.
Double-talk abounded. Political lackeys and emissaries scurried through halls delivering coded messages. And real life delivered some moments of pure farce that the best fiction can't top. (My particular favorite comes when, having withdrawn Ms. Guinier's nomination without ever, she says, telling her which views he disagreed with, President Clinton makes this impassioned declaration to reporters: ''I love her. I think she's wonderful. If she came to me and asked for $5,000, I'd go down to the bank and give it to her, no questions asked.'')
And if you think rap a low form of speech try some of the labels given Ms. Guinier by right-wing media pundits and critics: Bill Clinton's ''Quota Queen,'' ''Looney Lani,'' ''The Czarina of Czeparatism.''
Ms. Guinier spends the last two parts of her book re-examining the civil rights movement. She looks at some crucial cases from the 1980's, when she worked with the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense Fund in the South to make sure that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was still being enforced. And she recalls crucial encounters with plain-spoken people she was defending, the local and little-heard citizens whom civil rights lawyers (like politicians) had to learn to speak with not just for.
She also makes some proposals for how we might have some national conversations on race that are more than touring melodramas: People might talk until some kind of trust developed and then be willing to go on talking. People might talk not only about race but also about how race can be a lens on other issues, questions and struggles. People might hope and plan not only to bond and make friends but also to think about public problems and about making changes.
Nothing could be more different in tone than these two works: ''Bulworth,'' all wild farce and ''Lift Every Voice,'' all sturdy thoughtfulness. But Ms. Guinier survived a farce and Mr. Beatty put plenty of thought into his entertainment. They have both taken risks (Ms. Guinier's political, Mr. Beatty's cultural) to give us something that can genuinely be called a social vision. And a vision isn't supposed to be a fixed, perfect thing. A vision is supposed to be a passionate, intelligent work in progress, whether a film, a book or a life.Continue reading the main story


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early detection
Cancer death rates in the United States are dropping faster than ever, researchers reported Monday. After a closer look at the findings with NewsHour health correspondent Susan Dentzer, medical experts outline some of the reasons behind the health trend. Continue reading
The American Cancer Society issued new guidelines Wednesday that called for expanding the use of MRI scans for women at higher risk of breast cancer. Health correspondent Susan Dentzer explains the new recommendations. Continue reading
The American Cancer Society reported Wednesday that cancer deaths in the United States fell in 2004 for the second straight year due to better screening and fewer smokers. Dr. Harmon Eyre, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, explains the findings. Continue reading


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For all the praise that has been heaped, here and elsewhere, on Hog QB Ryan Mallett, he, like any other QB, is only as good as his best weapons. The Hogs have talent across the board, but it's the flourishing of talent at the skill positions that have taken Arkansas' offense to truly elite heights. You've heard the numbers: five Arkansas receivers had 500 or more receiving yards in the regular season. Despite spreading the ball around like only an Air Raid offense might, the Hogs still managed to have an 1100-yard rusher, good for 2nd-best in the SEC among running backs. The aerial attack never missed a beat, even though the 3rd-leading pass catcher, Greg Childs, is out for the season. His absence still left three talented veterans and a John Mackey-award winning TE on the field, and Arkansas proceed as if nothing had ever happened: In his absence, the offense had four of its best games of the year, throttling South Carolina and UTEP, and outgunning Mississippi State and LSU to close the season.
DJ Williams
Though just 6-2 and 250 pounds, DJ Williams excelled as a TE in Arkansas' high-flying aerial attack. A tough, physical pass-catcher across the middle, his game-by-game numbers won't wow you (he never totaled more than 70 yards receiving in a single game this year) and he isn't exactly a burner, but that doesn't mean defenses - even the best in the SEC - have been able to limit him in any way. He's had at least three receptions in every game this season, caught a crucial touchdown against Mississippi State, and had big games against Georgia (6 catches for 61 yards), Alabama (5 catches for 63 yards), and South Carolina (5 catches for 67 yards). As an undersized TE with solid catching ability, he reminds me most of former Wisconsin Badger TE Travis Beckum, who ripped the Buckeyes for 140 yards on 9 catches in 2007 before making 6 grabs for 60 yards in the 2008 game in his injury-riddled senior season. Ohio State doesn't man up often, but when it does, I expect a variety of players to be assigned to Williams. Chiefly, Jermale Hines, Brian Rolle and the linebackers will have to step up big if Ohio State wants to limit Williams' impact on the game.
Jarius wright
The Razorbacks' leading receiver, Jarius Wright is one of two legitimate deep threats in the Hogs receiving corps. With 38 catches for 718 yards on the season, Wright really didn't get going until the closing six-game stretch, making 21 of those catches (for 410 yards) as the Hogs' schedule got tougher. Wright only made four touchdowns grabs on the season - two against Vandy and one apiece against Mississippi State and UTEP - but his ability to make a play down the field really set him apart from his teammates: 8 times this season has he made a reception for 20 or more yards, and 31 times did his receptions for a first down. He's not very big, at 5-10 and 180 pounds, and his numbers are actually down across the board from a year ago, but he remains Arkansas' most dangerous weapon in the deep passing game. It's unlikely that either Chekwa or Torrence will be left on an island against the guy; neither has the raw speed to keep up and both will frequently need safety help. Where they'll have to excel against Wright is throwing him off his routes at the LOS, and if they fail there, then they'll have to disrupt his ability to turn the short grab into a long gain.
Joe Adams
Adams was arguably Mallett's best target through the first six games of the season, excelling in road situations at Auburn and Georgia. An ankle injury forced him to miss the game against Vanderbilt, and he's been relatively quiet ever since, with just 11 catches for 149 yards over the final four games of the season. He'll be in healthier shape for the Sugar Bowl, undoubtedly, completing a veteran line-up of weapons for the passing game. Like Wright, he's no behemoth at 5-11 and 180 pounds, but he has seen extensive time in each of his three seasons in Fayetteville. He had 31 catches as a true freshman on the 5-7 2008 squad, 29 as a sophomore and 41 this season despite the injury and subsequent late season slump, and the 693 yards gained on those catches made him the team's 2nd-leading receiver on the season. He and Wright, along with the aforementioned Williams, are the team's crafty veterans: guys who have seen serious time throughout the Bobby Petrino experiment. If Mallett bolts for the NFL, both Adams and Wright would have fairly solid cases for nearly every team in the league.
Cobi Hamilton
While Adams, Williams and Wright have been more productive, Cobi Hamilton turned into a genuine gamebreaker over the course of the season. After totaling 4 receptions of the first four weeks of the season, Hamilton exploded with 27 catches for 544 yards over the next 8 games, including a masterful 7 catch, 111-yard effort against the South Carolina Gamecocks. He would somehow top that a few weeks later against LSU, in which 2 of his 3 catches went for 80 or more yards and a touchdown, which proved to be the difference in the 31-23 Hog win. Hamilton is a burner and the Razorbacks' other legitimate deep threat; his 19.6 yards-per-catch average was 5th best in the SEC, and the best on Arkansas' roster, which placed three players in the conference top ten of YPC. What makes Hamilton even more dangerous than Wright is his size: unlike every other receiver we've previewed thus far, Hamilton is just a large dude, checking in at 6'3" and 210+. His size and speed were the difference makers against LSU, which boasted possibly the nation's best cover corner in Patrick Peterson. It's unlikely that Chekwa and/or Torrence will be isolated against Hamilton often, so the Buckeyes' other DBs (what remains after Angry Ohio State Defensive Back-hating God's mid-season rampage) will have to play the game of their young lives to keep Hamilton under wraps.
Knile Davis
I've already told you plenty about Knile Davis, so allow myself to quote... myself:
Arkansas responded rather well: after getting a couple breathers against Ole Miss and Vanderbilt that allowed the running game to find its feet... Mallett and company traveled to Columbia, South Carolina, looking to unleash newly-discovered weapon Knile Davis....And unleash him they did: Davis toted the rock 22 times for 110 yards and 3 touchdowns... Knile Davis ran wild [against Miss. State a few weeks later], carrying the rock 30 times for 187 yards and a pair of touchdowns....racked up 157 yards on another 30-carry day [against LSU]....
Knile Davis is more or less the missing cog in the Arkansas offense: whereas Petrino's offenses his first two years found their numbers hurt by weaksauce running-back-by-committee-approaches and a general lack of talent at the position, the 2010 Arkansas offense discovered a number-one tailback mid-season and rode him to 2nd in the SEC in total offense, behind only Auburn. He was instrumental in key wins over South Carolina and LSU and finally made the Hogs into a multi-dimensional, versatile offense that can excel, even when Mallett throws a couple of INTs, as he did against LSU.
The Arkansas offense is not greater than the sum of its parts, but the sum of its parts is pretty damn good. I'm not sure the Buckeyes have seen a receiver as good as Jarius Wright, and if they have, he was not flanked by anyone nearly as good as Adams and Hamilton. Williams is the type of TE the Buckeyes have yet to really see this year, outside of perhaps Wisconsin's Lance Kendricks, who was not needed when the Buckeyes played the Badgers. Davis would be right in the pack of Big Ten running backs like John Clay, James White, Edwin Baker and Mikel LeShoure, and the Buckeyes were diced by two of those running backs, fared okay against the fourth, and didn't play the third. Individually, I can see each of these players getting shut down. All together, well, someone is going to get their yards. The smart money's on the slot receiver and the TE; positions the Buckeyes frequently struggle to defend against when talented players occupy them. But if Chimdi et al. can limit the big-play ability of Wright and Adams, and the front seven can frustrate Davis, the Buckeyes might not need to worry about getting in a shootout with one of the SEC's best offenses.


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WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - A suspected U.S. missile strike on a Pakistani madrasa near the Afghan border killed six people on Monday, possibly including an al Qaeda chemical and biological weapons expert, Pakistani security officials said.
A senior Pakistani security official said Abu Khabab al-Masri, an Egyptian chemist regarded as one of al Qaeda's top bomb makers, could have been the target.
Monday's pre-dawn attack blitzed a house close to a madrasa used by militants near Azam Warsak village, about 20 km (12 miles) west of Wana, the main town of the South Waziristan tribal region, a known hotbed of Taliban and al Qaeda support.
"We have heard that Abu Khabab al-Masri might have been killed in the strike but there's no confirmation as nobody could go there," a security official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.
The 55-year-old al-Masri has a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, and there have been reports of him being killed before.
The attack, one of many in recent months, was launched hours before Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was due to meet President George W. Bush in Washington for talks that will focus on the conduct of the war against terrorism.
The United States, alarmed by rising casualties among Western forces in Afghanistan, wants Pakistan to do more to contain the al Qaeda and Taliban threat in its territory.
Several drone missile attacks have been carried out this year by U.S. forces against militants linked to al Qaeda and Taliban hiding in the northwest tribal lands near the Afghan border.
One official told Reuters the madrasa, or religious school, struck on Monday was a militant base and the owner of the targeted house, a tribesman named Malik Sallat Khan, had ties with the militants.
"The owner of the house and seminary had some links with militants, and the madrasa was not used for education, but as a compound," he said.
Another official, who also declined to be identified, said at least three missiles hit the house and seminary, killing six people, including foreigners, and wounded three others.
Residents said they heard the sound of a drone aircraft engine, suggesting that the missile may have been fired by a U.S.-controlled unmanned Predator.
"We had heard the sound of a drone engine just before the explosions," said Zia-ur-Rehman, a local tribesmen.
"These drones have been flying since late Sunday night."
Spokesmen for NATO and U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan denied involvement in any cross-border strike, but could not speak for the CIA, which also operates drones.
Pakistan's military spokesman said he had little information, and noted that U.S. coalition forces were no longer informing the Pakistan army about every missile strike.
"Some incident did take place but what kind of strike it was, whether it was missile or rocket attack or bomb explosion, we don't know," said Major General Athar Abbas.
"Coalition forces don't share information about any strike with us prior to any attack," he said.
Chairman of Pakistan's Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Tariq Majid warned that crossborder strikes could damage relations with the United States during a meeting with U.S. CENTCOM acting commander Lieutenant General Martin E Dempsey at army headquarters in Rawalpindi.
"Our sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected, any violation in this regard could be detrimental to bilateral relations," a military statement quoted Majid as saying.
Security in northwest Pakistan has deteriorated in the past few weeks after a lull that followed the formation of a new government in March following elections in February.
Gilani's government embarked on a strategy of dialogue with militants, although there has been limited military action in some parts of the tribal region where unrest has flared.
Western governments fear the Pakistani strategy provided the militants with breathing space to increase the flow of fighters across the border to fuel the Afghan insurgency.
(Additional reporting by Mohammad Hashim, Haji Mujtaba, Alamghir Bitani and Hafiz Wazir)
(Writing by Kamran Haider; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Valerie Lee)
For a Reuters blog about Pakistan please see blogs.reuters.com/pakistan


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You want us to sit where for six hours?
A visit to Strasbourg
10.09.2009 - 11.09.2009
View Semester Abroad on harcegnt's travel map.
On Thursday, early afternoon, all of the IES Business and International Affairs students boarded the bus for the worst bus ride of our lives. Last year IES took the high speed train to Strasbourg. But because the train only stops for 3 minutes at the Strasbourg Station, they decided it wise to not do that again. So, we took a bus. Normally, I do not think many of us would object to riding on a bus for six hours. Not that it is something we want to do, but its not that big of a deal. It would give us a chance to socialize and have a good time. But, this was a bus built for the oompa loompas. The bus itself was large, but when you cram 55 people into it, it becomes small very quickly. There were so many seats on this bus, that the leg room was cut down drastically. I am not abnormally tall and I swear to you I could not sit straight in the seat. My legs literally would not fit. Most of us guys were having the same problem, so they decided to move 4 of us to the front row above the driver, the driver sits on the bottom level of this bus. There was enough room for us to sit forward but that was it. Our knees literally pushed right into the wall of the bus. Hands down, the most uncomfortable six hours of my life.
But Strasbourg was amazing! It is this quaint town right on the edge of France. It is minutes from Germany and has actually spent time as a German Territory. As a result, many people in Strasbourg speak French and German. The city is typical of what a French city is, which means it is nothing like Paris. It is quaint with old buildings and cobblestone streets. They even have their own waterways, which run right through the city.
We got into Strasbourg late Thursday night and left for the EU Parliament early in the morning, so unfortunately those are about the only pictures I have of just the city. I will try to bum some off of some other people.
The hotel we stayed in on Thursday was fairly nice. There were four of us in the room, but the room had four separate beds so it was fairly large. After sitting cramped on the bus for so long I enjoyed the opportunity to stretch my legs. The shower was the best any of us have had since we left the US. I am sure IES ran up a big water bill that night because none of us wanted to get out of the shower.
After we got settled into our rooms at the hotel we walked about thirty minutes to our Restaurant. It was very nice and right on the waterway. We got to watch the little boats go by as we ate dinner. The meal was prearranged for us so we all had the same thing. It worked out well because the food came rather quickly (For France).
For the Entree, which we call the appetizer in the US, we had a dish which was a pastry dough crust filled with a muenster cheese filling. Those are carrot strips on the side. Strasbourg is known for its White Wine and Muenster Cheese. Both were delicious.
I do not have a picture of the main course but it was chicken with a wine sauce and potatoes.
For dessert we had a fruit tart. I do not remember the name of the fruit but it is only edible for three weeks out of the year. It tastes a lot like a fig and you see them growing on the trees.
On Friday morning we woke up at about 7:30am and had breakfast at the hotel. It mainly consisted of Croissants, yogurt, and cereal. I had a croissant and some yogurt. I got some fruit salad but then remembered I am not a fan of French fruit. I will save that for another post though. Everyone was excited to see Nutella in little individual packets. I think nearly everyone in the group has become obsessed with Nutella. Many people took a handful of packets with them. I am not that obsessed.
After breakfast we packed ourselves onto the oompa loompa bus and headed for the EU Parliment. For those who are not familiar with the EU feel free to click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union as I really don't feel like turning this blog into a history lesson. I really enjoy learning about the EU and enjoyed the visit very much. We had two different guides who took us around the building. It is a very large and fascinating place.
This is the outside of the parliament
The view of the floor from the observation deck.
Inside there is this great lobby which spans the length of the corridor and is about 15 stories high. They have these plants growing from floor to ceiling with a slate floor. It is really a sight to behold.
After our tour of the Parliament we headed over to downtown Strasbourg for lunch. We again had a prearranged meal at a quaint little restaurant. We sat in the upper room on the second floor and enjoyed a nice meal with friends.
Our Entree (appetizer) was a goat cheese salad. It was ok. I think goat cheese is really an acquired taste and I am not really a fan of hot salads. For our Main Course we had two types of fish over a bed of sauerkraut with potatoes on the side and a glass of white wine. Their white wine has to be served in as special glass for it to mix well with the oxygen. I am not really a huge fan of fish but I must say the dish was very good. I really like the sauce that was over the fish.
For dessert we had rum raisin ice cream. It was very good.
Before heading to the Chamber of Commerce after lunch, we had the opportunity to go tour this massive cathedral on our own. It was a Catholic Church and it was stunning. The steeple is so high that it is hard to even get the entire mass of the church into one picture. I have more pictures of the Cathedral but I am only going to include a few for right now. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
After a short visit at the Cathedral, we went over to the Chamber of Commerce for a meeting with the Director. He spoke in French and our academic director, Elizabeth, translated into English for us. Although most of the group did not enjoy it, I really enjoyed it a lot. I liked hearing about all the imports and exports and I was also excited to hear about all of the large American companies who do business in Strasbourg. They are very close to Germany and close to the rail system and quite a few of large airports, which is why they have thrived as the manufacturing center of France. After the talk we were served more wine and some cake.
We then boarded the bus and headed 2.5 hours towards Paris. We stopped and had dinner at a gas station (Don't Ask) and then continued to our Hotel in the town of Verdun. I will leave the post about Verdun for either later today or tomorrow as this post is getting fairly long and I have class soon.
I hope all is well back on the other side of the Pond.
Posted by harcegnt 10:51 Archived in France Tagged educational


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