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FIFA Taps Into China ManU Announces 17.3% Revenue Growth WADA Rejects RUSADA's Appeal Formula E Invests In Marketing Hangin' With ... Jorge Rincon Executive Transactions Peru Declares Holiday After WC Qualification Names In The News Barcelona Releases Study Of Club's Brand ITV Signs Gary Neville For 2018 World Cup
SBD Global/January 30, 2013/International FootballPrint All
French Magazine Claims Qatar Bought 2022 World Cup, UEFA President Calls Report 'Lies'
Paris magazine France Football published a 15-page report titled "Qatargate" where it accuses the Middle Eastern country of buying the 2022 World Cup, according to Paul Kennedy of SOCCER AMERICA. The accusations "aren't exactly revelatory but they are numerous." Below are some highlights of the France Football report:
- The votes of Confederation of African Football President Issa Hayatou (Cameroon) and Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast) "were bought for $1.5M apiece." However, the whistle-blower, former Qatari bid employee Phaedra Al Majid, "mysteriously retracted" her claims saying she made everything up.
- Qatar "sponsored" the 2010 African confederation congress for a sum of $1.25M to "gain exclusive access" to the four Africans on the FIFA exec committee.
- A Qatari representative "offered to spend millions" on pumping up ailing Argentine football to gain the vote of Argentine Julio Grondona.
- A "sweetheart deal" was made with the Spanish federation (RFEF) to organize a friendly game in Qatar and "silence" RFEF President Angel Maria Villar, who "supposedly had a vote-swapping pact with Qatar to back Spain's 2018 World Cup bid with Portugal and was furious that in fact Russia won the 2018 contest easily."
- The Qatari sports agency Aspire "spent millions on promoting youth sports" in countries with members on FIFA's exec committee.
However, no one interviewed by France Football "thought the decision to award Qatar the 2022 World Cup would be overturned." Qatargate lingers in part because Qatar 2022 "made no sense in the first place." Kennedy opined, "How do you organize a World Cup in a country where the summer temperatures top 110 degrees?" Qatar presented plans to air condition the dozen stadiums it plans to build, but as the U.S. representative on the exec committee Chuck Blazer remarked, "I don't see how you can air-condition an entire country" (SOCCER AMERICA, 1/29). LE MONDE noted the report also brought up "a secret meeting" on Nov. 23, 2010, about 10 days before the FIFA vote, between then French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Qatari Prince Tamin bin Hamad al-Thani, UEFA President Michel Platini and a representative of the then owners of PSG Sébastien Bazin. The report claims that the meeting was about "the purchase of PSG by the Qataris (which happened in June '11) and the creation of a sports channel (beIN Sport) to rival Canal+, which Sarkozy wanted to weaken." In exchange, "Platini would not vote for the United States like he had envisioned, but for Qatar" (LE MONDE, 1/29).
PLATINI RESPONDS: L'EQUIPE reported Platini "quickly hit out" at the claims and called them "lies." Platini said, "To believe that my choice went to Qatar 2022 in exchange for deals between the French state and Qatar is just pure speculation ... I don't rule out taking anyone to court who questions my integrity in this vote." He added, "As I've always stated, President Sarkozy would never have asked me to vote for Qatar 2022 because he knows that I'm my own man. I made my choice with complete independence following a simple logic ... opening up countries who have never organized major sporting events. With the same concern for transparency, it was me who revealed to the media that a few weeks before the vote I was invited to dinner by Nicolas Sarkozy" (L'EQUIPE, 1/29).
Arsenal To Take On Indonesia's National Team In Jakarta During Preseason Tour Of Asia
Arsenal will play a preseason friendly against the Indonesia national team in Jakarta "despite FIFA's continued threat to ban the Southeast Asian team," according to Patrick Johnston of REUTERS. The match will take place on July 14 at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, with the club "also planning further fixtures in Asia" as it continues its commercial push in the EPL-obsessed region. It will be the third year in a row that Arsenal has conducted preseason tours in Asia after Manager Arsene Wenger had "previously favoured taking his squad to mainland Europe for low-key trips." Arsenal will head to "one of the world's most populated countries" where the EPL is king but the country's national team and domestic competition is "in a mess because of a power struggle" (REUTERS, 1/29).
Indian Football League Scrapped Due To Problems With Stadiums, Logistics
An Indian professional football league -- run along the same lines of the franchise-based Indian Premier League cricket tournament -- "has been scrapped due to logistical problems," according to ESPN. The tournament "was set to feature a cast of veteran players" including former Chelsea & AC Milan striker Hernan Crespo, Italy's World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro, former Arsenal winger Robert Pires and ex-Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler alongside local footballers. The league was originally planned to take place in February through March last year, "only to be postponed indefinitely." Indian FA Secretary General Utpal Ganguly said, "The main reasons for not pursuing the project further were logistics like the unavailability of stadia and the backing out of some of the franchises for commercial reasons. Besides, the timing of the league was not suitable for foreign players" (ESPN, 1/29). The AP reported Anilava Chatterjee of private firm Grey Mind, which had bought one of the five franchise teams, said that the problem "lay with getting stadiums in smaller towns of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal." Chatterjee said, "We were told there were problems in getting grounds, especially in the smaller districts, and the project was thus aborted." India-based Celebrity Management Group, which was a partner in the league project, "is contemplating a different league at some point" (AP, 1/29).
Israel President Shimon Peres Demands Probe Into Racism In Football
Israel President Shimon Peres "has called on the country's football authorities to clamp down on racism after Beitar Jerusalem fans protested against the club's intention to sign two Muslim players," according to Harriet Sherwood of the London GUARDIAN. Peres wrote to the Israel FA on Tuesday: "Racism has struck the Jewish people harder than any other nation in the world … the entire country is shocked by this phenomenon and will never agree to come to terms with it." He called for the chairman to take a "determined stance" on racism in football. Beitar Jerusalem Owner Arcadi Gaydamak said that he "would sign the two players from Terek Grozny, a Chechnyan Russian premier league team, despite the protest." Other Israeli clubs "have, or have had, Arab and Muslim players" (GUARDIAN, 1/29).
UEFA Plans To Focus On Marketing Women's Football In Six Countries
The marketing of women's football by national associations was the focus of a workshop in The Hague, Netherlands, held under the auspices of the UEFA Women's Football Development Programme. Within its Women's Football Development Programme, UEFA has answered a number of requests by national associations for assistance in how to market the women's game, and has embarked on an individual assistance plan to help six specific associations -- Scotland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Russia and Austria -- draft a women's football marketing plan. UEFA recommended that the associations focus on their top national league, building a brand identity by, for example, creating a logo for their competition, and through brand activation from perimeter boarding to social media. Clubs are also being encouraged to play an active role in the project. Basic goals include increasing attendance at women's league matches, making the domestic league more attractive and boosting revenue streams in the mid- to long-term future (UEFA).
Football Notes: Ghana AFCON Quaterfinalists Receive $35,000 Each
Each Ghana football player who qualified for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinals received $35,000 (AFP, 1/29). ... The Scottish Premier League Trust has been announced as the latest beneficiary of the Scottish Sport Relief Home and Away program. The £214,500 ($337,000) grant will enable almost 1,000 older people across Scotland to attend an activity program at their local SPL club over the next two years (SPL).


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Book by 31 January 2012 and receive 30% off rates at the Amirandes Grecotel Exclusive Resort on the island of Crete in Greece. Prices start from £645 per person, based on two adults sharing a Superior Guest Room Sea View for seven nights including breakfast, return flights and private transfers. Enjoy a semi-private beach and six restaurants with the discount valid for travel made between 1 May and 17 July, then 22 August and 24 October 2012.
To book contact ITC Classics (01244 355599; www.itcclassics.co.uk)
Featured in our January 2012 issue, Ladakh sits high in the Himalayas in Northern India, with numerous villages lying between 3,200 and 4,000 metres high. Experience this rural and rarely visited Buddhist region with a discount on Red Savannah's Ladakh tour, from £4,214 per person - a saving of £556. Spend two nights in Delhi at the beginning of your trip and one at the end, all on a bed-and-breakfast basis, with seven nights in Ladakh in between. Stay in Ladakhi village houses on a full-board basis, and travel between on foot, by river raft or by private 4x4/MPV. Price also includes international flights with Jet Airways, transfers, porters, cook and an English-speaking guide. Travel must be completed in May, June or September 2012.
To book contact Red Savannah (01242 787800; www.redsavannah.com/special-offers)
Save up to £2,000 per couple on a last-minute deal to Botswana, in southern Africa. Walk with elephants, sleep in classic safari tents and enjoy hydrotherapy treatments during a three-night stay at Sanctuary's Stanley's Camp, then another three nights at its Chief's Camp, and finally two nights at Chobe Chilwero resort - a total of eight nights for £4,400 per person. Prices include British Airways return flights, internal flights and transfers. Holiday must be booked by 24 January and is valid for travel until 29 February.
To book contact Abercrombie & Kent (0845 618 2202; www.abercrombiekent.co.uk/offers)
Receive two complimentary nights and a free meal upgrade plan at the Four Seasons Resort Langkawi, in Malaysia. Spend eight nights in a deluxe room on a half-board basis between 27 January and 31 March 2012 from just £2,660 per person - a saving of £2,550 per couple. Price includes return economy class flights and private transfers.
To book contact Seasons (01244 202077; www.seasons.co.uk)
Austria skiing
Need to work off those Yorkshire puddings? Take advantage of a very last-minute ski deal - a stay at the luxurious Chalet Montfort in St Anton, Austria for a £465 discount per person. Now just £895 per person, this week-long break departs 15 January 2012, and includes seven nights' half board plus concierge service. Flights and transfers are not included.
To book contact Kaluma Travel (01730 260263; www.kalumatravel.co.uk)
Wild West
Intrepid travellers can save £483 per person on a 28-day 'National Parks of the West' tour. Explore 11 parks and monuments, go horse-riding and white-water-rafting on Snake River, see the lava and volcanic cones in Idaho and watch the sunset in the dramatic surroundings of the Grand Canyon. Prices start from £1,935 per person, including accommodation (in hotels, on campsites, and a ranch), private transfers, most meals and activities; excluding international flights. Book by 13 January 2012 for departures between February and September 2012.
To book contact Grand American Adventures (0844 576 1406; www.grandamericanadventures.com)
Volunteer in Vietnam and stay on free
Pay for three nights at the Six Senses Ninh Van Bay in Nha Trang, Vietnam, and receive another three nights for free in exchange for three days' voluntary work (minimum four hours a day) in the local community. Join the local orphanage in Nha Trang on day one, spend half a day snorkelling on the local coral reef and removing harmful litter on day two, and on the third help the gardeners in the Aromatic Garden and in the production of essential oils, finishing with a raw food/slow life cooking experience. Travel is for selected dates between May to October 2012.
To book contact Scott Dunn (020 8682 5400; Scott Dunn website)
Escape the chilly British winter on a discounted last-minute safari in Etosha National Park, in Namibia. The landscape ranges from a coastline rich with marine life and birds to desert dunes and wilderness that's home to elephants and lions. Prices for the eight-night Namibia Winter Special Itinerary start from £3,475 per person based on two adults sharing - a saving of £1,140 per couple. Or save £1,600 for a family of four travelling together; adults start from £2,995 and children from £2,685. Flights, private transfers, all meals, selected drinks and experienced driver-guide are all included. Accommodation comprises three nights in boutique guesthouses, one night in a National Park chalet and four nights in luxury lodges. Travel must be completed between January and March 2012.
To book contact Reef and Rainforest (01803 866965; www.reefandrainforest.co.uk)
(Pictured: The monastry at Likir, as part of the Ladakh tour in the Himalayas)
All prices correct at time of publishing. All offers subject to change and availability.
Enter our competitions for the chance to win a holiday!
Don't forget that CNTraveller.com offers the best rates on our favourite hotels - book here

subset: commoncrawl


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Deputies talk about their job
National Police Week is May 12-18, and to help our readers better understand the job that puts men and women in harm's way to protect their neighbors, the PJ interviewed members of the Wadena County Sheriff's Office about what they do.
Joe Schoon
Deputy Joe Schoon is originally from Sebeka, got his Criminal Justice degree from Brainerd Central Lakes College and now lives in Menahga. He's been with the sheriff's office for 16 years, eight of which were part-time while also working for the Menahga Police Department and eight as a full-time deputy. To Schoon, the best part of being on patrol is the variety as well as when he is able to help people in a way that causes them to thank him, and thereby offer Schoon proof he's doing a good job. The most difficult part is when the exact opposite occurs: deputies are unable to help the citizens of Wadena County by closing a case; or they find themselves coming back to a particular place or person again and again with no progress. Particularly troubling are the domestic disturbance calls, which Schoon has seen more of in recent years as the economy struggles.
"Whenever there's kids involved, that makes it really hard," he said. "If there's kids involved, they're caught in the middle; you can see the frustration on the kid's face."
Schoon talked about several different pieces of advice given to those new to the force about how to deal with the emotionally negative aspects of the job. In a profession where deputies often deal with hostility from the civilians they encounter while working, it's important not to take things personally, Schoon said.
"You've got to remember; these people aren't angry with you," he said. "They're angry with your uniform."
It's also important for new deputies to remember not to bottle up their bad experiences and shut out their families from what's going on. Don't take the job home with you, Schoon said, but don't be afraid to open up, either.
"If you got a bad call, and you come home and you're totally quiet and don't say anything... it causes tension," Schoon said.
Wadena County is advantageous territory for deputies because it's a small county with relatively few residents. That means deputies can quickly get to know everyone, Schoon said. The sheriff's office itself also benefits from being smaller, because it gives deputies the chance to form a tight-knit group rather than working in a huge department full of anonymous faces.
"There's a lot of camaraderie amongst all the officers -- doesn't matter if they're with the sheriff's office or the local P.D.," he said.
The only interview question Schoon was hesitant to answer was about his favorite cop movie. He finally settled on the first Lethal Weapon, but added that the series went downhill in the sequels that followed.
Amy Ament
Investigator Amy Ament grew up in Sebeka, graduating from high school there in 2002. She graduated from Alexandria Technical College in 2004, and currently lives in rural Wadena with her husband and two children. She began working in law enforcement in 2004, and was promoted to investigations in 2007. The challenge of the investigations job has been an enjoyable aspect of working for the sheriff's office , she said.
Ament echoed Schoon in saying that there's no such thing as a typical day while working as a cop.
"An ideal day is one that runs smoothly," Ament said. "A bad day is one that does not."
When asked to name one thing she'd like the average citizen to know about law enforcement, Ament responded by warning people not to assume something fishy is going on when they see police visit their neighbors.
"Just because you see law enforcement at someone's house does not mean someone is going to jail," she said. "We also deal with many civil aspects of the job, assist with medicals and sometimes just randomly stop out to visit with people."
Ament described the technological advancement she's seen during her nearly ten years in law enforcement as "mind blowing", and said one "huge change" was Wadena County's switch to paperless operations.


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Compact and portable ultra-short throw WXGA projectorCompact, portable and easy to set up the ultra-short throw LV-WX300UST features native WXGA resolution and is ideal for projecting bright, clear widescreen images in small meeting rooms and classrooms.- Compact and portable ultra-short throw projector weighing only 5kg- Effortlessly project bright, clear 100" images from just 445mm away- DLP panel with native WXGA resolution (1280 x 800 pixels) and 16:10 aspect ratio- Enjoy a vivid 3000 lumens brightness and 2300:1 contrast ratio- +/-40° Vertical Keystone Correction- Up to 8000h lamp life and only 29dBA in Eco mode- 6 Axis colour adjustment with advanced screen colour tuning- 2 x HDMI ports and RJ-45 network port- Built-in 2 x 10W speakersCompact and portable ultra-short throw projectorThe ultra-short throw LV-WX300UST offers large screen projection, even where space is very limited. It projects a crisp, clear 100-inch image from a projection distance of just 44.5cm. When wall mounted this prevents presenters being dazzled, minimises the area that can be covered by the presenter's body and eliminates shadows on the screen. With compact external dimensions of 287 x 122.6 x 374.5mm and weighing just 5kg it is also small and light enough to be carried easily between locations. This makes it perfect for business and educational establishments where they need to project in a number of small meeting rooms or classrooms across a corporate office or campus.Exceptional vivid image qualityThe LV-WX300UST delivers bright, sharp and faithful images, thanks to the projector's DLP technology with its native WXGA resolution (1280 x 800 pixels), 3000 lumens brightness and 2300:1 contrast ratio. Colours are strong and true with deep blacks. Text is easier to read, graphics appear smooth and there is no trace of the lattice effect found in traditional LCD projectors. Together with a 16:10 wide-aspect ratio, it is ideal for use with today's widescreen notebook computers.Easy to set upYou can ensure images retain perfect geometry even in tight spaces using the vertical (+/-40 degrees) keystone correction. Advanced 6 Axis colour adjustment and screen colour tuning enables clear projected images on any coloured surface when no white projector screen is available.Versatile connection optionsProject still and moving images from a wide range of sources using the LV-WX300UST's extensive choice of inputs. These include two HDMI™ ports to project bright and sharp images from a wide range of digital video and computer sources. The built in RJ-45 network port enables remote monitoring and control and supports the 'Crestron Connected™' standard. Add high-quality sound to presentations using the two built-in 10W speakers.Economical and easy to maintainThe LV-WX300UST is economical to run thanks to a 5000-hour lamp life, which the energy-saving Eco Mode extends up to 8000 hours. Eco Mode also reduces energy consumption to just 270W and fan noise to 29 dBA for a quieter, environment. Maintenance is simple with quick and easy lamp and filter replacement.
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Remarks by Helen Clark at the Haiti Donor ConferenceMar 31, 2010
Remarks by Helen Clark, Chair of the United Nations Development Group
On the occasion of the International Donors' Conference Towards a New Future for Haiti
Wednesday, 31 March, 2010
New York
President Préval,
Secretary of State Clinton,
President Clinton,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Central to the Action Plan just presented by Haiti's Prime Minister today is the vision to build Haiti anew. The UN Development System will help Haiti achieve that goal.
Since the earthquake, our agencies have been among the many providing humanitarian support to Haitians under extremely difficult circumstances.
But much remains to be done. As the rains are starting and the hurricane season is approaching, the shelter needs are especially pressing. Unless urgent humanitarian needs are met, and the revised Flash Appeal is fully funded, ensuring a smooth transition to recovery and development becomes more difficult.
The UN, together with other partners, has been supporting the Government of Haiti to quantify the recovery needs through the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment. That provided a strategic contribution to the Government's Action Plan.
It is critical that the pledges made towards the $3.86 billion required over the next eighteen months to get recovery going are quickly fulfilled, and are additional to the emergency response.
As we mobilise to support Haiti's recovery, let me make five points on behalf of the UN Development Group.
First, the Government and people of Haiti must be in the driver's seat of the recovery. International resources must be aligned with national priorities.
The UN agencies will support strengthening of Haitian institutions, at national and sub-national levels, and support good governance.
We will also support full engagement in the recovery of civil society and the private sector, including the Haitian diaspora. The inclusion of women at decision-making tables will be vital for lasting progress.
The UN will support short term job creation; the development of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises; and the creation of the enabling environment needed for investors to help generate sustainable employment over the long term.
Second, we will support the spread of development across the country, so that all Haitians have a chance to benefit from this recovery. Our support will cover the provision of educational and training facilities; cash-and food-for-work programmes; and assistance for agricultural rehabilitation and production.
As part of that work, the UN will actively support the Government's commitment to decentralize more authority to local levels.
Third, restoration of ecosystems and implementing disaster risk reduction measures must be at the core of the reconstruction. UN agencies will help to do that, including through the development of early warning systems and better watershed management.
Fourth, the UN will uphold human rights standards; the protection and empowerment of women and girls, children and young people, and other vulnerable groups. We believe that addressing persistent inequalities is vital.
With the necessary resources, we can assist the Government to develop effective social protection to combat extreme poverty; we can help improve access to education, health services, and clean water and sanitation; and we can help promote food security and nutrition.
We can also help the Government to deliver justice and security services.
Fifth, and last, co-ordination, mutual accountability and transparency are imperatives for us all. All partners in Haiti's recovery must fulfill their commitments.
The UN has helped establish a publicly-accessible aid information management system to track aid disbursements and results in Haiti. This will strengthen national aid co-ordination efforts.
The UN is working closely with the World Bank and IADB to support the establishment of a Haiti Reconstruction Fund. We have finalized the UN component of the Fund and stand ready to help implement priority activities immediately.
Let today's pledging conference pave the way for building back better in Haiti. With sufficient resources, the vision presented today by the Government of Haiti on behalf of Haitian people can become reality.


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PASADENA, Calif.—Pasadena residents and businesses are reminded that City Hall and many City services will be closed Monday, Feb. 13, 2017, in observance of Lincoln's birthday, and Monday, Feb. 20, 2017, for Washington's birthday. Specific closures, reminders and exceptions are listed below.
The Pasadena Fire and Police departments will continue to provide patrol, jail, fire, paramedic and other emergency services during the holiday. For life-threatening emergencies, remember to always call 9-1-1. "If You See Something, Say Something" by calling the Pasadena Police Department at (626) 744-4241 for non-emergencies.
The Pasadena City Council will not meet on either Monday closure. The City Council and the Pasadena Unified School District will hold their annual joint meeting on Thursday, Feb. 16 at City Hall. The next regularly scheduled Council meeting is Monday, Feb. 27.
Pasadena's Citizen Service Center, (626) 744-7311, www.cityofpasadena.net/Citizen-Service-Center, will remain open both days, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., for calls from the public.
Pasadena residents and businesses with any power emergencies should call the Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) Department at (626) 744-4673 and for water-related emergencies call (626) 744-4138. PWP's regular Customer Call Center will be closed for the holidays, but customers can access their accounts and pay bills online at www.PWPweb.com or by calling (626) 744-4005.
The City's Municipal Services Payment Center at City Hall will be closed both days, as will the Parking Office, for citation payments, at 221 E. Walnut St.
Trash, recycling and yard waste pickups will be on the regular schedule, including bulky item pickups.
Pasadena Transit and Dial-A-Ride buses will operate on regular schedules for both days. All parking meters will be in operation, and time limits as well as all parking violations will be enforced on Feb.13. On Feb. 20, all parking meters will be free, and parking time limits will not be enforced. Parking meter enforcement will resume Feb. 21. Violations for red curb parking, overnight parking and blocking fire hydrants will continue to be enforced on both holidays.
All Pasadena Public Library sites will be closed Feb. 12-13 and Feb. 19-20 in observance of the holidays.
All community centers operated by the City's Human Services and Recreation Department will be closed both holidays. All parks will be open for picnics, fun and play, but no site reservations are accepted for the holidays.
Stay connected to the City of Pasadena! Visit us online at www.cityofpasadena.net; follow us on Twitter @PasadenaGov, www.twitter.com/pasadenagov, and Instagram @PasadenaGov, www.instagram.com/pasadenagov; like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cityofpasadena; and subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/pasadenagov. Or call the Citizen Service Center, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday at (626) 744-7311.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 6, 2017 #007-17
NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: William H. Boyer, Public Information Officer, City Manager's Office, (626) 744-4755, firstname.lastname@example.com


text: 2014-2015 England Cotton Training Tee (White). Official England Rugby Cotton Training Tee which is available to buy online in adult sizes S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL. This is the new mens England training tee shirt for the 2014 2015 season, which is manufactured by Canterbury and is available to buy online.The natural feel of this England training tee will provide total comfort making this the ideal choice for training or leisure.The England Cotton Training T-Shirt has a slightly tapered fit and is constructed from 100% cotton single jersey for complete comfort. Styled in white, this top is instantly recognisable as an Official England product.Benefits of this England Cotton Training T-Shirt •100% Cotton single jersey•Flatlocked seams•Embroidered logos•Printed sponsor logoProduct Code E545843A81


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Dean McDermott Cheated On Tori Spelling Because Sex Every 14 Days Wasn't Enough
Ugh you guys, I'm never getting married. Or at least, I'm never getting married to Dean McDermott. Not only is he now two for two in the category of Wives He's Been Unfaithful To, but he also seems bound and determined to find a way to blame his cheating on the very person he was cheating on, in this case, Tori Spelling. Charming.
A more extensive clip has been released for Tori's new reality show, True Tori, which premieres tonight at 10:00pm on Lifetime, and in it, we see the couple undergoing marriage counseling. Because that's totally something that should take place on camera and not behind closed doors. What could go wrong? (Answer: I could see it and write the exact post that I'm working on now.)
It starts with Dean complaining to their therapist about the slump their sex life has been in:
Dean: "We have four kids, so in the sex department, there were ebbs and flows. Is that fair to say?
Tori: "We had a great relationship, and we had a great sex life."
Dean: "We had sex once every two weeks. It wasn't…fantastic."
Tori's wild gesticulations, and a therapist so shocked by his statement that she doesn't even bother to be neutral. In response to Tori's disbelief, she just goes, "I know" and then follows that up with:
"Dean, your expectations of what a marriage is supposed to be like sexually — it's like a fairytale.
UM YEAH. But seriously dude, every fourteen days? That was rarely enough for you to justifying straying outside your marriage? You guys have been married for eight years and had four children together! I'm honestly surprised you two have sex at all, let alone multiple times a month. There are a ton of guys (married and otherwise) out there who would trade places with you in a heartbeat.
He manages to get it so turned around that he's almost describing himself as the victim here, saying that cheating is his nightmare.
"My worst nightmare is what I did. Absolutely. I cheated on my wife. That's my worst nightmare."
Yeah but the thing is, you were awake. So sack up and take some responsibility for yourself, because if we're being fair, you know who this might be a bigger nightmare for? Your wife.
(Image: Lifetime)


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MIAMI - Miami-Dade police are searching for three men who claimed to be police officers, held residents at gunpoint and ransacked their house Friday morning.
A 40-year-old man woke up just before 2:30 a.m. Friday when three men came into his home at 30992 SW 195th Ave. Police said the robbers entered through a sliding-glass door.
The robbers held the man at gunpoint and forced him to walk through the house, waking a 23-year-old woman and a 54-year-old man who also live there, police said.
The gunmen said they were police and then ransacked the house, demanding property, police said. They grabbed some jewelry and electronics and then escaped, police said.
Two girls, ages 9 and 6, slept through the robbery.
The robbers were described as two men in their 30s, both of whom had guns, and one in his 40s, who carried bolt cutters. One was about 5 feet 8 inches and 195 pounds and had a tattoo on his right arm above the elbow. A second man in his 30s was 5 feet 9 inches tall and 175 pounds and wore a shirt and cap that said "Police." The third man, who is in his 40s, was about 5 feet 4 inches tall and 145 pounds.
Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS (8477).
Copyright 2012 by Post Newsweek. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Photo Galleries
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BAGHDAD: Mercer's 2010 annual quality of life survey of 221 cites ranked the Iraqi capital as the worst place in the world to live, and the ongoing war and sectarian violence likely weighed heavily in this rating. A lack of security and political stability continue to undermine Baghdad's quality of living, Mercer found. Iraqi people, seen here through a shrapnel hole, walk past the site of a car bomb in Baghdad on May 13 after an explosion ripped through a popular cafe the night before.
Karim Kadim/AP
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© The Christian Science Monitor. All Rights Reserved.


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Article Post
Billing and Payment Life Cycle Manager
Integrys Utilities
Member since 2011
Billing and Payment Life Cycle Manager, Integrys Utilities
Integrys Takes a Multi-Pronged Approach to Drive E-Billing Growth
Despite the fact that electronic bills, or e-bills, have been around for more than a decade, there is still a lack of consumer awareness about them. Many consumers lack insight into the availability of e-bills, how they work, and their benefits. This general lack of knowledge is a factor in lower than hoped e-bill adoption rates -- which hover around 10 percent for many utility companies1.
Integrys Energy Group is among the companies seeking to overcome this awareness challenge and grow e-bill adoption significantly over the coming years. The holding company, which serves nearly two million customers through six Midwestern subsidiaries, has launched a set of initiatives intended to propel e-bill use among their customers past the 20 percent mark by end of 2012. This would result in a total of more than 350,000 e-bill users. Timing for these initiatives appears to be good, as a survey from billing and payment technology provider Fiserv indicates that consumers are becoming more receptive to e-bills. According to the 2011 survey, interest in receiving e-bills is at 26 percent among consumers who pay bills online at financial institution websites. Another 50 percent are still on the fence as to whether or not they would consider using the e-bill option2.
For Integrys, driving more e-bills is part of a strategic goal to increase customer satisfaction and promote Web self-service activities, as well as manage costs by reducing operating and bill processing expenses. The company is likely to realize other business benefits as well, as studies have shown e-bill users are 35 percent more likely to pay their bills on time3.
Integrys has significantly increased e-bill use among customers over the last few years and is on target to exceed its ambitious 2012 goal. The company's proactive initiatives -- innovative user interfaces and service enhancements, customer care associate campaigns and comprehensive marketing campaigns -- serve as a model for how utilities can grow electronic billing to achieve their business objectives.
Innovative User Interface and Service Enhancements
American consumers have indicated that making a payment or viewing a bill are the primary reasons they visit the websites of companies from which they receive services4, making the website an ideal place to aggressively promote e-bills.
Integrys prominently features billing and payment options on the website home pages, and has developed comprehensive "billing and payment" landing pages that strategically highlight high-value, low-cost billing and payment options such as e-bills. By properly balancing billing and payment information with promotions, products, tips and other content on its website, Integrys can realize maximum adoption rates, minimal abandonment's and a more satisfactory customer Web experience.
To further maximize adoption, Integrys provides e-bill education and information within the billing and payment sections of their websites so that consumers understand the process of turning off their paper statements. Integrys leverages a cost-effective outsourcing technology, which allows them to customize in-product messaging with their own terminology and language. This innovative approach can improve the user experience, by enabling better understanding of how the service works.
In addition to enhancing the user experience on their own websites, Integrys has expanded their e-bill delivery options to include financial institutions, making e-bills available to more customers. Integrys customers can view their bills online at an extensive network of 3,000 local and national financial institutions. By enabling both biller direct and financial institution e-bill delivery, Integrys allows the customer to choose how they wish to view, manage and pay their bills, increasing customer satisfaction. Studies have shown that customers who receive e-bills have an overall customer satisfaction score that is significantly higher than the average paper bill customer. And 37 percent of consumers who receive e-bills at financial institution websites say that e-bills have improved their relationship with the company from which they receive the bill.5
Customer Care Associate Campaigns
In addition to marketing e-bills on their website home pages and within the billing and payment section of their sites, Integrys actively targets customers contacting the call center. The company's customer care associates receive extensive, training on Integrys's electronic billing and payment options, to help drive enthusiasm and support. As a result, they engage customers frequently and consistently on the phone about the benefits of e-bills. They also gather email addresses from customers who are interested in receiving additional information, so those customers can be sent a follow-up email with simple steps for signing up for e-bill. On average, response rates to those emails have been an impressive 36 percent. Once collected, these email addresses can also be used in subsequent e-bill marketing campaigns, specifically targeting those who expressed interest in e-bill in the past but haven't enrolled yet.
A major factor in the success of the call center campaigns, and the overall efforts of Integrys to increase e-bill use, is that the efforts are driven by strong executive-level support, with senior management directly communicating their importance. Additionally, Integrys employees are included in celebration of milestone goals achieved throughout the year because of the important role they play in driving adoption.
Comprehensive Marketing Campaigns
Another key component of Integrys's efforts to drive e-bill adoption is comprehensive marketing campaigns. Integrys understands the importance of ongoing, multi-channel marketing communications to educate their 1.8 million customers about the benefits of receiving and paying their bills online, as targeted marketing campaigns directly impact e-bill adoption. The company leverages a broad range of channels in a coordinated approach, including:
- Web advertising
- Targeted email campaigns
- Direct mail campaigns
- Bill inserts
- Sweepstakes campaigns
Integrys's most successful campaigns include:
Targeting Those Most Likely to Adopt E-Billing: Leveraging the e-mail addresses that the customer care associates from two of the Integrys subsidiaries began collecting in 2010, a follow-up e-mail campaign targeted those customers who had not yet signed up for e-bills. As of November 2010, response rates for Wisconsin Public Service were 19 percent and Upper Peninsula Power Company was 23 percent. Additionally, through its partnership with Fiserv to deliver e-bills to financial institution websites, Integrys is able to target marketing messages to customers that make payments electronically using online banking, but continue to receive paper bills in the mail. Via direct mail and email campaigns, Integrys educates their customers who are already using the online channel for payments about the additional benefits e-bills can provide. Response rates from these marketing tactics have been as high as 10 percent.
Incentives for going Paperless: Integrys conducted its first incentive sweepstakes campaign, the Super Paper Saver Sweepstakes, near the end of 2010, encouraging customers to sign up for paperless billing by offering a grand prize of a $250 gift card. Results were a 28 percent increase over normal growth. Because of these results, Integrys launched a similar campaign in September 2011.
Integrys Maximizes Customer Billing Interactions, While Driving E-Bill Adoption
E-bills deliver a variety of benefits for billers and their customers alike. Recognizing this, Integrys has provided multiple, convenient ways for customers to receive and pay their bills online, and has complemented those services with a multi-pronged set of initiatives to drive adoption and use.
By leveraging a variety of best practices -- innovative user interface and service enhancements, customer care associate campaigns and comprehensive marketing campaigns -- Integrys is maximizing its ability to successfully reach its e-billing goals for 2012 and beyond.
1."Paperless Billing and Payment Adoption Rates, 2011" Chartwell, 2011
2.2011 Billing Household Survey: Consumer Survey of Offline and Online Billing and Pyament Practices," Fiserve Consumer Insights, 2011
3."Research Study on the Impact of Bill Presentment and Payment on Retention and Profitability for Qwest Communications," Aspen Marketing Services, 2009
4.2011 Billing Household Survey: Consumer Survey of Offline and Online Billing and Pyament Practices," Fiserve Consumer Insights, 2011
5. 2011 Billing Household Survey: Consumer Survey of Offline and Online Billing and Pyament Practices," Fiserve Consumer Insights, 2011
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Written on: 17/07/2013 by alanstar599 (0 reviews written)
This is my first time purchasing an item from onlineeconomygolf.com and it was a great experience. The prices are very reasonable and the shipping was super
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Husky Liners WeatherBeater Floor Liners 83701
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A Good time was had by many at the 7th Street Theater showing of award-winning musical South Pacific over the weekend.
Facebook follower DiAnna Baker Malone posted the album: Movie Night at the 7th Street Theater.
"South Pacific Great Show tonight at the Awesome 7th Street Theater. Thank you KBKW for the Tickets & to the long list of people who keep the 7th Street Theater Up & Running!"
Post by Newstalk KBKW.


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Sole amandine is a classic preparation for the delicate fish, pairing it with toasty almonds and a lemon butter sauce. Lightly cooked Brussels sprouts add texture.
- Yield
- Makes 1 serving
- Active Time
- 15 min
- Total Time
- 15 min
- 1 cup thinly sliced Brussels sprouts (6 to 8)
- 2 (3- to 4-ounce) sole fillets
- All-purpose flour for dredging
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 2 tablespoons sliced almonds
- 2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- Accompaniment: lemon wedge
- Toss Brussels sprouts with 1/4 teaspoon salt and steam on a rack over boiling water, covered, until just tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a warm plate.
- Meanwhile, pat fish dry and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Dredge in flour, knocking off excess.
- Heat oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until foam subsides. Cook fish, turning once, until browned and just cooked through, 2 1/2 to 3 minutes total. Add fish to plate with Brussels sprouts.
- Discard fat from skillet and reduce heat to medium-low. Add almonds and remaining 2 tablespoons butter and cook, stirring, until almonds and butter are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over fish and Brussels sprouts.
Related Video
Nutritional Info
- Calories791
- Carbohydrates15 g(5%)
- Fat62 g(95%)
- Protein47 g(94%)
- Saturated Fat25 g(124%)
- Sodium992 mg(41%)
- Polyunsaturated Fat7 g
- Fiber5 g(21%)
- Monounsaturated Fat25 g
- Cholesterol238 mg(79%)


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Pension Benefits and Male-Female Wage Differentials
Female members of defined benefit pension plans will receive greater pension benefits than males with identical work and earnings histories, since females have greater longevity. Yet females have higher turnover rates and lower earnings, both of which serve to reduce pension benefits relative to those received by males. The authors illustrate the net effect, on pension benefits in defined benefit plans, of gender differences in longevity, turnover, and wages. They conclude that females tend to receive lower pension benefits and, therefore, that pension benefits are more likely to exacerbate than to reduce the male-female wage gap.
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Volume (Year): 24 (1991)
Issue (Month): 3 (August)
Pages: 536-550
|Contact details of provider:
| Postal: Canadian Economics Association Prof. Steven Ambler, Secretary-Treasurer c/o Olivier Lebert, CEA/CJE/CPP Office C.P. 35006, 1221 Fleury Est Montréal, Québec, Canada H2C 3K4
Web page: http://economics.ca/cje/
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Edit Article
wikiHow to Roleplay on San Andreas Multiplayer
If you're new to San Andreas Multiplayer or new to the roleplaying side, this article is for you!
1Create a background story. Roleplay is acting as if you're in real life so you're going to need a character name such as Emilio_Carino.
- Once you have your name, you'll need to determine where he/she is from, how old he/she is and how tall he/she is, also how much he/she weighs. This is extremely important for roleplay because you'll need to communicate with other people and you need to fit in the right group or you'll get hurt.
2Now, you're going to need to know the main rules about roleplaying. You're going to need to know the following terms: Metagaming, Powergaming, Bunnyhopping, Deathmatching, Revenge killing, In character, Out of Character. There are so much more but these are the main terms you must know. So, we'll start off with metagaming.
- Metagaming is using out of character information, in character. So, let's say your friend is getting robbed and he private messages you where he's getting robbed and by who, so you come over and kill the robbers. This is metagaming as you didn't find this out in character.
- Powergaming is forcing action upon another character without allowing them to roleplay back such as you punching your enemy and creating the emote with this; *Emilio Carino punches John Doe in the face, breaking his nose and knocking him out* This is powergaming and is not allowed. There is another type of powergaming which is doing things that are physically and mentally impossible such as *Emilio Carino picks up a garbage truck, throwing it over a tall building* This is impossible and considered powergaming.
- Bunnyhopping is quite simple, bunnyhopping is pressing the jump button multiple times in a row to get somewhere quicker and abusing the system.
- Deathmatching is killing someone for a horrible reason such as killing because he/she told you to f**k off.
- Revenge killing is killing someone who has previously killed you within an hour or so and they haven't done anything. Once someone has killed you, it means that you cannot approach them again and kill them or have previous memories.
- In Character is asking as if you were in real life.
- Out of Character is PMs, and other things with the out of character brackets (( ))
Community Q&A
Ask a Question
200 characters leftSubmit
- Command for emotes are /me or /ame
- Command for out of character chats are /b and /pm
- You will get banned or jailed if you break a rule
- Have fun
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Patients in Blackwood recommend Hilltop View Dental Practice.
In fact, some of our loyal patients travel all the way from Swindon just for a check up with us.
That's because our friendly and relaxed staff always make you feel at home, so you don't have to dread going for that dentist appointment.
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text:
Artist description:
I had some free time..I did this.. it's the same feelin' when u can't get through someone while thinking of him/her keeps on hurting you.
Java Draw Created Dec 12, 2008 470 x 338px Unless noted Copyright 2008 Sophie-Chan.
We encourage you to submit a comment and let the artist know what you think of this drawing. Please log in or join to post a comment.
Post a comment
you are EPICly awesome! This is leaving me awestruck. Im only good with pen and paper
so cool
love it!
OMGosh THis is AMAZING ..erm WOW!
Awesome! 5/5! I love it!
wish i could draw manga, but i can only do abstract and such. check it out. very cool pic, 5/5!
she looks like she is so cold!
spectacular :)
so pretty .....come rate my new drawing ^^ please 5*


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Personal Touch; Do People Skills Make Me A Better Photographer? Page 2
Third, I try to visualize in advance the emotion I'm after. The people you're interested in photographing have something that makes you want to photograph them. I'm attracted by something: the way they look, their demeanor, their photogenic quality, how they move, their expression. Usually within a minute of meeting someone I can figure out what kind of emotion I want to get from them, and what kind of emotion they're capable of giving. Maybe it's a laugh or a wistful look. I'm looking for what they're good at giving, and I direct them toward it, partly by being demonstrative and emotional while I'm working with them. While I'm shooting I let them know that I'm happy with what I'm getting. I don't hold back, I'm not reserved. I let them know how I feel about what we're doing. Professional models are doing a job, of course, but I think everyone wants to have feedback from the photographer; they want the security of knowing that they're doing it right. I encourage them--"That's it, that's good!"--when we're getting it right.
Finally, I want the exchange to be positive. "Exchange" is a key--we all should get something from the experience. For many of the people I photograph, the session may be their first real experience in front of a camera, and I realize that it's my chance to make a positive impression and make them feel good about what they're doing. I let them know that I appreciate what they're doing for me and with me.
So, those are the things that are more important to my pictures being successful than my camera, my organizational skills, or my experience. It's not the gear, it's me. Sound egotistical? Not when the people who pay me and buy my photos say it. Telling me that I'm good with people is exactly what I hope to hear.
- Check Out These Zany Photo "Fixes" from Photoshop Wizard and Humorist James Fridman
- Learn These Simple Custom Camera Settings and You'll Never Miss a Shot Again (VIDEO)
- Portrait Tips: How to Shoot Eye-Popping Portraits Like a Top Russian Pro (VIDEO)
- Wildlife Tips: Learn How to Make Stunning Photos of Birds in Flight with Top Pro Sam Rowley (VIDEO)
- Portrait Tutorial: A Small Shift in Vantage Point Can Make a BIG Difference in Your Photos (VIDEO)


text: Draped for the Season–Taras Koltun appears in an editorial for the latest edition of BlackBook, photographed by Jason Kim. Draped in fall fashions from the likes of Acne and Raf Simons, the DNA model is outfitted by Christopher Campbell of Atelier Management. / Hair by Anthony Nader and makeup by Samantha Trinh, both of Atelier Management.


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From vessels to interesting objects, accessories are what bring personal touches into a space. When looking to make a strong impact, less is more; choose a few items with bold color and interesting shape versus too many. In our years of practice, nothing cuts through a tablescape or bookcase like a stroke of black. Leave the tchotchkes at grandma's house and let a dark silhouette make a strong statement with our top picks below: Sources 1. 3-Piece Pyramid Object Set – Dwell Studio / 2. Horace – Made Goods / 3. Bitters Bottle – Michele Varian / 4. Branch Annona Vase – Barneys / 5. Smythson Panama Watch Box – Barneys / 6. 3-Piece Star Objet Set – Dwell Studio / 7. Iron Bird – Jonathan Adler
Rye Turns Two
The saying "time flies when you're having fun" could not hold more true for Rye Snayd. His smile and laughter is what keeps the studio going when times get hectic, and we could not be more proud of him as he grows into the happiest kid around. We recently had the pleasure of taking some time away from the studio to celebrate little man's second year of life. Here are some of our favorite moments of the evening, captured by Izzy Hudgins Photography.
Mantle Mantra
With all this talk of a "Southern Freeze", we have our minds wandering to warmer places. What better way to catch up on good conversation and even better company than around an open fire? Take a look through some of our favorite fireplace settings to date and learn a few tricks on how to turn your hearth into something worth bragging about. We pulled home accessories that bring out the deep violet tones of the ceramic tile surround. Offset dark hues with a tertiary color like this subtle mint green to keep the space looking fresh. Go bold with a stark white mantle, bringing pops of color in through a surround or dark hearth. The stacked fireplaces in this historic downtown home left this room with a quirky, off-center surround. We then played off this asymmetry by centering the mirror to the actual opening and filled the empty…
Happy Holidays from Rethink
Holidays at Rethink are busy because we tend to put a greater focus on our clients than ourselves this time of year. But sometimes, as we share below, we get to carve out a quiet afternoon to enjoy each other's company and even have a few slices of homemade pumpkin bread. In addition to spending time with friends and family, we like to reflect on the studio's progress and potential for the future. Since this time last year, we've had the privilege to transform several residences throughout Savannah as well as jump into an exciting new cafe right in the heart of downtown. With a few events sprinkled in between like a celebration of the city and a cozy holiday party, there's no doubt we had our work cut out for us. In the end, we grew as a studio and look forward to what the new year will bring.…
Camp Circa 2013
When Circa Lighting asked us to turn their new warehouse space into a cozy holiday party, we were excited to take on the challenge. Using the adjacent lot as inspiration for an outdoors event that focused on getting back to nature, we staged a camp-like space where Circa's hard-working "scouts" could relax around an open fire and regale on this year's finest moments. With an old, rusted canoe, two trailers of hay, and a sea of candlelit mason jars, we gave the folks at Circa a camp experience worth writing home about. Take a look at some of our favorite event details captured by Izzy Hudgins Photography:


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BOARD-L ArchivesArchiver > BOARD > 1998-09 > 0904852762
From: Nancy Trice <>
Subject: Re: [BOARD-L] [Fwd: FW: USGenWeb Archives - KS]
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1998 14:59:22 -0500
Let me know if Linda agrees to come back on the list so I can sub her.
At 02:42 PM 9/3/98 -0600, you wrote:
>I have fwd this to Linda and would definately like for her to be in on this
>discussion since this letter addresses some issues that involve her.
>She could better give details than me fwding them to you.
>At 02:08 PM 9/3/1998 -0700, you wrote:
>>This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>>I really didn't want to dump this on the Board while we're so busy, but
>>I got this yesterday so I'm forwarding it now.
>>We are going to have to resolve this issue soon. It's going to require
>>Jan to do a lot of mediating & maybe we will need Linda to temporarily
>>come back on in order to answer questions. I would also request that we
>>ask Karen to take a potty break <g> while we discuss this since it
>>directly concerns Rootsweb.
>>Tell me when you are ready to discuss it because I have several points
>>to bring up and I need to forward the supporting emails I have
>>recieved. Then I have a resolution proposal that seems to have the
>>support of the KS CC's.
>>Maureen Reed
>>Michael T. & Maureen K. Reed Olathe, KS
>>mailto: http://www.sky.net/~mreed/welcome.html
>>"Do as I say, not as I do" is a hypocrite.
>>"Do as I say, not as I did" is a teacher. - Dr. Laura Schlessinger
>>Content-Type: message/rfc822
>>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>>Content-Disposition: inline
>>Return-Path: <>
>>Received: from jeeves.internetland.net (jeeves.internetland.net [126.96.36.199])
>>by sky.net (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id BAA10595
>>for <>; Wed, 2 Sep 1998 01:57:58 -0500 (CDT)
>>Received: from thomask (wbrg41.internetland.net [220.127.116.11])
>>by jeeves.internetland.net (8.9.1/8.9.1) with SMTP id BAA29729
>>for <>; Wed, 2 Sep 1998 01:57:58 -0500 (CDT)
>>From: "Kenneth G. Thomas" <>
>>To: "Maureen Reed" <>
>>Subject: FW: USGenWeb Archives - KS
>>Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 02:07:12 -0500
>>Message-ID: <000001bdd640$4f27c7a0$>
>>MIME-Version: 1.0
>>Content-Type: text/plain;
>>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>>X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
>>X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
>>X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook 8.5, Build 4.71.2232.26
>>Importance: Normal
>>X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3
>>As my CC Rep, I'm sending this to you as an unresolved complaint of the
>>'powers that be' in the USGenWeb Archives.
>>As I explained to Linda Lewis, I haven't gotten that much stuff submitted
>>during the time period that I had the duty of monitoring and uploading data
>>for the Kansas TOC in the USGenWeb Archives.
>>I had heard the concerns voiced by many concerning Rootsweb and the tactics
>>going on to acquire data, along with other things I had heard, I took a
>>course of action that when a file was submitted to me, I personally
>>responded to the person asking where they would like me to post their file,
>>the KSGenWeb Archives or the USGenWeb Archives, or both places. Most
>>everybody wanted them in both places, although there were a couple of
>>holdouts for the KSGenWeb archives. I will always honor a request by a
>>One contributor had sent many files in Word 97 format with pictures imbedded
>>in them, as you know this takes time to reformat to get them to display
>>Over the past three month timeframe, I had at least three instances were the
>>password had been changed on a whim. I would get a message from Linda
>>asking if I need help or just asking if I got her message, these messages
>>repeated for two - three days, then magically the password would be changed.
>>With Outlook 98 I can preview my messages without opening them, so when I
>>see messages as trivial as these were, they are marked with a lower
>>priority, so I won't waste my time with them. Then go back and try to get
>>these files corrected for uploading and display. Then when everything was
>>right, go to FTP in an low and behold the password has been changed yet
>>In the June 17 episode, the Kansas TOC Index page was changed...all links
>>had been erased, and she (Linda) had added her name.
>>I checked the links after repairing the index page and all seemed okay,
>>After returning from two weeks vacation, I receive a message from a
>>contributor about where there files had went, these files had been there
>>since before I assumed the duty. I checked, and approximately 70% of the
>>links on the county pages had disappeared.
>>I then spent the next 2 1/2 weeks correcting this mess, and resizing the
>>pages to enable them to load quicker.
>>Then on the afternoon of the 26th of August I receive the attached message,
>>informing me that I haven't been doing enough submissions and was being
>>replaced. She cites numerous complaints, I'm certain that with my name and
>>address on these pages and the fact that they would have submitted them to
>>me in the first place they would have contacted me instead of tracking her
>>e-mail address down through all these USGenWeb pages.
>>Since being replaced the two new people have posted quite abit in one county
>>in particular, files they claimed that I never posted...these files where
>>never sent to me.
>>It is real difficult to accomplish this job when you're having to put up
>>with the 'childish games' that some insist on playing.
>>I would truly like to reassume the duty of this Kansas TOC, although without
>>the hindrances that I endured before. I would continue to ask the
>>contributors where they would prefer their data posted and honor their
>>request as before.
>>I also would like to add my voice to those that would like to see the
>>USGenWeb archives allow links back to the state/county sites where lots of
>>data yet remains.
>>Kenneth Thomas
>>Warrensburg, MO
>>Researching THOMAS, HAGER, DOLLISON, SOLLARS, AMY, BAKER, NEAL, in Kansas,
>>Missouri, South Dakota, Iowa, Texas, Indiana and West Virginia.
>>Native Kansan,... and Proud of it!!
>>Neosho Co., KSGenWeb Coordinator,
>>Pawnee Co., KSGenWeb Coordinator,
>>KSGenWeb Archives/Library Coordinator,
>>OKGenWeb Page Evaluation Support Team,
>>Kansas Gunfighters,
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Linda Russell Lewis [mailto:]
>>Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 1998 15:18
>>To: ;
>>Cc: ; ;
>>Subject: USGenWeb Archives - KS
>>Hi Kenny,
>>We've noticed that hardly any files have been uploaded to the KS
>>directory of the USGenWeb Archives in the last several months.
>>/ks/ Archives Total
>>Feb - 4168 528 megs
>>Mar - 4216 588 megs
>>May - 4680
>>June - 4658
>>July - 5199
>>Present - 5265 841 megs
>>Several file submitters have told me that files they have sent to you
>>have not been uploaded to the Archives.
>>I know you are busy with the KS Archives at Blue Skyways, and probably
>>have your hands full there. So, it's probably best all around if someone
>>else handles the KS files for the USGenWeb Archives.
>>Thanks so much for stepping in when Maureen resigned. I really
>>appreciate whatever time you spent on the KS directory of the USGenWeb
>>We will now have two volunteers, Terasa Hodges and Kay Mason. Both of
>>them research in KS and are very familiar with the state. They will
>>create new pages as tocs.
>>Thanks again,
This thread:
|Re: [BOARD-L] [Fwd: FW: USGenWeb Archives - KS] by Nancy Trice <>


text:
" Address: s-Gravelandseweg 62 / 1217 ET Hilversum / Netherlands "
~A Night Off~
On one of my far too regular trips to Amsterdam I got lucky and got a free evening to myself. As coincidence would have it, just as I was revelling in the idea of a night off, an email popped into my inbox from a Dutch friend asking "When are you coming to see us?" Within half an hour we had a deal. I would hop on the train after work and go in the opposite direction to normal and meet my three favourite Dutch ladies in Hilversum.
~edia City~
For those who've not heard of the place, Hilversum is a city about 20 miles south west of Amsterdam and 20 miles north of Utrecht. Anyone who is interested in old radio sets might well have seen it as one of the listed cities on the front of an old radio set. Back in the 1920s it was the home of Radio Netherlands (a sort of Dutch BBC) and ever since it has built up its reputation for media and entertainment. More recently it's known as the home of Endemol, the company that brought you Big Brother and many other televisual abominations and is the city where the racist politician Pim Fortuyn was shot dead in a car park. The media money means it's a city where properties are often swanky and very expensive.
My friends live in Culemborg which is south of Utrecht but one of them - Ineke - works in Hilversum at the head quarters of a company for whom I also used to work. Her wife Marit and their house mate Theke hopped on the train to Hilversum and we all met up at the station.
The original plan had been to walk to the restaurant but the skies were darkening and the risk of rain looked significant so we drove instead. The restaurant was located in a quiet area of large old villas and businesses. There were many tables outside but we weren't convinced it would stay dry and we opted to go inside.
~Don't put all your chickens in one basket~
De Jonge Haan means literally the young chicken (or the young cock but you can see why that might not be such a great name). It's a gorgeous old building with fabulous high ceilings and enormous windows in classic old Dutch style. The dining area where we ate was suffering from a little bit of a cultural crisis with a fabulous enormous painting of an Indian moghul and lots of framed posters of Chinese women. Next to our table was a poster of a painting of Salvador Dali's head on fire. See what I mean? Not exactly consistent.
My friends know this restaurant quite well and they know how to get the best out of the menu. I haven't been before and I was quite confused about what I needed to choose since they were talking about various dishes they could share and how they wanted to change some of the options. I was baffled but decided to just keep it simple and order what I wanted - and what I wanted was one dish off the set menu and one of a completely different menu. So in fact, not so simple really after all.
We didn't take advantage of the special offer, but it's worth being aware that every month they have a three course deal for Euro24.50 which seemed very reasonable. I wasn't hungry enough to do justice to three courses but for those who might be, there's a choice of two starters, three mains and a single pudding which is a mix of lots of other puddings. They even had a vegetarian main course which is not the kind of thing you can take for granted in Holland. For a Dutch restaurant, I'd say that's pretty good value but of course only if you like what's on offer.
~Feeding Frenzy~
To start I ordered a bowl of gazpacho (cold tomato soup) off the monthly specials menu whilst the others elected to share a large board of vegetable antipasti. I adore gazpacho and it's really hard to find it in the UK so if it's ever on a menu, I will generally want to order it. It came in a mid-sized bowl and was icy cold and bright red in colour and served with finely chopped tomato, cucumber and pepper which I tipped straight into the bowl and with chunky croutons which were deeply flavoured with garlic. The mixture of tastes and textures was perfect and I was very happy with my relatively healthy choice.
The others shared the veg antipasti which included oven roasted veg, beet salad with mint and lime dressing, wedges of manchego cheese with chilli jam, buffalo mozzarella, green olives, a thick chunk of bruschetta, some thin bread with chopped tomato and probably some other things I was too overwhelmed to notice.
For my main course I ordered a dish off their 'small dish' menu which was a mix of three types of small smoked salmon dishes. These were a chunk of marinated salmon with a coriander crust in a lime and 'dragon' (I'm guessing dragon fruit rather than fresh dragon - I'm sure it's the off season for dragons at the moment), a small mound of salmon tartar which combined raw and smoked salmon with dill and sour cream, and finally a rilette of 'candied' salmon with a bit of Pernod, fresh cream and an olive crostino. I know it sounds like a lot, but believe me it was quite manageable.
Theke ordered catfish fillet with a herb crust and salsa verde accompanied by saffron butter, green asparagus and a potato soufflé. It looked pretty impressive. Ineke and Marit are strict vegetarians but found plenty to choose from on the menu. Marit had a large salad with lots of cheese and nuts on top. I think (from my limited Dutch) that it was supposed to be blue cheese and nuts but she asked to switch to another cheese because she hates blue cheese. To be honest, if I hated blue cheese, I probably wouldn't even think about substituting the main ingredient for another cheese, but she asked and they were happy to give her what she wanted. Ineke ordered vegetarian satay which was made with 'mock meat', a fibrous type of gluten that's especially good and to my non meat-eating tongue, a pretty good substitute. This was served with fries which she generously shared with anyone who wanted a few.
My fishy trio was perfect for what I wanted. I didn't want a big heavy Dutch dinner and even though it was advertised as a small meal, it was plenty for me. One of the salmons was a small folded parcel of smoked salmon with a light Pernod scented cream inside. The tartar was a mix of smoked and raw salmon bound together with dill cream but probably the best of the three was the pile of salmon slices in a tart dressing with a coriander-rich crust on the surface. These were served with a few 'smears' of mayo and a mixed leaf green salad.
I was being good so I skipped pudding but my companions had clearly not eaten for a week in preparation for a mega pud feast. Marit was the least over the top in her indulgence and ordered a coffee served with a selection of mini sweet treats such as macarons and chocolates. Theke went for a trio of puds with a super-sharp lemon meringue, served with limoncello icing and lemon sorbet. Ineke was the real pig and went for the so-called 'grand dessert' which was a selection of puddings any one of which would have been more than enough for me. This included a bowl with two ice cream balls, a lemon flavoured pudding on a stick (very odd), a yoghurt with fruits on top and a crème brulee. Me? I sat and daintily sipped a cup of fresh mint tea feeling pious but distinctly jealous.
I was not allowed to know how much the meal came to as my lovely hosts insisted on buying my dinner. However, to give a rough indication of the price of some of the dishes, the vegetarian anti-pasto which was easily big enough for 2-3 people was Euro11.50, my small fish dish was Euro11.95, Theke's fishy main course was Euro21.95 and Ineke's mock chicken satay was Euro15.95. The mega pudding that Ineke had was Euro9.95 and Theke's was a euro less.
Service throughout was just how I like it to be - almost unnoticeable. I don't like fawning, I don't like food too fast or too slow to arrive to the table, so when I don't notice the service, then I'm happy with it.
~Practical Stuff~
De Jonge Haan is open daily from 9 am during the week and noon at weekends. Food is served each day until 11 at night (except on Sundays when the kitchen closes at 10) and the place closes at midnight. For the evenings and for weekend lunches, booking would probably be a good idea. Bookings for up to 8 people can be made via the website but you'll maybe need the google translator to help you if you don't speak Dutch. For a large restaurant it has a rather undersized car park. We were lucky to get a space but if you don't make it into one, you can find places to park on the surrounding streets.
Despite many visits to Hilversum in the past, this wasn't a restaurant I'd ever visited before but I would certainly be happy to go back again next time I have the chance to meet up with my friends.
De Jonge Haan Café and Brasserie
'S-Gravelandseweg 62
1217 ET Hilversum
Phone: 035 624 53 14


text:
Zulfikar Ghose is a poet, novelist and literary critic. Apart from criticism and poetry, he has also written many novels, including the trilogy The Incredible Brazilian. He is Professor Emeritus in the English Department at the University of Texas at Austin.
Let me preface this essay concerning the writing of autobiography with a personal anecdote. The British publisher Routledge & Kegan Paul brought out my autobiography, Confessions of a Native-Alien, in 1965, when I had just turned 30. Here's how it happened. In 1963, the art critic and poet Herbert Read, who was a director at Routledge, accepted my first book of poems, The Loss of India. He retired soon after sending me an acceptance letter and another director at Routledge, Colin Franklin, became my editor and invited me to his office. It was a momentous and awe-inspiring occasion for me, to be walking up Fleet Street, past Ludgate Circus, almost to the foot of St Paul's Cathedral and going into a side street to Broadway House, the headquarters of Routledge & Kegan Paul. Franklin's office was a like a drawing-room in a Dickens novel — gloomy, high-ceilinged, wing-backed chairs beside a fireplace where small flames sputtered from the glowing coals. During the conversation, when he had made some laudatory remarks about my book of poems and possibly because I was too nervous to say anything and he was merely trying to find something with which to make conversation, Franklin asked if I was writing some prose work that I might offer in the future. I was not, but, during the few seconds before I answered, images from some autobiographical prose I'd published three years earlier in The Twentieth Century flowed through my mind and became transformed into a beautiful book of prose that an instantaneous fantasy suggested would be accorded universal praise; and in the same few seconds, knowing that Routledge did not publish novels and the book had to be non-fiction, I remembered that they had recently published the autobiography of an African chieftain that had been well-reviewed in the Sunday papers and in that nanosecond it occurred to me that anything literary that an African chieftain could do I could do better, a thought that filled me with the thrilling expectation of a splendid success, and so a few seconds after Franklin asked if I had a prose work in hand, I said, "Why, yes, I'm writing an autobiography." Complete lie. Came out just like that. And that's the truth. He would be most interested to see it, he said. And so there I was: aged 28, with the dazzling prospect of a book, which I fantasised would be a work of lasting significance to stand with such other Routledge authors as Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung! There was one problem, however. What on earth was I to write about? My childhood in Sialkot, all seven years of it, could be summed up in a few words. I came, I saw, I sauntered. The succeeding 10 years in Bombay produced one image. I played cricket. At that rate, I would be a teenager by the end of page two. And little of exceptional interest had transpired in the remaining dozen years that could be stretched out to make a book that was not embarrassingly slim. However, something interesting had happened a few years earlier. I had travelled all over India and Pakistan as a cricket correspondent for The Observer with the English team's 1961-62 tour. The experience had provided me with an enchanting vision of my native land that pulled at those invisible strings within my being that longed for an attachment; at the end of the cricket tour, I stayed on in the flat in Bombay where I'd grown up and, feeling the sharp pull of those invisible strings, wrote a poem called 'The Mystique of Roots'. In it, the physical experience of having one's throat constricted by dust becomes the symbolic image of the self being choked. The native imagery is felt to be overwhelming, and in that sensation of being made an outcast the poet yet hears a siren song that beckons him — "But who is this woman calls me lover?" He can only respond in a tone of stoic resignation, "I cannot begin / to love this woman who calls me lover," and come to the tragic conclusion that these roots in their crust of earth carry worms. What I breathe is dust. First in Lahore, then in Bombay, my sense of being a native was countermanded by people who saw me as an outsider. Reflecting back on that tour of the subcontinent that took me from Rawalpindi to Madras and from Ahmedabad to Chittagong, gave me the theme for my autobiography: I was a native everywhere, and everywhere an alien. It occurred to me that that was the new human condition: the post-colonial migrations had begun — from Canada, across Europe and all the way to Australia, the world was being populated by native-aliens, and therefore the particular story of my life could be drawn to represent an existential significance that was universally applicable. And so I dived into the reservoir of images and memories of my 28 years and came up with those that could be elaborated into an interesting narrative or given that retrospective significance with which we re-cast the past to convert the random and largely meaningless chaos of existence into some impressively meaningful design that we like to think we were born to fulfill. This search for a pattern in one's life is a driving impulse behind autobiographical expression, for human vanity demands that one's life be seen to possess a special meaning. I realised then that to write an autobiography one does not recreate the past, but invents it. A first person narrative form in which the I transmitting a sequence of linguistic propositions that represent my memories is presumed to be recording historical truth because of the second implied presumption, that I am the exclusive witness of the events that comprise a knowledge of my past. The language of autobiography assumes for itself the authoritative privilege of conveying unquestionable truth though there is never any objective proof of the accuracy of the revelation. In order to keep the curious reader convinced and fascinated by the account of his secret life, the writer's focus is not so much on the remembered facts as it is on the words being assembled so that the completed sentence will convey the appropriate confessional tone and impress the reader with the enviable singularity of the author's experience. In any discourse, the reader's or the auditor's credence is influenced by the persuasiveness of the language, and that has less to do with any objective truth than with the style of the expression. It is always how an idea is expressed that makes it more or less convincing, as in a skilled performance of oratory where a speaker, as often is the case with priests delivering a fiery sermon, arouses a crowd's passionate allegiance with deftly executed rhetorical flourishes while uttering propositions of questionable veracity. In writing one's autobiography, one instinctively seeks out, and elaborates upon (even embellishes them a little) those incidents in one's past that represent some larger uniting idea that gives one's life the lustre of a uniquely distinctive meaning. Take one of the earliest autobiographies, The Confessions of St Augustine, that dates back to fourth century Italy, with its opening declaration, "For Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee," which establishes the core of the author's theme which the whole book will proceed to demonstrate to be a proven truth. To arrive at that noble and pious goal, with its grand moral design, Augustine first recounts the days of his lustful immoral youth so that his subsequent conversion will seem to pulse with miraculous warmth and throb within the reader's soul with admiration for his exemplary virtue. Augustine is, of course, seriously driven by his theological passion, but his is a familiar writer's trick to introduce salacious content on the excuse that he cannot show supreme moral goodness without first giving you that lurid picture of immorality which will make the transformation to a life of impeccable virtue seem truly heroic. Augustine was not so explicit as some modern writers, but in his age there must have been erotic resonance to phrases like "the muddy concupiscence of the flesh" and "the fog of lustfulness." But precisely because his purpose is so solemn and his mind so set on reaching the climactic mystical oneness with the deity, his Confessions acquires a preachy dullness that only the already converted will find interesting. Even the moment of beatific vision that he shares with his mother, that blinding inner flash when revelation is experienced as an explosion of light within the brain, is presented in general terms; perhaps a believer will find beauty in the line, "and we came to our own souls, and went beyond them," but that is hardly a confessional statement that has any meaning. The formal framework of St Augustine's Confessions outlines the template for autobiographers — Look how naughty I was in my youth and what a paragon of virtue after my conversion to the true faith. It became a pattern for novels in which the first person narrator, adopting the tone of unquestionable sincerity, makes the reader an excited voyeur and arouses hot prurient expectations with a vivid account of crime and sexuality before concluding with a wholesome moral that becomes the justification of the earlier violence. Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders is a perfect example of a novel that exploits such a confessional mode. The 18th century reader had only to look at the title page where Defoe announces that his heroine was "Twelve Year a Whore, Five Times a Wife (whereof once to her own Brother) Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest, and Died a Penitent," for his eyes, staring at those italics, to begin to burn with anticipated excitement. Defoe is the master of the formula of presenting debauchery while pretending that his is a high moral purpose of providing the reader with a soul-cleansing message. His method is to pose as a disinterested editor who is innocently recording some real person's autobiography, a Robinson Crusoe or a Moll Flanders, and if that life is full of sex and violence, it's none of the editor's business to sanitise the narrative. It's not his fault that Moll was, as he says in his preface, "a Woman debauch'd from her Youth," some parts of whose story are so racy they "cou'd not be modestly told," though he has taken all "possible Care … to give no lewd Ideas" — a signal to the reader that says, Trust me, there will be lewdness aplenty. A hundred years later, it was enough to give Victorians the creeps. William Hazlitt, noting that "we find in this style of writing nothing but an alternation of religious horrors and raptures," declared, "Moll Flanders is utterly vile and contemptible." However, Defoe had his champions, including one of the most perceptive readers of literature, Virginia Woolf, who praised the sociological authenticity of his content and admired the imaginative force of his prose. The confessional style, where the author is a silent ventriloquist while an unreliable dummy presents a hyperbolic account of questionable goings-on, has been practiced by some eminent 20th century novelists. A notable example is Thomas Mann's Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man. Some passages in Felix Krull read like an immature writer's attempt to write soft porn — "…I was bent over her nakedness, so lightly veiled in linen and lace…," she "took my hand…and guided it inside her décolletage…," and the lady, feverishly undressing him, cries aloud, "…your divine limbs that I have been thirsting to behold since I first saw you.…Come to me, then, bienaimé! To me, to me…." And the besotted hero remarks, "Never was there a more articulate woman! It was poetry she uttered, nothing less." Perhaps the original German is not so corny as the English translation, and since Mann died before finishing the novel perhaps what remained unwritten after the nearly 400 pages that he published would have saved it from being one long cliché of the confessional mode, right to its final sentences: "A whirlwind of primordial forces seized and bore me into the realm of ecstasy. And high and stormy, under my ardent caresses, stormier than at the Iberian game of blood, I saw the surging of that queenly bosom." One woman utters bedroom banalities that are supposed to be heard as poetry, another heaves her bosom and sets off primordial forces, and the reader, supposedly seeing tornadoes and hurricanes and icebergs crashing against ocean liners on imagining that heaving bosom, is expected to exclaim, OMG this is awesome? Whatever Thomas Mann's intention, his Felix Krull is an awful parody of the confessional mode, and the English translation gives the impression that the author is cynically writing for that huge audience of low-level readers whose intelligence has not advanced beyond adolescence and who, alas, still in the 21st century, constitute the majority of the buying public. In our supposedly enlightened age of puerile exhibitionistic sexting, such imbecilic writing still sells. The 21st century has seen the rise of the personal memoir, some celebrity's kiss-and-tell, ghost-written account, which is little more than a consumer product aimed at that huge buying, and prying, public and which competes with novels written in the confessional mode. The best autobiography is not confessional at all but an imagistic recreation of those obsessive phantoms of one's past that inhabit one's memory, of which Nabokov's Speak, Memory is one of the finest examples. Always a great enchanter whose prose conjures brilliant images with a magician's deftness so that we find ourselves staring in amazement at a glittering three-dimensional world where most other writers would leave us gazing at a general mist, Nabokov's autobiography recreates the wonderful paradise of his childhood on his aristocratic family's estate in pre-Bolshevik Russia. But there's no nostalgia here, none of that indulgent self-pity of your typical celebrity memoirist who fills the pages with gossip; and certainly none of that self-centred whining of a super-hyped inferior writer like Norman Mailer in his autobiographical work. In Nabokov, there is only the sharp focus of precise imagistic prose, the sentences producing a vivid slideshow in the reader's imagination that conveys a profound understanding of the writer's life without anything being said. In an early chapter, with the family at lunch, the boy Nabokov would see the father obliged to leave in the middle of the meal because some of his tenants had come with a petition. From where he sat, the boy could hear the murmur outside but not see the men. The petition granted, the men then carried out the national custom of together picking up the landlord, rocking him and then tossing him in the air where he floated up by himself and then catching him when he came down. Because the men throwing up the father were invisible from where the boy Nabokov sat, all he could see through a window was "a marvellous case of levitation": "There, for an instant, the figure of my father in his wind-rippled white summer suit would be displayed, gloriously sprawling in midair, his limbs in a curiously casual attitude, his handsome, imperturbable features turned to the sky." The father would be sent floating up thrice, each time higher than the first. The 127-word sentence in which Nabokov describes that one moment of the father's third ascent is the perfection of descriptive prose. The child Nabokov is struck by wonder to see his father "reclining, as if for good, against the cobalt blue of the summer noon," and the man Nabokov writing the sentence many years later in his autobiography, introduces an ecclesiastical metaphor by comparing his father against the sky to a "paradisiac" personage painted on the ceiling of a church; and having thus created a montage in which the reader sees the father and the saintly figure as one in their ascension to heaven, Nabokov, as it were, holds the camera there a second and then slowly pans down to show an image in a church where candles "in mortal hands light up to make a swarm of minute flames in the mist of incense," then shows a priest chanting of "eternal repose," and finally points the lens at the funeral lilies that conceal the face of the person "in the open coffin." At the beginning of the sentence the father is up against the heavenly sky, and the final image is of an anonymous body being readied for burial. Life and death; paradise gained and lost; we are bathed in light and lowered into the hole of darkness. Nabokov has said nothing, only projected an image, and forever printed on the imagination of the reader all that there is to be said of the author's own tormented self. A final confession: on glancing back at my opening anecdote, I realise how, for the sake of creating the right effect and to convey a sense of his self-importance, the autobiographer is an unreliable narrator who exploits an authoritative voice and gets away with untruth by making it sound like documented fact. The detail about walking up Fleet Street followed by the description of Colin Franklin's office, comparing it to a drawing-room in a Dickens novel, sounds more like a novelist's idea of creating 'atmosphere' to give dramatic resonance to his narrative than the recording of a fact. Essentially, that description is nonsense. There are many drawing-rooms in Dickens and to suggest they have a generic uniformity is plain wrong. That is a common type of descriptive writing, pretentious and false, and yet the speaker gets away with it because the auditor is impressed by the intimidating I-know-what-I'm-talking-about voice in which it is uttered and has no reason to question it. The fastidious old academic in me is offended if there has been a confusion of facts and the writing contains sentences of questionable usage in which stylistic manipulation projects an aura of definitive truth when a close examination shows the idea to be nonsense; on the other hand, the inventive novelist in me is quite happy to manipulate the style, because the novelist's business is to create his own truth and not merely to record probable events, and he is indifferent to the placing of the facts as long as the expression in which they are presented conveys an imaginative and symbolically charged idea. The autobiographer's principal concern is to create a narrative that confers significance to his life. And one accomplishes that by following Nabokov's example in Speak, Memory: "I revised many passages and tried to do something about the amnesic defects of the original — blank spots, blurry areas, domains of dimness." Perfect, and lovely, that phrasing, for its conception of one's past being that is glimpsed in the distorting mirror, fragments which comprise the mosaic of memory. Reader, Nabokov could be describing the bewildering chaos you stare at when you review the parade of images you believe constitute your past and among which you try to identify that strange and slippery shadow, your self.


text:
Located in New York's Greenwich Village, the building was once a supper club owned by Rudy Vallée. When Jimi Hendrix bought it in 1968, he wanted to turn it into a nightclub until Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer, forced him to look at the numbers. "He was spending thousands of dollars to block out time at other studios just to jam," Kramer says. "I told him that a studio was the way to go." Hendrix poured more than $1 million into Electric Lady and in May 1970 began to use the facility to practice (he often recorded at the Record Plant in New York, though there are hours of unreleased material at Electric Lady). Being owned and operated by a musician, the studio's creature comforts included plush lounges and psychedelically painted walls. Electric Lady officially opened for business on August 27th, 1970. But Hendrix died less than a month later, on September 18th, in London. "I was so happy at the start of the day — I had just gotten my green card," says Kramer, a native of South Africa. "Then I got to the studio, and everyone was crying. I just went blank."
Not surprisingly, the complex is something of a shrine. Studio A remains exactly as it was during Hendrix's time, and Studio B (nicknamed Purple Haze) has the world's only purple mixing console. Not to mention the ghosts in residence. "The Clash swore that Jimi put an extra guitar track on Sandinista!," says Mary Campbell, the studio's manager from 1983-2003. "Doors slam, floors creak. The place has a magic."
This story is from the December 11th, 2003 issue of Rolling Stone.