text:
" Brand: Early Learning Centre / Age: 2+ "
My son was given these Skittles for his 3rd birthday from his Aunt. They are made of quite sturdy plastic and you get 6 skittles; two red; two blue and two green. In addition the set comes with 2 yellow plastic bowling balls, about the size of one of those mini footballs.
The bowling balls have three finger holes that are a little big for my three year old and just big enough for adults sized fingers, so they can be used my everyone. The bowling balls are fairly light weight, though plenty big enough to knock skittles down.
They are designed to be used indoors and outdoors and are easy to set up and cost around £6 from the Early Learning Centre. They are a good idea in that they help with hand and eye coordination and are a way of learning through play without it being to boring for children.
Although they are fun to play with and are made of plastic so they can be easily cleaned if being used outside, they are not very good at standing up unless the surface is very flat outdoors and they will blow over if it gets a bit windy, so as outdoor toys they are not great, and as for using them on grass, I found it practically impossible to get them all to stay up at the same time!. They can be used indoors and the results are much better, though we are lucky enough to have a few large reception rooms to play in so things do not broken in the excitement of bowling.
Overall I would not recommend these to others as they are not really fit for purpose, although they are inexpensive, my son found them to be very frustrating as they would not stand up and it just ruins the overall experience.
Back in the spring I was looking at the ELC sale online and thought I'd see what they had that my 2 year olds might like to play with in the garden. One of the smaller items that caught my eye was this pack of 6 skittles and 2 balls.
The plastic skittles come stood in a cardboard base with the 2 balls placed between them and sealed with strong plastic. We tried not to rip the plastic too much when opening the set so that we could use it to store the skittles in, this worked for a while but the plastic ended up ripping to much for it to be any use. It's a shame that they don't come in packaging which could be used for storage as we just have them in a box at the moment and I'm sure it won't be long until we are unable to find all the pieces.
Playing with the skittles
This game is suitable from age 2 but my girls like to stand really close to them and throw the ball rather than rolling it. I like that it's something that will develop new skills of rolling a ball and aiming it at something. The balls have small dents in them like a real bowling ball has holes, these are to help your child hold the ball but I haven't noticed either of mine using them.
I spend a lot of time standing the skittles back up, I really should get them to do it themselves! I arrange them in a 3,2,1 formation so that they are learning the basics of the game for when they are old enough to play it properly.
This is not a game to play outside if there is any wind as the slightest gust blows the skittles over before you've had a chance to stand all 6 up.
The skittles are red, blue and green with orange balls, this allows you to help your toddler learn their colours in a fun way.
Price and availability
This skittle set is available in Early Learning Centre stores, on their website and also on the Amazon website. Full price they are £6 but I paid £4.80 for them in one of the regular Early Learning Centre sales, which I think is good value.
Would I recommend?
Yes, these skittles are requested everytime we go out into the garden to play. They can also be used indoors on a hard floor, I don't think they would stand up very well on carpet. The set has been played with a lot due to the nice weather we have had this year and they are still in really good condition with no dents or scratches. They have also kept their colour despite hours in the sun.
I love having toys in the garden for the kids to play with, I believe its important to get outside in the fresh air, away from the television and have fun in the sun and one of our favourite sets of toys is this skittles set from The Early Learning Centre.
We went proper ten pin bowling recently and the kids loved it so we thought that a set for the garden would be good fun as they seemed to enjoy rolling the ball and trying to knock over the pins.
The Early Learning Centre say that this set is a great way to encourage your toddler to be active and get some exercise. The set cost just £6 from The Early Learning Centre which I think is great value and you don't mind spending that amount on something fun for the kids. Included in the set there are 6 skittles and two balls with which to knock them over. The skittles are fairly sturdy we find them quite tricky to play with on our uneven grass as they don't always stand up and also fall over quite easily in the wind. We find its best to put these on our decking and they usually stand up on there so then we can roll the ball towards them.
The balls are yellow and have little holes/grooves in so they look like authentic bowling balls. They are small enough for little hands to hold and do a good job of knocking the pins down.
What I like about this set is that there are various games you can play with it. At the moment my 18 month old boy just likes to grab them and run off with them, much to the annoyance of his big sister but he also likes to use them like a cricket bag and tries to bat at the balls too. There are two red pins, two blue and two green so we often call out the different colours and get the kids to knock down those so it's a great way for kids to become familiar with colours too.
The Early Learning Centre say, "Your child can use the first ball to try and knock down as many of the foam pins as they can, and use the second to knock down any remaining ones: extra points if they can get a strike!"
The skittles are recommended from 2 years of ages but I think you can introduce them sooner than this as there are a really fun toy.
We've had these for about 2 years now and although they don't get played with on a regular basis, my kids do enjoy it when we get them out. Priced at £6 these are really great value for something that is long lasting and enjoyed by a good age range of children.
In the set you are provided with 2 plastic bowling bowls (they are like mini replicas of the real thing, they even have little finger holes - not that you can fully insert your finger into these ones, probably a health and safety issue in a child's toy!) And you get 6 brightly coloured plastic skittles, 2 red, 2 blue and 2 green which stand at about 24cm high, so they are a good size. I can't remember how these were packaged, but two years later we have nothing to store them in, apart from a carrier bag, so I'm guessing that they don't come with a storage bag.
Despite these being made from plastic and very lightweight, they are remarkably robust. Obviously with them being very light, it is best to play with them on a concrete floor outside, or a wooden floor inside; anything else and they will fall over before you've even thrown the ball at them. So when the ball lands or the skittles are knocked over, they are landing on a harsh floor, and sometimes our balls get slammed into the ground, but they have yet to crack under the pressure! Which amazes me every time it happens.
The skittles are now beginning to get scratches on the sides from rolling around on the floor but apart from that there is no other damage on any of the items, and these toys are 2 years old. However, as I said in my opening paragraph - they do not get played with on a regular basis (we only tend to get them out when the sun is shining which is very rare these days, but back in March, and now this week they have made an appearance!)
When we first bought these my kids were aged 2 & 4 and they required supervision when playing because the 2 year old would bowl herself into them before my 4 year old would get chance to throw the ball - and the inevitable tantrums ensued, so it was more like refereeing than supervision.
Also with the skittles being so lightweight, the children were quite heavy handed with them and would struggle to get them to stand up without knocking them over immediately afterwards. I know the idea is that skittles are supposed to be knocked over, but it is unbelievably easy to knock these ones down, you only have to breathe near them and they collapse. So playing with them on a windy day is completely out of the question!
When we got them out for an afternoon back in March, my kids now aged 4 & 6 spent about half an hour playing with these unsupervised and managed to have a good game without any arguments, and I love the fact that they can play with things like this now without me having to intervene.
This week we have had them out to play again, but it was just me and my 4 year old (the 6 year old was at school) and she got a good full hour of play out of it. What we decided to do was create a little bowling alley with our foam jigsaw square things (I can't remember what they are called and I really should write a review on them because they are awesome!) and stood the skittles at the end, so that my daughter had a line of fire, for want of a better phrase, and she still managed to miss the skittles most of the time, but she had a whale of a time throwing the ball and knocking down the skittles when it was my turn (cheeky moose).
The great thing about toys like this is that the actual game length is over in a matter of seconds, so kids with a tiny attention span (like my daughter) don't seem to get bored, despite the repetitiveness of having set the skittles up over and over again. The length of play seems to be extended because the child does not have to spend a lot of time concentrating on one thing; the play is broken up by the cycle of the skittles being knocked over and set up again. My daughter seems to enjoy this more than sitting down to play a game that would last perhaps 10 -15 minutes, and gets more enjoyment from it. I think it helps that she's active and running up and down the garden and she gets away with throwing things around!
Skittles are definitely an outdoor toy, and an amazing way to get kids active.
These are a good value little set of skittles, they withstand a lot of battering, look nice with the bright colours, and they get your kids outside and active. I can't compare them to any other sets of skittles because these are the only ones we have ever owned or used, but they have been adequate for our needs and I think they were £6 well spent!
You can buy these from the Early Learning Centre for £6, and they are also available on their website. If you are lucky you might get them on offer, I'm sure we bought them at a discounted price.
We bought these in the summer from The Early Learning Centre. They were on offer for 3 for 2.
My grandchildren love them. They can be used indoors and outdoors.
You get 6 in a pack; 2 red, 2 green, 2 blue and you get 2 bowling balls which are slightly bigger than a tennis ball and have small holes in for fingers.
They are made from plastic. This means that they are only light so easy to move and set up for little people to do but does also mean that they can be easy to knock over by mistake whilst setting up too! Plastic also means it's easy to clean so when playing outside if they get muddy it doesn't matter.
My grandchildren love it. They enjoy seeing who can knock over the most and it has taught them a lot about speed and coordination too which is always nice to see. I like to see them progress and learn, this toy has helped this.
I would say that both my granddaughters and grandsons enjoy t his so it's not just a toy for one sex.
It cost £8 and I think that that is a fair price to pay as they are well played with and are good quality. They are a little difficult to store as they don't come in a pack but that is the only criticism I have of them really.
Who says that kids these days are only interested in computer games or anything involving a screen? For a recent children's party I was tasked with providing some cheap, cheerful and engaging entertainment and this was one of the items purchased which proved to be a great investment.
For £6 I bought this set of skittles from our local Tesco (which stocks a range of ELC toys, as do a lot of supermarkets these days I notice). Within the kit are 6 multi-coloured plastic skittles and two balls. The bright colours certainly lend themselves to enticing children to play with them and the balls are both yellow, contrasting nicely with the other primary colours but keeping things simple by defining them as different.
Both the skittles and the balls are made of very strong and durable plastic, this is easy to wipe clean and tough enough to be robust when continually handled by less than gentle tiny hands. It also means that the skittles are lightweight and are knocked over very easily - making the whole game a darn sight easier when the aim may not be great and the force behind each shot rather lacking.
The base of each skittle is flat and they stand very easily, we have used them on all sorts of surfaces with no issues, carpet, patio and garden in the main. Whilst you might argue that skittles could be created on the cheap using plastic pop bottles and a tennis ball (as we did when I was a child) for the price these are a great game and look and feel the part. I am certain we will get years of repeated use out of this set and actually it is none too dull a game for adults to participate in too! (an added bonus).
I will certainly be checking out other items from the Early Learning Centre range next time I have birthdays to buy for, these are a great, brightly coloured and enjoyable interactive toy for indoor or outdoor fun.
**What do you get in the set? **
Well the set costs £6 from ELC and in the set you receive 6 skittles and 2 balls all made of durable plastic which is of course essentials when they are designed for younger children. They are very durable and as they have a ball hit at them they are very well made. There are 2 skittles in red 2 in green and 2 in blue. They are a fair size so a good target for little one to chuck the ball at and as they are really light the slightest touch knocks them over.
Also you receive two balls with the set which I think is great as it means two things if one gets lost you have a spare to play with but also for my younger son he likes to take a shot with both of the balls as one turn that way he has an equal advantage against his brother and sister.
**In play**
It is simple concepts set the skittles up and have fun knocking them down again with the ball. In theory this is great but what we have found is although the skittles are a great size the base is actually a little small meaning you have to have a really steady hand to get them to stand up. It is not too bad indoors on the floor but as soon as we tried to take them outside and use them on the grass my children found it really frustrating and mummy had to keep setting them up over and over again which of course is great fun but my children like to be independent so were a little annoyed they could not do this themselves.
Once they are all set up it is time to throw the balls they are light enough for a young child to use but still have a little weight behind them which does worry me a little as if they decide to start throwing them at each other they could actually hurt so adult supervision is a must.
The balls carry well in the air and you do not need to knock the skittles hard as they are so difficult to put up they come down just as quick which is great as it means my children can normally catch a few balls at a time creating delight all round. We find the skittles do blow over if we are playing outside and there is a bit of a wind which is a little annoying but they are not too light that they just blow away so I do not need to chase them round the garden just pick them back up replace them and off we go again.
It is a simple yet fun game that can be played with over and over again and my children never seem to get bored with it they take it in turns to see who can do the best and it gives them some healthy completion.
Well apart from the base of the skittles being a little small and therefore difficult to put up there is nowhere to store these. In the past we had galt skittles and they came with a plastic container bag as a lot of the elc products we own for easy storage so it would have been nice to have somewhere to put these when we are not using them so none of the set gets lost at the bottom of the toy box but I suppose at £6 for the set I should not really complain.
These skittles are very durable we use them for indoor and outdoor use and they can be great fun. Although they can be a little frustrating my children love them all the same and now my eldest son can put the skittles up by himself they are becoming even more fun for them. The age recommendation is 2 years plus which I would say is about right however my youngest son has been using them from around 14 months old he can get the idea of throwing the ball at the skittles but obviously is unable to set the game back up again so it means fun with his brother and sister.
All three of my children love these skittles they help with fine motor skills and they can be played with as a family for some great family fun or individually by each of the children when they feel like it.
We have had ours from January last year so they have already had 15 months of use and they are still going strong after being hit so many times not just with the ball but my youngest son likes to try and use them for drum sticks and there is not a mark on them. They are very easy to clean you just need to give them a wipe with a cloth and they look brand new again.
Overall I would definitely recommend this set they cost £6 and can be purchased in store or online at elc they are great fun and very durable perfect for young children and family's alike.
We bought these skittles last year for our eldest daughter as we wanted to encourage her to play outside a little more although it turns out the encouragement wasn't needed as last year she suddenly realised she really loves playing outside and was constantly trying to get us all outside to play easier said than done with a baby who doesn't like the sun.
We bought these skittles from Early Learning Centre and paid around £5 for them which I think is a good price for a game that can be and will be played over and over again. In the skittle set you get 6 skittles, 2 red, 2 green and 2 blue and then 2 yellow balls to try and knock them down with. The skittles are the usual skittle shapethicker at the bottom curveing up to the thinnest point at the neck and then a sphere shape on the top so no suprises there and the balls have little indentations for your fingers to sit in more like a ten pin bowling ball whereas I expected them just to be smooth balls.
The set is aimed at children aged 2 and up which I think is probably about the right age guide as I have a 19 month old and she doesn't understand the idea of rolling the ball yet she either throws it or forgets to let go. The idea of the game is very simple you line the 6 skittles up in a triangular shape so you have 1 at the front, 2 behind and then 3 skittles lined up at the back you then move back to a pre marked area to stop any cheating and roll the two balls at the skittles seeing how many you can knock down. Once each person has had their go the person who knocked down the most skittles is the winner.
The skittles are pretty durable, they are obviously made of two shapes fused together in the middle as you can see the seam where they are fused. My daughter would sometimes play with these on her own last year and they would often get forgotton about and left outside yet the colours haven't faded and the toys are still in great working order.
We all have good fun with this game and it is a simple game we can all play together but it doesn't take too long to have a game either if we are pushed for time. The only issue we have with this game is the space to play it as the skittles won't stand very well on grass and we only have a small concreted area to be able to play with them. We will be getting this set out again this year when we get some better weather and we will be trying to teach our younger daughter how to play too.
This is a great value set which encourages your childs physical ability and makes it easy for families to have fun playing together.
I buy many of my youngest childs' toys from the Early Learning Centre because generally I believe they are really very good value and the benefits of such toys are really well thought out with the development of the child in mind alongside the enjoyment factor of the toy itself. Every now and again I will take my son into the ELC and allow him to pick out a game or a toy as a treat for something and, within reason, I allow him to choose whatever it is that needles his imagination. Last year, on one such trip, he picked out the ELC Skittle Set.
The set consists of six skittles and two bowling balls which come in a plastic seal. I would have preferred it had they come in a storage case so that it was easier to transport them and to keep them together because it is the kind of game that would be fun to take on holiday or take to the park and so some easy packing system would be really appreciated. Yes, it's possible to bundle them all up in a plastic bag but a specially designed case would be neater and better! The whole set costs £6.00 which is actually a really good price because the skittle kit is well designed and built to last. The skittles are nice bright colours of blue, green and red and the bowling balls are a summery yellow.
The skittles and the balls are all made out of plastic which is hard wearing and very sturdy and has certainly put up with all the abuse my son has been able to throw at it! They are light-weight and so they are easy enough for even the youngest children to manipulate and use. The skittles do occasionally accidentally fall over if the ground they are being used on is not completely even or if it is particularly windy and maybe if the skittles were a little heavier then this issue could be ironed out. However, this isn't a huge problem but it is just something to be aware of. On the positive side, because they are lightweight, it makes it easy for even the youngest child without much power to knock the skittles over with the bowling balls and so it's not frustrating for them.
Because the kit is made entirely of plastic it can be used inside and out in all types of weather really (except very windy weather). When it gets grubby all of it can be wiped down with soapy water and it comes up good as new.
Overall, I think this is a really good quality product and we've all had fun playing it. It's the type of game that the whole family can play together and I would estimate that a child from as young as twelve months could probably benefit from playing with it in terms of hand-eye co-ordination. I recommend it.
My sister has no children and by her own admission is not terribly confident at buying presents for her numerous nieces and nephews - and great nieces and nephews. When we went shopping for Christmas presents in 2009 she asked me to visit ELC with her to choose something for my granddaughter, who was then two and a half years old. I picked up this skittle set as my granddaughter had recently visited a bowling alley for the first time and talked about the fun she'd had, I thought this might be a nice alternative for playing with in the garden.
In our set there are three green skittles and three red ones; there seems to be some variation in colours supplied as I see in the photograph above that some sets also contain blue skittles, while my niece has an older ELC set with just red ones. Also supplied are two yellow balls which have been made to look like real bowling balls, complete with child sized finger indentations. I suspect these indentations are for decorative purposes only as I have never seen my granddaughter hold the ball this way, preferring to cup it in her hand and roll it across the floor.
You can stand the skittles in any formation, my granddaughter prefers the traditional 3-2-1 layout but sometimes she likes to line them up and see how many she can knock down with one ball. The skittles have quite a slim base so they fall easily, this is not to say that children do not have to work to topple the skittles but it does make things a little easier for them. Each skittle stands around 20cm high and has a shape that is easy for small hands to grip and keep hold of, unfortunately the thin base meant it was some time before my granddaughter had the dexterity to stand them up by herself. The suggested age for this skittle set is two years; I agree with this as far as the game goes, but setting up the skittles is a job for an older child.
When this set was new I was concerned about the weight of the skittles, gripping the slim neck meant my granddaughter was able to wield the skittles almost like a weapon - the loud clunk I heard as a skittle came into contact with her father's head quite literally brought tears to my eyes. Now she is older this is not a problem as she understands not to wave the skittles around (or indeed hit anyone with them), but do be aware of this danger if giving the skittles to a younger child. There is a similar issue with the balls as these too are rather harder than I would have expected from a set designed for such very young children, I would certainly never trust my granddaughter to play with these balls inside the home as I can envisage breakages at the softest throw - let alone the extraordinarily hard manner in which she tosses the ball at the skittles when we're playing in the back garden.
This skittle set has proved to be a good buy; it's played with very regularly and by all members of the family, not just by my youngest granddaughter. The beauty of the set is that a child can play with it alone or with siblings or friends, this is ideal for younger children who may or may not have someone to play with. Skittles is a very easy game to learn and the youngest of children will soon that the basic premise is to use the ball to knock down the skittles. Obviously there are rules and scoring procedures that you can introduce later on, but the onus should really be on the fun side of things whilst your children are so very small - and this excellent set provides fun in spades!
With Summer rapidly approaching we decided to get some outdoor toys for one year old Freddy to play with. As the Early Learning Centre have been running a three for two offer on outdoor toys, we picked up a few from there. One of the toys we picked up was this skittle set containing six skittles and two balls which cost £6 when bought separately.
==Set Them Up==
Billed as being suitable for children over the age of two, these skittles come supplied in a cardboard tray shrink-wrapped in plastic. Unfortunately the tray is not reusable, which means that you will need to find some way of storing them when not in use. This did actually disappoint me a little, it would have been a nice touch if they had been supplied in a plastic crate or even bag.
The six skittles are all brightly coloured, with there being two each of red, blue and green while the balls are a bright yellow. All of the pieces are made of tough, rigid plastic, meaning that they can withstand being thrown around, banged against hard surfaces, trodden and even chewed on. But the downside to this tough plastic is that if you are hit with one it will hurt. Although the skittles are light enough for a young child to carry, there is still just enough weight behind them to allow them to remain standing in all but the strongest of gusts.
While the skittles are a reasonable height for young children to hold at about 22cm, the base has a very small circumference. This means that it takes extremely good hand-eye coordination to stand them upright on a level surface (such as concrete or short pile carpet) and it's even harder to get them to stay upright on grass. To be honest I do feel that even a two year would soon become frustrated and the design would be improved by making the bases just a little larger.
The yellow balls are much better designed and the with a circumference of 27 cm are the perfect size to fit into little hands. What I especially like about these balls is that they are moulded to look just like real bowling balls, with three little indents for the fingers and thumb. What I don't particularly like about them is how hard they are, these are not balls that I would allow any toddler to play with unsupervised as if they hit breakables they will cause damage.
All in all from a purely aesthetic point of view, as a parent I would probably give this skittle set four out of five. They are undeniably well made and durable, having survived several weeks of play with no sign of damage (including going for a swim in the paddling pool). But they are very hard, meaning that there is the potential for them to cause damage (to both children and property) and the relatively small bases mean they are very hard for a small child to set up on their own.
==And Knock Them Down==
To be honest the main reason I bought this set of skittles is because Freddy has a slight delay in his gross motor skills and I remember a physiotherapist using a similar set to help one of my much older children (who has mild cerebral palsy). When we first bought this set, Freddy had only just starting sitting unaided (albeit very wobbly sitting) and wasn't yet crawling, so I hoped that this would encourage him to spend longer sitting upright while reaching and then hopefully crawl.
So to begin with we would play with this set indoors, in the hall and would set them up for him and then help him roll the ball towards them. Of course at this point it was more a case of me doing all the rolling, but whenever we knocked any of the skittles over we would let off a big cheer, which Freddy thought was great fun. As time went on Freddy became far more confident at sitting and starting trying to roll the ball himself. At this point the fact that the skittles are so light and their bases small really came into it's own as it meant that even though Freddy didn't roll the ball very hard, if the ball did hit a skittle (no matter how gently) it would fall over. Cue lots more cheering and a real look of accomplishment on Freddy's face. Of course this does mean that every time we play with these I have to spend a lot of time setting the skittles up, but that's part of the fun.
As well as playing with these as a conventional skittle set, Freddy finds plenty of other uses for the pieces. He loves to bang the skittles against different surfaces, just like drumsticks, and they do make a great noise, I just have to watch that he doesn't try hitting other people or my TV. Being a child who is fascinated by balls he also likes playing for the balls on their own. The balls are a great size and weight for Freddy to hold and they roll along the floor with very little force, meaning they are fantastic for him to practice rolling them and then crawling after them.
As well as helping Freddy to play with these indoors we regularly take these out into the garden, especially when we have friends round to play. Freddy's little friend is two and she also enjoys playing with this set, although again she finds it difficult to stand the skittles up and sometimes gets frustrated with them. But the squeals of delight as she knocks them down (not always with the ball) is a delight to hear. So from a young child's point of view I would definitely say that these are a success and would say that Freddy and his friend would quite happily give these skittles four stars out of five.
==Learning is Fun, fun, fun==
Now you may not believe it, but for a such a simple toy this skittle set provides an amazing number of opportunities to help your child learn while they are having fun. Firstly (and in our case most importantly) they will help your child develop their all important gross motor skills. For the newly sitting baby they are brilliant for helping them improve their confidence. By simply setting them up in a triangle just within reach and then allowing your baby to knock them down, you'll find that they will help him improve his balance while also learning a little about cause and effect. As baby gets a little older, you can set the skittles up a little further away and then help them roll the ball towards them. Start with the skittles quite close (but out of reach) and set up in a fairly large triangle (to give a larger target) and as they get better move them further away and place them in a steadily smaller triangle. Don't forget to be uber enthusiastic and cheer and clap every time a skittle falls over though. Once your child is crawling, they can also use the balls as balls, rolling them along the floor and chasing them. Although you will spend a lot of time setting the skittles back over, it won't take long for your child to decide they want to help, and doing so will help them improve their hand-eye coordination, although there will be plenty of frustration along the way.
With older toddlers, as well as simply praising and cheering as they knock the skittles down I would also take the opportunity to talk to them about how many they've knocked down and which colour as well as those that are left standing. This is a great way of introducing simple maths concepts such as counting, adding and even taking away. In fact this is something I do with Freddy now at just thirteen months, because at this age children are like little sponges and they take in far more than they can express.
As to the age range these are suitable for, well as is often the case, I do feel that The Early Learning Centre is being rather over cautious with their minimum of two years. All of the pieces are large enough not to cause a hazard for young toddlers and babies and they are extremely well made and durable with no jagged seams or sharp edges. Personally, I feel these are safe and suitable for babies from the time that they are sitting (even if they still need pillows behind them). Ok, they will need a lot of help to play with them at this stage, but it's so much fun that I can't see why that would be a problem for most. I love spending time helping Freddy play with these. I would say that I would never allow children to play with these unsupervised no matter what age, they are simply too hard and the chances of someone getting hurt if hit on the head or something damaged are just too high. As for an upper age limit, that would really depend on the child, but as these don't look in the least bit babyish, I can see children up to six or seven being happy to play with them.
==Time To Pack Up==
This is a very well made skittle set, that while more expensive than those available from, say, Argos, are also far better quality. Personally I can't recommend these enough, both as the game of skittles in general and this set to be specific. This set is so well made and look so grown up that I can see them being played with for years to come, and therefore am definitely recommending that if you are thinking about buying a set of skittles, then spend that few pound more and buy these. Of course they aren't quite perfect, I would have liked a crate to have been supplied to store the set in and feel the bases could have been a little bigger. But all in all this is a great set and worthy of four stars out of five.
Children got to love them haven't you, well yes but also have to constantly entertain them as well. One bonus from the recent warm spring weather has been a first chance to really play out in our newly paved over garden. So in a moment of weakness I bought a set of bowling pins for my two boys to play with because I've discovered two facts about boys and playing outside one is that they love throwing and kicking balls and the other is that they love aiming at something.
So I thought why not encourage them by buying them something to aim at and make it a bit of fun at the same time. You also have to be aware of any toy which you buy can't be used as inadvertent weapons, I have two boys one 2 1/2 and the other 1 1/2 and well things can become weapons at the wrong moment.
ELC Skittles
These skittles are brightly coloured with the same shape as skittles at a ten pin bowling alley but much lighter and easier to knock over. They have a flat bottom which means they can be stood up right and come in sets of six with two balls which can be used to knock them over. The balls are small enough to be picked up by children of 18 months plus but not too small to constitute a choking problem.
The skittles can therefore be placed in a triangle of six pins and the children can take it in turn to either roll the ball or throw the balls at the skittles. The skittles are light but are heavy enough to mean that they can be turned into reasonable games, so if the ball does hit the skittles it doesn't mean all of them will fall down or if too soft any of them. This gives them an added element in terms of play because the kids can take as many goes as they want to knock all the skittles down. I've got to say that the skittles in the hands of my children have been used for games which the inventors probably didn't intend; one was doubling as road cones and my two year steering very intently through a tunnel of skittles. That was fine until my younger one decided to intervene and started throwing the skittles at my older son.
These are nice toys; they only cost £5-6 and can be left outside as they are made of durable plastic. They are light, not a real concern in terms of safety and can be played with in so many ways. They have been used to far as skittles, bats, road blocks, swords, and I'm sure a lot more different ways only a pair of toddlers could conceive. So for a fiver they've been a bit of a bargain and have left me to set them up give them a ball each and allowed me to read my book in the garden and watch them cause havoc.
I've just got in from playing in the garden with my grandchildren and they are now in the bath so it's time for me to sit quietly with my coffee and write a review before story time. We've had a really good afternoon in the sun as it feels like summer time has come early and the grandchildren came round for a barbarque and I took the time to delve into the garden shed to see what games we had put away from last year.
I bought this ELC skittles set a couple of years ago and it cost me £4.99 then but you can buy it for £6 now so inflation has bumped up the price, still it's a handy outdoor toy worth lots of potential for fun from the simplest of designs.
It comes in a plastic bag which can be kept for storage and is suitable for children over three years old and adults too as the neighbours could tell by hearing us playing and laughing today with the children.
The game is simple and you get two yellow balls which have groves in them where the childs fingers can grip and you get six skittles in primary colours of blue, red and yellow all the parts of the game, skittles and balls are made of plastic so you don't have to worry about leaving them out in the garden and them getting wet, but if like us you have a dog then it's best to pack them away after using as our staffie is always keen to get hold of balls and anything the children are playing with and chew as he doesn't like to be missed out of the fun.
The aim of the game is to set the skittles up in a triangle shape with one skittle at the front, then two behind that, then three behind them and then you move back just far enough so as your not able to knock them down too easily, then roll the balls at the skittles and try and knock them all over.
You get two go's at this with the two balls provided and then it's time to stack them again and the next child or person have a go.
The children loved this and kept trying to move one step closer each go which then made the other kids shout "cheat !" It was great fun as some of the adults tried cheating too, but the kids wouldn't let them get away with it.
I also do work in a residential home and the residents love this game too and play it on the lawn, it helps them to interact with each other as most of the residents are diagnosed with dementia and this game helps them to focus on something as well as to get along with each other.
For a cheap outdoor game it is excellent and you have lots of fun with it, now that the weather seems to be changing for the better it's time for outdoor activities instead of being inside on the computer most of the time.
I'd be happy to recommend this game to you if you have a garden to play in, if not you can play this inside as the parts are only plastic and can't do much damage to furniture or household things.


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Nah, im just the opposite! Don't get to many away, but try and get to quite a few home If we can sort our away form out though I think we'll be in with a shout! Cos we've been good at home so far.
I must say, it's nice to talk championship with someone, since everyone on here seems to be glory fans!!
Cheers mate, did you go? I live in Rotherham so don't get to many home games. Go quite a few away though. Its early days, still think you'll be up there in the mix come the end of the season
Well played, good game
Fresh Member
Black Ninja!
© 2011 eWrestlingNews, All Rights Reserved.

subset: commoncrawl


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Hey wrestling fans!
I've been reading a few WrestleMania XXX Cards, and thought I'd have a go at my own. Hope you enjoy it.
Match 1: NXT Championship: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Leo Kruger
NXT Commissioner JBL makes a match for the PPV Kickoff, Sami Zayn defending his title against an opponent to be determined at WrestleMania Axxess. On the last day
On a Wikipedia hit one day, I stumbled on the Slammy Awards page. And my reading confirmed what I thought. The Slammy's sucked. Back in 1997, it was cool. Now, it plain sucks. But it really doesn't need to be, with a little effort. So I thought I'd pen my own version of the Slammy Awards, from January 2012 to the present day.
Superstar of the Year:
John Cena
Randy Orton
Whenever I think about writing a blog to share with you, my fellow wrestling fans, I'm always drawn to rant and rave like a lunatic on many particular subjects. That in itself is an issue. The fact that there are so many things that I could write about suggests to me that there are too many problems in today's WWE. So, I thought I'd leave it up to you. You, the eWrestlingnews universe, please
OK, I saw a blog on here to do with booking MiTB 2012, so I thought I'd have a go myself. Please comment, whether the card is good or sucks beyond recognition.
Here we go:
Match 1: Raw Money in the Bank Ladder Match:
Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz vs. Kane vs. Jack Swagger vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Sin Cara
WINNER: Dolph Ziggler
Match 2: World Heavyweight Championship:
Hey guys, first time blogger. Don't tear into me if you disagree with my opinions.
Today, I'll be looking at the idea of turning John Cena heel. Why it should be done, and why it shouldn't.
Why it should be done:
In thinking about the subject matter, many reasons appear in my head.
Firstly, like Hulk Hogan in '96, turning Cena heel will generate so much


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- The person is composed of the four great elements; when he dies, earth returns and goes back to the element of earth, water returns and goes back to the element of water, fire returns and goes back to the element of fire, wind returns and goes back to the element of wind, while the senses disappear into space.... Fools and wise alike are destroyed and perish at the breaking up of the body, they do not exist after death.
The suttas inform us that this nihilistic wrong view leads to wrong intention, wrong speech, and opposition to noble ones. It can also result in trying to convince others to accept this false dhamma. Moreover, maintaining the view of atheistic nihilism is considered to be a type of clinging. Paul Fuller, The Notion of Diṭṭhi in Theravāda Buddhism:
- Indeed the view of nihilism is sometimes used to explain attachment. For example, the Vibhaṇga considers four attachments (upādānas): 'attachment to sensuality', 'attachment to view', 'attachment to precepts and vows' and 'attachment to the theory of self' (kāmupādānaṃ, diṭṭhupādānaṃ, sīlabbatupādānaṃ, attavādupādānaṃ). The attachment of wrong view is explained, first, as the view of nihilism, then it is stated that all wrong views constitute attachment to view. All wrong views are a form of greed and attachment.
Some food for thought....


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Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix
I'm definitely not the first food blogger to post a recipe for homemade hot cocoa mix. And I definitely won't be the last. That's because it makes such an easy and fun homemade gift, and I just couldn't resist.
I used Ghirardelli chocolate and cocoa in mix. Of course, Hubby loved having an excuse to eat more homemade marshmallows and threw quite a few in his cup of hot cocoa!
One Year Ago: Green Bean Casserole
Two Years Ago: Snickerdoodles and Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
Three Years Ago: Chocolate and Peanut Butter Biscotti
Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix
Yield: 76-2 Tbsp servings
2 vanilla beans
4 cups granulated sugar
24 oz high-quality semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
9 oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 cups Dutch process cocoa
Split and scrape vanilla beans and place in a large bowl or jar with the sugar. Work seeds into the sugar with your fingers. Bury the pods under the sugar. Cover tightly and let stand overnight (or up to months–vanilla sugar keeps forever) at room temperature.
In a food processor fitted with metal blade, process semisweet chocolate and dark chocolate until finely ground, using 4-second pulses. Process in batches, if necessary.
Remove pod from sugar. Add ground chocolate and cocoa powder to sugar and whisk to blend, making sure to combine well. Store mix airtight at room temperature for up to six months.
Assemble your gifts:
Scoop 1 1/2 cups of cocoa mix into a medium sized bag. Attach a tag with the following note: Heat 8 oz milk on med-high heat until scalded. Add 2 Tbsp cocoa mix and whisk until smooth. Top with a marshmallow. Makes 12 servings.
Recipe as seen on Confections of a Foodie Bride, originally from Gourmet
11 Responses to "Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix"
This looks like such a perfect gift! Are those your homemade marshmallows I spy in the mug?
Of course they are! I seriously can't justify buying marshmallows anymore. They're just so easy and SO good homemade. I even whipped up a batch to put on our twice baked sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving.
I really wanted to do this this year for gifts but time escaped me. Looks great!
Soooo here's the deal- A Boston Food Diary is going to look A LOT like Beantown Baker next week as I steal your recipes 🙂 Looks great Jen!
Why have I never thought about doing this? It looks so easy and it definitely would give me an excuse to make some homemade marshmallows!
That looks like an amazing gift! Making a homemade hot cocoa would definetly save money. Thanks for the recipe(:
Ghirardelli cocoa is very good and your homemade hot cocoa mix …too!!! May you have a special merry Christmas!!!Hugs, Flavia
I have never thought of making my own cocoa mix OR marshmallows. I feel a winter project coming on. Looks delicious!
I have had this bookmarked to make to some gifts for a couple of my girlfriends. So awesome and easy to make!
Loads of thanks to you. I can make everyone happy this Christmas. This recipe is even easy to follow.
Yum! What a great holiday gift idea!


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Each October, I look forward to when Family Tree Magazine publishes its media planner for the coming year. There usually is not much publicity about the document and most in the genealogy industry accidentally stumble upon it. You can download the Family Tree Magazine 2013 Media Planner here (note: it is a large 5.5MB PDF file that will open in the free Adobe Reader).
While the intent of the media planner is to layout all the advertising options available at the most popular genealogy magazine in the United States, for me and many others, it gives updated information about the state of the genealogy market.
The following data comes from Family Tree Magazine reader surveys:
- 92% of Family Tree Magazine readers want to learn about their ancestors' lives
- 85% want to record their tree for posterity
- 82% aim to trace their family tree back as many generations as possible
- 63% consider themselves intermediate genealogists; 19% are beginners
- Magazine readers have been researching for an average of 19 years, and spend an average of 10 hours and 54 minutes each week on genealogy activities
- Readers spend 8 hours and 12 minutes per week on online genealogy
- 75% of their total genealogy time is spent on the Internet
- Readers spend an average of $513 per year on genealogy
- 49% of their genealogy spending is online
You can learn more by downloading the media planner and reading the various statistics in the sidebars. Also share your thoughts in the Comments below about the data. Is it in-line with your views of the genealogy industry or your own habits and practices in genealogy?
©2012, copyright Thomas MacEntee


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$50,000 bail set in Walmart burglary
November 1, 2013
Bail is $50,000 for a 25-year-old Gardnerville Ranchos man who, authorities say, admitted stealing a television set from Walmart along with several other items.
Logan Matthew Schwartz is charged with burglary and possession of drug paraphernalia.
He was arrested at his residence on Oct. 31 after he was identified as the suspect who stole a television from Walmart in Gardnerville on Oct. 23.
He appeared Friday in East Fork Justice Court before Judge Tom Perkins, who appointed lawyer Jamie Henry to represent him.
Schwartz's next court appearance is Wednesday.
Perkins told Schwartz if he bails out, he is subject to supervision by the Department of Alternative Sentencing and must abstain from drugs and alcohol.
Recommended Stories For You
Schwartz was identified through a video of the Oct. 23 television theft.
When officers arrived at his residence, he reportedly admitted the theft, and a number of other burglaries, and directed deputies to the stolen TV that was in a vehicle in his garage.
The loss to Walmart was estimated at $700.
Deputies also confiscated a glass pipe with white residue and balloons consistent with heroin packaging.
Schwartz has two prior felony convictions. He was convicted of trafficking in a controlled substance on Sept. 25, 2007, and possession of a controlled substance for sale on Nov. 15, 2011.
In August 2012, Schwartz was terminated from a drug treatment program in Reno, and ordered to serve a 3-year prison sentence for the sales charge. He had been kicked out of the Salvation Army program in Reno for a curfew violation.


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Orioles exercise option on Ayala; Decline on Reynolds
The Orioles today announced that they have exercised the 2013 club option on RHP LUIS AYALA and declined their 2013 option on INF MARK REYNOLDS, who remains arbitration eligible.
Ayala, 34, went 5-5 with a 2.64 ERA (75.0IP, 22ER) in 66 appearances for the O's in 2012, allowing one earned run or fewer in 59 outings.
Reynolds, 29, batted .221/.335/.429 with 23 home runs and 69 RBI in 135 games in his second season with the Orioles. He has hit at least 20 home runs in each of the last five seasons.


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Americana Stripe Rug
No longer available
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Pep up the floor with a rug woven from preppy wool stripes.
- 3' wide x 5' long (36" wide x 60" long)
- 5' wide x 8' long (60" wide x 96" long)
- 8' wide x 10' long (96" wide x 120" long)
- Hand tufted of 100% wool.
- Yarn dyed for vibrant, lasting color.
- A mixture of cut and looped pile adds texture and dimension.
- Recycled canvas backing with synthetic latex.
- Use with our Rug Pad (sold separately).
- Imported.
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- 3' wide x 5' long (36" wide x 60" long)
- 5' wide x 8' long (60" wide x 96" long)
- 8' wide x 10' long (96" wide x 120" long)
- Wool is naturally stain resistant, making it ideal for a teen's space.
- Yarn-dyed fiber has incredibly rich color that holds its vibrancy over time.
- Recycled canvas / synthetic latex backed.
- The synthetic latex provides a more durable and flexible backing that reduces odor and extends the rug's life; it does not present a risk to those with latex allergies, nor does it dry out or break down over time.
- Do not pull any loose threads. Use scissors to simply cut the ends.
- Vacuum regularly and/or shake to remove dust.
- Vacuum your rug using a low-powered vacuum cleaner, preferably one without a beater brush.
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- Blot spills immediately with a white cloth.
- Rotate periodically to promote even wear.
- Professional rug cleaning is recommended as needed; do not cry clean.
- Harsh chemicals may damage or fade rug.
- Use rug protectors under heavy furniture.
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- For indoor use only.
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This item will arrive in 3-5 business days. Please proceed to the Payment & Review page of Checkout for a precise delivery estimate.


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found a new home!
Plenty of my friends are looking
for one too. Find a pet to adopt.
I am up to date with shots.
Act quickly to adopt Micheal. Pets at this Shelter may be held for only a short time.
Micheal, a Dillon Labrador Retriever dog was adopted! Here's how you can benefit by looking at adoption as an option to buying a Labrador Retriever for sale in Dillon, or seeking a Labrador Retriever dog from a breeder in Dillon.


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And in the Vimalaramsi method one labels, notes (as one who has actually done the practice under V's guidance sates), the disturbances to one's concentration on a primary object. The "primary" object in Mahasi Sayadaw sitting practice is one's breathing. You have yet to actually show a significant, meaningful difference.Alex123 wrote:tiltbillings wrote:Vimalaramsi's method has been described this way by two others, which does not give us a picture of something radically different from the Burmese method from which it is obviously derived:Alex123 wrote:Bhante V does not use mental noting, so it is VERY different from Mahasi's method. Furthermore while Bhante V teaches to return to only one object (metta or anapanasati) it also differs from Mahasi's method where you observe and label different objects.
Mahasi's method uses labeling of what happens. Vimalaramsi's method does not.
In Mahasi's method one changes the object depending on whether one is sitting, walking, or doing daily activities.
In Vimalaramsi's method one is supposed to stick to one primary object (most often metta, sometimes anapanasati) no matter what one is doing such as sitting ,walking or doing daily activities. Another difference.


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In this week's webinar, we asked customers what they wanted to hear about. We held a live vote, and advance OneNote features won.
Here is the recording about OneNote done earlier:
References for this webinar
OneNote: The Basics
- Meet OneNote: an overview article
- A place for all of your information (video)
- OneNote home page at Office.com (lots of links)
- OneNote Mobile Apps
- SkyDrive: Learn more and sign-up for free
- First 15-Minute Webinar, Intro to OneNote
OneNote: Things you (probably) didn't know
- Customizing the task bar in Windows 7 article
- Using Side Notes demo video
- Audio and video in OneNote article
- Templates for OneNote (videos, including the funny one)
- Create a Notebook or template in OneNote demo video
- Better Together: OneNote and Outlook article
–Doug Thomas


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Dance New Amsterdam Presents Elke Luyten, Kira Alker and Kendra Portier in SPLICE Series, Beg. 11/30
Dance New Amsterdam(DNA) welcomes back 2011 – 2012 RAW Directions artists Elke Luyten and Kira Alker, as well as DNA faculty member Kendra Portier, joining for the first of two SPLICE series this season. The series provides a collaborative performance setting that juxtaposes contemporary artists that share a common thread, however subtle or tangential. Luyten and Alker's Studies of Inertia is a world premiere encompassing Inertia, Part I, which was performed as part of DNA's last season's RAW Directions program. After almost a decade of extensive work with choreographers such as David Dorfman, DNA gives Portier the spotlight for her world premiere of Beautiful Weather for an Air Raid. Six performances will run over two weekends, November 30 – December 1 and December 7 – 8. All shows are at 7:30 p.m., with additional Saturday matinees at 3:00 p.m.
Luyten's solo, Studies of Inertia, investigates the fundamental difficulties and paradoxes of the act of performing. Directed by longtime collaborator Kira Alker, the piece is a determined approach to the everydayexecution of tasks; the struggles of moving the body from shape to shape. Luyten's desire to distill movement down to its simplest form gives birth to an arresting vulnerability. The team creates a visceral and dramatically charged environment through silence, durational exhaustion and the absence of a narrative structure. This finalized 45-minute piece has seen various performance incarnations, first taking shape during a residency at the Hooyong Performing Art Centre in South Korea and later at Judson Church's Movement Research, Dixon Place's Body Blend series, and the Brooklyn-based FLICfest, in addition to its development as part of RAW Directions and residency with LMCC.
Portier's first professional staging, Beautiful Weather for an Air Raid is a profound inquiry of the body's intangible and kinesthetic response to grief and grace. Based on personal experiences, the work is a tribute to familiessurpassing external and emotional hardship and the hope that propels them out of their internal storms. Hyperaware of the imagination's ability to construct, deconstruct, and reconstruct a new reality of past events that is easier to grasp, Portier's dancers engage in movement that manages to be both fluid and off-kilter. Effortless partnering, dense physicality, and seamless transitions between various groupings, the quintet produces a voluminous and luminous aesthetic that is raw and determined, yet luscious and exposed.
Although Studies of Inertia and Beautiful Weather for an Air Raid varydrastically in staging and movement style, both examine the nuances of memory and performance: the body's varied attempts to reconstruct movement and remembrances has become an infinite breeding ground for all three artists.
"It is our pleasure to welcome these compelling artists, all members of the DNAfamily, to our SPLICE series," says Artistic and Executive Director Catherine Peila. "A vital aspect of DNA's mission is to give horizontal artists such as Elke and Kira multiple residency and performance opportunities, in order for the artists to thrive and grow. DNA is proud to serve as a breeding ground for creativity, offering opportunities for creators to experiment and emerge. We are equally excited to present Kendra's work-as a familiar artist on the Contemporary Stages in New York and abroad, she's a beloved faculty member and recognized artist; DNA is proud to foster such a symbiotic educational and performance relationship."
Duo Elke Luyten and Kira Alker have created collaborative movement performances for nearly ten years. Their work has been showcased internationally at such venues as the REDCAT in Los Angeles, the International Conference on Performance Art Theory in Mexico, the Dream Shot festival in Belgium, and Honen-in Temple in Japan. Luyten, originally from Hasselt Belgium, has worked with Thomas Leabhart, Marina Abramovic and is currently performing in Robert Wilson acclaimed newwork The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic. She is the first to receive the position of Artist Advisor at the Watermill Center in Long Island. Alker will be a featured choreographer at The Kitchen's Dance and Process series in the spring. She is assistant to Sarah Michelson performed in Michelson's Devotion Study #1-The American Dancer at the Whitney Biennial in 2012.
Kendra Portier is honored to currently perform with mvworks, Michael and the Go-Getters, Annie Kloppenberg Dance, Vanessa Justice Dance, Alexandra Beller/Dances, and David Dorfman Dance. She teaches regularly: she is on faculty at Dance New Amsterdam and as a guest artist at a variety of colleges, festivals, workshops, and dance facilities. BANDportier's choreographic endeavors have just begun: solos, commissioned works, collaborative duets, and New Group endeavors.
Friday, November 30, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 1, 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 1, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, December 7, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 8, 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 8, 7:30 p.m.
An opening night reception will be open and free to the public one hour before curtain on November 30.
Tickets may be purchased online at www.dnadance.org, by calling 212.227.9856, or on site two hours before curtain. Cost is $17 for general audiences, $14 for students and seniors, $12 for DNA members and advanced sales. Discounted tickets are available by phone for groups of six or more. All sales are final.
DNA is located at 280 Broadway (entrance at 53 Chambers Street), New York, NY 10007, near the R to City Hall, 4/5/6 at Brooklyn Bridge, J/M/Z, A/C/E or 1/2/3 at Chambers Street, and 2/3 at Park Place.
Founded in 1984, DNA provides a community hub for the highest quality dance training, choreographic exploration and innovative performance, developing new audiences and bridging communities. It provides valuable opportunities for the aspiring, emerging and established artist, including daily classes, certification courses, commissions, artistic residencies, along with studio and administrative office subsidies. DNA encourages professionalism, entrepreneurial cross-discipline initiatives, community engagement and diverse artistic expression. It was the first nonprofit arts organization to move to Lower Manhattan after 9/11, serving as a renewing force in NYC's cultural landscape. To learn more about DNA and supporting its programs through charitable donations, visit www.dnadance.org.
Pictured: Elke Luyten presents solo, Studies of Inertia. Photo by Kira Alker.


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PLANS to retain the former St Peter's Primary School building in Devizes and convert it into housing have been welcomed.
The school, in Bath Road, closed in April 2012 when pupils relocated to the new Trinity Primary School on the Quakers Walk housing estate off London Road.
Salisbury Diocesan Board of Education, which owns the building, had previously wanted to demolish the school building and create 38 homes on the site.
But after concerns from Wiltshire Council planning officers and residents who said the school building should remain, the board reduced the number of proposed homes to a maximum of 26.
The school building is not listed and dates back to 1870.
The board has submitted an outline planning application to retain and convert the principal school buildings into nine homes, mainly apartments. In addition, ten semi-detached homes are proposed to be built behind the school along the southern boundary and a terrace of six homes for the eastern boundary of the site. A total of 69 car parking spaces would be provided.
The board proposes to remove small sections of the school building that it says are insignificant and of no historic interest, including a stairwell on the eastern corner and a flat roof extension to the south western corner where the former kitchens were.
In the planning application, its agents Savills said: "The proposed development would bring forward housing in a suitable location in an appropriate way, whilst safeguarding the future of the former school building and without giving rise to adverse environmental effects."
Devizes Town Council's planning committee raised no objections to the plans.
Town councillor Sue Evans said: "I was pleased to see the front of the building not changed. I would like to see a community room there as the school did have a community room where a lot of residents had meetings."
John Baumber, on behalf of The Trust for Devizes, said: "We are delighted that the developers in this case have found a way of keeping the school main structure which is vital to preserve the ethos of the town.
"The proposed property density suits the site and provides a good number of dwellings that supports the Devizes Neighbourhood Plan in utilising a brownfield site."


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NBA.com lists him as a Forward only, which I think is BS.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drm...731164,00.html#45 Steven Hunter | FC
http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default...acn4108973.htmGuard Allen Iverson was injured in practice Wednesday at the Pepsi Center, suffering a left quadriceps contusion when he collided with center Steven Hunter.
ADDITIONS: Calvin Booth (C) - Free Agent; Reggie Evans (F) - Trade with Denver; Herbert Hill (F) - Trade with Utah; Jason Smith (F) - Trade with Miami.
SUBTRACTIONS: Steven Hunter (C) - Traded to Denver; Bobby Jones (F) - Traded to Denver; Joe Smith (F) - Signed with Chicago


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September 27, 2013
Ferry crew rescues two from
overturned sailboat off Ocracoke
The 8 p.m. North Carolina ferry run from Ocracoke to Cedar Island turned into a daring rescue mission Thursday night, as the crew of the M/V Cedar Island pulled two survivors of a sailboat accident from the rough waters of Pamlico Sound.
John and Renee Hoffman of Raleigh were sailing in Big Foot Slough just off of Ocracoke when winds suddenly increased causing the boat to capsize.
"It happened so fast. The boat flipped and we were thrown into the water," said John Hoffman.
Fortunately, the M/V Cedar Island was nearby, and Captain Steven Goodwin was able to maneuver the ferry into position to launch the ferry's 16-foot rescue boat. Crew members Glenn Salter and Daniel Smith piloted the rescue boat in 4-5 foot seas and 30 knot winds.
"They risked their lives to get those two people out of the water," said Captain Goodwin. "They deserve all the credit. They performed the rescue at night in some of the worst conditions possible."
As the rescue boat returned to the ferry and the crew brought the Hoffmans on board, the 15 passengers already on the ferry erupted into cheers.
The M/V Cedar Island then returned to Ocracoke, where operations staff fed the Hoffmans and gave them dry clothes and a chance to contact family members.
"We are so grateful for everything the ferry crew did for us," said John Hoffman. "We were very lucky they were so close by and able to get to us. They probably saved our lives."
After the rescue, the M/V Cedar Island resumed its run to the mainland, delivering its 15 passengers and their vehicles safely to their destination. It will likely be a ferry ride that none of them will ever forget.
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Cigars and the Comics
(continued from page 3)
"To fully appreciate fine cigars, it's important to recognize the various types of cigars," writes Shoe, who edits the Treetops Tattler. "There are two basic categories of cigar," he advises his readers. "The lit and the unlit."
"Shoe," published in more than 800 papers nationwide, represents more than just the cigar-smoking philosophy of the artist who created it, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Jeff MacNelly. By savoring cigars, both Shoe and MacNelly carry on a tradition as old as comic strips themselves, which are celebrating their centennial this year. Many of the founding fathers of this uniquely American art form smoked cigars -- as did their cartoon characters.
A mirror of American culture and a profound influence upon it, comic strips have always reflected and affected the way we see ourselves. The characters in them have chronicled our society in times of peace and served as morale-boosters and mascots in times of war. Comics have even shaped the way we speak. Comic-strip artists have been unsurpassed as "diligent coiners of neologisms," opined H.L. Mencken in The American Language. "Their influence upon the general American vocabulary must be very potent," wrote the Baltimore Sage, perhaps while puffing on an Uncle Willie.
"Jeep," "goon," "boloney," "bam," "zowie," "plop," "wow," "wham," "heebie-jeebies," "horse feathers," "hotsy-totsy," "23-skidoo," "drugstore cowboy," "cat's meow," "security blanket," even "hot dog"--all are words or expressions that originated in the comics.
Cartoon characters have become stars of Broadway musicals, motion pictures, radio programs and television shows; they've been featured on every imaginable kind of merchandise. "There is a warmness and affinity for comic-strip characters that you don't see in any other medium," says Lee Salem, vice president and editorial director of the Universal Press Syndicate, which distributes "Doonesbury," among other strips.
As an especially potent symbol frequently employed by comic-strip artists, the cigar has served as an emblem of the plutocrat, politician or boss, all ripe for ridicule, and as the comfort of the common man. The cartoon cigar conveys confidence and cockiness; mischief and majesty. "The cigar suggests to me a kind of worldly gruffness," says MacNelly, "so that's why I installed one in Shoe's beak."
When MacNelly, 47, wants to look worldly and gruff, he tends to favor Ashton Churchills. "The best thing about smoking a cigar is that I find it to be a very effective [form of] crowd control. No one bothers me in my studio while I'm smoking cigars."
An impressive roster can be compiled of cigar-fancying comic-strip artists whose drawing boards were enveloped in smoke long before MacNelly's. Some of them are among the most influential figures in the history of the medium, including Thomas A. Dorgan, or "Tad," coiner of more popular words and expressions than anyone else; Rube Goldberg, creator of preposterously complicated inventions for performing eminently simple feats; and Walt Kelly, whose deft adaptation of Captain Oliver Hazard Perry's famous victory message from the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie ("We have met the enemy and they are ours") became a slogan for the 1970s and beyond: "We have met the enemy, and he is us."
An equally impressive list can be assembled of cigar-smoking comic-strip characters who preceded Shoe, giving his fondness for a smoke a distinct pedigree, even if his avian ancestry is obscure.
Cigars have jutted from the jaws of comic-strip characters going all the way back to Der Captain, the bane and butt of Hans and Fritz, "The Katzenjammer Kids," a strip first published in 1897 and still in circulation. Just a brief roll call of subsequent cigar-smoking cartoon figures would include Flip, the pugnacious companion of Little Nemo on fantastic, nightmarish journeys through Slumberland (sporadically from 1905 to 1927); Mutt, the lanky racetrack habitué who teamed with the diminutive Jeff for one of the comics' longest runs (1907-1982); Jiggs, henpecked by Maggie since 1913; Barney Google; Moon Mullins; Dagwood Bumstead's boss, Mr. Dithers; Daddy Warbucks, Orphan Annie's protector; Major Hoople, the pooh-bah of "Our Boarding House"; Mr. O'Malley, who used his cigar as a magic wand while being fairy godfather to the precocious Barnaby; Marryin' Sam, justice of the peace in "Li'l Abner's" Dogpatch; Brenda Starr's oval-eyed editor, Mr. Livwright; Dick Tracy's partner Sam Catchem; Smokey Stover, the firefighter whose residence was adorned with framed signs saying "Notary Sojac"; and Albert the Alligator, the Okefenokee Swamp sidekick to the lovable opossum, "Pogo." And even though Popeye preferred a corncob pipe, as did his creator, when E.C. Segar signed his drawings of the spinach-eating sailor, he did so with
To commemorate the comics' impact on our society, the United States Postal Service this October will issue a series of 20 stamps honoring some of the greatest comic-strip characters of all time. The designation of 1995 as the centennial of the comic-strip is a pleasant contrivance, based upon myth, not fact; but the slightly shaky historiography behind the comic-strip-centenary series should find few critics. If, as has been said, history is simply a lie agreed upon, then 1895 is accepted as the birthdate of the comic strip--even by those who know it isn't so.
The birthday boy whose centenary is deemed the same as that of the comic strip is the Yellow Kid. Created by Richard F. Outcault in 1895, "The Yellow Kid" wasn't a comic strip but a large weekly drawing full of the horrific shenanigans "down in Hogan's Alley," the Kid's slum environment. And neither the Kid--a bald, jug-eared lad in a nightshirt--nor his companions in mayhem conveyed what they had to say in balloons of dialogue, a later innovation in the comics. The Kid's observations were printed on his often-smeared smock, and the comments of his friends sort of floated in midair. The Kid was, however, the first commercially successful newspaper cartoon character.
The Yellow Kid's initial appearance on May 5, 1895, sparked what historian Stephen Becker has aptly described as "that first, gentle wave of mass hysteria which accompanies the birth of popular art forms."
As comics scholar Rick Marschall and others have documented, cartoonists in Chicago and San Francisco created comic strip-like cartoons and characters at least a year before Outcault drew "The Yellow Kid." The feat of these figures could be likened to that of the Vikings who got to North America before Columbus: It was a historic event of no subsequent importance. "The Yellow Kid," as Marschall has written, is what "truly turned the newspaper world upside down," making color Sunday comics sections a must for almost every paper. Since newspapers had only recently acquired the ability to print colored drawings, "The Yellow Kid" showcased what then passed for the latest in high-tech graphics. Hearst ballyhooed his extravagantly colored weekly comics section as "eight pages of polychromatic effulgence that makes the rainbow look like a lead pipe."
Setting a pattern that persists to this day, "The Yellow Kid" reflected societal developments uppermost in the minds of newspaper readers. In the Kid's case, it was the urban environment of the poor--specifically, the impoverished Irish. Although the Kid looked vaguely Asian, he was in fact a Hibernian named Mickey Dugan.
"Comics have always had immediacy," observes Cullen Murphy, managing editor of The Atlantic Monthly and for nearly 20 years the man behind the plots and dialogue of "Prince Valiant," which is drawn by his father, John Cullen Murphy, an acclaimed combat artist during World War II and occasional cigar-smoker.
"When you think how long it takes to mount other forms of entertainment--a play, a film--comics frequently could be the first to comment on what was going on. In a way, they have been the first-line barometers of the times. You see it carried to a fare-thee-well today in a strip like 'Doonesbury.' But in a time before anyone thought of social history, the comics were doing social history, sort of inadvertently. In the early comics, the resonance of what was going on is so strong--just look at 'The Katzenjammer Kids,' for example, with the whole immigrant experience," says Murphy.
Indeed, Rudolph Dirks, the young German-born cartoonist who created "The Katzenjammer Kids," produced a strip that resembled a classic German cartoon picture book--Max und Moritz by Wilhelm Busch--and filled it with German dialect-speaking characters and raucous jokes. European immigrants were then a major bloc of the American urban population, and many of them learned English by scanning the newspapers. It made sense to have cartoons that would attract them, as well as other readers. Hans and Fritz did that in droves.
So popular were the Sunday comics sections that daily comic strips soon appeared. The first was drawn by Harry Conway "Bud" Fisher, a self-assured, cigar-smoking Chicagoan who was doing sports cartoons for the San Francisco Chronicle when he decided to draw a daily strip about Augustus Mutt, a woebegone horse player. On November 15, 1907, Mutt, contentedly puffing on a cigar, began his forever fruitless quest for a killing at the racetrack. Within six months he had met top-hatted Jeff (short for Jeffries; in 1908, the upcoming James Jeffries-Jack Johnson prizefight was all over the sports pages). Together their names became a synonym for any pairing of the long and the short; their success prompted other daily comic strips to follow in their wake.
The sports pages of the San Francisco papers were also the professional spawning ground of two cigar-smoking cartoonists whose impact on our language was more far-reaching and profound than Fisher's: Thomas Aloysius Dorgan, who signed his drawings "Tad," and Rube Goldberg.
Dorgan was born in San Francisco in 1877 and joined the art staff of the old San Francisco Bulletin at 14. By 1902 he was the top sports cartoonist for the New York Journal, as well as an incisive reporter and sportswriter--"the greatest authority on boxing," in the opinion of Jack Dempsey, no less. Dorgan also was an immensely prolific coiner of slang expressions. "More than any other newspaper man..., he influenced the speech of millions of Americans," the New York Herald Tribune said shortly after Dorgan's death in 1929.
Among the words and expressions Dorgan is generally credited with either creating or popularizing are "dumbbell" (a stupid person); "for crying out loud" (an exclamation of astonishment); "cat's meow" and "cat's pajamas" (as superlatives); "applesauce" (nonsense); "cheaters" (eyeglasses); "skimmer" (a hat); "hard-boiled" (a tough person); "drugstore cowboy" (loafers or ladies' men); "nickel-nurser" (a miser); "as busy as a one-armed paperhanger" (overworked); and "Yes, we have no bananas," which was turned into a popular song. In 1933, W.J. Funk of the Funk and Wagnalls dictionary company placed Dorgan at the top of the list of the 10 "most fecund makers of American slang"; Mencken credited Dorgan with designating a sausage in a bun as a "hot dog."
Dorgan was in the Polo Grounds press box one chilly spring day in the early 1900s while hawkers from the Harry M. Stevens Company peddled steaming sausages to baseball fans by calling out, "Get your red hots here! Get 'em while they're hot!" New Yorkers back then frequently called such sausages "dachshunds," perhaps because they resembled those little German canines--or to suggest slyly that this inexpensive comestible contained dog meat. Dorgan wanted to draw a cartoon about the snack, but didn't know how to spell "dachshund." So he depicted little four-legged sausages running around and labeled them "hot dogs."
Goldberg, also a native San Franciscan, was born in 1883 and added not only expressions to the language but his own name as a synonym for an extraordinarily complicated contraption devised to perform an extremely simple task.
Although he graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1904 with a degree as a mining engineer, Goldberg never really wanted to do anything but draw cartoons while smoking cigars. "He smoked Cuban cigars, mostly Partagas," recalls Goldberg's son, George W. George, 75, a movie and theatrical producer whose credits include the film My Dinner with Andre and Dylan, a Broadway play about Dylan Thomas that starred Sir Alec Guinness.
"He loved cigars, and he knew a great deal about them. I took up cigar-smoking myself simply because my father smoked them. I love cigars, too, but only smoke about two a month--when I'm feeling expansive, usually after dinner. I like Partagas or Macanudo. I don't think Cuban cigars are as good as they used to be--but nothing is as good as it used to be, which is a common observation of anyone over 65," George says with a chuckle.
Rube Goldberg joined the San Francisco Chronicle's art department in 1904 as an $8-a-week office boy. Soon he was contributing cartoons to the sports page. He became Tad Dorgan's successor at the rival Bulletin and soon thereafter followed Dorgan to New York and got a job on the Evening Mail.
Goldberg branched out from the sports department, producing an immensely popular, long-running series called "Foolish Questions." (A battered man stands beside a demolished car. "Have an accident?" he is asked. "No thanks; just had one," he replies.) Goldberg also began to put his engineering education to work, creating the first of the extravagant, nonsensical "inventions" that would make his name a byword for technology run amuck. By 1918 he was earning $1,000 a week and had begun syndicating his most famous comic strip, "Boob McNutt," starring a gentle, unassuming figure in polka-dotted pants who was constantly embroiled in exotic adventures.
Many of Goldberg's comic strips were polished off with a small box containing an unrelated wisecrack--the cartoonists' equivalent of a stand-up comic's snare-drum rimshot. It was for these little kickers that Goldberg popularized the slang word "boloney" (now more commonly spelled "baloney") to punctuate the punchline. Goldberg recalled that the first time he heard the expression was during the 1920 World Series between the Cleveland Indians and the Brooklyn Dodgers. An acquaintance scoffed at a theatrical extravaganza they had just seen by dismissing it as "just a lot of boloney."
"Such a descriptive phrase for such an event!" Goldberg wrote nearly a half-century later. After he had begun using the "that's a lot of boloney" tag line about six years later, it caught on because it satisfied Americans' "favorite hobby of branding anything a fake."
The scope of Goldberg's seven-decade career was remarkable. In addition to comic strips, sports cartoons, single-panel gags and sculpture, he was an editorial cartoonist for the New York Sun and the Journal-American, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1948. He knew, however, that he would be remembered most for his inventions, the products he credited to the fevered imagination of Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts, his cartoon alter ego.
Lexicographers recognized Goldberg's impact. Webster's Third International Dictionary lists "Rube Goldberg" as an adjective, defining it as "accomplishing by extremely roundabout means what actually or seemingly could be done simply." When Goldberg died in 1970 at the age of 87, The New York Times editorialized: "Long before 'Parkinson's Law' and 'The Peter Principle' and 'Up the Organization' codified the notion that there are two ways to do things--the simple way and the way they actually are done--Rube Goldberg was telling Americans to watch out or the machines and technocrats would overwhelm us."
In the early years of Goldberg's career, comic strips mostly were confined to the Sunday papers. That changed on January 12, 1912, when William Randolph Hearst--in many ways the greatest promoter comic strips ever had--introduced the nation's first full daily comics page in his New York Journal. The following year, George McManus began "Bringing Up Father," the slapstick saga of Jiggs, a cigar-smoking bricklayer suddenly enriched by the Irish Sweepstakes, and his social-climbing wife, Maggie. Jiggs' fireplug physique, red nose and ever-present cigar echoed those of McManus.
By the time Jiggs began smoking his cigars and dodging Maggie's rolling pin, the comics already had passed through their initial phase of experimentation. Chroniclers of the comics have discerned distinct phases in the medium's evolution, with that first period highlighting fantasy ("Little Nemo") and stressing the comics' appeal to kids--even though in reality, most comics have always been aimed at adults (they're the ones who buy the papers). Jiggs and Maggie epitomized domestic comedy; by the 1920s, with that decade's post-World War I semi-liberation of women and the initial stirrings of suburbanization, working-woman strips ("Tillie the Toiler") and husband-and-wife, suburban-life strips emerged as popular themes. "Blondie," which made its debut in 1930, remains one of the most popular strips in the world.
By the mid-1920s, the comics had acquired enough clout to merit serious critical scrutiny. Gilbert Seldes' 1924 book, The Seven Lively Arts, contained several chapters on the comics. "Of all the lively arts, the comic strip is the most despised, and with the exception of the movies it is the most popular," Seldes wrote. "I am sure that a history of manners in the United States could be composed with the comic strip as its golden thread."
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- Vitamin Guide
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The stress caused by insomnia is known to contribute to chronic inflammation, an important underlying cause of heart disease. A study found that people with sleep difficulties are more likely to have signs of chronic inflammation if their diets are low in magnesium, and that supplementing with magnesium can reduce these signs.
The study, published in Magnesium Research, included 100 people over age 50 who reported that their sleep quality was poor. After completing a diet questionnaire and going through some baseline tests, half of the participants were given 320 mg of magnesium (in the form of magnesium citrate) per day and the other half were given a placebo for seven weeks.
The experiment revealed several findings:
"The findings show that many individuals have a low magnesium status associated with increased chronic inflammatory stress that could be alleviated by increased magnesium intake," the study's authors said.
A modern Western diet, with its emphasis on fast and highly refined foods, doesn't supply much magnesium. A report from NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) found that 60% of Americans were not getting the estimated average requirement, which is 350 mg per day for men over age 30 and 265 mg per day for women over age 30. To increase your dietary magnesium:
(Magnes Res 2010;23:158–68)
Maureen Williams, ND, received her bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University in Seattle, WA. She has a private practice on Cortes Island in British Columbia, Canada, and has done extensive work with traditional herbal medicine in Guatemala and Honduras. Dr. Williams is a regular contributor to Healthnotes Newswire.
Copyright © 2017 Healthnotes, Inc. All rights reserved. www.healthnotes.com


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