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FOUR school friends from Winchester have completed a half marathon and raised over £1,400 for sport relief.
The Henry Beaufort pupils, Lara Connolly, 12, Jess Bowyer, 11, Eloise Hunt, 12, and Megan Start, 12, followed a 3.4 mile circular route around Kings Worthy, Winchester, a total of three times to complete the 10.2 miles challenge.
Dubbed 'The Runners in Red', they kicked off at 10.30am on Saturday March 22, and followed the route from Springvale Road, through Bedfield Road to London Road and Lovedon Lane, and even laughed their way through hail stones and rain to cross the finish line together.
Lara said the fundraiser went "really well", and that the four are planning to walk a full marathon next year.
"It's all for a good cause," she said.
"I think to start with we were going a bit fast so towards the end we were quite tired, but it was really good and we all crossed the finish line together which was really nice.
"We carried a bucket around with us and that on its own raised about £50. Most of the people we had never met in our lives before so we want to thank them all for being so generous."
Lara's father, Jon Connolly, said: "It's nice to see girls their age doing something worthwhile together."


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Tinsley and Daniels for Carroll and Stackhouse (unguaranteed) and Dallas #22 pick?
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Tinsley and Daniels for Carroll and Stackhouse (unguaranteed) and Dallas #22 pick?
Are you basing this trade off Rick jumping at the opportunity to micromanage Jamaal again?
There are a couple of teams that could be legitimately interested in Tinsley considering his contract (if the arbitration goes the Pacers way). However, Dallas is most certainly in the "don't even bother calling" category as long as Rick is there. He never trusted Tinsley to run the show and I'm sure neither of them wants a sequel.
Last edited by avoidingtheclowns; 05-24-2009 at 08:39 PM.
If Kidd walks, who are their options as far as a veteran PG that can help them now?
And you throw in Daniels, who would definitely help them, right?
If Kidd walks they could get Baron or a low risk / low reward guy like Watson or even a quick Texan named TJ. But I'd bet you all of UB's gambling debt that Carlisle would rather Dampier run the point than Jamaal.
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The New School
In Dialogue Series - Dialogue between strangers and the past: Michael Taussig and Anthony Coleman
Join us for a series of
performative dialogues between experts in diverse fields in conjunction with
the exhibition As it were… so to speak: A Museum Collection in dialogue with
Barbara Bloom. Each evening concentrates on a different aspect of "dialogue,"
pairing speakers demonstrating theory and practice. Unlike in traditional
conversation the speakers do not engage with one another, instead each
addresses the subject at hand and the audience members directly.
The Dialogue between strangers and the past program
features Michael Taussig,
Professor of Anthropology at Columbia University with Anthony Coleman, a composer and pianist.
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Dream continues: Neymar waves as he lies inside a medical helicopter. Photo: AP
Injured Brazil forward Neymar thanked fans for their support and said his teammates will do everything to keep his dream of winning the World Cup alive.
"My dream isn't over. It was interrupted by a play but it continues," Neymar, who has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a fractured vertebra, said in a video released by the Brazilian Soccer Federation.
Neymar was injured after a challenge from Colombia's Juan Zuniga, which Brazilian legend Ronaldo described as an ''evil tackle''.
Neymar leaves Brazil's training base in a helicopter. Photo: AFP
Zuniga caught Neymar with a knee in his back that went unpunished during Brazil's 2-1 win and the Brazilian left the pitch on a stretcher and in tears.
"I'm certain that my teammates will do everything possible so that my dream, which is to be a champion, comes true.
"My dream was also to play in a World Cup final but this time it didn't work out," the 22-year-old said, his voice cracking with emotion.
Back injury: Neymar will play no more part in the World Cup. Photo: AP
"But God willing, they're going to win this, they're going to be champions, and I'm going to be by their side, with them. And all us Brazilians are going to be celebrating."
Neymar, who scored four goals in the tournament, suffered the back injury during Friday's 2-1 quarter-final win over Colombia. Brazil will play Germany in the semi-finals in Belo Horizonte.
Globo TV, the country's most popular network, broadcast Neymar's message during a live variety show on Saturday. The crowd gave it a standing ovation and many were in tears.
Juan Zuniga denies trying to hurt Neymar on purpose. Photo: AP
Zuniga has sent a message of support to Neymar amid criticism of the challenge which has ruled the Brazil talisman out of the rest of the World Cup.
FIFA's disciplinary committee is studying the challenge to decide on action against Zuniga.
Zuniga defended his challenge immediately after the match and emphasised he had meant Neymar no harm.
"I feel burdened by this situation," he said in an Instagram message. "It resulted from a normal play and there was no bad intention, evil or recklessness from my part.
"I want to send a special salute to Neymar.
"I admire you, I respect you and I consider you one of the best players in the world.
"I hope you recover soon in order to continue to show us that in football there is a sport full of virtue and qualities, which I have put into practice since I was 12 years old and as a professional player."
Zuniga also expressed gratitude to the Brazilian fans.
"To the Brazilian fans that have lost one of their players in the World Cup, I thank them for all the support they have given our national team in every game we have played here."
The Colombian could yet find himself in hot water with FIFA, though.
FIFA head of media Delia Fischer said: "The disciplinary committee is analysing the matter. The spirit of fair play is very important and we want to avoid difficult things on the field of play."
Neymar was flown from Brazil's training camp in Teresopolis in a medical helicopter in order to start his recovery in his home city of Guaruja.
Brazil take on Germany in the semi-finals on Wednesday (AEST).


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If David Hart gets his way, Miami Beach's 42-room Astor Hotel will be on a hiring spree this year as it adds concierge service, a rooftop pool, an all-night diner, spa and private-car service available 24 hours a day.
New hires will be crucial to Hart's business plan since foreign investors have agreed to pay about $50,000 for each job created by the Art Deco boutique hotel.
The Miami immigration lawyer specializes in arranging visas for wealthy foreign citizens under a special program that trades green cards for investment dollars. Businesses get the money and must use it to boost payroll. The minimum investment is $500,000 to add at least 10 jobs to the economy.
That puts the pressure on Hart and his partners at the Astor to beef up payroll dramatically, with plans to take a hotel with roughly 20 employees to one with as many as 100 workers.
"My primary responsibility is to make something happen here over the next two years that will create the jobs we need," Hart said. "It's all going to be transformed."
Though established in the 1990s, the EB-5 visas soared in popularity during the recession as developers sought foreign cash to replace dried-up credit markets in the United States.
Chinese investors dominate the transactions, accounting for about 65 percent of the nearly 9,000 EB-5 visas granted since 2006. South Korea finishes a distant second at 12 percent, and the United Kingdom holds the third-place slot at 3 percent.
If Latin America and the Caribbean were one country, they would rank No. 4 on the list, with 231 EB-5 visas granted, or about 3 percent of the total.
Competition has gotten stiffer for the deep-pocketed foreign investors willing to pay for green cards. This year, the city of Miami itself is expected to get into the business by setting up an EB-5 program to raise foreign cash for a range of city businesses and developments.
The first would be the tallest building in the city - developer Tibor Hollo's planned 85-story apartment tower, the Panorama, in downtown Miami.
Other governments have gotten into the EB-5 business, too. Dallas set up an EB-5 center in 2009. Vermont's governor, Pete Shumlin, was in Miami recently to pitch his state's EB-5 program to visiting investors.
With a construction cost of about $700 million, Miami's debut EB-5 venture hopes to raise about $100 million from foreign investors, said Laura Reiff, the Greenberg Traurig lawyer in Virginia working with Miami on the EB-5 effort.
The arrangement would allow Hollo and future participants to tout the city of Miami's endorsement when competing with other projects for EB-5 dollars. "We will have the benefit of the brand of the city of Miami," said Mikki Canton, the $6,000-a-month city consultant heading Miami's EB-5 effort. "A lot of these others are privately owned and they won't have that brand."
She said the Hollo project will be crucial for getting Miami's EB-5 designation approved in Washington, but that the program will be open to all local businesses that qualify. She sees the city's effort as a way to make EB-5 funding more affordable to Miami businesses that don't have the funds to pursue an EB-5 designation in the private sector.
Critics see the national EB-5 program as more about wealthy foreigners jumping to the front of the green-card line, ahead of immigrants chasing visas tied to obtaining and securing employment in the United States. Each visa category has its own cap, so the popularity of one doesn't affect limits on the other. But EB-5 visa holders have much more flexibility when they come to the United States than do traditional green-card holders.
Most immigrants with green cards must maintain employment or risk deportation.
But EB-5 visa holders can hold a green card indefinitely without the need for work, provided the jobs tied to their projects get certified by Washington.


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Description I first thought about the technique I'm going to present you here the first time I have heard about the Mega-Texture technology of John carmack from Id Software. I wondered what effect real-full texture virtualization would allow us to achieve ? That is : each surface has it's own texel and you can modify it. That's why I have started to develop this little demo. The goal was to have every surface in the virtual environment having it's own texture and texels.
Here are the features :
For further details, read the dedicated page on my website http://sebastien.hillaire.free.fr or ask me questions
Sebastien, This technique looks really good. I also found some of your other work on your website interesting.
Thank you for the compliment.
When i will have time, I plan to implement this effect in the Quake3 game engine...
the more ram you dispose of the more pretty your world looks.
Yes in my case, because I have just tested the effects with a quick but not optimized implementation. A better usable solution would be to use real texture virtualization. In this case, when a page fault occurs, the texture page must be loaded but the resident texture page (if there is one) must be saved if it has been previously modified by any decals.
Another optimization could take advantage of the fact that people's eyes are more sensitive to changes in brightness than in color. This implies that you could have a lower resolution color texture, and a high resultion monocrome texture that could be twice the resolution at the same memory cost.
lower resolution color texture, and a high resultion monocrome texture
That's exactly how JPEG compression works (well, part of it)...but you probably already knew that.
err, actually I didn't but that's cool to know Unfortunatley though you can't compress the textures in real-time... well, you can but it would be pointless. But you probably already knew that.
That's funny, because I know well the Human Visual System (HSV) and attention (thanks to my PhD thesis).
I agree, but this type of compression would not be faster enough for real time. Besides, I do not want to see jpeg compression artefacts due to fast compression on any surfaces. And sometimes you want to see a lot of details so having a lower resolution color texture may not be the best solution. But that's very interesting...
I would like to see more applications that heavily take advantage of the HSV features. A lot of research have proven that the HSV could be exploited for exemple to accelerate the rendering process but I'm afraid that this is not very used in practice...
I forgot to say that there is a demo on my website... (for those who did not visit it)
I agree, but this type of compression would not be faster enough for real time.
Oh no that's not what I meant lol. What I meant was to have a fairly low-res color texture, but then have a full-res monocrome texture (you could use it in object-space bump mapping). Either that or you could have a full-res normal map texture. I know that that would take more memory, but normal-mapped decals are kind of necessary for current gen graphics imo.
Ok I understand. Currently, I have the surface color and heightmap textures having the same size and It would be easy to get the heightmap having half the resolution of the color map since I treat them as separate textures. This should work.
-> The decals in this demo are "normal-mapped" since they modify surfaces heightmap used by the reliefmapping algorithm and to compute normals on the fly.
I do not want to see jpeg compression artefacts due to fast compression on any surfaces.
I think most of the classic JPEG artifacts are actually due to the quantization of high frequencies, in the second stage of JPEG compression (the DCT stage). What's being proposed here is, instead of storing an RGB image, storing a YUV image with the UV at half linear resolution. That would give 50% memory savings over plain RGB, at the expense of requiring more texture lookups in the shader (since in practice, the Y and UV would have to be in separate textures) and requiring a matrix multiply to decode into RGB.
It's an interesting idea but ultimately, DXT is probably more effective...better compression ratio, and decompression is implemented in hardware.
And I agree that DXT would be a better solution
i think having the whole world completely unique texels makes for a superior world, that wastes memory. it takes too long to load. i wouldnt just be usin it for decals tho, id be making the whole world look normal mapped even if it was just textured. its something any dumbass like me understands. i wouldnt know what dxt is. just use block compression i cant notice the difference but i dont have a phd.
but how are you gonna get your editor in on compressed textures?
Hi Rouncer,
The technique proposed by Id(and other) is not only to have the whole world normal mapped. Doom3 and HL2 were entirely normal mapped to
To my knowledge, the next title of Id, Rage, has unique texture over all surfaces (albedo, gloss and normal map). And they justify this by telling that they can virtually apply an infinite number of decals. (Take a look at the video of their editor on Game Tutorial). That is to say, you can completly avoid texture repetition and add unique details on each surfaces. That is a powerfull tool for artists. And this technique has many other advantages : constant video memory usage, etc...
My demo is long to load because I do not have virtual texturing with loading via streaming from the HardDrive and real time DXT decompression : have a look at this web page http://silverspaceship.com/src/svt/ : real time and fast DXT compression on the CPU is possible The goal of my demo was to show what effects could be possible with real texture virtualization. (not only static unique texturing on surfaces)
One other extension could be to have liquid (blood, water...) flowing on surfaces based on the heightmap and the gravity. (There is one demo of nVidia about this)
I hope I gave answers to all your questions and that I have helped you to understand this technique.
I think perhaps the way they're doing this is by basicly having one enourmous texture (hence mention of mega-textures in Doom) and sections of them are loaded into the game at run-time. I heard John Carmak talking about a problem he feared where "a player would turn a corner and see nothing but a blurry mess for a few seconds". So my guess is they load them by dividing the world up into zones, pre-empting where the player is going to be, and loading the information in over the course of several seconds as not to stall the pipeline.
I noticed something similar to this in the Unreal engine. Every once in a while (like in bioshock) when you go into a new room you'll see the texutres of new surfaces start out very blurry and then they clear up.
I agree with you to some extend.
In Doom, the mega texture was not used. In Ennemy territory, the mega texture was only used for the terrain (some kind of clip map algorithm). I think, in Rage, they are going to use something like virtual texture as presented on the web page I gave because Carmack has given a tip to this guy. (I you read his presentation, he mention it). So, for me, the technology used in Rage will be virtual texture. Moreover, there is a presentation of Crytek at Siggraph 2008 which expose virtual texture and other thing. Very interesting stuff
My plan is to implement such thing when I will have time... (to busy right now because of my PhD thesis)
Anyway, I agree with you for the blurry textures; and grouping ressources by zone could have advantages.
Just to say that if you experiment a crash, you must delete the OpenGL32.dll.
The zip on my website has been updated : sebastien.hillaire.free.fr


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On that note, have a fantastic weekend!
Essays on Berets
On that note, have a fantastic weekend!
8 comments :
- Sweet Laundry said...
Bummer. It would have been cool to learn that the beret was inspired by an acorn. In any case, Matt was right, you look cute and french and that bag and trench you thrifted are gorgeous. I love this entire outfit, gold sweater and all!
- December 14, 2012 at 12:29 PM
- Leah said...
You bought the trench! looks great. Really pulls together the cute french woman look ;)
- December 14, 2012 at 2:52 PM
- Jennifer said...
xo Jennifer
- December 14, 2012 at 3:56 PM
- Chilel said...
I would have loved to read that essay. And now that you left me hanging I am off to research the link between beret and french girls in Wikipedia.
You look cute and put together as always...
- December 14, 2012 at 8:09 PM
- newpetite said...
Haha.. Thats a good analogy :)
- December 15, 2012 at 1:26 AM
- Lola said...
I needed to read this on this sad and rainy Saturday night! Thanks for making me laugh. You are the cutest French acorn ever, which is very clever of you since you are also a Swedish Canadian girl.
- December 15, 2012 at 9:54 PM
- secretivestyle.com said...
LOVE how you layered everything!!! Gorgeous!
- December 17, 2012 at 1:44 PM
- Rebecca Jane said...
Hahaha acorn - so true! But sadly historically inaccurate.
- December 19, 2012 at 10:35 PM


text:
RECIPES: Recipe Details
Calle Ocho Burger with Guava Glaze
Guava Glaze:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, finely minced
Pinch ground cumin
1 cup guava paste, chopped (available in Latin supermarkets--can substitute puree or jam)
1 cup water
1/2 cup white distilled vinegar
Crispy Smoked Ham:
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 ounces thinly sliced smoked ham (from a deli), julienned
1/4 cup canned black beans, drained
3 tablespoons sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
2 tablespoons beef broth
1 clove garlic
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds ground chuck
Vegetable oil, for brushing on the grill rack
6 bun-sized pieces Cuban bread, split (can substitute Italian bread or French bread)
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
6 ounces Manchego cheese, grated
2 cups lightly broken packaged plantain chips
6 leaves green leaf lettuce
Prepare a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill with a cover, or preheat a gas grill to medium-high.
To make Guava Glaze, heat oil in a small fireproof saucepan over medium high heat. Add onion and cook for 3 minutes. Add garlic and cumin and cook for 1 minute. Add guava paste, water, and vinegar. Reduce until thickened. Remove from heat. Reserve 1/2 of the Guava Glaze for spreading on the buns later.
To make Crispy Smoked Ham, heat oil in a large fireproof skillet over medium high heat. Add ham and cook until crisp, about 3-4 minutes. Place on paper towels to drain.
To make the patties, in the bowl of a food processor combine black beans, coconut, beef broth, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper; puree. In a large mixing bowl, combine black bean puree and beef. Handling the meat as little as possible to avoid compacting it, mix well. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions and form the portions into patties to fit the bread.
Brush the grill rack with vegetable oil. Brush the cut sides of the bread with butter. Place the patties on the rack, cover, and cook, turning once, just until done, about 4 minutes on each side for medium-rare. Every minute or two during the cooking of the burgers, brush the burgers with some of the Guava Glaze. During the last few minutes of cooking, top the burgers with equal amounts of cheese and place the bread, cut side down, on the outer edges of the rack to toast lightly.
To assemble the burgers, spread some of the reserved Guava Glaze on the cut side of the bread. On each bread bottom, place an equal amount of plantain chips, a patty, Crispy Smoked Ham, and lettuce. Add bread tops.
Makes 6 burgers.
I love living in South Florida. I moved here 40 years ago for the bright blue skies and rich blue waters. And the food!! I wanted to created a burger that features the great tropical ingredients that you find on Miami's main street, Calle Ocho. The flavors of the food are so bright and just pop in your mouth! And just like Calle Ocho, my burger is vibrant, colorful, and exciting!


text: Table Talk: Let them eat cake By Julie Robinson September 20, 2011 Story Share Kenny Kemp Candy corn cupcakes feature the candy's signature colors in orange and yellow bands of white almond sour cream cake topped with white cream cheese frosting. The Halloween themed cupcakes are an example of seasonal cupcakes coming soon to Cafe Cupcake in Capitol Market. CHARLESTON, W.Va. --When Sara Lane opens her cupcake business in Capitol Market next week, she'll fill the bakery case with elaborate cupcakes and cake pops she learned to make from master chefs Duff Goldman and Buddy Valastro. Cafe Cupcake will be open Friday through Sunday.A self-taught baker, Lane acquired her knowledge from frequent viewings of "Ace of Cakes" and "Cake Boss" while she cared for her small children at home. She's only been in the cake-making business for about two years, but her creations rival those featured on the television shows."I was watching those shows and thought I could do that," she said. "I TVRed them, then slowed them down to catch all the details. I recorded all the baking episodes on Food Network." She scrutinized the background of the sets to see what products the professionals used and ordered them for herself.She credits her baking techniques to Rose Levy Beranbaum's "Cake Bible." Beranbaum wrote a dissertation on baking and emphasizes the science of baking and the importance of exact measurement and precisely executed techniques.The first cakes she made were cupcakes for family and friends. She quickly progressed to carved and 3-D cakes like a four-tiered Arabian-style cake she recently made to order for a special event. The teal-colored icing was trimmed with gold stencil to resembled damask and raspberry-colored flowers out of sugar and marshmallow.Lane applies skills she learned in the sculpting, painting and graphics classes she took in college as she decorates cakes in the shapes of diaper bag with baby shoes and teddy bears, a frilly shopping bag with high heeled shoe, and three-tiered cake featuring the character Andy from "Toy Story," all with edible accessories and trims.She makes two to four specialty carved cakes a week from her Cross Lanes home, where she juggles cake-making and decorating with the demands of two toddlers, Patrick, 3, and Alexander, 1. Her 14-year-old daughter Morgan helps with some decorating. "She's a perfectionist, which is great," Lane said.When Cafe Cupcake opens, Lane plans to slow down her custom cake business while she establishes herself in her first retail operation. The cupcake business should prove more time-efficient as she streamlines production into three to four varieties she'll offer daily, instead of creating new designs for each custom cake.Chocolate chip cookie dough-filled cupcakes, her signature item, will definitely be in the bakery case, as will three or four other flavors that she'll rotate. Most will be baked in Lane's signature brown cupcake liners. Initial flavors in the rotation will probably include:* Southern Red Velvet, buttermilk red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and chocolate or cream cheese filling.* Birthday Surprise, vanilla or chocolate cake with confetti sprinkles.* Ding Dong, chocolate cake with white cream filling dipped in ganache and with little white squiggles piped on top.* Hot Fudge Sundae, hot fudge cake with a scoop of vanilla bean frosting, topped with ribbons of fudge ganache sauce and topped with chopped nuts with cherry.* Tiffany, mint chocolate chip cake decorated with Tiffany blue-tinted mint butter cream and a little white bow.* Cookies & Cream, vanilla or chocolate chip cake, cookies and cream filling and frosting with crushed Oreo cookies on top. * Truffles, devil's food cake with ganache inside and on top.* Apple Strudel, vanilla cake with apple pie filling, butter cream frosting and streusel topping.Her initial cake pops, basically cake balls on lollipop sticks, will start as Oreo truffle flavored and decorated in seasonal colors. She'll also have red velvet, chocolate, vanilla and nutter butter. "We can make cake pops in basically any flavor we offer," she said.In addition to the classic flavor combinations she finds on-line and in the "Cake Bible," Lane experiments with flavors."I like to do modern combinations not used before," she said. She recently made Italian ice lemon tiramisu cupcake that is filled with mascarpone and whipped cream, brushed with lemon ice syrup and topped with whipped cream and mascarpone filling. She sprinkles crushed ladyfingers or lemon zest on top. "It has a fresh, clean lemon taste. It's a lot of flavor," she said. "I've probably tried hundreds of flavor combinations."Lane will replenish the bakery case daily, with about 14 dozen freshly baked cupcakes and cake pops."I'll bake early in the morning, before the kids wake up," she said. "That gives me the rest of the time to spend with my family. I think this business will fit well with my life."Baking at 4 or 5 a.m. is normal for bakers who supply fresh goods to stores that open mid-morning. The cupcake counter will be open Friday through Sunday during market hours. Lane will trade her whisk for a skillet when the cupcakes are frosted and decorated and her children clamor for breakfast. An employee will staff the bakery counter.Cupcakes cost $3 to $3.50 each, $15 to $18 for a six-pack and $30 to $35 for a dozen. For Halloween, she'll decorate cupcakes with fondant shaped and colored like candy corn and plans seasonal treats for Thanksgiving and Christmas.Cafe Cupcakes, 304-415-2520, email email@example.com or visit Café Cupcakes or Custom Cakes LLC on Facebook. Reach Julie Robinson at email@example.com or 304-348-1230. Sour Cream White Cake(used in the candy corn cupcakes)3 egg whites1 cup sour cream, whipped1 1/2 cup sugar2 cup cake flour, sifted1/4 teaspoon baking soda2 teaspoon baking powder1/8 teaspoon salt1/2 cup cold water1 teaspoon pure vanilla1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)BEAT egg whites until stiff. Add vanilla. Fold sour cream into egg whites.SIFT flour and all dry ingredients; add alternately with cold water to the egg and sour cream mixture. DIVIDE batter in two bowls and tint one yellow and the other orange with food coloring, gels or paste. Line cupcake pans with cupcake liners. STARTING with the yellow batter, fill cupcake paper 1/3 of the way. Next, add a 1/3 of the orange batter. Batter should fill the cupcake liners no more than 2/3 of the way.BAKE in a 350-degree oven until the top springs back. Allow to cool in cupcake pan for 3 minutes, remove and allow to cool completely on a vented rack. FROST with cream cheese frosting.Cream Cheese Frosting 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract6 ounces cream cheese, room temperatureCREAM butter and cream cheese in a mixer until light and fluffy; add vanilla. Slowly add confectioners' sugar until incorporated. Mix well. Refrigerate any leftovers with cream cheese frosting.TOP with candy corn, or set out a cupcake topping bar and let the kids decorate them with their choice of sprinkles and decorations.Tip: Fill a freezer bag with frosting. Snip of the end and it makes a disposable pastry bag. Clean up is easier. Story Share Story Share Trending Now 1 Facebook founder visits Charleston restaurant 2 Innerviews: Dual-identity surgeon riding high in horse racing world 3 Safety shutoff disabled prior to June coal-mining death, report says 4 Gazette editorial: Capito has second chance to do the right thing 5 WVU seeking improvements during off week Food Notes, Sept. 21, 2011 Previous Story Travel notes: Sept. 25 to Oct. 1 Next Story


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1. After confirmation of your order by PayPal your order goes into a "pending" status.
2. We will send the ordered template to your account e-mail address as an attachment file. Then your order goes into a "delivered" status.
3. The time between the confirmation of the order and delivery to your e-mail may take up to few hours hours.


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Gutierrez still in time share in center field
SEATTLE -- Mariners center fielder Franklin Gutierrez played in all seven of the team's games on its season-opening road trip, but in two of those he came off the bench for one at-bat and to play defense in the later innings.
Gutierrez is off to a good start, hitting .304 with two home runs and six RBIs going into Monday's home opener, but manager Eric Wedge said he's still not ready to commit to starting the 30-year-old every day due to his history of health issues.
Gutierrez played just 40 games last season and 92 in 2011. When will he get the full go this season?
"I can't give you a straight definition with it, but it's watching him play and having conversations," said Wedge. "I do feel like he's moving around better and getting better. I think we're on a good path right now.
"I don't want to get complacent with it. I want to make sure we take care of him. It's evident we're a better ballclub when he's in the lineup. But as you guys have seen, he hasn't done a whole lot of that in the last 2 1/2 years. So we want to be smart with it."
Gutierrez was in the lineup on Monday, batting second behind Michael Saunders. That's the top of the order Wedge will go with against right-handed starters, with the two flip-flopping against lefties.
But Wedge will also work Jason Bay and Raul Ibanez into the lineup at times to keep them sharp and to keep Gutierrez fresh.
"We have other players we feel can help us win ballgames," said Wedge. "So we'll keep moving forward with it and when it's time to push it a little more, that's what we'll do."
Greg Johns is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregJohnsMLB as well as his Mariners Musings blog. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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How to Plan a Last-Minute Vacation
Everyone's had their vacation planned for months ... everyone but you, that is. Fortunately, you can still have your adventure in paradise, if you're willing to put in just a little time and effort.
Take the road less traveled
The first step in planning a last-minute getaway is finding a great spot to vacation. When time is short, flexibility is key. Here are some tips.
- Consider "off-peak" destinations. For example, summer may be a good time to visit major U.S. cities that typically host conventions during the fall, or a resort town that is popular with tourists during the winter. Hotels want to fill empty rooms and may offer extra perks, lower rates, or package deals. During the off-season, it may also be easier to get a restaurant reservation and avoid long lines at attractions.
- If you're flying, search for flights at more than one airport. If you're willing to depart from any airport near you or arrive at any airport relatively close to your destination, you'll have more options and a better chance of snagging a lower-cost flight. Also consider flying during off-peak hours or taking nondirect flights.
- Check hotel websites. Many list their rate calendars on their reservations page so you can see for yourself when rooms are available (and at what price). Even top hotels occasionally have empty rooms in-season for a night or two or have last minute cancellations--it doesn't hurt to call.
- Shop around. There's a lot more available than you think, and last-minute deals on airfares, rental cars, cruises, and hotel rooms exist. Once you've decided where to go, experiment with different travel dates (if you have some flexibility) to find the best deals.
Ask the experts
Getting advice is invaluable, and who better to ask than people who have been where you're going?
- Visit travel websites and forums where you can view ratings for attractions, hotel and restaurant reviews, and even suggested itineraries posted by local residents and tourists. You can also purchase or download travel guides.
- Consider working with a travel agent who has access to last-minute package deals or special airfares, and in-depth knowledge of vacation spots.
- Once you arrive at your destination, ask questions. Most major vacation destinations have a visitor's bureau staffed with knowledgeable people just waiting to give you free advice, maps, and even help finding accommodations (sometimes at special discounts). Front-desk staff or hotel concierges are also able to recommend restaurants and sight-seeing options.
Sweat the small stuff
Saving time is a top priority when planning a last-minute vacation--here are a few suggestions that can help you get on the road quickly.
- Make a packing list, and pack most of your items ahead of time. Make sure you have address tags on your luggage before you get to the airport.
- Pick a spot to keep essential (but easy to forget) items such as your wallet or purse, keys, airline tickets, passports, cell phone (and charger), and prescription drugs so that they will be in one place in case you're in a hurry the day you depart.
- If you're flying, confirm your reservations, and if possible, select your seats and complete the check-in process from home. If you're driving to the airport, make sure your gas tank is full so you won't need to stop on the way.
Enjoy the ride
Remember, a vacation is about relaxation--not perfection. The little planning you've had time for will help smooth the way, but inevitably there will be bumps in the road. Take them in stride, and you'll be well on your way to an enjoyable last-minute vacation.


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OFFICIALS FOR THE Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit commuter train announced a milestone last month: Half of the new track for the train's first segment has already been put down on terra firma.
That might come as a surprise to Marin County residents who have seen little work so far in Marin, where voters helped fund the train by approving a quarter-cent sales tax in 2008. Though some 17 miles of track has been laid in Sonoma County, beyond removal of some old rail near the Civic Center in San Rafael there has been little train work in Marin.
SMART officials say that soon will change as Marin activity picks up over the coming year.
"We started in Sonoma first because it was easier," said Marin Supervisor Judy Arnold, SMART's board chairwoman. "It's a little more difficult in Marin because we have some permits to get, but the project is on schedule. We haven't seen much work in Marin, but we are going to start to see it soon."
SMART is still awaiting state and federal construction permits, expected to be granted for the Marin segment by late summer. Some work will start in the fall, with work increasing by the spring.
Exactly what work will occur in Marin depends on what permits are granted first, said Farhad Mansourian, SMART's general manager.
"There were fewer permit requirements in Sonoma," Mansourian said. "Some of the work in Marin is near habitat and much more technical."
Marin stops eventually will include downtown San Rafael, the Marin Civic Center and stations in Novato at Hamilton and Atherton Avenue. The first phase is pegged at $360 million. The line will extend to Larkspur as part of a second phase if money can be found.
Some of the initial work in Marin is likely to include replacing several railroad crossings. Crossing upgrade work includes replacement of the existing old wood crossings with smooth concrete panels and new track where it crosses the roadway. The new crossings will eliminate the bumpy surface and are safer to navigate for bicycles, wheelchairs and cars.
"People don't expect a train to come through, so these crossings will start the process," Arnold said. "We have a schedule to stick to and taxpayer project to follow through on."
Trains will roll by 2016, if not earlier, Arnold said.
Assembly of the first prototype train has begun in Japan and will be available for inspection by August. Once testing is completed in Japan, trains will be assembled in Rochelle, Ill. at the Nippon Sharyo USA Passenger Railcar Factory. In 2010, the Sumitomo Corp. bid $82.7 million to deliver nine, three-car trains to the system.
A Sonoma County official is pleased with the work that has been done so far. SMART contractor Stacy Witbeck/Herzog has put down the 17 miles of mainline track between Guerneville Road in Santa Rosa and D Street in Petaluma.
"We are halfway through the initial operating segment," said David Rabbitt, a SMART board member and member of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.
"There are seven station platform walls and most of the road crossings are done," he noted. "In Sonoma County there is a lot of activity, and in Marin County it is just beginning."
In Sonoma, station platform work has been finished at the Petaluma, Cotati, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa and Guerneville Road stops.
"It's kind of exciting to see it coming along," said Jim Eddie, a former Mendocino County supervisor who represents the Golden Gate Bridge board on SMART.
He has tracked the rail issue for almost two decades as a member of the bridge board. It was the bridge district's handing over of its railroad right-of-way to SMART that made the project possible.
"All those years of nothing and all of a sudden things are starting to show," he said. "The rails look great."
Contact Mark Prado via email at email@example.com


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Discover nature at Atlanta Conservation Area open house
Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:50:26 GMT —
Missouri Department of Conservation
Outdoor enthusiasts and kids of all ages are invited to discover nature and explore the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Atlanta Conservation Area (CA) during an open house from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sept. 14. All events are free and no registration is required.
Activities during the open house include trap shooting and an archery station with basic instruction. There will be hour-long, tractor-pulled wagon tours of the area at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. These tours will include a discussion of management practices and habitat at Atlanta CA and hopefully, viewing of some of the wildlife on the area. Plus, participants can enjoy a hike along miles of available roads and access areas.
There is also an unstaffed shooting range available on Atlanta CA that people can use to sight their own guns in preparation for the upcoming fall hunting season.
â??There are abundant opportunities available to enjoy and connect with nature at Atlanta CA,â?? said MDC Wildlife Management Biologist Chad Smith. â??This open house provides an opportunity for people both familiar and unfamiliar with the area to come out, meet the MDC personnel that manage it and see all that it has to offer.â??
Atlanta CA contains forest, old fields, cropland, grassland and fishable ponds. MDC manages the resources of this 4,809-acre area to provide public recreation and to protect soil and water quality. Management practices include farming, timber harvest and prescribed fire.
â??We have miles of trails and roads that meander throughout the area that are great for hiking and wildlife viewing year round,â?? said Smith. â??Additionally, we have a good population of turkey and deer that affords excellent hunting opportunities. This is a perfect outing for anyone looking to learn more about the Atlanta CA and all that it has to offer recreationally.â??
For more information about this event, please contact Smith at 660-385-4920.
Missouri Department of Conservation
The Atlanta CA is located five miles north of Macon on Highway 63, and two miles west on Route AX, then 2.5 miles north on Jupiter Avenue.


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Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies (October Cookie Carnival)
This month's Cookie Carnival recipe is for pumpkin whoopie pies. When I saw the email, I thought they'd be Pumpkin with a cream cheese filling. I've seen quite a few recipes floating around for those. But these are chocolate cookies with pumpkin filling. That way they're black and orange for Halloween 🙂 The recipe is from Martha and you can even watch her make them with Cookie Monster here.
I've never made whoopie pies before so this was fun for me. The chocolate cookie batter is very chocolatey and delicious 🙂 The filling is also great. It only uses 1/4 cup of pumpkin, so it looks like I'm going to be making something else pumpkin-ey soon. I'm looking forward to that! Next time I'll definitely make a double batch of the filling. I thought the cookie somewhat overwhelmed the pumpkin filling. But overall, these were great and I'll definitely be making these again. Probably very soon.
Mini Pumpkin Whoopie pies – from Martha Stewart – makes ~20
For the Cookies1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup whole milk – I used soymilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the Filling4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup canned solid pack pumpkin
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
Prepare cookies: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.
Place butter, shortening, and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add egg; mix until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in half the flour mixture, then the milk and vanilla. Mix in remaining flour mixture.
Drop about 2 teaspoons dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies spring back when lightly touched, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks and let cool 10 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheets and transfer to wire racks using a spatula; let cool completely.
Prepare filling: In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together cream cheese, butter and confectioners' sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg; whip until smooth, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
Pipe or spoon about 2 teaspoons filling on the flat sides of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, keeping the flat sides down.
7 Responses to "Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies (October Cookie Carnival)"
They were "Halloween-y"! Great job!
Looks cute and yummy !!
aw i love how little they look. mine came out much bigger than i expected.
I agree. They are not very "mini"
Yours came out wicked cute. I had a ton of pumpkin leftover too… especially since all they had at Stop & Shop was humongous cans of pumpkin.
They turned out super cute!
They look perfect!


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General Education
The General
Education program is the nucleus of the undergraduate curriculum at
A technologically complex society requires its members to be sophisticated in gaining access to and evaluating information. General Education allows students to develop these competencies as well as other skills essential to further study: those of clear, critical thinking and effective communication. In addition, General Education offers students knowledge of their physical and human environments and the legacies of their predecessors in civilization, as well as exposure to the rich diversity of the human experience.
Specifically, students completing the General Education program will have:
- achieved the ability to think clearly and logically, to find information from a variety of sources and examine it critically, to communicate effectively orally and in writing, and to reason quantitatively and qualitatively;
- acquired appreciable knowledge about their own bodies and minds, about how human society has developed and how it now functions, about the physical world in which they live, about the other forms of life with which they share that world, and about the cultural endeavors and legacies of their civilizations;
- come to an understanding and appreciation of the principles, methodologies, value systems, and thought processes employed in human inquiries.
The guiding assumption underlying Dominguez Hills General Education offerings is that they are courses for non-specialists, presenting subject matter related to the wider context of knowledge and stimulating interest in lifelong learning. Ordinarily, such courses are different from introductory lower division courses for a major, and at the upper division level are not courses used in a major. General Education courses present breadth, deal with representative concepts, and provide for some integration of these concepts with further study. Taken with the major, the minor and/or electives, General Education courses will assure that graduates have made noteworthy progress toward becoming truly educated persons.
The General Education Program, which is divided into three components, requires 55-62 semester units: (A) 12-14 units of Basic Skills; (B-E) 34-36 units of lower division General Education divided among Natural Sciences and Quantitative Reasoning (10-12 units), Humanities (nine units), Social Sciences (12 units), and The Whole Person (three units), and (F) nine units of upper division Integrative Studies. In addition, students must take a course that emphasizes cultural pluralism (0-3), but which may also satisfy General Education or other graduation requirements. Finally, students must complete at least nine semester units in General Education at CSU Dominguez Hills.
Lower division General Education courses may be "double counted" in either the major or the minor. Upper division General Education courses may be double-counted in the following majors only: Liberal Studies, Clinical Sciences, Interdisciplinary Studies, and the Nursing program (majors in these programs should consult their faculty advisor for details).
Upper division General Education courses may be double-counted in the minor if: (a) at least 12 semester units are taken in the minor exclusive of General Education courses and (b) General Education courses used in the minor have the approval of the chair/coordinator responsible for the minor. Even though students may double-count certain General Education courses, they will not receive additional unit credit towards graduation by double-counting; for example, a double- counted course counts three units not six towards graduation.
Honors Program
An Honors Program for new and continuing students began in fall 1983 with specially-designated sections of General Education courses. This program provides Honors Students with opportunities for special study, advisement and enrichment programs throughout their undergraduate careers. For further information, contact the coordinator of the Honors Program.
A. Basic Skills
Basic Skills are those skills that can be obtained through coursework in the following areas: composition, quantitative reasoning, logic/critical reasoning, oral communications, and library skills. The Basic Skills component of General Education is designed to help students: read with critical perception materials written for the nonspecialist; express ideas easily and effectively; handle quantitative data and concepts at the level necessary for the nonspecialist; think coherently and logically about problems facing human beings; and use source material easily, effectively and honestly. Since the acquisition of Basic Skills is essential to a successful baccalaureate experience, students are strongly urged to complete the courses as early as possible in their baccalaureate programs.
A1. Objectives for Basic Skills in Composition
Students who complete the Basic Skills requirement in Composition should be able:
1. to compose sentences and to use diction appropriate to the purpose, occasion and audience of a composition;
2. to use paragraphs effectively either as unified and coherent units of thought in exposition, or as segments of an unfolding piece of narration/description;
3. to order the parts of a composition to achieve an objective;
4. to formulate and develop a controlling idea for each full composition written (the term "idea" is here taken in its generic sense to include the notion of an image or a sensation, as, for instance, in a paper that seeks to organize details to project a significant impression);
5. to write a two- or three-page paper that is virtually free from serious errors in usage and mechanics;
6. to recognize appropriate sources, to use them correctly and to follow scholarly conventions of documentation;
7. to write effective expository prose using organizational frameworks such as definition, enumeration, classification, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, and analysis; and
8. to write a short paper that assembles, integrates, organizes, documents and presents evidence in support of a thesis.
Students are exempted from Basic Skills courses in English Composition by a suitable score on the Advanced Placement Test, the English Equivalency Examination, or a composition challenge examination.
A2. Objectives for Basic Skills in Logic/Critical Reasoning
Students who complete the Basic Skills requirement in Logic Critical Reasoning should be able to:
1. understand the idea of a valid argument and the technique of formal argumentation;
2. present and support an argument;
3. understand what constitutes evidence and to derive a conclusion from a given set of facts;
4. recognize the differences between assumptions, inferences, conclusions, facts and opinions;
5. analyze and evaluate arguments; and
6. apply the skills of critical reasoning to everyday life as well as to the university experience.
Students are exempted from the Basic Skills course in Logic/Critical Reasoning by a suitable score on a challenge examination.
A3. Objectives for Basic Skills in Oral Communication
Students who complete the Basic Skills requirement in Oral Communication should be able to:
1. discuss the elements of oral communication, including basic rhetorical strategies in speech;
2. give lucid, logical and persuasive speeches in a variety of contexts;
3. display self-confidence in interpersonal and group communication;
4. utilize effective delivery techniques; and
5. listen to and analyze the effectiveness of other speakers.
Students are exempted from the Basic Skills course in Oral Communication by a suitable score on a challenge examination.
A4. Objectives for Basic Library Skills (optional)
Students who complete the Basic Skills requirement in Library Skills should be able to:
1. demonstrate familiarity with the existence and types of library services and major resource areas, e.g. Reference Collection, Government Documents;
2. use the catalog effectively and locate materials identified through the catalog;
3. use several basic periodical indexes and locate materials identified through these indexes;
4. formulate (and refine as necessary) a topic and thesis sentence suitable for a library research paper of 10 to 20 pages;
5. indicate the need for evaluation of sources' suitability and relevance for the stated topic of research and to be aware of the major criteria for making such an assessment;
6. plan and implement a search strategy for efficiently integrating and utilizing pertinent bibliographies, indexes, etc., on a topic of the student's choosing;
7. demonstrate awareness of the vast variety of other information sources and of other libraries' existence and potential usefulness;
8. cite monographs and periodical articles in correct bibliographical format for footnotes and references according to any one of the commonly accepted style manuals; and
9. demonstrate an understanding of the difference between the ethical use of source material and plagiarism.
NOTE: In Area A, all courses must be passed with a grade of "C" or higher. In all other areas of General Education, a grade point average of 2.0, calculated at graduation, is required.
Lower Division General Education
Building on the Basic Skills competencies, the second component of the General Education program, lower division General Education, consists of ten semester units in the area of the Natural Sciences, nine semester units in the area of the Humanities, twelve semester units in the area of the Social Sciences, and three semester units in The Whole Person. This component has three major purposes: the first is to introduce students to the facts, principles and intellectual skills required of educated individuals in order that they may function more effectively as human beings in society; the second is to acquaint students with the nature, scope and practical applications of the major fields of knowledge; and the third is to encourage students to relate their study in the academy to the world of work and leisure.
B. Objectives for the Area of the Natural Sciences and Quantitative Reasoning
The overall
objective of the Natural Science General Education courses is to
provide students with an opportunity to achieve basic scientific
literacy. A scientifically literate person is acquainted with the
scientific method and understands the nature of the modeling process
and the importance of hypothesis and experiment in the advance of
science. Such a person has an appreciation and general understanding
of a significant part of the body of fundamental knowledge
accumulated by the natural sciences and from that understanding has
developed some ability to reason deductively.
In addition, scientific literacy confers an ability to follow new developments in the natural sciences and the ability to think in
an informed manner about social and political issues that involve science and technology. Scientific literacy can be divided into two major components: (1) an awareness of the nature and methodology of the natural sciences; and (2) an awareness of the important results of scientific inquiry.
The acquisition of scientific literacy is best encouraged by instruction from both methodological and topical perspectives. Therefore, the natural science objectives are divided into two parts corresponding to these two components. The Part 1 Objectives are satisfied by a single course that deals with ideas that have been chosen to emphasize the nature of scientific concepts and the methods of the natural sciences. The Part 2 Objectives are satisfied by two courses, selected in such a way as to provide balance among the major subdivisions of the natural sciences.
Courses that fulfill the objectives below can and should provide students with a coordinated and balanced development of their scientific literacy. However, each student can do much to optimize this development. For this reason, it is strongly recommended that, when possible, students complete the basic skills requirement in Quantitative Reasoning before attempting general education courses in the natural sciences.
It also is suggested that the courses in the natural sciences be taken in the same order as the objectives below:
B1. Objectives for Physical Science
Students will learn the methods of the natural sciences as these methods are seen and used by working scientists. In addition, they will explore the characteristic attributes of fundamental scientific concepts from the perspective of the natural sciences. Finally, they will learn the structure and results of a fundamental, comprehensive physical science, which is principally analytic, quantitative and deductive.
Students who complete the Natural Science in Physical Science requirement should be able to:
1. demonstrate an understanding of the scientific assumption that nature has an objective existence that is intelligible;
2. distinguish between a scientific hypothesis and the idea of pseudoscience;
3. describe the systematic observation of nature and the detection of similar patterns in observed phenomena;
4. describe the importance of limitation of scope in the production of useful concepts and the related limits to the applicability and usefulness of scientific models and concepts;
5. describe the formulation of hypotheses and models to explain these patterns and the use of these models and hypotheses to make testable predictions;
6. discuss the roles of quantitative and of formal manipulation of models and relationships in generating predictions;
7. discuss the design and execution of tests of hypotheses and the subsequent rejection, modification, or refinement of the hypotheses; and
8. describe the relationship between scientific ideas and their technological applications.
B2. Objectives for Natural Sciences in Life Science
Students who complete the Natural Science in Life Science requirement should be able to:
1. describe a representative selection of fundamental concepts and principles of the life sciences;
2. cite various phenomena in a variety of contexts that illustrate the applicability of specific principles of the life sciences;
3. describe some of the major applications of the principles of the life sciences;
4. describe some of the major effects that the life sciences and related technologies have had on societies.
B3. Objectives for Natural Sciences
in Science Laboratory
Students who complete the Natural Science in Science Laboratory requirement should be able to:
1. discuss application of a representative selection of fundamental concepts and principles of a science;
2. apply the scientific method in a laboratory situation; and
3. cite various phenomena that illustrate the applicability of specific principles of a science.
B4. Objectives for Basic Skills in Quantitative Reasoning
Students who complete the Basic Skills requirement in Quantitative Reasoning should be able to read and understand mathematical arguments and data, and use mathematics effectively to analyze and solve problems that arise in ordinary and professional life. In particular, students should:
1. understand and apply ideas and techniques of finite mathematics such as consumer mathematics probability, statistical analysis, hypothesis testing, linear programming, OR
2. understand and apply the ideas and techniques of college algebra, trigonometry, logarithms and exponentials, and elementary functions, OR
3. understand and apply ideas and techniques of calculus.
Students are exempted from the Basic Skills course in Quantitative Reasoning if they receive a suitable score on a challenge examination or if they successfully complete a course requiring more advanced mathematical ability.
C. Objectives for the Area of the Humanities
The humanities celebrate those distinctly human qualities which distinguish us from other creatures and unite all peoples across space and time: the ability to express ideas and feelings in language, the capacity for ethical thought, the ability to enjoy beauty for its own sake, and the desire to give shape and meaning to our own existence. By showing us different ways of expressing the meaning of human experience and different interpretations of those expressions, the humanities teach us to celebrate variety and diversity. The humanist is concerned with examining the records left by humankind, whether paintings, sonatas, philosophic dialogues, or poems, and with understanding them in their historical and artistic contexts.
Studying the humanities provides training as well as knowledge, sharpening the critical eye (and ear), expanding the vocabulary and enlarging the frame of reference as well as the appreciation of the human imagination.
General Education courses in the humanities meet one or more of the following goals for students:
1. Cultural knowledge - Students will become acquainted with significant works of art, literature, music and philosophy from a range of cultures.
2. Historical knowledge - Students will understand the development over time of their own and other cultures.
3. Aesthetic training - Students will, through direct experience of works of music, art, and literature, learn the bases on which such works are studied, and the critical canons applied to them, extending their understanding beyond personal opinion to critical evaluation.
4. Opportunities for creativity - Students will create musical, artistic, or literary works, with the opportunity to have their work evaluated by peers and/or a faculty member applying appropriate critical criteria.
6. Synthesis - Students will develop an understanding of the relationships among various forms of human expression both within an era and culture and across these boundaries.
The nine semester unit package of courses listed under program requirements has been designed so that students completing these courses will meet the above six objectives. At the same time the package offers the student an opportunity for some individual choice in course selection.
D. Objectives for the Area of the Social Sciences
The General Education courses offered in the area of the social sciences are designed to help students better understand themselves and the world around them. These course offerings respond to the recognition that in an increasingly complex, interdependent and changing world, individuals must learn how to cope with ever pressing social problems and to manage and improve conditions, institutions and events that affect them.
The social and behavioral sciences constitute a set of disciplines that, though they overlap, are distinct. Each discipline has an independent history, traditional themes and sophisticated theories, methodologies and applications regarding the phenomena of society and behavior. While social and behavioral scientists do not always agree upon a single analytical paradigm, they do share common values regarding the potential usefulness of their disciplines in understanding human behavior and recognizing the interrelationships among their studies.
The fundamental
concerns of the General Education Program in
the social and behavioral sciences are to introduce students to the primary structural levels of analysis used in the disciplines and to demonstrate the significance of historical backgrounds to contemporary behavior. A selection of courses from the categories will provide students with the understanding of individuals, groups and societies, and global and historical interrelationships. Each course
is designed to acquaint students with basic concepts and analytical methods and will demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of all the social and behavioral sciences.
D1. Category 1 Objectives: Individual Perspectives, Groups and Society
On completing a course in this category a student should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the:
1. basic concepts and methods necessary for studying the personal functioning and social behavior of individuals.
2. influence of psychological and social processes on the development of the perception of self and others.
3. nature of cognition and language and their relationship to critical aspects of social and personal development.
4. social and psychological variations in individual behavior.
5. conceptual and methodological frameworks necessary for studying groupings in a society.
6. interrelationships between various institutions and group dynamics within a society, and their role in generating and resolving social issues.
7. cultural and group diversity and applications of the concept of cultural relativity.
D2. Category 2 Objectives: Global and Historical Perspectives
On completing a course in this category a student should be able to demonstrate an:
1. awareness of and knowledge about the international system and world environment.
2. understanding of the global interdependencies among people, outlooks, institutions and attributes.
3. appreciation of the role of the individual as an international observer, analyst and participant.
4. ability to analyze historical change and cultural process.
5. understanding that current issues and conditions are shaped by their past historical and cultural development.
6. understanding of the complexity of evolutionary and historical processes and of the limits on and potential for social change.
7. understanding of how sciences which deal with the human past formulate and test hypotheses to understand change and how they evaluate sources, whether human fossils, artifacts or written documents.
D3. Category 3 Objectives:
On completing the course in this category a student should be able
to demonstrate a knowledge of American
History, including the study of ideals, creeds, institutions and
behaviors of the peoples of the
D4. Category 4 Objectives:
On completing the course in this category a student should be able
to demonstrate knowledge of the Constitution of the
As a result of
having taken courses in these categories, a student should be
familiar with the basic units and levels of analysis that organize
much of the thought and work of social and behavioral scientists and
facilitate interdisciplinary communication and cooperation. The
student should be better prepared to interpret and
interrelate human behavior and events
taking place locally
and globally, and on the basis of this preparedness, to make better informed decisions about the future of humankind.
E. Objectives for Lifelong Learning and Self-Development
This area is designed to equip human beings for a lifelong understanding and development of themselves as integrated physiological, social and psychological entities (Title V). Students who complete the Lifelong Learning and Self-Development requirement should be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of oneself as an integrated physiological, social and psychological organism; and
2. Discuss key relationships of humankind to the social and physical environment, including matters selected from the following: human behavior, sexuality, nutrition, physical and mental health, stress management, financial literacy, social relationships and relationships with the environment, implications of death and dying and avenues for lifelong learning, including those based on modern technology.
F. Upper Division Integrative Studies
The third component
of the General Education Program consists
of nine semester units of upper division integrative coursework. General Education is a process rather than a discrete segment of undergraduate education and, as such, is not limited to the freshman and sophomore years. All too often it is assumed that liberal education is to be achieved in the first two years of the baccalaureate, with the last two years focusing solely on specialized study, whether it be in a basic or an applied field. To establish General Education as an ongoing process, students who enter this University as transfer students complete an upper division General Education package. Upper division integrative coursework, which is the capstone and completion of the General Education Program, must be taken after 60 semester units and the lower division components of General Education (or their equivalent) have been completed.
F1. Objectives for Integrative Studies in the Humanities
The lower division General Education courses in the humanities are designed to acquaint students with the cultural and historical background as well as the critical and perceptual training that will help them develop aesthetic sensibility, rational and intuitive thought, and creative imagination. Upper division General Education courses in the humanities build on that base, developing integrated humanistic and ordered world-views.
Students who complete the requirement for Integrative Studies in the Humanities should be able to:
1. discuss the relationships among the various disciplines that comprise the humanities;
2. place these relationships within an historical context;
3. relate the humanities to modern life; and
4. demonstrate the use of imagination and synthesis through aesthetic and intellectual activities.
F2. Objectives for Integrative Studies in the Natural Sciences
Courses in Integrative Studies in the Natural Sciences are interdisciplinary courses that build upon the knowledge students have acquired by completing their lower division coursework in the natural sciences. While these courses will include content from disciplines outside the natural sciences, their primary focus is on integration of knowledge within the natural sciences.
Students who complete the requirement for Integrative Studies in the Natural Sciences should be able to:
1. discuss the relationship of science to humanity through inquiry into: the origin of scientific discovery, the implications and consequences of scientific and technological development, and the impact of natural processes on the works of people;
2. describe some of the major effects that science and related technologies have had on societies; and
3. discuss the interdisciplinary approaches to methods, processes, terminology and major concepts of science.
F3. Objectives for Integrative Studies in the Social Sciences
The categories of upper division courses in the social sciences represent integrative themes and contemporary research applications. Focusing on specific topics, students will explore the conceptual and methodological links among the social sciences or subfields of a discipline. Courses will stress contemporary research, interpretations, issues and trends. Specific objectives of the categories are as follows:
1. Courses in individual processes focus on the interaction among factors that shape the individual.
2. Courses in social issues focus on contemporary social, political or economic concerns and problems using a variety of perspectives in the social sciences.
3. Courses in global trends focus on social, political, environmental and economic processes seen from a global perspective.
4. Courses in social change focus on major processes of continuity and development and on the origination and impact of new ideas, social structures and technologies.
5. Courses in cultural pluralism focus on the nature of cultural diversity and the processes of cultural interaction, interethnic relations and cultural integration on community, national and international scales.
F4. Objectives for Integrative Studies
Courses in Integrative Studies are designed to utilize and build upon knowledge students have acquired in the breadth of their lower division General Education courses. Integrative Studies courses wed methodology and research from distinctly different areas in order to develop gestalts, integrated knowledge and appreciation of our complex cultural, social and natural environment. An Integrative Studies course will integrate Humanities and the Natural Sciences, Humanities and the Social Sciences, or Natural Sciences and the Social Sciences so that each area is represented in a significant manner. Area F4 courses will be cross-listed under each represented area.
Students who complete the requirement for Integrative Studies should be able to:
1. Access and evaluate information from each of the two disciplines (Humanities, Natural Sciences and/or Social Sciences).
2. Employ area specific methodologies from each of the two areas to analyze data and information.
3. Integrate information from each of the two areas into a larger understanding of our complex environment.
G. Objectives for Integrative Studies in Cultural Pluralism
Cultural pluralism
involves the interaction within a given society of people with
different ways of living and thinking. It is the historical result
of the amalgamation of various behaviors, beliefs, technologies and
expressive forms. Typically, a pluralistic society includes several
distinct social or cultural groups that are interdependent within a
common social, economic or political system yet maintain a degree of
autonomy in other spheres of life, such as family, recreation,
intellectual pursuits and religion. In
Students who complete the requirement for Integrative Studies in the Cultural Pluralism should be able to:
1. describe their understanding of the concept of culture as variously defined and applied;
2. discuss the processes of cultural and ethnic development on a national and international scale;
3. compare and contrast the factors influencing the structure and content of culturally pluralistic and inter-ethnic relationships; and
4. demonstrate the ability to acquire and communicate an understanding of diverse ways of life.
Program Requirements (55-62 units)
General Education Residence Requirement: The California State University System requires all students to complete 9 semester units in general education at the campus from which they graduate. Following is the list of courses that are offered in the General Education program. These courses fulfill the objectives stated in the program description. For complete course descriptions, refer to those sections of the University Catalog that describe the programs offering the courses. All Area A courses and the Quantitative Reasoning requirement in Area B must be passed with a grade of "C" or higher. A grade point average of 2.0 calculated at graduation, is required for the entire General Education Pattern.
A. Basic
Skills (12-14 units) Area A,
Basic Skills
courses must be passed with a grade of "C" or higher.
1. Composition (6 units)
ENG 110. Freshman Composition I (3) and
ENG 111. Freshman Composition II (3)
2. Logic/Critical Reasoning (3 units)
PHI 120. Critical Reasoning (3) or
PSY 110. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving (3)
3. Oral Communication (3 units)
THE 120. Fundamentals of Speech (3)
4. General Education Skills Courses – Optional
CSC 101. Introduction to Computer Education (3)
LIB 150. Library Skills and Strategies (2)
NOTE: The "Library Skills" category is optional.
B. Area of the
Natural Sciences
and Quantitative Reasoning (10-12 units)
Select one course from each category below.
1. Physical Sciences (3 units)
CHE 102. Chemistry for the Citizen (3)
EAR 100. Physical Geology (3)
GEO 200. Physical Geography (3)
PHY 100. Patterns in Nature (3)
2. Life Science (3 units)
ANT 101. Introduction to Biological Anthropology (3)
BIO 102. General Biology (3)
3. Science Laboratory (1 unit)
General Biology Laboratory (1)
(concurrent enrollment in BIO 102 or prior life science course recommended)
Physical Geology Laboratory (1)
(concurrent enrollment in EAR 100 or prior earth science course recommended)
CHE 103. Chemistry Laboratory for the Citizen (1)
Students majoring or minoring in one of the natural sciences may substitute more advanced science courses. These students should see a faculty advisor.
4. Quantitative Reasoning (3-5 units) Course must be passed with a "C" grade or higher.
MAT 105. Finite Mathematics (3) or
MAT 131. Elementary Statistics and Probability (3) or
MAT 153. Precalculus (4) or
MAT 171. Survey Calculus for Management and Life Sciences (4) or
MAT 191. Calculus I (5) or
MAT 193. Calculus II (5)
C. Area of the Humanities (9 units):
Select one course from each category below. In categories 2 and 3, select courses from different departments.
1. Required Course (3 units)
HUM 200. Introduction to the Humanities (3)
2. Arts Courses: Select one course (3 units)
ART 100. Looking at Art (3)
ART 101. Experiencing Creative Art (3)
CHS 125. Chicana and Latino Musical Cultures (3)
COM 130. Film Classics (3)
DAN 130. Dance Perceptions (3)
MUS 101. Introducing Music (3)
MUS 110. Music Fundamentals (3)
THE 100. Television, Films, and Theatre (3)
THE 160. Introduction to Acting (3)
3. Letters Courses: Select one course (3 units)
AFS 200. Introduction to Africana Studies (3)
AFS 231. Africana Literary Traditions (3)
APP 101. Introduction to Asian Studies (3)
CHS 205. Introduction to Chicana/o Literature (3)
ENG 230. Appreciation of Literature (3)
FRE 220. Second-Year French (3)
HUM 212. Introduction to African American Culture (3) [I]
PHI 101. Values and Society (3)
PHI 102. Humanity, Nature and God (3)
SPA 151. Introduction to Hispanic Culture (3)
SPA 221. Intermediate Spanish (3)
D. Area of the Social Sciences (12 units):
Select one course from each category below. In categories 1 and 2, select courses from different departments.
1. Perspectives on Individuals, Groups and Society
Introduction to Comparative Ethnic
and Global Societies (3)
AFS 220. African World Peoples and Culture (3)
ANT 100. Introduction to Cultures (3)
APP 212. Introduction to Comparative Ethnic and Global Societies (3)
CHS 212. Introduction to Comparative Ethnic and Global Societies (3)
PSY 101. General Studies Psychology: Understanding Human Behavior (3)
SOC 101. The Individual in Society (3)
SOC 102. Understanding Social Relationships (3)
WMS 250. Introduction to Women's Studies (3)
2. Global and Historical Perspectives
AFS 201. African World Civilization (3)
ANT 102. Ancient Civilizations (3)
CHS 200. Key Themes in Chicano/a and Latino/a History (3)
GEO 100. Human Geography (3)
HIS 120. World Civilizations I (3)
HIS 121. World Civilizations II (3)
POL 100. General Studies Political Science: World Perspectives (3)
3. Perspective on
History of the
4. Perspectives on
POL 101. American Institutions (3)
NOTE: Students who satisfy the category 3 and 4 requirements by non-credit exams will need to complete 9 units in area D. Select three courses in categories 1 and 2 from 3 different departments.
E. Objectives
for Lifelong Learning
and Self-Development (3 units):
Select one course from the following.
HEA 100. Health and Lifestyles (3)
HSC 201. Health Care Systems and Perspectives (3)
KIN 235. Lifetime Fitness (3)
REC 100. Dimensions of Leisure (3)
UNV 101. Personal, Social, Intellectual Development (3)
F. Upper Division Integrative Studies (9 units):
Select one course from each category. Courses in this category are to be taken after 60 semester units and ALL lower division General Education courses have been completed.
1. Integrative Studies in the Humanities
HUM 310. Key Concepts (3)
HUM 312. Key Movements (3)
HUM 314. Key Issues (3)
2. Integrative Studies in the Natural Sciences
SMT 310. Science and Technology (3)
SMT 312. Natural Disasters (3)
SMT 314. Introduction to Cosmology (3)
SMT 416. Earth Sciences for Teachers (3)
3. Integrative Studies in Social Sciences
SBS 318. Cultural Pluralism (3)
4. Integrative Studies
Students may select a course from this category to satisfy one of the upper division General Education requirements (Humanities, Social Sciences or Natural Sciences) which it meets, enrolling in the section listed for that requirement in a given term. An Integrative Studies course may be used to satisfy either of the area requirements for which it is listed, but only one area requirement may be satisfied by each Integrative Studies F4 course.
G. Cultural Pluralism Requirement (0-3 units)
Within their General Education selections or within other requirements, all students must take one course which addresses cultural pluralism (i.e. the impact of the integration of cultures).
ANT 312. Language and Culture (3)
ANT 336. Comparative Cultures: Comparative Sociopolitical Systems (3)
ANT 337. Comparative Cultures: Ethnography and Film (3)
Comparative Cultures: Mainland
Comparative Cultures:
ANT 389. Transmission of Culture (3)
CHS 300. Introduction to Chicano/Chicana Studies (3)
HIS 305. World History for Teachers (3)
MUS 401. Afro-American Music (3)
PHI 383. Comparative Religions (3)
SBS 318. Cultural Pluralism (3)
SOC 322. Social Environment of Education (3)
SOC 331. Minority Racial and Ethnic Relations (3)
SOC 383. Black Communities: Class, Status and Power (3)
NOTE: SBS 318 will satisfy both the Integrative Studies in Social Science and the Cultural Pluralism Requirement. Students will receive only three units, but will have met both requirements.


text:
The beauty of this project is that after the new body panels are in place, the result is a bodyman's dream. Think about it, no major dents, no more rust to fill, and if done correctly, all body seams and gaps should line up perfectly, or as close to perfectly as is humanly possible. All of this means more time to spend fine-tuning the factory imperfections and, ultimately, less block-sanding to do. That's not to say block-sanding isn't the most important part of making any car, whether show car or not, have a straight body. In fact, just because a body panel is new, doesn't automatically mean it's going to look straight after the paint is applied, especially when the color is black like this project Chevelle. Block-sanding your car is going to make or break the end result, no matter what color it is. Before we get too far on the block-sanding "high-horse," let's first look over the minor imperfections and discuss the best way to massage them out. When we say factory imperfections, we're talking about everything from spot-welds to machine-press creases or dimples, as well any slight dings and dents caused by shipping. To handle this type of work, you are going to need some specific tools and know-how, for sure. The next step will be to coat the raw metal and body filler with a specific bare-metal sealer. With that in mind, it's always a good idea to use the same brand sealer, primer, and paint from the start to make sure all the different products will cover each other without any bad reactions, like bubbles or lifting. PPG paint products were used throughout this entire project. As mentioned before, the first coat to touch the bare metal will be the acid-etching sealer, then primer, and finally paint, with some block-sanding in between.
Also on the list will be to coat the underside of the car, as well as the entire inside sheetmetal area. One other aspect to restoring a car's body is using seam-sealer and drip-check. The factory used this goop for some very good reasons, and so should you. The sealer will help by creating a flexible surface over an area that might not hold paint, or would be hard to get the paint down into, for a secure bond. Remember, paint grabs onto scratches in the surface of whatever is being sprayed. (This might also be an area that may flex to a certain amount, thus the need for a flexible coating like seam sealer.) If the paint does not bond in the crack or body seam, it will eventually lift and create an air pocket, leaving room for new rust. After all this work, rust would be the ultimate downer, if you know what we mean.
With all this in mind, take a look at how the experts do it and use the results to gauge how you want to tackle your own paint and bodywork.


text:
[font="georgia, serif;"]Deep inside these burning buildings, voices die to be heard![/font]
[font="georgia, serif;"]Years we spent teaching a lesson we ourselves had never learned.[/font]
[font="georgia, serif;"]And if strength is born from heartbreak, then mountains I could move.[/font]
[font="georgia, serif;"]If walls could speak I'd pray that they would tell me what to do[/font]
[font="georgia, serif;"][font="'trebuchet ms', helvetica, sans-serif;"]Undying Profile Topic[/font][/font]
[font="georgia, serif;"][font="'trebuchet ms', helvetica, sans-serif;"]This is where the character profiles, once approved by the staff in the Discussion topic, go. Please keep just one profile post here that you will edit with new characters once they are approved. In this first post, you will find very little save this little profile form for your convienience:[/font][/font]
[color=#000000;][font="'courier new', courier, monospace;"]Name: (Meaningless unenforced suggestion no. 47: think of something you haven't used before.)Gender: (Male, female, or otherwise)Species: (All species are allowed, save Makuta and Botar's species. Custom species have to be approved by the head GM first.)Faction/Affiliation: (Wild Hunt or Refugee)Element: (if applicable.)Kanohi: (if applicable. Outlawed masks: Olmak, Kraahkan, Avohkii, Mask of Creation, Vahi, and anything else that is unreasonable that I haven't thought of yet.)Other powers: (if applicable. These are things like Skakdi laser vision. You're not getting one of these if you haven't given up your element, your Kanohi, or both)Equipment/Weapons: (Be reasonable, don't make yourself a walking armory.)Appearance: (self explanatory.)Personality: (^see above)Biography: (^see above)Other: (anything else that you want to note about your character)[/color][/font]
[color=#000000;]And a list of approved profiles and the posts in this topic that contain them: [/color]
[color=#000000;]Approved Profiles[/color]
Levacius - Amadene, Zartor, Thorego (pre-approved)
Emissary to the Void - Havoc, Rynekk
The Lorax - Kehua, Taipo, Hatann, Koriaha, Koranga, Wani
And, because doubleposting is bad, my profiles:
Dovydas's Profiles:
[color=#0000cd;]Name:[/color] [color=#daa520;]Radamir[/color][color=#0000cd;]Gender: [/color][color=#daa520;]Male[/color][color=#0000cd;]Species: [/color][color=#daa520;]Toa[/color][color=#0000cd;]Faction/Affiliation: [/color][color=#daa520;]Wild Hunt[/color][color=#0000cd;]Element: [/color][color=#daa520;]N/A; in life, it used to be Psionics.[/color][color=#0000cd;]Kanohi:[/color] [color=#daa520;]Kiril[/color][color=#0000cd;]Other powers: [/color][color=#daa520;]Strangely enough, Radamir seems to have retained a sizeable amount of his Telekinesis powers from when he was alive - not quite as powerful as they were in life, but still enough to match and overtake many a lesser opponent.[/color][color=#0000cd;]Equipment/Weapons:[/color] [color=#daa520;]Radamir bears a large greatsword that he usually keeps on his back, decorated with a dark blue sapphire encrusted in the crossguard and a smaller green emerald in the pommel. According to legend, this blade, the Heavensblade, was personally delivered to Radamir by the Great Spirit - Radamir, while sleeping, long before his war upon the Makuta, dreamt of Mata Nui personally anointing him and presenting to him the weapon, saying, "You have my blessing, Radamir. Now go, and restore justice to this world." When he woke, the sword was merely lying at his feet, and Radamir took it as a sign that his quest was blessed by the Great Spirit. The Heavensblade used to be the old king's greatest weapon against the Makuta as it could slice cleanly, without resistance, through their armor and that it alone slew three or four Makuta (whether this is true, it's hard to say) during Radamir's assault on Destral, and definitely slew many more after his undeath.[/color][color=#0000cd;]Appearance:[/color] [color=#daa520;]Radamir is rather tall for a Toa, towering almost a head above an average-height member of that species. Like all Huntsmen, his eyes burn with a cold blue flame - but unlike most Huntsmen, his eyes do not usually blink, ever. His armor is a mixture of the typical Psionic colors blue and gold, with a blue mask, hands and legs and a golden cuirass and arms.[/color][color=#0000cd;]Personality: [/color][color=#daa520;]Radamir is, nowadays, a pretty quiet person. Outside of his rousing speeches, which he does not give as often as he would when he was alive, he talks to very few people - his military leaders, mostly, and his small circle of close friends. No one save that circle of friends knows where he goes whenever he's away nowadays. He remains, however, a kind, if somewhat cold, soul, and retains a strong loyalty from his men and women and a strong ability to inspire them.[/color][color=#0000cd;]Biography:[/color] [color=#daa520;]Radamir used to be a typical Toa on the Northern Continent, catering to the needs (be it protection, survival or thatching a roof) of the local Matoran. This was a life he immensely valued and thus was rather disappointed when the Makuta, under Icarax, opted for invading the Continent. He observed, and hopelessly tried to fight, the destruction of his homeland, but one Toa could achieve very little on his own. This was a realization he, and others on the Northern Continent, came to at around the same time, and that was why the Toa of the Continent, and many other famous warriors, came to an emergency council in the mountains of the Tren Krom Peninsula, a congress named a thagh, after an old Skakdi word meaning "gathering", where they would debate how best to fight the Makuta threat. It was then that Radamir came forth, and proclaimed that there would be only one victory: that would be if all the warriors of the Northern Continent joined into one army, and pledged loyalty to one leadership. Within a day, Radamir had become the most famous hero in the entire continent as all members of the thagh agreed to his proposal, and named an interim military leadership composed of Radamir and two other Toa, Rhethos and Marlok.This leadership, however, proved incredibly temporary as Rhethos was slain merely twelve days later in the new army's first major engagement at Skirthig Pass. Skirthig Pass was, note, a success - the Makuta army suffered incredible losses under the command of the Northern Triumvirate, as the three Toa were now known, and were forced to retreat, thus hampering their way northward. Marlok fell deathly ill on that same battlefield as he was unfortunately exposed to unhealthy amounts of antidermis. Within seven months, Marlok was also dead, and Radamir was left the sole general of this army. Marlok's portion of the army, under these circumstances, had also recently suffered a couple of huge defeats. Radamir called forth one more emergency thagh. In this thagh, he gave a rousing speech, deeply saddened by the deaths of his two friends and comrades, urging the army to regroup and do something the Makuta's forces would never expect - march against Destral itself. While this might've seemed impossible, he claimed, the island would be relatively unprotected, with most of the Rahkshi and other similar servants of the Brotherhood away fighting the war in distant lands. The idea was more achievable than any time before.It was at this thagh that the warriors of the Northern Continent proclaimed him king of the entire Continent, and at this thagh that they swore eternal fealty to him. It was at this thagh, that the Wild Hunt was, initially, born... and the rest is history.[/color]
[color=#006400;]Name: Amarthis[/color]
[color=#006400;]Gender: Female[/color]
[color=#006400;][font="arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"]Species: VortixxFaction/Affiliation: RefugeeElement: N/AKanohi: N/AOther powers: Her Rhotuka are equipped with the ability of paralysis.Equipment/Weapons: A longsword and a shield equipped with a rhotuka launcher.Appearance: Amarthis is a relatively short character for a Vortixx, although, like most other members of her species, she is rather slender and thin. While it's difficult to call her figure perfect - and it's unclear anyway what Vortixx would consider perfect - it is rather attractive and well-built, coming rather close to an hourglass. Her armor is a mixture of the colors dark green and slate grey.Personality: Amarthis has a bit of a no-nonsense personality, and this has brought her into conflict with a number of other refugees that she considers less than sensible, such as Thorego. She's not particularly the type to accept any sort of authority, and even on the battlefield she's a bit of a lone wolf.Biography: No one's quite sure where Amarthis is from - well, except for her being Vortixx, so therefore most likely from Xia. No one's quite sure when she joined the refugees - although she was already with the main group of refugees that landed on Destral, she had only joined up with them a short while before. The refugees claim she met up and requested to travel with them one night that they were spending in the perpetual desert that the Southern Continent had become, and as at that time they highly needed warriors, she was accepted.[/color][/font]
Edited by Eduard Bernstein, Apr 03 2013 - 01:41 PM.