text:
It's an archetypical Western story.
Four earnest young cowpunks pile onto a bus and set out on the hardest road they can find, looking for life and adventure and irony. Along the way, they make people laugh and dance. They find unexpected success, then return home with an empty gas tank and a hero's welcome, only to be sucker-punched and wake up face down in the street with wallets missing.
Then like any prototypical Westerners, they get back up to do it all over again.
The story could be cast in a lyric by Roger Clyne, lead singer and songwriter for the Tempe rock band the Refreshments, and it would chart their rapid ascent during the past two years and sudden stall over the past two months.
The band charmed Tempe with its danceable, upbeat rock tunes, full of heartbreak and smartass, then took its first major-label CD, Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy, well up the charts, spiking a single named "Banditos" (with its bad-attitude refrain, "Everybody knows that the world is full of stupid people").
The Refreshments toured the continent, earning a quirky following that seemed a subset of Jimmy Buffett's Parrotheads, made the right TV appearances, sold a song to a TV show, sold another to a movie soundtrack, recorded a second album.
Just before Thanksgiving, the Refreshments returned from 14 months on the road and played a sold-out, kick-ass show at the Cajun House in Scottsdale, "happy to be home and well-rehearsed," as one band member put it.
Then came the one-two sucker punch.
Through bad luck and bad management, they lost a spot playing at the Tostitos Tempe Fiesta Bowl Block Party and then got dragged into court over it.
And early this month, Mercury Records let the band's recording contract lapse, unimpressed by the flagging sales of its second CD, The Bottle & Fresh Horses. The critics liked the second CD for its more mature content; the fans apparently liked the band's cantina-rat persona and didn't want the boys to dry out and grow up just yet.
Through a corporate management shuffle, the Refreshments had lost their champion at Mercury. No one seemed to remember the band's potential, the numbers of its first CD, the excitement of its concerts.
That's not enough to keep four good men down. While it shops for a new recording company, the band is holed up in its practice studio in Tempe, writing and rehearsing new songs, then airing them out in the same little clubs where the band got its start.
There had been an omen in the chorus of the Refreshments' latest single, "Good Year," a song that Mercury released against the band's better judgment. And it bombed.
It's been a good year for bad days
or a bad year for good days,
well, here we go again now
here we go again now.
"We're happier being independent," Clyne said bravely last Sunday night at the Yucca Tap Room, where the band put on a free, impromptu show. Then as always, good times or bad, the boys turned the amps up loud and brought down the house.
On Christmas night at Gibson's in Tempe, a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd patiently waited for the Refreshments, through the sets of two bands.
A Refreshments concert is a joyous, sardine-packed sing-along, and if everyone has his or her arms in the air, it may be as much for lack of space as for dance rhythm.
Singer-guitarist Roger Clyne has puppy-dog good looks, brown hair that falls along his face and down his neck. He wears big bright Hawaiian shirts--especially one with a 1940s version of a racy lady dressed in a strapless bra--that drape over the frame of a "healthy 159-pound American boy," as he sings in one song.
Singing, for Clyne, is often a tuneful shouting that wracks his shoulders and contorts his face. He taps time on his amp with a big, floppy Jack Purcell sneaker. He bounds and bounces or leaps Springsteenlike, with his back to the audience, legs tucked to one side, guitar counterbalancing on the other. His charisma beams through the room; blond co-eds stare at him longingly.
Bassist Buddy Edwards, his head nearly shaved, bounces nearby; drummer P.H. Naffah stares intently from beneath a baseball cap, pounding relentlessly. All three flail and throb, so that the whole group would be in danger of levitating if lead guitarist Brian Blush weren't so steadfastly anchoring the other side of the stage.
Blush braces himself in a corner, in a Western-sequined jacket and a black 10-gallon Stetson, eyes closed, smiling blissfully, occasionally busting a minimalist Chuck Berry duck walk, and pumping out the big raw guitar licks that start and end nearly every Refreshments song.
The sound is upbeat pop, basic rock 'n' roll. All four, privately, apologize for their lack of technical expertise on their instruments, picking up the slack with attitude. Clyne's lyrics run ripe with bons mots, sometimes pensive, sometimes snide and occasionally downright funny.
"Roger has a way of saying what every man is thinking," says Brian Blush. "I find myself saying, 'Damn it, why didn't I say that? I've been thinking it all my life.'"
The catchy melodies and clever lyrics have been both the band's strongest suit and biggest critical liability.
"We never drew a line and said we're going to be a serious band or a funny band," says Buddy Edwards. "Both of them were pretty essential in our approach to what rock 'n' roll is. One of the Kids in the Hall, the TV show, said, 'I love rock 'n' roll, but I also realize how stupid it is,' and from the time this band started, we've always approached it that way."
Some irony-challenged listeners have interpreted Refreshments staples like "Banditos" and "Mexico" as being anti-Mexican. Lyrics in the former, for example, exclaim, "The good guys and the bad guys, they never work past noon around here. They sit side by side in the cantinas, talk to senoritas and drink warm beer. . . ."
Clyne, in fact, meant the songs as homage to a more relaxed and civilized society he perceives south of the border, where he'd rather be. He speaks Spanish, and unselfconsciously peppers his English conversation with Spanish expressions.
The Refreshments could fill any local venue, anytime. However, in local critics' circles, "accessibility" is a pejorative, as if being able to like a song and understand it on a first hearing were a bad thing. They've been called the "Refratments," for their ardent student following, and local memories of their bar-band days.
"For some reason, America believes that unless it smacks of all sorts of pain, unless it's bad, it's not art, and I don't agree with that," says Clyne.
Blush adds, "We've heard things like 'too pop for radio' or 'too hooky,' and those arguments never made sense to me."
Ted Simons, the morning DJ at KZON, calls the Refreshments a "snotty little band putting together quick quirky pop songs."
"I'm not a big fan of clever. I like honest, artistic stuff," he says.
"I think that's part of the reason I can't relate to it," says Mark Zubia of the local band the Pistoleros. Zubia likes the band members, but not their music. "Not that it's not dark," he continues. "It doesn't have as much soul as I like to have in music."
Another local band is alleged to have challenged the Refreshments to a fistfight.
At issue is the Refreshments' rapid rise.
"You have bands that have been playing for seven, 10 years in Tempe, and here's a band that's been around a year and a half that's on MTV and touring around the country," says Charlie Levy of Nita's Hideaway. "People get jealous."
"I'm full-on jealous of all their success," admits Curtis Grippe from Dead Hot Workshop, another popular Tempe band that made the climb from local to national act and back again. "I think it's really cool that they've had success."
Then Grippe turns the tables. "The Refreshments have been very supportive of everyone they've worked with, especially Roger," he says. "In all my years of knowing him, I've never heard him say one bad thing about another band. He's the only musician I could say that about. I love their music. It's good-time pop music."
And there's not a better show in town than the one they put out for their loyal fans.
They finished well after midnight on Christmas.
Buddy Edwards and P.H. Naffah disappeared almost immediately. Brian Blush and Roger Clyne hung out in the small upstairs dressing room at the back of Gibson's to decompress. Blush quietly smoked a cigarette.
Clyne was folded into a couch, looking as if he had been picked up and wrung out by a giant hand, spent, politely trying to focus his eyes on an ardent fan who was prattling happily about Mexico and how good the show was.
Clyne croaked out the proper response.
National music critics paint the Refreshments as if they were playing Yuma and Gila Bend in juke joints that look like TV beer commercials, full of hot tee-shirted blondes in tight jeans.
"Maybe that's what they've got implanted in their minds as to what the Southwest is," says Blush, "a truck stop with a saguaro in the parking lot."
In real life, they worked their way up in smoky Tempe clubs like Long Wong's and Edcel's Attic and especially the Yucca Tap Room.
Still, even local music writers harbor a notion of four happy-go-lucky guys piling into a Suburban with a cracked windshield, throwing beer cans out the window on the way to a weekend in Mexico spent crying over lost loves.
The reality is four pleasant men pushing 30, who live separate lives and come together to make music.
On the road, "It's like touring with the Osmond Brothers," says their former A&R man, Peter Lubin.
Although all of them attended Arizona State University, only one of them is actually from Arizona, Roger Clyne, the singer and main songwriter.
What the four hold in common is an anxious recognition that although they have crept into the musical big leagues, they could be sent down to the minors, especially given recent history. And though they have recorded one near-gold album, they are hardly rock stars. They live in modest middle-class houses with their wives or fiancees; Roger Clyne, who turned 30 this week, has a 10-month-old boy. They eat in taco shops. They make only about as much money as, say, a newspaper reporter, and that is always tentative.
"We had a hit single. We sold almost 500,000 records, and we make almost exactly the same as a national band as we made as a local band," says Buddy Edwards. "Almost exactly the same."
They all carry not-so-fond memories of working day jobs so that they could gig at night. And they all jealously cling to a success that allows them to do what they want and get paid for it, knowing it could end at any time.
Otherwise, they are four different men.
Brian Blush, 28, grew up in suburban Detroit, the son of a psychologist. He wandered out to Tempe to study communications at ASU, and when he tired of that, he tried business and then dropped out altogether to focus on band life.
"Brian's the one person I know who knows exactly--exactly--what makes him happy," says bass player Buddy Edwards. "He doesn't care why, and it is both his strength and his weakness. What he likes is to be onstage playing music."
Blush is smilingly cool onstage, hiding beneath his big cowboy hat. He admits that it's almost an out-of-body experience, that he sometimes finds himself listening in, observing from outside and thinking, "Whoa, this is a pretty good band."
But he seems a younger, more vulnerable being walking anonymously around Tempe, the Stetson replaced by a truck-stop baseball cap. About the only thing identifiable about the off-duty Blush are the knees poking through his blue jeans. He speaks gently, introspectively, not just about his music, but about his relief at being off the road long enough to cut his grass and visit with his wife. The other band members joke that they really don't know what Blush does when he's not performing, assuming he inhabits some hermetically sealed universe.
Blush spent the second part of the 1980s in a band named Ritual, which played cover tunes, and then with a second local cover band named August Red. Along the way, he fell under the sway of the legendary guitarist for the Gin Blossoms, Doug Hopkins.
The Blossoms were still a local band, and Blush was too young to get into the clubs where they played. He'd been stopped at the door of Long Wong's, and then, failing to get in the front door of the now-defunct Sun Club, he looked for a way to sneak in.
"I was walking around and found a back door," he remembers, "and I was just about to give it a tug when it flew open. And there was Doug Hopkins, this tall guy with a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other. I didn't know who he was."
"Buy me a beer," the older guitarist demanded, "and I won't shanghai your ass."
Blush settled in at the bar, and when Hopkins took the stage, he settled into new aspirations.
"I sat back and it changed my life," he says.
Blush claims he learned much about guitar playing from Hopkins, though it's hard to hear. His licks on Fizzy Fuzzy are bigger and edgier than Hopkins' guitar work on the Gin Blossoms' New Miserable Experience--if that is any fair comparison. Hopkins was on his way out of that band when the album was recorded, and how much he actually contributed, and how much of his soul had already been consumed by alcoholism, has been debated in the press.
But influence shows itself in other ways.
"Brian was Doug's biggest fan," says Curtis Grippe from Dead Hot Workshop. "He wore a hat like Doug's, kinda walked like Doug, stands onstage like Doug. He plays riffs like Doug. Doug was his mentor."
Arthur Eugene Edwards III, 28, calls himself Buddy, because, he says, the long name is too regal for a kid from Moline, Illinois. His parents and grandparents worked in the John Deere plant there, but Edwards went to ASU to study English literature.
"I studied English lit because I wanted to know what Moby Dick was about," he says. "I had no plans for a job. Before the Refreshments, I had 10 jobs in 14 months, doing the lowest of the low."
But he liked being in a town where the local bands played more than just cover tunes. He'd work a week or two to pay the rent or airfare to Mazatlan, gigging at night in college bands. When he graduated from ASU, he applied to the university's graduate program in creative writing and was turned down. Ironically, unlike most aspiring writers in writing programs, he now earns enough to spend his days at the computer working on a novel.
Edwards has an explosive and a frequent laugh.
He lives with his wife in Ahwatukee, drives her Camry, and is like just another accountant in sneakers and a flannel shirt on his day off. During an interview at a taco chain in an Ahwatukee strip mall, Edwards was interrupted by his next-door neighbors. They chatted politely about the taco franchise.
After they left, Edwards apologized for not introducing them because he didn't know their names, even though he's lived next door to them for several years.
"They don't know what I do," he said.
Edwards seeks normalcy and hates being on the road.
"You're taken away from everything that's regular in your life," he says. "When I come home, I kind of demand a certain amount of: This is what happens in the morning, this is what happens in the afternoon, and this is the evening, every day, and I literally write it out on a piece of paper every day."
Drummer P.H. Naffah, 28, is also a Midwesterner, a doctor's son from suburban Chicago, who came to Tempe to go to college. P.H. stands for Paul Habib.
Like the other Refreshments, he's a self-taught musician. As a kid, he would go to the basement to pound on his drum kit for hours, harboring a fantasy of being a rock star, without thinking of studying toward that goal.
Instead, he studied biology at ASU, which pleased his father, because it meant that P.H. would be a physician, too. From 1985 until 1993, he played in a band called Rain Convention, then quit when he graduated from college to work for a cabinetmaker in Fountain Hills.
He'd taken the med-school boards, but hadn't actually applied to medical school, which irritated his father. And he was irritated himself that his job started so early in the morning that he could neither play in a band nor even go out to see other bands.
The Refreshments called on him in 1995 as a replacement for a drummer who wasn't working out.
Naffah is the steadiest of the four band members, quiet and rarely ruffled.
"I've never been a very conflicted person," he says, and the other band members agree.
Buddy Edwards recalls a road argument on the bus with Clyne and Blush over their play list for a college-town gig. Edwards wanted the band to play an equal number of songs from each album--to sell records, rather than just slip into a frat-house song list to get the college kids off their seats. And he wanted the show to end at some predictable point--Blush and Clyne would just as soon play until they drop.
As the fight escalated and the vibe whirled through the bus, Naffah, Edwards recalls, walked right up the aisle, through the shouting, refusing to acknowledge that it was even happening--effectively ending it.
Roger Clyne is the soul and center of the Refreshments.
On a recent December morning, Clyne opened for rapper Puff Daddy.
Clyne's mother teaches elementary school in Gilbert, and he'd agreed to visit a library full of students who were curious about what it was like to be a musician.
Though he projects confidence while hiding behind a guitar and a microphone onstage, here on a stool in the school library, he was kept off balance by a barrage of grade-schooler questions that were as focused and to the point as any journalist's.
"Why are you called 'the Refreshments'?" a child asked.
"Because it was the only name we didn't get into a fight about."
"What kind of car do you drive?"
"An old Toyota Landcruiser with a cracked windshield."
"Did you like math?"
The kids all cheer.
"Who doesn't have trouble with math?" he asks back. Hands go up. "Okay, you guys are freaks."
"Did you ever cry while singing a song?"
They ask which famous musicians he knows. Clyne fumbles around with names from Seven Mary Three and other grown-up bands.
"Do you know Puff Daddy?"
"No." Unsatisfactory answer. The kids press until Clyne says, "I am pining to meet Puff Daddy, and if I ever do, we'll reconvene and I'll tell you all about it."
Then he offers a good alternative: "We play the song on King of the Hill."
A cheer goes up. Then another gleam of recognition:
"Do you sing 'the world is full of stupid people'?" one girl asks.
"Yes, I do," Clyne answers firmly, "but it's 'everybody knows the world is full of stupid people.' If you take that as true, then that means that somebody's thinking that about you and me, too."
Clyne's mother is the sister of Republican Congressman John Shadegg; his grandfather was a political strategist for Barry Goldwater. His father is a working cowboy. Since his parents divorced when he was quite young, Clyne split his time between Tempe--he attended Brophy for two years--and his father's family ranch near Sonoita, south of Tucson. There he learned to rope and herd cattle.
If his Uncle John is a free-market advocate of logging and ranching and mining, Clyne is a radical environmentalist--his first job out of college was as foreman on a crew cleaning up the Salt River bottom--and a radical egalitarian.
He drives an old truck and lives in a commune with his longtime girlfriend Alisa Jellum, his 10-month-old son Otis, his brother and one of the band's roadies. Though he writes most of the band's songs, he insists that the royalties be split evenly among the band members, reasoning that they spend the same amount of time onstage as he does.
All of which makes the band's L.A. manager, Michael Lustig, smile.
"As much as Roger tries to make it a democracy, he is still the leader," Lustig says.
Clyne describes himself as a control freak; the other band members see his control as generosity.
"The thing I absolutely adore about Roger is his ability to be unbelievably selfless," says Buddy Edwards. "If you were to call Roger and say, 'I have a problem with my transmission, can you help me?'; that's his perfect day. He loves for you to bring your car over so he can 'help' fix it. Basically, he does it for you while you drink beer."
When Clyne enrolled at ASU, he tried studying music, but he found it too mathematical, too divorced from his experience. "Furthermore, I couldn't do it," he says bluntly.
Instead he took a double major in psychology and anthropology, played in bands at night, and was on his way to a graduate program in psychology that got sidetracked when the Refreshments took off.
In 1992, Clyne and the bass player from his band at the time, and a vagabond friend named Michael O'Hare took off for Taiwan with the hope of getting jobs teaching English.
They blew most of their money on a stopover in Honolulu and had to sleep in the park and play music in the street to earn back enough money to get to China.
When they reached Taipei, they booked into a youth hostel, "Which pretty much ended up being Drug Central," Clyne remembers, "where all the dealers brought drugs to sell to the foreigners, which was us. It was evidently the seediest place you could live in Taipei, because once we got jobs teaching, all our students were begging us to move out and offering us a place to stay with them: 'You can't live in the Taipei hostel.' 'You don't know the reputation the place has!'--which was all the more reason to stay."
They took their instruments to subway terminals to earn the rent. The Chinese were underwhelmed.
"At first we played a lot of songs we thought would be hip over there, pseudo-cool American music--Pixies, Camper Van Beethoven, Nirvana. It sounded really cool in the subway with all that natural reverb. But it ended up scaring the Taiwanese away."
Other buskers suggested that they play Beatles medleys, John Denver and Everly Brothers songs, and then the open guitar case started filling up with coins--illegally of course. Clyne could tell the police were coming when the vendors all started running, and he would pack up his guitar and coins and start running, too.
After nearly a year of teaching English, Clyne and friends booked passage to Thailand. His favorite Refreshments song, "Mekong," unfolds in a bar in Bangkok, where local and international travelers intersect and exchange lies and life stories while waiting for trains and planes.
It's a halfway nostalgic song:
"We flew all the way/From Taipei today/ Still, Bangkok's pissing rain/And I'm going blind again/And I haven't seen my girl, for 15,000 miles."
Then the tempo shifts up:
"Is it true it's always happy hour here?/ 'Cause if it is, I'd like to stay a while."
"Mekong" shows Clyne's sensitive eye: He was touched by the poverty, destitution and prostitution, which comes out in the haunting line, "Smile at the girl in the door/Another four-dollar whore/But don't look her in the eye/It'll break your heart."
To describe the ups and downs of Clyne's life on paper somehow makes him sound fragile or even neurotic. In fact, he's funny and strong, stably fused to fiancee Alisa and son Michael Otis--whom he named after best friend and traveling partner O'Hare, who died a year ago. And he speaks with naked honesty about taking his own sanity to the abyss and back.
When the Refreshments were forming, Clyne suffered from debilitating panic attacks and agoraphobia, and worries of not accomplishing what he needed to.
"I used to fear that if I would go to bed and my life were over and I'd never wake up, that I would have regrets about it."
He laughs at the paradox.
He pulled himself away from the brink, went to his father's ranch, wandering off into the mountains with a bedroll for days at a time on spiritual quests, walking and sitting and fasting and confronting himself and the vastness of the outdoors.
"I really like that feeling," he says. "At once you're all alone and totally vulnerable, and, at the same time, you're part of a different hold that you don't feel in the city. I have to seek that shift in reality."
The Refreshments rehearse in the back of a store on University Drive in Tempe. In the front is an assemblage of amps and instruments and plain junk, some of it memorable: plastic army men from the band's video of its song "Down Together," an empty bottle of Mekong whiskey, a topless airbrushed rendition of the bomber-nose babe on the cover of Fizzy Fuzzy.
The music takes place in a tiny carpet-lined space. Aside from the amplifiers, the only furnishings are a couple of stools and the back seat from a minivan, as if guests could seat-belt themselves to keep from being blown away.
The band warms up with a Tom Petty song, then a couple of its own, before trying out a new song that Clyne has sung into his little four-track tape recorder. Blush and Naffah have heard the tape and are already thinking up ways to slip into it--Blush has a guitar riff he wants to feather onto Clyne's high guitar introduction.
The chorus of the new song reflects the effect that touring has had on Clyne's experience:
I don't know how you got through security,
You picked all my locks by being so low key.
I've never been easy, but I'll be easy for you.
The first run-through is tentative.
"The first record I put on when I was writing this was the Cars--the first song is 'My Best Friend's Girl.'"
He walks some bar chords up the neck of his guitar, the same he just played in his own song, but naked and alone, they sound like "My Best Friend's Girl."
He noodles a few rhythms, trying to get the Cars out of his head.
They run through the new song again, easily this time. Clyne titles it "Easy."
"Pure pop," he says.
Then he turns his humor back on himself, free-associating to a Metallica tee shirt that proclaims "Metal up your ass."
"They should have a popsicle coming out of a toilet that says, 'Pop up your ass,'" he quips.
Pop has been the Refreshments' stock in trade, the music for which it is both praised and criticized. The band got its start playing college town bars, where job one is to sell beer and job two is to get the students onto the dance floor--or you don't come back.
Clyne had struggled with a cowpunk band called the Mortals, and several of the songs that later appeared on Fizzy Fuzzy he sang in that earlier three-piece band.
"They were a little tamer, a little greener," he says. "The tempos were a little faster."
Others have said that the tempos were so fast that it was a wonder Clyne could get his mouth around the lyrics.
When the Mortals broke up, Clyne and the drummer, Dustin Denham, linked up with Buddy Edwards, and spent a summer writing songs and trying to fashion a sound. They wanted a lead instrument, anything but a guitar--a violin, perhaps, or an accordion like Camper Van Beethoven, a band they admired. They held auditions, but the musicians they talked to mostly wanted to know how much money they got per gig.
Doug Hopkins had already been booted out of the Gin Blossoms and had left the Chimeras (which would morph into the Pistoleros), and Clyne asked him to sit in with his new band. Hopkins missed the date and then told Clyne that he had shoved his guitar through the roof of Edcel's Attic, a Tempe club. Clyne took that as a bad sign.
Shortly afterward, Hopkins took his own life.
Brian Blush, meanwhile, had been playing with his own band, August Red.
When Hopkins died, Blush quit music altogether and holed up in his parents' condo in Palm Springs.
"The one guy who was the world to me and that represented rock 'n' roll to me was out of the game," Blush remembers. "So I said, 'Fuck it, I quit.'"
A mutual friend of Blush and Clyne suggested that they get together. Clyne had his prejudices about Blush's earlier band.
"It was the jealousy of my youth," Clyne says, "because they had all the chicks, they had all the gigs. They were really popular and we were the geeks."
Blush had a better opinion of Clyne; on his nights off, he would go listen to the Mortals.
"I really became a fan of Roger because not only did he have clever and witty lyrics, but he was fun to watch," Blush says. "It wasn't a power stomp. In fact, it was a pretty sloppy, kind of drunken band, but that appealed to me."
He agreed to audition. The others eyed him suspiciously as he plugged into his big amp, and then they started to play.
"We launched into our first song," Clyne says. "It was immediately imperative that he be our lead guitar player."
Edwards agrees.
"There was such a spark that it freaked us out," he says. "We played the first note and all of us got the same smirk on our face."
The Refreshments played their first gig on January 29, 1993, at Long Wong's in Tempe, hard-pressed to come up with 10 songs. They played regularly at the Yucca Tap Room; the wives and girlfriends would go along and dance, and soon the word got out that there were chicks at Refreshments shows.
Late in 1994, the band members played in a local band contest sponsored by Ticketmaster, and won, earning them a spot in a regional competition in Seattle which they also won. Later at the finals in Los Angeles, they came in first out of 7,800 bands, and won $10,000 worth of recording time to make a demo tape.
They didn't need it. They'd already recorded an independent-label CD, Wheelie, which came out that December and did well in the Phoenix area. It got passed on to the majors.
In March 1995, the Refreshments were invited to play at the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference in Austin, Texas, a showcase for regional bands, where they were sought out by Peter Lubin of Mercury Records.
Lubin had received a copy of the indie CD from an Austin-based scout.
"The first time I put on Wheelie, I actually excused myself and went to the bathroom," Lubin says. "But Wheelie had a funny way of returning to the disc player over and over, and when you do A&R and have so much to listen to, it's unusual for a disc to keep reappearing in the tray. After a while, I made a mental note that if I ever got the chance, I'd look into the Refreshments."
He made the date in Austin, took them out for lunch, got hammered on tequila, heard them play, and signed them.
But the band was not completely satisfied for reasons that none will talk about now. Dusty Denham, the drummer, was not living up to the others' expectations, and though the current band members toss about the word "professionalism," rumors on the street are even less flattering. In any case, the band fired him.
Denham did not return calls from New Times.
Peter Lubin was appalled that the band would fire its drummer right before it went into the recording studio.
P.H. Naffah, meanwhile, was working his day job when he got invited to try out for the drummer's spot.
"I had heard the band's music because it was the hottest band around town," he says. "In fact, I was envious as all hell, because I was working a shitty day job and I couldn't go out to see bands."
His sister and his fiancee, with whom he lived, constantly played Wheelie.
"I'd come home and they'd be playing the Refreshments' CD nonstop."
That was a good thing: He had the songs in his head when he went to try out, and he got the job.
Fizzy Fuzzy is essentially a remake of Wheelie, but executed at a much higher level of professionalism under Lubin's direction.
"They made us go to work and put the beer cans down," Clyne says.
But the work paid off. The Refreshments topped Billboard magazine's "heatseekers" list of new acts for weeks. Fizzy Fuzzy reached number 97 in the Billboard 200. The album is poised to go gold, having shipped close to 500,000 copies--not as well as the Gin Blossoms did with their two albums, but respectable nonetheless. "Banditos" climbed to number 11 on Billboard's Rock Tracks list.
The Refreshments hit the road, playing more than 300 shows in the U.S. and Canada.
They played to dead air in Los Angeles, braved flying chicken drumsticks at a music festival in Omaha, and got pelted with mud in Cleveland. But then they found they had cult followings in such disparate places as Denver; Minneapolis; Portland, Oregon; and Boston.
"You'd think someone in Boston or the Pacific Northwest wouldn't be inclined to know about taking road trips through Nogales or down to Rocky Point," says Brian Blush. "But regardless of where they're from, they pick up on that vibe."
"It is amazing to me to go to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and see 800, 900 people who know all the words to all the songs," says Peter Lubin. "That is very significant. Every gig they play, they have to spend an hour and a half signing autographs and answering questions."
They played Chicago on a Sunday night in January during an ice storm, and still managed to rouse 500 fans. They needed 30 security guards to get them in and out of the venue safely through the throngs of crazed fans in Springfield, Missouri.
"One guy sent us a naked video of his girlfriend dancing to our music," says Clyne.
They made appearances on the Conan O'Brien show and a PBS rock road-show series. They wrote the instrumental theme song for Fox TV's King of the Hill prime-time cartoon--Entertainment Weekly called it the best new TV theme. They placed another single on the soundtrack for the film An American Werewolf in Paris.
The Refreshments were hot.
Then their second album came due.
Many of the songs on The Bottle & Fresh Horses date to before the band's first album was recorded, others had been written on the road.
They'd all heard the gripes about Fizzy Fuzzy's accessibility, and although Clyne denies it changed his style in the slightest, Blush admits that it "affects your psyche."
The Bottle is edgier and darker. But it did not fare well.
Peter Lubin, who had signed the band to Mercury Records, had been fired in a management shakeup, and the Refreshments lost their inside champion. And although Mercury offered to let Lubin oversee the new album, Michael Lustig, the band's L.A. manager, thought that would be bad luck in an already compromised situation.
Lubin, who remains in close contact with the Refreshments as a friend and an adviser, tries to be objective about the second album.
"I think if I had to sum up the second album for myself, I would have to say it's frightening the extent to which their personality is missing from that record," says Lubin. "And I don't mean the material."
Indeed, the songs are vital and exciting in concert, but the rendition through tapes and wires is workmanlike.
The critics liked it better than Fizzy Fuzzy "because the songs are more mature," says Michael Lustig. "But sonically it doesn't have the immediacy that Fizzy Fuzzy did."
The record-buying public apparently agreed. The Bottle came onto the Billboard 200 at number 150 in its first week out, and then never showed up again.
How much Mercury promoted the CD is anyone's guess. It won't comment.
"I never got a Refreshments CD, and I get a lot of CDs from bands I never heard of," says Chicago DJ Marty Lenartz.
Mercury decided to release Brian Blush's song "Good Year" as the first single, to the band members' consternation. They saw "Good Year" as a B-side, but trusted the company's judgment.
It failed at the record store, and Mercury seemed to forget the band's earlier successes.
During the first week of January, the Refreshments' contract with Mercury came up for renewal, and Mercury was not excited. (Mercury would neither confirm nor deny a thing to New Times.) It offered to release a second single, "Wanted," and a 90-day extension on the contract to see if it could resuscitate album sales. The Refreshments passed so that they could shop elsewhere.
"We made a co-decision to get off the label," says Clyne.
Peter Lubin remains optimistic on their behalf.
"Strictly as an industry observer," Lubin says, "the Refreshments are more signable now than when I signed them."
As hometown heroes, the Refreshments were an obvious choice to play at the Fiesta Bowl Block Party, but that deal went south as well.
Creative Artists, the L.A. firm that represents the Refreshments, had wrestled with Image Entertainment, the local firm that books the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Block Party, over how much to pay the Refreshments for a New Year's Eve show. Image had offered $17,500, and the band's management insisted on $20,000, which band manager Michael Lustig claims they got last year for a New Year's Eve show at a local venue.
The two sides reached agreement on the figure, but not on what went with it. Image claims that the extra $2,500 included an agreement not to play elsewhere in the Valley between the November contract (which was never actually signed) and the New Year's Eve show. No such wording appears anywhere in the agreement; Image claims that there was a verbal agreement and that such exclusivity is an industry standard.
But the band remained unaware of any such expectation. On the night before Thanksgiving, the Refreshments performed a heart-stopping show to a sold-out crowd at the Cajun House in Scottsdale.
When the Fiesta Bowl found out about the performance, it called Creative Artists, demanded that the band's fee be lowered because of the perceived infraction, but eventually came back to the $20,000 figure.
Lustig went ballistic and told Image Entertainment that the price had just gone up to $35,000.
"That's extortion when you're talking two weeks before an event," says Ken Koziol, Image's president.
Much of the misunderstanding hinged on the sum paid last year to the Gin Blossoms for last year's Block Party, rumored to be well over $100,000, a figure that Koziol refused to confirm, but says did not come out of his budget; instead it had been negotiated directly by Frito-Lay, the owner of Tostitos.
The Refreshments saw the exclusivity as an attempt to limit their earnings as a local band.
"When you're paying $17,500 to $20,000, they're no longer a local band in my mind," fumes Koziol. "You cross the line and become a national act and then different rules apply."
The Fiesta Bowl got out its big guns. On December 23, although the negotiations to date had been handled by managers and agents, the band members themselves were served with subpoenas at 1:30 in the afternoon ordering them to be in Superior Court at 4 p.m. The Fiesta Bowl was seeking a temporary restraining order to keep them from performing their Christmas show and also was seeking damages against the band to recoup the costs of publicizing the concert that would not happen.
Precisely at 4 p.m., the elevator doors opened on the top floor of the courthouse and ejected three Refreshments and a lawyer of the moment. They'd spent the few hours' notice frantically looking for representation.
Blush was dressed in full concert regalia, rock-star suit, hat and boots in place. Clyne wore sneakers and a suit coat. Naffah had on his usual baseball cap. Edwards was out Christmas shopping and blissfully unaware of the uproar.
The elevator opened again and launched out reporters, notepads in hand. Clyne spoke animatedly, waving arms, wondering aloud why the Fiesta Bowl had rained down on them.
"I have to remember to breathe," he said in an aside.
Blush was smooth and measured, quietly answering questions.
Naffah sat on a bench with an amused look on his face, unpursued by the reporters and not really caring.
He turned to the New Times reporter he'd had lunch with that afternoon and said, "How's that burrito sitting with you?"
The elevators opened a third time, and the Fiesta Bowl party walked out in single file, as caricatured as a scene from A Hard Day's Night: first a Snell & Wilmer attorney who resembled Niedermeyer from Animal House, then a leggy lady attorney in a short skirt, then Koziol, then two Fiesta Bowl officials, the last one carrying a phone. The rockers and the reporters all stopped talking to watch the procession march toward the courtroom.
The Refreshments' lawyer pulled them aside to try to come up with a strategy. He suggested they offer up a free charity concert in the name of the Fiesta Bowl, if the other side would drop all other issues. Clyne and Blush talked it back and forth and then turned to Naffah and asked what he thought.
Naffah looked up from the table and said, "I just want to rock."
Moments later the whole crew assembled in the courtroom--rockers, reporters, lawyers, the judge. Blush had his hat off for the first time in memory; the three musicians sat next to their lawyer, looking like three vandals who had been caught blowing up mailboxes. The lead Snell & Wilmer lawyer seemed pleased by the total victory and then read the proposed settlement agreement aloud to the court, ending by wishing everyone a happy holiday.
The judge thought it over.
"What about this happy holiday stuff? Do I have to have a happy holiday?" he asked. Then he slammed his gavel and the deal was sealed.
"This is what John Lennon would have done," Clyne said.
Then under his breath, he said, "I need a drink," and he retired to Long Wong's.
Exiled from Tempe, the Refreshments played a New Year's Eve show at the Hard Rock Cafe in Newport Beach, California, a free party sponsored by a local radio station.
The stage was jury-rigged from a dining platform behind a railing that led out to an outdoor patio. Blush and Edwards sat at a patio table backstage; Blush had his unplugged guitar in his lap and was strumming along to the music of the opening act, a local trio doing its best Pearl Jam shtick.
Blush turned to Edwards suddenly and asked, "You ever play in this band?"
"No," Edwards replied.
"I did," Blush shot back, and then started singing the next lyric along with the lead singer.
"Next we'll play the Black-eyed Pea circuit," said Naffah, who was leaning against the door to the stage. "This is a paycheck. We should be playing in Tempe."
Clyne passed around shots of tequila in clear plastic beer cups, and the band took the stage.
There were about 200 partyers in the bar, split between Refreshments fans, who hugged the railings up by the stage, and young folks who looked up surprised when one or other of the band's singles played, as if to say, "Oh, you're that band." Others were tourists in town for the Rose Bowl who had wandered in looking for a New Year's party, but spontaneous dancing broke out, nonetheless, in this least interested group.
The band's wives and girlfriends danced backstage. In the front row, a phalanx of young blondes who follows the band to all its California concerts stared lovingly at Roger Clyne. They hung on the rail and sang along to every song. Clyne tried not to look at them because they were a half beat behind, their lips moving like bad dubbing on the soundtrack to a Japanese movie, and he was afraid he'd lose his place in the song.
The stage was level with the crowd, separated by a pair of railings six feet apart. Clyne later commented that he'd rather not have a barrier between him and the audience.
"I like the stage about this high," he said, holding his hand three feet above the floor. "Then the audience's faces are right there, almost in my groin."
He didn't mean it the way it sounds, but the straight line was quickly pounced on.
"That about sums it up, doesn't it?" a wag asked.
"Yup," Clyne parried, "and then they applaud."
For the last chorus of "Banditos," Clyne turned his microphone toward the audience to do a familiarity check. There was a healthy volume:
If you like this story, consider signing up for our email newsletters.
You have successfully signed up for your selected newsletter(s) - please keep an eye on your mailbox, we're movin' in!
"Everybody knows that the world is full of stupid people."
Clyne was not displeased. He put his hands together like the Dalai Lama, and nodded with a smile to say thanks.
After midnight, the crowd thinned out by half, leaving only the diehard fans.
The Refreshments then did what any self-respecting rock band would do. They picked up the tempo and turned up the volume and kicked ass.
Contact Michael Kiefer at his online address: email@example.com


text:
Frank McCourt signaled his intent to go down swingining.
Hours after Commissioner Bud Selig announced that Major League Baseball will take over operation of the Los Angeles Dodgers, McCourt issued a statement late Wednesday night.
"Major League Baseball sets strict financial guidelines which all 30 teams must follow. The Dodgers are in compliance with these guidelines," McCourt said in the statement. "On this basis, it is hard to understand the Commissioner's action."
Newly appointed Dodgers Vice Chairman Steve Soboroff also had words for Selig. He said the decision to take over the team had been "irresponsible." He dismissed Selig's concerns that McCourt is too strapped to operate the team.
The Associated Press, citing a baseball executive familiar with the situation, reported that McCourt was preparing to sue MLB.
Selig announced his decision to take over the team in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon.
"It's sad," said Tommy Lasorda, who managed the Dodgers to their last World Series title in 1988. "I've spent 62 years in this organization and I've never seen anything like this happen. Frank loved the Dodgers. A lot of people may not realize that, but he really loved the Dodgers.''
Lasorda serves as special adviser to McCourt.
What's on Deck for the Dodgers?
Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti said even he isn't sure what happens next.
"It's not a good day when you have turmoil within an organization," Colletti said Wednesday. "I'm waiting for Major League Baseball to give me some insight into it."
Selig said he will appoint a representative to oversee the "business and the day-to-day operations" of the team. Selig said a representative would be appointed in a matter of days.
The Associated Press, citing a person familiar with Selig's thinking, reported former Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals chief executive Stan Kasten is a possible candidate to oversee the club. Other names in the mix -- MLB Executive Vice President John McHale Jr., and former San Francisco Giants executive vice president Corey Busch helped negotiate the McCourts' acquisition of the Dodgers.
"My office will continue its thorough investigation into the operations and finances of the Dodgers and related entities during the period of Mr. McCourt's ownership,'' Selig said. "The Dodgers have been one of the most prestigious franchises in all of sports, and we owe it to their legion of loyal fans to ensure that this club is being operated properly now and will be guided appropriately in the future."
LA County Supervisor Michael Antonovich said he commends Selig's decision. He said it's a move that will bring "integrity back to the game."
"It is my hope that the commissioner appoints a representative from the O'Malley family to oversee the team's business affairs during the investigation -- a return of the O'Malley family to the Dodgers would be a home run for fans and the Dodgers," Antonovich said.
The O'Malley family owned the Dodgers from 1950-98.
Colletti met with the players Wednesday.
"I'm sure Major League Baseball isn't trying to hurt the franchise or isn't trying to derail the Dodgers," Colletti said.
Selig Cites "Deep Concerns" Behind Decision
As for why he took the action, the statement said, "because of my deep concerns regarding the finances and operations of the Dodgers."
The team is in a dire financial position, due in part to the divorce battle involving Frank and Jamie McCourt. Jamie McCourt was ousted as the team's CEO in October 2009. Frank McCourt is the team's owner and chairman.
Jamie McCourt said in a statement that "As the 50 percent owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, I welcome and support the Commissioner's actions to provide the necessary transparency, guidance and direction for the franchise and for Dodgers fans everywhere."
The move comes after the Los Angeles Times reported Frank McCourt had arranged a $30 million loan from the team's television partner, Fox. That loan was projected to cover expenses into May. McCourt bought the team from News Corp. in January 2004.
"News of this MLB receivership came as a surprise to everyone," said former LAPD Chief William Bratton, who is working with the Dodgers to assess security.
Bratton says his team will "continue the aspect of coordination with the LAPD and work with them assessing the security at Dodger stadium."
The security plan was requested in response to the beating of a Giants fan in the stadium parking lot.
The fan, Bryan Stow, remains in a coma.
The team also brought in LAPD officers to provide security at the first home series after the opening day beating.
Do you think this was the right decision for the good of the team? Leave a comment or post on our Facebook page.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
30 ml corn starch
120-150 ml cold water
1 tbsp white vinegar
This is the ratio if you want to make more or less:
1 part corn starch
4-5 parts water
1 ml white vinegar for every 10 ml water (roughly)
Glue 2 Make your own GLUE
In a saucepan: make a paste with the corn starch and 30 ml of the water (to avoid lumps later on). Add the rest of the water and stir constantly over a low heat. When the mixture starts firming up, remove from the heat for a second and beat quite vigorously with a wooden spoon.
Return to the heat and heat (stir stir stir!) until the mixture is the consistency and colour of Vaseline.
Remove from the heat and add the vinegar. When it has cooled sufficiently, stir stir stir again before popping it into your airtight container. This will make it a bit more pastey again.
Note: A lot of recipes call for 3 parts water for every 1 part of corn starch ,but I find the resulting paste to be more bouncy ball than glue. Go with your gut. If you are concerned that the 1:5 ratio will be too liquid (IT WON'T), add 3 parts water to begin with and then add more if you need it (YOU WILL). You can always add more later. You can't really add less later, hehe.
Stick labels to glass jars semi-permanently
Make stickers by printing out pictures/cutting them from magazines and coating the back with this tacky glue. Let dry and lick when ready to use. (Takes about 24 hours to dry completely, but can be lick-and-sticked before then.)
Stick paper to paper/cardboard/wood quite thoroughly!!!
entrancedbymyGCC wrote:Scooter's kabob thing needs repair and/or replacement. Actually, I have already ordered a new one, but I'd like to repair the original if I can safely. The metal nut that is embedded in the plastic which the long part screws into is no longer embedded in the plastic. I'd like to use a dab of glue to resecure it, but most glues are fume-y. Are some better than others? How long would you let it air out, or would you just toss and replace?
Return to Toys, Accessories, and DIY
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests
|Parrot Forum
|Articles Index
|Training Step Up
|Parrot Training Blog
|Poicephalus Parrot Information
|Parrot Wizard Store


text:
Rosaly's Organic Garden & Farmstand
Rosaly's Garden and Farmstand in Peterborough, NH, was started as a family
garden by Rosaly Bass 40 years ago; it is now the oldest certified organic farm
in the state.
Last week, four workers were hoeing weeds in a field of lettuce — work that continues in all weather — as rain threatened.
"If we don't go out and do that, we don't get a crop," farm
manager Matt Gifford said.
The farm employs 11 people, including five women who work the fields with
"They pull all the weeds by hand so it's a very labor-intensive thing," he said. "The labor going into it takes a lot more expense than conventional farming. I could run this farm by myself if I sprayed."
Dorothy Meyers said she enjoys the work.
"I love it. It's really nice to be connected to where our food comes from," Meyers said, noting the farm would not be what it is today without Gifford. "He's a great boss," she said.
Gifford, 34, co-owns the farm with Rosaly Bass, 76. She said over
the past several years she has been cutting back on her farm duties and been
transferring ownership of farm equipment to Gifford, who has a degree in
agriculture as well as a degree from UNH's Thompson School.
"We're producing more goods, and we're doing it with a lot less
labor," Gifford said. "I would say we produce about twice as much as we did
when I started, with a third of the people."
He said strides have been made with more efficient farm equipment but also in specializing.
"Seven or eight years ago, we had to rein things in and shrunk. We were kind of doing too much and when you do too much, you don't do anything well," Gifford said.
The farm has been slowly growing every year since, he said. Pick your own raspberries, blueberries and flowers draw customers back again and again. This time of year, the farm plants 1,500 heads of seven different types of lettuce a week. And during peak season, the Farmstand sells 200 to 300 pounds of tomatoes a day.
"One of the things we've been able to do is
to make it sustainable financially, which is huge," Gifford said.
Matt Gifford is co-owner of the farm
This year the farm was able to buy a new tractor with profits from
last year.
"It was the first tractor we've ever paid for with farm funds, which feels pretty good," Gifford said.
Growing up organic
Born in 1937, Rosaly Bass grew up on a farm in the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts with her parents and four siblings during World War II. Though it wasn't called organic farming back then, Bass said she learned from her mother how to grow food without pesticides.
"My mother was really against using chemicals. DDT was just
becoming available for use," Bass said.
Bass grew up, got married, had two children and settled in Francestown. She divorced and took her children to New York City, where she taught in a Harlem public school.
In 1973, she married former congressman Perkins Bass and settled
into his Peterborough farmhouse.
Rosaly Bass immediately set to work to grow a garden for her new family, which included Bass' five children.
"I grew up on a farm ... so it was very sort of
natural to get into," Bass said. "I was thinking about organic, but I also was
not thinking about having a huge farm."
She grew too much, though.
"So I started selling to The Folkway Restaurant and I thought, 'Hey this is fun.'" In 1990 she opened the Farmstand where today about 90 percent of the farm's produce is sold. Overflow is sold wholesale to local stores, from Roy's Market in Peterborough to Blueberry Fields in Keene.
Perkins Bass was always supportive of the business, she said.
"He bought me my first tractor, not only my first tractor, but all my tractors.
In fact he didn't like getting me jewelry, but he loved getting me tractors."
Twenty acres of gardens
Rosaly Bass' aim has always been to grow organically, so when the state started issuing certification in 1989, she was one of the first in line. Only one other farm in the state was registered before her, but that farm has since closed, Bass said.
Rosaly's is not only the oldest but also the largest organic farm in the state; it cultivates 20 acres. Gifford said there are other farms that are physically larger, but don't have as many acres in cultivation.
Organic farms are now held to national standards first and then
state standards.
"It's rather rigorous," Bass said.
Before Perkins Bass passed away in 2011, he transferred ownership of his conserved farm land to his adult children, who are happy to have the farm land actively used.
"It's mutually beneficial," Gifford said.
A high school dropout when he started as a farmhand at 19, Gifford soon found his calling in farming and returned to school to study agriculture.
Organic farming doesn't mean no spraying at all, Gifford said. There are organic compounds certified organic farms are allowed to use, he said, adding, "Spraying is the last line of defense for us."
"Anything you can do to avoid spraying, we do," Bass said.
Four decades after starting the organic farm, Bass said interest
in organic farming is surging.
"There's a huge interest in farming locally. There is also a huge interest in organic farming," she said.
"I think a lot of conventional farmers are beginning to realize that a lot of the techniques that organic farms are using are better."
Young people more and more are choosing to shop organic, he said.
"It's not a novelty. It's an ideology," he said.
"Our customer base is incredibly loyal."
New Hampshire Organic Gardener of the Year
Rosaly Bass of Peterborough has been named Gardener of the Year by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Hampshire.
NOFA-NH presented Bass
with the award at its winter conference in January 2015
Bass was one of five nominees who were nominated by NOFA-NH board members, as well as through a public online nomination process.
People were asked to nominate someone who is an educator, school or community garden organizer or other who seeks to further the NOFA New Hampshire mission through gardening.


text:
For the longest time, the Marlboro Man was synonymous with America's image of itself -- tough, self-sufficient, hard-working.
In one of the 20th century's most famous ad campaigns, which began in the 1950s, he was a rugged but handsome man who did the jobs that needed to be done, and he almost always had a Marlboro cigarette in his mouth.
Today, the reality about the Marlboro Man is darker: At least four actors who have played him in ads have died of smoking-related diseases.
The latest was Eric Lawson, 72, who appeared in Marlboro print ads from 1978 to 1981. He died in San Luis Obispo on Jan. 10.
"He knew the cigarettes had a hold on him," his wife, Susan Lawson, told the Associated Press. "He knew, yet he still couldn't stop."
She said he died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which is most frequently caused by smoking. He took up the habit at age 14.
Lawson's unglamorous end has been shared by other Marlboro models, some of whom were honest cowboys. Others were just hunky California actors or similarly rugged stand-ins.
Marlboro Man David Millar of Meriden, N.H., succumbed to ephysema in 1987 at age 81.
"They used to boost him up by a rope and put him down on the horse because he didn't like horses," Charles Dudley, a friend, told the AP after Millar died. He said Millar had smoked for about 40 to 45 years before quitting, after which Millar often joked that he was "the only Marlboro Man who doesn't smoke, drink or like horses."
That's not quite true: One of the Marlboro ad campaign's first actors was William Thourlby, a Broadway actor who would later say he never even drank, let alone smoked.
Thourlby survived long enough to give a 2012 interview, at the age of 88, about living for decades in the New York Athletic Club, which has a decidedly uncowboylike dress code.
Some of Thourlby's later colleagues, however, embraced nicotine and suffered for it.
Wayne McLaren died of lung cancer in 1992 at age 51 after 25 years of smoking. His modeling job with Marlboro was followed by an anti-smoking campaign that lasted until his death.
"I've spent the last month of my life in an incubator and I'm telling you, it's just not worth it," McLaren told a Los Angeles Times reporter from his deathbed in Newport Beach, where he lay with several tubes connected to his body.
After he died a week later, his mother, Louise, told The Times that some of McLaren's last words were, "Take care of the children. Tobacco will kill you, and I am living proof of it."
McLaren had waged an anti-smoking war against Marlboro and its owner, Phillip Morris, complaining that the ads targeted kids, "the only target the companies have left."
By the late 1990s, Marlboro's ads were so effective and pervasive that one study suggested that more than 90% of schoolchildren knew who the Marlboro Man was.
Another Marlboro Man from California, David McLean, died of lung cancer at 73 in the UCLA Medical Center in 1995. His widow later sued Philip Morris, contending that McLean had to smoke pack after pack of cigarettes during Marlboro shoots so directors could create the perfect scene.
"During the taping of the commercials, David McLean was obligated to smoke Marlboro cigarettes," the 1996 lawsuit said. "The commercials were very carefully orchestrated, and David McLean was required to smoke up to five packs per take in order to get the ashes to fall a certain way, the smoke to rise a certain way and the hand to hold the cigarette in a certain way."
Years later, the McLean lawsuit was thrown out when a federal judge ruled that California law -- in those days, more protective of tobacco companies -- protected Phillip Morris from Lilo McLean's claims. McLean was billed for the costs of the lawsuit.
A spokesperson for Phillip Morris did not respond to a request for comment from the Los Angeles Times for this story.
By the time the McLean lawsuit ran its course, the Marlboro Man campaign had concluded its decades-long run in the U.S. media.
Cigarette use had continued a long plummet among Americans, which began with a groundbreaking 1964 U.S. Surgeon General report on smoking's harmful effects.
But the Marlboro Man was finally finished off by the 1998 Master Settlement between tobacco companies and state attorneys general, which forbade the companies to use humans or cartoons on tobacco advertising in the U.S.
"The Marlboro Man will be riding into the sunset on Joe Camel," Florida Atty. Gen. Robert Butterworth quipped to reporters after the deal was reached.
Lawson, the actor from San Luis Obispo, had done his part in later years to make up for the smoking ads that he'd done with Marlboro, at one point appearing in an anti-smoking ad that parodied the Marlboro Man.


text:
Score often goes on flyball weekends without me...usually if I don't have the money to enter a tourney...or it's not feasible for other reasons, he'll get picked up by teammates to use for their teams. He went last weekend with friends, to southern VA for a tourney. (and ran really, really well for some guy he'd never met).
He's leaving for PA this upcoming weekend...and...so is Fig! It's The Wiener's first time going off to flyball without me. A friend on another team posted that she was in desparate need of a height dog for the weekend, and I jokingly asked if she wanted Figgy...and she said YES!
So when Score gets picked up on Friday, so does Fig...I'll admit I'm a bit worried about sending him, but I know they'll do right by him. Score doesn't worry me...he's an easy keeper, and could play flyball blindfolded with one leg tied behind his back. Fig...it's his first time! A bit nervous...but proud too. He'll be my fourth dog that can travel and get points without me! (it's nice because they rack up points towards titles, and I don't have to pay for their entries!)


text:
Make scarce marketing dollars go further with targeted, tested ads
Editor's note: We've combined John Haydon's 3-minute video tutorial above on how to use Facebook Insights to target Facebook ads more effectively with the following guest post that dissects the different kinds of Facebook ads.
Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, marketing pros, Facebook administrators, anyone with a Facebook page.
Guest post by Taryn Degnan
If you build it, they will come … but what if they don't? What if you've done everything to build a strong Facebook community, consistently post quality content and do your very best to engage with users, but you (or, in some cases, your executive director or CEO) still want more? Continue reading


text:
Shawnee Original
Playwright Series
Readings: 7 to 10 p.m., 552 River Road, Shawnee-on-Delaware. Each year, Worthington Players produces original submitted works of local and surrounding area playwrights. Come and cast your vote to help choose the winners for our 2014 season. Free. Donation accepted at the door. Information, 570-421-5093, email email@example.com or visit theshawneeplayhouse.com.
april 5
Kraus Drawing Exhibition: Northampton Community College will hold its annual Kraus Drawing Exhibition April 5-18 in the gallery of Communications Hall, Main Campus, 3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem Township. The best work of first-year drawing students will be displayed. The gallery is open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Information, 610-861-5300.
"THE BEST OF BROADWAY": 2 p.m. April 5, 7, 12 and 14, and at 8 p.m. April 6 and 13, at Shawnee Playhouse, River Road, Shawnee-on-Delaware. This musical revue presented by the Worthington Players is a tribute to Broadway hits Tickets are $18 for adults, $15 for seniors and $10 for children. Information, 570-421-5093, theshawneeplayhouse.com.
April 6
Art Opening: Terry Flatt, photographer, "The Nature All Around Us." Free opening reception from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Monroe County Environmental Education Center, 8050 Running Valley Road, Bartonsville. Emphasis will be on nature and scenic photography including images from a recent trip to eastern Africa. Exhibit runs through April 30. Information, 570-629-3061.
Northern Tier Symphony Orchestra: 8 p.m. April 6, Honesdale High School, 459 Terrace St., Honesdale and at 8 p.m. April 13, Tunkhannock Middle School, 200 Franklin Ave., Tunkhannock. Tickets available at DNF Brass & Woodwind, 627 Main St.; Greenwoods Furniture, 61 Tioga St.; and Gay's True Value, 50 Bridge St. Advance tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for students and $9 for adults and $5 for students at the door. Active-duty military and immediate family attend free. Information, 570-289-1090, NorthernTierSymphony.org or firstname.lastname@example.com.
"Seeing Change": 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. , Monroe County Environmental Education Center, 8050 Running Valley Road, Bartonsville. Join Environmental Educator Jenifer Rituper on a walk at Kettle Creek Wildlife Sanctuary to see the change of seasons, the change in life cycles and the changes in the forest over time. Dress to be outdoors on hiking trails. Cost is $5 for nonmembers and $3 for members and children under 12. Registration appreciated, but not required, call 570-629-3061 or visit mcconservation.org.
Spring Waterfalls: 1 to 3 p.m., Pocono Environmental Education Center, 538 Emery Road, Dingmans Ferry. Dress in warm layers, wear sturdy footwear, and bring a camera. Cost is $20. Call within a week of the program to reserve a seat in the van, 570-828-2319. Information, firstname.lastname@example.com orpeec.org.
april 7
A Youthful Spring Fair: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. , Charles Brown Ice House at Sand Island, 56 River St., Bethlehem. Admission is free. Raffle baskets, vendor tables, food and drinks, children activities. Tastefully Simple, Thirty One, Kmarie Jewelry, Scentsy Wickles Candles, Longaberger Baskets, Mary Kay, Timeless Tales Books, South Hill Designs, Nikkiclaires, Inspirational Jewelry Pampered Chef, Bethlehem Community Crime Unit, Officer McGruff, Officer McGruff, Bethlehem Fire Dept., Smoke Safety House, Bethlehe, EMS Ambulance and many more. Entrance to fair is free. Information, 610-657-7414 or email@example.com.
EcoZone! Afternoon: 1 to 4 p.m. , Pocono Environmental Education Center, 538 Emery Road, Dingmans Ferry. Explore the hands-on, discovery room, crawl through the bat cave, sit in the eagles' nest and more. Free. Information, 570-828-2319, email email@example.com or visit peec.org.
Spring Forward Fashion Show and Luncheon: for Family Promise of Monroe County, 1 to 4 p.m. , Lawnhaven Building at Stroudsmoor County Inn, Stroudsmoor Road, Stroudsburg. The fashion show will feature men and women's fashions by Dunkelberger's as well as a silent auction. All proceeds benefit Family Promise of Monroe County, a local nonprofit organization that provides emergency shelter, meals, and case managed support services to homeless families with children. A local group of students will provide some musical entertainment. Reservations are required by April 1. Tickets are $28 each and need to be prepaid. Information and reservations, contact Linda Foran at 570-676-3495, firstname.lastname@example.com or familypromisepa.com.
Sunday Funday: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. , Camp Speers-Eljabar YMCA, 143 Nichecronk Road, Dingmans Ferry. Seasonal activities available, which may include: snowtubing, ice skating, ice fishing, archery, riflery, climbing tower, hiking, mountain biking and more. Free to all YMCA members and $10 per family for nonmembers. Information, 570-828-2329 by noon the Friday before. Information, 570-828-2329, email@example.com or campspeersymca.org.
April 9
Bach at Noon: 12:10 to 1 p.m., Central Moravian Church, 73 West Church St., Bethlehem. J.S. Bach, "Brandenburg Concerto No.. 5 in D Major" and "Cantata 31 — Der Himmel lascht! Die Erde jubilieret." Free. Information, 610-866-4382, email@example.com or bach.org.


text:
Greg had been hospitalized in New Brunswick, NJ after he overdosed on prescription pills last weekend. A source said the overdose was not a suicide attempt.
TMZ has obtained what is believed to be one of the last photos of Giraldo -- taken at the Stress Factory comedy club in New Brunswick, NJ on Friday September 24 ... the night before he OD'd.
Giraldo was best known for his celebrity roast appearances. He had also been a judge on "Last Comic Standing."
A source close to Greg tells us, "Greg passed away today at the hospital in New Brunswick as a result of an accidental overdose. His family was by his side."
We're told plans are being made for a public memorial service.
More Greg Giraldo
More Today in TMZ History


text:
The crumbling front steps at J.T. Lambert Intermediate, built in 1992, are undergoing full reconstruction, a long-awaited project to ease safety concerns.
The crumbling front steps at J.T. Lambert Intermediate, built in 1992, are undergoing full reconstruction, a long-awaited project to ease safety concerns.
In August, the East Stroudsburg Area School District board approved exterior stair and curbing upgrades at the school and awarded it in September to lowest bidder Kobalt Construction of Tobyhanna. Work began in early November.
The $198,000 project includes a complete demolition and rebuilding of the stairs and curbs adjoining the roadway, patching blacktop and installing new railings.
Why did it take so long?
Paperwork after a contract is awarded normally takes 90 to 100 days, said district maintenance director James Shearouse. Required paperwork includes insurance verification and background checks on all employees.
"They started on the back side of the auditorium (gymnasium entrance)," said J.T. Lambert Intermediate Principal John Burrus. "We chose to do that because of the winter concerts, because everyone uses the front."
Winter weather is not an obstacle to completing the project, because the contractor can use concrete mixtures suited to the temperature and follows requirements for "degree" days, Burrus said.
A Connect-Ed automated message went out to parents and staff that the front steps project would start earlier this month. Flexibility on the part of the contractor is making it possible to keep open one front door so partial front access is maintained throughout most of the project.
"They demolished all of the old concrete and removed that and started over," Burrus said. "They are reconstructing the step format a little bit for easier access."
Shearouse said the steps showed signs of noticeable deterioration five years ago.
"We tried different patching methods, none of which were very successful," Shearouse said.
How long can the new steps be expected to last?
"Ice melt really wreaks havoc on concrete," he said. "Flip a coin."
The district also opened bids for a major infrastructure project at J.M. Hill Elementary, a project that was temporarily put on hold last spring while the school board considered possibly closing the school.
The estimated $2.5 million project is being funded through a Qualified Zone Academy Bonds, a federal government bond initiative that was part of a government incentive to boost employment, said Shearouse.
"We're allowed to put the money into an interest-bearing account so at the end of the cycle, the project will be cost neutral," he said.
The project will entail redoing the back of the building, an addition with air conditioning, replacing steam heating with a hot water system, new heat and air conditioning units for all classrooms and upgrading all electrical, public address and cable television systems.


text:
Transform your photos into one-of-a-kind, hand painted masterpieces!
by Dan Sproul
Baby Cow In Colorado by Dan Sproul - 10" x 8"
Luster Photo Paper
Rolled in a Tube
Assembly Charge
Baby Cow In Colorado poster by Dan Sproul. Our posters are produced on acid-free papers using archival inks to guarantee that they last a lifetime without fading or loss of color. All posters include a 1" white border around the image to allow for future framing and matting, if desired.
Ships Within
2 - 3 business days
All prints ship in durable cardboard tubes.
Fine Art America is one of the largest, most-respected giclee printing companies in the world with over 40 years of experience producing museum-quality posters and prints. All of our posters are produced on state-of-the-art, professional-grade Epson printers.
We use acid-free paper with archival inks to guarantee that your posters last a lifetime without fading or loss of color. All posters include a 1" white border around the image to allow for future framing and matting, if desired.
Posters ship within 3 - 4 business days in durable cardboard tubes.
Average Rating (4.93 Stars):
Cathy Brooks
June 18th, 2019
Cathy Brooks
June 18th, 2019
Cathy Brooks
June 18th, 2019
Karen Nightingale
June 18th, 2019
Cow on a back country road in Colorado around sunset.
Our Fine Art company is located in Lima, Ohio and we are dedicated to producing the highest quality prints, home decor, and phone cases focused on photography, digital art, paintings, and restored images(patents) from across the country. You can find our images in all 50 states, 22 countries, and of course here in Lima, OH. We offer licensing and accept commission work, if interested please send me a message. If you live locally and would like to order prints directly off of us to save on shipping please contact us via email. These images are high quality, and after purchasing if you are not satisfied with the print or quality you may return for a refund. Enjoy browsing these works, if you have any questions or comments please contact...
Our return policy is very simple:
If you're not happy with a purchase that you made on FineArtAmerica.com, for any reason, you can return it to us within 30 days of the order date. As soon as it arrives, we'll issue a full refund for the entire purchase price. Please note - Fine Art America does not reimburse the outgoing or return shipping charges unless the return is due to a defect in quality.
Fine Art America sells thousands of pieces of artwork each month - all with a 100% money-back guarantee. We take great pride in the fact that hundreds of thousands of artists have chosen Fine Art America to fulfill their orders, and we look forward to helping you select your next piece!
All posters ship from our production facility within 2 - 3 business days of your order.


text:
UW-Madison faculty, staff and students have many ways to obtain library materials.
UW-Madison and UW System Materials
To find books, music, videos and more
Start with the Library Catalog to find materials in UW-Madison or UW System libraries. The Library Catalog also contains links to many online resources. For more information on how to search see Catalog Help.
To find articles
UW-Madison faculty, staff and students may use Article Search to find magazine, newspaper and scholarly articles, both on and off campus. Databases by Subject also lists hundreds of databases which give access to articles and other online publications.
Already have an item in mind or need more help? See the How to Request links on the right for details.
Questions? Ask a Librarian for assistance.
Materials from Other Libraries
When you're not able to find or access what you need from UW-Madison or UW System, try another library's collection. See the How to Request links on the right for more information.
Search UBorrow to find and place requests for books directly from 13 major research libraries. More information on UBorrow.
Interlibrary Loan
- You may search and place requests directly from WorldCat.
- Or, use the Interlibrary Loan form to place requests for books, articles or book chapters, check request status and more. More information on Interlibrary Loan.
Questions? Ask a Librarian for assistance.


text:
Links 7-22-2010: Trade outlook, getting healthy is painful
July 22, 2010 Leave a comment
There is about a week and a half left before this year's non-waiver trade deadline, and it appears that the Sox are trying to upgrade their bullpen, outfield and catcher. To me, this year has been all about health, and it may not make sense to pull the trigger on a big trade at this point; Sox Therapy agrees.
According to various reports, the Sox have shown interest in the following players:
Relievers: Scott Downs (TOR), Leo Nunez (FLA)
Outfielders: David DeJesus (KC) , Cody Ross (FLA), Corey Hart (MIL)
Catchers: Chris Iannetta (COL), Chris Snyder (ARI)
That doesn't mean much in July, however. Everyone's calling around about options, but that doesn't mean something's necessarily going to happen. The market for relievers is notably bad this year – Blue Jays initially asked for Jose Iglesias in exchange for Downs. That shows you how tough it is to actually get a deal done as a buyer. I'm on board with the names on this list, but not so big on spending a lot to get Ross or Hart, not when we already have Jeremy Hermida, Darnell McDonald and Daniel Nava. With Jacoby Ellsbury out until God knows when and Mike Cameron being slow to heal, I'm convinced we need someone who can play a passable center field, and DeJesus fits that the best.


text:
This month, join us for casual conversation and mingling at the Center. Loft23 is an inclusive social/support group where LGBTQ individuals between the ages of 21 and 29 can have engaging and constructive experiences that lead to self-improvement and the development of positive connections within the community. FREE.
Peer Counseling
Monday through Friday, 6pm to 9pm. Confidential and free.
John J. Wilcox, Jr. Library Hours
Monday - Friday, 12pm to 9pm; Saturday and Sunday, 12pm to 5pm
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: June 16Mah-Jongg
Later Event: June 19Chess Club


text:
Complete the Square (Test 3)
Complete the Square Test 3
Below is a 5-question test on how to complete the square. This test is linked to the lesson on how to complete the square, which also has a test.
All tests are printable, and all resources on this website can be used without prior permission. Whether you're teaching or learning, good luck!


text:
The Middle Georgia Historical Society's Rose Hill Rambles describes the Dunlap mausoleum as "one of the handsomest in the cemetery." It continues:
It's also interesting to note, according to the same source as above, that Mr. S. S. Dunlap was originally buried just down the street in Riverside cemetery, per his wishes. However, "his daughters traveled a great deal in Europe and evidently decided the spot was not good enough."
Samuel Scott Dunlap owned property across the river known as Dunlap's Hill, now part of the Ocmulgee National Monument. He moved to Macon and founded the Dunlap Hardware Company and amassed what was a fortune in those days. He had five daughters and one son. All the daughters married well...The mausoleum has twenty crypts and Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap, their five daughters, one son and four of the daughters' husbands and two children are buried here.
Funeral Mound at
Ocmulgee National Monument
From Ancestry's Georgia Memoirs [originally printed in The Southern Historical Association's Memoirs of Georgia, 1895]:
SAMUEL S. DUNLAP is a leading spirit in the industrial life of Macon, Ga., to which city he came, a penniless youth, forty-six years ago. With but an ordinary education, he began his career, in November, 1849, as a clerk in a retail grocery, at $96 per year, and board. For three years he remained in the same position, and even with that insignificant salary was able to save enough to start a very small business of his own. Success attended him from the very start; his business increased, and the war found him on the highway to wealth. Heeding his country's call, Mr. Dunlap joined a cavalry company and served six months as first lieutenant. He then resigned and returned home, where he organized and led to the field, as captain, the Bibb cavalry. The company he uniformed and equipped at his own expense, selling a lot of cotton for the purpose...He returned from the war, sick and wounded in body, but not daunted in spirit. Like many others, he found himself without means....In 1867 Mr. Dunlap concluded to again try a mercantile life, and this time selected the hardware business. Again fortune smiled on him, and he continued to increase his humble beginning, until he is now at the head of one of the largest establishments of the kind in the south, the Dunlap Hardware company being favorably known all over the state.Captain S. S. Dunlap died 8 March 1902.
Mr. Dunlap has always been a man of great enterprise, and instead of allowing his means to accumulate and remain idle, he invested in various industrial and banking institutions. He is president and a leading stockholder in the Macon Agricultural works, president of the Macon Fire Insurance company, a director in each of the three leading financial institutions of Macon, the Exchange Union Savings and Central bank, and a large stockholder in the Southwestern railroad. He also cultivates a magnificently improved plantation of 400 acres, lying within two miles of the city...A word concerning his family: Samuel S. Dunlap was born in Jasper county, Ga., July 31, 1830. He was the son of David and Hetty (Wingate) Dunlap...He [David] reared six sons to maturity; five of them did their duty bravely in the army, and two of them are now living, Rev. William C. Dunlap, of Covington, a Methodist preacher of note, being the other. In 1855, May 15, Mr. Dunlap celebrated his nuptials with Mary A., daughter of J. L. Birgh, of Bibb county, to whom were born seven children. Six of these are now living, as follows: Nettie, Mrs. H. M. Wortham, Macon; Florence, Mrs. Ashton Stark, Richmond, Va.; Clara, Mrs. Claude Badgely, Albany, N.Y.; Lillia, Mrs. Lewis A. Stevens, Atlanta, Ga.; Ilah, Mrs. Col. Lee A. Jordan, Macon; Samuel S., Jr., at home. In 1873 Mr. Dunlap erected one of the most beautiful homes in the city of Macon, where he lives, surrounded by family and friends, enjoying the means his industry has brought him.
Note: The Burges and Dunlaps figure prominently in this book --


text:
Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich will start their quest for a 25th league title with a home game against Wolfsburg.
Pep Guardiola's men claimed the championship in record-breaking fashion last term, winning the league on March 25, the earliest a team has achieved the feat in the competition's history.
And they will be favourites to start the defence of their crown with a win, although Wolfsburg should provide the Bavarians with a stern test after finishing fifth in 2013-14.
The pick of the opening round of fixtures, which start on the weekend commencing August 22, sees Borussia Dortmund host Bayer Leverkusen at Signal Iduna Park.
Jurgen Klopp's side finished second in the last campaign but have work to do in order to overhaul Bayern after finishing 19 points behind them.
Dortmund will need to be on top form if they are to start with a win against Leverkusen, who head into the season under the guidance of new coach Roger Schmidt.
Schalke begin their season at Hannover before welcoming Bayern to the Veltins Arena, while newly promoted Cologne and Paderborn host Hamburg and Mainz respectively.
Bayern host Dortmund on the weekend commencing October 31, with the reverse fixture taking place on 4-5 April.
Meanwhile, Schalke will stage the first Revierderby with Dortmund on the weekend of September 26-28 before visiting their fierce local rivals on matchday 23 (February 27 – March 1).


text:
When last we heard from Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs, he was telling the Patriots to enjoy the Pro Bowl and calling them "arrogant pricks" and/or "arrogant f–kers." (We wish he'd make up his mind.)
But now Suggs is subdued, directing no sound bites of consequence to anyone, including those who consistently have doubted the Ravens.
"I don't really have to say anything to them," Suggs said of the naysayers, via Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. "The fact that we're the last two teams playing says it all. We're just going to keep chucking and keep our eyes on the prize. One more to go."
They were definitely chucking on Friday — and perhaps close to upchucking. (Enjoy your eggs.) Suggs said coach John Harbaugh worked the players hard on Friday. "With the kind of practice that we just had, you would have never known," Suggs said. "You would never have thought that's the game we were playing for. We thought it was training camp out there."
ESPN's Sal Paolantonio talked to John Harbaugh about the practice. John Harbaugh said that Jim Harbaugh's team plays like Jim, and that the Super Bowl will be the most physical game the Ravens have played all season.
After that one, Suggs may be too tired to talk. If the Ravens win, we have a feeling he'll muster the energy to offer up a few choice quotes.


text:
In cold weather, Husband makes lamb stew for us. It lasts a few days and is great to have during busy work weeks when you come in the door wanting comfort food.
This keeps well in the fridge a few days but doesn't freeze well due to the potatoes and carrots. This can be made without meat and beef stock for a vegan / vegetarian version.


text:
We at BurdaStyle are thrilled to announce the creation of our first ever book! Extending our community and mission offline, the BurdaStyle book will be a reflection of our creative international community. The BurdaStyle book will bring our community and ethos to new frontiers!
The book seeks to further engage, share, and expand the BurdaStyle community, as described by Nora a co-founder of BurdaStyle, "The book is a true manifestation of the global creativity of the BurdaStyle community. With the pattern making expertise of Burda, we're thrilled to offer even more inspiration from and for BurdaStyle users.."
The book aims to be a combination of coffee table book and creative outlet. Our pages will inspire and incite readers to push their sewing skills and continue creating! Much like the BurdaStyle online community, the book will be a comprehensive sewing resource, featuring fantastic, easy-to-understand projects, sewing creations made by our talented members, an extensive glossary of key sewing terms and much more. We are excited to offer this book to sewing enthusiasts and interested observers alike.
The book's publication, set for 2011, releases five brand new BurdaStyle patterns designed by our creative director, Alison Dahl Kelly (Dahl by Kelly, Project Runway). The patterns enclosed will be high quality Burda patterns, with the fitting accuracy of over 60 years of experience. The concept of the book focuses on variations by made by select group of international community members and designers. Some of them we wrote directly, and some made it through our open submission!
Stay tuned – we're still looking for participants that can share tips, ideas, and inspiration. Our goal is to include as many members as possible.
Each of the five patterns will feature steps to replicate the featured variations, as well as images of other interpretations to serve as further inspiration. Like BurdaStyle.com, readers can create their own versions to share or sell!
As project manager of the book, it is my honor to announce this engaging and exciting new chapter in BurdaStyle history! You may have seen my featured member post! I am happy to reveal the mystery behind our "secret project." It has been a joy to communicate with so many of you and I look forward to meeting even more talented members!
I will be making posts on our blog as the book develops, becoming more frequent towards the release date.
-Rachel @ BurdaStyle


text:
Snowtown losing weather service office?
City protests NOAA proposal to cut employees to one half-timer
Elected officials in Valdez are demanding the National Weather Service expand its current three-employee operation to a full-time weather station.
The move comes after a weather service representative visited city officials and other vital entities in Valdez with the news that severe cuts were under serious consideration for the number of on-site staff at the Valdez weather service office.
Under the proposal, the local office would shrink to support one half-time position. The Valdez office currently employs three full-time positions. Three years ago, the office ran as a full-time 24 hour operation, but shrank its staffing to three employees with limited hours of operation.
The council was slated to pass a resolution protesting the latest move a week ago Monday, but tabled the matter until last Thursday's special meeting in order to change the language in the document after hearing public testimony voicing concerns that Valdez needed a fully staffed 24 hour office.
Council decided to not merely protest the latest proposed cut, but to demand the office return to its former status as a 24-hour fully manned operation.
Official forecasts for Valdez and surrounding areas in Prince William Sound and the Copper Basin are issued by the Anchorage weather service office, and weather officials have argued that because the Valdez office does not officially issue weather forecasts, it is not necessary to fully man – or woman – the Valdez office.
A number of Valdez citizens disagree. So do the mayor and city council of Valdez.
The council resolution argues that because Valdez "experiences some of the most severe land and marine weather on the planet" while serving as a home base for infrastructure critical to the state and local economy, including but not limited to the Valdez Marine Terminal, where oil tankers laden with crude oil regularly sail, it is critical that the National Weather Service have boots on the ground in Valdez.
US Coast Guard operations, the port's sizeable fishing fleet, the town's critical care hospital and other important infrastructure are named in the resolution backing up the council's demand.
"So many important things for the nation happen here," Lynn Chrystal testified.
Chrystal, himself a former Valdez mayor, is retired from the National Weather Service. He testified he's spent most of his 25-year career as a weather man in Valdez and encouraged the council to demand the weather service restore the local operation back to a full-time office.
The resolution carries no legal authority with National Weather Service, which is a federally run agency and is a branch of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It is, however, a strong statement to the weather service.
"The Valdez City Council hereby opposes any further loss of personnel to the Valdez Weather Station and requests that the National Weather Service make a long term investment in the community of Valdez and Prince William Sound by committing to restoration of 24/7 local service and the replacement of previously lost personnel back to the historic level of five staff members," the resolution says. "These members must have appropriate technical knowledge and sufficient time on station to develop extensive local expertise. This resource must also be regularly consulted for all forecasting and condition reporting for Valdez, Thompson Pass, and eastern Prince William Sound."
The resolution passed unanimously with the mayor and all council members present.
Current Valdez staff will be transferred to the Anchorage office if the Valdez cuts are implemented.


text:
Anyone make out the Ewoks yet? It appears one is a light colored Wicket and it looks like thats the name on the back of the package. The other looks like a repainted Ultra Ewok.
Does anyone else think the light painted one (Wicket?) looks cartoon-ish with it's coloring? It just doesn't look realistic...
If they are going to change the color that drastically why not just use the ultra ewok twice and make the 2 different colors? Its a great generic ewok sculpt.
Page created in 0.069 seconds with 18 queries.


text:
Plan and share activities for IYC 2011
Want to submit your own activity or comment?
In order to do so you need to be part of the IYC network. Please log in or sign up now.
Join the IYC Network
In this section, your ideas for IYC2011 can start to become reality. Here, you can submit activities for consideration and, after a short review, they will be listed below and any related events will populate the IYC calendar. Activities listed here have a clearly defined theme and describe how, when, and where they will take place.
If you are not quite ready to submit a plan, keep working at it and come back soon. And remember, you can always browse and search this forum to find out what others are planning and even add your own comments to the discussion.
Currently viewing all activities tagged with teachers - See all activities
Materials: Atom to Molecule Sanjay Thakare | added on Dec 09, 2011 | India This December 16th, 2011 gathering will be discussed the current trends in the chemistry research and main emphasis is on the facts abouts the role of mateials chemistry in the development of country in a large and mankind in specific. The main focus on catalysis, energy and environment.
Safety of Processed Foods Sunita Adhikari | added on Dec 08, 2011 | India The Dept. of Food Technology, GNIT is celebrating The International Year of Chemistry & Sesquicentenary of Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray by various activities throughout the year.As a part of it the Department is organizing one day seminar on safety of Processed Foods on 19th December,2011
|students, professors, teachers, research scientists, post graduate students
Sauerstoff (Oxygen) Heike Henneken | added on Dec 05, 2011 | Germany A play of Carl Djerassi and Roald Hoffmann, arranged by Andreas Herzau
|students, general public, professors, professional chemists, educators, teachers, universities, post graduate students
National Chemistry Day Prem Mohan Mishra | added on Dec 04, 2011 | India The routine celebrations of National Chemistry Day are being specialised this year for ear-marking the International Year of Chemistry. This year our aim is to reach chemistry and its importance to the lay-man.
Cape Cod Science Cafe-Celebrating Quarter 4 of the International Year of Chemistry Jennifer Maclachlan | added on Nov 30, 2011 | United States Join us for hands-on science experiments related to althy kids. Let's get our kids excited about science! Stop in, participate in a chemistry experiment aimed at grades K-12, have a snack and socialize at the Cape Cod Science Café with local area chemists, friends and families from your community.
|celebrating chemistry, chemistry education, hands-on activities
|students, general public, professional chemists, educators, teachers, high schools, school children


text:
ADDISON COUNTY — As the Public Service Board approves hundreds of solar projects in the state each year, ranging from rooftop installations to multi-acre arrays, the state has an interest in ensuring that projects are cleaned up after they are decommissioned.
The full text of this article is only available to online subscribers.
Are you an online subscriber? Click to login.
Click here to learn more about our subscription options.
If you have a print subscription, you can now add an online subscription at no additional charge! Just email us with your name and mailing address to set it up.
NEW HAVEN — As towns in Addison County field proposals for new solar power arrays, town officials and area legislators say they'd like to see communities have more influence over where projects can be sited, and how large they can be.
MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury Planning Commission will be circulating two new surveys to better discern, and help solve, the obstacles that young families are finding as they look for housing in the community.
At issue are two, seven-question surveys drafted by the commission's housing subcommittee. One of the surveys will be distributed to people who have purchased homes in Middlebury within the past year and a half, according to Town Planner Eric Blair.
VERGENNES — Vergennes-area residents will have a rare chance to help shape their community's future on Tuesday, when the Vermont Council on Rural Development will host a dinner at St. Peter's Church and nine workshops at the Bixby Library and Vergennes Opera House.
Among those who will be on hand to help with the planning will be at least 30 federal, state, business and nonprofit leaders, including the top officials in several Vermont state agencies.
BRISTOL — A member of the Bristol Planning Commission resigned abruptly during a meeting Feb. 18. Longtime commission member Ken Weston handed a letter of resignation to his colleagues shortly after the meeting began.
Nine minutes into the meeting, during debate about the Bristol Cohousing Project, Weston handed a letter to chair Chico Marin.
"I can't take part in this discussion any longer," Weston said.
BRISTOL — The Bristol Planning Commission on Tuesday took a look at the final two proposed sites for a new firehouse and determined that one aligns with the town plan and the other does not.
Commissioners voted for the West Street site, and against the North Street site.
The group was not comparing the two sites against each other, but rather evaluating each individually according to their adherence to the Bristol Town Plan. Only the selectboard has the power to choose a site.
BRISTOL — On Monday, May 14, the Bristol selectboard will hold its first public hearing on the new draft of the town plan. Before the draft can be presented to voters, the selectboard — by state law — must hold two public hearings without altering the plan. The hearing is at 7 p.m. at Holley Hall.
BRISTOL — After Town Meeting Day elections wrapped up on Tuesday, the Bristol Planning Commission convened at Howden Hall and approved language for the land-use section of a new proposed town plan.
With that, according to acting-Chair Chico Martin, the commission has fully approved the massive update to the Bristol Town Plan.
BRISTOL — With roughly 15 visitors scrutinizing their every move, Bristol planners at a Tuesday meeting approved two maps for the land-use section of the new town plan that indicate where gravel extraction would be prohibited in town.
Members of the Bristol Planning Commission hope this will resolve an issue that has long divided the town and enable them to put an updated town plan to voters in November.
MONKTON — Monkton voters will decide the fate of a new unified planning document via Australian ballot at the Monkton Town Hall next Thursday, Feb. 23. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
In the works for more than two years, the proposed zoning bylaws, if adopted, would be the first zoning regulations enacted in Monkton since 1986.
Detailed in a report by the town planning commission, the primary reasons for the new bylaws are to:
Subscribe to Online Edition
Online PDF Print Edition
Copyright 2011 Addison Independent | 58 Maple Street, Middlebury, Vt. 05753 | All Rights Reserved
Site Development by Surf New Media