text:
Christian Dior
His father had big ambitions for his son. When it came time to train for his future, Christian, who loved architecture, suggested fine arts—but was sternly directed to a school for diplomats. The lure of Parisian arts and nightlife soon proved irresistible, however, and he drifted happily into the company of artists, writers, and painters. "There was an outcry," he later wrote. "Under no circumstances was I to join those bohemians!"[2] Eventually his father would agree to fund an art gallery, which exhibited works by Picasso, Dalí, and Cocteau.
In the economic ripples of the Great Depression, the Dior family fortunes vanished. True to the fortune-teller's prediction, the young dilettante became destitute, living hand-to-mouth until falling seriously ill with tuberculosis at the age of 29. Upon his recovery, a friend suggested he take up fashion illustration. Dior dedicated himself to the task, studying the work of Edward Molyneux, Elsa Schiaparelli, Coco Chanel, and Jeanne Lanvin. His hat confections were an instant hit; his dress designs soon sought by the couturier Robert Piguet. Le Figaro granted his dynamic sketches a weekly page.
During the Second World War, Dior worked alongside Pierre Balmain under Lucien Lelong. Although the German occupiers tried to stamp out French fashion "decadence"—and the privations of wartime necessitated austerity—the youth of Paris rebelled, using exaggerated fashion as a form of rebellion. "Hats were far too large, skirts far too short, jackets far too long, shoes far too heavy," Dior later wrote of the zazou look. "With what vengeful joy did I do the opposite later."[3]
In 1945, the year after Paris's liberation, Dior, now 40, chanced upon the opportunity to head the established house of Gaston. Timid as he was, he hesitated but was spurred into action by the discovery of a gold star, fallen from the hubcap of a passing automobile. A great believer in omens, he went to the job interview and found himself outlining an entirely new proposal—his own maison de couture. Backed by France's Cotton King, the textile magnate Marcel Boussac, the megaventure soon had buyers and editors buzzing. (Vogue fashion editor Bettina Ballard, an early supporter of the relatively unknown designer, was turned away at London's tony 400 Club while wearing one of his controversial new designs.)
On February 12, 1947, the fashion press was bowled over by Dior's full, swirling skirts and wasp-waisted Bar jackets. "A bright new star flashed into the couture firmament today,"[4] Fairchild News Service wired from Paris. Overnight, Dior's New Look swept away the drudgery of wartime fashions, suffusing the women's wardrobes with a soft new vitality of color and form. The überfeminine styles in silk and tulle were catnip to a luxury-starved populace eager to return to the rituals of grooming and dressing up. Revolutionary as they were at the time, Dior's nouveau-romantic designs also appealed to a nostalgia for the days of the Belle Époque—Dior's childhood—"a time full of happiness, exuberance, and peace, in which everything was directed toward the art of living."[5]
In the coming decade, Dior dreamed up head-to-toe looks for his adoring patrons. Hats, furs, jewelry, gloves, stockings, shoes, lipstick, perfumes—the Dior woman was well equipped, right down to her gold brassiere. Retreating to his beloved mill house in the countryside, Dior puttered with plants or soaked for hours in his Empire tub with swan's-head faucets, working out ideas on scraps of paper with hieroglyphs. Back in the salon, the mild-mannered "dictator of hemlines," as he came to be known, pointed at the dresses with his gold-topped baton, adding and subtracting until the finished design was as lovely as something from his garden. Corolle, Tulip, string bean (the controversial "H" silhouette)—new silhouettes and colors, twice each year, drew 25,000 reporters and buyers into Dior's packed salon.Dior believed the ultimate function of couture was not just to adorn but to beautify. Today his name still delivers the promise of a dressing-room coup de foudre. As Vogue put it in its 1957 tribute to the designer, that "real Elysian lift—the smirky, cat-in-cream thing that happens to women in front of mirrors."[6]
Christian Dior born to Alexandre Louis Maurice Dior and Madeleine Martin in Granville, France, a fashionable resort town in Normandy. Christian will grow up with four siblings in the pink-and-gray family villa, Les Rhumbs, surrounded by exquisite decor and gardens. At a very young age, he will demonstrate a flair for the dramatic—to Granville's annual costume ball, the pint-size prodigy will come as Neptune, dressed in his creation of green raffia skirt and bodice of gilded shells.
The family—mom, dad, kids, grandma, governess, maid, and handyman, all piled into an enormous Peugeot limousine—moves to an apartment in the Passy neighborhood of Paris. Dior will later describe its interior as "Louis Seize/Passy"; the style will later influence that of his salon. "I thank heaven I lived in Paris in the last years of the Belle Époque," he later writes. "They marked me for life."[7]
At 14, has his palm read by a fortune-teller who predicts he will make his living from women. The family moves again, this time to a home near the avenue Henri-Martin. Dior attends the top-ranked Lycée Gerson.
After passing his baccalauréat, dreams of studying fine arts and architecture but bows to his father's wishes and enters the École Libre des Sciences Politiques, a school for diplomats-to-be. Soon turns his attention to a growing circle of artist, writer, and painter friends including Maurice Sachs, Jean Ozenne, and future Vogue illustrator Christian Bérard.
Following compulsory military service, opens an art gallery—funded by his father—on the stipulation that the family name not be used. The space—which borrows its name from Dior's business associate, Jacques Bonjean—features a who's who of influential early-20th-century artists, including Braque, Picasso, de Chirico, Dalí, Léger, Cocteau, and Dufy.
In the family home, a mirror falls and smashes to bits. Soon after, Dior's life begins to unravel. His brother is institutionalized for a nervous condition, and his beloved mother dies from grief.
The Great Depression is felt around the world. As France hits its own downward economic slide, the Dior family is ruined. They retreat first to Normandy and later Callian. Seeking an escape, Christian joins a study group of architects on a trip to the U.S.S.R., but is appalled by the conditions there. Returning to France, finds his associate also bankrupt. The contents of the art gallery are sold at cut-rate prices. Dior joins Pierre Colle at his gallery, futilely staging Surrealist and abstract exhibits that drive away collectors. He couch-surfs among friends.
Prolonged stress, and many missed meals, compound the effects of tuberculosis, with which he was earlier diagnosed. Friends come to his aid, pooling their francs to send him south to Font-Romeu to recuperate. Later, in the Balearic Islands, learns the arts of embroidery and tapestry-weaving.
Returns to Paris, again penniless and homeless. Lives off the proceeds of one of his last canvases, Raoul Dufy's Le Plan de Paris, which couturier Paul Poiret (also destitute) had sold him for a song. Designer pal Jean Ozenne suggests Dior take up fashion drawing. He devotes himself to the task, making hundreds of sketches. His hat ideas are popular at top milliner Agnes; dress designs and an illustration gig for Le Figaro soon follow. "It was in this fashion that I discovered my true métier—at the age of 30,"[8] he will later write.
Couturier Robert Piguet purchases four sketches and asks Dior to have them produced for his midseason collection; these were the "first dresses that I really created,"[9] he will later remember. Finally moves into a place of his own, at 10 rue Royale.
Robert Piguet asks Dior to join his house. "At last I would get to know the mysterious means by which an idea is transformed into a dress,"[10] Dior will later write. Among his popular designs are his first "wide dresses"—raised bust, rounded skirt, embroidered English petticoats—based on les petites filles modèles (well-behaved little girls) from children's literature of France's Second Empire era.
Designs Amphora dresses featuring rounded hips. Also creates costumes for the theater. As World War II erupts, he is drafted into the army's engineer corps and assigned to farm duty.
Following the Franco-German armistice, he is discharged from the army. Joins his father and sister in Callian, in unoccupied southeastern France. The three live off the yield of a small garden, in which Dior spends many happy hours.
Robert Piguet offers Dior his old job. Dior takes a long time in replying; then, returning to Paris in late fall, finds the position filled by Antonio del Castillo. Begins working for couturier Lucien Lelong alongside Pierre Balmain. "Balmain and I never forgot that Lelong taught us our profession in the midst of the worst restrictions,"[11] Dior later writes.
Favorite sister Catherine, a member of the French Resistance, arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp. For ten months, Dior is unaware of her whereabouts, but his fortune-teller offers hope of her recovery. She is discovered after the camp is liberated by Russian troops.
Germany defeated. In Paris, Balmain opens his own house, and Dior begins thinking of doing the same. By chance, he runs into a childhood friend, who asks if Dior knows a candidate to revive the house of Gaston, a venture backed by textile magnate Marcel Boussac. After inspection, Dior deems Gaston démodé and declines the job. On the spur of the moment, finds himself proposing an entirely new maison de couture, with fresh new postwar fashions, under his own name. Impressed, Boussac takes a leap and makes a substantial investment in the unknown designer.
As luck would have it, a private mansion Dior once pointed out to a friend as his dream maison is available for rent. He poaches several key staffers from Lucien Lelong, Jean Patou, and Edward Molyneux and establishes a bustling workshop at 30 Avenue Montaigne. The elegant gray and white salon and shop are decorated by Victor Grandpierre in the neo-Louis XVI style. In December, holes up at a friend's house in Fleury-en-Bière and, in just a week or two, conceives of the New Look.
February: Debuts his revolutionary New Look with the lines Corolla and Figure 8. March: "Newest house is Christian Dior; his opening, a Paris sensation,"[12] Vogue reports. April: Dagmar Freuchen illustrates the superfeminine new style for the magazine's cover. September: On his first trip to the U.S., Dior is both celebrated with the prestigious Neiman Marcus Award and condemned by sportswear-loving anti–New Look groups. Realizes that in order to win the heart of the elegant American, he must offer luxury ready-to-wear.
Christian Dior—New York line debuts in a showroom on Fifth Avenue. Copies of its chic styles abound on Seventh Avenue. Christian Dior Perfumes established. French Vogue hails Paris's couture renaissance, largely credited to Dior and a renewed demand for fine craftsmanship. Zigzag, Flight (Envol), and Cyclone collections shown.
Indulging his childhood love of fancy dress, attends Comte Étienne de Beaumont's Kings and Queens ball as a Lion, king of beasts. Trompe l'Oeil line debuts. Following presentation of the Milieu de Siècle collection, 1,200 dresses are ordered within a week.
Establishes licenses for for hats, furs, scarves, gloves, jewelry, handbags, hosiery, and lingerie. France's government awards Dior the Légion d'Honneur. He designs costumes for Marlene Dietrich to wear in Hitchcock's Stage Fright. Vertical and Oblique lines shown.
Pens his first book, Je Suis Couturier. Dresses Britain's Princess Margaret in frothy white tulle for her twenty-first birthday. Vogue pays a visit to Dior at his country retreat, Le Moulin de Coudret, a reconverted mill house on the edge of the forest of Fontainebleau. Oval and Long (a.k.a. Princesse) lines presented.
Begins showing the hat collection on its own. The house expands to 13 Rue François Ier. Sinuous and Profile collections debut.
Begins collaborating with Roger Vivier on exquisite shoes to complete his looks. Tulip line debuts. Vivante collection earns the nickname of the Shock Look in England for its supershort hemlines. Vogue showcases the interior of Dior's Paris home, sumptuously decorated by Georges Geffroy, Victor Grandpierre, and Pierre Delbée of Jansen.
In his Little Dictionary of Fashion, Dior advises his adoring public on the finer points of 1950s chic. Lily of the Valley collection debuts. His controversial H line is dubbed the French Bean or Flat Look due to its bosom-flattening effects.
Hires promising young designer Yves Saint Laurent and grooms him to be his successor. The A and Y lines bow to much applause. Dior lectures on fashion aesthetics to 4,000 students at the Sorbonne.
Arrow and Aimant collections presented.
Dior by Dior, his autobiography, is published. March: Free collection shown. Dior poses with house model Renée for a Vogue story on the maison's tenth anniversary. Appears on the cover of Time magazine, wielding an enormous pair of scissors, under the coverline "France: Dictator by Demand." August: Spindle line debuts. October: Dies at the age of 52 from a heart attack while taking a rest cure in Montecatini, Italy. Just hours before, Dior told Madame Raymonde, his studio right hand, "[W]hatever happens to me, I want Yves to take over."[13] His funeral is mobbed by thousands. He is buried in Callian, just miles from his La Colle Noire chateau. November: A tribute and photograph by art director Alexander Liberman runs in Vogue. Saint Laurent takes over as head designer at the house of Dior, at the tender age of 21.
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Dior in Vogue, by Brigid Keenan. New York: Harmony Books, 1981.
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Christian Dior: The Man Who Made the World Look New, by Marie-France Pocha. New York: Arcade Publishing, 1996.
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Dior by Dior: The Autobiography of Christian Dior, by Christian Dior, translated by Antonia Fraser. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1957.
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"Christian Dior Has Brilliant Opening." Fairchild News Service. February 13, 1947.
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Dior by Dior: The Autobiography of Christian Dior, by Christian Dior, translated by Antonia Fraser. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1957.
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"Tenth Birthday of the Maison Christian Dior." Vogue, March 15, 1957.
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Dior by Dior: The Autobiography of Christian Dior, by Christian Dior, translated by Antonia Fraser. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1957.
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Dior by Dior: The Autobiography of Christian Dior, by Christian Dior, translated by Antonia Fraser. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1957.
- ^
Dior by Dior: The Autobiography of Christian Dior, by Christian Dior, translated by Antonia Fraser. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1957.
- ^
Dior by Dior: The Autobiography of Christian Dior, by Christian Dior, translated by Antonia Fraser. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1957.
- ^
"Christian Dior," by Eric Pujalet-Plaà. The Berg Companion to Fashion. Oxford: Berg, 2010.
- ^
Vogue's Eye View: "First Impressions of the Paris Collections." Vogue, March 15, 1947. http://archive.vogue.com/Desktop/#/19470315/150
- ^
Dior in Vogue, by Brigid Keenan. New York: Harmony Books, 1981.


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Historic group photo from 2014 Miller Meet
21st Annual Millers at Milwaukee
Vintage Indy Car Event
July 10-11, 2015
**Please note this is a new date for the 2015 event!
See Vintage Indy Cars on the famous Milwaukee Mile
Racetrack, including concessions, vendor's market and classic
car display.
Celebrating 20 Years on the Milwaukee Mile
"Perhaps the most remarkable new vintage racing event in the world during 1995 took place at the Milwaukee Mile in Wisconsin over the weekend of July 15-16. This event celebrated the genius of the late Harry A. Miller and pre-WWII Indianapolis cars. Miller collectors Bob Sutherland, David Uihlein and Chuck Davis joined forces to present this inaugural Miller Meet at Milwaukee, and the setting couldn't have been more perfect. Despite a record-breaking heat wave well over 100 degrees, a small but incredibly high quality field of cars appeared to instantly whisk bystanders away to a bygone era."
An excerpt from the Oct. 16, 1995 AutoWeek Magazine stated, "Vintage race car collectors Bob Sutherland and Dave Uihlein had a dream – to host a special gathering of pre-war racing legends and feature the cars of master designer/builder Harry Miller. After nearly two years, their dream became a reality. In July, the first Harry A. Miller Exhibition Run was staged at the Milwaukee Mile. And the legends came. Sitting on the pit wall after the event, Uihlein said, "It was absolutely outstanding, it was everything we hoped it would be." And about the event's future? Uihlein and Sutherland said they hoped it would become an annual event. Their hopes were realized.
We are pleased to say there are three Miller Club members who attended the 1995 event and have continued to bring their historic cars to the Mile for our annual meet. They are Buck Boudeman, Joe Freeman and Mitch Rasansky.
Mitch brought his 1927 Miller to the 1995 meet, and stated, "It was amazing to see all the wonderful cars and individuals who own them. I really enjoyed myself, and that's why I keep coming back. It's a great Club and a great group of people".
Joe Freeman is a current sponsor and shared some of his recollections from that very hot July in 1995. "Dave and Margery had a nice beer and brat party at their home before the meet, and we had a chance to gather and visit. That is where I met my great friend Chuck Davis for the first time, and got reacquainted with old colleague Bob Sutherland.
"It was absolutely amazing that owners brought vintage racing cars from all over the United States to participate. Chuck ran his beautiful 16-cylinder Miller two-man Indy car, and his 91-CID Perfect Circle Miller. Bob had his green Majestic Miller Special, and Dave brought his Milton Miller and 122 Miller front drive. This clearly demonstrated the need for an annual event and an organization to be founded. And we thought we would only do it once... and here we are twenty events later!"
July 10-12, 2014 Event Schedule
"This will be a milestone event for our group, and I invite everyone with a vintage racing car to make your way to Milwaukee this July! There are only 60 entry spots, so be sure to get your application in early! If you have attended in previous years, you know how much track time you have – more than you will find at any other event," stated Club President Dana Mecum.
Our historic meet begins on Thursday evening, where you will join fellow members enjoying delicious grilled Usinger brats and hamburgers for dinner – along with your favorite beer. The relaxed atmosphere provides the perfect opportunity for sharing stories about your recent restoration to finding out where to locate that one part that has eluded you.
Friday morning we gather at the track by 8:00 a.m. – so we can be ready for a 9 a.m. group track photo. Our Drivers' Meeting will follow, with cars getting on the track for our first run at 10 a.m. We will break for lunch from 12:00 to 12:30 p.m. and continue our exhibition until 4 p.m.
We gather Friday evening at the Crowne Plaza at 6 p.m. to enjoy a Silent Auction and cocktail hour. If anyone has an item to donate to this auction, please let me know by June 30. Dinner begins at 7 p.m. and we will once again be amazed at the delicious offerings on the buffet line! I have never heard a complaint about the fabulous food, or the wonderful table conversation!
The Saturday schedule begins with the track gates opening at 8 a.m., and the cars running on the Mile from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A lunch break will again be held from 12:00 to 12:30 p.m. The Vendor's area and classic car display area are always a welcomed addition to the general public, and seems to draw more participation each year.
Make your reservations now to join us in July for this 20th Anniversary Celebration!
Copyright © 2010 Harry Miller Club All Rights Reserved.

subset: commoncrawl


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Categories > Celebrities > My Chemical Romance > Killjoy Academy
9: It's Better If You Don't Understand.1 Reviews
"And I'm here in your subconscious."
I woke up, and was sitting in a completely white room, excluding the black and red furniture.
"Where am I?" I think, and I hear my thought's spoken aloud, reverbing off the white walls. I look down, finding that I'm lying on a black sofa, sprawled out in my clothes. "What is this place?" I wonder aloud.
"Welcome to your subconscious!" A child's voice says, and I notice I'm not alone in the room. I look around, but can't find the source of the voice.
"Uh, hi." I say. My guard was immediately up. Who was this little child and why were they in my head? "My name is-"
The voice cuts me off. "Silly goose, I know who you are! Your name is Juliet Scarlet Winterson. Otherwise known as Neon Sun, well that's what it is until you have to change it again. Your sister is Dancing Spark, and I'm not sure of her real name yet."
"Who are you?" I ask the voice, which I still can't locate. My BL/iND instincts should be kicking in right about now, and I can feel my muscles being fueled by adrenaline. The world goes blue-black for a minute. Ah, my fighting eyes are ready. Scanning the room, I see a small chair, not facing me.
"That's actually up to you." The voice tells me, and I climb off the couch slowly. When I'm on my feet, I am shaky as I walk. "I'm whoever you want me to be." A voice from somewhere out of the room resonates through the room.
"And I'm the Voice. It's very tiring, being trapped in here." The Voice Heartbreak and I hear speaks. "I gotta say, it's rather boring in here. Your subconscious room is a tad bland."
"Shut up." I growl at it.
"That's a naughty word!" The childish voice says. "My mommy says so."
"Who's your mommy?" I approach the chair, and turn it around. A little girl, probably six or seven, with loose black curls hanging down. I get a good look at her eyes. "What's your name sweetie?"
"My name is Ella. Well, it is for now." She says, and I look confuse. "And I'm here in your subconscious."
"I like that name." I say with a smile to the child. "How old are you sweetie?"
"I'm five and a half." She says, looking proud. "Will you braid my hair for me?"
"Sure!" I say, happy to see a child, not some big scary monster like what I always imagined lived in my unconscious state. "Where do you want me to sit?" I ask, picking her up. She climbs into my arms like it's the most natural thing in the world.
"Can't you make a couch appear?" She asks, and I shrug. "Do I have to teach you EVERYTHING?" She says with a sigh. I nod. "Just imagine a couch, where ever you want, and it will be there." I imagine a big black couch, sitting at an angle next to the couch I woke up on. With a poof, and a slight thud, it appears. I walk over to it, and set the girl in my lap. "Want a special braid?" I ask her.
"Yes!" She sounds excited. "I like people braiding my hair. Can I braid yours?"
"Sure honey." I say, and I can feel her smiling. "So, what do you do in here?"
"Whatever I want. Usually I dance and play with my doll." Out of nowhere, a doll appears in her hands. I run my hand through her loose curls, and start braiding it. I begin french braiding it, leaving some wispy part's down in her face, a few loose curls. As I braid, she talks to me. "So how's Party Poison?"
"He's good, really happy. I think he and Ghoul had a fight though." I sigh at the memory. "I feel bad about it. I've torn those two apart."
"You could always turn one into BLI, that'd solve your problem." The voice says.
"Shut up, or be helpful!" I yell to it, making Ella giggle. "I dunno if you even are real."
"How can something that isn't real…" The voice says, and I feel like it's talking to me right in my ear. It makes me shiver. "Be right in front of you?" A man, in a black trench coat stands in front of me. I suppress a shriek, and Ella screams in fright.
"It's okay, I won't let him hurt you sweetie." I jump in front of the child. "Stay away." I warn the Voice.
"But why?" He asks, running a hand through his greasy black hair. "I'm not scary."
"Then why is she terrified?" I ask him, still shielding the young girl. She hugs me tight around my middle. "Easy, there's a baby in there." I caution the little girl so the Voice can't hear.
"Look, I'm wearing pants and everything." The voice says. I look back up at him, and see he's wearing black jeans, a black shirt, and a black trench coat. Black sunglasses, black hair.
"What are you?" I ask him. "A Blade wannabe?"
"Whoever you want me to be." He says, ignoring the dig. "See?" He changes into somebody else, and I'm looking at The Kobra Kid. "Hey Sun!" He says, in a perfect imitation of his voice. "That's the wonderful thing about me. I can be whoever I need to be. But, this is your subconscious, you control it." This gives me an idea.
"Leave. I don't wanna hear from you until I leave here." I demand, and with a poof of red smoke, he's gone. I sigh in relief, and position Ella in front of me, continuing on her braid. She chatters about her day, and I ask question as we go along.
"I'm hungry. Can we have food?" The girl asks when I finish. I nod.
"What do you want sweetie?" I ask her. I'd always loved little kids, they were so cute. I wondered if I'd baby my kid this much, or raise her tough.
"You'll raise me to be whoever I want." The girl says, answering my silent thoughts. "How about candy?" She asks me, and I imagine some licorice for her. It appears in her hands, and she starts gnawing on a vine of it hungrily. I imagine some chocolate, which appears in my palm. I take a bite. "Daddy thinks about you a lot. Especially in his sleep. He's thinking about you right now." She says, and then giggles that giggle that children all share until age nine.
"Who's daddy?" I ask her, and she smiles at me. She's not gonna tell me easily. "Why don't you tell me who your mommy is?" I prompt, and she looks confused.
The confusion turns to hurt in the brief silence. "You mean you don't know?" I shake my head. She looks upset. "But, I thought we had the same eyes." She's facing me now and is pouting, her lip quivering. "I know I've got one of each, but I can change them!" She says, and takes my hands in hers.
"What?" I ask, startled. She blinks, changing her eyes to match my normal color, the purple slightly darker.
"Do you not know who I am?" She asks, looking sad. I shake my head. My brain knew, but the rest of me didn't. "I live right here right now." She pokes my stomach, where the baby is. "I'm your baby. All grown up. Well, I'm only five," She holds up five fingers at me. "But that's because you imagine me as a five year old!"
"Uh, hey baby Ella." I say to her. "So this is what you're gonna look like?" I ask, and she shrugs.
"Dunno. This is what you think I'm going to look like." She says. "Your mind is a very confusing place mommy."
"Big vocabulary for a little girl like you." I mutter, and she laughs. It's a tinkling sound, like glass hitting the floor.
"Daddy keeps dreaming about me." She says. I smile at the thought. "I'm glad you told him. I was starting to get worried. Were you gonna get rid of me?" She asks, lip quivering. It's so pathetic that I feel the need to hold her tight. '
"No baby, I never would do that to you." I whisper. "What does he think you look like?"
She pulls from our hug, and suddenly, I'm looking at a girl with blonde hair, kinda wavy, with big honey colored eyes. Her skin is tan, much like mine, not pale like my version of her involved. She flashes back to my Ella. "He also thinks I might be a boy. This is what I look like if I'm a boy to him." She makes the air around her sparkle again, and I'm looking at a seven year old boy. Golden hair, blue eyes like mine. Tan skin. Your atypical, all American looking boy. Another shimmer in the air, and she's back to looking like my version of her.
"I want you with black hair, like your daddy has." I say. "Well, before he decided fire engine red was a good choice."
"What's he like?" She asks me.
"He can be very serious, but he's just got a lot going on right now. He has a nice laugh, and a big heart. He doesn't let you know it though, until he trusts you. I think he likes to be alone sometimes, but I don't completely get him. He's difficult to explain."
"How about Aunty Sparky? And Uncle Kobra?" She asks, and it makes me smile.
"Sparky, she's gonna love you so much." I say with a smile. "She'll teach you all sorts of things I probably won't like very much, but because she's my little sis, I'll get over it." I say, making Ella smile. "She'll have you dancing before you can talk."
"What about Uncle Kobra?" She asks, looking excited. "He seems nice."
"He'll have you blowing stuff up before you can walk, if he has any say in it. He'll get you calling him Cunkle, for crazy cool uncle." I say with a laugh, imagining him teaching her how to light a fuse and run. "He'll teach you to play bass I bet."
"What about Mr.Ghoul?" She asks quietly. I'm stunned. "You think about him a lot."
"Ghoul is…interesting." I tell her, and she looks hopeful for more information. She may as well know. "We used to love each other-"
"You still love him." She says bluntly, and I'm shocked at how well this…thing, knows me. It wasn't right calling her a person, because this was my subconscious, but I couldn't call her an apparition, cause that wasn't the right word either.
I sigh. I always promised myself I'd be honest with my children, in the rare event that I had them. "But, I love your daddy more. I always will love Ghoul I think, but let's not talk about my love life." I say, and she nods, munching on her candy. I magically conjure us some water, and we take sips. "What do you want to know about him?" I ask my child. It was scary, having her right in front of me.
"Just… I want to know." She says. I nod my head.
"Well, Ghoul, he's very complicated. You don't know what he's thinking unless you either know him really well, or he wants you to. He's really good on guitar; his fingers can fly up and down it. He lets me be me, and he's got all these tattoos. You'll like tracing them when you're bored as a baby. I'll have to keep him from letting you see the scary ones…" I trail off, that last sentence more for me than her. "He'll teach you all sorts of stuff, and I'll get mad at him for it of course. But, he's a nice guy, so I'll build a bridge and get over it." A deep breath. "He used to have a lip ring. But he took it out. Which was sad, because I really liked it." I realize I'm waxing on about him, but she deserves to get as good a picture as possible. "He was born on Halloween."
"Whats that?" She asks. I shake my head sadly.
"It's a day where kids in the towns go and ask for candy." I explain. "And teenage girls have an excuse to dress like total sluts." Hey, if she was gonna be my baby girl, I would prolong that as long as possible. "And the parent's play jokes on the kids sometimes. We haven't had a proper Halloween around here in ages." I say to my baby. I lay down on the couch, and she cuddles in next to me.
"Mommy, things are going to be very scary soon." She says, and I look at her. I'm petting her hair absent mindedly, trying to calm her.
"What do you mean Ella?" I ask her. She smiles at me.
"The Voice man said that things are going to happen around the camp that's gonna scare you." She explains. "He wouldn't tell me what though. It made me angry."
"Your daddy and I both have quite the tempers on us, so it's not surprise you get mad sometimes. It'll be a wonder if your fuse isn't shorter than both of ours." I murmur to my baby girl. She looks sleepy. "I have to go now."
Clutching tight to my clothes, she shakes her head. "No, don't leave me." She begs. "I like it when you talk to me."
"I promise, even when I'm awake, I talk to you. Do you remember what daddy said earlier?" I ask her, and she nods. "We will keep that promise. You'll be perfect, because you'll be loved."
"Will you please eat more when you're awake? I need more food; I have to burn your very small amount of body fat to keep myself fed." She says, and I nod my head.
"I'm so sorry for not feeding you." I tell her, and try not to cry. She looks so perfect, a little black haired angel.
She smiles a bit, looking sleepy. "I promise to not make you too sick in the mornings." She yawns loudly, cuddling into me more. I stroke her hair, letting her fall asleep.
"It lets me know you're there." I say, and she smiles as her eyes flutter shut. "I love you." I whisper to her. I close my eyes, and drift back into sleep.
Meanwhile, in Party Poison's brain (Poison's POV)
I land with a thud, in the middle of a thickly treed forest. When I pull myself to the feet, I hear a rustling in the bushes. I reach for my ray gun. But a voice stops me.
"Easy there big boy." The voice coos. I turn, and see a beautiful sight. A girl, around twenty, long black hair, pale skin, and the biggest pair of hazel colored eye's I've ever seen is walking towards me. "Hello you." She gives me a small wave, and I smile at her. A giggle comes out of her cute little mouth.
"What's your name?" I ask, trying to look smooth.
"Helena." She replies to my question with ease, which to be expected. It's her name, she should know it. "Do you know where we are?" She asks me.
I shrug. She laughs. "Nope, not a clue princess." I say. Oh, was I flirting? Oh well. "You know?" I ask, pulling a cigarette from my pocket and lighting it.
"Well, I think we're in a forest." She says, giving me a look that said "you're an idiot."
"Helena!" A voice calls, one that is strikingly familiar. "Helena where are you?"
"I'm over here!" Helena calls. "We have company." She trills out the words, and it makes me smile. Such a cute voice, very girly. Hopefully her friend would be just as pretty as her. Maybe a redhead…. That'd be a nice change from the sea of black and neon colors I was used to. I turn around, hearing something coming through the brush behind us. "Hello Jules." Helena giggles. "I see you found your way here."
"Yes, I'm not completely directionally challenged." The girl names Jules mutters. "Hello you." She says, and gives me a hug. Whoa, somebody was a little touchy feely. "What?" She asks me, pouting. "No hug back? I see how it is." She gives a familiar laugh into my ear.
"Sun?" I ask, and turn to face the girl.
"Right on the first guess." She purrs. "Hello Party. Remember me?" She asks, holding her hands out so I can look at her. It was the Sun from the far left, back when I was tripping. The Sun we busted from the hospital.
"Yes, not what you're used to…. I apologize for that one. I just figured I'd take you back to the roots." She throws a punch at me, and I dodge quickly, mewling as it glances by my jaw. She giggles. "Take it like a man. You already do with Ghoul!" She says, and laughs loudly. I turn, and am punched in the face again. "C'mon, fight back!" She growls, and I take another punch to the face, and I finally snap. I turn; teeth barred, and lunge for… the air. Sun is running off, speeding towards a lake. She dives off a dock end, a smooth dive perfected by years of swimming. I pick myself up off the dirt, and see Helena running that way. I calmly make my way there, watching Helena cannon ball in with a whoop. Two piles of clothes lay on the sandy banks of the lake. I can see Sun and Helena swimming around. Sun disappears into an inlet. I stand, watching Helena, floating on her back, in a swim suit –or rather, a tank top and shorts- letting the sun fall on her skin.
"Are you coming in any time soon?" Sun asks, hiding in a little grove somewhere. I strip down to my boxers, and walk into the water carefully. No fish or anything in here, surprisingly. It was also mildly comforting.
"Where are you?" I call, trying to find Sun. She giggles, and I find the general direction of the noise. It's coming from a small little inlet, hidden by large reeds and trees. I make my way to her, and she's smiling, sunning herself on the sandy bank. The inlet isn't huge, but not tiny. It's surrounded by bright flowers, several different tress, making it into a little hidden place, somewhere Sun seemed to like. I swim around, smiling at her.
"What you smiling at punk?" She asks me, the same nervous interrogative tone to her voice that she had when we first sprung her from the labs. "Helena!" She calls, and the black haired beauty comes swimming to us.
"You two are so hot." I blurt. Stupid brain… give me something to work with. They giggle.
"You already get me in real life." Sun coos.
"Not for nine months I don't." I pout. Helena laughs at me. "It sucks."
"Yes well, you should've been a tad more careful with me babe." Sun says. "You were the one that was like 'oh you won't get pregnant! Please? I promise everytime after this we can, but just this once let's not! Let's make it special!' if I remember correctly."
"Well, how bout you Helena?" I ask, giving her smile. The same half smile that drove Sun insane. Helena wrinkles her nose in disgust. "What?" I ask. "Am I not to your taste?" I stand, looking confused. She wrinkles her nose even more. Sun keeps laughing.
"Wasn't aware you were one for incest." She giggles. I look confused. "That's your daughter idiot!" She points to Helena.
Oh my God, you gotta be kidding. I just hit on my daughter. Oh I think I'm gonna puke. No, don't puke. Too girly for me. Must be manly Party Poison, to impress Sun! Even if this was a dream, I wanted her to like me.
"Well, this isn't what I look like in your mind is it?" Helena asks, and I'm suddenly in a black room, with white furniture.
"Where are we now?" I ask her, and she shrugs.
"It's your subconscious silly." She tells me with a laugh. Sun is here to, but it's the current Sun. She's dressed in her usual shorts and faux bomber jacket get up. Aviators on, though it's not all that bright in here. I wasn't sure where the light was coming from, but it was nice.
"Hello Party." Sun says, smiling at me. I open my arms, inviting her to sit with me on the white couch. Our daughter laughs.
"You two love each other?" My daughter asks.
"Very much." Sun says, smiling at me from her place curled in next to me.
"So, is this what you're gonna look like?" I ask Helena. "A lot like me?"
"Well, when I'm about nineteen, yes. But that's in mommies mind. Right now, in her subconscious, I'm five."
"Well, I think you'll look more like her." I say, and the air around her shimmers. In replacement of the nineteen year old, I'm now looking at a four year old. A few wispy white blonde curls and other than that, white blonde waves, her eyes were like mine, and she was tan, like her mother was. Not pale like me. I look at my baby, and she toddles over to me. "Hey you!" I say, and she smiles at me.
"Mommy is thinking about you right now." She says, playing with my hair. "Can I have red hair like this?" She asks.
"No, no you may not. It'll be too pretty on you, and the world might explode from the cuteness." I whisper to her, and Sun smiles at the two of us. A poof of red smoke, and Sun is gone. This leaves me with my child, and she keeps playing with strands of my hair.
"Daddy, do you love mommy?" she asks me quietly. "Because she loves you this much!" She stretches her arms out as wide as she can.
"I love her this much!" I say, stretching my arms out as far as I can. My daughter giggles. "Wonder what you would look like if you were a boy." I say, and the air around her shimmers. A boy reappears, with blonde hair and Sun's blue eyes, minus the purple. The surrounding areas shimmers and the figure is now a girl again. "I'm not very big right now; I'm only a few weeks old."
"And we love you no matter what." I tell her. Whoa, where was lovey dovey Poison coming from? Maybe it was because this was a dream? Was this a dream? If not, then what did I take that was making me trip this bad? "Can you hear us when we talk to you?" I ask my daughter, who nods and smiles big. It must hurt her, what with how big she's smiling. It makes me laugh.
"Yes! I like it when you talk to me. I hope I'm special, like mommy." She whispers. "You need to protect her. There are bad people, they want to hurt her."
"What?" I ask, suddenly worried.
"You need to keep my mommy safe. Bad people want my mommy. There's bad stuff that's going to happen soon." My daughter tells me. "Please keep mommy safe."
"I promise you I'll keep her safe. It's not gonna be easy. She feels an attachment to a student, and if it comes down to saving her, or saving herself…she'll pick the other girl." I whisper.
My baby looks at me, confused. "But what about me? Would she sacrifice me? I'm her baby!" She's pouting, and she looks just like Sun when she pouts at me, but with black hair and paler skin. That's a funny thought, Sun with BLACK hair. I laugh just at the thought of it. Can you think in dreams?
"I think if it comes down to it, that she'll do anything to save you. Maternal instinct you know?" I tell my daughter. "I just worry about her sometimes. I think we all do. Mommy is special," my daughter nods her head at me. "She had some stuff done to her that made her super special. Like a superhero." I wait to see if she understands. I was trying to cut the extraneous details out, to make it easier to comprehend.
"Can she fly?" She asks in awe. "Is mommy an angel? Does she have wings?"
"I think she's n angel." I say, and the baby girl makes goo-goo eyes at me. I shrug my shoulders. "Dunno, we haven't tested the idea of wings out yet, but she could probably morph them onto her body for a bit of time. She's wanted angel wings tattooed on her for some time now though." I say. Woops, extraneous details. "But, we don't know what all she can do."
"Well, can you make sure she eats? I get hungry and she doesn't eat enough for both of us." My daughter looks sad. It breaks my heart. "Keep her safe, keep her fed." And then the world goes to black.
(The next morning)
I woke up, surprisingly before Sun did. Her bed was slightly larger than mine, and not a bunk bed. Sun is curled up in my arms, soundly asleep. She giggles occasionally. I look out her small window. The sun (the one in the sky, not my arms.) is barely peeking over the horizon line. The sky was a color I knew was Neon's favorite.
"Sh." I whisper, as she stirs a bit. "Stay asleep." I very carefully moved away from her, and to the small, stove in the corner. This Block used to be where we prepared the meals. Thus, it has stuff in it to cook with. I pull out a package of buffalo bacon, and a pan. The bacon needed to thaw a tad, and the pan needed to heat. When it's hot, I take a pocket knife and slice open the package of buffalo, laying a few strips onto the hot pan. The meat sizzles when it touches the pan, and soon the room smells like buffalo bacon. It's not a bad smell, but not the same as what bacon used to smell like in the morning. I go and start some coffee, and hear a sleepy yawn.
"Bacon?" Sun's voice asks. "What's the occasion?"
"You have a baby that needs food. Buffalo bacon is fatty enough to make up for lost calories." I explain. "And it makes you smile."
"What's next?" She asks me, still sounding sleepy. "Pancakes?" I turn to face her, after flipping the bacon so it cooked evenly.
"How about good coffee?" I ask, handing her a cup of it. She takes a cautious sip, and smiles. "it's black. Like you drink it sometimes."
"It's nice that you remember stuff like that." She says, sipping it carefully. "What time is it?"
I look outside. "About…." I try to guesstimate. "6?"
"Wow, we still have time to sleep. Does Frank know you're in here?" She asks, and I nod. The bacon starts to sizzle less, so I put it on a plate, and dump the grease in an empty can. Walking with the plate, I sit on her bed. She nabs the same piece I was shooting for, and we smile.
I nudge it towards her. "Take it, it's the biggest and you need it." Usually I'd be playful, demand we split it in a sarcastic tone, but she truly did need the calories.
"I'm probably supposed to eat healthy." She mutters, munching on her bacon. "Bacon is all greasy."
"Our baby needs to know what GOOD food tastes like!" I say, and touch her belly lightly. "Hey you." I say, and Sun laughs. "Mommy is eating, like you asked."
"She was in your dream too?"Sun asks me. "How old?"
Time to blush. "Nineteen."
"Lemme guess," She says to me with a smirk. "You hit on her didn't you?" I blush, something rare for me. "You hit on our daughter!" she says with a cackle, then taking a bite of her bacon.
"It was an accident!" I say, and Sun laughs at me, flicking me in the ear. "Eat up, and then I think Mikey is making breakfast burritos for breakfast today. We have eggs and sausage and everything." I say, and she scarf's her portion of the bacon down. "I'll make sure yours gets a little extra." I say, and she chugs down her coffee. "Easy girl, they may limit makeup, but buffalo is easy to come by." I say, finishing my food quickly. "Get dressed, we have a Doctor to talk to." I say, and she hops up, unbuttoning her pants. She turns to look at me and blushes.
"Turn around." She says, and I look confused. "Just do it."
"I've seen you naked Sun." I say stubbornly. "You can change in front of me."
She sighs. "It feels wrong though, I'm Frank's now." She says, and I laugh at her.
"Does it feel wrong carrying my baby? Does it feel wrong when I kiss you? Does it feel wrong that he doesn't know yet?" I ask, and it comes out harsher than I meant it to. Her smile falls, and she sniffles. "Sunnie, that was harsh." I say, coming up behind her. She sniffles again. "Sunnie, babe, I'm sorry." I say, and she looks at me.
"You are?" She asks, and I nod. "I thought you hated me." She says, sniffing back tears. "I'm a hormonal wreck, and I'm gonna be so fat eventually." She whimpers to me, and Hugs me tight, pant's half unbuttoned.
"I doubt it. You'll be tiny." I say. "Besides, it's for a good cause. Our kid." I remind her. "When do we know the gender of the baby?"
She shrugs, continuing getting undressed and starting to change. "Dunno, depends if we want to risk going into the towns. Means I'll have to wear a wig, and you'll have to as well, unless you wanna dye it and cut it." She teases, pulling on her tights. The lace print was nice on her, and next up is a pair of black shorts. She yanks off her shirt from last night, tugging on first a yellow tanktop, and then a purple lace one over that. Aviators go on, and a pair of black combat boots. She tucks her back up gun into her back pocket. I toy with it while she threads a bright blue belt on to hold up the shorts. She was definitely Neon today. Her body shudders, and I notice that her nails change color, to a variation of neon colors, a new shade of a neon color on each finger. She moves to walk to her bathroom, and looks at me.
"You gonna go to Death's dressed like that?" She asks, and I nod. Sun rolls her eyes at me. "Lemme just throw some eyeliner on, and I'll use some energy to straighten my hair." She says, and I smile, sipping my coffee while she finishes getting ready. I see she's added a bunch of studded bracelets, and a pair of earrings. Very nice. She takes my hand, and gives me a chaste kiss on the lips. "C'mon, your baby momma wants to go tell Dr Death Defying."
"Sunnie?" Frank's voice says, and he knocks on the door. "Can I come in?" He asks, and I'm shoved into the closet.
"Sure Ghoulie!" She chirps at him, and I hear his boots walking across the floor. "Morning!" She says, all bright and chipper.
"Why are you so happy?" He asks, sounding suspicious. "And why does it smell like there's been a boy in here?" He says. "Not one of the kids." He sounds horribly suspicious, and I pray she can laugh it off.
"Over active imagination." She says, and laughs at him. "What? No good morning kiss?" She sounds like she's pouting. I hear silence, and peek out through a crack in the door to see them in a full on lip lock. It makes my stomach churn, makes me want to puke up the coffee in my stomach.
The coffee. I had my cup still sitting out, and so was Sun's. Oh no, this was not good. I put stuff in my coffee, and she hadn't. All Frank would have to do is smell them and he'd know I'd been here, and recently. The drink would still be scalding hot. The couple continues kissing, and the urge to vomit and/or hit something becomes so intense I can barely stand it. I could take Frank, he was much smaller than me, and I was a better fighter. He may be better at shooting, but I was the hand to hand guy.
"Do we have time?" Frank asks, and I hear Sun clear her throat. "Oh c'mon." he breathes a sigh of discontentment.
"Frank, you're on punishment." Sun says, sounding bitter. Don't blame her; she was torn up over him cheating on her, even though it was almost a year and a half ago.
"For how long?" He whines. She giggles, and it makes him laugh his pot head giggle.
"Until I say so. The more you ask, the longer it'll be." She declares. "Why don't we go get breakfast started with The Kobra?" She asks, and it's silent. "Ghoul?"
"Who did you have in here?" He asks, rather quietly.
"Nobody Frankie, let's go." Sun says, trying to get him out of the room.
"You had a guy in here didn't you?" He asks, clenching his tattooed fingers into fists. "Tell me who it was. Was it Jet?" Sun looks down and shakes her head. "Moonstruck?" He asks, approaching the coffee mugs. Sun is right behind him, looking worried. "No? How about… Kobra Kid?" He asks, and she jumps at the chance, knowing Kobra will back her up.
"Yeah. We had coffee this morning, he was nice enough to make me some." She picks up a mug and chugs it down.
"Really?" Frank asks. "Funny, he slept in my room cause some kids trashed his because he worked them pretty hard. He isn't even up yet." He growls at her. I swear to god, if he laid a finger on her, his sorry little butt would be running for the hills. "Why are you lying to me?"
"I'm not." She lies. Why lie about lying? "He was in here. I remember it."
He gawks at her. "Are you delusional?" He asks, and she shakes her head. "Are you high?"
"Nope." She says to him. "I've been clean for a year now." She reminds him. Yeah whatever, me and her did some stuff a few months ago, got really messed up on it. We had to cancel classes because we were both tripping so bad.
"Did you or did you not have a boy in here?" He asks. "Look at me and answer!"
"Yes." Sun whispers.
He's glaring, face turning red. His fists are shaking, and I'm ready to haul butt out of that closet to protect her, and our kid that he didn't know about. Fun Ghoul walks over to her bed, and sits down. Picking up the blanket we shared last night, he sniffs it. "You little." He growls at her.
"Ghoul nothing happened." Sun is already pleading.
"Yeah whatever!" He says, and pulls Sun down on the bed with him. "Tell me what you did!"
"Nothing! I just slept!" She says, nearly crying. She and our baby did Not need this stress. "I swear!" Fun Ghoul pulls her by her hair, kissing her again.
"You kissed him." He says. "Your tongue doesn't taste right."
"Ghoul, I swear, nothing happened." She whispers, and he sniffs her hair.
He freezes. I know in that millisecond he knows it was me in here. "You cheated on me." He whispers. "With Party?"
Sun looks at him, eyes watering. "Ghoul please don't hurt me, there's so much you don't understand!" She says and he looks horribly mad. I step out of the closet without a sound. "nothing happened I swear! He just slept here! He used the blanket, must've put it on me because you know my body temp drops in the night! Please Frankie, there's so much you don't even understand."
"Yeah, like why you can't just stay true in a relationship." He growls at her. "I gave us a second chance!"
Sun scoffs. "You gave us a chance? No, Ghoul, remember who asked whom for another shot. Remember who cheated on whom, who got whom beat by her boyfriend."
"He always said he only wanted you for what you'd do with him! He used you Sunshine!" Frank shouts at her. That was a lie, I'd never said that. "What big secret are you two hiding?"
"Nothing you need to know about right now." I say when I'm standing directly behind Ghoul. He whips around, and punches me square in the jaw. I stand there, let him take the shot. It hurt, but didn't break it. "Hit me, not her."
"I wouldn't hit her." He spits. "Unlike you. You'll hit her!"
I growl from the back of my throat. "You know that I feel like a pile of crud about that. Back off." I say, and he listens, backing down.
"You know what?" Sun asks, and we both look at her. "We're done Ghoul!"
"What?" He asks. She nods. "Like, I just got broken up with?"
"Yeah." I say, and wrap my arm around Sun. "Which is why I can do this!" I pull her into a quick kiss, and she pushes back from it.
"You didn't even give me a chance to explain Ghoul. There's so much you don't understand. So much is going to change." Sun says, and Frank flips her off. Sun bursts into tears and I hug her tight, flipping him off.
"Yes, Fun Ghoul, it's over. Me and you can't be together anymore. We would've been a good match, a great couple. But, we just both made mistakes. I can't live like that forever. It's done. I'm sorry." Sun says, and Ghoul storms out.
"Let's go." I say to her. "We have an appointment with a Doctor."
(A/N: Here you go lovely's, an pdate, as promised. I'm working on another one, it shal be up in... maybe twenty minutes? It'll be today. I promise. On threat of hurting Mikey Way's unicorns. Also.... REVIEW AND RATE, I NEED this to be green! The story over all, the Chapters..... it's like... my goal right now!)


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Last update on 11 Nov 2007
The World Peace Cafe is a peaceful oasis amid the bustling streets of Wanchai, Hong
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This project is inspired by the vision of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, and dedicated to world peace.
Address: 21-


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Thursday, 08 September 2011 20:16
Frank Talent, a longtime member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission who was a fixture at Philadelphia events dating back as long as anyone can remember, passed away today. No other details are available right now.
Talent was 74.
He was very well liked by wrestling promoters who he dealt with. He would often, if needed, play the commission figure as part of the shows and was lenient as commissioners went as far as letting wrestlers do what they wanted, particularly after a period in the late 80s and early 90s when Pennsylvania was strict on blood.
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Never try to be someone who society will accept you as; be the person you want to be; Those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind; I live for those perfect moments in life. They remind me that no matter what I may be going through now, it's not always gonna be this hard; O8.O9.12 & 28.12.12 ♡; I support LGBT rights, everyone deserve the right to be with the one they're in love with; It gets better; Stay Strong & Keep Smiling; Follow me I follow back xoxo -Bri
Get Lost In The Music | via Tumblr on We Heart It. http://weheartit.com/entry/70111337/via/erubyromero
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|Home | Software downloads | Submit | Drivers | Codecs | Linux | Scripts |
If you are a games editor or a big fan of computer
If you are a games editor or a big fan of computers games, you probably need a video recorder for your games. Especially for games editors who are working for Television and want to present the gameplay of a specific game. Just need to start the application, enetr the game and press the hotkey for recording. the video files will be saved in AVI format. After this you can compress it with whatever compression tools you want.
The idea of this application is quite simple, but the results are not very good. First I couldn't start the application directly from the game through the hotkeys. Only by pressing the record button from the application and then entering the game I could start it. I had always a time limitation which I suppose comes from the fact that I have tested the shareware version of the software. The weird thing is that the limitation was not necessary constant. Sometimes I could create clips for over a minute, sometimes only for seconds.
There are three video compression formats which you can use depending on the computer you are using: Microsoft Video 1, DV Video Encoder, Cinepak Codec by Radius. Despite the fact that my system has 2 GB RAM memory, I could sense some freezing moments of the game if I used the DV Video Encoder with Bicubic scale. More than this, the video had a lack in frames. Same thing goes for the Microsoft Video 1 compression format and Cinepak Codec by Radius. It doesn't matter if you change the fps from 20 to 30 or to 5.
For your consideration I have used the game Need for Speed Underground to test this application. This is not anymore a next generation game to make problems to other applications. Despite these, there were problems with FastCapPro.
Pluses: can capture video games;
Drawbacks / flaws: lack of frames in the video clip; stops whenever he wants; hotkeys doesn't work;
In conclusion: Good for 2D games and for TBS games.
version reviewed: 1.0
dlTube.net did not scan FastCapPro Game Recorder 1.4.7 for viruses, adware, spyware or other badware.
For your own safety, we recommend that you always have an antivirus, with virus definitions up to date, installed on your computer when downloading and installing programs from the web.
Audio : Business : Desktop Management : Developer Tools : Drivers : Games : Graphics : Home & Education : Internet : Network Tools : Security : System Utilities : Video : Web Authoring


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Next up: Valentine's Day.
Chances are, you are either sighing or groaning at the thought of Valentine's Day. What to do or not to do. What to get or not get. Where to go or how to avoid going out.
Whatever your feelings about Valentine's Day, chances are that at one point in your life, you were smitten. If not in a relationship, you probably at least had a special movie or song that spoke to you.
Read more
Chocolates are eaten, roses are given, and love is a stain of red on the cheeks of many young and old hearts alike. On this Valentine's Day, while I stuff my face with sugary goodness, I'm thinking of all the ways that my husband and children are my greatest love story. Though my heart was given to him long ago, at just a tender age of twelve, it wasn't until 2003 that we started our life together. If you're like me, you like to reminisce upon all the love letters and romantic moments you've had with your significant other.
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Standard Room, 1 King BedMax Occupancy: 3 guests (up to 2 children, 2 infants)
Hotel with an indoor pool, in Colorado Springs (North Colorado Springs)
This hotel is located in Colorado Springs (North Colorado Springs), close to Adventure Golf and Batting Cages, Chapel Hills Mall, and Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum. Local attractions also include Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame and Colorado Springs House of Bounce.
Hotel Features
At Fairfield Inn Colorado Springs Air Force Academy, recreational amenities include an indoor pool and a spa tub. The hotel also features free self parking and a 24-hour front desk.
Room Amenities
In addition to premium satellite television, guestrooms include beds with pillowtop mattresses, complimentary wireless Internet access, and complimentary high-speed (wired) Internet access.Information missing or incorrect? Tell us!
Fairfield Inn Colorado Springs Air Force Academy
At your hotel
Fairfield Inn Colorado Springs Air Force Academy features an indoor pool and a spa tub. Guests can enjoy a complimentary breakfast. This Colorado Springs hotel also offers coffee/tea in the lobby, complimentary newspapers in the lobby, and express check-in. Complimentary self parking is available on site.
Fairfield Inn Colorado Springs Air Force Academy is a smoke-free property.
- Complimentary newspapers in lobby
- Express check-in
- 24-hour front desk
- Express check-out
- Coffee/tea in lobby
- Number of floors - 4
- Elevator/lift
- Total number of rooms - 67
- Safe-deposit box at front desk
- Free self parking
- Smoke-free property
- Spa tub
- Indoor pool
- Television in lobby
- Free breakfast
Stay connected
Available in all rooms: Free Wi-Fi , Free wired high-speed Internet
Park your car
Free self parking
In your room
- Premium TV channels
- Blackout drapes/curtains
- Air conditioning
- Complimentary weekday newspaper
- Coffee/tea maker
- Daily housekeeping
- Complimentary toiletries
- Hair dryer
- Iron/ironing board
- Desk
- Pillowtop mattress
- Satellite TV service
- Cable TV service
- Cribs/infant beds available
- Pay movies
- Premium bedding
- Shower/tub combination
- Free Wi-Fi
- Free wired high-speed Internet
Eat and drink
Guests are offered a complimentary continental breakfast.
An indoor pool and a spa tub are on site.
The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or nearby; fees may apply.
- Golfing nearby
- Hiking/biking trails nearby
- Mountain biking nearby
The fine print for Fairfield Inn Colorado Springs Air Force Academy
When you arrive
Check-in time starts at 3 PM
When you leave
Check-out time is noon
How you can pay
Accepted at this hotel: American Express, Diners Club, Discover, JCB International, MasterCard, Visa
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy.
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges.
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed.


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Review: "Ravenswood" is ridiculous — but it might be fun
The Salt Lake Tribune
Published: October 22, 2013 09:44AM
Updated: October 22, 2013 09:45AM
Courtesy photo Tyler Blackburn and Nicole Gale Anderson star in "Ravenswood" on the ABC Family Channel.
If you're a fan of gorgeous young actors and things that go bump in the night,
just might be the show for you.
This new series, which premieres Tuesday at 9 and 10 p.m. on ABC Family, is a spinoff of "Pretty Little Liars." Although if you've never seen that series, you won't be much more lost than anybody else.
(There's some exposition at the top of the hour that sets up the premise.)
The show revolves around Miranda (Nicole Gale Anderson) and Caleb (Tyler Blackburn), who are on their way to Ravenswood, Pa. She's going to look for long-lost relatives; he's going at the behest of his girlfriend, Hanna, who's still back on "Pretty Little Liars."
I don't want to give away too much. Actually, I can't give away a whole lot because it's rather confusing.
And "Ravenswood" is REALLY cheesy. We get lines of dialogue like these:
"There's so much death," Caleb says. "It's like the town's soaked in it."
And, when her mortician uncle isn't exactly happy to see her, Miranda exclaims, "What do I have to do to get his attention? Crawl in one of those boxes?"
The young actors were clearly cast because of their looks, not because of their talent. But even the greatest actors on the planet couldn't make "Ravenswood" seem less, well, cheesy than it is.
And that should probably sound less harsh than it does. "Ravenswood" appears to be pretty successful at doing exactly what it sets out to do - create a really pretty, gothic horror story. It's not great art, but it's supposed to be fun.
If you like this kind of thing, it shows signs of being just that.
© Copyright 2014 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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The University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux entertains the Colorado College Tigers this weekend at Ralph Engelstad Arena game times; 7:37 PM CT Friday and 7:07 PM CT Saturday.
Since 2002-03 the Sioux have a 13-12-3 record against the Tigers.
The games will be on Fighting Sioux Sports Network 23 Midco, 617 FCS DirecTV.
Radio: The games can be heard at 96.1 the Fox.
Internet: Webcast from FightingSioux.com
Records and Rankings:
UND – 4-7-1 overall, 2-6-0 WCHA; unranked in both polls. The Fighting Sioux split with BSU last weekend 5-2 win, 1-0 loss.
C.C. – 7-2-0 overall, 5-2-0 WCHA; ranked fourth in both national polls, the Tigers swept Wisconsin last weekend 4-2, 4-1.
Players to Watch:
For the Fighting Sioux, junior forwards Danny Kristo 4g-8a—12pts and Corbin Knight 5g-7a—12pts are tied for the team lead in scoring. On the other side of the ice, for the C.C. Tigers the Schwartz brothers, Jaden Schwartz 5g-8a—13pts and Rylan Schwartz 7g-4a—11pts lead the Tigers in scoring.
Junior goalie Aaron Dell is the top goaltender for the Fighting Sioux. Dell has a 3-6-1 record with a 2.87 goals against average and a .887 save percentage.
The Tigers goalies Joe Howe 4-1-0 record with a 2.69 goals against average with .906 save percentage has split time with Josh Thornimbert 3-1-0 record with a 2.42 goals against average with a .923 save percentage.
Key Numbers:
0 – The number of ties the Colorado College Tigers have at this point in the season.
2 – The number of losses that Colorado College Tiger have at this point in the season.
2 – The Colorado College Tigers power play is ranked second in the WCHA going 12/47.
2 – The Colorado College Tigers penalty kill is ranked second and the Tigers have killed 34/40 penalties
3 – The Fighting Sioux penalty kill is ranked third and the Fighting Sioux have killed 42/51 penalties.
7 – The number of losses that the Sioux have so far this season.
8 – The Fighting Sioux power play is ranked eighth in the WCHA going 11/61.
9 – The Fighting Sioux have scored nine goals in the third period.
9 – The Colorado College Tigers have scored nine goals in the first period.
9 – The Fighting Sioux have only given up nine goals the last five games, yet have a 2-3-0 record to show for.
10 – The Fighting Sioux are ranked 10th in the WCHA in scoring.
10 – Aaron Dell is ranked 10th in goals against average (2.87) in the WCHA.
11 – The Colorado College Tigers have allowed 11 goals during the second period
11 – The Fighting Sioux have scored 11 goals on the power play.
12 – The Fighting Sioux have scored 12 goals in six WCHA games.
12 – The Colorado College Tigers have scored 12 goals on the power play.
15 – Aaron Dell is ranked 15th in save percentage (.887) in the WCHA.
Other games in the WCHA: Alaska-Anchorage at Minnesota State, Saint Cloud at Nebraska Omaha, Minnesota at Michigan State, Michigan Tech at Saint Lawrence, Princeton, Miami, Providence at Denver (Denver Cup), Mercyhurst at Wisconsin. Duluth and Bemidji State are idle.


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The Croods - Clip No. 1
The Croods is a prehistoric comedy adventure that follows the world's first family as they embark on a journey of a lifetime when the cave that has always shielded them from danger is destroyed.
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Judging Treasury's housing report
I'm impressed with Treasury's long-awaited report on reforming the US housing market. It's a good length — it comes in under 11,000 words, which makes it shorter than, say, Michael Lewis's Vanity Fair article on Ireland. It's written in a very clear manner, laying out in a simple and honest way exactly what went wrong, and what Treasury is proposing. And although it might look as though providing three different options for reform is a bit of a cop-out, in fact they're not as far apart from each other as you might think, and all of them would constitute a radical change from the status quo.
The message is clear: what we have right now is unacceptable, and we need to do something big; the main choice facing Congress is between a modest government housing guarantee, a tiny one, or none at all.
It's worth reading the rest of the report, too, not just the section laying out options at the end. One very welcome theme running through the report, from the beginning of the introduction, is that an important part of "affordable housing" is giving people "rental options near good schools and good jobs" which don't take up an inordinate proportion of total income. This kind of language appears all too rarely in papers on mortgage-market reform:
Today, renters often face significant affordability challenges. Half of all renters spend more than a third of their income on housing, and a quarter spend more than half. And for low-income renters, adequate and affordable homes are increasingly scarce. For every 100 extremely low-income American families, for example, only 32 adequate rental homes are affordable.
The report is also clear-eyed about two aspects of the US mortgage market which seem to be sacrosanct: the pre-payable, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, on the one hand, and the mortgage-interest tax deduction, on the other. It notes that both are pretty much unique to the US, and cause significant distortions and risks: "tax incentives like the mortgage interest deduction can encourage investment towards housing over other sectors in the economy", the report says, adding that investment in those other areas "may lead to greater long-term growth or job creation."
There's even a nod to the concept of covered bonds — look closely, it's buried in a subordinate clause at the bottom of page 14, but it's there. Such things are hard to understand, but they're very attractive from a policy perspective. The problem is that banks don't like them, and so it's going to be hard to implement them given the lobbying power of the banking industry.
But banks are going to have to start putting a lot more of their balance sheets at risk in the housing market whatever happens, if any of the options in this report are adopted. The idea is to replace the current system, where the government guarantees nearly all the mortgages in the country, with a private system where government is involved only at the low-income end of the market or in the event of a major crisis.
If any of the choices are adopted, then mortgage rates will continue to rise — they're already above 5%, and that's a good thing, since the cost of a mortgage should reflect the risks inherent in it. It will be harder to get a pre-payable 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. But if you do get one, your monthly cost might not be much higher than it is right now, since as Dean Baker calculates, the headline price of your house is likely to be lower. The obvious cost of such a system, then, is that it would increase the number of homeowners with negative equity, and thereby increase, at the margin, the number of defaults and foreclosures that we'll be seeing going forwards.
More generally, it's far from clear that there's enough private money at all which is willing to fund such a system. The main problem I have with Treasury's report is that it simply assumes that if government support for the housing market is slowly removed, then private money will come in to take its place — at a higher price, to be sure, but at some price.
The big risk is that private money won't come in, at any price, if there isn't a guarantee — that the amount of private funding for the US mortgage market will be substantially lower than the demand for mortgage loans. The result would be a broken, non-clearing market, with people stuck in their homes because they can't sell them, and the idea of a "market price" being somewhere between a purely theoretical entity and an outright joke.
That's why my preference would be for Treasury's third option, where the government guarantee remains extant, just with a lot more safeguards than it has right now, in a system where it's priced rationally rather than well below market. Fannie and Freddie would go away, and be replaced by private mortgage insurers; the government would reinsure the mortgage insurers, rather than insuring the mortgages directly. And the government would only lose money after the private insurers had lost all of their money.
Are there private-sector players who would step up and insure mortgages in such a system, willingly providing a buffer between banks and the government? Treasury simply says that "a group of private mortgage guarantor companies that meet stringent capital and oversight requirements would provide guarantees for securities backed by mortgages that meet strict underwriting standards" — but it's not immediately obvious to me who those companies might be. If such companies can be found, and if they're well-capitalized enough to credibly backstop an enormous proportion of the entire US mortgage market, then this solution is I think a good one. But those are two very big ifs.
There are a lot of financial-sector players who have every incentive to claim that such private-sector companies will never appear, and that a broader government guarantee, like the current one at Frannie, is sadly necessary. As this debate moves to Congress, it's going to be crucial to be able to examine such claims impartially, and to decide whether Treasury's optimism regarding the future risk appetite of private capital is justified. Any bright ideas as to how to do that? Because I can't think of anything offhand.
to me a paradox…
we have an economy that is struggling and for many Americans "a struggle"…
a few years, more than that to privatize the mortgage market…
will lead to what, less Americans able to afford their own home, more able to afford?
I would hope we have learned a lesson over these past four years in that less is better and more comes with a risk…
optimism difficult for me at this time for I say affordable housing will be a bigger issue now and later…
thank you.
Renting is cheaper (and less risky) than short-term home ownership. Renting is more expensive than long-term home ownership. After all, you need to pay the landlord to take the risk of ownership off your back. And even if the landlord owns the property for the long term, he still faces vacancy risk and "bad tenant" risk. Moreover, the landlord likely has better uses for his capital (and thus will demand a higher rate of return) than you do. So moving to a rental society is NOT the answer to "affordable housing".
Instead the solution has to be some combination of:
(1) Smaller/cheaper properties.
(2) Larger/extended households living together.
(3) Lower sale prices, especially in areas where the "values" are above the cost of construction.
As a European living in the US I consider mortgage interest tax deductions to be unfairly regressive policy.
Many poor Americans struggle with most of their income going on rent. The wealthy can also opt to spend most of their income on a mortgage, however knowing that their existing wealth can cover other living costs, get a fat check back from the IRS, AND get to keep most of any capital gain.
It's not just the people at the low end of the spectrum that pay thirty percent or so of their income on housing, but the majority of people that do.
It is clear that government interventions have effectively created a Ponzi scheme out of the housing market. The only reason that house prices in many areas are as high as they are is the Greater Fool Theory where people are certain that someone else will pay that much or more for the house in the future. Most of these markets have house values that are far greater than the replacement cost of physical development of a lot and construction of a house.
The mortage interest deduction is clearly regressive and tends to discriminate against seniors who often don't have a mortgage at all. It creates a disincentive to using the house as a savings tool by paying off the mortgage quickly.
Similarly, higher interest rates due to lack of government backing would simply allow house prices to equilibrate to true market values. It appears that, similar to democracy, the US government wants "market pricing" until they figure out that it means asset prices may decline at which time the full faith and credit of the US government is thrown into the breach to maintain asset values at any cost.
I live in Upstate NY where house prices are sufficiently cheap and tax rates high that the property taxes are actually currently a bigger deterrent to buying a more expensive house than mortgage interest rates. We are currently paying more in property taxes than in mortgaage payments.
I say, let the housing market go back to being a market driven creature with bank financing of mortgages and minimal involvement of the government. I think the system would stabilize and we would all be better off. It is clear that government intervention at the current scale is even more destabilizing than lack of government intervention. However, good regulation and enforcement to ensure clear mortgage practices and to prevent fraud is necessary.
I'm mostly on the side of EmieD here, with the caveat that your model really only works in low-growth/slow decline areas like Upstate. Where there is rising income/rising population you will get bubbles forming. These should be kept regional (not nationalized) and draw scrutiny by regulators.
Second problem: it seems Treasury understands that bubble prices were unsustainable, but they have failed utterly to work out a plan for all the millions of Americans who will lose money or their house as it continues to deflate. When people realize these prices will never ever come back (as will happen under 1 and 2) what will they think?
Debt slaves are not happy voters. Just look at Egypt.
LadyG, the only alternative I see is to significantly inflate the currency in which those debts are denominated. That doesn't cure the federal government's problems (the twin entitlement monsters that promise to eat the nation), but it goes a long way towards curing the imbalance between debt and income in the consumer sector.
"If you build it, they will come" I am by no means an expert on the mortgage industry. However, I truly believe that if the system were to be changed so that it was driven by the private market we would have no problem luring private money into the market. I think that is a non-issue. Investors want to make money and there is plenty to be made in the U.S. housing market. However, as with any other market, namely the credit card industry, the government must have good regulation and enforcement to ensure that the entrepreneurs don't use predatory lending practices or fraud. In addition, if the government wants to help "lower income" families then I think tax breaks are in order for only "low income" home owners. These tax breaks should not apply to the wealthy home owners or landlords who do not need it. This would increase the qualifications of low income families for home loans by helping to ensure less risk. In other words, the mortgage industry needs low income owners because they make up the majority of the middle class, and there is plenty of money to be made for the lenders, but the lenders will require less risk and that can only be provided by the government lessening the tax burden for the low income home owner as opposed to the government actually funding the loan. Of course the wealthy folks will cry foul, but they are benefiting because they are the ones making money off of the home loans, which would not be possible without the tax breaks for the low income families.
Blackbird, you could achieve that goal by replacing the mortgage interest deduction with a 15% tax credit on the first $5k of interest.
That, combined with the standard deduction (since those households would otherwise not itemize), would put most lower-income households ahead of where they are now. Of course the wealthy wouldn't benefit nearly as much from the tax credit as they do from the deduction against their 25%+ tax rates, and the $5k limit would limit them as well.
It's a catch22 situation. The problem is that the mismatch between the existing housing stock and the market equilibrium housing stock looks substantial. I.e. a lot of people who live in houses cannot afford it under free market conditions. And the demand for the huge 2004-2007 type houses is simply not there when you have to pay the real market price. Accordingly, moving towards free market will cause the problems Felix correctly mentions. However, also the alternative "something less than a complete exit" will not work – it will simply drag out the adjustment process. Housing market in the US "worked" not because of immigration as some might think (that mattered probably for cheap apartments only) but of ever-increasing subsidies. Not high subsidies, but increasing subsidies. And that is a policy which is pretty difficult to continue. So, better to do it fast, experience a 10 year housing market slump, and finally, tear down all the excess housing stock…
tk2, that'll be hell on the construction industry. If you rip off the bandage, we won't be building ANYTHING for a decade.
Then again, we probably shouldn't be building right now given the present oversupply on the market. Even with subsidies, vacancy rates are clearly on the high side.
Housing does gradually depreciate. Any idea what the natural tear-down rate is? Likely higher in an environment where it costs more to renovate a home than you can hope to get back in a sale.
@ tk2: "the demand for the huge 2004-2007 type houses is simply not there when you have to pay the real market price"
If there is no demand, then the market price falls, which is exactly what has happened.
If this Geithner plan is some sort of plan to eventually demonstrate that the private sector is incapable of running the mortgage industry any better than the government-backed entities, then it's up there with the Republican 'starve the beast' plan of wrecking government in order to show that government doesn't work.
It's also redundant; just ask a shareholder in Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers or Merril Lynch.
http://www.flamencotravel.com/ The professionalism and experience that accompanies us every program and activity that we offer to you
"strict underwriting standards"
Ah, that pesky devil is always hiding in the details, whot?
"For every 100 extremely low-income American families, for example, only 32 adequate rental homes are affordable."
I would love to know how many of the people who read this passage either in Felix's post or in the original document and thought… "wow how can we increase the supply of affordable housing." A strategy that has been an almost universal failure.
The only thing I want my local, state, and federal goverment spending tax dollars on is trying to boost the earnings power of the 100 extreemly low income Americans… what I don't want to see happen is a big effort to build 68% more units of affordable housing so that all 100% of extreemly poor people can go on living that way.
The "new urbanites" are to blame for the shortage of affordable housing. Thirty years ago, the slums at the heart of our cities offered affordable housing for all. But now? Rich and educated people are moving back into the cities, buying, renovating, and upscaling the existing housing supply. And for the most part they aren't interested in rubbing shoulders with the poor.
The ultimate NIMBYs… They love the idea of "affordable housing" in the suburbs (a ridiculous idea, since living in the suburbs is inherently more expensive than living in a denser urban area) but freely build luxury condos in the downtown.
"The main problem I have with Treasury's report is that it simply assumes that if government support for the housing market is slowly removed, then private money will come in to take its place — at a higher price, to be sure, but at some price.
The big risk is that private money won't come in, at any price, if there isn't a guarantee — that the amount of private funding for the US mortgage market will be substantially lower than the demand for mortgage loans."
If the only reason we have the mortgage market we have today is because the private market is funded by Fannie & Freddie (in their confusing role as private entities propped up by the government) – then what kind of market is that?
And how stable has this mortgage market been? Catastrophically unstable – because the lack of accountability led to highly irresponsible lending practices that contributed to the mountain of leverage the led to the collapse of our financial system. I hope we've learned that people who want mortgages actually need incomes that support the loan.
The system is broken and must be changed.
Why, in principle, should there tax breaks or subsidies for low-income, or any, home owners? In principle, there should not. Why is house ownership is a Virtue to be encouraged? (But let's acknowledge the need to buffer the effect of removing the exemption on existing mortgage owners who took risk that made sense under old assumptions.)
To be equitable, why not allow tax breaks equally for mortgage payments and rent payments, at least up to some maximum dollar amount?
Buying a house is, in part, an investment that carries risk, and, like any other investment, it should be entered into by those who can afford to take the risk, or, at the very least, by those who understand that it is a risk. I'm in favor of progressive taxation, but it seems to me that the way to help lower-income citizens is not to encourage and subsidize an investment and attempt to make it risk-free (which investments, by definition, are never supposed to be), but rather to extend to the same consideration to renters that we extend to mortgage holders.
"To be equitable, why not allow tax breaks equally for mortgage payments and rent payments, at least up to some maximum dollar amount?"
The mortgage *INTEREST* is only part of the ownership cost for a home. Maintenance is just as expensive, at least after a few years when the balance gets paid down, and property taxes are another large chunk. If you make rent payments wholly deductible that would tip the balance much farther in the OTHER direction than it presently tips towards homeownership.
Moreover, the standard deduction for married-filing-jointly is $11k. You only benefit from deductions in excess of that figure, severely limiting the benefit to lower-income households.
Finally, we already charge zero income tax on the first $50k of income for a family of four. How many more tax breaks do lower-income households need?!?
I don't think the mortgage interest deduction is a major factor supporting home values. Far less significant to the housing market than Fannie/Freddie guarantees. Phase it out over a few years and nobody would notice except for a handful of wealthy people who really don't NEED the deduction in the first place.
Let's do what we can to increase the tax base (and lower rates) instead of further exempting the small fraction of the income that is presently available for taxation.
The simplest solution to the problem is to require at least 10% down and make amortization illegal.
Homeowners would more rapidly build equity, the IRS would take in more money because the size of mortgage interest deductions would drop and mortgage risk would drop.
As homeowners build equity faster, it would create a wealth-effect spending climate in which the homeowner would actually be wealthier rather than just feel wealthier, which would stimulate the economy more safely and effectively than expensive, tax-funded, stimulus packages.
The federal government could fund it independently because '10% down, simple interest' loans would be comparatively low risk… much less risky than letting banks amortize loans as recent history has dramatically and unequivocally proven.
A new federal mortgage entity to directly fund such simple interest mortgages would produce a fairly reliable income stream which the federal government could use to pay down its own debts.
If you want a mortgage system that safely and reliable meets America's needs, then keep Wall Street bankers out of it. They only operate in their own interest.
Interesting suggestion on banning flat-payment amortization, but when wages are going up and payments remain flat, homeowners ALREADY grow wealthier the longer they own the house. You are simply looking to accelerate that process.
It wouldn't have made a huge difference in our situation, but we would have needed to cut back on retirement contributions when we purchased. Not sure forcing young people to use their home as their ONLY piggy-bank is a good move.
Large downpayments definitely make sense. The risk to the bank on a 20% downpayment is much less than the risk to the borrower. Moreover, if you can't accumulate a 20% downpayment over five years of renting, you CLEARLY do not have the financial flexibility to safely afford the house. It isn't just "having a stake in the deal" but also proving that you can reliably put large amounts of money aside.


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1. What we want is, not what we need in life
2. Life is made of relations not with money,so dont go behind the money leaving all the relations.
3. Relationship with girl is like boat travel in sea
The favorite quotes of mine
1. Sensitive heart makes us "sentimental in life".
2. Love is like Tsunami when it comes into your life no one knows!!!
3. True friend always give you true life to live.
1. Smile was the gift given by the god only for the humans to forget the problems.
2. Patience makes you more 'precious'.
3. Don't lost the belief on people by thinking past experiences.
4. You are the king of your life, don't allow someone to rule your life.
5. Waiting is nothing but expecting bright future.


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Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto
Kurai Hime [暗い 火王女]0 Reviews
When Hinata wants to become stronger to protect those she loves, she runs. But, is that the only reason she ran? She comes back four years later totally different. Can one Uchiha help her find love...
Darkness. I may not seem like the kind of girl that likes the dark but...there are sids of me that no one has ever saw before. The side that loves all the blood that spills from my victums' body. The side that thinks of the most evil plots to kill everybody that ignores me and fails my demands. The side that...is taking full control over my once sane mind.
Maybe that's why I'm running away from my village at about twelve midnight during a snow storm the day after my birthday. No body would have guessed that Hyuuga Hinata would be ecsaping from her spoilled castel full of loving Hyuuga clan members. As if. The Main House is a jail cell waiting for me to die so Hanabi or Neji could take over that rotting clan.
I gazed back to the window next to the one I jumped out of. "I wish you luck, Hanabi-Imoko." She's strong; she can take care of herself without her big sister fighting her battles for her. Tucking a long stran of dark indigo hair behind my ear, I contined to sprint across the sleeping village to the Main Gates where they will be waiting for me.
I traced my figures along my sharp fangs. They grew a half an inch last night. It didn't hurt that much. I took one last look at the calm city which I grew up in. All the memories with Hanabi, Ino and Sakura while having our annual 'Girls Night Out'. My teammates Kiba and Shino, protecting me like I was some kind of royal gem that was too good for anybody to look at in a wrong way. Kurenai-sensei helping me with a new justu after new justu untill I was ready for the Chunin Exams. The cheers of the few Hyuuga memebers who didn't give up hope on me. All of my memories flashed before my eyes as I untied my head band, kunai in my right hand. A scratchy sound echoed in my ears as the kunai slashed the medal plate of my head protecter.
"Ahh, there you are, Hinata-chan," A fimailar snake-like voice rang out.
After dropping my last bond to my home, I turned my iced-over eyes with my body to stare into the yellow eyes of Orochimaru. On his right, Uchiha Sasuke, a fellow tradior, was standing with a smirk and his pale arms crossed under his broad chest.
"Sasuke-kun, I'm presume you know Hinata-chan," Orochimaru said again, glacing over to Uchiha then back to me. Uchiha nodded while I growled, my fangs glistening in the full moon.
Orochimaru seem to notice them as I felt his ice cold hands grip my chin. I growled louder this time, and again showing off my fangs while my eyes glared at his smirking face. "It seems they've grown in already." He dropped his iron girp, still inspecting my face. "If she keeps devloping this fast, she might surpass you soon, Sasuke."
Uchiha glared at me. I smirked at him. "I will win, Uchiha. And when I do...I'll kill you," I said with an evil smile. Orochimaru looked over at us from his retreating back. Even he knows I'm not playing around.


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Four people went to the hospital Saturday afternoon after a crash in Provo Canyon.
About 4 p.m., a white minivan was leaving Vivian Park, near mile post 13, when it reportedly pulled out in front of another minivan traveling down the canyon, said Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Mary Kaye Lucas. The crash flipped the white minivan onto its roof.
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Two people from each vehicle were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, Lucas said.
The crash temporarily blocked the westbound lanes.
Twitter: @mikeypanda
Copyright 2014 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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The Department of Physical Therapy Education congratulates all 47 members of the Class of 2012 who graduated on May 12, 2012 in a ceremony at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri.
We're proud of the graduates and we know that they will all make a positive difference in the lives of the patients and clients they treat.
We would like to extend a special acknowledgment to several members of the class who received special awards from the faculty at the class graduation banquet the night before the commencement ceremony.
Samatha Schnabel received the 2012 Lampe-Loescher Award for the graduating student who exemplifies exceptional academic accomplishment, leadership and service and who demonstrates potential for exceptional leadership and service to the physical therapy profession.
Megan (Overall) Wickey received the 2012 Ellen Spake Award for Outstanding Leadership.
Tyler Newton received the 2012 Donna J. Calvert Award for Outstanding Professionalism and Communication.
Rockhurst Physical Therapy Class of 2012
Jennifer Kay Bedell
Daniel Antonio Bowman
Nathanial James Carlson
Frank Moses Carrio Jr.
Tyler Aaron Clark
Jayde Rashae Cordes
Sawyer Powers Davison
Ashley Dawn De Los Reyes
Aaron Aloysius DeGreeff
Jennifer Dawnita Donner
Jon William Dritley
Erin Nicole Ellison
Tara Jo Free
Thomas Edward Frevert
James Christopher Gehling
Samantha Dee Greer
Chelsie Dawn Harper
Mary K. Hernandez
Jessica Ellen Karlson
Megan Nicole Kaufman
Amy Elizabeth Koehler
Kayla Jeanette Krueger
Benjamin R. Lemon
Kathryn Elizabeth Lydick
Joanne Alejandra Marquez
Jordan P. Mettler
Tyler Fitzgerald Newton
Peter B. Nguyen
Megan Elizabeth Overall
Benjamin Thomas Perkins
Kara Diane Poehlman
Megan Renee Rives
Heather Elaine Robertson
Jessica Barbara Rolf
Angela Denise Schleeper
Samantha Ann Schnabel
Brent Robert Simmons
Jeremy Ryan Skeens
Lindsey Marie Smith
Kyree Kay Steinle
Brooke Nicole Stoppel
Tyler Robert Stutz
Katharina Kristine Tallman
Rachael Nora Thurman
Jamie A. Torres
Anthony Joseph Wear
Bethany Dale Wirsig