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Huge product rangeOver 140,000 books & equipment products
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The Prokaryotes is a comprehensive, multi-authored, peer reviewed reference work on Bacteria and Achaea. This fourth edition of The Prokaryotes is organized to cover all taxonomic diversity, using the family level to delineate chapters.
Different from other resources, this new Springer product includes not only taxonomy, but also prokaryotic biology and technology of taxa in a broad context. Technological aspects highlight the usefulness of prokaryotes in processes and products, including biocontrol agents and as genetics tools.
The content of the expanded fourth edition is divided into two parts: Part 1 contains review chapters dealing with the most important general concepts in molecular, applied and general prokaryote biology; Part 2 describes the known properties of specific taxonomic groups.
Two completely new sections have been added to Part 1: bacterial communities and human bacteriology. The bacterial communities section reflects the growing realization that studies on pure cultures of bacteria have led to an incomplete picture of the microbial world for two fundamental reasons: the vast majority of bacteria in soil, water and associated with biological tissues are currently not culturable, and that an understanding of microbial ecology requires knowledge on how different bacterial species interact with each other in their natural environment. The new section on human microbiology deals with bacteria associated with healthy humans and bacterial pathogenesis. Each of the major human diseases caused by bacteria is reviewed, from identifying the pathogens by classical clinical and non-culturing techniques to the biochemical mechanisms of the disease process.
The 4th edition of The Prokaryotes is the most complete resource on the biology of prokaryotes.
- Preface
- Foreword
- About the Editors
- List of Contributors
(Section 1) Prokaryotic Communities
- The Structure and Function of Microbial Communities
- Overview: Quantitative and Theoretical Microbial Population Biology
- Structure and Function of Prokaryotic Communities in Soils of Polar and High-Elevation Deserts
- Plant Rhizosphere Microbial Communities
- Tropical Soil Bacterial Communities
- Freshwater Microbial Communities
- Pelagic Prokaryotic Communities Inhabiting Marine Oxygen Minimum Zones
- Marine Deep Sediment Microbial Communities
- Sea-Ice Microbiology
- Coral Reef Microbial Communities
(Section 2) Ecophysiology: Planktonic Versus Sessile Life of Prokaryotes
- The Phototrophic Way of Life
- The Anaerobic Way of Life
- The Chemolithotrophic Prokaryotes
- Bacterial Swimming Behavior
- Prokaryotic Life Cycles
- Life at High Temperatures
- Life at Low Temperatures
- Life at High Salt Concentrations
- Prokaryotic Alkaliphiles
- Syntrophism Among Prokaryotes
- Quorum Sensing
- Cell-Cell Interactions in Swarming and in Fruiting Body Development


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Do you love books? Love treats? Live in the U.S.?
Jodie Andrefski has gathered a ton of fabulous authors (and me!) for a Halloween blog hop from October 28 to midnight, October 31. You could win a literal bucketful of our books and glorious treats. No tricks!
Stay tuned for details on how to enter in the next few days.
In the meantime, tell me, do you have a costume ready for Halloween? This adorable chocolate labrador I found on Pinterest has the right idea:

subset: commoncrawl


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The Game Director bears the overall responsibility for the content of the joint concept. This applies to the narrative content, the graphics content and the game mechanics/gameplay content.
The Game Director's most important task is to maintain an overview of the game and hence ensure that the overall concept is implemented with regard to game-mechanics, narrative, production design, animation, programming, sound, music, and the voices of the characters.
The Game Director must in collaboration with Game Designer, Art Director, Lead Game Programmer and Project Manager develop the concept for the game.
The Game Director must develop and continuously update a pitch that in a short and precise manner communicates the concept and idea of the game. This is done in collaboration with Art Director, Project Manager and Game Designer.
The Game Director is responsible for the description of the concept and must supervise the content related aspects of the design document.
The Game Director has, in collaboration with Game Designer, Art Director, Lead Game Programmer and Project Manager, the responsibility to have the game tested on the target audience.
The Game Directors come from The National Film School of Denmark


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Start Reading
Chris never wanted to leave her New York City life,but when her Dad drags her out she finds herself in Sunny, California. She soon meets Jamison, a preppy ,conceited jock which at first she denies her feelings for, but soon falls hard for him. Just when everything settles down she finds out a cantankerous secret her Dad is keeping. It has her running across the country in search of a special someone, putting her relationship with Jamison on the line. Will she make it in time for Jamison to take her back or will it all be too late? Join Chris and her crazy antics on a journey anyone would least expect.
Do opposites attract or is it just me? 2
Continue Reading on Wattpad


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Go West
Ross and Lindsey Married
Perfect weather, a truly badass bridal party, and more love than I thought could possibly fit in the Autumn Lakes Family Campground. Ross & Lindsey, I had so much fun spending the day with you- and I wish you nothing but love, warmth, and happiness as you start your life together!
Spring: Archer Avenue
Columbus Darlings
Last year to celebrate the women I am honored to call my friends in Columbus, I put on a marathon beauty shoot. I spent the day with 12 of my closest darlings where I did their hair, makeup, and styling. I wanted to show them how truly beautiful they are.
Beauty shoots are my absolute favorite photos to take. We all know about the Glamour Shots of the 90's- but hairspray and blush aside... there is something to be said for having your makeup and hair done and sitting for a photo. EVERY woman deserves to have a totally glam photo of themselves!


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This small patch of common reed Phragmites australis has colonised a small subsidence pond in Durham and has gradually developed into a fine habitat for reed buntings, which breed or feed there all year round. The plant doesn't flower until September, which means that it produces a heavy crop of seed throughout the early months of winter and this is one factor that makes it such as asset for small wetland birds in winter. Bearded reedlings' digestive system actually changes in autumn to accommodate a diet switch from insects to reed seeds. The seed heads look particularly attractive when they're back-lit by low-angle winter sun (see below)
Phragmites is a cosmoploitan plant and you can travel almost anywhere in the world, except for few tropical regions, and expect to find in in wetland habitats. These days reed beds are often used as natural sewage treatment systems, using the sewage-degrading bacteria that colonise the mud around the reeds' roots. There's a fine example at the RSPB's Saltholme Reserve on Teesside (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/tees/content/articles/2009/03/06/saltholme_official_opening_feature.shtml) and an explanation of how they work at http://www.johnstonsmith.co.uk/fact17.html
For an example of another handsome but more exotic grass species, visit http://digitalbotanicgarden.blogspot.com/2009/12/pampas-grass-cortaderia-selloana.html


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It then struck me that such information would actually be really useful to some other authors in the same boat, more so than an actual review so... here we are. An anti-review Postcard.
The email sent to me from the creator of the comic is an extremely well-written and respectful email even if I didn't agree with some of the content. This was probably why I spent so much time replying it. For the sake of privacy I've blanked out some of the information.
From: mastercougar**@******.com
Subject: A (Slightly Unusual) Review Request
To: firstname.lastname@example.com
Dear Ping Teo,
Do you review sprite comics?
I ask because the general opinion of the Internet seems to be that sprite comics are low-quality horse dung by default. I disagree- in my opinion it's not so much the quality of the medium itself as the quality of the people who make them. If intelligent writing were brought onto the scene, then in theory a sprite comic could be crafted that could stand up there with renowned hand-drawn webcomics.
So that's what I aim for. The question is, am I succeeding? I'd really like to know. Unfortunately, two problems have hindered my finding out. The first is the gut reaction most people have to sprite comics, so much so that they dismiss them on sight, rather than providing me with any insight I can work with.
The second is that the first hundred and fifty comics were written in 2004-2005, when I was thirteen. The writing there embarrasses me, and I know what I did wrong. What I'm interested in finding out is: how am I doing now? It's the recent comics I really need to focus on, ie: Storyline five and onward.
I know I'm asking too much of you. But I really need some good, solid feedback on what I need to do from here. Having followed your blog/column for some time now, I think that you're the best person for the job. I get the impression that you won't shoot the strip on sight because it's a sprite comic, but you won't be wishy-washy about it either. I'm really curious to know where the strip needs to go from here to stand on its own merit.
It can be found here:
As for the plot, it starts out with a semi-generic video game journey, but I've gradually been trying to turn into a philosophical speculation on the nature of fiction, sprite comic clichés, and reality.
My hope is that, even if you don't particularly enjoy the strip, you'll find something interesting to think about, and that I can get some useful feedback from your analysis. If you're not interested in reviewing a sprite comic, I understand and respect that.
Thank you for your time.
Will, or Mastercougar
P.S.: You may recognize the site layout.
I know what some will think... Sprite comics? There is as the author said, a tendency to dismiss work based on the category the comic belongs to. This is not the first sprite comic that has asked for a review, but this is the first one I've thought to write a comphrehensive reply to:
Hi Will,
Well, as a rule of thumb, I generally only review comics that interest me.
I don't have any particular aversion towards sprite comics. I used to read a bit of 8-bit Theater, and before that Imanewbie (even though I never played UO I could follow it, and enjoy the absurd humour). I think the most recent one I read was a WOW sprite comic, albeit that one didn't last long and wasn't very good in all honesty.
Mind you, I do view sprite comics that are made by taking sprites from existing video games and sprite comics that use their own original homemade from scratch sprites differently. I class the former as something closer to fanfiction (or a fancomic, in this sense) and the latter as a comic with a highly stylized art style. (I believe the term they prefer to use for this kind of comic is "pixel art", and will shoot you if you call their work a sprite comic). For the purposes of lessening any confusion, when I say "sprite comic" after this I mean sprites taken for video games.
I am not saying that sprite comics can't be good and popular. They can be and are, sometimes even more so than original drawn comics because they already have a built-in fanbase to start with and they fulfill a very niche market. And yes, the not having the art chain slowing down the progression of plot and story does help. If you are looking for a fun hobby that can be enjoyed by many other people, yes, sprite comics are fine, just as fanfiction and doujinshi are fine and are even respected in their own ways.
If that's all you are after, you can stop reading at this point and ignore what I'm writing about below, and skip to the part about my feedback on your comic.
Anyway, back to what you said: If " a sprite comic could be crafted that could stand up there with renowned hand-drawn webcomics" is what you are hoping for, I'm sorry... No. Not if those comic had anything other than a brain dead zombie doing the writing.
I don't shoot down ideas based on the general opinion, but as everyone who reads my blog knows, I don't hold back when someone asks me for my honest opinion. I believe that to be nothing more than a pipe dream.
This is the part where I probably get flamed. Yes I know the arguments that have been made about sprite comics and how they are viewed. I disagree with with what has been said. Like it or not, comics are a combination, and partnership of art AND writing. You can't neglect one facet, focus on the other, and argue that is enough to compensate because of "highly intelligent writing". Think of it as a score based system. If the scores were seperated as 50:50, and even IF you scored a perfect 50 for the writing, the art is disqualified because it's not your original work, and by extension your entire score.
It's like someone wanting to be a seen on the same standing as a Michelin-starred chef because they can create recipes but they can't cook and use pre-made ingredients for everything.
Like I said, if you're not aiming for that, that's fine.
So much for my view of sprite comics in general. Moving on to something specific: your comic :)
Your letter was so charming and intelligently written, I have to say I was hoping to be proven wrong in my prior assessment of sprite comics. I love comics that surprise me.
But I found your comic really hard to get into. I tried. I really did. But the combination of the unappealing presentation and the overwhelming feeling that it was all a very big rant on sprite comics community stuff put me off. Not because of the fact it was a sprite comic, you understand, but just that as a comic it is not appealing to a reader, especially a new one.
I know you're interested in improving it, so I'll just try to keep it down to points on what could have made it better:
1. Website design:
I'm pretty sure the original Ocean Blue Template I designed for common use from CG comics didn't look like that, and while I applaud your attempt to customize the template, I really wouldn't recommend the background tile you are using. It is too garish, and it really distracts the attention of the reader away from the comic. Please consider something a bit more muted.
2. Subject content is a mystery
Your header says "A comic by MasterCougar". The daily news page looks like a rant about sprite comics. I have no idea what the comic is about in a glance, but from the point of view of a new reader, I'd assume this entire sprite comic is a rant about sprite comics. It could be wrong of course, but in this thing called web comics, first impressions are everything. A braver person than me would still feel the urge to hightail it out of there. It is highly unlikely a first time reader will hang around long enough to read your FAQ. And if your comic is hard to start reading, it doesn't matter how good your writing is, because no one will be reading it. At least consider a relevant tagline like "A sprite comic parody of sprite comics spanning different universes" or something like that.
3. Art and Layout:
Even sprite comics have to pay attention to their layouts. I am not criticizing this from the artistic point of view and saying something like it is just a mish-mash of sprites from different games. I don't really care about that, it's a sprite comic, that's what they do.
I'm talking instead, about readability. I see walls of texts squashed together and tiny, blocky fonts that are hard to read. There is no spacing between panels, and the bright colours make it even harder for the eye to isolate a region as a panel. Space it out more, and learn to use empty space in the page to denote time.
4. Dialogue and Infodumping
There's WAY too much dialogue per page, and too much of it is not necessary. No one likes being lectured at, and no one likes being overwhelmed with unnecessary information. Even if it IS a sprite comic, the rules of good comic storytelling apply: SHOW, don't TELL! And don't infodump like you're doing now.
5. Inconsistent style
The beauty of pixelated sprite art is it that it makes use of a very limited template of colours and shapes, sharp and precise positioning of pixels in ingenious ways such as dithering and patterning to replicate colours and textures. In your comic I see none of that. Some your sprites are "blurry", especially when you zoom in on them and others in the same panel are sharp, resulting in clashing styles. Your backgrounds look like photos run through a photoshop artistic filter. The over all effect is awkward and inconsistent, it feels like something cobbled together badly. You may have a reason for that, but whatever it is- it's not working aesthetically. It may be sprite art, but sprite art still requires attention to look good.
6. Storytelling
You can write. But your writing still suffers in terms of storytelling. They are two different things. Some good writers are bad at telling stories. The biggest flaw I see in your writing is you cram in too much information (like I said, infodumping) and you have a tendency to try over-explain everything to readers, instead of letting them come to the conclusion on their own.
The last thing that annoyed me is petty... I really really dislike the substitution of Z for S in "Reporterz". It's just... tacky. This is a personal preference thing, but I thought I'd just mention it because I know I'm not the only one with a problem with this kind of naming gimmick.
To sum it up: I really admire the effort you are putting into trying to make a good sprite comic, but in my opinion, your comic is suffering because it isn't being presented as a comic, but just a piece of writing interspersed with sprites and lot of text in bubbles.
The worst thing is that somewhere along the way, you've seem to have gotten the idea that the reason people don't like it is because it is a sprite comic, and it in turn might have made you overlook the fact that it may be due to some other things your comic is lacking in, and not the genre your comic falls in. I can tell you now that while for SOME of the people it may be true, a lot of other people are read other sprite comics like Bob and George, but they are not reading yours. And it is most likely due to the multiple reasons I have listed above.
I hope I haven't been too harsh, and that you won't give up on something that you obviously enjoy despite my observations. If sprite is what you still want to do because you love the style, go ahead, but do consider making it with a comic in mind, instead of a just making sprite comic in mind. Honestly, the best thing you could do with your sprite comic is make it a silent sprite comic. Now I WOULD read a sprite comic like that. Hell I would make one like that, just for the challenge.
Anyways, The best of luck, and Happy Comicking!
Ping Teo
Lonely Panel: The Webcomics Travel-Blog


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Parade of Lost Souls: The WILD!
Saturday, October 29, 2016 - 7:00pm
The Dusty Flowerpot Cabaret proudly presents the Parade of Lost Souls: The Wild! This year we celebrate The Wild, where we invite you to follow your instincts and transform yourself into a 'wild thing.'
We share this landscape with creatures of all sort, both the animal kingdom of our wild west coast, and the fantastical creatures we've seen in our stories and our dreams. Let the creatures of story and dreams come alive...perform a wild feat. Bring a wild invention. Dress up as your favourite local species. Parade your inner animal through the streets! Together, we will explore what is useful about our wild roots and reunite with our greater family of creatures for this time when the barriers between worlds are thin.
Returning, as in tradition on Saturday closest to All Hallows' Eve, the Parade of Lost Souls will take place on October 29, 2016. In usual fashion, the final parade route is kept a closely guarded secret - revealed only at the stroke of midnight the night before. Keep checking into our website and social media feeds for updates and other exciting surprises along the way!
After parade, the party continutes at the Lost Souls After-Party, this year at The Legion on Commercial Drive. This party WILL sell out, so get your tickets early! You can't get them at the door, so buy online at www.paradeoflostsouls.com or at a Parade Info Booth. 19+. No minors admitted.
Join in the revelry early and prepare yourself for the parade by participating in one of our many artist-led community workshops in dance, music, art and costuming. Find workshop descriptions, times, locations and volunteer opportunities on our website at www.paradeoflostsouls.com.
Join the journey into finding and releasing your inner wild thing! Get dressed up, create a species, bring reality and imagination together, and march with us in celebration of one another. Let us free ourselves at the Parade of Lost Souls!
Come for the workshops! Come for the Parade! Come to the After-Party! Join us as we celebrate the cycles of dark and light, love and loss, life and death.
paradeoflostsouls.com | Parade of Lost Souls | @paradelostsouls


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Mayor Interview
City Hall, Solo – 27 September 2010
Why do you think it is important for people in Solo to be able to access information about their neighborhood?
Mayor Jokowi: I think community data should be accessible not just to city government, but to residents, who also need to know what is going on in their RT and neighborhood. During musrenbang, people can use data to understand the real conditions in their neighborhoods. What they propose in musrenbang should be based on real needs and actual conditions – not just speculation. Information is absolutely important.
What do you think about what people have proposed in musrenbang up to now?
Mayor Jokowi: Most people propose investments in physical development, rather than social or economic development. There is an issue that the same people always participate and talk in musrenbang.
From year to year, it is always the same people, which I think leads to lack of innovation in developing the city. If we have comprehensive information about the neighborhoods, proposals from musrenbang could become more dynamic.
So if we have a database of information about the neighborhoods, the quality of musrenbang will be better?
Mayor Jokowi: Of course – the ideas will not merely be what residents want, but what they actually need. Citizens' basic needs will be reflected through the process.
What kind of information do you think is important for residents to have access to?
Mayor Jokowi: The first is information about poverty, which improves our ability to pay attention to the poor. We need to make sure that poverty is reduced in this city. Data is very important for that.
The second is data about education – where are children out of school and what grade-levels children are reaching. For example, in one RT there may be children that only reach elementary school grade-levels, and we have to support them so they continue their study to higher levels.
The third is data about health services – this is a really basic need. In which areas do most dengue epidemics occur? Where are people malnourished? This information will help to identify and target the right actions. Data will help us find solutions for these problems.
Do you think information about basic public services is something necessary for all residents?
Mayor Jokowi: Yes, this is an absolute necessity for people to know – RT leaders, Lurahs, Camats, and the city government, including me.
Can data be more effectively shared and communicated using maps?
Mayor Jokowi: If the maps show clearly where the problem areas are and if by using the map people can find a solution, then this is very good. If people cannot find solutions using the maps, the Lurahs, Camat, and city government can help residents interpret the data. Maps are very important for understanding what kinds of policy should solve the problems in neighborhoods.
What do you recommend the Solo Kota Kita team contribute in musrenbang?
Mayor Jokowi: I hope the team can contribute until all the problems in RTs and neighborhoods are solved – especially basic needs related to education and health. These are the really important issues to address.
What are your priorities for developing the City of Solo in the future?
Mayor Jokowi: The most important priority is to make sure children study to higher levels and that children have no health problems. This is the priority – then we can talk about physical development, economy, and other issues in the city. Children are the future of this country.


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2016 Music Road Trip recap
Just back from an 8-day #MusicRoadTrip. This was about pleasure over work, thus I didn't play any shows. And, man, what fun it was. On Sunday, July 17th I hit Knoxville to see Greg Horne's CD release show & got to see other Knoxville friends at his show. Greg was in great form and it was a super fun night. http://www.greghornemusic.com
Monday it was off to Nashville to explore and spend the night before heading to Memphis. I spent the afternoon walking around Centennial Park, getting some exercise (which often doesn't happen enough on road trips), and taking in sites including the Parthenon. I also hit one of my Nashville favorites Grimey's Records (http://www.grimeys.com) and visited Jack White's Third Man Records (https://thirdmanrecords.com) for the first time (Unfortunately the recording booth was down. I was thinking I might record my version of Loudon Wainwright III's "Motel Blues.") If you follow Saturday's Radio on Instagram, Tumblr, or Twitter you likely saw pics of various spots.
Tuesday morning I headed to Memphis blasting Margo Price's album, which I got at Third Man, while cruising down 40 West. I got into town late morning and easily found Beale Street and Sun Studio. In the afternoon I took a 3-hour site-seeing music tour - http://www.backbeattours.com/tours/mojo.cfm. We hit many many important Memphis music history spots - various Elvis and Johnny Cash homes, notable venues, studios - and I learned a ton. The highlight was a tour of Sun. The building next door has been converted into a fabulous gift shop and museum, and to see the studio itself, to see the size and dimensions and be in the same room as many of my favorites was enlightening. It's a very small building. Mighty oaks from little acorns grow. Here's Sun's website: http://www.sunstudio.com
Later I headed to the Lorraine Motel, site of Martin Luther King's assassination. They've done a very nice job memorializing the site and honoring Dr. King's (and others) many great accomplishments. It's kind of heavy being in a place like that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Civil_Rights_Museum
On Wednesday I got to go on private tours of Ardent Studios (http://www.ardentstudios.com) and Sam Phillips Recording (http://samphillipsrecording.com). I'd seen many pictures and video from each studio, but being there in person really adds a new dimension. As with Sun, to be in the rooms where so many great records were created is an amazing experience for a music fan. I don't like to take a lot of pictures during private tours, so I only posted a couple of things online and don't have many photos for myself. These experiences will live on in my memory and I'm grateful to be able to have them. So thanks to the gentlemen who made them possible.
After the tours I headed back to Nashville. It was a longer drive than it should have been, partially because I was so giddy over my Memphis experiences. That evening was spent hanging out with my Nashville hosts, listening to music, and discussing recording technology.
On Thursday I took another bus tour, this time of Nashville. It was on the upper deck of an "authentic London double-decker bus". If you want a quick way to learn about a city, these bus tours are invaluable. I've spent a lot of time in Nashville the past few years so I already know a bit about the city. But there are a ton of things I don't know and we ht a lot of places I'd never been. It was nice to see Bicentennial Park, drive by the Capitol, and see the football stadium, among other historic and notable sites. http://www.nashvilledoubledecker.com
After the tour I headed back to Grimey's and picked up some things I'd scoped out the visit before. After Grimey's I got together with my friend Travis, who has a studio called Strangebird, and hung out for a enjoyable evening. We hit various instrument stores, thrift shops, and used record stores. I also got the opportunity to check out Strangebird's new isolation booth. Travis is fearless when it comes to building things or taking things apart to make repairs. He's creating Strangebird step-by-step and he's done an amazing job. Check it out here: http://www.strangebirdrecording.com.
Next I went back at my friend Jack's, who graciously gave me a place to stay in Nashville. Jack is building a studio in his basement - http://www.fishtankaudio.com/Index.html. That evening I met Jack's friends Dan and Stephanie of Coal Fired Bicycle (http://www.coalfiredbicycle.com). They're musicians who have a lot more touring experience than I do and it was great to pick his brain about how it all works. We stayed up much too late talking; a decision I'd pay for in a couple of days.
On Friday I headed to Knoxville. I got to stay at my friend John's studio, The Arbor (website: http://thearborstudio.com), where we played a variety of guitars, listened to records late into the night, and had our usual great visit. Knoxville is a great town. John Harvey and Mary Podio recently moved their Top Hat Studio from Austin & built their new place from the ground up. It's amazing & I'd love to record there someday. Here's the website: http://www.tophatrecording.com. I also ran into Knoxville music stalwarts Tim and Susan Lee, who are always musically active and living the rock and roll life. I mean that in the most positive way possible and admire their dedication to the art. Check them out at http://timleethree.com.
Saturday it was off to Fayetteville, North Carolina, to see my cousin Jason and his family. Last year, thanks to Facebook, I reunited with Jason for the first time in 30 years. We just fell right back into place as far as being comfortable. He & his wife Mary Jane have been very encouraging toward my musical endeavors, especially at times when I've felt less than confident.
On Sunday I paid for my adventures. I felt tired and achy all day and ended up sleeping for several hours during the day. Fortunately Jason and Mary Jane were very understanding and took a "No worries, your body is telling you it needs rest" position.
On Monday it was off to Chapel Hill and lunch with my friend Jeff Carroll. Jeff is a mastering engineer who recently formed a band, Lemon Sparks, and made a record. We had a great visit & Jeff game me a copy of the Lemon Sparks CD. Let me tell you, this thing is great. Catchy, memorable songs, great arrangements & playing, beautiful package. This album deserves to be heard, folks. Check Lemon Sparks out at http://www.lemonsparksmusic.com.
So that was my summer road trip. I had a great great time and I feel very fortunate that I can embark on such adventures. You can check out some pics on our Instagram page. Now it's time to continue work on the next Saturday's Radio album and a 2017 summer. Would you be interested in hosting a Saturday's Radio show? If so, drop me a line.


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The most annoying thing about this damn leg injury of mine is that I can't do anything much. And everything I can do, I don't wanna do, because it gets extremely same-old-same-old very quickly. I have been surviving on TV marathons, true crime documentaries, snacking like it's going out of fashion, internet forums, and bitching to my sister about celebrities.
I did one exciting thing though – for Christmas, Mum signed me up for an embroidery workshop. Despite having a former life as a felt bridal bouquet designer, there was actually only very simple embroidery involved in that – mostly chain stitch, back stitch and straight stick. Apart from a few ribbon embroideries that I did as a kid, nobody ever really taught me the basics, so I was keen to do a beginner class and start from the beginning. We worked on Purrrfect by Cinderberries, and the class was run by Natalie Lymer.
It was so much fun! And I get such a kick out of finding I'm a natural* at something. The pattern is perfect for a beginner, is ultra cute, and is going to look adorable hanging on the wall. Natalie was a really patient and kind teacher, so I would thoroughly recommend her if she runs any more classes. I really want to tackle her Yuletide double-hooped wreath to stick on my mantelpiece at Christmastime.
This is my finished work. I'm even proud to say that the back is almost entirely neat as well – just one tiny little bobbly bit where my thread knotted. There is one or two leaf fronds where I accidentally deviated from the pattern and didn't want to unpick it, but I think it looks pretty good. And I have the perfect spot for it – I guess that will now be 'the cat wall' of my house, despite not having a cat.
* The long story on this is… after I finished this pattern, my head was the size of a small planet and I was feeling pretty good about my skills. I got a bunch of patterns that were, in hindsight, way too hard for a beginner. I started an alphabet sampler and oh my god, it's a disaster so far. Even just satin stitching a simple circular ring has been beyond me. My ego is well and truly deflated now! I've worked out that I was probably using the wrong fabric (it was grey shot cotton – I think – and the same colour as my needle, which was making things extremely difficult) and that I didn't trace my pattern very well… so I'm starting again. Hopefully I will have something worth showing soon, and not another trainwreck.


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How to Find the Cheapest Auto Insurance for Teens
Trying to find the cheapest auto insurance for teens is an exercise full of moving part. First, there is the task, for parents, mostly, of asking the right questions.
Secondly, parents need to know how to get discounts, thereby cutting the prohibitive costs of adding a teenager to a family auto insurance policy. That cost can be substantial. The average family has to pay 80 perecent more to insure teenage drivers.
Then there's the all-important checklist of steps to take in the unfortunate situation of the teen actually getting into an auto accident.
RELATED: 5 Best Apps and Devices to Monitor Teen Drivers
Lost in the mix of the cheapest auto insurance for teens, however, is another simple, yet overlooked step − where can families find the best auto insurance policies that give mom and dad the safe and secure coverage they need, at a price they can afford, and offers great customer service and easy payment plans?
"Insurance for teen drivers presents a unique challenge," states D.J. Noland, owner of McGhee Insurance Agency, Inc. , in North Little Rock, Arkansas. "As parents we want to know they are safe, but we also want keep the cost of doing this as low as possible, for their car and the car insurance that protects our assets.
Where to begin when trying to find the cheapest auto insurance for teens? In a word or so, know where to go, ask the right questions, and recognize the best deals. Here are a few tips on doing just that.
Shop early for the cheapest auto insurance for teens
For parents of teen drivers, it's best to start planning before they start driving, advises Noland.
"I recommend the planning start one or two years before they are ready to get their learner's permit," he states. Noland says companies have reward programs that allow families to earn a "substantial" price break when adding a teenage driver.
"The only catch," says Noland, "is that you have to have been with them for at least two years, but then receive up to a 30% reduction in premium for the teenage driver insurance."
Get a good auto insurance agent
Jason Hoffman, founder of J. Hoffman Insurance, in Goshen, New York, says the best place for parents to start the search to find the cheapest auto insurance for teens is by leveraging a local independent insurance agent.
"An independent agent usually has access to dozens of reputable insurance carriers, and as a result, can shop around on your behalf to get the best coverage at the best possible rates for your young driver," Hoffman says.
Find the best auto insurance deals
Lowering the cost to insure teenagers can be done, but that, too, takes some planning.
"For starters, your studious teen's good grades may finally start to pay," says Richard Lewis, digital marketing manager at Elephant Auto Insurance, in Richmond, Virginia. "Some insurers offer discounts for good grades, although you'll have to ask about it and provide transcripts. Another suggestion is to opt for a safe, used-car, because insuring a less expensive automobile could/may yields lower rates."
Get comprehensive auto insurance
Bryant Vernon, an analyst with global data sciences and services at Solera, an auto software company that processes seven claims every second, advises parents to ask their agent about comprehensive insurance. It's something he says shouldn't be overlooked when tyring to find the cheapest auto insurance for teens.
CHECK OUT: Costs to Insure Teen Drivers Drop
"That's an optional coverage with a low or no deductible," Vernon says. "It will not only cover weather related accidents (such as hail), but also covers your car in case you were hit by an animal. It also usually includes roadside assistance and free gas delivery if you run out, which is great for teens."
Prioritize safety in teen auto insurance search
Have a long talk with your teen about driving safety − it's a conversation that can really pay off with insurance discounts which is essential when you want to find the cheapest auto insurance for teens.
"For example, talk about moving violations, such as speeding, which can increase your rates. Stress the importance of slowing down to minimize the risk of a surcharge," Vernon says.
Build a safety checklist for teen drivers
There are also some important investments savvy parents need to make for long-term savings, both in money and peace of mind, says Lewis.
"With an inexperienced teen behind the wheel, it may be time to add roadside assistance to your policy," he says. "Also, parents should ask themselves if their liability coverage is ample with a teen driver behind the wheel. Without proper liability coverage, in the case of an accident turned lawsuit, even the most responsible drivers can be taken for a ride."


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Berger talks, and dollars amplify the mic
Berger reacts to 3 judge panel ruling on elections board and ethics commission earlier this year
Phil Berger, president pro-tem of the state Senate, leader of the Republicans and a skilled parliamentarian, is an affable fellow to be sure. But Berger's popularity among his colleagues in the Republican caucus is likely boosted a bit by the fact that he in effect controlled a couple of million bucks in campaign money that came through a new committee set up in 2015. That committee, called the N.C. Republican Senatorial Committee, was set up under a 2015 law that allowed it to accept and distribute unlimited donations for campaigns.
Donations are unlimited because the committee is treated under the law as a political party would be. Donations from donors to individual campaigns are limited to $5,100.
The law came about because some top elected Republicans didn't fancy former party chair Hasan Harnett, who ultimately was ousted.
The committee basically means that Berger wields even more power, because his campaign gave the committee $1.3 million from its coffers. Those coffers were full because of Berger's powerful position. And, being unopposed for re-election, he didn't need to spend much on a campaign.
Majority Leader Harry Brown did his part, giving the committee $350,000. Jim Goodnight, founder of SAS and a long-time GOP supporter, gave $50,000.
The committee's money was spent on state senate campaigns of senators in contested races. It came in handy, and the party retained control of the upper chamber.
It's true, of course, that once-powerful Democrats used to help other candidates in order to strengthen their own leadership positions, but Berger & Co. have taken the art of "helping out" other senators to an entirely new level.
And this isn't just a case of money talking. It's money doing all the talking. The committee enables someone like Berger, says Bob Hall of watchdog group Democracy North Carolina, to "pick and choose which Senate candidate he wants to support in a big way and which ones he wants to starve." A senator who falls out of favor with Berger, for example, may find himself or herself in a tough and suddenly expensive re-election battle.
It appears that those who would like to see true campaign finance reform on both the state and national levels in order to curb the influence of money on elected officials probably won't get much help from the president pro-tem's office. Berger has mastered the game as it is; he isn't likely to want to change the rules.


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A thank you and short report on our recent weekend in SF/Napa--
Baraka - went straight from the airport and arrived early for our 9:00 o'clock reservation. Although it was slightly annoying that they could not take us earlier (if they would just put their tables at an angle, they could really use the space more efficiently), we cooled our heels at the bar until we were seated. We thought the food was very, very good. Great flavor in the grilled squid appetizer and cucumber raita. On to the rabbit and veal cheek tagines and a side of cinnamon scented cous cous. We shared one of the signature pistachio cakes for dessert. Overall, the food was very good, reasonably priced, well executed. Service could still use a little more polish, but I would return and recommend.
Y Ben House - thanks to Gary Soup for a quick response before we left, we went to Y Ben House at around 9:30 am on Saturday morning. Always pleased when we are the only caucasians at a dim sum restaurant, we shared a table with a mother and daughter that laughed at how much we ordered for two people and how I badly misuse chopsticks. Can't really report on each item because we are of the point and shoot variety of dim sum eaters. It's always a shame to go with just two people, we ran out of room long before we ran out of food choices. The only item we chose and did not like was the oversize room temperature potstickers. Everything else was excellent, plentiful and the cart ladies were very nice (almost all spoke a little english to explain the more unusual dishes -- a great help).
Martini House (St. Helena). Based on the "scene" when we walked in and the initial attitude from the hostess, I thought this might turn out to be a disaster but was pleasantly proven wrong. Shared a bottle of wine with friends at the bar while we waited for our table. It really is a scene, ranging from a pair of black versace knock off dressed blondes screaming about the Cubs victory (I'm a cubs fan and was excited, but no screaming) to more sophisticated older patrons and several birthday parties, it was quite a cross section.
We were seated outside on the side patio which is absolutely beautiful. Great atmosphere, and the heat lamps really kick out. I had to laugh at the little "champagne cards," the subject of other posts here and shared with my friends that unless they wanted to spend 13$ for a glass of champagne they should politely decline the waitresses' offer when she came around. Sure enough, she did, and we did, and moved on to a bottle of sangiovese. I had the tourchon of foies gras and the appetizer portion of the special East coast scallops. I did not take notes on the paring of the wine with the foies, it was not a sauternes, but my 1/2 glass did turn out to be free as it was the end of the bottle and the waitress told me since it was less than a full portion it would be on the house! A very nice and gracious touch. My S.O. went "internal" on us, ordering the gnocchi with pork cheeks followed by the appteizer portion of the evening special of veal sweetbreads and salsify. Both of these selections were excellent. The pork cheeks had an incredible smoky flavor and were completed by very light gnocchi with paremsan. The sweetbreads were simply prepared, sizzling hot and crisp on the outside and tender on the inside with the crisp bite of the salsify acting as a very nice complement. Unlike many places I've been where the staff "pulls a face" at the fact that you are ordering two appetizer portions instead of a main course, we did not sense any attitude at all. Our friend had the pumpkin soup and venison, his wife a salad and fresh fish. I did not taste, but there were lots of oohs and ahhs coming from across the tableQuite a challenge for the sommelier, who was very patient and goodnatured as we selected a D2 Zinfandel.
The only problem of the night came after we finished our entrees. We had a 9:00 reservation so it was probably around 10:45 when we finished our meal. Alas, the entire wait staff seemed to have gone missing. We waited and waited for someone to clear our plates. We waited and waited for our waitress to re-appear. By the time she did, I could barely keep my eyes open, let alone think about what would happen if we ordered dessert. The gentlemen order coffee (and the check at the same time), but we still did not wind up leaving until close to 11:30. The only dissapointment of the evening.
Bouchon -- Really like the room and the atmoshpere of this small Yountville Keller "sister" of TFL. Very nicely executed bistro classics -- French onion soup, potato leek soup, an excellent roast chicken and a wonderful sliced leg of lamb in jus with flageolet beans and too tiny minced pieces of the smokly piquillo type peppers. We shared a hunk of a too citrusy lemon tart with an overcooked, almost bitter, crust. As I said, it was well executed, but nothing popped or sttod out in one's memory. Porbably would try many other local establishments before a return visit.
Enjoyed great visits to Burgess, Vincent Arroyo, the eccentric Frank Family vineyard, Robert Sinskey (what a beautiful facility and excellent wines), Duckhorn (great grounds and a beautiful new modern tasting room)and Chateau Montelena (to walk in the japanese gardens, but did not pay to taste)and other, less memorable places.
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Funny Happy New Year Messages of 2019, Funny New Year Message Wishes 2017, Funny New Year Greeting Messages, Funny New Year Greeting, New Year resolution, new year 2017
Please Don't forget to share Funny New Year Wishes to your Friends and family member.
Take care how you meet and greet with people this New Year since broken spirits have no available spare parts!"
"This New Year I'm on a look out for a bank that would give me a big loan and then forget me forever. "
"I envy the mosquitoes since they can spend the midnight hour with you and kiss you as the clock strikes New Year."
"This New Year, may you handle yourself with your brains, but comfort others with your heart."
"This New Year, may you be Saved by many friends who Enter your life to Delete all your Errors."
"After making careful judgment, a brand New Year contract has been drafted for you – make sure to take full responsibility before you leap in."
"New Year Resolution: tolerate friends and family with extreme care even when they burn down your privacy!"
"I pledge that I shall not spend my New Year's Day glues to my computers in my pajamas – I plan to dress up for my computer!"
"This New Year, be at peace with your appearance, you are perfectly in shape – round is a shape in geometry!"
"As people remind you to make resolution about self assessment and correction, give the same time and dedication to your house too!"
"May this New Year bring actual change in you – not recurrence of old habits in a new package."
"If nothing changes this New Year to your liking, just change your habit of complaining!"
"This New Year may you come up with innovative excuses for your teacher or boss when you plan to bunk your class or office."
"As the clock strikes twelve, may you have the stamina to wish all of your innumerous Facebook Friends a Happy New Year."
"This New Year, may you make the attempt to trim and clean your Social Media accounts."
"I saved you from spending a fortune on a New Year's party – I sent you an invitation for an online party!"
"May you find more time to help out the ignored and unattended people this New Year – and begin your charity at home – with your spouse."
Funny New Year Message and Wishes 2017
"This New Year may you come up with innovative passwords to puzzle people to fish out the real one!"
"This New Year, remember to chuck all the old jokes and same stories to narrate at parties!
"May you spend lesser time online this New Year and more with the real people who fill up your real world."
"This New Year may you find innumerable ways to make health food as tasty as the junk!"
"If you are planning to turn a new leaf over this New Year, make sure the leaf is free of bugs."
"This New Year hope you are not tempted to pile up on health food cook books and then end up heating frozen food at meal times."
"Hope you are blessed with intelligence to differentiate between ending of one year and the beginning of the next."
"This New Year may you have newer ideas to accommodate more time for your naps and beauty sleep even on weekdays."
Funny New Year Greeting Messages
"May the New Year be like a trip inside Santa's gift bag that is well stocked with all that you have been eyeing since Black Friday sale."
"Wishing you 12 Months of success, 52 weeks of laughter, 365 days of fun, 8760 hours of joy, 525600 minutes of good luck and 31536000 seconds of happiness."
"Before the sun sets in this day, before the memories fade in this year, before the networks get jammed… Happy New Year!"
"Many people look forward to the New Year for a new start on old habits."
"Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé, George Clooney & ME! All the famous wish you a very Happy New Year!"
"I wish you can evade your boss successfully while using instant messengers at workplace this year!"
"Happy New Year. May this year be as full of success and surprise as the last year and may all your wishes come true."
"I've been waiting 365 days to say "happy new year" since I had so much fun saying it last year. Happy New Year, friend."
"May this New Year bring actual change in you, not recurrence of old habits in a new package!"
"May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions ."
"It's time to start the new year. Let's chill some champagne, whip up some party food, and start dancing the year away."
"This time of year offers us a brand new start. I want to take this opportunity to start fresh with you and wish you love and peace in the new year."
"Every year we make resolutions and we vow to keep them. This year, my only resolution is to keep spending time with you."
"I'm so excited to make new plans and new memories with you. Let's make this year as good as the last one."
"I wish you end up fighting less with your partner over TV remote this New Year"!
"You will be a little bit older, a little bit rounder, but still none the wiser. Happy New Year!"
Please Don't forget to share Funny New Year Wishes to your Friends and family member.


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04 May 2006
The proposed Olympic monorail that is scheduled to come into service by 2012 serving stations from Bridport to Portland along the Chesil Bank has been allowed to broaden their remit to include shuttle monorails from Asker Meadows car park to the centre of town and further on to the Symondsbury Park 'n' Slide system.
Enough Rubbish
The Olympic Monorail has come under fire from pro "Cull the Gull" activists saying that its route along the Chesil Bank will force even more sea birds inland and into conflict with humans for resources such as chips. Planners tried to allay fears by stating People getting off and on the train along the route will be providing enough rubbish overflowing from bins to sustain the gulls in the vicinity. Local farmers along the Chesil Bank are also unhappy as the compulsory purchase of farmland along the route goes ahead to make way for the train stops now dubbed "Fleet Services".
Read about the ORIGINAL BRIDPORT MONORAIL...
I heard that they are going to dig up the old railway line and build a tunnel underneath it.
Certainly the re-opening of the West Bay, Bridport Maiden Newton line together Abbotsbury, Weymouth, Easton lines with a lot of the track bed still being in place would be far more sensible than this crazy idea of a monstrously ugly monorail. These lines could be run in the summer months as a steam railway which would generate extra visitors to the area while in the winter a single diesel car could provide a reasonably useful service. The views from these services would be especially good if the services were run with observation cars making a picturesque and interesting railway service. But monorail along the beautiful Chesil Bank? NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO,


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Scotland: Whisky & Distilleries
distillery is on the shore of Lochindaal, on the road to Port Charlotte.
It was built in 1881 by the Harvey brothers: William, Robert and
John Gourlay. Their father, William Harvey was the owner of the
once famous Glasgow distilleries Dundashill and Yoker and bequeathed
the money to his sons expressly to build a distillery on Islay.
In 1886, the society took the name of Bruichladdich Distillery Co and all the shares were owned by the Harfey family.
Following the death of the manager and family shareholder Kenneth Harvey during the big recession of 1929 the distillery to close its doors until the Second World War when the distillery was sold to Associated Scottish Distillers ltd, owned by National Distillers in the United States in 1938. Other distilleries were bought by the same group in the same period: Ben Nevis, Benromach and Fettercairn.
The distillery was sold in 1952 to Ross & Coulter. The latter society was bought by A.B Grant in 1960. The malting floors were closed in 1961 in common with other Islay distilleries when the large maltings at Port Ellen was constructed.. Invergordon Distillers took the distillery over in 1968. Invergordon became later part of Whyte & MacKay in 1993, itself part of the american group JBB Greater Europe (Jim Beam Brands) which in turn was owned by the US giant Fortune Brands (2006: Beam Global Spirits & Wine ) who mothballed the distillery in 1994
In december 2000 a group of private investors, led by Mark Reynier of Murray McDavid, a famous independent Scottish whisky trader, bought the distillery..
It is managed since then by Jim Mac Ewan, former director of the Bowmore distillery, and an emblematic character of the Isle.of Islay and winner of Distiller of the Year for an unprecedented three times.
Since 2002, three single malts are produced at the distillery: Bruichladdich of course, but also a peaty malt, called Port Charlotte at 40 PPM and the earth shattering Octomore - the world's heaviest peaty whisky at an astounding 80.5 PPM. From May 2003 Bruichladdich is bottled at the distillery -the only Islay whisky that is distilled, matured and bottled on the Island. All Bruichladdich is bottled un chill filtered, caramel free and at 46%. Each bottling is a cuvée created by Master Distiller Jim McEwan. From 2004 Bruichladdich will experiment a 100% organic malt, produced from organic grown barley.
All the whisky production is now retained for the distillery's own use as Bruichladdich single malt.
The independent bottler, Murray McDavid.is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bruichladdich Distillery Company Ltd.
The distillery has been purchased by Rémy Cointreau on July 23, 2012
For further information, please see the web site of the Bruichladdich distillery. I am very grateful to the distillery for having validated the content of this page.
A visit at the Bruichladdich led by Mark Reynier is not so easy
to summarize in a few lines.
There is a good reason why Bruichladdich gets such a lot of awards since its reopening in 2001.
The current owners of the distillery distinguish themselves from most of the other distillery owners by a special philosophy, somewhere between a romantic dream and a very sophisticated business plan, based on tradition and quality of the product.
The love story between Mark Reynier and Bruichladdich is not recent, even if the purchasing of the distillery took place only recently.
The layout of the distillery buildings was also unique for the time, as the distillery is build around a square courtyard. The reason is for easier fire prevention which remains a great danger for each distillery.
The philosophy of the new owners is that one should make whisky as it always has been done, before the great financial interests ruled the whole whisky industry, and definitely changed the rules of producing Uisge Beatha.
When Diageo build the "Port Ellen Maltings", as a condition to build
this malting plant an agreement was been signed with all the distilleries of
the Island, obliging them to cease malting 'in house' and to buy
a quantity of malt at the maltings.
Bruichladdich are also signees of this agreement, and buy the malt destined for Port Charlotte Spirit from the maltings. However, Bruichladdich's specifications are specific, and the Port Ellen Maltings is not able to satisfy its requirements, one of their conditions being that all the barley has to be Scottish. This requirement is rather specific, most of the other distilleries do not really care about the origin of the barley, and use barley from England or South Africa.
That is the reason why Bruichladdich buys the major party of its malt at a malting near Inverness, which is able to satisfy the requirements.
Waste from the mashtuns, essentially barley husks known as 'draff' is used to produce cattle feed, just like all other distilleries. According to Mark Reynier, a farmer near Bruichladdich says his cattle prefer the draff from Bruichladdich. Perhaps the difference is in the making process, the Victorian machinery leaving more organic parts in the brewing residues as opposed to the computerised neighbouring distilleries.
Nearly all the installations currently in use are original from 1881, apart from 6 new grain receivers that were added in the 1960's. At the moment, the distillery does not produce it's own malt, but it still has 4 malting floors. The owners have the intention of resuming malting production in 2005/6.
In 2004 the first harvest of Islay grown barley grown at near-by at Kintraw farm on Lochindaal will be distilled in the Autumn.
The malt is first cleaned in an antique machine (original) a kind of centrifuge called a 'dresser', in order to protect the precision malt mill from damage from stones, nails, etc..
Then, the malt is ground in the malt mill, and the resulting 'grist' is mixed with hot water piped directly from the loch in the hills behind the distillery in order to extract the sugars from the malted barley; the sweet water or 'wort' is cooled down via a heat exchanger, and filled in to large wood vats called Wash backs.
Thanks to the action of the yeast which are added at this stage of the process, the alcoholic fermentation lasts 60 – 7- hours depending on the variety, provenance, and season of the barley; a 'beer' or 'wash' is obtained at 6 – 7 % alcohol. 60% of the taste of the spirit is obtained at this stage – hence the importance of top quality raw ingredients of barley, water and yeast.
The two step distillation process at Bruichladdich is deliberately very slow – a trickle distillation - constantly watched by the still man who carries a great responsibility in the quality of the final product. As well as manually riding the wave of distillation, his job is to determine carefully the exact moment to separate the sought after 'middle cut' from the undesirable 'feints' (tails) and the 'foreshots' (heads). The unusually tall necked stills produce a particularly refined, floral spirit. Each distillation is different, depending on attributes obtained at fermentation.
During the second distillation the 'Middle Cut' is obtained when the spirit is between 68% and 72% alcohol, an average of 70%, which is 5% higher than at most other distilleries.
There are three different spirits made using different levels of peating: Bruichladdich (8ppm), Port Charlotte (40ppm), and the most heavily peaty whisky in the world – Octomore at (80.5ppm).
The ageing occurs in mainly Bourbon casks, as they do not overly influence the final taste of a sophisticated whisky such as Bruichladdich where the quality and taste of the spirit is essential. It is felt that the current trend of ageing in casks having contained strong-flavoured alcohols (such as sherry or port) can sometimes be used to hide some distillation faults caused by overly rapid distillation, poor fermentation and general economic pressures on production. All casks are matured beside the Atlantic Ocean thus obtaining that special briny, salty, seaside characteristic so often missing in spirits that are matured far away in land, in Central Scotland, such as those distilleries owned by the corporate giants of Diageo, Allied etc.
On the one hand, the distillery is completely traditional (to run the whole process, 39 people are necessary - this quite a lot compared to an automated distillery like Caol Ila, where the whole process runs with just 3 of them...), and on the other hand it uses the state of the art techniques for marketing. Web cams, on-line tastings are unique at the moment in the whisky world.
Mark Reynier, a third generation wine merchant, did not buy the distillery at random. He won a bottle of thirty year old Bruichladdich when he was about 22 when he first discovered the elegance of this malt, which he could compare to some of the great wines he tastes. He tried once to visit it, but unfortunately was turned away by the guard. This just drove his motivation So he decided to try and buy the distillery.. He began to write to the owners suggesting the purchase of the plant, but was politely refused. This process was repeaty annually for 10 years
The distillery was owned by Invergordon, who were purchased by Whyte & Mackay, but they systematically refused to sell Bruichladdich to Mark Reynier. When Whyte & Mackay became part of the American concern Jim Beam Brands he finally was allowed to buy it in December 2000.
Amongst the new owners of Bruichladdich is Jim McEwan the mythic character of distillation on Islay who celebrated 40 years in whisky industry in 2003 after starting at the age of 15 as a cooper. He was been master distiller of Bowmore before joining Bruichladdich. The career he made since than can only be explained by his competence and enthusiasm, which is part of the success of the distillery.
Whisky is an alcoholic drink. Let's prefer quality to quantity as the abuse of alcohol beverages can damage the health. Consuming alcoholic drinks during pregnancy, even in small quantities, can seriously affect the health of the child. Consumption of alcohol impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and may cause health problems.
This site does not collect any private data from it's visitors. Is is purely static.
The tasting notes
The distilleries
The whisky
The production areas
|WDTS: blind tasting sessions
|List of all distilleries
|How whisky is made
|Central Highlands, Eastern Highlands, Northern Highlands,Western Highlands
|Recent tastings
|Distillery owners
|Whisky history
|Visitors notes
|The independent bottlers
|All the bottles in collection
|Post your own notes
|The distilleries in their historical context
|By order of preference
|Interactive map of the distilleries
|By order of value for money
|The Isles


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Reader Comments (32)
Being 47 with no available children, I had to avail myself of Urban Dictionary to learn what Trololol means.
Aw, man, what a missed opportunity. If those balloons looked more like sperm, it would lend another meaning to "creative."
As mother of a soon-to-be-groom, this is both hilarious and terrifying. Since I have no idea what "Trolololol" means, I can safely assume I am old and uncool. Pshht, whatever.
I've had the Trololo song going through my head since November.
Why do grooms get their own cake. Brides don't get their own cake. Maybe that should be a thing now: Wedding cake, groom's cake, bride's cake. Maybe everyone in the wedding party should get their own cake. And the officiant. And maybe the brides ex boyfriend.
OK, will somebody please explain to this little old lady what "trololo" means?
Armless dildo--WHAT?
Yes...that IS a nice hat. "John" looks good in it....
This is objective proof that cake decorators troll you on the slightest chance they have.
Love the cartoons! Poor Homer and Marge, no necks and Homer looks drunk (bachelor party hangover?). That "armadillo" appears to have osteoporosis and looks like it's been pre-flattened for your convenience. The Xbox, wow, there are no words except, well, crap. I feel old though, I had to look up Trolololol. Definitely fits!
It has been too long since we heard from you, John! Glad the shoulder is recovered enough for you to do one of your awesome posts.
I'm told that armadillos jump to almost exactly the height of a car bumper when startled, which is why they appear as roadkill so often where they live. I imagine that there are literate armadillos with internet access the world over who are jumping about a car bumper's height out of their seats about now.
I really really hope that armadillo cake was red velvet.
That armadillo is the stuff of which nightmares are made.
The armadillo groom's cake is obviously a Steel Magnolias reference. So sad that it looked like roadkill.
"It's got gray icing. I can't even begin to think how you make gray icing!" -- M'Lynn Eatenton
I like the Simpson's cake. What's wrong with me?
Also, when my husband's ex-step-brother was getting married, he DID have an armadillo cake that WAS red velvet. My husband still has nightmares about it.
For those who don't know it, Google 'Trololo song' and watch the video. Funny. And creepy. (Tip-if you click on a video that's not in sync, skip it and find another)
@SuBee - I'm pretty sure the concept (at least in modern times) is that the main wedding cake is considered the bride's cake (the pretty one), while the groom's cake is an optional item that's less formal/pretty and more comical/fun. All sorts of problematic gender roles there, obviously, but that's my understanding of the tradition anyway.
So, I posted a comment to Google Trolololo song to watch the video. Now I see it's Trololol (extra l at the end) and I had to Google that. That is something different. Basically making fun of or pissing off someone (trolling) then laughing at them (lol). I like the song better.
Trololol are used to express laughter (from lol) after someone successfully trolls another person.
It is commonly misunderstood to being just another form of expressing laughter like lol, lmao, rofl etc., but the Trololol is only suitable for specific situations involving the act of trolling. For common laughter, please use Trololo.
I'm old myself, but I'll save all of my peers the necessity of looking up the Trololo reference. It's an old, epically idiosyncratic, Eastern European musical performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTSA_sWGM44
I think the armadillo looks like a fish...with an um...tail, yeah a tail..
Ha! Love the 'toons. I mean, we suspected some of the wreckorators were trolls, but now they're not even trying to hide it!
So I didn't have to have the Trololo song stuck in my head?
To those that arecurious, trolololol means, "I trolled you. Lol."
It's also an old Russian song on youtube. The original song lyrics were decided to be 'not in line with communist values' by the Soviet Censorship board, so the words were all replaced with the phoneme "Lo", so he simply sings "Lo Lo Lo Lo Lo Lo" with the melody notes.
I'm still not sure what "trololol" is or means, even AFTER reading Arlene's comment and numerous other Google information and other comments made by the intrepid CakeWreck followers. No matter.
That armadillo definitely looks like the type of thing "alien" was in right before it LEAPED out and ate John Hurt's face. Seriously.
That is a great hat. The Simpsons cakes for some reason have me thinking of I Love Lucy...maybe it's Marge's dress? Poor 'dillo is a squashadillo...saw some on the road in Texas, but never squashed.
And thanks everyone who defined whatever is written on that last cake. I'm convinced millenials should be two different groups, those of us from the 80s and the rest of them (am I allowed to be ashamed of my generarion?)
@ belblue
Squishadillo! Pure genius! ROTFLMAO!!!
Trololol with sing-a-long lyrics (I know, just after you finally recovered from your ear worm)! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z4m4lnjxkY
Thanks for the Steel Magnolias references - it's been years since I saw that wonderful movie, & didn't catch the joke (neither did the decorator, evidently).
Trololo without autotune.
I thought the Simpsons one was cute lol. But that flattened armadillo.. what did it do tick off Mr. Bill? Oh man the laughing lol.
I have watched that video, even with the sing along lyrics and I NEVER hear any singer sing Trololol. Not a single Tro passes his lips, just ah. lo, la, lu, yeh, yah, yuh and a falsetto EEE. So who decided this guy was the Trololo man?
I also thought the Simpson cakes were good, even Sunday-Sweets-worthy.
Allison in Indiana-he does say lololo without the tro. But it's in Russian. Sooo, got lost in translation. Lololol!


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How To Get More Traffic To Your Blog
Filed Under (remarketing) by claude on 06-03-2013
Right Now you are losing 98% of your Traffic. I too was losing 98% of my site visitors, until I did this one thing. Before I told you how I fix this problem… One question and is part of the solution: Do you what is Retargeting or Remarketing more important How does retargeting actually work?
Let's take display re targeting first: When a consumer visits a website using display retargeting technology a special cookie is placed on their computer. This cookie identifies the user and what website they were on. The cookie relays that information to other websites they visit. If the consumer lands on another website using retargeting it reads the cookie information and shows the consumer an ad based on the cookie. So, for example, if you were looking at shoes at shoes.com and abandoned the site without making a purchase, you could end up seeing a banner from shoes.com at the next website you visited. At that moment you have been "retargeted".
Basically gives you maximum exposure and makes you look like you're "everywhere"I find who it does called: Clickcertain.com If you're ready to crash your competition this tool is for you it is the last traffic buying technologies available right now. Click here to see the beast in action.I have been using clickcertain for one month now you can see a screen capture of one
my campaign. This is the best way to get cheap and lazer target traffic to your home business.
For one campaign I get 642,748 impressions, 162 clicks and I spend $32.22 in one day.
If you have business or blog and need some free traffic give a try this tool…
The help desk clickcertain can answers any question you have help you to find the right audience for your offers. Also you can run campaign for clients too…


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Our highly sought after math program begins with core concepts that help navigate students to more complex and developmental skills. Based on the instructional level of the student, our teachers use both concrete and abstract materials to create a customized curriculum program. We meet children at their level so they are able to build a solid foundation, and from there our teachers help advance individual math skills at incremental levels, so that all children are able to successfully understand mathematical principles.
Minaret Academy is proud to use the Singapore Math program, a program that emphasizes teaching students to learn and master mathematical concepts in greater detail. A world-renowned program, Singapore Math breaks concepts down into three stages of learning: concrete, pictorial, and abstract. This creates more networks in a student's mind that enables them to see math concepts in a three dimensional model, versus flat and hard-to-grasp concepts. With the guidance of our gifted teachers, students leave the classroom with increased cognitive dexterity that will help them in other subject areas as well.
All Minaret Academy students benefit from a highly coveted STEM program that gears students toward science, technology, engineering and math based careers and pursuits.
Minaret Academy is also proud to announce that our school received the highly prestigious WASC accreditation in 2016.


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Lazarus cooke 2010-07-10 18:00:35
The origin of 'escabeche' is easy enough, coming from the Hispanic
Arabic assukkabag, from Arabic sikbag (unfortunate transcription for
airplane travellers – looks better in arabic) and related to the
Persian sekba.
The arabic and persian both mean simply 'meat stew with vinegar', and
the thing about it is that it's cooked.
There's a translation of a 13th Century Andalusian (ie Arabic) recipe
for Sikbaj at
The etymology of 'ceviche' is controversial. Some people believe that
it derives originally from the Latin 'cibus' (food), some say it's
from the Quecha word for the dish 'siwichi', but many Peruvians
(including Gaston Acurio somewhere) believe that it is indeed derived
from 'escabeche de cebolla' (onion escabeche).


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Contact: Caroline Ruhl, President
Office Telephone: 563-441-5001
Home Sales Brisk and Prices Appreciating
Year-to-Date Regional Real Estate Data Shows 10% increase in sales volume across all of our markets.
DAVENPORT, IA – Surprisingly low interest rates fueled an active first half of 2016 for home sales in our region. Overall in the region, sales volume was up 10%, average sales prices were up 4%, 5% more properties were sold and there were 12% fewer properties listed for sale. View the full news release with charts here.


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There are never enough #heroines to go around; #equality via washroom #graffiti. http://twitter.com/mikeboers/status/515570222770954240/photo/1
There are never enough #heroines to go around; #equality via washroom #graffiti. http://twitter.com/mikeboers/status/515570222770954240/photo/1
CommonMark's olive branch FAQ changing from "Yes" to "We used to think so" was the saddest signal through the years. http://commonmark.org/
I've been provisioning a pile of tiny VPSes (from Digital Ocean) for tiny web services for the last few weeks. While tuning one such site, I made an incorrect assumption that caused MySQL to fall over: Digital Ocean boxes default to having no swap space.
Assuming you want a little bit of leeway in your memory limits, it is easy to add some swap:
# Create a 1GB blank disk image. dd if=/dev/zero of=/var/swap.img bs=1M count=1024 # Activate it as swap space. mkswap /var/swap.img swapon /var/swap.img # Set it to activate at startup. echo "/var/swap.img none swap sw 0 0" >> /etc/fstab
Twitter PSA: The ads dashboard offers #analytics on your tweets, even if you don't pay for any ads. See top of https://ads.twitter.com
"You've blocked <FacebookDouchebag>. We're sorry that you've had this experience." Aww... thanks, #Facebook! *hugs*
I look forward to all major software bugs having a snappy name and logo like #Heartbleed and #Shellshock. #netsec
I've gotten far too used to Postgres' ability to authenticate you by your system uid, and tire of the continual copy-paste of massive passwords for my MySQL servers.
However, there is a way to streamline this: create a
.my.cnf file in your home that looks like:
[client] user=myname password=mypassword
Just make sure that you are the only one who can read it (
chmod go= .my.cnf), and you are good to go!
A couple years ago I wrote about using Akismet to catch spam.
Since then, Akismet has successfully captured tens of thousands of spam comments to this site. However, since I'm not comfortable completely accepting the results from a Baysian filter, I've dutifully been stuffing them into my database. However, it is getting a little silly:
$ sqlite3 main.sqlite sqlite> SELECT is_spam, count(1) FROM blog_comments GROUP BY is_spam; 0|30 1|13656
Ouch. Lets clean that out and see what happens.
$ cp main.sqlite bak.sqlite $ sqlite3 main.sqlite sqlite> DELETE FROM blog_comments WHERE is_spam AND NOT visible; sqlite> vacuum; sqlite> .quit $ ls -lh -rw-rw---- 1 mikeboers mikeboers 19905536 Sep 7 16:35 bak.sqlite -rw-rw---- 1 mikeboers mikeboers 2811904 Sep 7 16:37 main.sqlite
17MB of my 20MB database was spam comments!
In my first post I outlined the various methods of spam detection: manual auditing, captchas, honeypots, and contextual filtering (i.e. Akismet). Lets quickly add another one of these to exponentially increase our confidence.
A few years ago I started writing PyHAML, a Pythonic version of HAML for Ruby.
Since most of the HAML syntax is pretty straight forward, PyHAML's parser uses a series of regular expressions to get the job done. This proved generally inadequate anytime that there was Python source to be isolated, since Python isn't quite so straight forward to parse.
The earliest thing to bite me was nested parenthesis in tag definitions. In PyHAML you can specify a link via
%a(href="http://example.com"), essentially treating the
%a tag as a function which accepts keyword arguments. The very next thing you will want to do is include a function call, e.g.
At this point, you are going to have A Bad Time™ with regular expressions as you can't deal with arbitrarily deep nesting. I "solved" this particular problem by scanning character by character until we have balanced the parenthesis, with something similar to:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
def split_balanced_parens(line): depth = 0 for pos, char in enumerate(line): depth += {'(': 1, ')': -1}.get(char, 0) if not depth: return line[:pos+1], line[pos+1:] return '', line
And things were great with PyHAML for a long time, until a number of odd restrictions starting getting in the way. For example, you can't have a closing parenthesis in a string in a tag (like
%img(title="A sad face looks like ):")), you can't have a colon in a control statement, and statements can't span lines via unbalanced brackets.
If only you could use Python to tokenize Python without fully parsing it...
A friend had an SSL scare on public WiFi while in a coffee shop today. Her browser was warning her that every SSL certificate was invalid (except for
*.google.com). Eventually it stopped, and she overheard others in the coffee shop commenting that their tablet was finally able to connect (it was previously refusing).
I'm not sure, but this could be a man in the middle attack on the WiFi, in which the attacker (somehow) had a valid Google certificate and provided DNS records to point at their own machine.
In this scenario the browser is perfectly content to allow you to connect to this spoofed service. If you are not extremely familiar with SSL certificate authorities, a good way to assert a cert is not a forgery is to compare it to a known-good copy of the certificate. If the signatures match, then you are good to go.
But where can you get a known-good copy?
To answer this question, I quickly make the SSL Cert Fetcher (the source of which is available on GitHub).
Take a look at the certificates for Twitter, Google, and Facebook and see if they match what you are getting. (I'll sit here with my fingers crossed for a while.)


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(CNN) -- Second seed Serena Williams stormed into the semifinals of the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha, while sister and defending champion Venus kept her slim hopes alive.
Serena, who will end the year as world No. 1 after Dinara Safina pulled out of the tournament with a back injury on Wednesday, won her third successive match in the Maroon Group with a 6-2 6-4 demolition of Elena Dementieva on Thursday.
She defeated Venus the previous day, but her win over the Russian gave her older sibling hope of progressing in the stifling heat of Qatar.
Serena trailed 2-1 after an early break, but then after a marathon seven-deuce game she won five in a row to take out the first set, and had few problems in raising her game when necessary in the second.
The 28-year-old made just 13 unforced errors to her opponent's 20, and made 28 winners to Olympic champion Dementieva's 20.
"It was definitely a match I had to be really focused for, because she's a really good player," Serena told the WTA Tour's official Web site.
"She's one of those late bloomers where she tends to get better and better and better as every year goes on in her career. I was probably playing the most fit girl on tour."
Venus Williams lost her first two matches in three-set affairs, and was taken to a decider by Svetlana Kuznetsova for the first time in their eight career encounters before prevailing 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 in two and a half hours.
The American's hopes of reaching the last four now depend on Kuznetsova beating her fellow Russian Dementieva on Friday so all three players are left with one victory, with the player with the best record going through.
Venus struggled with her serve in the first set, making five double-faults, but still won it easily as both players went for their shots.
She was broken in the seventh game of the second set, but pegged it back to 5-5 before losing her way in the tie-break.
French Open champion Kuznetsova visibly tired in the decider, as both players struggled to hold serve, but she saved two match-points before hitting a forehand wide.
In the White Group, fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki claimed her second victory after a marathon clash with Vera Zvonareva, who was brought in after her follow Russian Safina's withdrawal.
The Dane triumphed 6-0 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 in a match lasting two hours and 48 minutes which saw both players require treatment -- with Wozniacki collapsing on court with spasms of cramp just two points from victory, incurring a time violation.
Sapped by the humid conditions, she was playing her second near-three-hour match in successive days, and had one of her legs heavily strapped.
Zvonareva battled back after being understandably rusty in the opening set, winning the second set despite needing lengthy treatment to stem a nosebleed.
U.S. Open runner-up Wozniacki, at 19 the youngest player in the eight-player field, blew a 3-1 lead but showed great resilience to give herself a great chance of reaching the last four in her first appearance at the event.
Her final match is against former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic, who lost to Azarenka but picked up a win when Safina pulled out early in their match.


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As of August 2014, the VA has strengthened requirements to receive a new VHIC. Veterans must now provide one form of primary identification and one form of secondary identification when requesting a VHIC.
Primary ID
Government Issued Photo ID
- Driver's license
- U.S. Passport or U.S. Passport Card (unexpired)
- Foreign passport with Form I-94 or Form I-94A (unexpired)
- U.S. Military card
- Military dependent's ID card
- U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Card
- Foreign passport that contains a temporary I-551 stamp
- Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-551)
- Federal, state, or local government issued ID card with a photograph
- Employment Authorization Document that contains a photograph (Form I-766)
- Passport from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) or the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) with Form I-94 or Form I-94A
- School ID with photograph
For persons under age 18 who are unable to present a document listed above:
- School record or report card
- Clinic, doctor, or hospital record
Secondary ID
Non-Picture ID and/or Acceptable Picture ID not issued by a U.S. Federal or State Government
- Social Security Card
- Original or certified Birth Certificate
- Certification of Birth Abroad Issued by the Department of State (Form FS-545)
- Certification of Report of Birth issued by the Department of State (Form DS-1350)
- Voter's Registration Card
- Native American Tribal Document
- U.S. Citizen ID Card (Form I-197)
- Identification Card for Use of Resident Citizen in the United States (Form I-179)
- Employment Authorization document issued by the Department of Homeland Security
- Canadian Driver's License
For more information please visit the VA website


text:
Corporate Identity
Hyundai Development Company's CI symbolizes the harmonization of softness and tension, emptiness and fullness, straight lines and curves based on a geometric framework.
Flexible innovation
It symbolizes a changeable and scalable design system based on creative and innovative corporate culture.
Expertise in spaces
It symbolizes Hyundai Development Company creating a foundation and living spaces with its own expertise and insight.
Robust reliability
It presents the corporate image of reliability and leadership in the industry through basic principles of clarity and simplicity.
- *The logotype design, including its colors and sizes, may not be altered or reproduced partially or arbitrarily in any other forms.
- * Using the original (digital) file without any changes or modifications ensures that the identity of Hyundai Development Company is well maintained.
Brand Identity
IPARK is a premium space brand changing the expression of cities, instead of merely being a residential area or commercial facility. The space of IPARK targets to make the lives of customers and the things located within the space more beautiful and to ultimately bring happiness. A beautiful space and considerate space that emits more light as time goes by and as life goes by is pursued, by clearing away the luxurious title and flashy rhetoric.
* Logo type is used by applying one designated color (Pantone 485C), and can be used in a negative tone depending on the brightness of the background color.


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|Thu., Sept. 24th @ 8 PM ET
I chop it up with one of the UK's finest spoken word artists.
Stream the show here!
On this podcast, I go Q-on-1 with one of London's finest spoken word talents, Mr. Grimez Poet Warrior! We discuss how he got started in the poetry scene and where he got his influence. He talks about the politics in London along with what it's like "across the pond."
Hear some spoken word at the end of the podcast and enjoy the interview on this edition of the Talk 2 Q Radio Show!
Show No. 522
Scheduled for 22 mins.


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Fishing is a fun past time for the spring and summer, but I don't really enjoy it as much as say bowhunting. Deer, squirrel, leaves, dirt clumps. When the season is on none stand a chance from not getting an arrow thrown their way… only when in range of course, which ain't often.
Long slow nights at work are no help getting my mind off of flinging arrows. These times I rely on previous adventures to keep the fire at bay. Was talking earlier today with Book and it reminded me of one adventure from the late season last fall.
Mud was over and we were trying to get some venison for his freezer. We went to some family land we both had hunted before. Being Mud has had a dry streak for a year or two, I let him sit in the spot we often see deer. We saw two their this season, way more than other spots on the property. I walked him to a tree and gave him directions to the area the deer congregate in large numbers once or twice a year.
I went to the opposite side of the property and found a nice seat in the two foot of snow on the ground. Reaching around for my stool I realized it was still in the Jeep. I think Murphy took it from me and put it in the Jeep, but, I am Michigan man I can take a few hours planted in the snow. After a few minutes the cold got to me, and I decided a nice walk was in order to thaw out. Not wanting to spoke any deer Mud may see, I took the scenic route back to the Jeep.
Once back, I got out the stool, and sat around for a few hours. Shooting arrows at corn stalk stubs and enjoying a great Michigan winter day. Never unthawing. After about 90 minutes a sheriffs car came by, going to the neighbors. Another sheriffs car came by, turned around in the neighbors driveway and pulled up near the Jeep. I put my bow down and walked up to him, asking if I could help him.
He asked me if I had been hunting behind the neighbors house. I explained I had not, but Mud was hunting in that area, on our property. He told me the neighbor had called hours before about someone dressed like a pumpkin, carrying a gun was trespassing on their land. He asked me if I could get Mud and have him come up to talk to them. I said sure, and gave Mud a ring on the telephone and said the law was there to talk to him. While waiting the law went to the neighbors house with his cohort. A short time later, both law cars left, nary a wave or explanation why they had me end Mud's hunt short.
Mud got back to the Jeep about half hour later. I figured he had seen the thirty point buck next door and forgot about the property line issue. Mud explained to me his compass had led him astray. The 50 yard walk east, then the 100 yard walk north, turned into about a couple hundred yard walk north-east and a conversation with the neighbor.
Mud told me once he explained about the mis-calibrated compass he uses, the neighbor was cool with him. Showed him where his stands were and walked the property line with him. Mud said he was glad I had called him because he was frozen to his chair. We ended the nights hunt and went to base ops for some cold dinner. I don't think Mud was just frozen to the chair, I think he had fallen a sleep after that long walk he took to the stand, then froze to his chair.


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[This guide has been fully updated in 2018 to reflect the changes to MySQL in Raspbian "Stretch" v9.x]
You wouldn't think a little PC like the Raspberry Pi 3 could handle the job of being a Web Server, but it does, and performs flawlessly too. Today I will show you how to source genuine Raspberry Pi 3 hardware, then setup a fully fledged LAMP Server (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) along with instructions to install WordPress. You'll also know how to access your web server via FTP, SSH and PHPMyAdmin. We will be using the latest version of Raspbian "Stretch" v9.x.
- Introduction, Hardware, Download & Burn Raspbian Image
- Setup Raspbian
- Install LAMP Server Packages, Setup FTP
- Install WordPress, Summary
My first experience buying a Raspberry Pi 2B didn't go very well, I unwittingly purchased a fake knockoff from China via eBay that didn't even work, needless to say I was very disappointed. Since then I have learned you have to be very careful where you buy any Raspberry Pi hardware. There are several official Raspberry Pi hardware suppliers that I'll list below, but first let's go through the list of parts you will need for this project.
- Raspberry Pi 3 motherboard/SBC
- A suitable case for your Pi (I like metal cases)
- 8GB (or more) MicroSD card class 10
- Raspberry Pi Micro USB power supply
- LAN Network cable
There are really only two official suppliers of Raspberry Pi gear: RS Components and Farnell/Element14. Both sell world-wide with Farnell selling smaller quantities via authorized resellers. Below you will find links to the entire list of resellers for Element14, Farnell, and a link to all the countries that RS Components serves. I do strongly urge you to only buy from these suppliers or their authorized resellers.
- Raspberry Pi 3 Official & Authorized Resellers
- Element14 (main website)
- Farnell/Element14 World Wide Authorized Resellers
- RS Components (choose your country)
- Sources for Suitable MicroSD Cards
- Predefined eBay.com search for Sandisk Ultra 8GB MicroSD cards
- Predefined eBay.com search for Sandisk 32GB MicroSD cards
- Search for Sandisk 32GB MicroSD cards on Google Shopping
- Raspberry Pi 3 Cases
- Predefined eBay.com search for Raspberry Pi 3 Metal Cases
- Search for Raspberry PI 3 Metal Case on Google Shopping
Once you have your Raspberry Pi 3 board and case you can go ahead and fit the board into the case carefully, some of the components on the board are prone to being crushed so be gentle and if something is not fitting, don't force it.
Download & Burn Raspbian Image
Download Raspbian
Raspbian is the official operating system for the Raspberry Pi, and based on the excellent Debian Linux distribution. Raspain comes in to flavors: full Raspbian with the Pixel desktop, or Raspbian Lite with no desktop, which is the one we want. So go ahead and visit the Raspbian Downloads page, download the Lite version .zip file (if you have a BitTorrent client, choose the .torrent as it's faster).
Burn Raspbian to SD Card
Once you have finished downloading the Raspbian Zip file, follow the instructions below to burn the IMG file to your MicroSD card.
- Unzip the .img file and take note of the file location
- Visit etcher.io and download the Etcher Image Burner for Windows, MAC or Linux and install
- Insert your MicroSD card into your PC's card reader, take note of the drive letter assigned to it
- Run Etcher and select the .img file you unzipped earlier
- Make sure Etcher has selected the correct drive letter, if not then change it to your SD card's drive letter (Important!)
- Once you're sure the right .img file and drive letter is selected, click the Flash! button
- Once Etcher has finished, remove the MicroSD card and insert into your Raspberry Pi with the terminal contacts facing up as shown below
- Now connect up a USB keyboard (mouse not required), HDMI, LAN network cable and have the power supply plugged into the power socket and unit but don't turn it on just yet


text:
How We Handle Updates
Depending on your plan will determine how we handle making updates to your site. The Entry plan allows for quarterly updates and the Advanced plan allows for monthly updates. We'll give you a 1 week window to provide your content updates, we'll have them done in a 1-3 business day window. The Unlimited plan allows you to have on-demand updates made on your website. We'll handle those requests in 1-2 days.
Review Our Work
Once we've made the updates and you've been notified via the ticket, you will have a chance to review and provide feedback for tweaks to the updates. We want your website to look the best it can and for you to be happy with the work we are doing, so your feedback is always important!
We're really good at this, let us take care of your website updates for you!


text:
Material Minds Becomes Scaleup OS
I haven't been as active blogging for the last few years as my activities have been undergoing a bit of a shift. I spent a number of years focusing on leadership as a major opportunity for improvement, particularly in technology firms that are transitioning from startup to scaleup.
I've had the opportunity of doing research at the University of Toronto with the Impact Centre for the last several years and that research has really widened the scope of the work I'm doing. This research has identified that the three main opportunities for improvement that aspiring technology forms have are:
- Improving product/market fit to ensure that there is a big enough potential for growth.
- Raising enough capital to support that growth.
- Adapting to leadership challenges that result from growth.
While I'll still be blogging on leadership, I intend to spend more time in the future blogging about marketing and finance as well. In addition I've changed the website to reflect the change in focus:
- The name has been changed from Material Minds to Scaleup OS to reflect the emphasis on the issues faced by scaling technology businesses.
- A whole new section that focuses on research on this and other issues has been added –Scaleup Research
- The section on Best Practices has been changed to better align with the issues faced by scaling firms.
- I will be bringing more people into the development of the site over time to expand its potential.
Thanks for continuing to receive these random musings and given the change in emphasis I would totally understand your desire to discontinue receiving them. If not, I think you'll find me blogging more often once again on issues that matter as technology firms transition from startup to scaleup.


text:
1. Print pattern . Match up the numbers and join with tape. Place along the folded edge of the fabric and cut out. You should have two dress pieces and two facing pieces from the fabric. If using a light fabric, you could also cut two facing pieces from a light iron-on interfacing and iron these to the wrong sides of the facing fabric before sewing.
2. With right sides of the dress pieces together, sew down the side seams of the dress, leaving a 1cm seam allowance. Press seams open.
3. With right sides of the facing pieces together sew down the sides with a 1cm seam allowance. Press seams open.
4. Use a zig zag stitch or serger to sew along the bottom edge of the facing, to prevent fraying.
5. Place the dress inside the facing, so that right sides are together. Sew right around the arm holes, shoulders and neck, joining these two pieces. Trim corners and turn out the right way. Press.
6. Fold over the hem 1cm and press. Fold over again 2cm and press again. Sew along the hem.
7. Sew buttonholes in place on the back shoulder flap and buttons in place on the front shoulder flap. Check positioning by trying the dress on before sewing.


text:
Posts Tagged 'Thanksgiving'
Frank and Andy on Thanksgiving, Goal Setting Tips, and Celtic New Year
In this Thanksgiving episode of Data Driven, Frank and Andy reflect on the two years since the inception of Data Driven at a humble Dunkin Donuts in Gaithersburg, MD. Support the show! Data Driven T-Shirts on Amazon Data Driven T-Shirts on Amazon.co.uk
Listen to this episode


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Zinnia blue card
Everyone could use a bunch of flowers now and then! These ones are easy to send, are printed on both sides and has empty space inside for some sweet words.
Size 108 x 150 mm, printed on 300g matte paper. Comes with C6 envelope, made of recycled paper. Made in Sweden.
Shipped out within 5 days.