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City of Ghosts
Ah, Corvis. "City of Ghosts," they call it. Merchants that plied the Black River and Dragon's Tongue founded the city almost nine hundred years ago, right at the edge of a natural harbor where the rivers meet. These pioneers believed that trade from the rivers could drive the growth of a city, and they were right. They had a rough time of it at first, but soon the city was growing faster than a swamp rat pup. Today about 100,000 souls call it home, and more arrive every day. Corvis is an island of civilization in the roughest part of Greater Cygnar. The next closest major city is Point Bourne, over two hundred leagues to the west. Farther still downstream is the infamous Five Fingers.
Most of the folk in Corvis are human, but ye do see some elvenkind and dwarves passing through. If ye need a smith's services there'll be some fine dwarven shops in the armorers 'bourg. If ye need to find some muscle, there'll be thugs for hire at the waterfront. There'll be trouble there for ye too if ye aren't careful — the river folk are a tough lot. Keep to the merchant's 'bourg at night, where the Watch is always close at hand. Corvis has seen folk tougher than you floating in the harbor.
Being built in a swamp and such, space is precious, and the folks of Corvis tend to build up rather than across. Down at street level, lost in the mists, are the rough stone structures of Old Corvis. Build on top of them are the elegant spires of New Corvis — home to the merchant elite. In between are shops and homes of the regular folk, and it's all connected by a maze of ramps, bridges, canals, and tunnels that would drive even a dwarven engineer mad!
The wonders of Corvis, like so much else in the Iron Kingdoms, wouldn't have been possible without the advent of the steamjacks. The first of the metal giants were brought to the city about 300 years ago, where they worked the quarries, cutting stone for new buildings. They also carved roads and worked the docks — without them, we'd be a second-rate town like Five Fingers, I tell ye. If ye be curious about the Iron Kingdom's famous steamjacks, ye need only visit the docks. There are always some there, hauling cargo about.
Ye may wish to hire a guide friend, for you'll soon find yourself lost without one. Corvis is a maze, and that's just what you'll find above ground. The original city, laid nine centuries ago, has long since been swallowed by the swamp. It's now a maze of catacombs, and is home to naught but hooligans… and worse, I hear. If ye have a brain in that knobby head of yours, stay out of the Undercity.
So, are ye wondering why they call Corvis the "City of Ghosts?" They say that Old Corvis is haunted by the ghosts of the first settlers, many of whom died in the early days. Many folk believe that anyone who drowns in the canals or the harbor is doomed to walk the city for eternity. The dead are also said to walk about openly in the Undercity, which is one more reason to stay out, if ye ask me. Any way you look at it, there's nary a soul in Corvis who hasn't seen a shade at one time or another — or so they claim. Stay here long enough and I wager you'll see one too.
In fact, the Longest Night is fast approaching, lad. As ye know, once every year or so an eclipse blackens the skies all over the Iron Kingdoms. Well, here in Corvis, the eclipse always ushered in our largest festival, a grand all-night party the likes of which you've never seen. The streets will be full of revelers, and spirits too if ye believe the locals.
There it is, lad, a bit of Corvis lore for ye. I hope it serves ye well. Keep your wits about ye, and stay away from the waterfront at night if ye want to avoid seeing yer own guts!


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Sore Muscles
Yoga Cures:
Sore Muscles
By Ana Mantica
So your big weekend plan involves helping your cousin move house, jet-skiing to cool down, and evening jogs through the neighborhood trails. Soothe your soon-to-be-aching muscles with this yoga cure.learn more
Yoga Cures: Pulled Hamstrings
By Nicole Kwan
Keeping your muscles loose and flexible is impossible between stress at
work, (literally) running around at home, and trying to squeeze in your
workout. Inevitably, those hammies will rebel and you'll be the one
suffering from the uprising of pain. Use these Yoga Cures to heal your hamstrings.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Discussion in 'Strings' started by DriveABC, Aug 8, 2009.
msv focus hex or black code?
both guage 16.
Well, I haven't tried the 16g of either, but going off of my experience with the 17g, MSV had the better spin potential.
Black code 16g
I havent tried MSV hex but i have tried black code 16g and felt that Black code didnt have exceptional spin potential but it still had enough. The Black code is soft and comfortable but it had bad tension maintenance.
Separate names with a comma.


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Little League International Board of Directors Attend Dedication of Eric Hilton Field in Houston
The dedication ceremony for the Eric Hilton Little League Field at Wharton Elementary was attended by Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee; members of the Little League International board of directors; representatives of the city of Houston and Houston Independent School District; and David L. James, director of the Little League Urban Initiative.
"The children in this neighborhood probably wouldn't be playing ball if we didn't build this field," Eric Hilton, a native Texan, former Little League coach, and trustee of the Little League Foundation for more than 30 years, said. "The Hilton Foundation is extremely pleased with the results (of the field project), and it makes me very proud to have my name on this field. It's a fantastic honor."
As part of a $1 million grant to Little League Baseball and Softball, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation has pledged $200,000 to each of five new field projects in urban communities throughout the United States. The Wharton Elementary Field is the second Hilton Foundation-sponsored project. The first Hilton Foundation Field was dedicated in April 2005 at Tuley Park in Chicago. The next field project will begin in Bronx, N.Y., later this year.
"The completion of the Eric Hilton Little League Field at Wharton Elementary came as the result of teamwork and this community's choice to make a positive impact on the young people that live in this neighborhood," Mr. James said. "Little League Baseball and Softball commends the efforts made by the league's volunteers on behalf of the children of Neartown Little League, and recognizes the commitments made by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and the city of Houston."
The Little League Urban Initiative provides assistance packages for eligible leagues that aid the local volunteer group with equipment acquisition, capital improvement cash grants, field improvement and renovation, access to Little League Baseball and Softball education and training programs, advocacy, and networking.
- A component of Little League Baseball and Softball, the Little League Urban Initiative began in 1999 with programs in Los Angeles and Harlem, N.Y., and expanded to other cities in September 2000.
- The Little League Urban Initiative is now operating in 175 leagues. Through 2005 the Urban Initiative program has participated in 11 field renovations/development projects.
- Through 2005, the Little League Urban Initiative has yielded 2,212 teams, and has provided approximately 268,000 players the opportunity to play in the Little League program.
This spring, Little League International will host the third annual Little League Urban Initiative Jamboree. Ten Urban Initiative leagues will send regular season teams to Williamsport, site of the annual Little League Baseball World Series, to experience the thrill of a weekend of friendly games, instruction, and education.
Members of the Little League International board of directors were
also in Houston, to meet and discuss preparations for the 24th
International Congress, set for April 13-16, 2007.
Two pals on the Neartown Little League's Astros "prepare" for the ceremonies.
The Neartown Little League includes hundreds of players, all of whom turned out for the event.
The Little League International Board of Directors attended the event, with the skyline of Houston in the distance.
Houston Astros manager Phil Garner (right) meets with Eric Hilton just before the ceremonies begin. At left is Stephen D. Keener, president and chief executive officer of Little League International.
Eric Hilton and his family pose for a photo in front of the scoreboard bearing his name.


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The Standstills are opening for OLP and IME at Bud Gardens next week. In the meantime, they're touring in BC and catching a grizzly bear eating a moose on the side of the highway!
Last time The Standstills were in town, they joined Burke in studio for a live performance.


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Discussion in 'Dog Pictures and Pet Photos' started by jess2416, May 5, 2011.
last all I have my battery died in the middle of my picture fest
CHLOE! <3 <3 I loves her, so good to see some pictures of her again!!
Awwwwww CHLOE <3 I love her.
She's such a gorgeous girl!
She is looking good
And I'm glad I FINALLY get to see some pictures... its been forever
has the fur on her shoulders gotten thicker? It looks like it has--lady long legs, and long tongue! Love her!
You know there is no such thing as a crappy Chloe pic :nono:
Those are crappy, but thanks everyone
cant believe my little snarkyass will be 6 in November...


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Honey Queen Lisa Schluttenhofer shows Andi the benefits of Honey and talks about what the Honey Queen does.
>>> and the queen just keeping popping up around here. we've got lisa from the american bee keeping federation, but you are the american honey queen. >> i am. i travel around the united states promoting how honey bees building the building blocks of our food supply. many of the freuits and venlg tails we like depend on honey for nation. some of our key vegetables, 1/3 of our food supply depend on honey bees for pollination. >> you are from indiana, but do you get to travel around the u.s. for this position? >> i do. i will travel to half the united states for the uses of honey and raising conmer awareness of bee keeping. >> what is the number one question people have? i think there's a lot of — thinking about bees and bee keeping, so what. what do people like to ask you? >> recently, one of the greatest questions i have, people hear about the bees dying. we call it colony collapse disor
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Marie Auer from Catonsville, Md., was hoping to find the recipe for the delicious pumpkin soup that is served at the Au Bon Pan restaurant chain.
While we were unable to locate the recipe for the soup served at the restaurant, the recipe sent in by Leo Forsberg from Bordentown, N.J., that I tested made a very tasty soup.
Unlike many pumpkin soup recipes, his contains no cream, yet when pureed is beautifully thick and smooth.
The addition of the lemon juice and the spices, the coriander in particular, gives the soup a savory, instead of sweet, flavor.
This soup would certainly be a lovely first course for a Thanksgiving meal but would be equally well suited for almost any autumn-themed dinner.
Pumpkin Soup
1 (11/2 pound) pumpkin, peeled, seeded and chopped
3 cups chicken stock
1 large leek, sliced
2 tsp. mixed herbs
1/2 tsp. coarsely ground pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
Combine pumpkin, stock, leek, mixed herbs, pepper, salt, nutmeg and coriander in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil; reduce heat.
Simmer until pumpkin is tender; stirring occasionally.
Process in blender until smooth.
Stir in lemon juice and parsley.
Add additional salt if desired.
Per serving: 78 calories; 5 gm protein; 1 gram fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 13 grams carbohydrate; 1 gram fiber; 0 milligrams cholesterol; 880 milligrams sodium
This nutrition analysis was calculated by registered dietitian Jodie Shield.
Serves 4.
Recipe request:
Helen Heisler of Baltimore is looking for a recipe for Frosted Crab Soup.
It has a tomato base.
Norma Pulling of Baltimore is looking for a recipe that appeared in The Baltimore Sun about 20 years ago for a dish called Linebacker's Lasagna.
She says that she lost track of the recipe and has been "improvising for many years now, but it just isn't the same."
Send requests or answers to requests to Julie Rothman, Recipe Finder, The Baltimore Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21278.
If you send more than one recipe, put each on a separate piece of paper with your name, address and daytime phone number.
Please list the ingredients in order of use, and note the number of servings each recipe makes.
© 2017. All Rights Reserved. Contact Us


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.41 vs .44
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December 7, 2012, 01:06 AM
black mamba
Senior Member
Join Date: September 13, 2011
Location: O'Fallon, MO
Posts: 719
I have owned and shot both over a 35 year period, and they are both wonderful in the N-frame S&W. I have owned 4, 5, 6, 6-1/2 and 8-3/8 inch barreled N-frames, and the 5" handles the best but is the hardest to come by. I prefer the 4" to the 6", and the 8-3/8" least of all (too muzzle heavy for me).
For a personal defense revolver, the 4" model 57 in 41 mag would be my choice, as it is more packable and has less recoil than the 44.
For hunting or target shooting I would want the 6 or 6-1/2 inch model 629 stainless 44 mag. It is more powerful and the longer barrel will help your velocity and in taming recoil. In either case handloading is nearly a must to get the most shooting enjoyment out of your purchase.
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So, here is my entry for the CardSwap Weekly Sketch Chhallenge.
I made Halloween Card with some cute bats and a spider from my Fawn Lawn stamps and I cut the tree from my Cricut Happy Hauntings cart. The cardstock is all generic that I bought many years ago.
And here is the sketch:
Eeeek! Happy Hauntings!


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More to come?
Vodafone are also outsourcing management of their network to Ericsson, believe this will be announced soon, these cuts could be the thin end of the wedge.
UK network operator Vodafone has confirmed it is laying off 500 staff in its continuing effort to cut costs in the face of falling profits. The 500 people were given the bad news this morning. The cuts are coming from across the group, though retail operations won't be affected; 170 are being laid off from the Newbury …
Vodafone are also outsourcing management of their network to Ericsson, believe this will be announced soon, these cuts could be the thin end of the wedge.
Don't know what all those poor redundant folks were doing but them not being there certainly won't help to get Vodafone to pay their electricity bills!
So that will be a bunch of indians using the set of billing, network and switch config tools my employer wrote.
Blah Blah, same old same old, sod this Im off to get a cushy government job in some English/Irish/Welsh/Zulu parliament, no need to work, no need for skill and no worry about cutting margins.
As for you sods, you have to vote for one of them, so its a win win :)
I happen to know one of the poor unfortunate people affected by this round of job cuts. They are a very hard working bunch of people, the vast majority doing a difficult job under what seems to be sometimes extreme pressure. The 500 are probably working very hard, the loss of them is only going to increase the pressure on those left in the company.
As for the comments made on this website, snappy sarcasm does not help to cushion the blow for those vodafone employees who may have stumbled across this page in the search for an explaination as to the cruel blow their emplayer has just dealt them.
I would say what I think of Vodafone today, but I think it's beyond this websites comprehension.
A "bunch" of indians (not even Indians). Like a bunch of parsley, or bananas?
I don't have a problem dealing with people with accents or dark skin, especially when they are well mannered and are often educated to a higher level than me and know their products and processes well. I don't like it when they lie and tell you their name is "John" when in fact it'll be something like Ashwin and the fact that they are given little empowerment doesn't help; but other than that I'm fine with it.
"Vodafone are also outsourcing management of their network to Ericsson, believe this will be announced soon, these cuts could be the thin end of the wedge."
Kinda true but "management" of the network will always end up lying in the UK as far as end to end stuff is concerned, don't forget VF do a lot of corp. and govt. contracts. Ericsson will end up with all the RAN and control of a lot of the boxes as they supply them (as they do across the world)! I hear the majority of the UK stuff will be supported elsewhere within other VF owned European networks. This makes sense for a company the size of VF but pulling it off effectively is another thing altogether.
The thing people don't realise is these job cut's are restructuring so cutting out the dead wood. Economic boom creates the typical people who have meetings about meetings. I think this will be the first of a number of cuts at Vodafone and similar will happen across the industry as profit slumps in the coming months.
It's sad to see but fingers crossed the valuable will survive, of course this is optimistic and i'm sure many who are laid off VF will turn around and sorely regret the decision.
My thoughts go out to anyone in VF who got the bad news.


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Patients' symptoms could be clues to attack
By KEVIN GRAHAM
TAMPA -- Researchers at the University of South Florida have developed a system they say can alert officials to a bioterrorism attack in Central Florida at the earliest possible moment.
For the past year, scientists at the USF Center for Biological Defense have used a database system called BioDefend to detect health symptoms pointing to an epidemic or bioterrorist attack.
The system is now operating in 11 theme parks, clinics and hospitals in Hillsborough and Orange counties -- places considered likely targets.
Every time someone in those places receives health treatment, a checklist of their symptoms is entered into a database. At the same time, the information is automatically analyzed by BioDefend.
If suspicious symptoms show up, an alert is sent immediately to the cell phone or pager of a Center for Biological Defense scientist, who then contacts the health facility.
The symptoms being assessed include influenza-like illnesses, upper or lower respiratory tract infections, sepsis, nontraumatic shock, rashes or muscle weakness.
"The center is not guaranteeing they are going to sniff out an outbreak or terrorism, but by using this system, you will have the earliest possible notification of a potential outbreak," said John Perry, CEO of DataSphere, the Washington company that manufactured the BioDefend software.
"This is like a radar detector," he said. "No radar detector company gives you a guarantee that you will never get another ticket."
Kristin Broome Uhde, a scientist and epidemiologist at the Center for Biological Defense, said the technology is more advanced than anything put into place since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"After 9/11, the (Centers for Disease Control) took a system like this but didn't have an analysis component," Uhde said. "Automated analysis is where you want to go."
What makes BioDefend unique, she said, is its ability to read data in real time.
Uhde said she had one recent case in which the system alerted her to an above-normal data reading. When she called the clinic to check on it, the patient was still there.
If that patient would have had smallpox, the system's alert would have allowed doctors to detain him immediately.
"It just doesn't get any better than finding out while the patient is in the clinic," Uhde said.
The cost for such technology is unclear.
"Things like this have never really been tried without huge amounts of federal funding," said Perry, who said the Center for Biological Defense didn't have enough money to support the BioDefend program by itself.
So Perry's company developed the technology, while USF provided the "lab" for testing it.
"This is truly a marriage of federal institution and private company," he said.
The center is working to expand the system to EMS crews in Broward County. Uhde said the goal is to get patients' symptoms as quickly as possible. EMS crews often make first contact with a patient.
Uhde also is awaiting final word on funding that would allow officials to use the system at a Pinellas County veterans hospital.
Jacqueline Cattani, director for the Center for Biological Defense, said BioDefend is designed to complement the state's public health surveillance system, not replace it.
But in one case, she said, BioDefend recognized a problem more than a month before the state did.
"It's not a question of having one system that's going to take over the world. That's not going to happen," Cattani said. "(But) you don't want to wait until people are dropping dead in emergency rooms."
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490 First Avenue South St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-893-8111
From the Times
local news desks


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Frederick Harper
Found 10 Records, 10 Photos and 1,769,614 Family Trees
Born in Bishops Tawton on 1869 to Robert Harper and Emma Harper.
Family Members
Ready to discover your family story?
Simply start with yourself and we'll do the searching for you.
Potential photos and documents for Frederick HarperView All 10 Images
Top record matches for Frederick Harper
Surname meaning for "Harper"
English, Scottish, and Irish: occupational name for a player on the harp, from an agent derivative of Middle English, Middle Dutch harp 'harp'. The harper was one of the most important figures of a medieval baronial hall, especially in Scotland and northern England, and the office of harper was sometimes hereditary. The Scottish surname is probably an Anglicized form of Gaelic'son of the harper' (from Gaelic cruit 'harp', 'stringed instrument'). This surname has long been present in Ireland.


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Another worried daughter needs help...Dad has Stage 4 PC.
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Long Island, NY
Posts: 6
Re: Another worried daughter needs help...Dad has Stage 4 PC.
Hi! I am sorry you are going through this stressful time.
As for your first q, yes, it seems to be standard mode of treatment in India. Jim and others here have had success in adding another class of drugs, the 5-AR inhibitors(Fincar is the finaseteride generic, Proscar is the duasteride generic) to the regimen. But, I have not yet been able to find a doc in india who thinks it will help. You should check whether his urologist recommends it. It is great that they are giving him Zometa infusions right away. It is supposed to help a lot to stabilize and also lower the spread of bone mets.
From what I have read(in my layman's opinion) it is how low the PSA goes after intervention(PSA nadir) that decides how soon the cancer will be back or how aggressive the disease is. A PSA nadir of <0.05 is what is considered true remission here(Check PCRI website for more info on PSA nadir). His Calutide dosage can be increased to upto 150mg daily to help bring down the PSA some more. Ofcourse, PSA levels might not be truly indicative of his disease prognosis..as kcon suggested before, some people have very high PSA but are still doing fine.
Apart from the medications, daily exercise to maintain strength is very important. He should be having calcium/vit D supplements along with his Zometa infusions. Pomegranate juice is also thought to be beneficial. Following a mediterranean diet is also thought to be better for prognosis.
MY FIL is also in the same situation. Delayed diagnosis, back pain dismissed as complications from a slipped disk. Esp considering his family history, he or his docs should have thought of it a yr or two earlier. I truly understand the need for maintaining a detailed family history now..unfortunately, it was a costly lesson.
To answer Kcon's q from another indian perspective. Preventive diagnosis is not very well practiced in india..esp for tumor marker diagnosis etc. Most people have preventive diagnostics for heart/diabetes related ailments. So, PSA tests are not done unless some doc makes the connection between urinary difficulty or bone pain and PC. Its truly a shame.
Good luck to your dad and your family.
From what I have read here and all the books and website regularly reccommended by the people here, it is definetely possible to find a treatment plan that works for your dad. So don't lose hope!
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A SURVEY has been sent to Whitchurch residents who will be directly affected by a trial to lower speed limits to 20mph.
The town is one of 10 places earmarked for the £200,000 'Residential 20' scheme, put forward by Hampshire County Council to make roads safer.
The scheme could cost up to £48,000 for Whitchurch alone and would cover many of the town's central roads, where speed limits are currently 30mph.
These include Alliston Way, Daniel Road, Evingar Road, and Lynch Hill Park, as well as parts of London Street, London Road, Micheldever Road, Winchester Street and Winchester Road.
Some 10,000 people in Hampshire who live in roads where the 20mph speed limit is proposed will receive questionnaires asking them what they think of the plan.
There will then follow advertising of the proposals before work on the affected roads starts this Spring.
Councillor Mel Kendal, executive member for environment and transport at Hampshire County Council, urged people to respond to the letters.
He said: "It is essential for us to establish that we have the support of local people."
The 20mph areas will be identified by road signs and marking on the road surface.
The county council said the police are unlikely to treat enforcement as a priority in the residential 20mph areas, but community speed watch programmes could help compliance.
The schemes are likely to stay in place, unless there are problems, but will be assessed, county officers say.


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On both sides of this argument, credentials are often called into question: what qualifies someone to become a good music critic? These things, like being a good artist, are impossible to quantify, but if historical examples are invoked it becomes a little easier. Obviously, I am just one person (one critic, by my many definitions of the word) and this is just my codifying of a few existing notions. I am just doing my job!
In my estimation there are four types of effective critics: the consumer's critic, the so-called "enlightened other," the force-of-personality critic, and the composer-critic. Each of these fulfills a specific function, and these are really the only people who have any business holding forth in any sort of public arena, let alone one that has potential fiscal influence.
The consumer's critics are perhaps the most immediately valuable of the lot. These are unglamorous book and record reviewers who help decide where you put your cash—they act like knowledgeable friends, advising you on where to start. These are the true enthusiasts, and though many of them may not themselves be practicing musicians (or musicians at all), they tend to be deep and careful fans who do an actual service, writing for magazines like International Record Review, Fanfare, or Gramophone, and Web sites like CDNow and ClassicsToday, just to name a few. When trying to find a recording of a standard piece of repertoire, it is often difficult to discern which might be the most effective use of your almost $20 per CD, and these people collectively create a resource to guide you. I am not saying this because I am one (I write regularly for ClassicsToday); rather, I am one because I truly believe in the value of this kind of work. This is service, unspectacular yet necessary, and these people have the collective power to help build an informed and discerning audience.
Criticism has a long and illustrious history of enlightened others—scholars, poets, philosophers. In the literary world this is a more acceptable phenomenon, because therein the critics are also artists after a fashion, blurring the lines between what they call primary and secondary texts; the reigning king at the moment being Harold Bloom, a prodigious mind and deeply prolific individual. He not only has read more than anyone, but he has written or edited hundreds of books and critical editions. It concerns few that he is not a writer because, in fact, he IS a writer—not of fiction or poetry, but of criticism, which is his art. In that world, theory is still just theory (as opposed to music where it is taught as fact) and the theorists have little or no influence over the artists. Someone like Pierre Boulez, being both a critic and the composer-in-residence with several major orchestras (including Chicago) in addition to holding the Composer's Chair at Carnegie Hall, has an opportunity to make or break careers; Bloom just comments. Literary critics seem to live in both the past and the present, able to define traditions and see how current work does or does not come out of them.
The most important thing about the Enlightened Other type of critic is the fact that they produce a body of work—Bloom's is enormous and growing rapidly. If one is a reviewer, all one has to offer (generally) is a stack of forgotten reviews in daily papers, perhaps some feature articles here and there—sometimes a book or a libretto as well, but more as a sideline. It is the live mind, the productive mind, which makes an "other" enlightened. Paul Rosenfeld is a fine example: an author of deeply moving essays about contemporary music in the early part of the century, though not himself a musician, he produced a body of respectable work about music. Today he is largely forgotten, but his insights are uncanny—he is quite biased (who isn't?) but committed, willing to lay himself forward as an artist, not just a writer who happens to be a fan. Other distinguished names are Hanslick, Henry Krehbiel, not to mention Aldous Huxley, George Bernard Shaw, e.e. cummings, Frank O'Hara. All of these minds contributed some music criticism, alongside their own personal work. We like them for their insights, whether they are musical or extramusical. Poets often make the best visual arts critics, and sometimes writers (established, dedicated writers) can be good on the subject of music.
Musicologists and scholars are Enlightened Others—the likes of Jean-Jacques Nattiez, Henri-Louis de la Grange, Robert Donnington, Carl Dalhaus, Pieter Van den Toorn, Susan McClary are among the hundreds of interesting minds contributing books and articles to the nexus of musical understanding. But these people don't get jobs at major papers here in America, for some reason—perhaps they do not desire them? These are qualified thinkers and writers about music, yet their books languish, and who (among even the most dedicated readers of NewMusicBox) has a subscription to the Journal of American Musicology or 19th Century Music, Perspectives of New Music, or Sonus? Few I would imagine (this author included). These are the real critics, the Harold Blooms of our world, but they get little notice outside the academy. An exception to this is Joseph Horowitz, who has written Understanding Toscanini and Wagner Nights, and also contributes regularly to the New York Times. He is a sharp mind, and an exception where he ought to be the rule.
For sheer force of personality, one would have to look outside the Western classical music establishment to some really strong and interesting thinkers. Pauline Kael, the famous film critic for the New Yorker for years, was such a mind. Her writing about movies was anything but conventional—a far cry from the thumbs-up/thumbs-down soundbite twaddle we swallow whole-heartedly today. She had wide ranging and controversial opinions (including a passionate distaste for Citizen Kane and a deep admiration for gore-meister Brian de Palma) but they were hers and hers alone. The extremity of her degradation of what she did not approve of was at times staggering, but she spoke only for herself, not for a particular paper or magazine or school of thought. And what she could do was to help unpack an experience—another teacherly, or even parental, instinct. Like any good parent, she didn't want you to have to suffer like she did; like any good parent, she wanted you to experience things that gave her joy. The film critic as shepherd.
Lester Bangs, founder of Creem magazine (and made into a kid-friendly teddy bear in the film Almost Famous), had such a loud, obnoxious, diesel-powered way with words, dismissing the pompous edifice of commercialism with a fierce backhand as often and as extremely as he could, that his voice became something of a rallying cry for sticking to ones principles, even if one had to be an asshole to do it. This requires a certain type of fearlessness of personality, more appropriate to rock music; he is mentioned here only as an extreme example. Critics of classical music, don't try this at home. It simply wouldn't work.
The most effective critics of music throughout history have been composers. Robert Schumann, Hector Berlioz, Claude Debussy, Charles Ives, Arnold Schoenberg, Igor Stravinsky, Elliott Carter, and Steve Reich have all contributed to the fray. Their words have been anthologized and published, and many of them are still in print today. It is quite likely that we read this criticism because we want greater insight into who these men were, what they thought like, and how their time influenced their compositions (and vice-versa), but who can doubt the validity of some of these writers? Schumann, with an obvious agenda, promoted the hell out of what he believed to be the best future for music; Berlioz had enough personality for ten men, and from his involved treatises and books (his Memoirs and Evenings with the Orchestra ought to be required reading for anyone interested in music) we not only get a sense of the man and the times that produced him, but a whole outmoded fashion of musical thought. Schoenberg's theoretical output is vast, beautiful, and as enigmatic as the man himself; it can teach you a lot about a wide swath of music, from his own all the way back to Bach. As a critic he does for music what Harold Bloom does for words, drawing conclusions and tracing lineage.
Today, with the notable exception of Kyle Gann at the Village Voice, David Schiff in Oregon (and the only serious composer to contribute on a semi-regular basis to the New York Times), and the sporadic contributions of Ned Rorem—perhaps the best music prosifier alive—composers are given little voice. One of the reasons might be that these are not the jobs for which composers might angle. It might seem that taking a major position at a serious daily rag is a sign that your career is in trouble—these jobs being a sort of dustbin for failed musicians. Another symptom in the sadly adversarial (and inexplicably exclusive) roles of artist and critic.
I ask you to examine the major critics for the country's dailies: Mark Swed in Los Angeles; Richard Dyer in Boston; Peter Dobrin in Philadelphia; John von Rhein in Chicago; Anthony Tommasini in New York. Ask yourself: what qualifies each of them, how do they fit into the scheme I have just outlined? Which of them has a career as a musician? Or is a serious and active scholar? Or has the name recognition that is coupled with a force of personality. These people don't just write for their papers, they speak on their paper's behalf. They have the power to halt productions of operas, to bring careers to a summit or push them into non-existence, especially when it comes to new music. They cannot damage Beethoven, but they might be able to take a dent out of Bang On A Can (or whatever group comes down the pike next). Even by not covering something, they can do harm. They have absolute power in this little corner of this little world.
From Critical Condition
By Daniel Felsenfeld
© 2002 NewMusicBox


text:
Denim- old skirt. Fleece - remnant. Warm and Natural left over from last quilt. And it is getting cold here in Florida!! My grand daughter broke her elbow and the cast wont fit into a sleeve. So...made one sleeve bigger. Also matching hat and mittens. Now she wants me to make her high heel shoes.
Bella's new coat


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Ky. town has Peeping Tom in skull mask
FORT WRIGHT, Ky., Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A search was on for a peeping Tom in a Halloween skull mask who peers into windows at night, police in Fort Wright, Ky., said Thursday.
Two incidents were reported in July in the small town near Cincinnati, Ohio, authorities confirmed, adding that a third peeping case may have occurred but the victim said she did not get a good look and was not certain the suspect wore a mask.
No one has been injured in any of the incidents, police said.
Boy, 9, left at wrong bus stop
BONITA SPRINGS, Fla., Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A Florida mother said her 9-year-old son boarded the wrong school bus and was forced by the driver to get off the vehicle at a stop he did not know.
Donna Whalen of Estero said her son, Ryan Scott, 9, got on the wrong bus the afternoon of Aug. 10 at Pinewoods Elementary School and told the driver when he realized he was on the wrong vehicle, WINK-TV, Fort Myers, Fla., reported Thursday.
"She said I wasn't special, no one is special, so get off the bus," Ryan said.
Whalen said the driver left Ryan at the side of a road in Bonita Springs, more than a mile away from his intended stop at the Bonita Springs Rec Center.
Whalen said Ryan walked to a nearby post office and called her at the Naples post office, where she works.
The mother said she filed a complaint with the school district, but has yet to hear back.
"It's scary as a parent. You don't want to see any child go through this. I don't think the bus driver should have a job anymore," Whalen said.
District officials said the incident is under investigation.
Model sues after pic used for escort site
NEW YORK, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A New York model filed a lawsuit after a picture she took for a car ad was used by a Web site that implied she was a Swedish escort.
David Jaroslawicz, a lawyer for Caroline Giles, 30, said his client is suing Volvo, Hertz and the Ford Models agency after a picture taken of her for a Volvo S40 promotion was used for Hertz advertisements in Argentina and a Swedish Web site that offers users the chance to "spend the night with a Swedish model of your choice," the New York Daily News reported Thursday.
Jaroslawicz said his client was paid a $1,000 one-time use fee for the photoshoot.
"I can't take Julia Roberts' picture and advertise soap," he said. "They started using her (Giles) as if they owned her."
Spokesmen for the plaintiffs declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Dead clown's money to heirs vanishes
TORONTO, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Four bank drafts worth $80,000 mailed to beneficiaries of a Canadian clown who died last year have disappeared in the postal system, the clown's executor said.
Lorrainne Pearce, 66, worked professionally as Buttercup the Clown until she died of cancer early last year. She bequeathed about $80,000 to four friends in the Toronto area, the Toronto Star reported Thursday.
Her executor, Mary Chmiel, obtained bank drafts this year and then mailed them to the beneficiaries using Canada's Post's next-day, computer tracked service. However, the drafts never arrived and Canada Post says there's no record of where they went.
Chmiel said the post office investigated for several days before calling to say the four envelopes were considered lost and the case was closed.
She contacted her member of Parliament and the post office reopened the investigation hours later, the Star said.
Meanwhile, the bank that issued the drafts said it can't re-issue the drafts until Canada Post officially declares the drafts lost.
The investigation into the clown's vanishing money was continuing, the report said.
Police: Bus driver used aliases for heists
GENOA, Italy, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Police in Italy said they have arrested a clever criminal comparable to French author Maurice Leblanc's gentleman thief Arsene Lupin.
Investigators said Davide Patti, 34, a bus driver in Genoa, used false identities to carry out heists reminiscent of the fictional thief's crimes, ANSA reported Thursday.
Police said Patti posed as a banker, a mail carrier and a business owner to gain access to credit and ATM cards from at least two banks and a post office.
Patti was stopped by police and arrested while attempting to gain access to official documents at the Ligura region's headquarters.


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Market participants have cautiously welcomed a proposal to make potentially radical and lasting changes to the EU's emissions trading system (ETS) but lack consensus about their preferred option for tackling the oversupply, depressing prices.
The European Commission adopted and published its report on potential structural changes on Wednesday in a bid to address the long-term crisis stemming from a vast surplus of carbon credits in the ETS.
As the surplus is already weighing on prices and is expected to do so beyond phase III (2013-2020), the Commission has proposed a two-step approach that offers both temporary and more permanent ways of boosting CO2 prices.
The first step is a back-loading proposal that could delay the auctioning of 900m EU allowances (EUAs) until the end of phase III (see EDCM 13 November 2012). This is generally considered a temporary fix.
The second step seeks a more permanent solution to the long-term oversupply. Wednesday's report - a draft of which was leaked last month (see EDCM 23 October 2012) - proposes "six options" for doing so.
Potential structural changes
The EU's ETS surplus stood at almost 1bn in early 2008, according to Commission figures, and is predicted to rise significantly between phase II and III, with a surplus of 2bn allowances expected by 2020. Thus, even if 900m EUAs are delayed, further changes could be needed to balance out demand and supply in this market.
The six options are:
• Tightening the EU's carbon-reduction cap from 20% to 30% below 1990 levels by 2020 - backed by some states, including Germany, but opposed by others, including Poland (see EDCM 17 August 2012);
• Permanently removing a share of the supply from the system - which would require separate "primary legislation" to the existing ETS Directive by the EU parliament and the European Council;
• Increasing the annual rate at which emissions have to be reduced in the ETS;
• Including more carbon-intensive industries, such as shipping and agriculture, in the ETS;
• Reducing or banning the use of international carbon offset credits from the ETS after 2020; and
• Introducing "discretionary price mechanisms" such as a carbon-price floor, or "a price management reserve where allowances are deposited in case of excessive price decreases".
Stakeholder views
Europe's power-sector lobby, Eurelectric, welcomed the second, structurally-focused, proposal. It backed "an ambitious, firm, long-term, economy-wide" carbon reduction target for 2030 and 2050 and a corresponding ETS cap, as well as including more sectors within the system. As structural changes to the ETS would probably require a lengthy legislative process, Eurelectric also welcomed more immediate back-loading.
The Commission has passed the back-loading proposal, which forms a draft amendment to the EU's ETS Auction regulation, to the Climate Change Committee, which is due to comment before the end of phase II, and will launch a formal consultation on it soon.
The structural proposals were also welcomed by the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) as a way to avoid repeated intervention that exacerbates uncertainty.
However, it said: "Given the gravity of the issues at stake, IETA expresses concern that the Commission appears to be considering only a limited number of options - at this early stage in the debate, now might not be the best time to rule out particular options."
Finnish utility Fortum only backed the option to increase carbon cap ambitions by 2030, rather than 2020, and opposed the curbing of, for instance, international credits in the system, adding that the 900m back-loading volume probably "will not impact the market price significantly nor decrease market volatility".
Non-governmental organisation CDM Watch, however, strongly supported the move to limit the use of offsets such as certified emission reductions (CERs) and emission reduction units (ERUs) in the ETS, urging the EU to ban them even sooner than proposed.
It said such credits account for 75% of the 2bn surplus and criticised the EU's suggestion to restrict them only pre-2020,"despite new evidence that a large amount of offset credits haven't delivered real reductions and are leading to a net increase of 1.6bn tonnes of CO2 by 2020". MLDB


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WHEATLEY-L ArchivesArchiver > WHEATLEY > 1999-11 > 0943731665
From: Carey and Jean Tolle <>
Subject: Wheatley/Whitley-Fauquier co.Va.
Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1999 14:41:05 -0500
John Wheatley-Whitley born ca 1733/34 in Prince William Co. died 1795/96
in fauquier Co. va.
Wife Ann ( Marr) maiden name not proven, died ca. 1810
Children: Daniel born ca.1776 d. 1848 Harrison Co. Ky.(MY LINE)
Ann, Mary, Leannah, Sarah, Hannah, and William. William was in Ky. ca
1810 and then disappeared. Some of the daughters may have settled in
Lincoln and Barren Co. Ky. Anyone sound familiar?
Jean in Ohio
This thread:
|Wheatley/Whitley-Fauquier co.Va. by Carey and Jean Tolle <>


text: I would say not. I would still expect at least an 1" to 1.5" at 100 yards with factory plinking ammo. I have two 20" Bushmaster rifles that I bought pre2k. One is my DCM match rifle and the other is your standard 20" Hbar XM15. The DCM gun has a 1X8 barrel free-floated and the XM15 your standard 1X9 Bushmaster barrel. Both guns have turned in groups of 1" with decent factory stuff, but are sub MOA with my match handloads. I would expect yours to do much better with a decent match type load. Something with a 75-77 grain bullet perhaps. My one in nine really liked the Hornady A-Max bullets.


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text:
Scream 4 will hit theatres! It is a go!
It looks like husband and wife duo are back together for the release of Scream 4. It looks to be a movie that will be released in April of 2011. Courtney Cox Arquette and David Arquette will star in it along with Neve Campbell. It looks like director Wes Craven may be on board too!
By: Jason Merritt Getty Images Entertainment


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Information about how to access the British Library Reading Rooms if you are under-18
- Published date:
Everyone is welcome to visit our exhibition galleries and public spaces. However, to use the Reading Rooms at St Pancras and Boston Spa you will need to register for a Reader Pass.
We do not normally issue a Reader Pass to anyone under the age of 18, although we occasionally make an exception to see specific items which are unavailable in other libraries.
We cannot admit anyone aged 11 or under to the Reading Rooms. As an under-18 student, you may find your school or public library better equipped to serve your needs.
Apart from some reference materials on the shelves, you can't browse in the British Library's Reading Rooms to see what you want. Instead readers search the online catalogue then order their items from storage and wait to collect them. This will take a minimum of 70 minutes or over two days for material stored off site.
The Reading Rooms are for individual study and groups of students can't talk together in the Reading Rooms, nor can items be removed from the Reading Rooms as this is a reference library – items have to be looked at onsite.
To apply for a Reader Pass, you will need to provide a list of the titles and shelfmarks of each book you require as well as a list of other libraries from which you have tried to get the material. The shelfmark is available from the British Library's catalogue. Please be aware your application may take up to ten days to process.
Any item in the catalogue with a 'Document Supply' prefix (DSC) in the shelfmark is available via public libraries through the inter-library loan service. Your local librarian will be able to help you with this if you provide the details of the items you require.
To apply complete the Under-18 Reader Pass application form and email it to our Reader Registration Team.
If you are over 18 information about getting a Reader Pass can be found here.


text:
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text:
Not to sound too obvious but...
I would take a look at line 23 in your source code.
Program compile errors, in general, typically result from either dependencies being missing or incorrect (such as the wrong version of an object library, or something in the wrong directory), or some simple syntax error such as a missing bracket or quote.
Typically compilers are written for specfic OS, and often compilers are very picky about even what processor it runs on...so if the compiler was written for XP, and you're using Win7, you're on your own.


text:
We are at an interesting point of the fantasy season. It's now the time in keeper leagues where you should either be making moves to bolster your roster or dumping studs in order to load up with prospects for next year. I made a minor trade this week, unloading Tyler Colvin for Nick Markakis. Going purely on stats, Colvin looks somewhat better in the power department, but I'm banking on Markakis to do better from here on out. It's also the time of the season to become annoyed when an owner has a ton of points in hitting and won't trade a bat to bolster his pitching. It becomes worse when you send a fair offer and don't even get a counter in return. Enough of my rant – onto this week's Barometer.
Matt Joyce, OF, Rays - Prior to his Thursday call-up Joyce was raking at Triple-A Durham, posting a .913 OPS. He was especially hot as of late, batting .363 over his final nine games for the Bulls. Carl Crawford is battling a shoulder injury but manager Joe Maddon has stated that they'll get Joyce's bat in the lineup even when Crawford returns. Joyce stole a base on Saturday and should be running given the Rays penchant to steal bags. If you need outfield help take a flier on him; his 22:21 BB:K ratio suggests he's ready for the big show.
Matt LaPorta, 1B, Indians - Did the Tribe finally figure out that Russell Branyan was not their first baseman of the future? His departure to the Mariners means LaPorta will take over as an everyday player. Like Joyce, he was killing in the minors, sporting a 1.094 OPS, which included five home runs, in only 69 at-bats. While LaPorta struggled earlier this year in Cleveland, he didn't receive consistent playing time and no longer has to worry about being benched. Now if we can only get Michael Brantley and his .310 BA up…
Tom Gorzelanny, P, Cubs - Following Carlos Zambrano's meltdown and subsequent suspension, Gorzelanny will return to the Chicago rotation. I've always labeled Gorzelanny as a quad-A player and now he'll get another chance to prove otherwise. He was already pitching well, striking out over a batter per inning and posting a 1.35 GB/FB ratio (something you need to be successful at Wrigley). His next start will be against the Pirates on Wednesday afternoon, so I'd roll the dice with him for this coming scoring period.
Joey Votto, 1B, Reds - This is an easy one since it's not a difficult task to upgrade a guy who's reached base in 35 straight games. I actually read on a site that his batting average "dipped to .301" and that he is a "must-start" in all leagues. Brilliant! An intriguing question is this – would you choose Votto next year ahead of Adrian Gonzalez, Mark Teixeira, Justin Morneau, Prince Fielder or Ryan Howard, where he would essentially be the third first baseman taken over all? Before you think that's crazy talk, keep in mind that only Gonzalez has more home runs than Votto right now and Votto had the highest batting average among the group last year. He's on pace for 15 plus stolen bases, which also has to be taken into consideration.
Cliff Pennington, SS, Atheltics - Keeping in mind that shortstop is not a deep fantasy position, Pennington is making his way onto fantasy radars in most formats. He's batting .338 for the month of June and has now tallied 10 stolen bases on the season. I'd rather have him over someone like Ryan Theriot in my starting lineup.
Madison Bumgarner, P, Giants - His debut wasn't great but it wasn't terrible, yielding four runs (two home runs) over seven innings to the Red Sox. Bumgarner gets the luxury of pitching in a good park and probably has about 60 innings left on his clock for this season. The lack of strikeouts (59 in 82.2 innings) at Triple-A is the only minor red flag for me. As far as starting pitchers go, it will be difficult to find a better one on your waiver wire, so grab him if he's available.
Will Venable, OF, Padres - Since getting over a neck injury, Venable has rewarded fantasy owners who stuck it out while he was on the sidelines. Venable has gone 8-for-21 over his last six games and has socked two home runs and also stolen two bags. Petco is a horrible place for hitters but Venable has the upside to flirt with a 20/30 campaign. Think of him as a similar player to Drew Stubbs.
Jake Fox, 3B, Orioles - Next to Cleveland, Oakland made the second-worst signings/moves in the offseason (see Jack Cust, Fox, Kouzmanoff et al.). Fox has a second life in Baltimore and will get a chance to earn regular playing time. He was old a little old for Triple-A (he's 26), but a 1.336 OPS last year is hard to ignore. Now he's in a better hitter's park than Oakland and with nine games behind the plate he probably has catcher eligibility.
Check Status:
Carl Crawford, OF, Rays - Crawford's shoulder woes were enough to force him to leave Thursday's game. Compounding matters, he aggravated the injury pinch running and says it's bothering him when he swings or throws. I'm pretty sure both of those skills are important to play baseball. Teammate B.J. Upton's shoulder injury seemed to sap his power last year and the same could happen to Crawford, although his power isn't what he's necessarily known for. Check the updates to make sure a DL stint isn't on the way.
Clay Buchholz, P, Red Sox - Buchholz is dealing with a hyperextended knee which he injured while (of all things) running the bases in an interleague game. Initial reports out of Boston are good but don't be surprised to see his next start pushed back or skipped altogether if the BoSox play it safe.
Billy Wagner, P, Braves - The sob story of my fantasy season to this point was trading for a $6 Wagner in my hometown keeper league and having him announce his retirement at season's end the next day. Oh well. Wagner is currently dealing with a sore ankle which kept him from a save opportunity on Saturday night. There's a chance he could be available as soon as Sunday so this may not be a big deal. I just tend to worry when I hear "cortisone shot" when mentioning any player.
Neil Walker, 2B, Pirates - Walker will miss the rest of the Pirates' road trip after he suffered a concussion while colliding with Ryan Church. It's too bad as Walker was putting together a solid season, batting .295 with three homers and two stolen bases in 112 at-bats. A trip the DL could be in his future.
Mike Leake, Mat Latos, Philip Hughes and anyone else who might be on a 150-inning limit - These young pitchers have been nothing short of spectacular but their respective clubs will likely limit them to around 150 innings this season. Leake already had a start skipped and a similar strategy could be used for Latos and Hughes with their teams fighting for a playoff spot. In redraft leagues I'd dangle them as trade bait, while their value is still very high, and see what offers are out there.
Jason Heyward, OF, Braves - How dare I think of putting Heyward here; but the numbers don't lie. After his torrid start he's been cold at the plate during June, batting .181 with one home run and 32 strikeouts in 94 at-bats. The root of his slump is likely traced to the sore thumb that hasn't improved over the last month. In my opinion this would be a good time to send an offer to his owner in keeper leagues if you're playing for next year.
Brian Roberts, 2B, Orioles - The timetable for Roberts' return is up in the air and some reports suggest that it may not be until August, if at all this year. I wasn't high on Roberts to begin with – I wrote about him in my preseason "Busts" article citing a steady decline in steals and an increase in his strikeout rate. If you could use the bench spot, I'd drop him immediately.
Russell Martin, C, Dodgers - Martin has been struggling at the dish, going 2-for-23 over his last seven games. It would be nice to see Joe Torre give him a day off more than once or twice a month, which would likely help his approach at the plate.
Dustin Pedroia, 2B, Red Sox - Pedroia landed on the 15-day DL with a non-displaced fracture of the foot. This is a huge blow to the Red Sox since he was hot, raising his batting average 38 points this month. No timetable has been set for Pedroia's return but I'll guess we are looking at about 6-8 weeks.
Carlos Zambrano, P, Cubs - Saying Zambrano has a temper is like saying Tiger Woods likes female homo sapiens. His latest blowup has him ticketed for the bullpen when he returns from his suspension. Water coolers in the bullpen: you're on notice.


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HBC Publications
Deficit Projection Nears $1.5 Trillion for Fiscal Year 2011
Congressional Budget Office Estimates
In the wake of a Democratic Congress's failure to produce a budget last year, the 112th Congress continues to face deficits approaching $1.5 trillion this year and exceeding $1 trillion next year, according to estimates released today by the Congressional Budget Office [CBO]. Beyond the near term, CBO's projections continue to show an unsustainable path of Federal spending, the debt effects of which are masked by unrealistic revenue projections.
Read the full House Budget Committee analysis here.


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What is the Foundation foundation?
The mission of the Fullerton Public Library Foundation is to enrich the quality of life of the people of Fullerton by raising funds for the enhancement of the library. These funds shall be in supplement to, but not in place of, those provided by the City of Fullerton. The Foundation is a nonprofit organization governed by a board of community volunteers.


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At the end of January Klyde Warren Park president Mark Banta made the surprise announcement that he was stepping down as of March 1 for personal reasons. This morning, his replacement has been named: Tara Green, whose résumé includes a stint as the chief operating officer for the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee and, most recently, chief revenue officer for the American Airlines Center. Green officially takes over in about six weeks.
In a release this morning, Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation Board Chairman Jody Grant says Green, who has been in Dallas 22 years, "knows Dallas and sees the tremendous opportunities to make sure Klyde Warren Park continues to evolve as a special place for people to enjoy our great city. Her sports and entertainment background will give her the unique perspective to operate the Park as a premier venue that is free to the public."
Green also spent 11 years as sports marketing veep for the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau.
According to this morning's announcement, Green picks up where Banta left off: She'll be in charge of everything from park programming to making sure that restaurant finally gets finished. And she'll be tasked with raising money for operations and maintenance.
"I have enjoyed watching the Park come to life over the years and look forward to joining the incredible and hard-working team that has made its first year a success," she says in this morning's announcement. "I have spent the majority of my professional career selling Dallas as a destination and am thrilled to represent our city's' most unique attraction and help showcase it to residents and visitors alike."
No doubt we'll have more to come.


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The U.K. grocery market is not unlike that in the U.S.: big supermarket chains battling smaller, often smarter, specialty chains, the all-things-in-one hypermarkets and a growing e-tailing force.
As with U.S. supermarket operators, British retailers traditionally depended on a defined but loyal slice of the total market to keep their sales constant. And, as in the U.S., those British retailers are finding that the economy, generational shopping habits and the Internet are changing all the rules.
Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Sainsbury's have all been major players in the sector with their own fairly clear-cut demographic. M&S shoppers tend to be affluent and demand to be entertained as much as being offered good food. These are similar to Whole Foods or Trader Joe's in the U.S., or regional higher-end players like Wegman's and Harris-Teeter.
Sainsbury's is generally considered the most middle-class of the "big four" supermarket groups in the U.K., comprised of Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda – a Walmart offshoot – and Morrisons. (Think Kroger, Safeway, Supervalu, et al.).
And Tesco is about the provision of a classless environment with mass appeal. It is the U.K.'s largest food retailer with around 30 percent of the total market. Tesco's shoppers are a U.K. equivalent of what in the U.S. would be the Walmart/Target/Meijer market segment.
Each is responding in its own way to the challenges offered by more frequent but smaller shopping trips and customer demand for greater convenience: longer hours, edited assortments, home meal replacement, self-checkout, in-store technology, etc.
For all three, however, the real grass-fed elephant steak in the room is having to deal with the threat posed by the online merchants. In Britain, as in the U.S. and pretty much everywhere else, shopping increasingly means sitting poised in front of a computer terminal – whether that terminal is at your desk or on your lap or in the palm of your hand.
It's a point not lost on Nayna McIntosh, director of store environment and product presentation at London-based Marks & Spencer Plc. "One of the things we've been looking at for the last 18 to 24 months is the customer experience, particularly moves we've been making with in-store technology and our online shops," she says. "The question we've been asking is how we can we join the two worlds: online and shop-based retailing."
One answer comes from an unexpected source: the wine departments in some of the bigger M&S stores. In-store wine experts discuss regionality and provenance with shoppers in the store, but each expert now packs an iPad in order to help shoppers access the broader M&S wine range beyond the store.
There is, however, rather more to getting the in-store and online worlds married up than equipping staff with iPads and hoping for the best.
Sainsbury's, the 144-year-old London-based chain with more than 1000 units and 16.5 percent of the market, has been taking steps to integrate the physical store with the virtual world. But Damian Culkin, head of store design, says it's not about in-store technology for its own sake.
"It [the future] is about responding to customer needs and not imposing things on shoppers," he says. "In our in-store phone shop in King's Lynn [in the East Anglia region], there is a digital version of the same shop online. That makes sense and it works. Now there are options, and if people want to engage with a physical shop, the online experience drives the physical store to be more experiential. There's now almost nothing that you couldn't order online and so there has to be connectivity between the two worlds."
That means such things as standalone touchscreens and iPads embedded into the fixtures, increasingly common elements of 21st Century retailing.
"Connectivity" seems be something of a watchword in U.K. supermarket circles currently. At Tesco, simultaneously the kingdom's largest non-food retailer and one of the Big Four grocers, Simon Threadkell, design and formats director, says that a "more connected store" can be about "click and connect" – order online and collect in a store – and "endless aisles" – screens placed on gondola endcaps that allow shoppers to browse before they enter the aisle.
There is more to in-store developments in supermarkets than the simple provision of screens and iPads, however. There is also the matter of relevance. Threadkell says that following the decision to embark on a store modernization program in early 2012, Tesco has been endeavoring to modernize strategically. "The key for us at the moment is being locally relevant," he says. "At our Bishop's Stortford and Thetford stores [two branches in the east of England], we tried to tailor the offer to suit the local demographic. Now we've taken that idea and moved on with it."
For example, in a store in the very affluent central London district of Kensington, "We've gone for day-parting – switching out the merchandising from breakfast to lunchtime to afternoon tea. What I'm describing is more surgical-design thinking that targets specific shoppers and local communities."
There is also the matter of visual merchandising. McIntosh says that the direction in M&S over the past couple of years has been toward injecting greater drama into the food halls. "I think we've probably put more theater into our food retailing business than into clothing over the last couple of years," she says. "We've done this with the deli bars which, because they have products that aren't found in the rest of the food department, are a complete destination."
She adds that props form a major part of the visual merchandising change, with blackboards and maps to show where things come from and pasta machines that allow the product to be made as the shopper watches.
The store environment team at M&S has also incorporated "event zones" – what in the fashion world might be described as "pause points" – decompression areas where the shopper can breathe and admire a well-put-together display. In selected M&S food departments, this means a space at the front of the shop where food is treated like fashion – visually merchandised, instead of being piled on the shelves.
For example, M&S marked last year's Silver Jubilee for the Queen by mixing confectionery and biscuits with hampers and Union flags. It might not have been quite the event-related visual merchandising as in the windows of Harrods or Harvey Nichols, but it and the other changes we're seeing in the grocery sector have certainly marked a step up for British food retailing.


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On November 30, the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL) in Mexico, the largest Spanish-language book fair in the world (and the second largest general book fair, after Frankfurt), opened with its most distinguished political guest to date—Shimon Peres, President of Israel and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In observance of Shabbat, President Peres was not able to participate in the opening ceremony, but the presence of Israel was felt throughout with the participation of Israel's ambassador, Rodica Radian Gordon, as well as Ada Yonath, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
After several academic and political dignitaries spoke at the opening ceremony Saturday morning, the spotlight shifted to French poet Yves Bonnefoy, who was awarded FIL's 2013 Literary Prize in Romance Languages. In his native French, the 90-year-old said that "poetry is widely recognized, loved, and practiced in Mexico and the rest of Latin America." Bonnefoy went on to say that one of his greatest regrets in life was not learning Spanish.
Still, the evening belonged to Peres. With an unprecedented level of security, and after an hour delay, Peres sat with the ex-president of Spain, Felipe González, for what started as a conversation between two old friends and progressed into an intense discussion on politics, terrorism, occupied territories, science, and God. While some complained that a book fair is not the place to discuss politics, the overwhelming majority of attendees saw the opening as an exchange of ideas that contributed to the overall mission of the fair.
Over 900 publishers are attending FIL, along with 600 writers and 20,000 book professionals; the nine-day literary event expects to welcome over 702,000 attendees in total. The rights center alone is hosting participants from 44 different countries. The other attendees are of the smaller variety; the fair expects to attract over 150,000 children this year.
Additionally, for the first time, the fair has a dedicated space on the show floor for e-books. Over 20 exhibitors are in the space, and they have created an exhibit that offers hands-on access to e-reading devices.