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End of the Tilson Thomas era at San Francisco
October 31, 2017 by norman lebrecht
The music director has just told his players that he will be giving up the job in 2020, after 25 years, when he reaches the age of 75.
Press release follows.
COMMENTARY: Is MTT the last of the old-fashioned maestros?
SAN FRANCISCO, October 31, 2017 — Michael Tilson Thomas today announced plans to conclude his distinguished tenure as Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) in June 2020. The 2019–2020 Season will mark both his 75th birthday and his 25th year leading the Symphony in what is widely considered one of the most productive musical partnerships in the orchestral world. Tilson Thomas' legacy with the SF Symphony began in 1974 with his debut at age 29, conducting Mahler's Ninth Symphony, and was solidified by his commencement as the Orchestra's 11th Music Director in September 1995. Following the 2019–2020 Season, Michael Tilson Thomas will assume the title of Music Director Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony, and will continue to conduct the Orchestra for a minimum of four weeks each season in addition to other special projects. In anticipation of the celebratory 25th anniversary season of the MTT/SFS partnership, the next two years will feature signature recording projects, festivals, commissioning of new works, staged productions, a two-week tour of the United States in 2018–2019, and a three-week European tour in 2019–2020.
"Looking back over these decades I am filled with gratitude for the extraordinary artistic partnership I have had with the members of the Orchestra and for the warm and generous style of music making we have shared with all of our audiences," said Michael Tilson Thomas. "Having been a Music Director of an orchestra for most of my adult life and as I approach my 75th birthday, I feel this is an appropriate moment to set aside some of my administrative responsibilities and begin a new period of creative possibilities. Fortunately my new and unique relationship as Music Director Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony will allow me to continue to work with my esteemed colleagues for years to come on projects close to my heart."
Throughout more than two decades, Michael Tilson Thomas' leadership of the San Francisco Symphony has been recognized worldwide for building an orchestra that consistently displays artistry of the highest level in its home of Davies Symphony Hall, on over two dozen national and international tours, and through media and recording projects. He has championed the creation and performance of new music through relationships with today's important musical voices, explored the adventurous and iconic American sound, and enhanced the orchestral concert experience through innovative staging and immersive settings. MTT has led the Symphony in growing new audiences by making orchestral music accessible to all through extensive, award-winning media projects including audio and video recordings, national radio and television broadcasts, and streaming and web content. Under his leadership, the Orchestra has built a leading commitment to music education and community activities, expanding its involvement with San Francisco's public school children, fostering many of the finest young musicians, and embracing creative ways to engage with the Bay Area's diverse population.
"Michael Tilson Thomas embodies the personality and the spirit of San Francisco," said Sakurako Fisher, President of the San Francisco Symphony. "Striving for excellence in all that he does, creative and curious in nature, inclusive of all, and adventurous in his thinking. We look forward to continuing to support his vision, ideas, and innovation around what an orchestra can mean to its community."
"When Michael made his debut with the Orchestra in 1974, it was clear that his passion for the music was matched by his ability to communicate it profoundly with our audiences," said SFS cellist Margaret Tait. "His creative, personal approach to music making and the broadening of the repertoire have been embraced by the Orchestra and made these two decades exciting, rewarding, and inspiring."
"Working with Michael has been one of the most joyful and meaningful collaborations of my life," said Eugene Izotov, SFS Principal Oboe. "His inspiration, guidance, and spirit have raised the artistic level of this orchestra and shaped the San Francisco Symphony into the kind of ensemble it has never been before. Although he leaves his post as Music Director, I know that his passion, youthful energy, and endless musical curiosity are here to stay with us."
"Under Michael Tilson Thomas' leadership, the worldwide artistic reputation of the Orchestra has experienced a trajectory of unprecedented growth," said SFS Executive Director Mark C. Hanson. "His vision, energy, and ideas have excited and engaged both new and long-time audiences and have attracted 50 extraordinary musicians who have joined the Orchestra during his tenure. The MTT/SFS partnership is unparalleled and will only continue to strengthen over time."
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Comments (42)
He has always struck me as very mediocre.
Ok, thanks, Sue. You opinion is noted.
Sorry, a typo is my curse for a snarky reply…
Oh, dear, what a mediocre opinion to have!
Paraphasing Celibidache, MTT is the real diet Coca-Cola conductor. Maybe that's OK for his core American repertoire.
His work has always impressed and often moved me. I also liked that he dared to go off the beaten track, as for example when he conducted for John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra (a well known jazz-rock fusion band of the 70's, which created some fascinating music).
He tenure at the San Francisco is to be respected as a significant achievement.
I saw him with the San Francisco Orchestra on tour 3 years ago in a concert including Ives, Adams and Berlioz and it was excellent and enjoyable. I am happy that I heard them, I was impressed with MTT and obviously he has a special relationship with the players.
By 2020 MTT will have beaten the length of Szell's Cleveland tenure by one year. Very rare with major orchestras in our days.
Ozawa was a Boston for almost 30. Too many in the opinion of some, but still a very long tenure.
I live in SF and go to his concerts every once in awhile. His Beethoven is impressive. This Missa Solemnis was unforgettable. One day later (it was a kind of Beethoven's festival), the "Fidelio" was better than my CD with Bernstein and VPO. I also enjoy MTT's Shostakovich quite a bit. SF Symphony is a powerhouse. Although the acoustics of Davis Symphony Hall can be a little bit tricky.
He will be missed.
The Fidelio you need was made at the same time as Lenny's, 1978, but in Munich with Karl Böhm conducting:
Vaguely I recall an exciting MTT Fidelio somewhere. In Houston? With Eva Marton? (Houston Grand Opera incredibly still has no archive.) Anyway, you are right. MTT's Beethoven has always been strong. He once recorded some of the symphonies with a chamber orchestra and made a persuasive case. He was well trained. All the Mahler Mahler puff gets in the way, but MTT has had a distinguished career with Impressionist music, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, as well as with early 19th-century scores. He is hard to pigeon-hole. Only in opera, Fidelio excepted, has he really failed to register. But that has presumably been his choice, or else he has no feel for Italian music!
I was at Davies hall the night he gave his first concert after having been announced as new Music director. The place was electric: first half Scheherazade, second half Rite of Spring. Love his Copland recordings, too. He was exactly the right conductor for that ensemble. Wonder if they'll go with another Bay Area Guy, Nagano?
Nagano is now too much of a has-been, after failures in Munich, Montreal and Hamburg. SFSO will want to go with someone more dynamic (and talented), like Houston's Andrés Orozco Estrada.
Failure in Montreal?? Defend yourself.
Do not forget his performances with the Grateful Dead! There will never be a Music Director of any orchestra with his vision! Bravo, MTT,
It was nothing more than a cheap publicity stunt — from MTT's insatiable desire to draw attention to himself, and it backfired. Grateful Dead fans didn't suddenly flock to symphonic concerts, and the effort was soon forgotten. Please don't confuse "visionary" with "narcissist".
Thanks for coming with right word-"narcissist". Can't wait billboard with MTT huge portrait over freeways 'll disappear soon.
I'm not from SF but he must be liked to some degree. I'm in Boston and really after 20 years people were ready for Seiji to move on. In talking to SF people, I think they weee ready for him to move on by now. It's nothing against him, it's just that I don't believe conductors should stay for more than 10-12 years.
I only heard him conduct in real life a couple of times and it was fine. But it doesn't sound like he's really moving on. He will still be there. I don't think that is an ideal situation for his successor. Move on…come back a few years later as a laureate. But let the next person make their own inprsssion.
The SFS has definitely raised its profile under MTT. But I don't think it's as big as it should be. It's still not at the level of the old granddaddies.
It's the San Francisco Symphony members themselves that coined his nick-name "Empty-T". They never drank MTT's Kool-aid.
The hope amongst musicians of the orchestra was for a 70 year old / 20 anniversary retirement for the quote unquote Bernstein protege
This panegyric post smacks of predictable Lebrechtian fetishism for the most elderly of musicians–a most particular and peculiar terminal circumstance for "professional" orchestras in America Hurrah! Another ancient dinosaur defies biological odds to detract from, if not outright destroy, what might otherwise have been perpetual growth, progress, and aesthetic improvement
Having made reeds for 77 years, 103 year old, second oboe, Jane Smithson nobly retired from the Peoria Philharmonic today, circumscribing a professional ambition heretofore unknown within the ever-growing and storied ranks of geriatric American performers "Her Hoveround(R) Personal Mobility Vehicle endowed chair and trusty colostomy bag will remain eternally preserved," says Executive Director Sammy Smithereens, "in esteemed recognition of her many decades of laudably slipshod execution of the opening of the Second Movement Adagio to Brahms' Second Symphony" The local rag, in growing chorus, was glad to report, just like so many others again and again and again.
Nothing to see here, folks Move along and about your business
The recorded documents referenced are suspect at best At every turn, in each respective era, The Tilson Thomas was and will continue to be surpassed substantially by competitors both domestic and abroad His rank composition fails as heartily as that of Bernstein (Broadway aside, of course!)–anniversary be damned
Irony aside, he leaves the Bay Area band in worse shape for the wear and with a poor perennial habit of losing oodles of money on an annual basis
No hope in sight
His late-life victory laps between the prime orchestras of the globe will continue as a sick musical joke, meanwhile in San Francisco they'll torture themselves over the need to identify the best not-worst female conductor or human-of-color to assume the role of Music Director in exchange for the multi-million-dollar salary
Dear Bortslappad Janne,
Unfortunately you're quite right in the points you're not damn wrong, especially when you see no hope in sight.
His Rite of Spring is the best and most accurate interpretation I have ever heard. I can only wish he would one day conduct my own works!
With so much money in the San Francisco Bay Area, and with so much competition among high level musicians for posts, I always wondered why the SFO isn't better and more famous than what it is. Compared to LA. I think LA is overhyped, and SF is undersold.
I know why talented musicians are not flocking to SF: because the cost of living in SF is sooooo expensive.
If you make $150,000 in San Francisco, you're at the bottom of the middle class economic scale, every lawyer in town starts out making that much, and you find you're competing against 20 year old tech billionaires willing to pay $1 million for a one bedroom fixer upper apartment in the Tenderloin, so you have to ove out into the suburbs that require a 2 hour commute each way.
To have the equivalent life style of a Chicago musician, SF would need to start their base pay at $300,000 just so their musicians can afford a decent one bedroom in Oakland, which they'll have to give up once they start a family.
Glad to see him go.So many shamful conducting event, especial Beethoven symphonies, terrible accompaniment of Tchaikovsky #1 concerto to Arcady Volodos and ugly manners. Coca-Cola diet festivals program. Agree with Sue-mediocracy rules. About affordability for $200 grant starting salaries for SFsymphony musician+ gigs. 2 bedroom appartement in Oakland-$2000 more or less. Trust me -I live in Oakland and in income property business. Low energy and food expences, best climate in the world. I'm lucky to live hear, only wish for real good conductor with class.
One of my favourite conductors:Elegant,great stick,consummate musician,passionate educator,daring programmer,fantastic rehearser,charismatic communicator.Wish him all the best.His recorded and filmed legacy at SFS speaks for itself
Superficial and mediocre musician. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k27Gf-CGxqM
It doesn't get much more shallow than that ( the dreadful cliched speech, that awful waving gesture at the beginning, the overall limp playing…) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k27Gf-CGxqM ( Thankfully the video stops after 3.49 minutes. )
I have never been a huge fan of MTT, though admittedly I have only seen him live a few times and not lived through one of his lengthy tenures with one orchestra. That said, I enjoy his Mahler recordings with SFSO, as well as those he did with London SO (3 and 7). Perhaps I am being swayed by the strength of the playing, but I appreciate that his readings are more neutral and clear than some of the emotionally excessive and self-indulgent ones available. This is also the reason I appreciate the Mahler recordings of Haitink and Abbado. I find MTT's recordings with SFSO more engaging than those done with Blomstedt and the orchestra plays at a higher level. There is no question he will be leaving the orchestra in fine shape (at least based on the recordings I hear).
MTT has done impressive and important work with New World Symphony and players from that orchestra can be found in major orchestras across the country. This may stand as MTT's enduring achievement.
I'm still not a huge fan, but I can give credit where it is due.
Heard him conduct a couple of times. One programme he clearly didn't care about the concerto, but the Beethoven symphony caught fire and was really excellent. Then heard him next time and he was so-so; reasonable enough but not special.
For me, the worst offense on MTT's part was his total monopoly on Mahler at Davies Symphony Hall. It was quite blatant and obvious that visiting conductors and/or orchestras were not to perform Mahler at Davies during his tenure. Only this year has this 'blockade' been broken. As a result, an entire generation of concert goers believes that Mahler needs the excessive 'taffy pulling' and agogic distorions that MTT has regularly brought to the table. Too bad, because he gave an incredible, straight forward performance of the 8th symphony in 1991 – long before they embarked on their recorded Mahler cycle. Between that time, he began 'interpreting' Mahler more and more. I viewed it as an attempt to out Bernstein, Bernstein. I know a number of anecdotes about MTT's anti-social behavior in public, but I won't go there. For the most part, he served the community well, but it's time for a change. He's repeating himself waaay too much (program wise).
I remember 3 Mahler's at Davis from visiting orchestra,
Mahler #5 with the Concertgebouw/Jansen about 7 or 8 years ago.
Mahler #2 with Ozawa and a Japanese Orchestra (I don't remember which) about 10 years ago.
Mahler # 7 with Rattle and Berlin Philharmonic just last year.
I think that Zubin Mehta and IPO played Mahler #1 at Davis recently as well.
Your comments are not based on facts.
Extremely little outside Mahler until the Rattle/BPO M7. It is a fact that guest conductors didn't get to conduct Mahler with the SFSO. Perhaps that's not unusual, but most visiting conductors/orchestras performed their Mahler at Zellerbach in Berkeley. Bychkov/Vienna Phil. gave an outstanding Mahler 6 at Zellerbach as part of the Cal Arts program. Personally, I look forward to the change.
There are many more visiting orchestras to Zellerbach than to Davies Symphony Hall. There are not really a lot of visiting orchestras that come to SF.
I gave you real and concrete examples of visiting orchestras playing Mahler in SF. Your statement that MTT didn't or doesn't allow that is completely ludicrous.
"Ludicrous" is your subjective opinion. Prior to Rattle/Berlin coming, the track record speaks for itself. Can you name one single conductor who was permitted to conduct Mahler with the SFSO during MTT's time? . . . but I would like to reply to a couple of other postings.
One person said that the L.A. Phil. was over-hyped while the SFS was under-represented in the press. Prior to Disney Hall's completion, I would say that the exact opposite was true. At this professional level, ALL orchestras are stocked with very, very good musicians. That said, I do think that L.A. has a somewhat better string section – perhaps greatly due to the extra work really good players can get in the studios (which barely exists at all in the bay area).
Disney Hall is smaller than Davies Hall and the musicians can hear each other better than they can at Davies. I've gone to both halls numerous times. On the whole, I prefer Disney Hall, but Davies is good for really large works that require a large choir (Mahler being a prime example). To my ears, the string section in S.F. is good, but nothing to write home about compared to Berlin, Vienna, Philadelphia and – at times – L.A. Winds and percussion are pretty much equal, although I do think the woodwinds in L.A. are particularly good. Again, the difference in acoustics may help them.
Another person mentioned that they preferred MTT's Mahler to Blomstedt's. Blomstedt did very little Mahler in S.F. To best of my memory, he only did M2 and M5 (was there also an M9?). Purely as a matter of taste, I greatly prefer the Decca recording of Blomstedt's Mahler 2 to MTT's, with the singular exception of contralto Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (she's outstanding). Both Ozawa and Edo De Waart did very good Mahler in S.F., but that's going back quite a ways. In terms of temperament and personal interactions with the public, there's no comparison between Blomstedt and Tilson-Thomas.
Whether my opinions are ludicrous or not, here's a fact: I look forward to a change in regime.
My comment was based on: "It was quite blatant and obvious that visiting conductors and/or orchestras were not to perform Mahler at Davies during his tenure"
You may have a point that visit conductors to SFSO don't conduct Mahler. The reason is purely speculation. But visiting orchestras perform Mahler at Davies.
That's pretty much.
One last fyi. The Decca recordings with Blomstedt are not only good on a musical level (and so are most of MTT's, to be fair), they also sound really good. Decca had the stage extended out farther into the audience when they made their recordings in Davies. The Decca engineers casually referred to Davies Hall as, "the Concertgebouw of the west", but I think that's a real stretch. Live recordings from the Concertgebouw sound better than those from Davies (I'm just talking of sound quality). Still, the Decca engineers made it work.
My favorite Mahler recordings:
#2 – Mehta and VPO
#3 – Bernstein and NYP (newest DG recording)
#4 – Bernstein and VPO with Edith Mathis (I extracted the audio from the video and created a recording)
#5 – Sinopoli and Philharmonia
#6 – Bernstein and VPO
#9 – Ancerl and Czech Philarmonic
It would be near impossible for me to choose just one of any of the Mahler symphonies, as I have lots of CD's and a number of DVD's too. I think DVD adds a whole 'nother element that's quite engaging (visual, obviously). I can tell you that the new Mahler 8 on Reference Recordings, recorded from a live performance in the Mormon Tabernacle just this last year, is a sensational knockout with a surprisingly solid cast of soloists.
People like to say that the "Mahler boom" is over with, but I don't see much evidence to support that. New recordings have slowed down a bit, but they're generally very good. MTT/SFS is performing three Mahler symphonies this year – one too many in my book (I think it should be for very special occasions). The L.A. Phil. usually gets in one or two Mahler symphonies per year. What's heartening to me is that many non-professional groups are willing to take the challenge. I actually saw a very good Mahler "Resurrection" symphony with the student orchestra at Stanford a few years back! Further more, I actually prefer the Mahler 1 I own with the S.F. Youth Symphony over the MTT/SFS one (both recorded live in Davies Hall).
I think if I had to choose just one comprehensive Mahler box that contains pretty much everything, it would be the Michael Gielen box that Haenssler just issued last month. That has a solid consistency that's tough to beat.


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One of Australia's favourite novelists Kate Forsyth, author of Bitter Greens and The Wild Girl, continues her monthly blog with us, giving her verdict on the books she's been reading.
Kate Forsyth: The last few months have been insanely busy for me, with all sorts of deadlines whizzing past my ears as a consequence of having four books with three different publishers coming out this year, as well as a hectic touring schedule. As a result, my usual rate of reading has been much slowed as I spent most evenings writing instead. Nonetheless, I managed quite a few books in February and March, including two absolutely brilliant books which made me lime-green with jealousy at the writers' talent. YOU MUST READ THESE BOOKS!
A Game of Thrones: A Song of Fire & Ice
by George R. R. Martin
I feel as if I must be the last person in the world to read A Game of Thrones. And I love fantasy fiction! I think I decided some years ago to wait till the whole series was out before I began to read it … but of course, it still isn't finished.
So I decided I really should be more in step with my times and so I limbered up my arm muscles and picked up the first book in the series.
What did I think? I really enjoyed it. The world building is unusually deep and vivid, and the story is full of surprises. Although it's a big book, with a lot of characters, I didn't feel the pace dragged. I loved the dire-wolves and the child protagonists, and I loved the political intrigue. I'll go on and read Book 2, and I may even watch the TV series …
Click here for more details about A Game of Thrones: A Song of Fire & Ice
A Dreadful Murder
by Minette Walters
This book is published as a 'Quick Read', which describes it very well. The book is only 122 pages long and that's with nice, big font size. It really is a novella, but it was perfect size to be read in a single setting which was something I wanted after plowing through A Game of Thrones night after night.
The book is based on the true story of the murder of Caroline Luard, which took place in Kent in August 1908. Her body was found dead in broad daylight in the grounds of the large country estate in which she lived with her husband. It does not take long for the village to begin accusing her husband of the murder and eventually he committed suicide, unable to live under the cloud of suspicion.
Minette Walters retells the story in simple and concise language, postulating another theory as to the identity of the murderer. Her conclusions feel right to me, and I can't help feeling sorry for Mr Luard.
Click here for more details about A Dreadful Murder
I really enjoyed Let it Be Me, a fresh and sparkling Regency romance by Kate Noble, and so thought I'd try another by the same author. Revealed is not quite as wonderful as Let it Be Me, but it was amusing and charming and the romance was really quite sweet. I was not overly fond of the heroine when the book began because she was so perfect – beautiful, rich, with exquisite taste – blah, blah, blah. But she did grow new depths as the story continued and became much less of a spoiled princess. And I loved the spy sub-plot. I always think a romance is improved with a little murder, mayhem, or intrigue thrown into the mix.
Click here for more details about Revealed
This slender book is Elie Wiesel's harrowing account of his teenage years, spent in Auschwitz. It is told very simply and bleakly, without much description or dialogue, as if spoken to someone quietly listening. This makes it feel very pure and real, though sometimes the effect is one of emotional numbness which is, in its way, even more heart-wrenching. Wiesel describes the taking away of his mother and little sister to the gas chambers, his struggle to survive and to look after his father, and his own loss of faith in God and humanity with the same clear and unfettered honesty. I ended the book with such a lump in my throat I could scarcely draw a breath. A profoundly moving book, and one that everyone should read. My edition came with Wiesel's acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize:
"And that is why I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of universe."
It made me want to speak out for all the injustices I see in the world and ashamed of myself for not doing so.
Click here for more details about Night
The Ocean At the End of the Lane
by Neil Gaiman
I have never really got the Neil-Gaiman-as-literary-god thing. I've read quite a lot of his books and enjoyed them all, particularly Stardust. I really liked The Graveyard Book too, and thought it had some lovely writing in it. But he didn't give me goosebumps. He didn't make me prickle all over with awe and amazement. He didn't bring that lump into my throat and that prickle of tears into my eyes, which is how I always know if a book is truly great.
Well, now he has. The Ocean At the End of the Lane is a truly great book. It's full of Big Ideas, yet is still a compulsively readable story. In a way, it's very hard to categorise. It's neither a book for adults or for children, but a book that can be read by both. In fact, I can see it being one of those touchstone books, that a child reads and loves, and returns to again and again as an adult and finding ever new things in it. Yet it is such a slim book. Like the pond at the end of the lane, that is really an ocean that contains within it the whole universe, this book is brimming over mystery, magic, and wisdom. I am awed and amazed, and so, so jealous of Neil Gaiman's talent. This is a book I wish I could write.
Click here for more details about The Ocean At the End of the Lane
A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L' Engle
Reading Nail Gaiman's utterly brilliant novel The Ocean At the End of the Lane reminded me of a book I had loved as a teenager but had not read again in years – A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Éngle. So I dug out my tattered old paperback (this is why I never get rid of books – so I can put my hand on a book whenever I want it) and read it again for the first time in many years. First published in 1962, A Wrinkle in Time is older than I am but it has survived the years remarkably well. It too is a novel full of Big Ideas expressed through a very readable story, with a beguiling mixture of humour and horror, philosophy and fantasy. It is a very different book from Neil Gaiman's but both have a trio of three women who seem very ordinary on the outside but are indeed both mysterious and powerful. I'm really glad I read it again and I have gone and put both books on my teenage son's bedside table.
Click here for more details about A Wrinkle in Time
The Caller
by Juliet Marillier
This is the third and last book in Juliet Marillier's gorgeous YA fantasy Shadowfell trilogy. I have really enjoyed these books, which are, as always with Juliet's books, filled with wit, warmth and wisdom. You must read them in order – Shadowfell, Raven Flight, then The Caller – as the books tell the story of the continuing adventures of Neryn and her journey to understand and control her magical talents as a Caller. Set in a land very much like ancient Scotland, with all manner of extraordinary faery creatures, the Shadowfell books weave together history, fantasy, folklore and ancient wisdoms to create a beautiful and powerful story. These books are a perfect read for a dreamy, romantic teenage girl – I love them now but oh! How I would have loved them when I was fifteen.
Click here for more details about The Caller
Dance on the Volcano: A Teenage Girl in Nazi Germany
by Renata Zerner
Children of Terror
by Inge Auerbacher & Bozenna Urbanowicz Gilbride
As part of my research for a novel I am writing that is set in Nazi Germany, I am reading a great many memoirs of people who lived during those terrible times. Although neither of these memoirs has the poetic intensity of Elie Wiesel's heart-wrenching Night, they are nonetheless poignant and distressing, particularly Children of Terror which is written by two concentration camp survivors. It seems impossible that such things can have happened. Yet they did. It's so important that we read these stories and make sure that such atrocities can never happen again.
Click here for more details about Dance on the Volcano: A Teenage Girl in Nazi Germany
True to the Highlander
by Barbara Longley
After reading a few emotionally harrowing books, I felt in desperate need of some light romance. True to the Highlander was perfect. Utterly predictable, but done with flair and humour, and I always love a medieval Scottish Highlands setting.
Click here for more details about True to the Highlander
The Paris Affair
by Teresa Grant
Teresa Grant has written a series of historical mystery novels set during and just after the Napoleonic Wars. Her French heroine Suzanne is married to an English attaché and spy, and together they negotiate their way through murder, intrigue and passion. The stories are always a little slow, but the historical detail is spot-on and the interaction between the characters and their slowly unfolding relationships makes up for it.
Click here for more details about The Paris Affair
The Fault in Our Stars
by John Green
I have had this book on my shelf for over a year now and have been avoiding reading it because I knew it was going to be a harrowing read. And it is! However, it is also utterly brilliant. It deserves every bit of praise it has garnered. I urge you all: READ IT! Another book which I am insanely jealous about and wish that I could have written.
Click here for more details about The Fault in Our Stars
Cart & Cwidder
by Diana Wynne Jones
Diana Wynne Jones is one of my favourite writers from my childhood and Cart & Cwidder is one of my favourite of her books, and so it was the one I chose to re-read for DWJ-month in the blogosphere – a global celebration of her books and writing. This is the story of a family of musical travellers in a world divided between North and South, and has DWJ's trademark mix of the ordinary and the magical. A truly delightful children's fantasy.
Kate Forsyth is the bestselling and award-winning author of more than twenty books, ranging from picture books to poetry to novels for both children and adults. She was recently voted one of Australia's Favourite Novelists, coming in atNo 16. She has been called one of 'the finest writers of this generation", and "quite possibly … one of the best story tellers of our modern age.'
Click here to see Kate's author page
About the Contributor
Andrew Cattanach
Andrew Cattanach is a regular contributor to The Booktopia Blog. He has been shortlisted for The Age Short Story Prize and was named a finalist for the 2015 Young Bookseller of the Year Award. He enjoys reading, writing and sleeping, though finds it difficult to do them all at once.
Follow Andrew: Twitter

subset: commoncrawl


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ANLA And OFA Consolidate To Become AmericanHort
Two years after the first steps to consolidate were taken, it's finally official: OFA – The Association of Horticulture Professionals and the American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA) will be a single association with a new name, AmericanHort. Members of OFA and ANLA voted on the issue and their approval was announced September 28 in Columbus, Ohio, following a 30-day open ballot and an in-person vote for OFA's members on that date.
The new, national horticulture trade association, named the American Horticulture Association, will be known as AmericanHort. It will begin operations by January 1, 2014. The mission of AmericanHort is to unite, promote and advance the horticulture industry through advocacy, collaboration, connectivity, education, market development and research.
With the consolidation, the new trade association will have the largest national nursery, greenhouse and garden retail membership of any horticulture association in the United States. Those communities will join together with breeders, distributors, interior and exterior landscape professionals, florists, students, educators, researchers, manufacturers and all who are part of the supply chain to represent the horticulture industry with one, strong voice and a greater base of volunteer, staff and financial resources.
The association will have its primary office in Columbus, Ohio and an office in Washington, D.C. to facilitate government relations and research activities. Michael Geary will continue as the chief staff executive.
The inaugural board of directors was appointed by the legacy organizations. For the first year, the board will have equal representation from OFA and ANLA. The Board includes the following leaders:
Chairman of the Board: Mark Foertmeyer, Foertmeyer & Sons Greenhouse, Delaware, Ohio
Vice Chairman of the Board: Dale Deppe, Spring Meadow Nursery Inc, Grand Haven, Michigan
Treasurer: Lisa Graf, Graf Growers, Akron, Ohio
Past Chairman of the Board: Mike McCabe, McCabe's Greenhouse & Floral, Lawrenceburg, Indiana
Past Chairman of the Board: Bob Terry, Fisher Farms, Gaston, Oregon
President & CEO: Michael V. Geary, CAE, AmericanHort, Columbus, Ohio/Washington, D.C.
Joe Burns, Color Burst, Grayson, Georgia
Terri Cantwell, Bates Sons & Daughters Inc, Lake Placid, Florida
Tom Demaline, Willoway Nurseries Inc, Avon, Ohio
Bob Jones Jr, The Chef's Garden, Huron, Ohio
Terri McEnaney, Bailey Nurseries Inc, St Paul, Minnesota
Dan Mulhall, Mulhall's Nursery, Omaha, Nebraska
Morris Newlin, New Garden Landscaping & Nursery, Greensboro, North Carolina
Cari Peters, JR Peters Inc, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Sid Raisch, Horticultural Advantage, Hillsboro, Ohio
To learn more, visit AmericanHort.org.


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Alison Brie & Nick Robinson: 'Toy's House' Sundance Portraits!
Alison Brie, Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, and Moises Arias pose for a portrait during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on Saturday (January 19) at Village at the Lift in Park City, Utah.
The castmates were joined by their Toy's House co-star Erin Moriarty, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, and writer Chris Galletta.
Toy's House is about three unhappy teenage boys who head into the wilderness with a plan to build a house and live off the land.
You may recognize Nick from his work on Melissa & Joey, Gabriel from his role on The Big C, and Moises as Rico from Hannah Montana.
20+ pictures inside of the cast of Toy's House at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival…


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by Troutski
The weather station is constantly talking about the cold 'stuff' falling outside your window. From the wintry mix to the massive amounts of snow to the odd showers of pure ice that have stopped traffic and literally frozen many states that were simply not ready to receive this blast of Old Man Winter, it still remains that in many states controlled burning is also a horrific winter issue.
There have been fires sparked this winter; the winds have picked up when least expected, and the reality is that many do not have the understanding they need to control a burn so that brush fires will not spark. In the backs of minds comes the belief that since this is wintertime, fire is not an issue. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
Most know about reforestation; it is one part of the U.S. industry and economy that is having success. The stories are grand, including the U.S. government re-seeding millions of acres of land with baby saplings. Innovative ideas have come into play that include using planes as the mechanisms to re-seed. By flying over once completely inaccessible land, they are dropping trees weighted down with arrow tips so they can actually plant themselves. Native flora is being brought back to withered locations, and the controlled burns that must be utilized to 'clean and clear' old land in order to rebuild habitats still remain highly important and frequently done.
However, burning brush or winter weeds is not something to be taken lightly. From back lawns to huge national forests, many want to clear out and rebuild, especially with climate change making some environments far worse; odd temperatures and weather are causing habitats to die out, which is why controlled burning has remained the chosen path to bring them back to life.
Forest and prairie fires occur by Mother Nature's hand; the fires rejuvenate ecosystems that are in dire need of change. However, climate change is causing more intense wildfires, which means controlled burns are being done to literally remove the fuel (dead branches, withered grass, dead vegetation, etc.) so these more harmful fires do not have the energy to destroy.
Using a controlled burn is the correct way to help a habitat, but setting the controlled burn must be taken as a huge responsibility by any landowner. By setting a controlled burn, you can manage various locations and ecosystems that will end up producing fire-adapted plants and animals – this is part of the resilience of the land. And by creating a controlled burn, you ensure that natural areas will continue to provide clean air and water to both humans and animals.
As a land management tool, controlled burns are important. But it should be known that extensive training is given to private individuals so they can follow the same standards as the federal wildland fire agencies. The Nature Conservancy is but one that provides this training, and they work to make humans understand that fire, although a much-needed tool, will become destructive if not set and maintained properly.
So even though the news is shouting about precipitation everywhere, remember that just because the snow is falling in one location does not mean it falls in every location. Making the decision to burn is based on the area and what the area truly needs in order to rejuvenate. So make sure that burns are only be set up when the natural benefits to the habitat outweigh the dangers.
Have a positive impact on the land. Learn about controlled burning, and utilize this tool in order to improve vegetation, agricultural planting and harvesting.
Smokey the Bear is no joke. Be Safe!


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MES Cards Birthday Cards Cards for Kids Thank You Cards Halloween Christmas Cards
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Card cover with images of giraffes, baby, mother, cute, safari animals, African, wild, baby giraffe.
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How to print and make envelopes - there is a matching envelope maker. You can make a plain evelope or choose from styles that match this theme. You can personalize the envelopes online, or print blank envelopes and hand-write any message.
How to print - to print your card, click the "print" icon at the top left of the card maker. With each card template, you have the option of making a quarter-fold card, or a half-fold card. You'll find that option at the top of the greeting card makers.
How to personalize - You can customize any of the card text by clicking on the sample wording. Add a personalized message or delete any text you don't want to make blank cards. If you scroll over the top section of any text area, you'll see a text-field control bar. That has options for moving the text around on the card, rotating your personalized wording, reducing the size, and enlarging the text. at the top of the maker, you'll see an option labeled 'font'. If you click on that, you can scroll through 7 different font options for your free printable cards.
If you are looking for something different, here are some of the other templates from this theme:
Other card options - There are 1,000s of card templates on this site. Check the main page for a full listing of possible greeting card templates: free printable cards.
Free Printable Cards Free Birthday Cards African Safari Cards Printable Photo Cards Certificates to Print
|You are free to use any resource from this site as an end user. You may not redistribute, copy, modify, transfer, transmit, repackage, charge for or sell any of the materials from this site. MES Cards reserves the right to terminate or make changes to this agreement for any reason and without notice.
Copyright © 2007 - 2018 MES Cards | Mark Cox | restrictions | privacy | Contact


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BOSTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Low-level prenatal mercury exposure may be linked to attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder but U.S. researchers say fish may mitigate the effects.
Sharon K. Sagiv of the Boston University School of Public Health and colleagues analyzed data from a New Bedford, Mass., group of infants born from 1993 to 1998 who were tested for ADHD-related behaviors at age 8 and their mother's level of mercury after they gave birth.
"In this population-based prospective cohort study, hair mercury levels were consistently associated with ADHD-related behaviors, including inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity," Sagiv said in a statement. "We also found that higher prenatal fish consumption was protective for these behaviors."
Non-occupational methyl mercury exposure comes primarily from eating fish and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommend pregnant women limit their total fish intake to no more than two, six-ounce servings per week. Fish are the main source of mercury, especially the large fish such as swordfish, but exposures can also come from the air of coal-fired power plants or plants grown near coal-fired power plants.
Fish is also a source of nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to benefit brain development, potentially confounding the mercury-related risk estimates, Sagiv said.
The study, published online first in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, found there also appeared to be a lower risk association for fish consumption of greater than two servings per week with ADHD-related behaviors, particularly impulsive/hyperactive behaviors.
"In summary, these results suggest that prenatal mercury exposure is associated with a higher risk of ADHD-related behaviors, and fish consumption during pregnancy is associated with a lower risk of these behaviors," the study authors concluded.


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Drake Admits He Dated Rihanna In 'SNL' Rap — Watch
Drake was surprisingly game as the host and performer on 'Saturday Night Live' on Jan. 18, and in a rap celebrating his black and Jewish heritage, he snuck in an admission about his relationship with Rihanna!
Tell us more, Drake! As host of Saturday Night Live on Jan. 18, Drizzy rapped about the benefits of being black and Jewish, and apparently one of those benefits includes dating Rihanna!
Drake Raps About 'Dating A Rihanna' On 'SNL'
In a flashback to Drake's (or Dracob's) bar mitzvah, the rapper's eclectic heritage — his mom's Jewish, his dad's African-American — was put on display. And when DJ Mordecai Jones hit that beat, all bets were off.
Drake's funny freestyle bar mitzvah rap included gems like, "I play ball like LeBron and I know what a W-2 is," and "the only purple drank we sip is purple Manischewitz." But the real bomb came towards the end when Drake rapped, "I celebrate Hanukkah, date a Rihannakah!" You know what Drake, you're right — dating Rihanna is a huge benefit of having a mixed heritage.
Drake & Rihanna's Relationship
Drake's always been a little coy about his relationship with Rihanna, seemingly downplaying it as they go on dates to strip clubs. But he does give us a taste from time to time. Appearing on Ellen in Sept., she grilled him about the relationship and he mysteriously replied, "Yeah, great girl. We had our moment. Always support and have love for her."
Though Drake and Rihanna have been spotted out partying recently, a Nov. report claimed that he's been seeing Zoe Kravitz. But either way, you can tell from Drake's SNL rap that he's definitely proud of hooking up with Rihanna, and we're sure she'll laugh at the fact that her name was rhymed with Hanukkah.
What did you think of Drake's SNL rap, HollywoodLifers? Watch the clip above and let us know!
— Andrew Gruttadaro


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Colton Haynes Joins CW's 'Arrow'
Colton Haynes has signed up for the superhero game, TVGuide reports.
The 24-year-old former Teen Wolf star has joined the CW's Arrow as Roy Harper.
In the DC Comics universe, Roy was the Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy, Teen Titans member Arsenal, and the Justice League's drug-addicted, one-armed Red Arrow.
In the hit CW show, Roy is described as "a handsome, street-savvy, teenager from 'the Glades,' the harsh, poverty-stricken portion of Starling City."
Colton's character will also be a love interest for Willa Holland's Thea.
WHAT DO YOU THINK about Colton joining Arrow – YAY or NAY?
Posted to: Arrow, Colton Haynes, Willa Holland


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Happy Fifteenth Anniversary, Buffy's 'Passion' Episode
That's the one where Ms. Calendar died. RIP, Ms. Calendar.
Recall February 24, 1998. The Nagano Winter Olympics had just ended, Titanic was the No. 1 movie, Destiny's Child's "No, No, No" was climbing the charts.
It's also the day the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Passion" aired. Remember? That's the one where Angel, in his evil, soulless form Angelus, kills Ms. Calendar. At the time, it came as a complete shock; even now, it's still enough to get those tear ducts going.
Fifteen years after it first aired, "Passion" does still stand out as a cataclysmic episode, but more important for the development of the show, it stands out as a distillation of what BTVS did exactly right: Yeah, Buffy and her pals are dealing with incredible forces of evil, but what they're really doing is dealing with being teenagers. Oh, Angel murders someone, but telling Joyce about the night he and Buffy "made love" is almost as egregious; certainly we have all prayed for death when forced to talk to our mothers about sex.
Ms. Calendar's death broke fans' hearts, it broke Giles's heart, it broke Willow's heart, it hardened Buffy's resolve — and it cracked the show wide open, ushering in its darkest episodes and pushing the teen genre to include a new level of surprise and sadness.


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Introduction to the Chocolate Chip Cookie
Introduction to the Chocolate Chip Cookie
The chocolate chip cookie, one of the most popular sweets then and today, without the chocolate chip cookie I don't think anyone's sweet tooth would be satisfied. It all began in 1930 when a dietitian, Ruth Wakefield, and her husband, Kenneth Wakefield bought a tourist lodge. The lodge was a place where weary travelers could pay tolls, trade horses, rest, and enjoy piping hot meals made by Ruth. The lodge was called the Toll House Inn. One day while Ruth was cooking her delicious "butter drop do" cookies for a customer she was missing an ingredient: baker's chocolate. As a substitute Ruth used a chopped up Nestles chocolate bar (the chocolate bar was a gift from Henri Nestle), but instead of the chocolate melting completely (like the bakers chocolate would have done), the chocolate bits only softened while the dough cooked, thus creating the chocolate chip cookie. As news on the chocolate chip cookie spread out and Henri Nestle heard the news, Ruth and Henri made a deal. Henri would print the chocolate chip cookie recipe on every package of Nestle Chocolate Morsels and Ruth would receive a lifetime supply of chocolate in order to carry out her recipe.
Chocolate morsels- Chocolate morsels are another name for chocolate chips. Because Ruth used a chocolate bar chopped up into small morsels, the small chocolate pieces were called chocolate morsels.
Dietitian- a dietitian is a specialist in the study of nutrition.
Henri Nestle- a pharmacist who developed a food for babies who could not breastfeed. He is also the head creator of the Nestle Company.
Ruth Wakefield


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August 03. 2013 10:01PM
Dave D'Onofrio's Sox Beat: Team's fate could rest on Lester
Lester, Red Sox end Rays' winning streak
BASED on his recent results, it looked as though
Jon Lester
had figured it out. He'd begun to change the way he attacked hitters, and in doing so seemed to change his season, moving away from the overuse of his signature cutter and thereby becoming less predictable in big moments.
With that adjustment, a terrible June gave way to a terrific July. His 7.62 earned run average one month was trimmed to 3.13 the next, punctuated by seven scoreless innings in its final performance. There seemed legitimate hope that the fix for Lester's struggles was as simple as a new strategy.
Then came Friday. And with it came reasons to think it may be time to accept the reality that Lester's stuff just isn't as good as it used to be.
"I'll take my beatings if they find holes in the infield. I'll tip my hat all day to that. But when you're giving up doubles in the gap and balls off the wall and misfired fastballs, it's just unacceptable," Lester said after surrendering a homer, five doubles and six runs over 4 1/3 innings in his shortest start of the season. "Like I said, I've got to find a way to make that adjustment and I didn't do that."
Lester's recent strategic adjustment was predicated on the idea that his go-to cutter no longer had the life it once did, and thus in situations where hitters knew he'd throw it trying to put them away, they sat on it and made him pay. For a couple starts he morphed into more of a fastball/changeup pitcher, and it worked, but that approach is only effective when the hurler is locating those pitches with precision.
And Friday night the Diamondbacks showed Lester what happens when he isn't.
"You can make adjustments, but if you can't keep the ball down it doesn't matter," he said. "Fastball was up, cutter was up, changeup was up - the adjustments don't matter if you can't keep the ball down. There was obviously a lot of fly balls hit tonight that the past three or four starts I've been able to keep on the ground.
"The ball was just elevated, and that's what they do when you elevate. Obviously the ball was leaking back over the middle of the plate."
Lester voiced his frustration, and took the blame, but insisted he knew what had to change. "It's pretty simple: keep the ball down, and if I do that, it's a different story tonight," he said. Although that's where the questions about the quality of his stuff start to arise.
Quality starts with command, and command begins with consistency for a pitcher. From delivery to release point to location, he's best when he can identify what works and repeat it from pitch to pitch and game to game.
When it's just a little bit off, so are his pitches. And when that slight miss comes while still attempting to challenge hitters within the strike zone, even missing by just an inch or two can be the difference between finding the barrel instead of the end of the bat, or maybe getting a hitter to swing over it altogether.
The Lester of old - the Lester who was one of the premier lefties in the American League - used to be able to get away with that. His cutter was a legitimate swing-and-miss weapon, his fastball had good action, and his ability to avoid the dangerous parts of the plate was much better.
For evidence of that, look at batters' slugging percentage against him: In his first four full-time, big-league seasons, it was .358; over the last two seasons it's .436, which is worse than the league average.
"It was inconsistent location within the strike zone," manager
John Farrell
said Friday. "He didn't create any additional issues by issuing any walks, and it was more him trying to go away from some right-handers that he pulled the ball back toward the middle of the plate or inner-third to (
Cody) Ross
, to
(Martin) Prado
. Not as sharp to his arm side as he's been his last couple of times out."
Long-term, it remains to be seen whether his inconsistency costs Lester in terms of finances and his future with the Red Sox. The club holds a $13 million option on him for next season, when he's 30, and while they're likely to exercise that, the Sox aren't likely excited to begin talks of an extension.
More immediately concerning, though, is what Lester will do for them this season. With
Clay Buchholz
still out, the Sox lack a stopper in their starting rotation, and if they get to the playoffs they don't at this point know if they can count on either Buchholz or Lester - which would put them at a significant disadvantage in any series.
Three days ago, they thought Lester was on his way to easing those concerns. But after Friday, the questions about who he is appear to be as pertinent as ever.
LOOKING at the names, and the general inexperience, the supposition is that the Red Sox need to somehow fortify their bullpen - be it internally or by the waiver process. A middle-of-the-road ERA wouldn't dispute that, either.
But consider these numbers, all entering Saturday: The Sox had 11 walkoff wins this season, were 7-4 in extra-inning games, were 16-11 in one-run games, and were 51-5 when leading after six innings. Yet Boston's offense was batting only .195 (with three extra-base hits) in extra innings, was batting only .235 with the margin tied or a single run in the seventh inning or later.
That says the offense has left a lot of pressure on the bullpen - and the relievers have been able to handle it.
STAT OF THE WEEK: According to coolstandings.com, the Sox entered Saturday with a 92 percent chance of reaching the playoffs. Only Detroit (92.7) had a higher probability in the AL, followed by Tampa Bay (85.7) and Oakland (78.3). The site also gave the Rangers a better than 50-50 chance of making the postseason despite beginning the day with a half-game lead over Cleveland (44.4) for the second wild-card berth.
Dave D'Onofrio covers the Red Sox for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. His e-mail address is email@example.com.


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LODI - A visiting priest at St. Anne's Parish in Lodi has been arrested in connection with a Yuba City child molestation case, authorities said.
LODI - A visiting priest at St. Anne's Parish in Lodi has been arrested in connection with a Yuba City child molestation case, authorities said.
Julio Guarin-Sosa, 43, who is visiting the United States from Colombia, was arrested at St. Anne's in Lodi by Yuba City police Sunday. He was transported to Sutter County Jail, where he is being held on $250,000 bail, according to the Sutter County Sheriff's Department website.
The Diocese of Stockton required a letter of good standing for Guardin-Sosa before he was allowed to work in Lodi, according to a written statement from Bishop Stephen Blaire. Upon his arrest, his permission to work in the Diocese of Stockton was revoked.
Yuba City police Operations Manager Shawna Pavey said Gaurin-Sosa was in Yuba City on Friday for a private Mass inside a residence. He allegedly had sexual contact with a 16-year-old girl inside the home, Pavey said.
He was arrested for sexual battery and molestation charges. The Department of Immigration has placed a so-called "ice hold" on his ability to leave the United States, Pavey said.
Sister Terry Davis, a diocese spokeswoman, said Guarin-Sosa was working at St. Anne's for "two to three weeks," delivering sermons and liturgies.
Davis said the priest had minimal contact with children in Lodi. He did take confession from groups of children.
"He wasn't in a completely isolated situation with a child," she said.
Contact reporter Keith Reid at (209) 546-8257 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/lodiblog.


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It's never too early to start your college education at Miami Dade. Even if you are not graduating from high school this year, you can start college early. Miami Dade offers a host of innovative and dynamic programs that allow students to get a jump start on their future, including our Dual Enrollment Program (where you can take courses that earn you both high school and college credits), our School for Advanced Studies (a program in which 91 percent of seniors receive Florida Bright Futures Scholarships), and New World School of the Arts (a college program and full-time high school preparing students for professional careers in dance, music, theater, and the visual arts).
Dual Enrollment is a program that allows eligible high school students currently attending accredited Miami-Dade County public or private high schools, or home school to simultaneously enroll in a college course. The credits that students earn must be used toward both a high school graduation and are acceptable toward a college Associate or Baccalaureate degree, or Technical Certificate.
The School for Advanced Studies (SAS) is a combined effort of Miami Dade College (MDC) and Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) initiated in the 1988-89 school year. The school is designed for academically talented 11th and 12th grade students whose needs are not met in the traditional high school setting. Each semester, students are enrolled in three (3) college dual-enrollment courses, taught by MDC faculty, and three (3) high school courses, taught by M-DCPS faculty. This opportunity for acceleration and enrichment enhances the student population of both SAS and MDC with bright, eager minds.
New World School of the Arts is a comprehensive college program and full-time high school preparing students for professional careers in dance, music, theater and the visual arts. The program, created by the Florida Legislature in 1984 as a Center of Excellence in the Arts, is an educational partnership of the University of Florida, Miami Dade College and the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Through its sponsoring institutions, New World School of the Arts awards the Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees, Associate in Arts degree, and high school diplomas. Students are admitted on the basis of talent and commitment as demonstrated through audition or portfolio presentation. The school is located in downtown Miami on the Wolfson Campus of MDC.


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Age 91 of East Grand Forks and Crookston native, died June 17. The funeral will be July 14.
Martha Forseth, 91, of East Grand Forks, MN passed away on Sunday, June 17, 2012 at her home in East Grand Forks, MN.
Martha Forseth was born February 12, 1921 in Crookston, MN the daughter of James J. and Hattie (Janssen) Hill. She grew up and attended school in Crookston, MN. On December 5, 1942 she was united in marriage to Melfred Forseth in Norwich, CT. They moved to East Grand Forks in 1961 where she worked for Simplot until her retirement in 1983.
Family members who survive Martha include 1 daughter Marsha (Clif) Nerby of Reynolds, ND, 3 grandchildren, Ken Nerby of Reynolds, ND, Tim (Shari) Nerby of Portland, ND and Tammy (Brad) Nickelson of Grand Forks, ND; 4 great grand daughters and 1 great grandson, 1 brother Elwood Hill of Crookston, MN and many loving nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.
Martha is preceded in death by her parents; her husband Melfred on November 20, 2011, daughter Karolyn on November 5, 2011, 1 sister Alice and 3 brothers Willis, Louis and James.
She was a member of the East Grand Forks VFW Ladies Auxiliary.
Memorial Service: 2:00 P.M., Saturday, July 14, 2012 in Mendenhall Presbyterian Church, 528 10th St. NW, East Grand Forks, MN
Visitation: 1 Hour before Memorial Service on Saturday, July 14, 20112 in Mendenhall Presbyterian Church of East Grand Forks, MN
Burial: Sand Hill Cemetery, Climax, MN
Online Guestbook: www.dandahlfuneralhome.com
Arrangements by Dahl Funeral Home, East Grand Forks, Minnesota


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This is the home page for all electronic dog doors and cat doors designed for installation in a wall.
When installing a pet door in a wall, the wall must always be 'framed out'. That is, after cutting the hole, the inside of the wall must be sealed off so that moisture cannot penetrate into the interior of the wall. The 'self-framing' pet doors and wall kits listed here will help to do this step for you and make the job much easier.
However, if you can Frame the Wall Yourself, you can choose any pet door for a wall. For example, if you wanted a Catwalk Magnetic Cat Flap in your wall, you'd have to frame it yourself as there is no wall kit for that door.
Because electronic pet doors have rigid flaps, it's usually not necessary to have a separate locking cover. First, when used in active mode (some can be used passively which is helpful for training), the pet door is locked at least from the outside. The smaller 'cat flaps' generally have a 2-way or 4-way lock built-in to the cat door.
Important Don't confuse these with self-framing electronic pet doors for doors! The adjustment range for a self-framing wall mount must be much greater than for a door mount.
A double flap pet door (a flap on both sides of the wall) is usually a good idea. The 'dead' air space between them will serve as better insulation than a single flap will. However, this gets a bit problematic when you're thinking about an electronic pet door. First of all, there is no such thing today as a 'double flap' electronic pet door. Secondly, if you try to combine two electronic pet doors (or even two manual pet doors with rigid flaps) you've got to keep those flaps separated so they don't interfere with each other. The leverage is all wrong. Plus you can't allow the doors to get wet. The best you can do is to select an electronic pet door that has some thickness in the flap which will help the insulation problem.
In choosing the size, keep in mind that your pets will be negotiating a short tunnel. For that reason, we like to see a little more clearance vertically than would be the case for a pet door installed in a door. As always, try to mount the pet door so the top of the flap is at least as tall as the top of the tallest pets shoulder.
It is imperative to remember that even a self-framing pet door must be properly installed and caulked to ensure that no moisture enters your walls. If you have any doubt regarding your ability to do this, please assign the job to a qualified person.
Likewise, cutting a power line or hitting a pipe with power tools could cause injury or even death. If you are not sure you have the skills to tackle this kind of job, please have a qualified person do it for you.
Generally, you can be confident that a properly licensed and insured contractor will have the necessary skills.


text: KNAU-FM: Jude Joffe-Block Vegas Museum Offers A Mob History You Can't Refuse By KNAU-FM: Jude Joffe-Block • Mar 12, 2012 As soon as you step in the elevator of Las Vegas' new Mob Museum, a cop on a video monitor reads you your rights. When the doors finally open, you're greeted by a huge photo of 1920s-era gangsters standing in a police lineup, wearing fedoras. Las Vegas Housing Market Attracts Asian Investors By KNAU-FM: Jude Joffe-Block • Dec 27, 2011 Investors from Asia are taking advantage of housing prices that have plummeted in recent years, buying foreclosures and short sales at below what it would cost to build them. Kevin Chu's Hong-Kong investment firm owns property in Las Vegas, but he's never seen any of it. So his first visit to the U.S. is to inspect the houses in Las Vegas. In the past 18 months, the firm he works for, The Creations Group, bought up distressed homes all over the U.S. — including 13 Las Vegas houses at fire sale prices.


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No Link Between HIV and Poverty? Data Show Otherwise
February 21, 2014
What puts one at risk for HIV? Contrary to what some people believe, "personal responsibility" is not the end-all-be-all of the HIV-risk equation. The most recently released HIV Surveillance Annual Report from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene includes four ZIP code-level maps of the city, each with a different color coding system -- one coded by poverty levels, one by HIV diagnosis rates in 2012, one by HIV prevalence (the percentage of the population that is living with HIV) and one by age-adjusted death rates.
Putting aside Chelsea, which is a historical world epicenter of the HIV epidemic, it is clear that the HIV epidemic in every borough is concentrated among its most poverty-stricken areas. The areas mentioned above are all in the Bronx, while areas like Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, Jamaica and Far Rockaway in Queens, St. George in Staten Island, Washington Heights and Harlem all shoulder an unfair burden in terms of poverty and HIV diagnoses in the city.
What do you think of these maps? Do you still have questions about the link between poverty and HIV in urban areas?
Mathew Rodriguez is the editorial project manager for TheBody.com and TheBodyPRO.com.
Follow Mathew on Twitter: @mathewrodriguez.
Copyright © 2014 Remedy Health Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
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Never underestimate the power of a classic. For decades, black and white have made a harmonious team when it comes to chic evening dressing. And the reason? It works. On their own, black and white are colors most women look good in, so it's no surprise that the simplicity of these hues make them two of the most popular colors on store racks. But that doesn't have to mean looking like everyone else. Women who usually turn to color and prints to stand out are taking note of the style potential of this elegant combo. The spring 2010 collections hinted to a resurgence of black and white. Yves Saint Laurent, Givenchy and Giambattista Valli all showed the color scheme in a number of interpretations from elegant to modern. Whether it's color blocking, prints, polka dots or stripes, there are endless ways to let loose and be creative with this seemingly dull palette. Remember, if you're scaling back on color, take the time to experiment with textures and use your accessories to add a jolt of bright color to your ensemble. We've pulled together some of our favorite starlets that have mastered the black and white trend to help you incorporate this look into your wardrobe. Read more:
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School digital session
Roman Britain treasure challenge
Thursday 27 February 2014,
10.30–12.00 & 12.30–14.00
Video conference
Free, booking essential
Phone +44 (0)20 7323 8181
Ticket Desk in Great Court
Recommend this event
For Key Stage 2 students
Connect to the Museum from your classroom to solve exciting challenges about archaeological treasure finds from Roman Britain.
Students work through the real challenges faced by professional archaeologists, scientists and museum staff. They learn about public archaeology and how the Treasure Act works.
Timings may be flexible and can be adjusted to your school timetable. Please leave contact details when booking to make arrangements for this.
To book, your school must have prior experience with video conferencing on the Janet network and you must provide contact details for a technical liaison at school.
Cancellation and no-show charges apply.See full terms and conditions
Maximum group size: 30
Age: Key Stage 2 – Years 5 & 6
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Coins from the Fishpool Hoard, Deposited about AD 1463-64, found at Fishpool, Nottinghamshire, England.


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Southern University Athletic Director William Broussard said the school's first interview for a new football coach convinced him and the search committee that the Jaguars are on the right track.
Nevada offensive tackles and tight ends coach James Spady interviewed on campus Monday before returning to Reno, Nev., to help the Wolfpack prepare for its upcoming bowl game. SU interim coach Dawson Odums is scheduled to interview Tuesday, and Bethune-Cookman coach Brian Jenkins is set to interview Thursday.
Spady is a native of Biloxi, Miss., and was a starting center for four seasons at UTEP, twice being named All-Western Athletic Conference. He has been an assistant at five colleges during his 20-year career, including a stint as offensive coordinator at Grambling from 2007-09.
The Tigers compiled a 26-10 record and won a Southwestern Athletic Conference title during Spady's stay.
"It went extremely well," Broussard said of Spady's interview. "He was everything we expected him to be. He gave a very sharp presentation and demonstrated that he has a clear concept of what it takes to be a successful as a Division I head coach."
Spady, who turns 47 next month, did two Minority Internships with the NFL, working with the Green Bay Packers (1997) and the Philadelphia Eagles (1999).
Broussard said Spady's three seasons at Nevada, a member of the Mountain West Conference, would translate well to Southern in terms of being able to succeed without unlimited resources.
"Resourcewise, they are in the same sort of predicament that we are in our category," Broussard said. "They work with great efficiency and replicate success every year, which is what we are looking for."
The Wolfpack's game against Arizona in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl on Saturday will be its seventh bowl appearance in as many seasons.
Broussard said Spady went to Nevada for the opportunity to work with coach Chris Ault, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, and learn Ault's high-octane pistol offense. The pistol is similar to the shotgun formation, but the quarterback lines up closer to the center.
Colin Kaepernick, who has emerged as the starting quarterback for the NFC West-leading San Francisco 49ers in his second NFL season, had extraordinary success running the offense for Ault. He's the only player in NCAA history to pass for more than 10,000 yards and rush for more than 4,000.
The Washington Redskins have installed a version of the pistol for No. 1 pick Robert Griffin III, a leading candidate for Rookie of the Year.
Broussard said he wouldn't hire a coach "solely" because he would implement an exciting brand of offense, but such an offense would be "marketable."
"The pistol is a very versatile concept," Broussard said. "It's an adaptable offense, and you can plug in a lot of different players."
Broussard said that would be useful in helping the Jaguars recruit players. Southern has gone 4-7 each of the past two seasons.
"The committee emerged with a sense that the selection committee did an extremely good job of narrowing the pool of candidates," Broussard said. "We came out of day one feeling very confident about the quality of candidates on paper and feeling very good about the interview process."
Spady had meetings with university officials on campus Monday morning before touring the athletic facilities with Broussard.
He spoke by telephone with SU Chancellor James L. Llorens, who was out of town, after lunch.
Broussard and Spady wrapped up the interview by midafternoon before Broussard brought Spady to the airport.
Odums was the Jaguars' defensive coordinator before taking over as interim head coach when Stump Mitchell was reassigned after an 0-2 start in which the second loss was a 6-0 home defeat to Mississippi Valley State — which at the time was 1-19 in its past 20 games, though the Delta Devils finished 5-6 this year.
SU won three of its first four under Odums, then lost four in a row before concluding the season with a 38-33 victory against Grambling in the Bayou Classic on Nov. 24.
Jenkins has led Bethune-Cookman to a 27-8 record in the past three seasons, including a 9-3 record this season. The Wildcats were undefeated in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and reached the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, where they lost to Coastal Carolina. It was Bethune-Cookman's second playoff trip under Jenkins.
Broussard wouldn't rule out adding another interview but said only three have been scheduled.
He said he's "still on the same trajectory" to recommend a candidate to the SU System Board of Supervisors at its meeting Friday.


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Jabba the Hutt
Jabba the Hutt was one of the galaxy's most powerful gangsters, with far-reaching influence in both politics and the criminal underworld. There were no second chances with Jabba, something Han Solo would find out -- though the slug-like alien would ultimately fall victim to his own hubris and vengeful ways.
- Male,
- Length: 3.9m ,
- Hutt,
- B'omarr Monk,
- Jabba's Sail Barge,
Videos //
Soundboard //
As Tatooine was controlled by the Hutt clans, Jabba was on-hand to kick off the Boonta Eve Classic Podrace. The arena cheered his entrance, though the thrilling race proved not entertaining enough to keep Jabba awake.
The Hutts had remained neutral during the Clone Wars, and this was not acceptable to Count Dooku. The Sith Lord devised a plot to lure Jabba to his side: he would kidnap Rotta, the gangster's infant son, and frame the Jedi for the crime. Anakin Skywalker and his new Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, however, thwarted Dooku's plan, and delivered the boy back to the slithery crime lord. The Republic had won Jabba's favor -- for the time being.
Jabba also served on the Hutt Grand Council, a governing body that settled issues and disputes among Hutt clans throughout the galaxy. During the Clone Wars, he and the Council would make decisions that impacted not only their business interests, but the Republic, as well. In one instance, Jabba contracted Cad Bane to free Ziro, his uncle, from a Republic prison; Ziro was in possession of a journal that documented criminal activities of the Hutt families, and Jabba did not want it falling into the hands of the Republic. Bane was successful, but Ziro managed to escape his grasp. In the end, however, it mattered not -- Jabba had a backup plan. He hired Sy Snootles, Ziro's former lover, to assassinate his slippery uncle. The family secrets were secure once more.
Jabba confronted Han Solo in Docking Bay 94 of Mos Eisley Spaceport, strong-arming the smuggler to pay his debts. The crime lord had placed a bounty on Han, and his patience was worn thin. Despite Han blasting Greedo, one of Jabba's henchman, the giant slug-like alien allowed him more time to pay up… for an extra 15 percent.
Boba Fett had successfully tracked and captured Han Solo, delivering the Rebel frozen in a carbonite slab to Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine. Jabba hung Han on a wall in his palace, calling him his "favorite decoration." But the former smuggler's friends would soon appear to stage a rescue mission.
It began with R2-D2 and C-3PO arriving with a message from Luke Skywalker, asking to bargain for Han's life and offering the droids as a gift. Jabba said there would be no bargain, keeping the droids anyway. Soon, a bounty hunter called Boushh appeared, a captive Chewbacca in tow, looking to collect on the Wookiee. The crime lord offered 35,000 credits, and all seemed well. Later that night, however, Boushh stealthily unfroze Han; as it turned out, the masked infiltrator was Princess Leia, the love of the captured Rebel. Their reunion was cut short, however, by Jabba's ominous laugh. He knew it was Leia all along, and took her captive, as well. Finally, a cloaked figure entered Jabba's palace: Luke, again offering Jabba the chance to bargain or suffer the consequences. The gangster laughed and dispensed Luke into the hidden underground lair of his massive rancor, a terrifying creature that was kept only to feast on Jabba's enemies. A powerful Jedi, Luke defeated the rancor to the shock of all watching.
In anger, Jabba took the small band of Rebels to the desert, where he planned to feed them to the Sarlacc -- a sand-dwelling creature that would eat and digest them over a thousand years. This would be the crime lord's final mistake. R2-D2 had hidden Luke's lightsaber in one of his many compartments, launching it to the Jedi. In a flurry of strikes, Luke decimated Jabba's henchmen. During the ensuing chaos, Leia threw her chains around Jabba's neck -- choking him until he let out one last gasp.
Related //
Jabba the Hutt's Palace
A single, winding dirt-swept road curves up into the crook of a rocky canyon, leading to a lone structure in the desert wastes beyond the Dune Sea of Tatooine. Here stood the palace of Jabba the Hutt, an immense curving building of sandblasted metal and pitted stone. Inside, the dregs of the galaxy congregated to do all manner of illicit business, to curry favor with the grotesque crime lord, or to avoid his fickle wrath. Jabba reclined atop a stone dais within the throne room of his palace, a bustling chamber that overlooked a secret pit that contained his favorite beast, the vicious rancor monster.
Han Solo
Han Solo rose from an impoverished childhood on the mean streets of Corellia to become one of the heroes of the Rebel Alliance. As captain of the Millennium Falcon, Han and his co-pilot Chewbacca came to believe in the cause of galactic freedom, joining Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa in the fight against the Empire. After the Battle of Endor, Han faced difficult times in a chaotic galaxy, leading to a shattering confrontation with his estranged son Ben.
Boba Fett
With his customized Mandalorian armor, deadly weaponry, and silent demeanor, Boba Fett was one of the most feared bounty hunters in the galaxy. A genetic clone of his "father," bounty hunter Jango Fett, Boba learned combat and martial skills from a young age. Over the course of his career, which included contracts for the Empire and the criminal underworld, he became a legend.
Ziro the Hutt
Jabba the Hutt's Uncle Ziro conspired with Count Dooku to kidnap Jabba's son Rotta, reasoning that when the Jedi sent to retrieve Rotta died, the Republic would be forced to apprehend Jabba, leading to Ziro gaining control of their clan. When the conspiracy unraveled, Ziro was imprisoned on Coruscant. Cad Bane freed him and turned him over to the Hutt Council, who feared that Ziro might tell the Republic of their many dirty dealings. Ziro escaped the Hutts, but could not outrun his past.
Greedo was a Rodian bounty hunter with a tapir-like snout, bulbous eyes, pea-green skin, and a crest of spines atop his skull. He was overzealous and a bit slow on the take, not to mention a pretty poor shot with a blaster. Though he fancied himself a big time bounty hunter in the employ of no less an underworld figure than Jabba the Hutt, in truth, no one took him too seriously.
Bib Fortuna
Those attempting to do business with Jabba the Hutt first needed to maneuver past his pasty-faced majordomo, the Twi'lek Bib Fortuna. The darkly robed attendant often hovered near Jabba's ear, offering advice and feeding information. Fortuna followed the rules of protocol in the Hutt's court (such as they were), and spoke only in Huttese, though he understood other tongues. Fortuna's affiliation with Jabba stretched over decades.


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NEW YORK (AP) — Morgan Stanley is feeling good about its future.
The New York bank said Thursday that it will buy back up to $500 million of its own shares, news that surprised investors and helped boost the share price by 4 percent. It also reported higher earnings and revenue for the second quarter, helped by gains in both its investment bank and wealth management. And it's fresh off closing its purchase of brokerage firm Smith Barney from Citigroup, a yearslong process that has been central to CEO James Gorman's plan to reshape Morgan Stanley. In a call with analysts, Gorman called the purchase "a game changer" and promised it would benefit the bank "now and for decades to come."
"We've been on a long journey to generate stronger, more sustainable long-term returns with businesses that balance each other in volatile markets," Gorman said. That business model, he added, is now "solidly in place."
Gorman, Australia-born and a lawyer in his early career, came to the helm of Morgan Stanley at the start of 2010, when memories of the bank stumbling through the financial crisis were fresh. The CEO, who turned 55 this week, spent the early quarters embarking on expensive cleanup measures, including settling a big lawsuit with insurance company MBIA.
He has also focused on pumping up wealth management; the purchase of Smith Barney is something he started stitching together when he was still Morgan's Stanley's co-president. That deal was kindled in 2009; Gorman thought Morgan Stanley needed to expand its reliance on the steadier revenue of helping people manage their money, rather than the significant gains — and significant losses — that can come with riskier investment banking activities.
The regulatory environment also played a role in the shift: New rules crimped some of the traditional investment banking practices, or made them more expensive.
In the second quarter, the bank continued to trim back its "value at risk," a way of measuring potential trading losses and the risks that the bank is willing to take. Last year, the wealth management unit brought in more revenue than the investment bank. That's a significant change from earlier years. In 2008, the investment bank made up two-thirds of the company's revenue.
Cutting jobs and other expenses has also been a big part of the bank's strategy to deal with stricter regulation and uncertainty in the economy. Morgan Stanley shed about 3,000 positions, or 5 percent of its workforce, in the last year.
CLSA analyst Mike Mayo said Gorman's performance over the past four years had been mixed, and goals like sewing up the Smith Barney merger had taken longer than investors wanted. Still, he was optimistic about the bank's future, and last year upgraded it from a "sell' to a "buy."
"It's better late than never," Mayo said. "You wouldn't believe how many people I still talk to who say, 'Oh yeah, Morgan Stanley, all the problems.' ... But that's yesterday's news."
He and other analysts described the quarter as improved, though with some reservations.
"They're doing all these things that lay a clearer path to improved returns," said Shannon Stemm, an analyst at Edward Jones in St. Louis. "They still need to get there."
The bank's performance in trading bonds for clients, for example, has been inconsistent.
"We've been through a period where we had to clean up a lot of stuff," Gorman said in response to an analyst's question about the unit.
Financial measures like the return on equity, a gauge of profitability, are still well below where the bank would like them to be. In fact, the board of directors cut Gorman's 2012 pay partly because they were frustrated by the low returns.
The purchase of Smith Barney has been less than seamless. Combining the technology of the two brokerages has been expensive, and some employees have reportedly left over cultural differences. The bank, though, emphasizes that remaining employees are more productive than ever.
The stock buyback was enough to rev up investors on Thursday. When a company buys its own shares, it's a sign that it has confidence in itself and thinks the stock price will go up. The buyback also indicates that the Federal Reserve, which had to give its permission, is happy with Morgan Stanley's capital levels. Morgan Stanley hasn't bought back any of its shares since 2008.
Morgan Stanley earned $898 million in the quarter after excluding the benefit of an accounting gain, more than double the $337 million it made a year earlier.
That worked out to 45 cents a share after stripping out the gain and a charge for the purchase of Smith Barney. Financial analysts polled by FactSet had expected 43 cents. Analysts' expectations generally exclude one-time items.
Revenue totaled $8.3 billion before the accounting gain, up 26 percent from a year earlier. That also beat the $7.9 billion that analysts had expected.
Revenue in the investment bank jumped 40 percent after excluding the accounting gain. The bank traded more stocks on behalf of clients, underwrote more stock and bond offerings and advised more companies on strategy. Revenue from selling and trading bonds for clients also improved.
Other banks have reported strong results in investment banking, helped by surging stocks in late May that drew investors and companies to the market.
Revenue rose 10 percent in the wealth management unit, which advises small and medium-sized businesses and wealthy individuals.
The stock jumped nearly 5 percent in afternoon trading, up $1.21 to $27.75.


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A pass for now on the Democratic mayoral contenders
The race for the Democratic nomination for mayor may make for interesting theater at times, such as during last weekends debate, but the race has been a disappointment on substance. The four frontline candidates are fighting to compete against a well-financed mayor who has done a pretty good job, and they have not yet made the case for making a change at City Hall.
The primary will be Sept. 13. After watching the campaigns and two televised debates, we dont hold out hope that one of these four will be able to convince us in two weeks that he or she should be the next mayor. One of them will win the primary, however, and we may think differently about this person two months from now when the Democratic nominee will be taking on Mayor Mike Bloomberg in a head-to-head contest. The four candidates are not equal, but picking one simply because she or he is better than the other three is not enough.
Congressmember Anthony Weiner is a good communicator who has put forward some interesting ideas. He has a better understanding than the others as to why Democrats have lost three straight mayoral elections in one of the nations bluest cities. But he is new to the citywide stage and he may not have enough experience. His quick wit is not always an asset.
Former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer has the necessary presence to do the second-toughest job. He knows his way around city government and is committed to issues like affordable housing. We do have concerns about how he tacks differently each time he runs for mayor and about his feelings toward Lower Manhattan he called for dispersing the Downtown economy while the World Trade Center fires were still burning four years ago and he opposes the Goldman Sachs deal now.
City Council Speaker Gifford Miller demonstrated remarkable political skills to rise to an important position at a young age. He has had housing successes, such as helping to preserve the affordability of Independence Plaza in Tribeca, but he takes credit and denies blame too easily. Spending $1.6 million in city money for a mailing that served his candidacy did not violate the law, but it was unfair to his Democratic opponents who are working under the same limits he is.
Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields has some qualities to make a good mayor shes dignified, likable and her heart is in the right place. But she has not run an effective office and has handled her community board responsibilities badly. Ignoring a conflict of interest problem at Community Board 2 for far too long, removing Chairperson Madelyn Wils from Community Board 1 without answering questions and not responding to a Freedom of Information Law request by one of our reporters regarding basic community board information are the latest and most egregious examples of what has been a pattern.
There are other important races that will be on the ballot on Sept. 13 and there is merit to voting for the best mayoral candidate in the Democratic primary. Theres just not enough reason to endorse one at least not now.
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video games
Webgame Wednesday: Pause Ahead
Pause Ahead is a punishing run-and-jump puzzle platformer with an inventive twist. At any given time, you can pause the game, freezing the assorted deadly obstacles (buzzsaws, spikes, monsters, etc.) in their tracks. Your character, however, maintains whatever momentum he had prior to the pause. The kick is that you can't control him during the pause. He just keeps flying along—hopefully not into the arms of another deadly trap. The objective is to get though the levels as quickly as possible. It's kinda like Super Mario Bros. on speed. Better have your fast-twitch reflexes honed for this one.


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A look at the political power structure in Iran.
SUPREME LEADER AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI: Wields control over every major decision either directly or through a network of hand-picked loyalists and institutions, including the powerful Revolutionary Guard, the judiciary and intelligence services.
GUARDIAN COUNCIL: Group of 12 experts in Islamic law who approve all candidates for high elected office and can veto parliamentary bills considered to be in violation of Iran's Islamic constitution.
PRESIDENT: The president's powers are limited by the ruling clerics. The president helps direct economic policies, domestic social programs, education plans and some public works. The president also has some voice in the level of freedoms such as media and political openness but can be overruled by the clerics using the judiciary or Revolutionary Guard. The president represents Iran in many high-profile international forums and talks, but the clerics set all important foreign and defense policies.
PARLIAMENT: Its 290 members are elected every four years and have wide powers to set economic and social policies, but officials loyal to the supreme leader can block legislation. The next election for parliament is in 2016.
EXPEDIENCY COUNCIL: Mediates between the parliament and Guardian Council, but often favors the supreme leader's views. All members are hand-picked by Khamenei and serves in effect as an advisory body to the supreme leader.
ASSEMBLY OF EXPERTS: An elected body of 86 clerics that has the official role of overseeing the supreme leader's performance, but main job is to select a successor after his death.