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Roy is the bomb.
@Hoya2aPacer: Whose getting that @PlayStation 4. Don't want 2wait in line. Will buy it from u n also come over ur house chill w the fam n eat dinner deal.
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Roy is the bomb.
@Hoya2aPacer: Whose getting that @PlayStation 4. Don't want 2wait in line. Will buy it from u n also come over ur house chill w the fam n eat dinner deal.
Solo was the first to reply
Tonight, all flags must burn, in place of steeples.
Autonomy must return into the hands of the people.
This cracks me up.
Marc Stein:
My favorite piece of statistical trivia at this tender juncture of the schedule? Only two teams have failed to score 100 points in a single game thus far. They are 7-0 Indiana and 0-7 Utah.
What a difference a little bit of defense makes, eh?
Any one see the Wizards/Thunder highlights which Westbrook shoving Nene? Well, I should say trying to shove him. I don't think he budged haha.
Anthony Davis, what was that?
The Phoenix Suns are an eminently watchable basketball team. 5-2 on the year, crazy athleticism, THREES!, Gerald Green, the Big Dapper, Eric "Mini-LeBron" Bledsoe, and twins! Every game they've played has been competitive. The only thing that would make the Suns better would be if Hornacek did the face caressing routine on the sidelines.
Plumdog. what a great nickname. Evidently Plumlee can play.
No buyer's remorse about the trade, but the Scola trade was more even than it first appeared.
Jeff Zillgitt @JeffZillgitt 5s
Rockets G James Harden gets first flopping fine of the season ($5,000) for his second flopping violaton. Happened Saturday vs. Clippers.
I'll be honest, I thought it would have been Lance after that flop in the Chicago game.
"Nobody wants to play against Tyler Hansbrough NO BODY!" ~ Frank Vogel
"And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen. "
Marcus Morris has been on fire. I thought Marquieff was supposed to be the good one
Being unable to close out a game in which you have a comfortable lead in the 4th Q = Pulling a Frank Vogel
Markieff is the one who has been on fire...
That's right. Marquieff is the brother they traded for after they drafted Marcus higher in the draft.
Being unable to close out a game in which you have a comfortable lead in the 4th Q = Pulling a Frank Vogel
No....the suns draft Markieff at 13. The Rockets drafted Marcus at 14.
Which one was what? I seriously get confused by the twins. I got Marcus on my fantasy team. Did I mess up?
Being unable to close out a game in which you have a comfortable lead in the 4th Q = Pulling a Frank Vogel
If they were both available, and you took Marcus instead of Markieff, then you done messed up. Marcus' per minute production isn't bad, though.
Tony Allen walked up to the scorers table to stretch.....told the guys: "I ALMOST came to the Pacers this summer."— Michael Grady (@Grady) November 11, 2013
My guess would be for the right combination of expiring contracts, young players, and/or draft picks, both Goran Dragic of the Suns and Thaddeus Young of the Sixers will be available via trade. I still don't think either one of those teams wants to win.
The two teams with the best records in the league pound their opponents tonight and who do we get on back to back nights on the national stage? The Knicks of course. At least we get some run next week.
Then even better he is gone. It is the marginalizing of the "undesirables" which gives it that title. It is the league's own fault if they only give a few teams exposure and then do not end up with them in the finals.
If the Pacers make a run at 70, then they won't be "undesirable".
Boston's 0-4 start is now a 4-4 start. Sitting at the 4th seed right now as Philly trends in the other direction.
Brad Stevens is a witch, wtf man
Interesting about Boston. It would be nice to see that team with Rondo, who have yet to play after the KG-Pierce and Doc trade. Brad is doing well with that limited squad.
The supposedly duel between Kyrie and DRose has been lackluster at best. Kyrie only 7pts on 2/10 shooting. DRose with only 12pts at 6/16 shooting.
Right now Toronto and Houston fighting over who's going to lose this game. Houston is turning the ball over and missing free throws.
Meanwhile, Gay and DeRozan are a combined 15 for 54 and they've missed out on like 8 easy layups in the 4th quarter and OT now because the ball is just slipping out of their hands.
Time for a new sig.


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Our pick of the week's science and technology stories include the predictive future of search, personalized bioweapons and the danger of falling for a machine.
Google Now: Behind the predictive future of search
Dieter Bohn | The Verge | 29 October 2012
Google is using what it knows about you (which is a lot) to build Google Now. It combines voice search with "cards" that guess what you might want to know at any given moment. It's a kind of pre-emptive search to help with the logistics of everyday life. It's not yet widely available and users give it mixed reviews (see the comments section after the article) but this is just the beginning. In time, it'll run our lives.
Can Andrea Rossi's infinite-energy black box power the world – or just scam it?
Steve Featherstone | Popsci | 23 October 2012
Andrea Rossi – a lone Italian inventor with questionable credentials and a history as a convicted con artist – has convinced some researchers that his "black box" can harness a new type of nuclear reaction. It promises nearly infinite energy cheaply and with no radioactive by-products. "Could it be true? Could a solo inventor working out of a warehouse in Bologna really have built a fusion device that could power the planet?"
Exclusive first read: Hallucinations, by Oliver Sacks
Oliver Sacks | NPR | 24 October 2012
An excerpt from Sacks's new book. In this passage, Sacks discusses auditory hallucinations, otherwise known as "hearing voices". It can be a signifier of mental illness but, says Sacks, many otherwise healthy people hear hallucinatory voices too. The most common auditory hallucination is hearing your own name spoken.
An electric cure for the mind
Carl Zimmer | Discover | 25 October 2012
Patients with severe depression who don't respond to psychotherapy or antidepressant drugs may be helped by ECT, commonly known as shock therapy. It's had a bad press over the years, and no one has really understood how or why it works. Carl Zimmer describes the new experiments that are getting close to an answer.
Hacking the President's DNA
Andrew Hessel, Marc Goodman and Steven Kotler | The Atlantic | 25 October 2012
"The US government is surreptitiously collecting the DNA of world leaders, and is reportedly protecting that of Barack Obama. Decoded, these genetic blueprints may provide the basis for the creation of personalised bioweapons that could take down a president and leave no trace." This long article starts with a fictional scenario, before moving on to the possibilities thrown up by present-day research. File under "worrying".
The love bot
Robert Ito | Pacific Standard | 30 October 2012
"There are robots that comfort lonely shut-ins, assist patients suffering from dementia, and help autistic kids learn how to interact with their human peers." They perform undeniably useful tasks. But people are coming to love and trust robots. Where will it lead? And are we ready for this?
Proust wasn't a neuroscientist. Neither was Jonah Lehrer
Boris Kachka | New York | 28 October 2012
Ouch. On the fall of the popular science writer. "Neuroscience, evolutionary biology, behavioral economics are fashionable because of their newness. In these fields, in which shiny new insights so rarely pan out, every populariser must be, almost by definition, a huckster." Jonah Lehrer told the story so well, too well as it turned out.
Bonus read of the week: A brief history of time
What is time? Why isn't it the same everywhere? Can we travel through time, or distort it? Will there be an end to time? And how on earth do our brains cope with all this? Read The Browser's special report on Time to find out.
For more articles worth reading, visit The Browser. If you would like to comment on this article or anything else you have seen on Future, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.

subset: commoncrawl


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New 'Marvel Creativity Studio' iPad Stylus And App Arrive
There are a lot of great stylus and app pairing options for illustrating on the iPad, but only one can teach you how to draw Iron Man's head. Yesterday Marvel launched its free Marvel Creativity Studio app, along with an optional accompanying sold-separately stylus. Part coloring book, part sketchbook, part tutorial, part animation software, and part sticker book, the Creativity Studio is meant to give young Marvel fans the tools to create content not unlike that of Avengers Assemble, Ultimate Spider-Man and Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.


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Right click on Ableton Live's EQ Eight to set it to high quality. Watch the video above for more details. Great tip from Dubstop! What other Ableton plug-ins have a high quality mode?
"When Hi-Quality mode is enabled on the EQ8, the audio being fed into the EQ is oversampled by a factor of 2 (meaning the sample rate of the audio is doubled. If your session's sample rate is 44.1kHz, enabling Hi-Quality will make the audio being fed into the EQ8 88.2kHz). Then the EQ changes are calculated at the doubled sample rate, and finally the audio as it leaves the EQ is undersampled by a factor of 2, or basically brought back to it's original sample rate." – Thavius Beck
For more info: ableton.com and dubstop.com


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A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE is offering a £250,000 reward to help catch armed robbers who raided his luxury home.
Jason Cropper, the founder of Blackburn e-cigarette company Totally Wicked, said he was prepared to hand over the cash for information that led to the conviction of the gang.
And the 48-year-old, who lives in Samlesbury, said the amount would increase by £5,000 per week for each of the men until they were caught.
He has also hired a private investigator.
He said: "To me, the money is irrelevant. It is nice to have, but is not particularly important.
"What is important is that the people are caught."
Mr Cropper, who lives alone, was tied up when the masked raiders, armed with crowbars, burst into his £750,000 home in August last year as he let his cat out.
He suffered head injuries and could not walk properly for a week after being hit and dragged along the ground.
He said he believed the group thought he had £4million of gold in his house, which he had recently bought.
After dousing him with bleach and covering his head with a towel, the attackers made off with Mr Cropper's Range Rover, which was worth £60,000 and contained two gold bars worth around £50,000, plus three watches and £70,000 in cash from his home.
The car was later found burnt out.
The businessman said although the reward was higher than the value of the items taken, he was more concerned about catching those responsible.
He said: "I am hoping the reward will just give us one piece of factual evidence.
"Maybe somebody has bought one of the watches or been offered one of the gold bars. I need this strong bit of evidence."
He added that he believed the gang, which was made up of four people, had at least two accomplices and that he was willing to offer £25,000 for information that led to each of their arrests.
That figure will also increase by £2,500 each week until their conviction.
Mr Cropper said he believed that one of the attackers had a Liverpool accent and that other gang members could be from Accrington and Blackburn.
He added he thought the robbers were known to him because of how well they knew his house.
A police investigation was launched, but Mr Cropper has now hired a private investigator to look into the incident.
Since the attack, on August 1 last year, he has spent around £20,000 on advanced security, including 10 cameras, lights, 8ft fencing, a monitored alarm system and a guard dog.
Mr Cropper said he had felt scared and paranoid to be in his home since the robbery.
He said: "It is a personal thing. I am not going to be a victim and I am not going to allow anybody to walk all over me.
"I do not care if I have to sell the house. These people will be found."
A spokesman for Lancashire Police said officers had been made aware of the reward.
He said: "An investigation is ongoing and police are obviously treating the robbery very seriously.
"We are doing everything we can to try and trace the offenders.
"I would appeal for any witnesses to come forward."
Anybody with information is asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.


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I know, it's too soon. But I'm going to take a snapshot throughout the season to see where we stand. Here are the Eastern Conference numbers. Once we get to the end of the season, I'll start tracking the top Western Conference teams as well.
Reminder: A "Magic Number" is a total number of Pacers wins and TeamX losses that would guarantee the Pacers get a higher seed than the other team. This early in the season there are too many variables for it to be very meaningful, but as the season goes on it will be interesting to see how it plays out. I've done this every spring for the past 5 or 6 years, but in all that time we've never had a Magic Number that's lower than the number of games remaining. With 72 games remaining:
Indiana --
Miami - 71
Chicago - 71
Philadelphia - 68
Atlanta - 70
Charlotte - 68
Orlando - 68
Toronto - 67
Boston - 67
Cleveland - 67
Detroit - 68
New York - 68
Brooklyn - 67
Washington - 67
Milwaukee - 67


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Why is the council encouraging and making way for developers to build high-rise apartments and businesses throughout the city with no forethought on the impact to our city (Google and other large businesses will not be here forever)?
Why are council policies forcing some small businesses out of business?
Why did the council approve substantially reduced parking requirements for these new buildings, plus park-in-lieu deals for some developers, instead of requiring adequate parking for all new buildings?
Why is there a lack of parking in the downtown area?
Why create congestion through the narrowing of El Camino Real (Grand Boulevard project) and Castro Street to two lanes to force residents to ride buses and bicycles?
Why pass the unnecessary animal ordinance?
Why is the council trying to Manhattanize the city, which creates canyons of buildings throughout our town?
Sadly, all of these issues apply not only to Mountain View, but to the entire Peninsula.
Here are more questions:
How will people shop for groceries on bicycles or get to doctors' appointments without cars? How will people with disabilities get around? How will mothers take their children to school and activities? How will CEOs get to board meetings?
If you say they will take public transportation, we have no viable public transportation. VTA is not the answer. They are chronically late, do not have routes into residential areas and are not green.
Why do the citizens of Mountain View and the Bay Area have to fight our so-called representatives to keep our quality of life? Why are cities allowing the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) to continue this insane onslaught of development? Why aren't you fighting against ABAG's so-called requirements? Why is there a push to make Mountain View and the Bay Area like Manhattan, Los Angeles, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Manila, and so on?
What we can learn from looking at these huge cities is that fast-track development with no forethought to real future impact does not work. People are "escaping" their crowded, over-populated, over-priced cities to find a better life in Mountain View and the Bay Area. Why are you so hell-bent on re-creating one of these dysfunctional cities?
Please do not create the same city mismanagement you see around the world. Globalization was supposed to be a positive creation, not a negative one. There is nowhere to go once you have chosen to "sell out" our communities. Psychological studies have proven over and over that when more people are stuffed into a limited space, the results are more violent crime, health concerns, and the great divide between the rich and poor increases. Why do you want to create this in Mountain View and on the Peninsula? This is neither green nor sustainable.
Help us understand why you are not putting a stop to this deluge and not representing your constituents.


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Spiny O'Norman wrote:Alex123 wrote:Also I am very unconvinced when people ignore clear-as-clear-can-be phrases such as:
"with the break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in..."The suttas are filled with such material that cannot simply be a metaphor.
I agree. I think agnosticism about rebirth is fine, what I struggle with is the attempts that some people make to write rebirth out of the suttas.
Yes, the Buddha seems to have clearly taught rebirth. In order to dilute the dhamma enough to filter out the rebirth, you would be left with suttas that totally miss the mark. This does not mean that people have to believe rebirth, but they must recognize that discrediting rebirth is something that sets them apart from the Buddha's prescribed path. These are just my opinions.


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 For WordPress Beginners and Veterans – A Handbook!
I know some of you are thinking of starting a WordPress self-hosted blog, but it seems rather overwhelming, doesn't it? I thought it was when I began this blog in 2007. I had no clue what to do at all. I just knew that WordPress was the best blog platform to use. Believe it or not, there is a lot of information out there to help you get started. But most of the time it's spread all over the Internet and Googling it is time consuming. That's why I'm sharing the below article with you. Even if you are a current WordPress author I bet you will find something useful to use from this handbook.
I don't think it's possible to know too much about blogging with WordPress, do you?? With that in mind, and much more profoundly written than I ever could, I would suggest that you keep and read this super valuable article by Devesh entitled The WordPress Handbook – 55 Resources For First Time WordPress Users.
Related articles


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Exiles bag ace Porter
6:30am Saturday 30th June 2012
By Andrew Penman
6:30am Saturday 30th June 2012
By Andrew Penman
MIDFIELDER Max Porter has agreed a one-year deal to remain at Newport County.
The Exiles start pre-season training on Monday and Porter will become the 15th member of Justin Edinburgh's squad to commit his future to the club.
The England C international, who turned 25 yesterday, was released by AFC Wimbledon at the end of his contract last month.
He made 16 appearances for County last season after joining on loan at the end of February and is a favourite of manager Justin Edinburgh from their time together at Rushden & Diamonds.
Porter is delighted to have the chance to play at Rodney Parade next season and revealed that he feels a debt of gratitude to the club, and Edinburgh in particular, for reviving his career.
"There were a few other clubs who enquired about me but I told them all I was staying at Newport County," said the former Barnet man.
"I wasn't really enjoying my football at Wimbledon but I've enjoyed the whole experience at Newport and I get on really well with the manager.
"As soon as he told me he wanted me to stay on I had no hesitation in signing a new contract. There was no doubt in my mind. I'm a loyal person and I feel I owe Justin and Newport some loyalty after they offered me regular football last season."
Porter's deal leaves Romone Rose and Jake Reid as the only members of the County squad from last season who have not been either released or tied to a new contract.
Exiles boss Edinburgh has seen captain Gary Warren and star man Sam Foley leave for Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Yeovil respectively.
But with new arrivals Alan Julian, Tony James, Jake Thomson, Jefferson Louis and Danny Crow, Porter is optimistic that County can challenge at the top of the Blue Square Bet Premier.
"I think we can have a much more successful season this time round," he said.
"We'll miss Gary Warren, who was a great leader, but Tony James has come in and he's got great experience and David Pipe is a natural to take the captain's armband – he's someone we all look up to.
"We'll also miss Sam Foley's goals from midfield but it's up to the rest of us to make up for that.
"Justin knows good players and he's been very smart in the way he's used the market," he added.
"He's brought in players who know this level and have been successful in the past and I'm sure there are more to come.
"There are definitely goals in the team now that Danny Crow and Jefferson Louis have come in up front.
"Our form in the final third of last season showed we can be a good side and with the additions we've already made we have got to be aiming for the play-offs."
© Copyright 2001-2017 Newsquest Media Group


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According to proposals filed with the Allen County Department of Planning, the Mike's Car Wash at Glenbrook Square – a long-time fixture on the parking lot that received an $800,000 upgrade in 1999 – would be replaced by a Jared's jewelry store.
The nearby location of the former Hooters restaurant at 920 Coliseum Blvd. E., which was vacant and destroyed by a fire Jan. 7, is slated to become the site of a Physicians Immediate Care Clinic.
And the former Richards Restaurant at West Jefferson and Getz Road near Westland Mall, which closed last July, will be the site of Fort Wayne's first Scotty's Brewhouse.
The Indianapolis-based Scotty's, which began in Muncie in 1996 and now operates nine restaurants in Indiana, had planned to open a Fort Wayne store several years ago in the Harrison Square protect downtown.
Delays in that project caused the company to reconsider, "but Fort Wayne never left our radar," founder and CEO Scott Wise told The News-Sentinel last August. At that time, Wise said a location in northwest Fort Wayne was also being considered.
The local Scotty's will have as many as 125 employees and will be 7,500 square feet, at a cost of $3 million.
It should be open no later than this fall.
Jared's, "The Galleria of Jewelry," is based in Akron, Ohio, and is planning a $1.1 million, 6,057-square-foot store – slightly smaller than the car wash it would replace. Mike's is now based in Indianapolis but was founded in Fort Wayne in 1948 and operates 42 car washes in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.
Physicians Immediate Care is a Midwest-based company providing urgent care and occupational health services with about 20 locations in three states.
According to its Web site, no appointments are required and most clinics are open seven days a week, up to 12 hours a day, to treat non-life threatening illnesses and injuries. Clinics are staffed by a doctor or physician assistant under the supervision of a doctor.
The 4,500-square-foot clinic is expected to cost at least $500,000. The company had planned to renovate the former Hooters site but will be forced to build a new clinic instead after a spark caused by removal of restaurant equipment caused the fire last month.


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As promised, here is our store's recipe for Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes that we teased you with last week. These were so delicious that no one knew they were vegan until after the fact. They even got high praise from Bob, which is no easy feat. Enjoy!
Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes:
- 1-1/2 cup white flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup evaporated cane juice
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) non-hydrogenated margarine
- 1 cup soymilk
- 1 Tbsp vinegar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- 4 medium or ½ cup chopped strawberries, then mashed
Preheat oven to 350°.To get started measure the flour, soda and salt in one bowl and set aside. In a liquid measuring cup pour soymilk, vinegar and vanilla together. Mix and set aside. In another bowl cream cane juice and buttery stick with a whisk. Add about 1/3 cup of the soymilk mixture and whisk again. Add prepared dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix with a spatula, adding the rest of the soymilk after half mixed. Mash strawberries with a whisk in a separate bowl or straight into the mix with your hands. Gently mix in strawberries and scoop into 9 lined muffin cups. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool and frost with the following frosting.
Vanilla Frosting:
- 1/2 (1/4 cup) stick non-hydrogenated margarine
- 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) non-hydrogenated shortening
- 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp soymilk
With a paddle attachment in a stand mixer beat the margarine and the shortening until soft. Scrape down and add the powdered sugar. Beat on high for 3 minutes, scraping down sides at 1 and 2 minutes. Add vanilla and soymilk and beat for 4 more minutes. Pipe or hand frost cupcakes and decorate with sliced strawberries.
Thank you to Meagan Nuchols, one of our star bakers at our Whole Grain Store, for taking the time to write this one down for us.


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Corn traders seemed disappointed by Thursday's Export Sales report. Potential improvements in spring planting conditions have been weighing are probably weighing on corn futures. Traders also seemed less than impressed by the weekly USDA Export Sales report, which stated last week's result toward the lower end of the forecast range. May corn slid 4.0 cents to $4.935/bushel by late Thursday morning, while December lost 2.75 to $4.9625.
The export data seemed to accelerate today's early soy pullback. Soybean and product prices had proved extremely strong in the wake of Tuesday's bullish NOPA crush report. However, beans were backing away from overnight highs in early trading and the decline accelerated after the export sales result proved mediocre. Conversely, oil prices bounced from Wednesday night lows. May soybeans declined 5.75 cents to $15.13/bushel early Thursday morning, while May soyoil sagged 0.22 cents to 43.49 cents/pound, and May soymeal dipped $3.8 to $487.2/ton.
Strong wheat exports boosted those markets Thursday morning. The weekly USDA Export Sales report stated last week's wheat figure above the forecast range, thereby suggesting recent slippage has sparked renewed international interest. Talk of persistent dryness and freeze damage to Southern Plains wheat also seemed spur KC buying. May CBOT wheat futures rallied 7.0 cents to $6.95/bushel in early Thursday trading, while May KCBT wheat futures jumped 8.5 cents to $7.63, and May MWE futures surged 10.25 to $7.3675.
Cash weakness likely undercut cattle futures. Wednesday's surprising beef gains appeared to support CME cattle futures in early Thursday trading. However, Kansas producers reportedly took about $1 less for the cattle (with packers paying $146/cwt) this morning. That sent futures tumbling. June cattle futures plunged 1.27 cents to 134.35 cents/pound late Thursday morning, while December dropped 0.67 to 139.30. Meanwhile, May feeder cattle plummeted 1.77 cents to 178.12 cents/pound, and August dove 1.72 to 181.25.
Technicians may be buying hog futures. The latest cash and wholesale news has not been particularly supportive of the short-term hog outlook. Nevertheless, some traders may now be looking for a significant late-spring price rebound, since the market traditionally proves quite strong in May and June. Technicians may also be buying in anticipation of a larger short-term advance. June hog futures climbed 0.57 cents to 124.35 cents/pound around midsession Thursday, while December inched up 0.07 to 88.57.


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Nearly 400 high school music students from throughout Montana will perform with nationally recognized musicians on Oct. 16-18 at the 2013 Montana All-State Festival to be held at Bozeman High School and Montana State University.
"This is an oportunity to see and hear the bright future of Montana musicians," said Greg Young, director of the Montana State University School of Music and one of the organizers of the event of the festival, which includes meetings of Montana's All-State Band, All-State Choir and All-State Orchestra.
Young explained that each year the top young musicians in the state, whose achievements have earned them spots on all-state bands, choir or orchestra, meet and perform together under the direction of some of the country's best conductors. The performances of the groups are open to the public.
The festival features Grammy-winning violinist Mark O'Connor and Angella Ahn, MSU violin professor and member of the internationally acclaimed Ahn Trio. They will perform with the MSU Symphony/Festival Orchestra at 7 p.m Thursday, Oct. 17, in the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on the MSU campus.
O'Connor was a fiddle prodigy who won the Grand Masters Fiddle Championship as well as championships for his playing of the guitar and mandolin. He has become a Grammy-winning composer, arranger and musician who has recorded music across genres, including folk, classical and jazz. O'Connor has won two Grammy awards; one for his "New Nashville Cats" album and another for his "Appalachian Journey" album with Yo-Yo Ma and Edgar Meyer. He was named Musician of the Year by the Country Music Association from 1991-1996. He also developed the "O'Connor Method," a string instrument technique for music teachers and students. For a portion of his performance, O'Connor will be accompanied by the All-Montana College Student/Faculty Orchestra with Tobin Stewart, MSU professor of music, conducting.
Ahn and her sisters formed the Ahn Trio while all three studied at the Juilliard School of Music. They now tour the world, playing in such venues as New York's Lincoln Center, Vienna's Musikverein, Leipzig''s Gewandhaus, Argentina's Teatro Colon, and The Beijing Concert Hall. In 2011, President Obama invited the Ahn Trio to perform at the White House. The trio has six acclaimed recordings, one of which won the Echo Award, Germany's highest musical honor. The Ahns have also frequented the fashion pages of Vogue and GQ, and in 2003 were named three of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People."In 2010, they appeared in a one-page spread in Glamour Magazine.
Also performing at the Host Night Concert are The Four Divas. The quartet is composed of Margaret Kohler, Abigail Dueppen, Elizabeth Croy and Catherine Savery, all of Bozeman. MSU music professor Julie Gosswiller will accompany them.
Tickets for the concert are $10 and are available at www.ticketswest.com, or by calling the TikCat outlet, (406) 994-CATS.
The 2013 All-State Music Festival's Gala Concert will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18. at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
The 2013 All-State Orchestra will be conducted by Anthony Maiello, a professor of music at George Mason University, a clinician, adjudicator and guest conductor of honor ensembles throughout the U.S. and internationally. The 2013 All-State Band will be conducted by Mark Scatterday, professor of conducting and chair of the Conducting and Ensembles Department at the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music. And, Axel Theimer will conduct the 2013 All-State Choir. A native of Austria, Theimer was a member of the Vienna Boys Choir. He is beginning his 45th year on the music faculty at St. John's University and the College of St. Benedict.
All seats for the gala concert are $10 and are available at www.ticketswest.com, or by calling the TikCat outlet, (406) 994-CATS.
Greg Young (406) 994-3564, email@example.com


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by Edward Esko
The Visitor's Center at Lake Oroville sits high above the Sacramento Valley in the foothills of the Sierras. Like most days in the Valley, the weather is bright, sunny, and warm. Perfect weather for growing rice. The Sacramento Valley, which stretches off toward the West, is the leading producer of organic brown rice in the United States. Alex Jack and I stand on the upper deck of the observation tower and trace the pattern of rivers flowing down from the Sierras. The panorama is breathtaking. Streams and rivers flow steadily downward from the mountains toward the Valley. Their energy gathers several hundred feet below us in Lake Oroville, an enormous man-made body of water.
Lake Oroville was created following construction of Oroville Dam in 1968. Made of earth, the dam rises seven hundred feet above the bed of the Feather River. Rice cultivation requires a steady supply of water. Lake Oroville is the source of water for the rice fields in the Sacramento Valley.
Sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean and the Pacific Coastal Range to the West, and the Sierra Nevada's to the East, the Sacramento Valley is charged by natural energy. To the North lie Mount Shasta and the Cascades. Like Japan, California experiences periodic eruptions of natural energy in the form of earthquakes.
Mountain ranges are the earth's energy meridians. They are formed by the strong upward push of energy generated by the earth's rotation. Earth's energy gathers in the mountains and flows into the valleys in the form of streams and rivers. Rivers are the ley lines that channel energy from the mountains. Farmers in the Sacramento Valley further channel this energy through a vast network of canals that crisscross the Valley and irrigate the rice fields. The successful channeling of this high mountain energy has made California an agricultural powerhouse, both for conventional and organic farming.
This is my second visit to Northern California since the beginning of the year. The reason for the visit is to lecture at the Vega Study Center. Herman and Cornellia Aihara started Vega many years ago in Oroville. Following Herman's death in 1998, Cornellia has been continuing macrobiotic education at Vega. Marc Van Cauwenberghe and I have been visiting from time to time to help her with programs.
Another reason for the trip is to meet with organic rice farmers to discuss the status of genetically altered rice in the Sacramento Valley. Alex Jack and I are planning to meet with Grant Lundberg, the C.E.O. of Lundberg Family Farms. The Lundberg family has been growing rice since 1937, and today, Lundberg Farms is the largest distributor of organic brown rice in the U.S. They have a reputation for growing some of the highest quality natural and organic rice in America.
There are currently a dozen varieties of genetically modified (GM) rice in development around the world. If GM rice comes into the Sacramento Valley, there is the real danger of genetic pollution caused by GM pollen drifting into the organic fields and contaminating the conventional and organic crops. The organic crop could be ruined. America could lose its primary source of organic brown rice. Heirloom rice that has nourished humanity for thousands of years could vanish.
On the following day, we set out for our meeting. On the fifteen-minute drive from Oroville to Richvale, the home of Lundberg Farms, there are rice fields as far as the eye can see. In the distance are metal silos used for storing the rice crop. It is early summer, and the rice resembles tall green grass. Unlike rice paddies in Asia, which are small and have spaces between the parallel rows of rice, the rice fields in California are vast. The rice is as dense as lawn grass. The vast California fields are seeded by airplane and harvested by machine. We stop the car and get out. Surrounding the fields are irrigation ditches in which cattails grow. Dragonflies swarm above. The ecology is that of a freshwater marsh. Although not visible to the eye, water lies just below the green rice plants.
We resume our journey, and spot the huge silos that mark Lundberg Farms. We locate Grant Lundberg's office in a small shed next to the main office building. After shaking hands, Grant leads us into his office. We begin by introducing ourselves and thanking the Lundbergs for their pioneering efforts in developing and promoting organic rice over the past thirty-five years. Alex then outlines the coming scenario in which at least a dozen varieties of GM rice are introduced around the world over the next several years. Grant is well aware of the plans for GM rice. He obviously shares our concerns. We then ask how California rice farmers plan to deal with this potential threat.
Grant explains that many farmers in California are wary of GMOs (genetically modified organisms.) Some, like the Lundbergs, are opposed to GMOs due to philosophical reasons. Others are concerned about the practical economic implications of GMOs. Rice farmers know that many American consumers are wary of GMOs, and that most consumers favor labeling. Forty percent of the annual rice crop in the Sacramento Valley is exported, the majority to Japan. The Japanese are planning a new labeling law for imported foods that will require the labeling of GMOs.
These concerns prompted the California rice farmers to work with legislators in Sacramento (the seat of California state government) to draft a "seed certification bill." If the bill becomes law, GM rice would be carefully segregated from conventional and organic crops, in order to avoid contamination of non-GM rice. We hope it works.
The first two varieties of GM rice set for introduction over the next several years are the herbicide tolerant varieties "Liberty Link" rice developed by AgrEvo and "Roundup Ready" rice developed by Monsanto. These herbicide tolerant rices are genetically engineered to accept high levels of "Liberty," the herbicide marketed by AgrEvo and "Roundup," the herbicide developed by Monsanto.
Grant then contrasts the Lundberg method of organic weed control with the use of Roundup and other toxic herbicides. During the summer, the Lundbergs drain the water from their organic fields. The bright sun shines down on both weeds and rice plants. The weeds dry up but the rice flourishes. The fields are again flooded and the rice continues growing without competing weeds. A totally natural method of weed control.
Alex and I explain that we are ready to begin a campaign to save natural and organic rice. Like the other cereal grains, rice is the center of the human evolutionary spiral. More than half the world's population consumes rice as their principal food. Our campaign will involve three aspects. First, we plan to meet with farmers to explain the negative environmental and health consequences of GMOs while encouraging them to stay with natural and organic crops.
Second, we plan to meet with manufacturers who use rice and other cereals in their products and encourage them to keep their products free of GMOs. Third, we plan a campaign to educate consumers about the hazards of GMOs and the benefits of natural and organic foods.
The meeting ends with Grant expressing his wish that our efforts will preserve natural strains of rice for thousands of years. Each of us expresses our desire to work toward this common goal.
Several days later, after returning to Massachusetts, I notice the latest edition of Time Magazine. The cover features a photo of a Swiss Professor named Ingo Potrykus with his beta-carotene-enriched rice. The headline states boldly, "This Rice Could Save a Million Kids a Year.... But protesters believe such genetically modified foods are bad for us and our planet." So-called "golden rice," an unnatural transgenic "food," contains beta-carotene-producing genes from daffodils and a certain type of bacteria. It seems that for many years Potrykus has been waging a one-man campaign against brown rice; mistakenly claiming it is nutritionally deficient. (Beta carotene is present in the outer coat of brown rice; the part that is removed when it is milled into white rice. Most of the beta carotene deficiencies that occur in underdeveloped countries occur because people eat white, rather than brown rice, and not enough green leafy and orange-yellow vegetables.)
Unfortunately, "scientists" such as Potrykus begin from an entirely false premise. They mistakenly believe that nature is imperfect and can be improved upon. Such blindness and arrogance inevitably leads to downfall. Nature is and always will be a perfect system. However, in the case of "golden rice," this blindness is being presented under a humanitarian guise. I hope people are not fooled.
Rice farming in the Sacramento Valley has been going on for over a hundred years. GMOs are simply not needed; they interfere with the natural order and make things unnecessarily complicated. They are more of a problem than a solution. There are far better solutions to the problems of hunger and malnutrition than genetic engineering. GMOs divert attention from the root causes of these problems and make finding solutions more difficult. During our meeting, Grant, Alex, and I agreed that things would be much better if GMOs simply went away.
However, the reality is that they are not going to go away, at least not in the near future. Therefore, we must remain vigilant; we must make our choices and our voices heard. Together we can send a strong message that we wish to see nature and the order of the universe respected on all levels. Human health, happiness, and freedom are found in living together with nature, and not in the arrogant pursuit of human folly.
In macrobiotics, we try to live according to the spirit of "one grain, 10,000 grains." This timeless principle expresses the fact that the earth returns thousands of grains for each one it receives. Nature is forever productive, and infinitely diverse. The teaching of "one grain, ten thousand grains," teaches us to have endless gratitude for what we receive from nature and continually seek to distribute or give away our understanding of life, health, and the universe. Proponents of genetic engineering subscribe to the opposite principle, "from 10,000 grains come one grain." Originally, the heirloom seeds that have sustained and nourished humanity over the centuries cost nothing; they were given freely by the order of the universe. Each genetically engineered seed costs $300 million to bring to market. The contrast between these opposite approaches to life and nature could not be starker. We now face a choice between these completely opposite views of life. The health and happiness of future generations, indeed the health and happiness of all species, could well depend upon which path we choose at this critical time in history.
Edward Esko is on the faculty of the Vega Study Center and author of Healing Planet Earth.


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Is It a Seizure? Differentiating Epileptic Seizures from Nonepileptic Events
Is It a Seizure? Differentiating Epileptic Seizures from Nonepileptic Events
Early differentiation of epileptic from nonepileptic seizures is important. Clues that suggest epilepsy are a history of febrile seizures (particularly if prolonged), past brain injury from trauma or infection, and epilepsy in first-degree relatives. Nonepileptic events that can resemble epileptic seizures include night terrors, benign sleep movements, breath-holding spells, gastroesophageal reflux symptoms, syncope, and migraine. In addition, conversion disorder can manifest as psychogenic nonepileptic seizures. If the seizure events are reasonably frequent, a long-term electroencephalogram that records the habitual attacks helps provide diagnostic certainty.
It can be difficult to determine whether unusual, paroxysmal behavior represents a seizure or a nonepileptic event. Patients with sudden flailing movements or unresponsive staring may, in fact, be experiencing psychogenic events. Other types of pathological spells, such as syncope and migraine, can also be mistaken for epileptic seizures. When epilepsy is incorrectly diagnosed in these patients, unnecessary seizure medication is likely to be prescribed, and correct diagnosis and treatment is delayed. It is also the case that epileptic seizures can be subtle and difficult to recognize. Inattentive staring may be attributed to attention deficit disorder but may, in fact, be due to either absence or complex partial seizures. An orderly approach to the differential diagnosis of paroxysmal events is the best way to avoid misdiagnosis. A careful, detailed history and physical examination supplemented by an electroencephalogram (EEG) will, in most cases, result in a correct diagnosis.
Epileptic seizures are paroxysmal, abnormal behaviors caused by excessive, hypersynchronous firing of neurons in the brain. Most seizures arise in the cerebral cortex, although subcortical structures can also generate seizures.1,2 The mechanism underlying hypersynchrony varies with epilepsy type but, in general, can be explained as an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory input. For example, if a particular population of excitatory brain cells is damaged, the surviving cells may sprout and connect to more than their usual number of downstream neurons. Each upstream cell now "controls" a large group of downstream cells. So when the upstream cell fires, it can "synchronize" more downstream cells.3
Epilepsy is a disorder marked by recurrent, spontaneous seizures. The incidence of epilepsy is highest in early childhood and peaks again late in life.4 The peak in childhood reflects a combination of genetic predisposition and various brain pathologies evident in the young. In the elderly, the increased incidence represents the accumulated insults our brains sustain from such things as vascular disease and trauma. When epilepsy is attributed to a brain abnormality (eg, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, malformation), it is classified as "symptomatic." Epilepsy is considered "idiopathic" when there is no recognized brain abnormality.5
Seizures are often the result of some acute, temporary perturbation of the brain's "environment." For example, a high fever, hypoglycemia, hyponatremia, hypoxia, and exposure to stimulant drugs of abuse are some of the precipitants of "acute reactive seizures." When there is an apparent acute precipitant, the seizure is not considered diagnostic of epilepsy.6
The risk of recurrence within 2 years after a first-time, unprovoked seizure is approximately 35% to 40%.7 Increased risk of recurrence is associated with factors such as a remote, symptomatic cause (eg, brain injury); abnormal EEG; and seizure during sleep. Treatment with antiepileptic medication reduces the risk of a recurrence after a first seizure, but there is little evidence that treatment prevents the later development of epilepsy.8
Prolonged seizures can cause brain injury, but epidemiologic studies have not provided evidence that prolonged first seizures in otherwise healthy persons increase the risk of subsequent seizures.9 Furthermore, the number of seizures that occur before treatment is initiated is not necessarily associated with a greater likelihood of medical intractability.10 Seizure frequency and whether the seizures are generalized or partial have stronger predictive power. Therefore, little advantage is gained by treating first-time seizures, whether they are provoked by an identified acute insult or they occur out of the blue. There are certainly social consequences after a first seizure, so in some cases physicians and their patients opt to treat after a first event.11 The rationale for treating persons with recurrent seizures is that treatment will ameliorate seizure recurrence.
Most often, seizure history obtained from the patient or family members and the physical findings will lead the physician to suspect epilepsy. For example, a history of febrile seizures (particularly if prolonged) is a well-recognized risk factor for the development of temporal lobe epilepsy caused by mesial temporal sclerosis.12,13 An additional helpful clue from the history is a past brain injury from trauma or infection. It is generally understood that relatively remote trauma of a minor degree confers very little risk, but prolonged loss of consciousness or a penetrating head injury are significant risk factors for seizure episodes.14,15 A family history is important, because epilepsy in first degree relatives is another risk factor.
Physical examination findings that indicate an abnormality of brain function provide further evidence of an increased likelihood of seizures. They also help classify epilepsy as either symptomatic or idiopathic. For example, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, or the presence of neurocutaneous lesions is noteworthy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) may demonstrate a structural brain abnormality. On the other hand, functional imaging studies, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission CT (SPECT), give little help distinguishing between epileptic and nonepileptic events.
Certain circumstances can erroneously heighten suspicion of seizures by the patient, caregiver, and physician. Benign or at least nonepileptic behaviors may be mistakenly identified as seizures or described in rather dramatic terms. Table 1 provides a brief overview of nonepileptic events that mimic specific seizure types that occur particularly in children.
Parents of children who have health challenges that may include previous seizures may be very sensitive to any perceived abnormality in the child's health. Benign events, such as hypnic jerks, may prove very frightening to the parents of a child who recently suffered a febrile seizure. A child with autism may have stereotyped movements that convince a concerned parent that the child is having seizures. Munchausen syndrome and Munchausen syndrome by proxy also may present as seizures.16,17
Nonepileptic seizures are behavioral events that resemble epileptic seizures but are not caused by abnormal, hypersynchronous neuronal discharges in the brain. The term "pseudoseizure" is discouraged, since the events themselves are real and disabling. Nonepileptic events can be caused by psychological disorders, or they can be manifestations of other pathological or physiological neurological conditions.
Alternating hemiplegia. This is characterized by repeated bouts of dystonic posturing accompanied by nystagmus. Hemiplegia can occur on either side or bilaterally. It occurs in the presence of developmental regression and persistent developmental delay. Onset is usually during infancy. The condition has been variously attributed to a migrainous mechanism, epilepsy, and movement disorder. The underlying cause has been linked to mitochondrial dysfunction, channelopathies, and small vessel disease. The calcium channel blocker flunarizine has been used in treatment, as has topiramate.18,19
Benign sleep movements. Benign myoclonus or hypnic jerks often occur shortly after falling asleep. Movements during rapid eye movement sleep also may be mistaken for seizures. Correct identification of these events often will allay the anxiety of patients and caregivers. However, if a child has experienced a seizure (eg, a febrile convulsion) previously, parents may be hypervigilant. Asking the parents to record a video of such movements may be helpful.20
Breath-holding spells (BHS). These spells commonly begin between the ages of 6 and 18 months. They are characterized by hard crying in response to injury or anger and breath-holding, stiffening, and cyanosis (or sometimes pallor) followed by brief loss of muscle tone and consciousness.
Pallid BHS are a type of syncope. They are more likely to occur in reaction to an event causing injury, pain, or emotional distress.21 Some children hold their breath on inspiration before getting the first cry out. Others hold their breath in expiration. They usually stop the behavior by age 5 or 6 years. A family history of BHS is common.
BHS are generally benign but can occasionally provoke acute reactive seizures, presumably caused by transient cerebral hypoxia in much the same way syncope can provoke acute seizures.22 Recognition depends on taking a careful history that looks for consistent initial crying and cyanosis or pallor early in the attack. Treatment for routine BHS consists of reassurance. Some evidence suggests that iron supplementation helps some children.23
Gastroesophageal reflux. Symptoms associated with gastroesophageal reflux may be mistaken for seizures. Infants may have stiffening and crying episodes suggestive of infantile spasms. Older children and adults, particularly if they are cognitively impaired and not able to communicate well, may have reflux-related pain leading to stiffening episodes that are reminiscent of tonic seizures, or they may have sudden behavior changes suggesting partial seizures. Abnormal posturing in patients with gastroesophageal reflux is often referred to as Sandifer syndrome.24,25
Syncope. The distinction between epileptic seizures and syncope can be particularly challenging. Transient loss of consciousness—particularly if accompanied by body stiffening— can suggest seizures, but positive motor signs are common in syncope. At the same time, transient cerebral hypoperfusion occurring during syncope can cause an acute reactive seizure (convulsive syncope).
Features suggesting syncope include preceding light-headedness, sweating, pallor, prolonged standing, sudden changes in posture—from lying down to sitting or standing— and precipitation by vagal stimuli, such as micturition. Conversely, typical aura (eg, epigastric rising sensation, dj vu), postictal delirium, and focal physical features, such as head turning, are suggestive of seizure.26 An EEG showing epileptiform discharges or postictal slowing can help confirm the diagnosis. An electrocardiogram (ECG) revealing an arrhythmia, a long QT syndrome, or a positive tilt table test suggests syncope.27,28
There are also rare cases in which a seizure provokes asystole. When such cases are recognized, the insertion of a pacemaker is often recommended.29
Conversion disorder. Conversion disorders can manifest as psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) in adults and children. A history of significant social stresses should alert a clinician to the possibility of PNES. Some apparent secondary gain usually will be associated with the spells, although in conversion disorder, the patient is not consciously producing the symptom. In children, such gains may include being sent home from school or averting physical abuse.
A history of physical or sexual abuse should be considered when PNES are diagnosed. In children, less severe stresses such as high academic pressure or bullying at school also may cause symptoms.
A number of physical features during seizure episodes are suggestive of PNES. The eyes are usually closed.30 Asynchronous clonic limb movements (flailing) are often present. Other symptoms include pelvic thrusting and prominent rotatory (horizontal back and forth) head movements. An unusual lack of concern about the symptoms (la belle indifference affect) is typical. Also, it is unusual for persons with PNES to have the seizures during sleep. Incontinence and self injury also are less common during PNES than in epileptic seizures.31
The above-noted symptoms are suggestive but not definitive. It is important to document the nonepileptic nature of these disabling events; video EEG monitoring is most trusted. It may be challenging to get the suspicious event to occur in the clinical setting. Various forms of suggestion have been used to trigger events, but ethical considerations need to be acknowledged. Hypnosis also has been successfully used in both adults and in children to provoke PNES.32,33
It is never adequate to simply give a diagnosis of PNES without further treatment. The episodes remain disabling despite reassurance that the spells are not epilepsy. If the underlying stresses contributing to the spells go untreated, and if adequate coping mechanisms are not adopted, it is likely that the spells will continue. Referral for psychological counseling is necessary. Early diagnosis of PNES carries a better prognosis for remission.34,35
Generalized motor seizures. The types of generalized motor seizures (Table 2) are relatively easy to diagnose based on patient history. However, there are physiological and psychogenic behaviors that can be mistaken for these relatively dramatic epileptic seizures. Nonepileptic events that suggest generalized motor seizures include chorea, athetosis, dystonia, and opisthotonus. Because such behaviors are frequently (but not exclusively) encountered in developmentally disabled persons, a history of normally maintained consciousness and awareness may be difficult to ascertain.
More complex movements, such as chorea or athetosis, are characterized by writhing or jerking. They are usually distinguishable from seizures because of the absence of a clear rhythmic component (unlike clonic seizures). The movements are often bilateral and awareness is maintained. Because the movements may be generalized or focal, they may be mistaken for either generalized or partial seizures.36
Absence seizures. These seizures are characterized by discrete episodes of unresponsive staring and are sometimes accompanied by minor automatisms such as eye blinking or head titubation. In the untreated person, they usually occur many times a day. Each episode may last from a few to about 30 seconds. The frequency of the seizures, their short duration, and the relative absence of automatisms help distinguish absence seizures from complex partial seizures.
Behavioral nonepileptic events such as inattention or daydreaming may be hard to distinguish from absence seizures unless there is a clear history of a lack of response to physical stimulation. An EEG is helpful, because untreated persons with absence epilepsy will almost always have generalized spike wave discharges. Atypical absence seizures are usually longer and have more accompanying subtle motor symptoms. They are commonly seen in cognitively impaired persons who have other, more obvious seizure types. Lennox-Gastaut syndrome is a common setting for atypical absence seizures.37
Partial seizures. These seizures present the greatest diagnostic challenge because of the many symptoms that can be manifestations of epileptic activity. Loss of awareness is a clinical feature that distinguishes complex from simple partial seizures. A wide variety of automatisms can be present during partial seizures depending on the part of the brain involved. Seizures arising from the frontal convexity or parasagittal region often are associated with prominent motor signs. Subtler motor activity that may be mistaken for absence seizures is indicative of orbital frontal and frontopolar seizures. Typical temporal lobe symptoms may include dizziness, staring, autonomic changes, and subtler, semipurposeful automatisms such as picking at clothes and chewing. Parietal and occipital onset is suggested by initial sensory and visual symptoms, respectively.
There are some circumstances in which seizure manifestations may be quite subtle and may show up only on an EEG. Patients in an unexplained coma or with waxing and waning levels of consciousness may be experiencing subtle seizures or nonconvulsive status epilepticus. An unexplained acute encephalopathy, particularly in the setting of a brain insult, should raise the possibility of seizure and prompt an EEG evaluation. Furthermore, patients with acute illnesses may be deeply sedated, and it has been well demonstrated that a significant proportion of such patients have seizures that are not clinically apparent.38
Other conditions in which subtle or subclinical seizures should be suspected as part of the differential diagnosis are Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) and continuous spike and waves during slow sleep (CSWS).
Landau-Kleffner syndrome. LKS affects children and its hallmark is aphasia in the setting of relatively mild epilepsy. To make this diagnosis, the child must demonstrate loss of language skills and have either a history of seizures or an EEG showing epileptiform abnormalities. Some 20% of affected children have epileptiform EEG abnormalities without a history of clinical seizures. No specific EEG pattern is pathognomonic, but temporal maximum spikes often are described. Treatment is aimed at reducing the frequency of interictal spike discharges using such medications as valproate, benzodiazepines, and corticosteroids. Multiple subpial transection also has been used for treatment of medically refractory cases.39,40
Continuous spike and waves during slow sleep. CSWS, also known as electrical status epilepticus during slow-wave sleep, is a condition in which nearly continuous (more than 85%) spike-wave discharges are seen on the EEG during deep slow wave sleep. Age at onset is usually 2 to 9 years, and the phenomenon is associated with language, cognitive, and behavioral impairments. Although most affected children have a history of seizures (either generalized or partial), cases identified only through EEG findings have been described. The cause may be cryptogenic or symptomatic.41
A routine EEG performed in a patient with a presumed first seizure will show epileptiform abnormalities about 7% to 34% of the time. An EEG performed in the first 24 hours after an attack increases the EEG yield to 51%.42 Repeated EEGs, sleep deprivation before the EEG, and sleep recorded during the EEG all increase the likelihood of recording epileptiform discharges.43 Nevertheless, some patients with epilepsy will persistently have normal EEGs, and some persons with epileptiform spike discharges may have a statistically increased risk but never experience a seizure.
Ideally, a seizure event should be captured on EEG, but this is seldom practical in the outpatient laboratory. If the events are reasonably frequent, a long-term EEG that records the habitual attacks helps provide diagnostic certainty.44 Outpatient ambulatory EEG systems are increasingly useful and many now have synchronized video. In situations where recording typical seizure-like events will be helpful, but seizure medications do not need to be withdrawn, ambulatory EEG can be cost effective.
For seizures with altered consciousness, the EEG will almost always show some paroxysmal change, and most of the time an evolving apparent if the seizures are epileptic. Exceptions include some frontal lobe seizures in which the epileptogenic cortex is distant from recording scalp electrodes, such as in the mesial frontal or the orbital frontal region. Even in such cases, a paroxysmal EEG change, such as slowing, will be evident, but prominent movement artifacts may obscure the EEG. Other exceptions include auras or simple partial seizures. Not enough of the cortex may be synchronized to allow recording of the rhythmic discharges from the scalp electrodes.45
Because it is important that patients who are hospitalized for video EEG recordings have their habitual seizures, antiepileptic drugs often are tapered. For patients with mixed epileptic and nonepileptic events, drug tapering presents a problem because drug withdrawal may simply uncover the epileptic attacks that were pharmacologically controlled, although the patient may also experience nonepileptic spells. It is important to document the variety of attacks in question and make sure that the video EEG captures the habitual events and not anomalous seizures that are provoked solely by medication withdrawal.
Therapeutic Agents in This Article
Flunarizine (Sibelium)
Topiramate (Topamax)
Valproate* (Depacon)
*Available in a generic formulation.
•The distinction between epileptic seizures and syncope can be particularly challenging. Transient loss of consciousness—particularly if accompanied by body stiffening—can suggest seizures, but positive motor signs are common in syncope.
•Conversion disorders can manifest as psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) in adults and children. A history of significant social stresses points to the possibility of PNES.
•Behavioral nonepileptic events such as inattention or daydreaming may be hard to distinguish from absence seizures unless there is a clear history of a lack of response to physical stimulation. An electroencephalogram (EEG) is helpful, because untreated persons with absence epilepsy will almost always have generalized spike wave discharges.
•An EEG performed in the first 24 hours after a presumed seizure will show epileptiform abnormalities 51% of the time. Repeated EEGs, sleep deprivation before the EEG, and sleep recorded during the EEG all increase the likelihood of recording epileptiform discharges.


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The school supplies aisles of local stores may be bustling, but the Library is still basking in the carefree days of summer.
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If you love the Big Band sound, you'll enjoy Joe Costantino at 7 p.m. Monday at the Library Center when he resumes his series of talks about the Big Band Cavalcade.
During his career in radio and television, Joe worked with entertainers from Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra to Woody Herman. He's sharing the legends, video and music of the leaders of the Big Band era. After Monday, the series concludes on Aug. 6.
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Anyone who has done historical or genealogical research at the Library in the past 31 years has probably crossed paths with local history librarian Michael Glenn.
Michael was manager of the Local History & Genealogy Department at then-Main Library, now the Midtown Carnegie Branch, and moved to the Library Center when it opened in November 1999. Over the years he has built up the rare book collection, helped preserve endangered Ozarks historical materials and helped make historical collections accessible to the world through digitization and sharing on the Internet.
Sad to say, Michael is retiring from his Library career on Wednesday, Aug. 1. But if you hurry, you can make one last effort to stump him with your toughest question before he packs up and leaves.
Find this article at


text: J.Crew for Teach for America T-shirt Item F5506 Color: HTHR CHROME Size: All sizes are US sizes. X-SMALL SMALL MEDIUM LARGE X-LARGE Size Charts Quantity: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Prices do not include taxes. Add to Bag Wishlist Add to Bag Add To Wishlist share: size & fit Product Details Featuring a patriotic red, white and blue graphic, this T-shirt supports the nonprofit organization that trains and places recent college graduates and professionals in under-resourced communities nationwide. Fifty percent of the retail price from the sale of this T-shirt will be donated to Teach For America. Cotton. Rib trim at neck. Machine wash. Import. Item F5506.


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New York -- PayPal announced Monday that a total of 23 national retailers are now signed up to accept PayPal in their stores, making the payment solution accepted in more than 18,000 physical retail locations. PayPal also announced that Jamba Juice is testing an order-ahead feature that allows customers to place an order, select a time for pick-up, and pay in advance via the PayPal App – so when they arrive, they can save time and skip the line, grab their food and be on their way.
The 23 national retailers signed on with PayPal are: Famous Footwear, Dollar General, Mapco Express, RadioShack, Spartan Stores, Abercrombie & Fitch, Advance Auto Parts, Aéropostale, American Eagle Outfitters, Barnes & Noble, Foot Locker, Guitar Center, the Home Depot, Jamba Juice, J.C. Penney, Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Nine West, Office Depot, Rooms To Go, Tiger Direct, Toys "R" Us and two additional partners that the company will announce soon.


text: By: John Matthews, founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises Inc. The lease is up at your existing location, and the new center down the street is happening. The thought of relocating your business is daunting—when will you find the time and will you lose customers? An important decision faces your brand—do you relocate your


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Dear Members,
Yesterday Tep/I watched my favorite movie FINAL ANALYSIS, if you're into mind games, expecting a mysterious, psychological thriller, with a twist ending then this is the movie treat for you.
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/i ... gac&sado=1
Richard Gere played a San Francisco psychiatrist beds a patient's unhappily married sister, he becomes entangled in a web of murder, intrigue and double-crosses. In this movie, Kim Basinger played a sweet & innocent but daring role into pursuing an opportunity of getting rid of her rich husband (Eric Roberts). The object of her desire is her sister (Uma Thurman) and hunk psychiatrist (Richard Gere) who all three gamble for deceit and manipulation. The question is, who of the three will prevail? The movie ignites with heavy drama and suspense,it means a frightening psychotic, good and evil, hope and despair, beauty and repulsion.This is what Richard Gere, the psychiatrist, needs to figure out. I think this is the best acting role that Kim Basinger had ever pursued over all her other movies even LA Confidential, where she won Golden globe award as best actress.
After I watched this movie, Buddha's saying came into my mind:
[AN 10. Sacittavaggo. Sacittasuttam: ] "Bhikkhus, do not become clever in penetrating and understanding others' minds, be clever in penetrating and understanding your mind. This is the right practice."
Do you know that Richard Gere is a Buddhist?? And he loves to talk about his many years of Buddhist practice, his devotion to his teacher the Dalai Lama, and his work for Tibetan freedom.


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Wow, I can't believe how crappy this feed is, and I'm sitting here watching it because i'm that much of a fan.
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It looks like a recording from yeaarss ago ha
Proud owner of 'Dutch Pacers'
Sam Young had a nice move, it just baffles me how this guy wasn't on any team by mid August
Ahearn has no shot of making this team, Sam Young had a really nice move slashing to the basket for 2 though.
Lance's jumper is still broken i dont think it will ever be fixed
Counting down the days untill DJ Augustin's contract expires.
League Pass channel 751 on Direct TV. Hope that helps someone, guess we're getting this free for the preseason.
Lance has done a nice job creating shots for himself, even if he only hit one of them, that last jumper looked nice though, and had a nice assist as well. I'm curious to see if he can consistently hit from range now, as training camp seemed to suggest, that would open up that game for him an awful lot.
I do enjoy hearing Mark call the game. Far less gab and more game info!
Stuckey got hurt big time.
That old looking guy the Pacers have is not that bad.
Ahearn has zero chance of making this team.
Counting down the days untill DJ Augustin's contract expires.
Mahinmi has to hang onto those offensive boards, come on big man that's 2 points wasted
Ahearn has been painful to watch, just terrible. He's not an NBA player.
Plumlee in!
Plumlee is in Baby
is ahearn scared to shoot the ball or something?
shoot it dude.
Counting down the days untill DJ Augustin's contract expires.
Pendergraft got stuffed.
Good offensive board by Plums, good assist by Ahearn and good slam by Plums
Nice tap out by Plumlee
Stop quoting people I have on ignore!
Miles Plumlee baby!


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Two outstanding teachers from Bullitt County were honored in Frankfort during the Ashland Inc. Teacher Achievement Awards.
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How tough would it be to make the middle area(section:banner) of this website responsive?
That would be quite easy. You just have to decide how you want things to site at various breakpoints and set styles accordingly.
Hi Ralph
I wanna get them one above the other ..U'll notice that they are all absolutely positioned..How can I implement this for all breakpoints..
The first thing I would suggest is to remove the positioning. You don't need that anyway, but it will get in the way in a responsive scenario. Instead of the positioning, make each element a block that has 100% width. That way, they will naturally sit vertically. Set styles to kick in at whatever width is needed. You can probably just do this once.
Thanks a lot Ralph..Just wanted to understand this "The first thing I would suggest is to remove the positioning.": so here would I need to remove absolute positioning from the media queries and make them "relative"
No, I really meant remove both absolute and relative (i.e. position: static). position:absolute is often more trouble than it's worth, but here you definitely don't want it. Just make sure to organize your HTML such that the elements you want on top come before the elements you want below.
Sure Ralph..will try it out...Are there any tools that can help in converting HTML elements into responsive??
I don't really think it's worth trying to rely on a tool, even if there is one. It's best to plan this out from the start, and code the layout optimally for all scenarios. The HTML on that page looks more complicated and awkward than it needs to be, which makes it harder to readjust for a different screen size. You really have two boxes there, which ideally should be at the same level in the HTML and perhaps floated. That way, it's easy to unfloat them at a certain screen width, so that one sits above the other.
Responsive design is a bit of a game changer for the web, because it forces us to think more carefully about our page structures. When you are only thinking about big desktop screens, it's easy to fall into the trap of pinning things to the screen with position: absolute etc., but that presents a lot of problems when you are trying to make the page more adaptive.
You are abolutely right Ralph...This was developed by a client and I did find the same issue too with the arrangement of the elements in the middle portion...Looks like you dont like much of Twitter bootstrap..Is there any particular reason for it?
Hehe, I dislike all such frameworks. You end up with a situation like you face now: wading through a bunch of code that's hard to understand rather than creating clean, simple code that meets the direct needs of the layout. Lots of people come here with framework issues, and these are issues they didn't need to have, IMHO.
Awesome...Is there a way I can chat with you??I need some guidance to becoming a successful freelancer!!
Hm, I'm about the worst person to talk to on that score! But these forums are a great place to talk and discuss all things web, so fire away.
There are also lots of good books and tips on freelancing. I was recently enjoying some stuff on Paul Boag's site: http://boagworld.com/
Thanks Ralph..Its just that I am a bit confused on pursuin web designing as a career in my mid 30's..I have been a project manager throughout my life but had 2 quit due to some personal reasons..and found some solace in web desining..I started learning it from last year Nov and have been able to score just 1 project ever since..Theres too much competition in the mkt and terrible fight for pricing...Here's my portfolio site if you wanna it check it out..www.clouditheaven.com..
Yes, it's not easy. There have been some useful blog posts on SitePoint of late with freelancing advice. Basically, you have to be proactive, go out and meet people. One idea is to visit local businesses, get to know them and propose that they have a website—even if just a simple one.
Here's one Boag podcast that discusses freelancing: http://boagworld.com/season/6/episode/s06e04/
Great advice..thx much..Hw has this journey been for you?
We all stumble along in this new discipline, I guess. Like you, I've come to it from something different, but there are lots of avenues to pursue and lots of things you can specialise in, so I guess there are lots of opportunities. There aren't any rules, though, which can be good and bad. I haven't really found my niche yet. Not sure if I ever will, either!
all the best!!


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FORT HOOD, Texas — The judge overseeing the Fort Hood shooting trial blocked prosecutors on Monday from using several witnesses and most evidence they had sought to explain the alleged motive behind the 2009 attack.
Prosecutors had asked the military judge to approve evidence and several witnesses to explain the mindset of Maj. Nidal Hasan, who is accused of killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others at the Texas military base in November 2009.
Such evidence included references to Hasan Akbar, a Muslim soldier sentenced to death for attacking fellow soldiers in Kuwait during the 2003 Iraq invasion. Prosecutors wanted to suggest a copycat motive.
But the judge, Col. Tara Osborn, barred prosecutors from referencing Akbar, saying Akbar wasn't on trial and introduction of such material would "only open the door to a mini trial." She also said it would result in a "confusion of issues, unfair prejudice, waste of time and undo delay."
Osborn also told prosecutors that they couldn't cite Hasan's interest years ago in conscientious objector status and his past academic presentations. Osborn said such evidence was too old and irrelevant.
However, the judge will allow evidence about Internet searches on Hasan's computer around the time of the attack and websites that Hasan had listed as "favorites."
Prosecutors indicated Friday that they had between 15 and 25 witnesses left, meaning Hasan could get his chance to defend himself as early as Tuesday or Wednesday. He signaled before trial that he had just two witnesses.
Hasan — who is acting as his own attorney — could face the death penalty if convicted.


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Top Definition
When a client of a workers comp attorney is rightfully injured from his job yet the insurance company stops sending him checks claiming there is an overpayment. After several months of not receiving check and not allowed to work, the client goes broke. This situation is called by this name because the attorney fooled the client into thinking they were handling the matter and that the client will be getting a check. When the client runs out of money, the attorney shows little remorse on the matter nor suggests any alternatives other then go apply for welfare.
I was on workers comp and they stopped sending me check claiming they overpaid me. Two months went by and I still didn't have a check. I got thrown out of my apartment and I had to turn in the plates on my car because I couldn't pay my car insurance. I totally got Workers Comp Punk'd !!!
by The Jax August 07, 2009
The Urban Dictionary Mug
One side has the word, one side has the definition. Microwave and dishwasher safe. Lotsa space for your liquids.Buy the mug


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Study of Cardiac and Paroxysmal Abnormalities in Rett Syndrome
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- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
OBJECTIVES: I. Evaluate electrocardiographic parameters, including QT and PR intervals and QRS morphology/duration, across clinical stages in patients with Rett syndrome.
II. Characterize abnormalities of cardiac conduction and repolarization. III. Assess arrhythmias, heart rate variability, and autonomic nervous system function in these patients using 24-hour Holter monitoring.
IV. Record events believed to represent seizures with video, electroencephalogram (EEG), and polygraph monitoring in patients who have more than 1 clinical seizure every 5 days.
V. Characterize these events with respect to clinical manifestations, EEG correlates, and other physiologic data.
VI. Determine the frequency of seizures vs. events without electrographic correlates in these patients.
VII. Determine whether Rett syndrome patients have characteristic or unique types of seizures and/or an epileptic syndrome.
|Rett Syndrome
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Primary Purpose: Screening
|Estimated Enrollment:
|Study Start Date:
|August 1995
|Estimated Study Completion Date:
|June 1997
PROTOCOL OUTLINE: Patients receive an electrocardiogram at baseline and every 6 months for 3 years. Clinical stage II patients undergo 24-hour Holter monitoring on the same schedule; age-matched controls are tested once.
A group of patients with more than 1 seizure or possible seizure every 5 days undergo 5-day continuous electroencephalogram/polygraphic/video monitoring, with respiratory effort assessment, end tidal carbon dioxide and oxygen saturation levels, and a seizure log.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|Child, Adult, Senior
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
- Classical Rett syndrome meeting Rett Syndrome Diagnostic Work Group criteria
- Age-matched girls without neurologic or cardiac problems entered as controls
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00004773
|Study Chair:
|Daniel G. Glaze
|Baylor College of Medicine
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00004773 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|February 24, 2000
|Last Updated:
|June 23, 2005
Keywords provided by Office of Rare Diseases (ORD):
Rett syndrome
neurologic and psychiatric disorders
rare disease
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Rett Syndrome
Pathologic Processes
Mental Retardation, X-Linked
Intellectual Disability
Neurobehavioral Manifestations
Neurologic Manifestations
Nervous System Diseases
Genetic Diseases, X-Linked
Genetic Diseases, Inborn
Heredodegenerative Disorders, Nervous System
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017


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Over 450 guests showed up to party with The Voice-Tribune at Charr'd Bourbon Kitchen and Lounge on Dec. 20 for the last Third Thursday After-Work Party of the year. Four Roses and Denton-Floyd Real Estate Group sponsored the fun-filled feté, which included tasty Four Roses drink specials and photos with Santa Walt Queen! Guests enjoyed delicious hors d'oeuvres and great giveaways, before ending the night on the dance floor to the sounds of The Voice-Tribune's official deejay, DJ Jaybird.
Photos by CHRIS HUMPHREYS | The Voice-Tribune


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My specific area of research focuses on the Heterochromatin Protein 1 (HP1) family, a highly conserved, non-histone, chromosomal protein family that is involved in many aspects of gene regulation. I am primarily interested in the interactions of HP1B with the other somatic homologs, HP1a and HP1C. My investigations will hopefully show how their interactions contribute to overall chromatin structure and gene expression.
Download CV
Mentor: Nicole C. Riddle
Contact InformationTandy Dolin Petrov, PhD Student
University of Alabama at Birmingham
1720 2nd Ave S CH464
Birmingham, Al 35294


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Cabidor Behind Door Storage
10 0
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Cabidor Behind Door Storage Classic-White is rated out of 5 by 60.
Rated 5 out of 5 by backbayliving from best organization for bath! we LOVE our Cabidor!!! It's in our master bath and enabled us to remove the broken & outdated medicine cabinet and replace with a gorgeous mirror since all our toiletries are in the Cabidor. great organizational tool for pantry too!
Date published: 2013-08-22
Rated 5 out of 5 by Lnoel1225 from Perfect for anyone with limited cabinet space! Love, love, love this! I have almost no cabinet space, and dishes/glassware take up so much space. It has forced me to use my oven for pots and pans storage, and my microwave for food storage. As a result, I never want to cook anything, because I have to empty out the oven or micro! (And, as one would guess, if there's limited cabinetry, there's limited counter space!). I was searching for innovative storage units that would fit into weird little spaces, and I found this! I love it! It's completely hidden and no one notices it at all. (I have it on a door that is most often kept open, so you can't even see it!). I fit a lot in it too! Now I just wish I had more doors to put additional ones on, but they are a little pricey so that is also prohibitive. But it s sturdy and worth it! I just wish I didn't have to wait for it so long.. It was on back order and the date changed twice, so it took almost two months to get it. But overall, a great purchase!
Date published: 2013-06-22
Rated 5 out of 5 by Sugargrove from I love it! It was easy to install. It is so convenient to store things when you have limited space in your room. And it looks very nice.
Date published: 2015-09-17
Rated 5 out of 5 by RETIREDRN from Great storage This product is great! I have a small bathroom, and this gives me plenty of storage. Plus, it's on the back of the door, so it is hidden. Very easy to install, but takes 2 people. Looks good too!
Date published: 2013-08-30
Can this be set up inside a closet door?
The description says "behind the door storage" but the picture shows the item sticking out into the hallway. Can this be set up inside a closet door out of sight?
whatever door opens inward the unit will attach behind the door. If you have to pull to open the door then the unit is going to be on the outside of the door.
Date published: 2015-06-06
Can you special order the Cabidor hardware in polished brass?
No need- there's no hardware to show, only a finger grip on the side to pull it open.
Date published: 2017-01-14
Will it work with only one hinge?
I live in an apt and all doors with the exception of the front door have only 2 hinges, top and bottom. Will this hang securely with only the one hinge?
Thank you for your question. One hinge will not be secure enough to support the weight of the Cabidor.
Date published: 2014-04-05
What is the minimum required underneath clearance between the bottom of the cabinet and the floor?
We recommend at least 1" clearance between the bottom of the cabinet and the floor.
Date published: 2017-04-22
Can the hinges be reversed so that when the room door is closed you are looking at the back of the storage unit and not the toiletries?
I dont want guests to see the open shelves. When i need access the unit would then be swung open flush to the closed room door.
Thank you for your question. The main image above is the Cabidor open. When closed, it is flush to the door. The video above shows this.
Date published: 2015-05-09
Product:435319-Cabidor Behind Door Storage


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| » Reactions from Oscar nominees
| » Top 5 Oscar snubs | » Top 5 Oscar surprises
| » What happened to 'Zero Dark Thirty' and 'Les Miz'?
| » 'Hunger Games' eats up People's Choice Awards
Surprises and snubs won reactions from shock to "awww" inside the Beverly Hills theater Thursday where the 85th Academy Award nominations were announced live.
It was no surprise that "Lincoln" took the most nominations, with 12, including nods for best picture, best director and best actor.
But gasps escaped the mouths of many audience members every time "Amour" was named as a nominee: It's up for five awards, including both best foreign language film and best motion picture.
The French film was written and directed by Michael Haneke, who was nominated for best director. The movie centers on an elderly retired couple whose love is tested after the wife has a stroke. The film's star, Emanuelle Riva, 85, is the oldest actress to ever receive a nomination for best actress.
"For me, it is an immense gift, at this stage of my life, to be chosen by my sisters and brothers, for what I do as an actress," Riva said. "I never thought, while working throughout the years in Europe and France, that one day, I would cross the Atlantic Ocean, come to the United States, and be nominated. It is quite surreal for me."
Also making history this year is Quvenzhane Wallis for her role in "Beasts of the Southern Wild." At just 9 years old, the pint-size star is the youngest actress to ever be nominated in the top acting category, leaving the audience in a collective "awww" as her name was called.
Rounding out the best actress category are Jessica Chastain in "Zero Dark Thirty," Jennifer Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook," and Naomi Watts in "The Impossible."
"I am so thrilled and humbled with this morning's wonderful news," Watts said. "The journey of telling Maria Belon's miraculous story of survival has been an incredible experience and I am so grateful for this acknowledgment of our film. I am truly honored."
Nine movies will battle it out for the top prize on Feb. 24 when Seth MacFarlane hosts the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Not too surprisingly, those movies include: "Argo," "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Django Unchained," "Les Miserables," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln," "Silver Linings Playbook," "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Amour."
A surprise snub is Ben Affleck's lack of a best director nomination for "Argo," a best picture nominee. "Argo" is loosely based on the CIA operation to free six U.S. diplomats from Iran during the 1979 hostage crisis.
Twitter was abuzz over the snub, including a spoof profile claiming to be that of nominee Michael Haneke who tweeted to Affleck: "thanx 4 lendin me ur oscar nominayshun 4 best director!!1! i guess daredevil 2 mite happen aftr all lol #teamhaneke."
Kathyrn Bigelow was also skipped over in the best director category for "Zero Dark Thirty."
But one director was celebrating Thursday. Ang Lee's film "Life of Pi" is his most nominated film to date. The film garnered 11 nominations.
"I am deeply honored and frankly a little overwhelmed by all of the nominations that `Life of Pi' has received this morning," Lee said. "So many talented people gave everything they had to this film, both in front of and behind the camera, and to see all of them receive this kind of recognition is something I am incredibly grateful for."
"Lincoln's" accolades also include best actor for Daniel Day-Lewis, best supporting actor for Tommy Lee Jones and best supporting actress for Sally Field, as well as best director for Steven Spielberg.
It was also a good year for animated films, which Disney's "Brave" director, Mark Andrews, says is giving live-action films a run for their money.
"I think this idea that animation is just for kids is beginning to fade," Andrews said. "They really have a meaning, an impact and provoke thoughts and can be dramatic. And they're ultimately, at the end of the day, a lot more entertaining than most of the live action films that we get out there and people are starting to clue into that."
"Watch out live-action, you're not the only game in town," Andrews said.
"Brave" is up for best animated feature film along with "Frankenweenie," "ParaNorman," "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" and "Wreck-It-Ralph."
"Frankenweenie" director Tim Burton said the film was personal for him as it was years in the making. It was originally a short film made in 1984 as an homage - and parody - of the classic "Frankenstein."
"The idea of ... a feature length version was in the back of my mind for many years," Burton said. "Stop motion was the perfect medium for this project, and one I've always loved for its expressiveness and dimensionality.
"I've worked with so many incredible artists - animators, cast members, set builders and puppet makers - all who have helped bring this film to life one frame at a time. I'm so honored that the academy has recognized this film as one of its nominees."
Stephanie Cary
Here's a full list of nominees:
Best Picture
"Beasts of the Southern Wild"
"Django Unchained"
"Les Miserables"
"Life of Pi"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Zero Dark Thirty"
Best Director
Ang Lee for "Life of Pi"
Benh Zeitlin for "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook"
Michael Haneke for "Amour"
Steven Spielberg for "Lincoln"
Best Actor in a Leading role
Bradley Cooper in "Silver Linings Playbook"
Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln"
Hugh Jackman in "Les Miserables"
Joaquin Phoenix in "The Master"
Denzel Washington in "Flight"
Best Actress in a Leading role
Jessica Chastain in "Zero Dark Thirty"
Jennifer Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook"
Emmanuelle Riva in "Amour"
Quvenzhane Wallis in "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Naomi Watts in "The Impossible"
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin in "Argo"
Robert De Niro in "Silver Linings Playbook"
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "The Master"
Tommy Lee Jones in "Lincoln"
Christoph Waltz in "Django Unchained"
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams in "The Master"
Sally Field in "Lincoln"
Anne Hathaway in "Les Miserables"
Helen Hunt in "The Sessions"
Jacki Weaver in "Silver Linings Playbook"
Best Animated Feature Film
"The Pirates! Band of Misfits"
Achievement in Cinematology
Claudio Miranda for "Life of Pi"
Janusz Kaminski for "Lincoln"
Robert Richardson for "Django Unchained"
Roger Deakins for "Skyfall"
Seamus McGarvey for "Anna Karenina"
Achievement in Costume Design
Colleen Atwood for "Snow White and the Huntsman"
Eiko Ishioka for "Mirror Mirror"
Jacqueline Durran for "Anna Karenina"
Joanna Johnston for "Lincoln"
Paco Delgado for "Les Miserables"
Best Documentary Feature
"5 Broken Cameras"
"The Gatekeepers"
"How to Survive a Plague"
"The Invisible War"
"Searching for Sugar Man"
Best Documentary (short subject)
"Kings Point"
"Mondays at Racine"
"Open Heart"
Achievement in Film Editing
William Goldenberg for "Argo"
Tim Squyres for "Life of Pi"
Michael Kahn for "Lincoln"
Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers for "Silver Linings Playbook"
Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg for "Zero Dark Thirty"
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
"A Royal Affair"
"War Witch"
Achievment in Makeup and Hairstyling
Howard Berger, Peter Montagana and Martin Samuel for "Hitchcock"
Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane for "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell for "Les Miserables"
Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat for "Argo"
Dario Marianelli for "Anna Karenina"
John Williams for "Lincoln"
Mychael Danna for "Life of Pi"
Thomas Newman for "Skyfall"
Best Original Song
"Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice"
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from "Ted"
"Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi"
"Skyfall" from "Skyfall"
"Suddenly" from "Les Miserables"
Achievement in Production Design
Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent and Simon Bright for "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
David Gropman and Anna Pinnock for "Life of Pi"
Eve Stewart and Anna Lynch-Robinson for "Les Miserables"
Rick Carter and Jim Erickson for "Lincoln"
Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer for "Anna Karenina"
Best Animated Short Film
"Adam and Dog"
"Fresh Guacamole"
"Head over Heels"
"Maggie Simpson in 'The Longest Daycare'"
Best Live Action Short Film
"Buzkashi Boys"
"Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)"
Achievement in Sound Editing
Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn for "Argo"
Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton for "Life of Pi"
Paul N.J. Ottosson for "Zero Dark Thirty"
Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers for "Skyfall"
Wylie Stateman for "Django Unchained"
Achievement in Sound Mixing
Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes for "Les Miserables"
Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins for "Lincoln"
John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia for "Argo"
Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin for "Life of Pi"
Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson for "Skyfall"
Achievement in Visual Effects
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliot for "Life of Pi"
Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson for "Snow White and the Huntsman"
Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick for "Marvel's The Avengers"
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White for "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill for "Prometheus"
Best Adapted Screenplay
"Beasts of the Southern Wild"
"Life of Pi"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
Best Original Screenplay
"Django Unchained"
"Moonrise Kingdom"
"Zero Dark Thirty"


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A FORMER mayor of Tetbury has hit out at a police officer who took payment from a journalist for a tip-off about a story which featured in The Sun about him amicably swapping wives with his neighbour.
The tip-off was discussed at the News of the World phone hacking trial this week, where the former editor of The Sun, Rebekah Brooks was questioned about emails she received from a journalist asking her to okay payments for the stories, including Stephen Hirsts' wife swap in 2007.
The court at the Old Bailey, heard that in the wife swapping story, an email specifically sought Ms Brooks' approval to give money to a serving police officer who had provided "numerous tips in the past".
It also heard how Ms Brooks was questioned about whether the cash was transferred to Thomas Cook in Cirencester for the journalist to hand over to the anonymous source to avoid a paper trail.
Mr Hirst, who is currently a member of Tetbury Town Council, said: "Anybody that delves into people's private lives and profits from it is committing a despicable act. Especially as it is somebody in such a respectable job like a police officer who you would expect would not get paid money for providing information about so called sensationalised stories."
Mr Hirst explained he was interviewed by police at Scotland Yard, several months ago as part of Operation Elveden, which comprises Scotland Yard's investigation into allegations that journalists paid public officials for information.
Mr Hirst assisted officers in trying to identify the policeman who received payment for the story about the wife swap but said neither he or police were able to confirm the identity of the officer.
Ms Brooks told the trial she would only have sanctioned payment to a serving public official for a story relating to his work if there was a very strong public interest.
Prosecutor Andrew Edis QC suggested that the money was transferred to Thomas Cook to be collected by a journalist in cash and handed over to anonymous sources to avoid a paper trail.
Ms Brooks said this system was often used for convenience when journalists were abroad in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq.
"And Cirencester?" Mr Edis asked, referring to the mayor story.
Susan Hirst, Stephen's wife, who was part of the wife swap explained that the two couples first became aware of the media interest in the story when the four of them noticed they were being tailed by a journalist when on a Mother's Day trip to Bath.
"If we were in Scunthorpe or anywhere else in the country nobody would be at all interested but it is because we were located near the Prince's home of Highgrove," she said.