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Ashes of Time Redux - Wong Kar-wai's "Ashes of Time," released in 1994, became one of the first Hong Kong films to piqué the imagination of Western audiences. Over the years, several versions of "Ashes" have appeared - some sanctioned, some not - leading Wong, a notoriously meticulous director, to re-edit the material into a definitive version. The result, "Ashes of Time Redux," shaves a few minutes from the running time and adds a gripping new soundtrack featuring cellist Yo-Yo Ma, but it remains a singularly unconventional film, as beautiful as it is frustrating. This is a far cry from Hollywood or even mainstream Hong Kong, a mix of fable and fantasy set in a world that bears only a passing resemblance to reality. There are traveling swordsmen, helpless women and marauding bandits, but they feel like ancient archetypes, perhaps even gods, rather than living, breathing people. Personas divide, remerge and disappear; the narration comes from multiple sources, at least one of them dead. The cast is a Hong Kong dream team (Brigitte Lin, Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Tony Leung Ka Fai), but the real star is Australian cinematographer Christopher Doyle. His desert landscapes vibrate like pop art silk-screens, while his action sequences flow in bold, calligraphic strokes. Wong's reworking hasn't made "Ashes" more coherent, but it's still a gorgeous enigma. (Rafer Guzmán, Newsday). 93 min. R. Ciné: 5 and 7 p.m. today-Tuesday, 9 p.m. today-Saturday and Monday-Tuesday, with additional shows at 3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.
Seven Pounds - Will Smith puts aside the superheroes and special effects for this melancholy - OK, make that seriously heavy - drama about an IRS agent driven to change the lives of seven strangers (including Rosario Dawson and Woody Harrelson). Directed by Gabriele Muccino ("The Pursuit of Happyness"). (Rene Rodriguez, McClatchy Newspapers). 118 min. PG-13. Beechwood: 1:10, 4 and 7 p.m. today-Wednesday, with additional shows at 9:45 p.m. today-Tuesday; Carmike: 1, 4, 7 and 9:55 p.m. daily.
Tales of Despereaux - Emma Watson, Dustin Hoffman, Matthew Broderick and Sigourney Weaver provide the voices for this animated adaptation of Kate DiCamillo's book about a spunky mouse in love with a human princess. (Rene Rodriguez, McClatchy Newspapers). 94 min. G. Beechwood: 12:10, 2:25, 4:45 and 7:20 p.m. today-Wednesday, with additional shows at 9:40 p.m. today-Tuesday; Carmike: 12:30, 2:55, 5:20, 7:45 and 10:10 p.m. daily.
Met Opera Live Broadcast "Thais" - Beechwood: Noon Saturday.
Yes Man - In his first comedy since the 2005 dud "Fun with Dick and Jane," Jim Carrey plays a harried businessman who says no to everything, until he decides to turn his drab life around by saying yes to any proposal whatsoever. (Rene Rodriguez, McClatchy Newspapers). 104 min. PG-13. Beechwood: 12:05, 2:30, 4:55 and 7:25 p.m. today-Wednesday, with additional shows at 9:55 p.m. today-Tuesday; Carmike: 1:20, 4:30, 7 and 9:30 p.m. daily.
Australia - Overlong and self-indulgent, Baz Luhrmann's homage to epic adventure films feels like a slog through the outback itself. And yet it can be a visually wondrous journey, one with striking visuals that will take your breath away again and again. No one ever doubted the director's capabilities as an inventive aesthetic stylist - this is the man, after all, who dared to set the balcony scene in a swimming pool in his revisionist of "Romeo + Juliet," who turned "Moulin Rouge!" into a dizzying dance of light and color, complete with Elton John and Nirvana songs. Here, he focuses his considerable talents on a more traditional genre: the big, old-fashioned, wartime romance. The result is grandiose and dazzling, repetitive and predictable. Set in pre-World War II, "Australia" stars Nicole Kidman as the British aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley, who travels to the Northern Territory ranch of Faraway Downs to confront the absent husband she suspects of philandering. She immediately clashes with the roguishly charming Drover (Hugh Jackman in full-on Sexiest-Man-Alive mode), who works on the ranch, and Luhrmann is clearly aiming to replicate the kind of chemistry Bogart and Hepburn enjoyed in "The African Queen" with their antagonistically flirty banter. Once Lady Ashley discovers her husband is dead, it's no big shocker that she finds herself falling in love with the place, and with the Drover (and really, how could she resist?). It also comes as no surprise that, after expressing zero fondness for children, she experiences maternal instincts for the impish Aboriginal boy Nullah (Brandon Walters), who's adorable but also an unfortunate racial stereotype. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press). 155 min. PG-13. Beechwood: 1:05 and 4:35 p.m. today-Wednesday, with additional shows at 8:05 p.m. today-Tuesday; Carmike: 1, 4:30 and 7:45 p.m. daily.
Beverly Hills Chihuahua - 85 min. PG. Georgia Square: 5:25 and 7:40 p.m. today-Wednesday, 12:55 and 3:10 p.m. Saturday-Wednesday, with additional shows at 9:55 p.m. today-Tuesday.
Bolt - (In 2D) Harmless as a puppy, "Bolt" comes bounding into theaters, stumbling over its big, goofy paws, wagging its fluffy tail and begging to play ball. It's sweet and eager to please but, sadly, nothing terribly special: Girl finds dog, girl loses dog, girl gets dog back. You've seen this sort of thing countless times before, namely in any movie with the word "Lassie" in the title. But if you happen to be a girl who loves dogs, you may find yourself wiping away a tear or two. This animated 3-D adventure follows a scrappy, white shelter mutt named Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) who isn't a superhero, but he plays one on TV. Trouble is, he has no idea he's an actor in a role. He thinks he's really saving plucky, young Penny (Miley Cyrus) - his "person," as he's so proud to call her - from bad guys and explosions over and over again. When Bolt accidentally gets shipped across the country from Hollywood to New York City, in totally contrived fashion, he must make that tried-and-true, intrepid trek back home. Along the way he befriends the street-wise, wisecracking alley cat, Mittens (Susie Essman in a slightly less vulgar mode than you'd find her on "Curb Your Enthusiasm"), and the overeager, overfed hamster Rhino (the scene-stealing Mark Walton), who's obsessed with television and is totally psyched about the prospect of being Bolt's crime-fighting sidekick. A sort of small, furry Louie Anderson look-alike, the delusional hamster is an undeniable hoot but "Bolt" goes to him a few times too many for the reliable laugh; a little of Rhino goes a long way. Two and a half stars out of four. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press). 96 min. PG. Beechwood: 12:45, 3 and 5:15 p.m. today-Wednesday.
Bolt - in 3D. Beechwood: Noon, 2:15, 4:30 and 7 p.m. today-Wednesday, with additional shows at 9:15 p.m. today-Tuesday; Carmike: 12:30, 2:45, 5, 7:15 and 9:30 p.m. daily.
Changeling - 140 min. R. Georgia Square: 4 p.m. today-Wednesday, with additional shows at 10:15 p.m. today-Tuesday.
Christmas on Mars - Many rock bands have a moment when they flirt with cinema. For the Oklahoma group the Flaming Lips, that movie is "Christmas on Mars." There are no musical performances on screen, but many appearances by band members, including the singer Wayne Coyne (as a horned alien) and Steven Drozd (as a haunted astronaut in a claustrophobic red-planet outpost.) The story is that oxygen is running out on Christmas Eve; Coyne, who also directed, arrives in a glowing orb and is persuaded by Drozd to don a Santa suit. But forget plot. It's all about textures: black-and-white images with psychedelic bursts; dashes of David Lynch, the '70s midnight movie "Dark Star" and "2001"; an echo of "The Wizard of Oz"; and, in a riff on maternity, maybe an iota of "The Matrix," abetted with homemade-looking but sometimes lyrical effects. (Andy Webster, The New York Times) 82 min. NR. Ciné: 9:30 p.m. today-Saturday.
Dark Knight - 150 min. PG-13. Georgia Square: 12:45 p.m. Saturday-Wednesday, with additional shows at 7 p.m. today-Wednesday.
Day the Earth Stood Still - Finally, someone has seized on Keanu Reeves' spacey screen persona and cast him as an alien. Reeves stars in this remake of the 1951 classic as the extra-terrestrial Klaatu, who steps out of a spaceship and warns mankind its days are numbered. Jennifer Connelly co-stars for director Scott Derrickson. (Rene Rodriguez, McClatchy Newspapers). 110 min. PG-13. Beechwood: Noon, 2:25, 4:50, 6:30 and 7:15 p.m. today-Wednesday, 9 and 10 p.m. today-Tuesday, with additional shows at 1 and 3:25 p.m. Friday and Sunday-Wednesday; Carmike: 1, 4, 7 and 9:45 p.m. daily.
Eagle Eye - 118 min. PG-13. Georgia Square: 4:10 and 7:10 p.m. today-Wednesday, 1:10 p.m. Saturday-Wednesday, with additional shows at 9:55 p.m. today-Tuesday.
Four Christmases - The size difference between Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon isn't the only thing keeping them apart. His signature rat-a-tat overconfidence and her pleasing girl-next-door perkiness turn out to be an awkward mix. Individually likable, Vaughn and Witherspoon never mesh as a couple. And that's a problem, since we're meant to root for them to stick together through the myriad obstacles thrown their way during one massively contrived Christmas. It doesn't help their cause that they're saddled with hackneyed holiday gags: wacky relatives making inappropriate remarks, decorations that cause severe bodily harm, uncomfortable gift exchanges. And "Four Christmases" began with some promise, too. Vaughn's Brad and Witherspoon's Kate are a happily unmarried couple. They keep things lively by role-playing at bars, as they do in the film's amusingly naughty opening, and they lie to their families about doing charity work to avoid seeing them during the holidays. Then, when they're caught on the news getting stuck at the airport on the way to Fiji, they get roped into seeing both sets of parents - who are divorced - hence, they must celebrate four Christmases. The visiting begins in painfully broad fashion with Brad's family, all white-trash stereotypes led by Robert Duvall. Vaughn makes the movie tolerable here and there with his easy delivery of some brash lines, but this kind of slapsticky physical comedy doesn't suit Witherspoon, and director Seth Gordon fails to make best use of the qualities that make this bright actress shine. One and a half stars out of four. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press). 88 min. PG-13. Beechwood: 12:05, 2:30, 4:40 and 7:10 p.m. today-Wednesday, with additional shows at 9:25 p.m. today-Tuesday; Carmike:1, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45 and 10 p.m. daily.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - The pampered zoo animals of the 2005 animated hit this time are dropped off on the African mainland for what amounts to more of the same in this shrill, unamusing sequel. Key voice stars Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith return, along with Sacha Baron Cohen and Cedric the Entertainer. Operating on the principle that the bigger the menagerie, the merrier the movie, the filmmakers tack on fresh characters to the point of distraction, including the late Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin and singer will.i.am. With so many characters to cram in and not much for many of them to do, the sequel ends up a choppy, episodic affair. Whether or not they've seen or remember the original flick, young kids will eat up this manic mess, a nonstop rush of slapstick and jabbering dialogue. The noise and mayhem will annoy, or at least bore, most parents, who can take some solace in the movie's brisk running time. (David Germain, Associated Press). 89 min. PG. Carmike: 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. daily.
Nights in Rodanthe - 97 min. PG-13. Georgia Square: 5:20 and 7:35 today-Wednesday, 12:50 and 3:05 p.m. Saturday-Wednesday, with additional shows at 9:50 p.m. today-Tuesday.
Nothing Like the Holidays - John Leguizamo, Alfred Molina, Freddie Rodriguez, Luis Guzman and Jay Hernandez are part of the large ensemble cast of this holiday-themed comedy about an extended Hispanic family celebrating "las pascuas." (Rene Rodriguez, McClatchy Newspapers). 99 min. PG-13. Beechwood: 12:20, 2:40, 5 and 7:25 p.m. today-Wednesday, with additional shows at 9:50 p.m. today-Tuesday; Carmike: 12:45, 3, 5:15, 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. daily.
Quantum of Solace - "Casino Royale" came along just as the James Bond franchise was sinking into a lazy rehash of all that had gone before. It jump-started 007 with its seamless mix of action and emotion, and now "Quantum of Solace" keeps it humming along - in a familiar, but forgettable, gear. The car metaphor is appropriate. "Quantum of Solace" starts out with a thrilling chase through northern Italy that's one of the film's few highlights. But this is a very slight Bond movie, and it feels especially so compared to "Casino Royale," easily one of the best of the long-running series. And it's unusual in that it's a sequel - that's never happened before. Director Marc Forster's film picks up right where "Casino Royale" left off, with Daniel Craig's Bond trying to avenge the death of the only woman he ever loved, Eva Green's Vesper Lynd. He's also trying to pin down the mastermind behind a plot to control the water supply of Bolivia, and maybe, someday, the world! (Mathieu Amalric plays the role with a calm creepiness.) In theory, it could have had a relevant ecological message. Instead, the water angle feels like an afterthought in the surprisingly thin plot from writers Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who also wrote "Casino Royale." Along the way, Bond hooks up with the mysterious and dangerous Camille (Ukrainian model Olga Kurylenko), who's on her own revenge mission. Craig is, of course, sexy and masculine and formidable as always, and he plays beautifully off of Judi Dench as M, the head of the British secret service. They share scenes that are both teasing and meaty, and their exchanges provide the movie with some much-needed substance. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press). 106 min. PG-13. Beechwood: 7:30 today-Wednesday, with additional shows at 9:55 p.m. today-Tuesday; Carmike: 7 and 9:40 p.m. daily.
Role Models - The premise is completely formulaic and potentially cheesy: A couple of buddies get arrested and, for their community service assignment, must serve as big brothers to a pair of misfit kids. You know from the beginning that many necessary life lessons will be learned and that all parties ultimately will be better off for the unlikely friendships they've formed. But it's the wildly, hilariously crude way that director David Wain and Co. approach this concept that makes "Role Models" so disarming. The rampant wrongness would have been amusing enough on the page, but the delivery from co-stars Seann William Scott, Paul Rudd and the supporting cast of both comedy veterans and up-and-comers makes the material consistently laugh-out-loud funny. Wheeler (Scott) and Danny (Rudd) spend their days giving just-say-no talks at Los Angeles schools and peddling the energy drink Minotaur, a job that requires Wheeler to dress up in a furry costume and guzzle gallons of green gunk. Danny, fed up with his life and frustrated that his longtime girlfriend (Elizabeth Banks) has just rejected his marriage proposal, snaps one day and gets himself and Wheeler in trouble with the law. Rather than going to jail, the two end up working with the Sturdy Wings mentoring group, led by the damaged but overly earnest Gayle (Jane Lynch, stealing every scene she's in, as usual). While Wheeler gets paired up with the freakishly foul-mouthed Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson, radiating a scary amount of confidence for a 12-year-old), Danny gets dweeby teen Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse of "Superbad"), who is obsessed with his live-action fantasy role-playing game. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press). 99 min. R. Carmike: 1, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45 and 10 p.m. daily.
Saw V - 88 min. R. Georgia Square: 5:30 and 7:45 p.m. today-Wednesday, 1 and 3:15 p.m. Saturday-Wednesday, with additional shows at 10 p.m. today-Tuesday.
Synecdoche, New York - "Synecdoche, New York" is a new Charlie Kaufman work and the first film directed by the writer of such unlikely Hollywood entertainments as "Being John Malkovich," "Adaptation" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," a romance of such delicate feeling that it's still a shock that it carries a studio brand. Kaufman's kinked, playful screenplays are usually accompanied by a flurry of "e" adjectives: eclectic, eccentric, edgy, eggheady. "Synecdoche" is the story of a theater director, Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman), miserably married to a talented painter, Adele Lack (Catherine Keener). The two live in Schenectady, N.Y., with their 4-year-old, Olive (Sadie Goldstein). Caden is directing "Death of a Salesman," but with a twist: the actors (including Michelle Williams), are all young. "Salesman" is a smash, but everything else falls to smithereens. Adele takes Olive to Berlin for a show that will make the painter a star. Caden stays behind, worrying about the sores that have sprouted on his body and watching a pharmaceutical commercial in which he appears to play a part and wins a MacArthur Award, a so-called genius grant, and begins work on a monumental theater production. Inside a warehouse, Caden builds a replica of his world line by line, actor by actor, until fiction and nonfiction blur. Kaufman rarely stops to explain himself but he continually hints at what he's up to, where he's going and why. Kaufman is serious about seriousness, but he's also serious about being funny, so he drops heavy weight (Kafka, Dostoyevsky) lightly, at times comically, and keeps the jokes, wordplay and sight gags coming amid the on- and offstage dramas, divorces, births, calamities, the fear and the sickness and the trembling. Despite its slippery way with time and space and narrative and Kaufman's controlled grasp of the medium, "Synecdoche, New York" is as much a cry from the heart as it is an assertion of creative consciousness. It's extravagantly conceptual but also tethered to the here and now, which is why, for all its flights of fancy, worlds within worlds and agonies upon agonies, it comes down hard for living in the world with real, breathing, embracing bodies pressed against other bodies. "Synecdoche, New York" is about authenticity, including the search for an authentic self in an inauthentic world. (Manohla Dargis, The New York Times). 124 min. R. Ciné: 4:30 and 7:15 p.m. today-Tuesday, 9:45 p.m. today-Saturday and Monday-Tuesday, with additional shows at 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.
Transporter 3 - The "Transporter" series turned Brit actor Jason Statham into a movie star. But maybe it's time to hang up his car keys. He's better than this. "Transporter 3" once again finds Statham playing Frank Martin, a driver for hire known throughout the underworld for always completing his job. Too often, the movie is empty Eurotrash, with rapid-fire editing that turns everything into a blur. Things aren't helped by the awful dialogue, spoken by a cast of European actors who have been badly dubbed. Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen's screenplay seems to have been written in another language and carelessly translated into English. (Robert W. Butler, McClatchy Newspapers). 100 min. PG-13. Carmike: 12:45, 3, 5:15, 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. daily.
Twilight - The wait is finally over for the legions of fans who have been anticipating director Catherine ("Thirteen") Hardwicke's adaptation of the first book in Stephenie Meyer's series of novels about a teenage girl (Kristen Stewart) in love with a vampire (Robert Pattinson). Sort of like "Wuthering Heights," with fangs. (Rene Rodriguez, McClatchy Newspapers). 122 min. PG-13. Beechwood: 1:15, 4:15 and 6:55 p.m. today-Wednesday, with additional shows at 9:35 p.m. today-Tuesday; Carmike: 1:30, 4:15, 7 and 9:45 p.m. daily.
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text: The iPhone 4S might not be out until September, but that doesn't mean a new iPhone won't be released in its traditional launch window that June. In fact, new iPhones could hit the Apple Store as early as Wednesday… but don't expect new hardware. Instead, if the latest report pans out, expect carrier unlocked iPhones that could work on both Verizon and AT&T.

subset: commoncrawl


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" Brand: Converse / Type: Shoes "
* Prices may differ from that shownMore Offers
My daughter is currently growing like a weed. Just when I have kitted her out for what I assume will be a season, she shoots up and nothing seems to fit again. Annoying and expensive. We shop all over the place but predominantly online for convenience, and these Converse trainers were one of my online bargains.
Converse All Stars are probably one of the most well known casual shoes out there. The Ox version here has a low cut profile, and an easy lace fastening which make wearing these a doddle for an active child. I managed to grab the most amazing purple coloured pair on Ebay for just £12.
If purple is not your thing then there are a whole rainbow of colours to choose from, and if they were not so expensive I think we would grab lots of them. These are a classic design and are well made which means that they are very hard wearing. Converse are also very comfortable to wear. These mini converse are like a pair of adult ones put into a shrinking machine, they share the same styling and detailing in exact replica.
The Ox junior's are great for teaching a child to learn how to do up their laces, but if they are too young for this then the shoes are quick to do up and stay securely knotted with the non slip laces. I usually double knot them to be sure. The whole shoe including laces can be washed when muddy, which keeps them looking smart. The beauty of Converse All Stars is that they go with anything, even floaty skirts. They are the perfect easy wear shoe for kids and have the added bonus of looking great.
The trainers have a chunky rubber sole which is textured on the reverse. The rims and label on the back are heat glued and do not shift even after a few rounds in a washing machine. The underside is a natural rubber colour which Converse call "Toffee bottomed"....
The shoe itself is a type of canvas. the outside of which feels quite rough under the fingers. The colour is even throughout and the particular shade of purple that we chose is a really gorgeous violet colour. The fabric is thick and far from flimsy and the stitching detail has stayed true. These shoes dry out fast when wet and keep their shape.
The toe cap is made from white rubber to match the sides. The "racing stripe" is black and this finishes and defines the shoe style. Along the canvas you will see small and even stitches in a strong white yarn, which again provide a great contrast with the range of beautiful colours available. There are labels on the shoe including the famous star logo on the tongue and the little rubber label on the back.
Climbing trees, riding scooters and horses, on the beach, in the sea, muddy puddles and rivers - these are just some of the places that my daughter's Converse trainers have been and survived. When they have become really filthy they are rinsed off and then chucked in the washing machine at 30 degrees, otherwise a wet cloth is enough to smarten them up. No matter what, these shoes do not smell or get stuffy. They are created to be very user friendly and easy to wear. Ours now have some light scuffing to the front rubber toe cap area, but that is what happens when you trail your toes off of a scooter on tarmac. The quality of these shoes is such that when my daughter outgrows them, we will be able to get our money back on Ebay. These are always in high demand so can be sold on easily.
10/10 for comfort for these shoes. With or without socks, damp or dry, my daughter has never had a blister from these despite running about on sand and in mud. They are firm enough to protect young feet without being cumbersome, and the large area of lacing on the top means that it is easy to adjust them to various foot widths and arch heights. The thick rubber sole helps the feet when my daughter is bouncing and jumping off of walls/trees etc and provide some form of shockproof cushioning for her soles.
* Chuck Taylor All Star Ox plimsolls by Converse
* Lace-up design with "easy lace" design
* Toffee bottomed rubber sole
* Branded logo to the tongue and heel
* Washable
* Textile upper
These are available from many online stores including Amazon. Of course you may be able to grab an Ebay bargain like we did. These seem to start at around £30 new. Converse do a whole range from toddler up to adult so it is worth shopping around to get the best deal.
These are fab little everyday trainers that pretty much go with everything. They are hard wearing and comfortable, and come in a whole range of bright colours to suit every taste.
For Christmas last year my Mum asked what she could get for my son and one idea that I had was some Converse plimsolls as I knew he was going to be well and truly spoiled with toys and such like and so I thought some practical items would be a good idea too. She chose the red Converse all star ox plimsolls for him and this is my review of them.
Converse are brilliant in my opinion. I have admired them for quite a while myself but it was only after my son received his did I actually go out and buy myself a couple of pairs too! The ones that my son has are basically just a smaller version of the adult ones and so I love it when we both have our Converse on!
The all star ox junior plimsolls come in various colours but the ones that my son has are red. The all star ox plimsolls are more of a pump shoe as opposed to the high top Converse that you can get and so they don't come up over the ankle. I personally think these are much better for children as they are easier for them to get on and my son has always struggled trying to get high top style shoes on. These shoes are lace up and I would say it is a good idea for your child to be able to tie their laces if they have these shoes as they seem to come undone quite easily! My son actually learned to tie his laces using these shoes but he will still sometimes claim that he cannot do it as he knows I will step in and do it if he is taking too long!
They are made from a textile upper which I would liken to canvas and so they aren't really wonderful in the rain but both my son and I have worn ours in light rain and they have been fine. I wouldn't advise wearing them to go jumping in puddles or anything though! They have a thick white rubbery sole which is easily marked by day to day wear but what is great is they wash up really well either with a baby wipe or you can even throw them in the washing machine and they seem to come out really well!
Just like the adults Converse the plimsolls have the all star label attached to the tongue of the shoe and they also have the Converse all star name on the back of the shoe which is how you tell if they are genuine Converse or not. For me the branding on these shoes isn't too in your face but you can tell that you have paid for a reasonably expensive pair of shoes as well.
My son finds these shoes really comfortable to wear and what I find great is the fact that they can be worn casually or quite smartly as well. I have been known to pop my son's Converse on him with smart jeans and a shirt when he is going to a party or we are going for a meal or something but he can also wear these with jogging pants for example! They are such a versatile shoe so it is great that he finds them so comfortable. He hasn't had any rubbing with these all star ox plimsolls either so that is another bonus.
You are probably looking at paying £25-£35 for a pair of these shoes depending on where you buy them. My mum got my sons from her Littlewoods catalogue where they cost her £32. I think this is a fair price to pay to be honest for a pair of shoes which is so versatile and which has been worn so much since Christmas. They still look immaculate too due to the fact they can be easily cleaned up if worn sensibly and there is still plenty of room in them for my son yet so I think they will see him through the summer as well. The junior sizes seem to go from a 10-2 but I think they are also available in toddler sizes as well. They are recommended by both my son and I!
Thank you for reading my review!


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EDMONTON - Given the extreme turbulence he experienced in his four years with Edmonton, you half expected Dustin Penner to spend the trade deadline at the airport with his fingers crossed.
A human lightning rod from the moment he signed that controversial offer sheet in the summer of 2007, Penner had more burn marks on him than any Oiler in recent memory, many of them well deserved, many others because he was simply an easy target on a poorly-constructed team.
He could be excused for wanting out.
But he didnt. He actually liked it here. Go figure.
Im sad to leave, said the 28-year-old winger, after being traded to the LA Kings for a first round draft pick, conditional third round pick and prospect defenceman Colton Teubert.
Like everybody here, I felt like we were building something together. I didnt expect to get traded. Its kind of a daze.
This wasnt Ryan Smyth blubbering like a lost kid in a shopping mall, but it hurt just the same.
With life theres ups and downs, he said. A decent first year. The second year (underachieving and in Craig MacTavishs doghouse) was something wed all like to forget. The last two Ive enjoyed thoroughly. Its a really fun place to play.
I went through good times and bad times here but I think I grew as a player and a person.
With 93 goals in 304 games as an Oiler, Penner is a rare commodity in the NHL There arent many 250-pound wingers who can score 30 without really trying. Of course, its hard to get by in a hockey city when youre not really trying, which contributed to the love-hate relationship with the fans and media.
The worst of it came in his second season. MacTavish thought he was overweight and lazy and Penner didnt want to play for a coach who wouldnt treat him with respect. The season was a train wreck that saw Penner, benched, press-boxed, booed during games and raked over coals on the airwaves and in the papers. They even traded him in the off-season, a deal that fell through when Dany Heatley played the no-trade card.
His second year was as difficult as any Ive seen a player go through with respect to the fans and media, said captain Shawn Horcoff. I was so impressed with the way he handled it, professionally and as a person, in the lockerroom and with the guys.
Its been challenging for him at times, but Im really impressed with his professionalism. Hes a real strong person. He believes in himself, in his ability. Hes positive to be around. I cant say enough about him.
Its tough to see friends like that go. I had conversations with him and I know he really grew to enjoy his time here, enjoy the organization. He liked playing here, liked the guys. I know he was prepared, if it came to it, to stay and be a part of the future.
Hes leaving a snow-swept last-place team for a playoff contender in sunny Los Angeles, not far from where he owns a house, where hell be reunited with former Oiler teammates Matt Greene and Jarret Stoll. As far as landing spots go, its as good as it gets.
Its nice to go to a team with a few familiar faces, he said. Its probably one of the better places I could have gone to.
Still, Edmonton, for all the scorch marks it left on him, was OK, too.
Theres a lot of positives, he said. The coaching staff, the organization, from Steve Tambellini down, the training staff, its a really fun place to play.
My family enjoyed their time here. We had a lot of fun, other than the hour-long drive from Terwilleger in the snow. Its a great place to play. I enjoyed my time here.
The Kings visit Edmonton March 29.


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WASHINGTON — Taxpayers preparing to file their 2012 returns can breathe a collective sigh of relief.
The alternative minimum tax, or AMT, has been patched — permanently — and several tax credits and deductions that technically expired at the end of 2011 were extended as part of the fiscal cliff legislation that Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed into law in January.
"It certainly puts back into place many of the tax benefits that had expired for many people," said Mark Steber, chief tax officer with Jackson Hewitt Tax Services. "The extenders will be back on people's tax returns, making their 2012 refunds larger than they would have been."
But the delay in congressional action could mean confusion for some taxpayers over what credits and deductions still exist.
That could make going it alone on tax day costly. Experts say people should seek some guidance, whether it's from a professional tax preparer, up-to-date software programs or tax guides, before filing returns.
More than 90 percent of taxpayers go to a tax preparer or use tax software to file their returns, estimated Jim Buttonow, a 20-year IRS veteran who is now vice president of products for New River Innovation, a tax technology company.
As people sit down to do their taxes this year, they'll find that the standard deduction has been adjusted higher for inflation, to $11,900 for married couples filing jointly, $8,700 for heads of households and $5,950 for single taxpayers.
About two-thirds of taxpayers claim the standard deduction, according to Barbara Weltman, an author of J.K. Lasser's Tax Guide 2013.
Each personal exemption is worth $3,800 this year, up from $3,700 in 2011. Look expansively at dependents beyond your children under 19, or 24 if in college. For example, if you're paying more than half the support for your parents and their taxable income is less than the $3,800 exemption, you might be able to claim them as dependents even if they're not living in your own home.
"If a parent's only income is Social Security, chances are little or none of the Social Security will be taxable. Otherwise, very few people would get to claim a parent," said Jackie Perlman, principal tax research analyst with H&R Block's Tax Institute.
Single taxpayers with qualified children or relatives as dependents also may be able to use head of household filing status, which is more advantageous to the taxpayer.
There also are higher mileage rate deductions — 55.5 cents per mile if you use your car for business, 23 cents per mile for moving or medical issues and 14 cents a mile for charity.
Capital gains rates are unchanged from 2011 — a maximum of 15 percent for assets held more than a year.
And don't forget planning for retirement. You can contribute up to $5,000 to a traditional individual retirement account — $6,000 for people age 50 and older — and reduce your income by that amount. If you haven't made a contribution yet, there's still time. You have until April 15, the tax filing deadline.
Be aware, however: Many deductions and credits phase out at higher incomes.
Extended benefits
Dozens of credits and deductions that affect 2012 taxes had been due to expire at the end of 2011, but were extended as part of the legislation that restored the Bush-era tax cuts for most taxpayers.
The measure breathed new life into deductions for state and local sales taxes and an array of education-related credits and deductions. Not to mention the lack of an AMT patch.
"There was broad bipartisan agreement it had to be fixed," Steber said.
Originally set up to make sure millionaires were paying taxes, the AMT was ensnaring increasing numbers of middle-class taxpayers. To avoid that, the tax has been adjusted for inflation every year, but the last patch expired at the end of 2011. Without a new one, Miller said in a letter to Congress last fall, about 33 million taxpayers would have to pay the AMT in 2012, up from about 4 million in 2011.
Congress, as part of the fiscal cliff bill, passed a permanent fix for the AMT. Going forward, it will be indexed according to inflation.
For 2012, the AMT exemption is $50,600 for unmarried individuals and $78,750 for joint filers.
"It's just not that they passed the threshold amount and indexed it for inflation," said Kathy Pickering, executive director of H&R Block's Tax institute. "The other nugget in there is that the nonrefundable credits are allowed."
That means filers subject to the AMT may still be able to use these credits, as long as their income doesn't exceed the phase-out limits.
The fiscal cliff bill signed by Obama also extends the $1,000-per-child tax credit, the expanded earned income tax credit and the credit for adopting a child.
Several education-related credits and deductions also were extended in the legislation.
The American Opportunity Tax Credit can be worth up to $2,500 for college tuition. The credit, which can be claimed for each of the first four years of college, was extended through 2017. Elementary and secondary school teachers will still be able to deduct up to $250 of their out-of-pocket expenses for the classroom.
And taxpayers will have the choice of deducting state and local sales taxes instead of state and local income taxes. This is especially important to residents of states like Texas, which doesn't have an income tax.
Knowing what tax credits and benefits you're eligible for is key. No one wants to pay more than is required in taxes.
"You certainly want to understand the tax law," Steber said. "Look to life changes" like retirement, losing a job, getting married, having a child or an elderly parent moving in as events that can affect your taxes.
Filing delays
The Internal Revenue Service will begin accepting returns Jan. 30, an eight-day delay necessitated by the late congressional action.
The agency said most taxpayers — more than 120 million households — would be able to begin filing on that date. But filing for those claiming energy credits, depreciation of property or general business credits will be delayed until late February or March.


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Carnegie Interstate Pipeline Company
Original Volume No. 1
Contents / Previous / Next / Main Tariff Index
Effective Date: 01/01/1995, Docket: CP93-552-003, Status: Effective
Original Sheet No. 66 Original Sheet No. 66 : Effective
Superseding: Original Sheet No. 66
9.3 (Continued)
(b) CIPCO shall evaluate and respond to
any valid Request For Service within a
reasonable time, but in no event later than
ninety (90) days after receipt of such Request
For Service. CIPCO shall accept a Request For
Service only if the criteria set forth in this
Section 9 and the Creditworthiness requirements
set forth in Section 13 are satisfied.
(c) CIPCO shall not accept any Request For
Service specifying a Maximum Daily Contract
Quantity less than 50 Dth/day.
(d) Customer shall make all necessary
arrangements with other person(s) at and
upstream of the Receipt Point(s) where it
tenders gas to CIPCO for service and at and
downstream of the Delivery Point(s) where it
receives gas from CIPCO, and such arrangements
must be compatible with CIPCO's system
operations. Customer shall notify CIPCO's
dispatchers when such arrangements have been
(e) Except as provided in Section 6.1,
Customer shall be obligated to reimburse CIPCO
for the cost of any facilities which CIPCO
acquires or constructs to provide service to
Customer; provided however, CIPCO shall have no
obligation to construct or acquire facilities or
to allow any Customer to construct or acquire
facilities for purposes of interconnecting with
CIPCO's pipeline in order to enable CIPCO to
provide service hereunder. In situations where
Customer is required to pay for the total cost
of facilities acquired or constructed,
Customer's payment for the cost of such
facilities shall include the full cost of such
facilities, the tax burden created by the
payment, as well as the tax-on-tax effect
generated by the payment. The allowances for
income tax reimbursement shall be computed by
taking into consideration three elements: (1)
the current taxes on the "contribution in aid of
construction ("CIAC"), less (2) the present
value (computed using a discount rate equal to
CIPCO's overall rate of


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Lottery Used To Narrow Work Visa Petitions
By JULIA PRESTON
Published: April 14, 2007
Swamped by petitions for work visas from highly educated or skilled foreigners, immigration authorities have conducted a lottery for the first time to determine which ones will be considered, federal officials announced yesterday.
A computer randomly selected 65,000 petitions from among the 123,480 that had passed a preliminary check for eligibility, said Shawn Saucier, a spokesman for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that oversees the visas.
The lottery, conducted Thursday, brought cries of pain from technology companies and immigration lawyers around the country. They lamented the limit that Congress has imposed on the high-skilled visas, known as H-1B, and the luck-of-the-draw method to make the cut.
''The people we need to contribute to our innovation economy are being subjected to a perverse form of 'Wheel of Fortune,' '' said Robert Hoffman, vice president for government and public affairs at the Oracle Corporation, the information software giant based in Redwood Shores, Calif.
The immigration authorities resorted to the lottery after the annual ceiling for the visas was exceeded by the cascade of petitions it received on April 2, the first day of the application period. In all, the agency received 133,000 packages with visa petitions on April 2 and 3, more than double the 65,000 high-skilled visas that are available for the year beginning Oct. 1.
For the past three years, petitions for the visas have far exceeded the cap. But this year was the first time that the cap was surpassed on the first day, triggering the lottery, according to the agency's regulations.
The H-1B visas are three-year work visas for immigrants who have at least a bachelor's degree, either from an American or a foreign university. Immigrants seeking the visas generally are young adults who are software and computer engineers, construction engineers, doctors and nurses, mathematicians and scientists.
In 2005, the last year for which figures are available, about 40 percent of the visas went to immigrants from India. About 54 percent of the immigrants who received the visas that year had a master's degree, a doctorate or a professional degree. High-skilled visa holders can extend for another three years before they must return home. They can also apply to become permanent residents.
With about half of this year's applicants eliminated in the lottery, thousands of immigrants waiting overseas for jobs and foreign students graduating from American colleges have been left in limbo.
''Many members of the Class of 2007 effectively received deportation orders and lost their post-graduation jobs last week,'' said an April 9 editorial in The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper. Harvard seniors would not be able to apply for this year's high-skilled visas until after they graduated in June.
For three years after 2001, the visa limit was raised by Congress to 195,000. It reverted to the 65,000 in 2003. The immigration agency is still accepting petitions for H-1B visas from those with advanced degrees from American universities, who do not fall under the limit of 65,000.
Some critics of the visas argue that American companies use them to hire foreign software programmers with unexceptional skills who may be willing to work for lower wages than Americans.
''If you wanted to find a labor shortage, you would look at the data and ask if there has been dramatic wage growth among those workers,'' said Steven Camarota, research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors curbing immigration. ''We just don't find evidence that wages are rising.''
Corporate executives and lawyers said that employers seeking visas for immigrants must demonstrate to the Department of Labor that no American workers are available.
''There are penalties, and the Department of Labor really is enforcing these rules,'' said Angelo A. Paparelli, an immigration lawyer. ''So where's the harm?''
Several lawyers warned that businesses that could not hire skilled foreign employees might move abroad.
Mr. Hoffman said Oracle hired 100 to 125 new H-1B visa workers each year, mainly software engineers, many of them foreign graduates of engineering programs in American colleges. ''The competition for this talent is global,'' he said.
Mr. Saucier said Citizenship and Immigration Services would review the petitions to decide whether the applicants who survived the lottery met the requirements for approval.


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How to ensure secure remote access to shield enterprise clients, users
Expert Nick Lewis explains why remote access software is such a common attack target before providing simple steps to achieve secure remote access.
I've read that remote access software is becoming an increasingly popular attack vector. Is this a legitimate concern...
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for enterprises, and what can be done to ensure secure use of remote access clients?
Remote access software has been a popular attack vector for a long time and is one of the many reasons why organizations have implemented VPNs and firewalls to secure remote access to their networks. Legitimate remote access software has evolved from simple telnet and terminal connections to Web-based, full remote management and publishing applications. These legitimate tools perform many functions, including remote administration and telework. However, other tools like Back Orifice, Netbus, DameWare and Zeus can be used to remotely control a system for potentially illegitimate reasons.
Ask the expert!
Have questions about enterprise information security threats for expert Nick Lewis? Send them via email today! (All questions are anonymous.)
Remote access software is attacked frequently, in fact, because it is typically located outside of an organization's firewall and is often accessible from anywhere on the Internet. The business pressure to make access as efficient as possible is intense, so in order to make remote access simpler, some organizations have skirted secure authentication practices and deployed VPNs using only username and passwords. There are also numerous security vulnerabilities within remote access software that have been exploited successfully.
Enterprises can ensure secure remote access for clients and users by providing encrypted transports, strong authentication for remote access software and controlling access. Encrypted transports protect data from eavesdropping threats and potentially the integrity of data in transport. Strong authentication minimizes the chance for capturing account credentials. Different types of remote access can be controlled by allowing only approved remote access products to access approved areas of the network. Users expect to access most of their applications remotely, so enterprises will be dealing with the security issues arising from remote access software for the foreseeable future. Using these steps should minimize unsafe conditions.
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When NSA cyberweapons went public, attackers bundled them into the EternalRocks malware. Nick Lewis takes a closer look at this new threat and ...continue reading
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A Google Docs phishing attack used OAuth tokens to affect more than a million Gmail users. Nick Lewis explains how it happened, and how to defend ...continue reading
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text:
Sign up for our daily recaps of the ever-changing search marketing landscape.
Online Ad Revenues Up Vs. 2007, Down Vs. Q2; Search A Relative Bright Spot
Overall online ad spending in the US was up almost 13 percent compared with Q2 2007, but down slightly (0.3 percent) from Q1 2008. Online ad revenues for the second quarter were $5.7 billion, compared with $5.8 billion in Q1. Revenues were $11.5 billion for the first six months of 2008 vs. approximately $10 billion during the same period in 2007, according to the IAB.
Search took a bigger share (44 percent) of the pie than it did in the first half of 2007 (41 percent). Otherwise the first six months of 2008 look quite similar in most respects to the first half of 2007. The question now is: how will a souring economy impact Q3 and Q4?
Here are some IAB graphics reflecting the spending trends:
Most ad categories are flat or differ by a percentage point, except for Search and Classifieds (which includes yellow pages/directories). Those two saw gains and losses of three points respectively. The concentration of ad spending among the top online players remained consistent with 2007 in terms of percentage distribution.
Among the top spending industry categories, retail and financial services were down slightly in the first half vs. last year:
Expect those numbers to decline further in the second half, as weakness in both sectors gets (perhaps much) worse before things improve.
Overall, performance based advertising saw gains of 2 percentage points, while CPM pricing saw an equivalent decline in the second quarter vs. a year ago. I would also expect this trend to continue in the second half as advertisers look to the greater "accountability" of performance-based pricing from their online ad buying.
This will continue to benefit search in a relative sense, but no one will likely be spared the effects of the recession.
There's more discussion of the numbers at Techmeme.
We're listening.
Have something to say about this article? Share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or our LinkedIn Group.


text:
"You can not believe how gorgeous this ballroom is right now," says Marilyn Gralnik, chairwoman of the Stein Mart fashion show Friday, Oct. 11 at Sunrise Lakes Phase 4 benefiting Women in Distress.
Gralnik went on to say that she approached the department store in Plantation for the fundraiser, "…because Stein Mart is my favorite store."
But the reason is another matter.
"I was abused by my former husband and had nowhere to go," she explains. "This was 35 years ago. This cause is a passion of mine. I became a child-abuse worker. I went back to school and earned my degrees. I knew that at some point in my life I had to give back. I made 350 cupcakes for this thing."
This event is sold out but there is a waiting list. Donations are still being accepted with checks payable to Sunrise Lake Phase IV Recreation District for Women in Distress and sent to 10102 Sunrise Lakes Blvd., in Sunrise, Florida.
The event's vendor preview starts at 11:30 a.m. in the Sunrise Lakes Phase 4 Clubhouse at 10161 N.W. 24th Place in Sunrise. To get on the waiting list for the $10 tickets, call 954-748-3230 and press 1 for English or for Spanish press 2 and then press 1 for the box office.


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The District's fire chief has backed off from a redeployment plan that would have kept the city's most advanced ambulances off the streets during early morning hours.
In November, Kenneth B. Ellerbe proposed rescheduling his department's "medic units" — 14 ambulances equipped with advanced life support technology and staffed by paramedics — to better match their availability with call volume, which peaks in the midday hours. Under his initial proposal, no medic units at all would be available between 1 and 7 a.m.
But the proposal garnered opposition from the D.C. firefighters union and some elected officials, who questioned the wisdom of leaving the city's best-equipped ambulances idle.
In a hearing this month, Ellerbe said he was "reconsidering staffing alternatives to better address stakeholder input." Under his latest proposal, he said Friday, five medic units would be staffed and available during the overnight hours.
Ellerbe said Friday that his new proposal was a compromise with the firefighters union, not an acknowledgment that his original plan was flawed.
"If that's the only sticking point, I'd rather go ahead and acquiesce … than try to fight through this thing," he said. "Trying to listen to everybody and come up with a plan that most folks can agree with and move forward with is a lot easier and probably better for the city than having us sit here bickering."
Ed Smith, president of the firefighters union, said he was happy Ellerbe had retreated from his initial proposal. That plan would have put additional pressure on firefighter-staffed basic ambulances during the overnight hours by removing the medic units, which are staffed by specialized medical personnel.
But Smith said he is waiting for the results of a staffing analysis his local has requested from its parent union, the International Association of Fire Fighters, before weighing in on whether the new plan is appropriate. He expects that study to be complete by late January.
"There's definitely a need for more units on the street during those peak hours," Smith said. "But you can't rob Peter to pay Paul."
Under both the original and modified redeployment plans, 25 basic ambulances staffed by less-trained emergency medical technicians would remain available during the overnight hours. Also, about 20 paramedics would be on the job during those times, embedded in fire companies.
Kenneth Lyons, president of the union representing the department's non-firefighting medical personnel, said he believed Ellerbe's original plan was the "most well-thought-out" way to relieve pressure on paramedics. But he said he understood the desire to compromise and move on.
"If he believes he's met the concerns of a group of individuals, I think it's a good move," Lyons said.
Ellerbe said the redeployment plan remains in limbo pending approval from Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) and the D.C. Council; that could take until March or April, he said Friday.
The proposal comes amid a longstanding and ongoing shortage of trained paramedics, with dozens of vacancies lingering in D.C.'s department. Ellerbe said at the hearing that he is increasing efforts to hire and retain paramedics, and on Friday, he also lamented a nationwide shortage of the highly trained personnel.
"That makes it tough," he said. "This is a tough city to work in."


text:
First responders in the City of San Diego are often late to high-priority emergencies. The fire department does NOT dispute the response times and says it needs new fire stations. Asst Chief Brian Fennessy, and Liam Dillon, from Voice of San Diego discuss the issue with NBC 7's Mari Payton.
Published at 11:27 AM PDT on Sep 30, 2013


text:
Studio OS
Cydia Apps required to be installed in iDevice:
Iconoclasm and Gridlock (paid), PerPageHTML (free)
iPhone4 or iPod4 with iOS 4.1 - 4.3.5
1. Copy the folder StudioOS WB Beta 1.theme to Libary/Themes/...here... and enablethis theme at WinterBoard
2. Copy the 5 folders from inside the PerPageHTML folder to var/mobile/Library/PerPageHTML/...here...
3. Start the Iconoclasm app and setup the 5x5 layout
4. Start the PerPageHTML app and allocate the 4 StudioOS pages and the StudioOS-Spotlight page to your Homescreenpages
5. Sort the icons on your homescreen exactly like shown (attachment) and sort 8 apps or folders in the middle of all the other pages.
Secured URL
Respect can give you power, but power does not give you respect.
Barbiox Dogg


text:
SAO PAULO, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Brazilian retailer Cia Hering has seen a slowdown in sales so far in December, the company's chief financial officer said on Monday, adding to signs of a sluggish holiday season in Latin America's largest economy.
Retailers in Brazil are expecting their weakest Christmas bump in a decade and forecasting a rocky year ahead as interest rates rise, the job market softens and the government looks to cut back on stimulating the economy.
Hering CFO Frederico Oldani said in a presentation to investors that the company is reducing plans for new stores next year compared with its 2014 forecast. He gave no details on investment plans. Hering originally projected 100 new stores this year, but cut back plans to 75 store openings in October.
Sales at Hering stores open for at least a year dropped 7 percent in the first nine months of the year, the company has said.
Oldani said the company was focused on improving profitability, aiming to close 2014 with "more reasonable" inventory levels and increase its gross profit in 2015. (Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Writing by Brad Haynes; Editing by Alan Crosby)


text:
A superset of Lab Manager and supporting end-to-end provisioning of both physical and virtual resources, across computing, networking, and storage technologies, GaleForce 5.3 now provides expanded virtualization support - Virtual Machine (VM) scaling and new resource clustering capabilities. It also features enhanced design or authoring of topologies. Link Feasibility Assist enables users to set up and reconfigure automated patch panels as well as VLAN connectivity for dynamic reconfiguration of physical and virtual environments. Users can also substitute or swap resources in sessions that have been confirmed in the future, as well as sessions that are currently active, and can control device power based on scheduled usage to ensure that devices are automatically powered off when not in use and automatically powered up when they're needed.
The latest Lab Manager (5.7) enhancements include an upgraded client-user interface with a new search dialog box, device port provisioning to edit protocol/rate settings for existing ports and assign card names and port group names to one or more ports, new and enhanced APIs, and enhanced Web user interface.
Analyst Dennis Drogseth, vice president, Enterprise Management Associates, says Gale is extremely innovative. To realize the cost and efficiency savings driven by cloud infrastructures, companies need to fully understand all aspects of shared virtual infrastructures - while not taking their eyes off the core foundational physical IT resources, he adds.
"They are optimized to this hybrid situation, understanding that resources and automatic provisioning need to come together." That makes them unique in this space although a host of platform vendors, including Novell, VMware, IBM, CA, BMC and HP all offer pieces of the puzzle, he says. "Their portfolios are bigger and in some respects richer and more complex, but they're more costly if you put all the pieces together." He thinks the fact that Gale has brought all the pieces together gives them both a quantitative as well as qualitative advantage. "It's becoming really critical to have good technologies to provide you something a little more cohesive than the traditional niche solutions."


text:
Remove Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 (Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 Manual Removal Guide)Published February 21st, 2011 by Tee Support Agent Bobbi
Is your computer infected with Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011? This step-by-step guide can help you safely and quickly remove Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011. If you have any problem during the removal process, you can follow this article to learn more about it.
Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 Description
Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 is determined by Tee Support Labs as fake security software. Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011scans your computer and then give you a fake report stating that your computer is in danger or infected. These grossly over exaggerated report is enough to scare a victim to believe that only Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 from your computer and purchase a licensed version of it. But actually Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011is worthless but messes up your computer.
Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 Identified as Rogue Security Software by Impressions
- Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 reputation/ rating online is terrible.
- Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 is installed/ run without your permission.
- The official website of Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 is poorly built without contact info.
- The payments website of Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 is suspicious & claims your OS is unsafe.
- Poor Performance like highly-consumed system resources is caused by Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011.
Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 Step-by-Step Removal Instructions
1. Stop these Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 processes:
2. The associated files of Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011to be deleted are listed below:
%AllUsersProfile%\t3e0ilfioi3684m2nt3ps2b6lru %AppData%\Local\[random].exe %AppData%\Local\t3e0ilfioi3684m2nt3ps2b6lru %AppData%\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates\t3e0ilfioi3684m2nt3ps2b6lru %Temp%\t3e0ilfioi3684m2nt3ps2b6lru
2. The registry entries of Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011that need to be removed are listed as follows:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.exe "(Default)" = 'exefile' HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.exe "Content Type" = 'application/x-msdownload' HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.exe\DefaultIcon "(Default)" = '%1' = '"%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\[random].exe" /START "%1" %*' HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.exe\shell\open\command "IsolatedCommand" = '"%1" %*' HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.exe\shell\runas\command "(Default)" = '"%1" %*' HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.exe\shell\runas\command "IsolatedCommand" = '"%1" %*' HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\exefile "(Default)" = 'Application' HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\exefile "Content Type" = 'application/x-msdownload' HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\exefile\DefaultIcon "(Default)" = '%1' HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\exefile\shell\open\command "(Default)" = '"%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\[random].exe" /START "%1" %*' HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\exefile\shell\open\command "IsolatedCommand" = '"%1" %*' HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\exefile\shell\runas\command "(Default)" = '"%1" %*' HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\exefile\shell\runas\command "IsolatedCommand" - '"%1" %*' HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe\DefaultIcon "(Default)" = '%1' HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe\shell\open\command "(Default)" = '"%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\[random].exe" /START "%1" %*' HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe\shell\open\command "IsolatedCommand" = '"%1" %*' HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe\shell\runas\command "(Default)" = '"%1" %*' HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe\shell\runas\command "IsolatedCommand" = '"%1" %*' HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile "Content Type" = 'application/x-msdownload' HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command "IsolatedCommand" = '"%1" %*' HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\runas\command "IsolatedCommand" = '"%1" %*' HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command "(Default)" = '"%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\[random].exe" /START "%1" %*' HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\FIREFOX.EXE\shell\open\command "(Default)" = '"%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\[random].exe" /START "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"' HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\FIREFOX.EXE\shell\safemode\command "(Default)" = '"%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\[random].exe" /START "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -safe-mode' HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\IEXPLORE.EXE\shell\open\command "(Default)" = '"%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\[random].exe" /START "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"'
Spyhunter Remove Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011:
To Remove Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 easily from your computer, the most common way is to use antivirus program to deal with it, and I strongly recommend you Spyhunter, this powerful and popular antivirus program can help you get through this mess. Now, let's see how to remove this virus with Spyhunter antivirus program below.
1. Click the icon below to download Spyhunter freely inside.
2. Start a full scan with Spyhunter after it is been installed inside your computer step by step.
3. Select all threats and remove it all with Spyhunter.
Manual removal is risky and tough process requiring expertise. Not a single mistake is allowed. It is wise to have an expert taking care of this for you. Getting help from SpyHunter is fast and safe way to get rid of Downloader.Blugger.
More Removal Guides
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What's a good basic nutrition program?
Multivitamin supplements are the foundation of a nutritional supplementation program. Taking multivitamins is an easy way to get the nutrients you need in one product, with the exception of calcium. We recommend calcium supplements such as Bone Restore. Men, and women under 35 years of age, need 1000 mg of calcium, women over 35 need at least 1200 mg of calcium per day. Consider Life Extension Mix plus calcium supplements as a basic nutritional regimen.
How do I take Life Extension Mix multivitamins?
Life Extension Mix is available in powder, tablet or capsule form. Take three scoops of Life Extension Mix powder per day, one with each meal. If you prefer tablets, nine tablets per day are recommended, three with each meal. Fourteen capsules per day is the recommended dose of Life Extension Mix Capsules. A convenient way to take the capsules is by taking five with breakfast, four with lunch and five with dinner.
Why is it necessary to take fourteen capsules but only nine tablets of Life Extension Mix per day?
Life Extension Mix tablets are larger than the capsules and more tightly packed. A day's supply of Life Extension Mix can be compressed into nine tablets. If you have a problem swallowing pills, you may wish to order Life Extension Mix Capsules.
What's the difference between Life Extension Mix and Life Extension Mix with Extra Niacin? Which one should I take?
Life Extension Mix formula contains 190 mg niacin per daily dose, which means you'll be getting a little over 63 mg with each meal. Life Extension Mix with Extra Niacin, however, contains 862 mg niacin per daily dose, which is 287 mg per meal. Extra niacin is generally used by people concerned with cholesterol. This high level of niacin creates what is called a niacin flush, a harmless sensation of warmth, heat and tingling accompanied by a temporary reddening of the skin that can last an hour or more. The niacin flush is usually not experienced by people who choose the regular formula Life Extension Mix.
High levels of niacin such as those in Life Extension Mix with Extra Niacin should be used with caution by those with liver disease. Consult your physician if you have an elevation of liver enzymes or enlargement of the liver.
Are there any doctors who can assist me with my nutrition program?
Life Extension maintains a listing of physicians and other health practitioners who are interested in preventive medicine, nutrition and anti aging supplements. Life Extension does not evaluate these practitioners, but relies upon the expressed interest of the practitioner and Life Extension customer feedback to determine their eligibility.


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Paul Maroon is slow-baking himself to death outside his Philadelphia home. The Walkmen guitarist is parked in his car for this little conversation, and not only is his air conditioner broken, but his power windows gave up a few days ago. Small potatoes, though, considering his band has just released its third full-length album. A Hundred Miles Off follows up the critical success of 2004's loud guitar- and organ-driven Bows + Arrows with a lot more guitar and lot less organ -- along with, at least in Maroon's opinion, more of the same old same old. Still, A/C would be nice.
Westword: It's been more than two years since the release of Bows + Arrows. Why the wait, and how do you think the time has helped the band evolve?
Paul Maroon: We did a lot of touring, which is why there was the wait. We would've put an album out sooner, but we just didn't have one. I think the album is pretty similar to the one before, too. It's not that much different. It's not like we went rap or anything.
The Walkmen
With Mazarin and Sybris, 8 p.m. Monday, June 5, Gothic Theatre, 3263 South Broadway, Englewood, $15, 1-866-468-7621
Columbia University recently kicked the Walkmen's own Marcata Studios out of its space in Harlem. What happened, and any luck finding a new location?
You know, I don't think we're going to have a new location. We're just going to have a practice space, essentially. Columbia College keeps expanding and expanding. When I went to school there, they had the artists at 125th Street. Now, at 125th Street, they have classrooms, and the artists are going to move into 133rd, where we were. So they just keep pushing out student art space further and further, and we were the victims of that.
With Marcata Studios, the Walkmen seemed to really try to resist modern techniques of music recording, sticking with analog and vintage instruments and mixing equipment. Can you talk about what you get out of this?
Ultimately, it's just not as accurate. It's a little more forgiving than digital. Tape tends to make you sound better than you are, whereas digital definitely exposes everything. I like everything about it, really. I like the smell of tape better than a computer. It smells like a recording studio.
Can you talk about the Walkmen's upcoming release, Pussycats?
Pussycats is actually a fairly faithful re-creation of Harry Nilsson's record Pussy Cats. Tons of strings, horn sections, everything. It's a really fun record, and I think it'll probably come out in August or something like that.
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And what led you guys to want to do a song-by-song take on the album?
You know, it's really just that there's a great variety of songs on it. It doesn't take itself too seriously. And, as the last thing we were going to do at Marcata, it sounded like a fun thing to do.
Are you calling them "covers" or "interpretations?"
Whatever is less pretentious. Probably covers. It sounds pretty close to the original record. Eerily close. The waste-of-time aspect of it all is not lost on people.


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BRIANCON, France, July 13 (UPI) -- The leader's yellow jersey in the Tour de France remained on Lance Armstrong of the United States Wednesday despite a sixth place finish in the 11th stage.
Kazakhstan's Alexandre Vinokourov won the second alpine leg of the 21-stage race in 4 hours, 47 minutes and 38 seconds. Santiago Botero of Colombia came in second, followed by Christophe Moreau of France on the 107.5-mile course that ended in Briancon.
Overall, Armstrong, who is seeking a seventh consecutive victory in the world most famous bike race, has a 38-second lead over Denmark's Mickael Rasmussen. Moreau, who is 2 minutes, 34 seconds back, is third.
Thursday's 12th stage turns southward toward Provence in a 116-mile trek from Briancon to Digne-les-Bains.


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Bemidji hockey star Pelawa still remembered 24 years after car accident
Shrugging on his jacket, Frank Pelawa squints through the living-room window at the miserable morning. Skies cloudy, rain whipping.
"It was like this the day of the funeral," he sighs.
Homestead to graveyard is a blink. Left on Pond Road, right on Grove Street, left on Irvine Avenue. It takes the modest procession -- parents in their sedan, followed by the photographer in his car, followed by the reporter in his rental -- only a few minutes.
For Frank and Winnie Pelawa, this drive is part of their daily routine.
By necessity.
Because trips into nearby Bemidji -- a pretty city in northwestern Minnesota -- carry them directly past Evergreen Cemetery.
There is an alternative.
But that features the intersection where their son was killed 24 years ago.
Given a couple of decades to consider the merits of each route -- sweeping past the boy's resting spot or the site of his death -- the parents have come to prefer the burial ground. Which isn't great, either, says Winnie.
"You think of it every time you go by."
Today, though, they don't go by.
Since they've been asked to stop, they stop.
Since they've been asked to pose at their son's gravesite, they pose.
Four pucks neatly lined up on the headstone don't surprise the parents. Happens all the time. They cannot explain how pucks get there. They just appear.
"Kids. Friends," says Winnie, shrugging.
Restless, the Pelawas pick at the sap on the headstone. The camera clicks.
George Dale Pelawa, six foot three and 245 pounds, had been approaching Paul Bunyan's dimensions, literally and figuratively. The broad-shouldered teen was threatening the mythical lumberjack's poster-boy status in these parts.
But the burgeoning legend, a three-sport standout, died in a car crash, Aug. 30, 1986.
"Many think of the wasted career, but he's been our shining star for years," Lyman Brink, assistant coach at Bemidji High School, said a week after the accident. "We now have to think of his wonderful past."
First, though, came grief for a future flattened.
Fans in Minnesota mourned -- George had been named Mr. Hockey as the best high-school player in the state.
Fans in North Dakota mourned -- George had accepted a scholarship to the UND, which was loading up for a national-title run.
Fans in Calgary mourned -- George had been selected by the Flames in the first round of the National Hockey League draft.
But there is no mourning like a family's.
"It was a long time ago, pretty near a quarter-century," says Frank, wiping his eyes, "but still . . . ."
When a stranger phoned on a spring-day afternoon, the Pelawas had listened patiently to the rambling request.
Boiled down -- would they be willing to talk about their dead boy?
They were more than willing, as it turns out, but barely able. The collision that ripped the artery off George's heart had irreparably crushed theirs.
"It's like yesterday in many ways," says Winnie. "If somebody has a disease or something, you're prepared. But when it's sudden like that. . . . Your children aren't supposed to go before you."
If the topic is so painful, so wrenching, why extend the invitation into their home?
Because they want people to remember George, their George.
When Flames prospect Mickey Renaud died suddenly of a heart condition eight months after the 2007 NHL draft, the Pelawa story got retold. Similarities between the barrel-chested forwards -- bright futures, sudden ends -- were jarring.
But, given the passage of time, many in Calgary had been unaware of the 1986 tragedy.
Frank understands.
"It rolls over so much, you know, one year turns into . . . " he starts, before succumbing to tears and, for not the only time, leaving the kitchen table to grab a breather in the living room.
Whispers Winnie: "Since the stroke, Frank gets so emotional."
Which becomes the day's rhythm -- reporter apologizing for the intrusion, parents apologizing for the sorrow.
It makes for frequent pauses, with only the coffee pot's gurgles filling the silence. Told numerous times the interview can be delayed, Winnie and Frank shake their heads.
They're dedicated to this cause -- a tribute for their son. So they answer all questions.
They keep alive the George Pelawa Memorial Scholarship. The Flames honoured their 20-year commitment to the award, but that ended in 2007. Since then the parents have quietly and happily shelled out $1,000 for the annual prize.
"Calgary carried it . . . which is very nice," says Winnie. "When that quit, we picked it up, continued it. We never thought much about it, then, all of a sudden, the 20 years were up. So we just decided to carry it through."
But that's a lot of money, isn't it?
"Well, it's worth it," she insists, despite the couple's modest income -- Frank, 67, is a retired mechanic; Winnie, 61, works for Beltrami County Public Health. "Till we die or we can't afford it . . . we'll keep it going."
This came as news to Flames president Ken King, who says the team plans to revisit the legacy program "based on what we now understand to be the current situation. We've talked to the people down there and we think there's something we can do."
Meanwhile, George's childhood chums -- determined not to let the parents foot the bill -- have begun raising funds.
"Maybe in 20 years," says Keith Dahl, "there'll be a whole new group that's heard of him . . . if you keep the scholarship going."
The high school retired his No. 8 jersey and made him one of the first inductees into its hall of fame.
"Most people around here, I don't think, would ever forget him," says Winnie. "Because he did have such an impact."
Still, to ensure George's image does not fade, she provides the visitor with a list of coaches and friends, printed neatly on the front of an old Pelawa's Auto Parts envelope. She collects testimonials from neighbours and friends, hands over maps and clippings.
Mom also convinces Joe, the eldest son and the driver that fateful night, to participate.
A few around town are surprised to hear that he is going to speak to a reporter, that he's making a seven-hour round trip from his East Bethel, Minn., home to do it.
But he does.
Looking uncomfortable in the family's cosy base -- his baby brother's photos and write-ups covering nearly every living-room wall -- Joe sits down, armed with a wad of Kleenex and a glass of water.
"It's still, to this day, tough to talk about it," he says, crying. "It's such a hard emotional situation. Just because we were so close. For many years, it was just me and him living at the end of this three-quarter-mile dirt road. Just doing everything together. It is really hard to talk about.
"Twenty-five years later, it still cuts a lot of feelings."
Sleeping peacefully in the early hours of Aug. 30, 1986, Winnie and Frank never did hear the phone. The one in their bedroom was broken. And because the new front door was heavy duty -- their dog, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, had chewed through the previous model -- the deputy sheriff's knocking didn't register. He pounded harder.
The parents awoke.
"They already knew George was gone," whispers Winnie.
Adds Frank: "It happens so quick. Then it's over."
Word spread.
Keith Dahl, after football practice at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, was in his dorm room.
"I'll never forget the call," says Dahl. "Well, it was my mom. She says, 'I've got some bad news.' I don't think I said anything for five minutes. I didn't know what to say."
Jason Meyer, a high-school linemate of George's, had partied with the brothers the previous evening. "I was sleeping in. I remember when my mom walked in the room."
He stops.
Stares straight ahead.
"I remember like it was yesterday."
So does Joe. Reluctantly, he croaks out his version of events. Civil engineer by profession, he draws a map to accompany the telling.
The brothers met at a party, figuring it would be their last weekend together before classes started. After hours of revelry, they headed home -- Joe in his Chevy Nova, George in his Pontiac Belvedere.
En route, George pulled over for a bathroom break and his car sank in off-road sand.
No sweat for a couple of lads who grew up with a junkyard for a backyard. They'd roar home, grab a tow chain, tug out the beached Belvedere.
"We never made it back there," says Joe.
At a T-intersection, Joe failed to yield and swung left. Another car, travelling at an estimated 115 to 127 km/h according to police reports, hammered into the driver's side, launching the Nova more than 30 metres.
Joe's legs were shattered, his feet crushed. Through his buzz cut, a thick scar is visible above the left ear.
George, on impact, was slammed into the steering wheel. When the car landed, he was jolted back against the passenger door, causing fatal internal damage.
"It seems amazing, for someone that size, that that could happen," says Joe, who, like the other driver, was drunk. "I'm still dumbfounded that it would injure George like that."
Joe made more bad decisions. Ten summers later, he falls asleep at the wheel, crossing the centre line and killing two passengers in an oncoming car. Convicted of two counts of criminal vehicular homicide, he spends 39 months in jail.
"It's like, how much more can that family take? To deal with what they've had to deal with?" says Dahl. "I wouldn't wish that on nobody."
Entering the world at a whopping 10 pounds and 14 ounces, George was destined to live large.
At four, he was playing hockey. Soon enough, he was dominating baseball and football.
"An all-round natural athlete," says Joe, 16 months older than his brother. "It might have had a lot to do with where we lived. Ran through the woods. Played. We had 80 acres and we knew every inch of it."
When the boys were teens, the family was still using a barrel stove for heat. Which meant chores. "Cut the wood. Load the wood. Split the wood," recites Joe. "It was just part of our upbringing."
So was skating on the pond. And cycling, swimming, hunting, fishing, clowning around.
"In a lot of ways," says Joe, "it was a 365 days a year training program."
It paid off.
Minnesota Twins scouts liked George's touch at first base. National Collegiate Athletic Association powerhouses, after watching him play tight end and linebacker, offered full rides.
"He was getting all these letters and calls," says Winnie. "It was just mind-boggling the number of people who wanted to talk to him."
In hockey, well, he exploded. Zero goals as a Grade 10 winger -- then a goal-per-game pace till he graduated. "Overpowering is a good word to describe him," says Bryan Grand, his high school coach. "Those last two years, he stood out huge."
He had hockey smarts, deceptive dash.
And a heavy shot. Everyone remembers the night in Baudette when George uncorked his trademark half-slapper.
"Hit the goalie right in the mask, cold-cocked him," says Meyer. "His mask was dented in -- the centre of the one wire."
Fuelling the big galoot, not surprisingly, was a mammoth appetite.
Around town he was known as the Great White Shark. To friends, he was simply Big George.
His go-to dish was macaroni and cheese. His signature sandwich, peanut butter and onions, often with mustard. But he wasn't fussy.
Joe recalls an eating contest at the McDonald's in Thief River Falls, the brothers scarfing down entire burgers in single bites. But it was George who sprouted.
Three inches taller than Dad, Joe stands six feet tall. But little brother's frame reached six foot three, his feet size 14.
"Probably 235 pounds," says Winnie, "but when all the scouts would take him out for steak suppers -- we didn't have much steak -- I'm sure he got up to 245."
Not chubby, though. Snapshots reveal a slender young man.
"There wasn't any baby fat on him," says Meyer. "Solid muscle. Chiselled."
By most accounts, George was a gentle giant.
He did have his moments.
Like the day Joe showed up at school with a shiner. His crime? Eating the last of the Cheerios.
"He wasn't a guy out looking for a fight, but if it found him? He got mean and nasty in a hurry," says Meyer. "The only people that messed with him were ones that didn't know him.
"I wouldn't say he's got a mean side to him . . . but he'd put guys down on the ice, so they'd be rolling around for a minute or two. But if he went hunting for people? It could've been ugly."
Details hazy, Frank offers one of his favourite stories. Before a tournament match against a Canadian outfit, George, as is customary in high school, used the full length of the ice for his pre-game laps. This blatant trespassing offended the opponents.
"So I guess they had a couple of scuffles," says Frank, "then they decided George could skate wherever he wanted to."
Another time the right-winger had been approached by scouts.
"Can you fight?" they wondered.
Next game, George tracked down the biggest dude on the opposition, beat him into submission with three punches -- the only blows of the exchange.
All of which made June 21, 1986, a delightfully promising day for Flames followers.
This, of course, is at the height of the Battle of Alberta, the National Hockey League's bloodiest feud. And to hear that the Flames had drafted some 245-pound beast out of the wilds of Minnesota? Man, wait till Edmonton Oilers bully Mark Messier gets a load of this guy.
"I don't think he would've been a prolific scorer, more like a Clark Gillies," Ian McKenzie, the Flames' co-ordinator of scouting at the time, says now.
"A chiselled, big, strong man. He probably would have played at 250. At least."
Draft day, one wise guy suggested that only two things could keep George out of the NHL -- a knife and a fork. Yet body-fat estimates range from six to 10 per cent, tidy numbers to be sure.
To put the lad's size into perspective -- of the 21 first-round picks that year, 16 played pro at 200 pounds or less.
"If he was born in Canada," Dave Peterson, the U.S. Olympic coach, said at the time, "he would have been the No. 1 pick overall in the draft."
Instead of Joe Murphy.
"He's not an NHL prospect," Herb Brooks, legendary hockey man, said, "he's an NHL player."
But the nearby Winnipeg Jets had passed on George -- "We like him," John Ferguson said prior to the draft, then snatched Pat Elynuik at No. 8 -- as did the home-state North Stars, who opted for Warren Babe with the 12th pick.
The Flames, relieved, used the 16th holler to nab Big George.
Pleased by the splash, the Pelawa clan motored homeward from Montreal. They hit Niagara Falls, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. In family photos, George proudly wears his Flames ball cap. He seldom removed it. (It had been on his head the night he was killed. Now it holds down a prominent spot in a glass-encased display beneath the television set.) All that stood between George and NHL glory was a year, maybe two, at UND.
Asked if their son had declared a major, Winnie and Frank hoot. "Hockey," they blurt, laughing.
Meyer remembers helping George move into the UND dorm. "We met this farm hick, saying he was only going to be there a year or two. He was talking about how good he was, how this was just a stopoff. And we're like, 'Who's this clown?' "
Eddie Belfour, as it turns out.
George, like Belfour, had one thing in mind -- NCAA pit stop, then NHL paydays.
"I knew damn well what he was going to do," says Dahl. "Who wouldn't if you're a guy like that? He's the type, too, that would've liked nothing better than to take care of Frank and Winnie and Joe."
Startling is the fact that the boy would be -- should be -- middle-aged.
"Someone asked me about that a couple months ago," says Winnie. "She asks, 'Do you still think about him playing hockey?' She was thinking he'd've still been playing hockey. I said, 'He'd be 42 years old. I don't think he'd be playing hockey anymore.' And she said she didn't realize it had gone that long.
"Joe is 43 . . . and I know George is always a year younger. But in many ways, he's still 18, you know."
Dahl knows the feeling.
Asked to picture his pal these days, he replies, "I would think of it as turning on the TV and watching him and he's 20 years old, 21, 25. It's hard to think of him at 42."
Meyer contemplates the same question, then figures that George would be "washed up." Which is a pleasing thought. It means that the kid may have become a man in the NHL, then retired having maximized all that potential.
(Contrary to online insistence, Tom Cochrane's hit song Big League -- "All the right moves when he turned eighteen, Scholarship and school on a big U.S. team" -- is not about George's demise. Kathleene Cochrane, the performer's wife and manager, confirms this.)
George's considerable fame can be bittersweet.
Their Polish name (Pe-lah-va, by the way) is easily recognized. Recently, Joe was buying fishing gear. The clerk glimpsed at his credit card and asked if George was his brother.
"I'm glad they remember," says Joe, tissue to face. "(But) it brings up a whole flood of memories, thoughts, situations, feelings. I've tried to limit my talking . . . to the non-emotional aspects. It does end up swelling up a lot (of emotion)."
Joe's life is riddled with regret, including wishes that he'd somehow better appreciated George's enormous talent.
Example -- on Feb. 22, 1986, the kid turns 18 and bags a playoff hat trick.
Cool, but no big deal.
"We assumed more awards, more accomplishments, more recognition, was coming," says Joe. "It just seemed like normal events."
It was the little brother's last birthday.
Other triggers sting Winnie.
"Whenever I see No. 8, I think of George," says mom, tearing up. "I think a lot of people here do. Even other teams that you see on TV."
George's bedroom is used by guests. But his stuff -- such as the Flames sweater, the high school jerseys -- is crammed out of sight. And has been for nearly a quarter of a century.
"Things are still in the closet," says Winnie. "We just left the door shut. I just put everything in there and closed the door. It was just easier."
But she's declared herself ready to start sorting her boy's treasures.
Frank, too, is slowly coming around. In the tragedy's aftermath, he'd avoided watching sports. Just couldn't bear it.
But the other day, he pipes up.
"Hey, where's the draft this year?"
Los Angeles, he's told.
"Next year, it's at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center," says Frank, aware that it would be the 25th anniversary of his son's draft day -- in their home state to boot. "I was thinking of going down there."


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CARDIFF, Wales, March 21 (UPI) -- The Anglican Church in Wales has apologized to Muslims for a church publication that featured a copy of a cartoon considered blasphemous to Islam.
Sion Brynach, spokesman for the Archbishop of Wales, Dr. Barry Morgan, said the church was investigating how the cartoon came to be reproduced in the Y Llanmagazine, which means "The Church."
He said a letter from Morgan had been sent to all 400 subscribers to the magazine requesting that they return all copies. Morgan has also apologized to the Muslim Council of Wales for any offence caused, ICWales reported Tuesday.
The cartoon accompanied an article about the shared ancestry of Christianity, Islam and Judaism, and showed the Prophet Mohammed sitting on a cloud with Buddha and Christian and Muslim deities.
Mohammed is being told: "Don't complain ... we've all been caricatured here."
Depictions of the prophet are forbidden in Islam, and international protests over the cartoons first published in a Danish paper last autumn escalated after the images were republished in Europe earlier this year.