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No new homework assigned today - I am not that mean! There are some carry overs though in case students have time to do some work this afternoon.
Parents - I am very short of drivers for the Clay workshop next Wednesday. If you are able to help out with this please send me an email or write it in your child's planner. At this point we only have enough drivers for 11 students.
Photo Orders due November 1. For retakes, students must go to the office and pick up a form. The photos must be prepaid for retakes.
1) Science - project is due on Friday. Citing websites - Citation Machine
2Website Improvement - please complete the improvements based on peer feedback that was done on Monday. Due Friday
3) Photography - tonight would be a great night to get a few shots for your photography portfolio especially if you have talked about Halloween in your Fall write.
4) Journal #6 is due for Sunday night. If time start thinking about what you would like to publish this week.


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Fugue from Suite in C
Fugue from Suite in C is a keyboard work set in 1 movement by Mitch Boucher. Score and parts are available for £4.09.
- Downloadable PDF score and parts in a *.zip file
- Link to download emailed within two days of purchase
From the composer: This keyboard suite, written in a span of months, is my first attempt at the genre. When I heard that my teacher, Ray Cornils, was retiring from teaching I decided to write a suite in homage to all that I had learned from our studies. I had learned the technique of scales as well as the importance of counting and rhythm, and this entire piece is dedicated to those lessons as well as the C major scale. The opening prelude is full of harmonic progression similar to many Bach pieces, and the fugue is a simple, three-voice dance. The allemande is quite lengthy and contrapuntally inventive, with creative syncopation and suspensions. The gavotte is a straightforward two-part form, symmetrical in the number of bars for each section with tricky arpeggios. The sarabande is a slow, bittersweet dance similar to those found in Bach's French Suites, and the minuet (like the gavotte) has a similar number of measures per section. It also contains one of the shortest sequences I've written in the final few bars. The gigue is the concluding dance, filled with scale-like passages and harmonic surprises.
£ 4.09 incl. VAT

subset: commoncrawl


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Personal Fiber
Service Providers
Personal Fiber FAQ
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Personal Fiber FAQ
Personal Fiber FAQ
How do I express interest in Personal Fiber?
Personal Fiber Order Form
. The technical details of your order will be verified with you before installation at which point you may be able to change your order. Atherton Fiber will invoice your $12,000 Personal Fiber License after your fiber is installed and the service is tested.
What are "Personal Fibers"?
n contrast to normal passive optical network fibers which go through a 16:1 or a 32:1 splitter on their way from your house to our central office, a dedicated fiber is a direct, unshared optical connection from your home to the Atherton Fiber central office.
Your home gets a private, unshared fiber connection that is secure and reliable. Once your service is live you will be billed at a discounted rate of $50/mo for 1Gbps and $200/mo for 10Gbps.
Why would I want to purchase Personal Fiber License?
These personal fibers offer complete future flexibility as they are under the complete control of the homeowner. For example, the standard ISP offering for next 5 or so years will be GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network). A GPON is very fast, but it is shared. A personal fiber could be run at 10 or even 40 gigabits per second with affordable current technology, and, obviously, would not be shared. As optical networking hardware costs drop further in the further, these same fibers could be run at 100 or 1000 gigabits per second (terabits per second.) Other uses might include direct connections for corporate LANs, special encryption, multiple ISPs, etc. The homeowner can place any equipment they want on the home end, and we will make arrangements to allow special equipment on the central office end.
How much will these Personal Fibers cost?
These are the options to purchase an Personal Fiber License.
One fiber cost is $12000.00 with additional $5000 cost for each additional fiber – This includes the cost of conduit to the homeowner's choice of termination point.
Either option is available to any Atherton resident. The fibers will belong to the home (they are not movable!) and ownership will transfer to future purchasers of the home.
We have pre-negotiated a substantial discount on internet service for those who purchase dedicated fiber. Signing up for an ISP will use one of the dedicated fibers.
Is there a monthly ISP rate on top of the service rate listed on the Personal Fiber Order Form?
No, the service rates listed on the personal fiber order form are the only monthly cost, should you choose to take advantage of these special internet service rates.
How long are are your discounted service rates available to Personal Fiber Customers?
1Gbps will be offered at $50 a month and 10Gbps will be offered at $200 a month for at least 5 years after our first installations.
What else is available?
Several local Internet Service Providers signed up to deliver fiber services to Atherton's residents.They offer great choices, with internet service packages starting at $45/mo for 100Mbps up to $100/mo for 1Gbps service. The ultimate 10Gbps service is also available at full price of $495/mo.
Who is responsible for repairing and maintaining the fiber?
Open Fiber will repair and maintain your dedicated fiber connection. There will be no charges when they fix your fiber.
Order Personal Fiber License
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Santa Clara, CA 95050-4051
Personal Fiber
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Kaplan Testing Nursing
Testimonials from nursing faculty just like you:
"One call to Kaplan and I had individualized remediation plans for each student within a few short hours.
I didn't think that this quality of customer service existed any longer! "
— JAYNE KENDLE RNC, MS(N) Chair and Associate Professor - Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, INKristen Nichols
Nursing Service Manager,
Kaplan Nursing
Q: What does your role as Service Manager at Kaplan Nursing entail?
A: The service specialists and I work to provide proactive service and guidance to our partner nursing schools to make sure they have the tools they need to support their students. Whether scheduling NCLEX Review classes or providing faculty training, we are available daily to answer questions and provide assistance to faculty when needed.
Q: What makes Kaplan Nursing's team of Service Specialists different?
A: What sets us apart is the concierge-style, hands-on, proactive service that we provide. Our schools love knowing that they have one point of contact that can assist them right away with anything—sales, support, billing, curriculum issues—you name it.
You might also like
Must Know NCLEX and Nursing School Tips & Testing Strategies: (All Body Systems and Areas of Nursing Covered!) Ace Your Nursing Exams Easily! (NCLEX Review)
eBooks (Scrub Talk)


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Privacy policy
Privacy policy explains how we collect, secure and transfer the information or the Data which we collect from the users. It is essential to agree the terms and Conditions, privacy policy before you make use of any service available
Intention of Data Collection
We collect the required Information from the users and make use of it to create the respective accounts, to complete the payment or the transaction process.
Personal Information
Personal Information like Name, Email address, Credit card Information is essential to activate any service which you require
Besides, the above Information is essential to communicate with all the Customers
Payment Information
Data or Information which we gather from users includes Credit card, PayPal Information. It is the responsibility of the users to maintain all the Information safe
Our website is not liable for any loss or misuse of Personal Information or payment information. Hence, strict laws will be incorporated to prevent the damage or threat associated with our website
- Make use of Cookies to Download the Documents from our website and refer it to analyze the website traffic
- It is equally Important to unblock the Cookies to access Our website information
Reports to Diagnose and Resolve Errors
We collect error reports from the users in the event of any Misuse, Threat or damage that arises
We maintain Confidentiality and keep all the information secure. Also, Data or Information will not be disclosed without the prior Consent of the users.
- We communicate the information to the Respective judicial authorities, in the event of any Misuse, Threat, Damage, Mis Interpretation of Person or Entity.
- Furthermore, Any Violation to the Rules and Regulations will be penalized
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We also make use of the Location Information of the users to provide the required service, Activate or Deactivate your account, Cancel any transactions and a few more
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Responsibility of the Users Include
- Maintain the User Accounts, Credentials like Username and the password safe and secure
- Similarly, Not to disclose the Personal Information to the Third Party Organizations
- Our website Go Roku express.com is not responsible for any threat arise due to usage of the third party website or the service associated with it
To know more about the Privacy policy that is available on our website, you can either visit our website; dial the toll-free number provided.
On the positive side, we have the team of experts to assist you Further


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Our Online Reputation Management PlaybookBlog Post: January 07, 2011
I have not had to battle the 'scam' problem that your client is facing but my reputation management clients do have to deal with another head on the monster. If it's not the horrible and unethical rip-off site, it's the complaint site. Like your client, our clients are legitimate and offer a valuable product/services. It's a shame that the one or two negative reviews on the sites mentioned get so much weight. Why should two unhappy customers out of thousands of happy ones get heard so easily?
When I worked at a restaurant/hotel we gave out comment cards. The majority of people would not fill them out but those that did, 50-75% of them were negative reviews. I'm a strong believer that anger and disappointment is a stronger motivating factor than joy and satisfaction. In regards to the negative comments, we would try new things to avoid repeating whatever it was that upset the guest. Other than word of mouth, the comment cards a negative words would eventually disappeared. - but not today - the Internet keeps a record of everything for a long long time.
Your next test should be based on what the best strategy is to get people to give positive reviews. - to help water down the bad ones. coupons, discounts, free cake, free hat...!


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Apopka Police and Fire
|Posted by Jessica on October 24, 2016 at 9:50 PM
Make A Difference Day is ONE day of service that keeps giving. Today we were able to donate 20 bags of We Care Bears to Apopka Police and Apopka Fire Departments. It was so nice to get to meet everyone, even the Major of Apopka came out.
Thank you so much to Wolf Lake Middle School, Wolf Lake Elementary School, the Beta Club and their advisors, Principal Grimando, Major Kilsheimer, and everyone from Apopka Police and Fire who came out today.
I can't wait to see what life has in store for me in Apopka...I think it's going to be pretty amazing.
I hope you all enjoyed Make A Difference Day as much as I did....looking forward to next year!!!
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Chosen Babies
Childcare for your baby begins at 2 months old through 4 years old. We provide a safe environment and well trained staff and volunteers to take care of your little one while you have fun at Chosen!
Chosen Kids (ages 5 – 11)
We provide childcare for your kids from ages 4 to 11. We will have fun activities and various learning opportunities for them while you enjoy the conference! Children will be put in classrooms according to their age group and have a fun filled weekend so you can too!


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Peeps Fest, a family-friendly celebration of the marshmellow confection made by Bethlehem-based candy maker Just Born, kicks off today in the heated Christkindlmarkt tents under the Hill-to-Hill Bridge. The event which is bigger and better returns for for a second year.and has more music for kids this year, running three days — Wednesday through Friday.
Last year, the two-day Peeps Fest debuted as part of Bethlehem's First Night New Year's Eve celebration. This year it is continuing as a stand-alone event with the cancellation of First Night.
Brian Bachrach, Just Born's senior brand manager, said the event presented by Just Born and ArtsQuest was so popular in 2009 that they decided to add a third day of programming.
Peeps Fest will feature three days of live music, games, arts activities and all things Peeps-related noon-5 p.m. each day. The event will culminate with the dropping of the 45-pound, 4.5-foot-high lighted Peep at 5:45 p.m. FridayDec. 31, followed by fireworks from Bethlehem's Sand Island.
Entertainers include children's musicians Yosi Levin of Yosi and the Superdads, husband-wife duo Two of a Kind, folk local folkie favorite Dave Fry, 2010 Grammy nominated musician Steve Pullara and magician Joe Keppel.
Kids can decorate gingerbread houses and paint a mural. Other activities include a giant climbing wall, scavenger hunt and Peeps Olympics at 1 and 3 p.m. each day.
In the courtyard between the two tents, kids can make their own s'mores from Peeps over fire barrels. Ice carver Mark Crouthamel of Sculpted Ice Works will make snowmen, penguins and other things from a giant block of ice. Also in the courtyard, artists from ArtQuests' GlassWorks Studio will demonstrate glassblowing.
More than 100 dioramas made from Peeps by area schools and businesses will be on display. Winners of the diorama contest will be announced at 2 p.m. Wednesday..
Mascot day will be Friday, with appearances by the Peeps chick and other Just Born mascots, the Peepsmobile, Red Robin, Little Caesar, Subway's Subdude, the Moravian Greyhound, the Nittany Lion, Max M. Call and Ferrous and Fifi of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Bring your camera.
Attendees to Peeps fest also will get to sample desserts made from Peeps as part of the Delightful Desserts Competition. Bethlehem restaurants served flans, cheesecake, pastry and other treats made with Peeps during December. Recipes for all desserts and samples of the top five will be available for the first 50 people to get a tasting ticket at the entrance. at Peeps fest. A panel of celebrity judges will chose the winner at 2 p.m. Thursday.
Participants included Blue Sky Café, Edge Restaurant, Looper's Grille & Bar, Molly's Irish Grille & Sports Bar, Starter's Riverport, Tika's and The Vineyard.
Kid-friendly food including hot dogs, burgers, chicken fingers and smoothies will be available for sale in the tent.
Tickets are $6 for ages 13 and older and $4 for ages 2 to12 for one day. A three-day pass is $10 for ages 3 and older and $6 for ages 2 to 12.
12:10 p.m.: Joe Keppel
1 and 3 p.m.: Peeps Olympics
1:30 p.m.: Yosi
2 p.m.: Diorama competition winners announced
2:40 p.m.: Joe Keppel
3:50 p.m.: Yosi
12:10 p.m.: Little Brass Band
1:30 p.m.: Two of a Kind
2 p.m.: Peeps Dessert Competition finals
2:40 p.m.: Dave Fry
3:50 p.m.: Two of a Kind
12:10 p.m.: Joe Keppel
1 and 3 p.m.: Peeps Olympics
1:30 p.m.: Steve Pullara
2 p.m.: Peeps Desserts Finals
2:40 p.m.: Dave Fry
3:50 p.m.: Steve Pullara
5:45 p.m.: Peeps Chick Drop and fireworks display
I got a lot of response to my blog about my son not believing in Santa. But I wanted to share this one from the mother of a fourth grader.
She said she related to my blog and her family celebrated Christmas in a similar fashion.
"With so many children talking about the high tech toys that they want for Christmas or their visit with Santa, our children can so easily be distracted this time of year," she wrote. "It blessed me yesterday when my son came home from school with an essay he wrote about Christmas. He wasn't allowed to read it to his class like the others were because his spoke about Jesus. I was hoping that it could be shared publicly because I think it speaks volumes and what better way to show my son that his voice is just as important as his classmates."
Here is little Nicholas Sequino's essay.
The main part of Christmas is the greatest thing in the world. It all started about two thousand years ago and it is a very special birthday that is celebrated every year since. To me Christmas is one of the greatest holidays but most people forget what it's all about. This is a story that all people should hear and it's about the baby in the manger. There were two people, Mary and Joseph. God told them they would have a son who should be named Jesus and he would be "the son of God." They went to Bethlehem and went to every hotel and inn. Only one man let them stay in his stable. The angels sang for Jesus. Three kings followed a star to visit him with gifts. To some people Christmas is just about those gifts. To me it's all about Jesus.
Out of the mouths of babes. Merry Christmas everyone.
Mock Turtle Marionettes of Bethlehem will join with the Lehigh University Music Department for a new children's program that combines puppetry and caroling at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Ice House on Sand Island in Bethlehem.
"Just in time for Christmas," the puppet show and workshop, which is part of Mock Turtle's Saturday's Child series, will teach kids to make their own puppets and use them to turn popular carols into puppet productions.
During the first part of the program, children will meet various marionettes including a musical weasel, the cat and the fiddle, and a clarinet player in a special celebration of the season presented by Mock Turtle's Doug Roysdon.
Next Roysdon will teach the participants to make their own caroling puppets and teach them the basic techniques for making the puppets sing. Debra Field of Lehigh University will show the young puppeteers how to use the puppets and their new skills to turn Christmas carols into mini-musical productions.
Tickets are $6 per person. For information, call 610-867-8208 or go to www.mockturtle.org.
My son never believed in Santa Claus, but he does believe in Jesus. I have been thinking about writing a blog post about this all season but hesitated knowing I would probably get blasted for taking away the magic of Christmas from my son. But I was inspired by my colleague Dan Sheehan's post about the Kohnlein family of Nazareth whose children are being brought up to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.
I never believed in Santa either. I'm not sure why. My mother's gone and I can't ask her. It was probably because we were poor and there was no Santa to lavish presents under our tree. She was a struggling single mom and there wasn't money for extras. However my memories of early Christmases are not bleak and sad. On the contrary they are filled with joy, music, attending Christmas Eve sevice and spending time with family. Like the Kohnlein children, I too would sing "Happy Birthday" to the baby Jesus. My modest gifts were mostly made by my mother who was a talented seamstress. She would make wondrous clothes for my Barbie doll out of the leftover scraps from the clothes she made for other women. I knew exactly where they came from and it wasn't from Santa, it was from my hardworking mother.
So it never even occurred to me to tell my son this red-suited dude shimmeyed down our chimney on Christmas Eve. Instead I taught him the Christmas Story and took him to see the Putz. When the Santa story came up I told him the history of Santa and how the story came from the real St. Nicholas who gave gifts to the poor. He loves the traditions such as lighting our advent wreath on the four Sundays of Advent, something I also did as a child. And when we drive on the Hill to Hill Bridge in Bethlehem he likes to make sure all the Advent candles are lit on the bridge. And this past Sunday, he played Joseph in the church pageant and his face beamed proudly as he walked to the altar in his robe to play his part.
Santa's there too. My son's not "anti-Santa." He will tell Santa what he wants for Christmas. He sees it as a tradition that's fun, like throwing pennies in a fountain or wishing on a star. And it hasn't diminished his love of Christmas at all. He loves the Christmas season very much. And Santa is there, but he's on the side, not in the center.
After reading last week's post about the dire need for toys by the Spirit of the Lehigh Valley to give out to 2,200 children at its annual Christmas Eve dinner, local company Nestle Waters decided to channel its inner Santa and help out.
Mike Franceschetti, plant manager of the local bottling plant in Upper Macungie Township, will present $10,000 to buy toys for this year's celebration to George Pitsilos, the coordinator of the Spirit of the Lehigh Valley during a wrapping and baking party today at the Holiday Inn & Conference Center, Breinigsville.
The event also will be attended by 40 Nestle Waters volunteers who along with 100 other volunteers will wrap toys and bake cookies for the children and families attending the Spirit of the Lehigh Valley event Friday.
For 18 years, The Spirit of the Lehigh Valley has hosted more than 4,000 people each year at a Christmas Eve dinner where they are treated to a holiday banquet and gifts including toys for all the children. Pitsilos issued an urgent request for toys after Toys For Tots, struggling to meet its own needs this year, said it couldn't guarantee any toys for the event. Pitsilos said nearly 5,000 people are expected at the dinner.
Nestle Waters has been donating bottled water and winter hats for three years to the event and this year "decided to step up their participation" after reading about the toy shortage.
The company said it hopes the donation will help organizers buy all the toys needed.
Families are referred from over 35 social agencies from Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton to attend the dinner at the Holiday Inn Conference Center.
The event includes live entertainment, winter clothing, including hats, scarves, and mittens for those in need and a Winter Wonderland with Santa Claus giving toys to the children. Children also receive a new book from Cops N Kids literacy program and a stuffed animal from the Allentown Toy Company.
Every year hundreds of needy families in the Lehigh Valley have their Christmas made a little merrier by the Spirit of the Lehigh Valley.
For the past 18 years, the non-profit organization has hosted more than 4,000 people each year at a Christmas Eve dinner where they are treated to a holiday banquet and gifts including toys for all the children. But this year the dinner is facing a shortage of toys because Toys for Tots, the charity run by the U.S. Marines Corps Reserves, has said they may not be able to provide toys for the annual event.
Toys for Tots recently announced they will have to cut back on the toys they distribute because there are more than double the children in need as last year and donations of toys have stayed flat.
"We are in dire need of toys," says George Pitsilos, the coordinator of the Spirit of the Lehigh Valley.
He says in the past years, the majority of the toys - more than 2000 - have been donated by Toys for Tots, with the rest coming from local businesses, schools and families. Pitsilos says he was notified by Toys for Tots this year that they can't "guarantee any toys this year" for the Spirit of the Lehigh Valley.
"So here I am a week out and not knowing if we will have any toys for the children," Pitsilos says. "The need is great."
Pitsilos is appealing to the community to donate new unwrapped toys to give to children at the dinner that is only a week away. Toys can be dropped off at the Holiday Inn Conference Center, I -78 and Route 100 South, Breingisville. He also can be contacted for donations at 610-530-4604.
Families are referred from over 35 social agencies from Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton to attend the dinner at the Holiday Inn Conference Center.
The event includes live entertainment, winter clothing, including hats, scarves, and mittens for those in need and a Winter Wonderland with Santa Claus giving toys to the children. Children also receive a new book from Cops N Kids literacy program and a stuffed animal from the Allentown Toy Company.
Pitsilos says this year nearly 5,000 people are expected at the dinner.
" We are in good shape with food items thanks to local companies like Jandl's, Coca Cola, Nestle Waters, and the Lehigh Valley Safari Club," he says.
It's not yet Christmas but it's never too early to start planning for New Year's Eve. Spending the final day of the year with the little ones is becoming easier as more and more places offer family-friendly celebrations. The Lehigh Valley is no exception. Even with the cancellation of First Night, Bethlehem's community celebration, there is still plenty of great ways to welcome in the New Year with the kids.
Crayola Factory is kicking off it's first-ever New Years Eve party with glow-in-the dark hula hoopers, a giant crayon that drops at 8 p.m. and fireworks in downtown Easton. The party from 5-9 p.m. includes entertainment by glow hoopers and dancers and fire hoopers from Funtown Productions; clowning by Polly Wolly; steel drum music and lots of arts projects inside the Crayola Factory. Tickets are $15. Info at http://www.crayola.com/factory/event_nye.cfm.
Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown will hold its fourth annual Family New Year's Eve Party from 6 to 10 p.m. New this year is performances by Philadelphia's famous Give & Take Jugglers, a countdown celebration food court of family friendly treats, and a balloon-dropping, bubble-wrap stomping grand finale at 9:30 p.m. Party guests also will receive a swag bag with savings from party sponsors and there will be a drawing for prizes including jewelry, an iPod Nano and a one-night getaway. Tickets are $39 for adults, and $29 for children ages 12 and under. Info: www.davinci-center.org.
Swim-in Zone invites young swimmers to count down the New Year by diving for 2011 pennies in the indoor swimming pool in Center Valley. The New Year's Eve Party from 5 to 7:30 p.m. includes 2 ½ hours of swimming, pizza and beverages. Families also get noisemakers for the countdown to the dive for the pennies. Parents must accompany their children in the pool and families are asked to bring a potluck dish. The cost is $40 for a family up to five people and $7 for each additional person. Info: 610-625-4848.
Head up to Blue Mountain Ski resort in Palmerton for their 3rd Annual New Year's Eve Tubing Party from 8 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. This family-friendly event includes night snowtubing until 12:30 a.m., music, food and soft drinks, as well as a champagne toast for mom and dad. The price is $45 for adults and $25 for age 16 and under. For info: 610-826-7700 or www.skibluemt.com.
First Night may be history but don't tell that to Steel Ice Center in Bethlehem which is going ahead with their usual celebration that includes an ice show, snowman making and of course ice skating and calling it the "Last Night Celebration." The celebration kicks off with a Skating Spectacular by all age members of the Penguin Figure Skating Club from 3 to 5 p.m. Tickets are $5 per person and children age 4 and under are free. After the show stay for the Build Your Own Snowman competition from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. to win prizes for the best decorated snowman. The rink is open for public skating from 5 to 7 p.m Skating is $7 per person and skate rentals are $3. Info: 610-625-4774 or www.steelicecenter.com.
Also continuing a tradition from First Night is Godfrey Daniel's in Bethlehem which is bringin back First Night regular Dave Fry along with some friends for "Three Generations of Homegrown Godfreys." Along with Fry, known in the valley for his kids performances as well as his adult folk music is joined by story song roots rock musician Dina Hall of Bethlehem and 19-year-old folk singer-songwriter Brittany Ann of Easton. The coffeehouse is advertising the event as a kids show at 7 p.m. and an adult show at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5.50 for kids and $10.50 for adults. Info: 610-867-2390.
And for those families who want to have the kids home early, Peeps Fest in Bethlehem ends at 5 p.m. with the dropping of the giant Peep and fireworks at 5:45 p.m. Earlier families can catch Grammy nominated musician Steve Pullara , Dave Fry and magician Joe Keppel,starting at 12:20 p.m. Peeps Fest also includes games, art activities, ice carving and appearances by area mascots. Tickets are $6 for 13 and older and $4 for ages 2 to12. A three-day pass that is $10 for 13 and up and $6 for 2 to 12 allows admittance to Peeps Fest Dec. 29 and 30 as well. Info: www.artsquest.org/peepsfest/ or 610-332-3378.
"Tangled" the new Disney animated film is a huge hit and a must-see for the elementary set. But, not surprisingly, Walt Disney has taken a lot of liberties with the traditional tale of Rapunzel. Rapunzel herself is a feisty teen who can take care of herself and she has to rescue the "prince" (actually a bad boy bandit,) rather than being the helpless victim.
But changing fairy tales is nothing new and local storyteller Charles Kiernan deconstructs the history of the Rapunzel tale on his new Fairy Tale blog.
Kiernan is the founding president of the Lehigh Valley Storytelling Guild, and often tells Grimm Fairy Tales, which he notes are called "grim" for a reason. The blog is interesting, although some of the earlier tales dealt with themes parents today may not consider family-friendly.
He traces Rapunzel from the 19th century Austrian Empire to today in the his first post. In the older and harsher version of the tale, Rapunzel is banished where she has two children and the prince blinded before all is resolved. Not really Disney stuff.
In his second post on Rapunzel, Kiernan talks about the meaning of rampion, the bitter herb that Rapunzel's mother craves that starts all the trouble as well as some of the themes in the story. It's interesting stuff especially to compare it to the movie. My son recently was learning about folk tales and how they change over time and from country to country in school so it works in well to make a movie experience, a little bit of an educational experience.
What are the best books your family has read this past year? Parkland Library wants to know.
Readers are urged to go online at www.parklandlibrary.org and nominate your Favorite Books of 2010. Any age reader can vote. You also can enter your name, e-mail address and phone number to be entered to win prizes like Wii game accessories, signed books and gift cards from area merchants. However you are not required to enter personal information to vote. Voting continues until Dec. 27 and the results will be posted in January.
My son who is currently working on Harry Potter, is a big fan of the Wimpy Kid series and also loves the macabre chapter books by Nazareth author David Lubar who published three in his "Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie" series for middle-grade readers. The second and third in the series came out this year. My son loved "Dead Guy Spy," "Goop Soup" and "The Big Stink," in the series that follows the misadventures of a fifth-grader who accidentally becomes a half-dead zombie. The final book "Enter the Zombie," is due out Jan. 4.
Another great locally written book for younger children is "Chippy Chipmunk -- Parties in the Garden," which chronicles a day in the life of an eastern chipmunk through a simple story and 86 color photos. The book was written by photographer Kathy Miller of New Ringgold, Berks County.
Bring your child to the library over Christmas break for storytelling and games.
From 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 28 join Karen Maurer and members of the library staff for "ales for a Starry Night." Wear your pajamas for a cozy night of stories, games and songs. Open to all ages.
From 2 to 4 p.m. Dec. 29, drop by to play "Games on the Rug." Play checkers, Chinese checkers, Mancala, Parchesi, and other games printed on the Meeting Room rug. This program is designed for children 5 and up. Teen volunteer will be available to explain the rules of the games and to play with the children.
For both programs reserve a spot by calling 610-398-1361 ext. 19 or stopping by the Parkland Community Library, 4422 Walbert Avenue, Allentown, next to the South Whitehall Township Building.
Parkland Library also will start accepting sing ups Friday for its winter Storytime session which will start on Jan. 12. Storytimes which meet at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday and Thursdays are designed for children ages 18 through 36th months. Preschool storytimes meet at 1 p.m. Wednesday and Thursdays and are designed for children between the ages of 3 and 5 years old.
Trout Fishing in America's family holiday show at Sellersville Theater Saturday was fun, musical, interatcive, full of wacky puns and humor - everything you would expect from the Trout Fishing duo. But there was no holiday music, a fact that disappointed my son who was hoping to hear a couple of the group's off-kilter Christmas songs. Despite that, there was still plenty to enjoy at the 1 hour 20 minute concert in which the audience played Simon Says, barked like a dog, saw a teddy bear sing and counted by Roman numerals.
The duo of Keith Grimwood and Ezra Idlet brought many of their popular family songs as well as a few selections from their new adult CD "Looking at Lucky." Old favorites like "Eighteen Wheels on a Big Rig," "Nursery Rhyme Polka," and "Proper Cup of Coffee," were enthusiastically received by the audience. They also did a version of "Teddy Bear's Picnic" channeled through an actual stuffed bear and the Beatles' "Elenor Rigby,' featuring Grimwood on a funky electric string bass.
The duo did do a holiday song, but not for Christmas. Reasoning if malls can play Christmas music at Halloween they can play Hallowwen music at Christmas, they did their monsters destroying the house song "Big Trouble."
Along the same lines was the slightly icky "Alien in my Nose." In between Grimwood and Idlet provided their non-stop humorous banter. Along the way the duo entertained with various instruments including a 12-string guitar and banjo. The concert ended energetically with a mosh pit of children down front and a kiddie conga line.
Don't miss the Trout Fishing in America holiday show when the wacky duo brings a humorous take on the holidays to Sellersville Theater with two family shows Saturday.
Trout Fishing in America will present the distinctintly skewed music of Ezra Idlet and Keith Grimwood that includes holiday songs from their Grammy-nominated CD "Merry Fishes to All" at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.
My favorite is "Eleven Cats of Christmas," a decidely feline take on the tradtional carol. Anyone who has cats will appreciate this ditty of cats that show up for Christmas. Other silly songs of the season include "Bob and Bob" about two misfit snowflakes who actually look alike. A Trout Fishing in America concert is something that all ages can enjoy as they skewer getting clothes for Christmas; cheese logs, and having your birthday at Christmas.
Non-holiday tunes the duo often performs include the interactive "Out the Window" in which they deconstruct fairy tales and "My Hair Had a Party Last Night." If they do this one, don;t bother to brush your kids hair!
Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for kids. Sellersville Theater 1894, 24 W. Temple Ave., Sellersville, 215-257-5808. www.st94.org.
Pip the Mouse at Liberty Bell Museum in Allentown is one of annual Christmas traditions. Every year I take my son to see the puppet show rescued from the former Hess's Department Store in which an intrepid mouse helps Santa deliver presents Christmas Eve. It's a little hokey but he looks forward to it every year.
One of the other delight at the museum is the collection of animatronic figures that were displayed in Hess's Toy Department and also new ones made by Pip's creator George Creegan of Ohio.
This year Pip's "Winter Wonderland" display, patterned after "Fantasyland" display that accompanied the Pip the Mouse stage at Hess's boasts twenty new figures as part of the museum's Creegan animations acquisition project. The Creegan Company is going out of business and selling off the inventory and museum curator Joshua Fink started the project to raise money to buy as many of the figures as possible to include in the display. The museum is collecting donations through the end of the years.
The new figures include three new penguins, Holly, Jolly and Golly, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Santa and Mrs. Claus, elves, a Colonial man and woman, a snowman and various other costumed and animated animals. Most have been named by their donors but kids are invited to enter a contest to name a pair of holiday geese. Submit your choice for names to the museum by Dec. 18. The winner will be announced at 2 p.m. Dec. 31.
Also included in "Winter Wonderland" are antique animated toys and a Swiss chalet house that were originally part of the Hess's display. Geoffrey the Giraffe, who was rescued from Hess's, will return to the display, with other plush animals and characters, as well "Thomas the Tank Engine" Train and "The Polar Express" trains.
Pip and his puppet show were a holiday tradition starting in 1962, when Max Hess, Jr. purchased the stage and show for Hess's. The ten minute show takes place on the Night Before Christmas, but Santa is stuck in the Chimney and needs Pip's help.
The puppet show's stage was one of 15 made for department stores and malls around the United States and Canada, was performed in one of the front windows on Hamilton Street. In the late 1970's, Pip was moved inside the store, finally settling in 1982 in the 5th floor Community Room, where a Fantasyland was added to complement "Pip," complete with animated animals and people, as well as Christmas trees and the Swiss chalet. When Hess's was sold to the Bon Ton, the store continued to present "Pip," until December, 1995, when "Pip" was last performed. The Bon Ton donated "Pip" to the Allentown Economic and Development Corporation in 1996. Joint custody of "Pip" was
given to the Liberty Bell Museum and the Allentown Public Library in 2003. The museum restored the
original stage and audio soundtrack and has presented the traditional "Pip: the Mouse Before Christmas" puppet show ever since.
Pip is presented at noon, 1 and 2 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; and 10 and 11 a.m., noon, 1 and 2 p.m. Wednesdays through Dec. 31 with no shows on Dec. 24 and 25.
Liberty Bell Shrine, 622 Hamilton St., Allentown, 610-435-4232. www.libertybellshrine.com.
Two graduates from Muhlenberg College in Allentown create magic onstage in the one-of-a-kind production of Cinderella now showing through Jan. 2 at Enchantment Theatre Company in Philadelphia.
The show which tells the classic fairy tale through innovative life-sized puppets, masks and magic features Zachary Chiero as a Stepsister and Jamie McKittrick as the Fairy Godmother.
Chiero, who graduated in 2009, was seen locally in Muhlenberg's "Forever Plaid," and the children's production "A Year With Frog and Toad."
McKittrick, who graduated from Muhlenberg in 2004, helped the company develop its acclaimed production of "The Velveteen Rabbit" with which she toured internationally as well as acting in a touring production of "Cinderella." She currently teaches drama program at Roberto Clemente Charter School in Allentown and produced a rock version version of "Antigones" with the students last year.
In addition to Chiero and McKitrick, "Cinderella," adapted and directed by Leslie Reidel, stars Stacey Cristaldi as Cinderella; Scott McPheeters as the Prince; Ahren Potratz as Cinderella's Father and Terry Brennan as a Stepsister.
There are special events for kids on weekends including creative activities in the theater lobby. There will be a "Free Franklin Fountain Ice Cream Social" Saturday and "Learn to Waltz at the Prince's Ball" on Dec. 18. On "Grandparents' Day" Dec. 19, get a child's ticket at half price with the purchase of a senior ticket.
Also on weekends and the week between Christmas and New Year, there is a workshop available after the show at which participants can go onstage and get an up-close look at puppets, masks, costumes, props, and scenery. they also will learn to do some magic and make a mask. Workshops are for ages 5 and up and cost $10 per person.
Enchantment Theatre Company, founded in 1979 by Jennifer Blatchley Smith and Landis Smith, is committed to becoming the city's theatrical group for children and families. Each year the company has presented a holiday production, including such favorites as "The Snow Queen," "Beauty and the Beast," "The Velveteen Rabbit," and "The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon." Enchantment's original productions have toured all over the world.
Shows are at The Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut Street, in Philadelphia. Ticket prices are $29 for adults, $17 for children. Info:215-893-1999 or by visiting www.enchantmenttheatre.org.
My son has been taking piano lessons for three years and one of his most treasured music books is a book of Christmas songs from 1969 that belonged to my mother. My mother always loved playing piano and I have wonderful memories of us standing around the piano singing Christmas carols from this very same book. It's amazing how music has the power to transcend time and place. I always regretted that I never learned to play piano. So when my son showed some musical aptitude I immediately started him on lessons. Now, he would make my mother, who died when he was three, very proud.
He loves to go through the vintage book which boasts 104 "giant Christmas songs" and play things randomly. Of course there are all the classics, O Holy Night, Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman, but it's the more obscure songs that really intrigue him. Some may have been popular in the late 1960s and have long dropped off the radar.
One of these is this little gem called Santa's Using Zebras Now. My son had to pick a song for a recital and said he'd like to do this song. Both his teacher and I said "What?" Neither of us had ever heard of it. Turns out it's a cute song with funny lyrics and an engaging tune. So he's going to do it. He also said he likes playing Thirty Two Feet and Eight Little Tails, another cute song I never heard of.
One of the great things about kids is they have no preconceived notions. He's probably played every song in his grandmother's Christmas book at least once and they are all the same to him. There are no greatest Christmas hits in his mind and I am learning some new old Christmas songs myself. He also loves playing marches on the piano, so I have become very familiar with March of the Toys and March of the Three Kings.
I am so glad music is such a huge part of my son's life as it was for me when I was growing up. And that poor book. It has been used so hard and with such love that the binding is coming apart and I've had to use Scotch tape to hold it together. So it was with a happy heart that I discovered a used copy on-line in "very good" condition for only $8. It will be an early Christmas present for us all!
Lafayette College is hosting a crane folding party from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 11 to help David Heard, a 10-year-old Easton boy with a rare form of cancer, who wants to donate a set of 1,000 paper cranes to every pediatric cancer center in the country as a symbol of hope.
Close to 300 people are planning to join David Saturday to help him fold the 220,000 cranes the boy will need to meet his goal. David will be joined by his family in the lounge on the third floor of the Allan P. Kirby Sports Center on Lafayette's campus.
David got the idea to fold paper cranes after seeing a student performance of the play "A Thousand Cranes" at Lafayette College, which is based on the true story of 12-year-old girl in Japan, who developed leukemia after the atomic bombing of her hometown of Hiroshima during World War II.
According to Japanese legend, anyone who folds 1,000 origami cranes will get one wish. Hoping to regain her health, she starts folding cranes but dies before making a full set.
Play director Mary Jo Lodge and the Lafayette students gave David the 1,000 paper cranes from the play and he donated them to the pediatric cancer ward of Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg.
Two years ago, David was diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma, a rare and often deadly cancer of the nervous system that strikes about 750 children a year. he underwent treatment at LVH, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia and Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York City. He relapsed in July after six months in remission.
David decided he wanted to give a set of cranes to each of the five hospitals where he's been treated but has since expanded his goal. When a story about David and his goal ran in the Morning Call, cranes started pouring in from all over the country and so far David has received more than 10,000 of the folded paper figures.
The event is free and all ages are welcome. No folding experience is required. Snacks will be provided.
Singer/songwriter Kira Willey of Bethlehem will unveil some brand new songs of the season at her KidTunes show at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Banana Factory in Bethlehem and is giving away one of the new tracks as an MP3 as an early holiday present. See below.
Willey, known for her music-based yoga program for kids called Fireflies Musical Yoga and the yoga-inspired tunes on her debut CD "Dance for the Sun," has released a new holiday EP with six songs, including the original song, "Baby it's the Holidays Again."
Willey has printed a limited run of the new CD and will have them for sale Saturday. She also will have new kids' yoga kits and as well as "teeny yogini" organic cotton T-shirts in sizes from 12 months to 7 years.
She will play songs off the new disc and promises there also will be some children's yoga, fiddle-playing and Irish dancing. Willey will be joined by Zak Rizvi on guitar and Alex Luquet on bass.
Tickets are $9 and can be purchased at the door, at www.artsquest.org/kidtunes or at 610-332-1300.
She also will perform in New York at 11:30 a.m. Sunday at the Rockin' Holiday Party at The Bell House in Brooklyn, opening for children's musician Suzi Shelton. Info: www.thebellhouseny.com/calendar.php.
Willey's song, "Colors," from "Dance for The Sun" gained national attention when it was featured on Dell's laptop ad campaign in 2008. More information on Willey is at www.firefliesyoga.com.
The noted New York children's book store Books of Wonder will host a live performance and web chat noon to 2 p.m. Saturday with Sandra Boynton on the release of her new picture book, "Amazing Cows."
Boynton and her collaborater Michael Ford will present a 15-minute stage show of three songs from their book/CD sets "Philadelphia Chickens" and "Blue Moo." The songs will be performed by their original singers: The Sparklets ("Blue Moo 62"), Keith Boynton and Graham Stone ("Be Like a Duck") and Caitlin McEwan ("Faraway Cookies").
"Amazing Cows" is a full-color children's book packed with an offbeat collection of cow-centric stories, poems, jokes, songs, games, comics and more. Books of Wonder (18 West 18th Street between 5th and 6th Aves) also is hosting the first ever New York City gallery exhibit of Boynton artwork.
Come back Saturday at noon to watch the performance live.
Donate a toy to Toys for Tots and get $2 off admission to Crayola Factory in Easton.
Through Dec. 10, visitors to Crayola Factory can make donations to the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots annual holiday toy drive, the drive is looking for books, games, sports equipment, and toys that help the educational, social and recreational development of children. Donations should be new, unwrapped, and non-plush toys.
The Marine Corp Reserves will be at The Crayola Factory from 10 a.m. to noon Dec. 10 to greet visitors, help with projects and pick up the donated toys.
Last year in partnership with four regional Salvation Armies, Toys for Tots gave 58,000 toys to 38,000 local children and the need is still great. For information on donations log onto toysfortots.org.
This past year they have been hotter than hot. Every elementary school kid seemed to have the stretchy bands shaped like animals, guitars and even food. Silly Bandz became THE kid collectible. Kids traded the shapes and stacked them on their wrists. School even started banning them saying there were a distraction in the classroom. Yahoo which just published a list of the top 10 obsessions for 2010 gave the ubiquitous bands number 9. In fact it was only item for young kids on the list which also included iPhone, iPads and Jersey Shore. Everyone jumped on the bandz-wagon. There are Disney bandz, fundraiser bandz, sports team bandz and even teen sensation Justin Bieber put out his own line of Silly Bandz.
So what makes me think the bandz are on their way out?
The first clue was on Halloween. I took my son to New York for Kids Night on Broadway Oct. 31 and as part of the festivities they let the kids go trick or treating at the Broadway shows. Most of them gave out the typical tiny candy, but to my surprise the musical "The Addams Family" gave the kids each a pack of official "Addams Family" Silly Bandz. Kind of a high-end treat for Halloween I thought. Then I saw really cheap bands at Ollie's. But they were knock-offs and generic unexciting shapes like "garden." But last week, at Weis they had bins of bandz on clearance for 50 cents and they were not the junky ones. They were licensed characters such as Spiderman, Toy Story and Cinderella. When something turns up in the clearance bin, it's a sign that it's no longer selling.
Maybe it's saturation. Kids have just gotten so many Silly Bandz that the lure of new ones has faded. My son doesn't wear them like he used to. It seems like Silly Bandz are another one of those fads that came and went in the space of a year.
Riegelsville children's musician Daria is giving away three wonderful goodie baskets of musical instruments from around the globe to encourages families to make beautiful music during the holidays on her award-winning website.
The gift baskets include an ocarina from Peru, a cricket chirper from Vietnam and a seed rattle shaker from Africa. All families need to do to be entered in the giveaway is sign up for Daria's free monthly newsletter until December 15 and they are registered to win.
Also just in time for the holidays the Grammy-nominated artist has released a mini-CD of holiday music including two Hanukkah songs - "The Dreydl Song," and "Ocho Candelikas" (Eight Little Candles) which she sings in English and Sephartic.
Sample a track from the CD with Daria's free download of "Feliz Navidad," as part of her monthly song giveaway. Also downloadable on her website are directions to play the dreydl game, directions to make jungle bell shakers and lyrics for several of the songs on the CD.
Information about the holiday CD can be found here.
On Daria's web site, you also can find directions to make homemade didgeridoo's, box drums, guiros and more. Daria's website won a 2009 Parent's Choice Award as a best place for kids to learn about world music on the web. Daria also has released 5 world music CDs including the Grammy-nominated "Grandchildren's Delight."
Daria, who travels around the world performing her music, also is helping to find a way to support some of the communities she visits, many of which deal with crushing economic conditions such as the San Juan de Miraflores barrio in Lima, Peru, inner city schools in Philadelphia and several of the Native American reservations where she actively does culture exchanges. Pictures from many of these projects can be seen on her website.
Are you already feeling like the kids can't see past the newest iPod and X-Box? Bring the focus back to the true meaning of the season by encouraging the kids to make a pledge to perform some type of service at www.generationOn.org.
For every service pledge made between Friday and Dec. 10, a toy will be donated to the Toys for Tots Holiday Gift Campaign, up to 100,000 total toys.
GenerationOn, a newly-created youth service division of the Points of Light Institute and the largest youth volunteer action organization in the nation, has hundreds of service suggestions at the group's web site.
The ideas include collecitng canned goods for a food pantry; taking outgrown clothes to the Salvation Army or Goodwill; playing board games with seniors; reading to younger children at the library; taking toys to kids in the hospital; picking up trash in a park; rake an older neighbor's leaves or send a letter and goodies to a soldier. There are many more, as well as printable directions for service projects.
The organization hopes to encourage youth service to inspire kids to get involved in bringing positive change to their communities. GenerationOn brings the youth service organizations and programs under one umbrella and includes more than 30 programs, 1,800 Kids Care Clubs and thousands of schools that engage more than two million young people in all 50 states and internationally.


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Pumpkin Pie Spice - 6oz $9.99


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Have a tough day or week at work? Did you know that can actually have an affect on your physical health? Learn about the connection between emotional and mental health and your physical health from Dr. Nalini Chilkov in this video.
Healing Childhood Emotional Wounds
|By: Shina Kelani
The fact is that this is not necessarily true. Trauma can come in many forms and is determined by either the intensity of the threat or the weakness and vulnerability of the defenses.
It is well recognized that children are particularly vulnerable, not necessarily because they are weak but because of their inherent limited understanding.
This lack of capacity to understand often means that they are vulnerable to situations that an adult would easily deal with.
Often the wounds we suffer in childhood are often still with us in adulthood and leads to a condition of learned helplessness. Learned helplessness creates dysfunction and leads to emotional confusion and stunted creativity.
It is characterized by self-sabotage and is frustrating and can lead to depression and despair.
The normal journey of a human being is that we grow from childhood to full adulthood and as we grow we mature physically, mentally and emotionally. This maturing process enables us to live with creative power, but if we do not mature emotionally then we are living in the emotional reactions of a frightened child.
This is the condition that constitutes learned helplessness and recovery from it requires that you heal the residual wounds of the original trauma.
Much therapy in this area attempts to overcome the condition by trying to understand what caused the original trauma. There is much evidence to show that this approach is often less than successful. The problem is that the ego defenses of the frightened child are so powerful that letting go of them is very frightening. What must be remembered is that these defenses are there for one very important reason; they have worked, at least to the satisfaction of the child.
Healing childhood emotional wounds
Human beings are programmed to repeat what works best. This is a part of our evolutionary journey. Re-programming the ego takes time and lots of trust. Trusting in a new way quickly is very challenging to many people whose trust has been undermined during the original trauma.
All 12 Step recovery programmes are of the 'educational variety'. What needs to be educated is the damaged ego. All healing is really a release from the past and this enables us to live with freedom in the present without the excess baggage of past hurts weighing us down.
Trauma is any experience that interferes with a child's sense of security and if this sense of insecurity is carried into adulthood, it leads to much emotional suffering. Many people living in this condition believe that their suffering is coming from their environment, but it is in fact coming from within themselves because of their outdated instinctive response to their environment.
A honest inventory of their instinctive responses will show the reality of their predicament and gives them the much needed power to change. This is the basis of spiritual or emotional recovery.
In short, the adult with the childhood responses needs to learn how to respond in a more adult like fashion. This will immediately lessen the psychic pain and allow recovery to take place.
The problem with the childhood responses is that they once worked very well according to the limited understanding of the frightened child, but now that you have grown to adulthood these responses have become a liability and rather than solve the problem of the trauma they now prolong it. They are both the cause of the problem and the consequence of it.
This vicious circle must be broken in order for real change and progress to be made. Trusting in this process and taking action will lead to a fundamental personality change, which will of itself, lead to a more satisfying and fulfilled life
Social interaction reduces the risk of mental and emotional health issues such as depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders and eating disorders to mention but a few. Conversely, the lack of social interaction leaves adults feeling lonely and depressed, having a high blood pressure and ultimately having a greater risk of death. Lifewalk would help you reach comfort through social interactivity to overcome emotional pain through talk therapy. e: firstname.lastname@example.com w: https://www.lifewalk.com.ng


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BC Cancer Agency Educational Program: Brain Strength
On Monday, December 4th, join the BC Cancer Agency in Victoria for BRAIN STRENGTH: A workshop for people experiencing cancer-related brain fog. When: December 4th, 2017 1:00-3:00pm Where: Patient … Continue reading
Ovarian Cancer 101 Webinar
Join us for the Ovarian Cancer 101 Webinar to learn more about ovarian cancer including an overview, the subtypes of the disease, different responses to treatment, and new treatment opportunities. … Continue reading
Giving Tuesday
This year Ovarian Cancer Canada is participating in Giving Tuesday. For those who do not know what Giving Tuesday is, it is a Canadian movement for giving and volunteering, taking place … Continue reading
Celebration of Science Public Lecture
This "Celebration of Science" lecture is a free event that will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Monday November 6th. It will showcase the achievements of Dr. Connie … Continue reading
The IGA Sunflower Program is Back
Fall into autumn with a beautiful bouquet with sunflowers. From October 6th to November 2nd, IGA will sell each bouquet for $14.99 and generously donate $2 of the proceeds to … Continue reading


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Join us during the season of Lent on Sunday nights at St. Luke the Evangelist Episcopal Church, conveniently located on Wheeler between the UH and TSU campuses, for a student-centered Eucharist and community meal. We promise that you will go home with leftovers, fresh insights into the gospel, and food for thought and prayer.
On April 9, Palm Sunday, Bishop Andy Doyle will make his first visitation to the Houston Canterbury community. He is looking forward to joining us for the Eucharist and conversation over dinner, so mark your calendars!


text: The Peoples Bank wants to work for you and your business. We offer business checking accounts to help you manage the day to day finances of your business, savings accounts to aid your business in saving for a rainy day and small business loans to fund the growing needs of your business. We also provide merchant services so that you will have the capability of offering different payment options to your customers. Please let us know how we can work for you and your business.


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Global Connect Philly
Spring Break
Dinner Club
Friday Night Connection
English Chats
Penn Grad Christian Fellowship
Meet The Team
International Student or Scholar?
We hope our city feels like home! We are a network of Christians in Philadelphia that seek to serve international students and scholars of all faiths and cultures through
friendship, fun activities, English conversation, and spiritual support.
We work with students at many area universities including Penn, Drexel, Temple, Jefferson and others.
Join us!
!We are here for you
We have all lived in another culture. We understand the homesickness and the desire to meet friends! Don't let your studies keep you from connecting with others. Join us for any or all of our events. Let us know how we can help you. We are here for you.
Our services and events are open to any international student or their family member studying at University of Pennsylvania, Drexel, The University of the Sciences, or CHOP. We are open to all faiths and cultures.
Check out our calendar page or sign up for our weekly event newsletter so you don't miss out!
We offer English conversational groups, Bible discussion groups, sightseeing trips, social activities, holiday celebrations, movie discussion evenings, and practical services like residences for internationals and airport pickups.
We meet in a variety of locations on campus and off including American homes!


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Paris property prices up 10.6%
Prices for Parisian 'pieds-a-terre' are strongly up on the same period last year according to a recent study. The average property price has for the first time broken the €7000 per square meter barrier. Transaction numbers are now at the average levels seen during the boom years of 1999 to 2007, having risen 23% since Q3 2009.
Hips for France?
A new law will come into force on Jan 1st 2011 making it a requirement for all vendors to produce an energy "DPE" report on their property before putting the property on the market. This will mean a reduction in stock at the beginning of the year which should underpin current pricing levels overall but also act as a tool for negotiation for price reductions on older properties.


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Experience HD Voice, Video Calling and Simultaneous Voice & Data. Enable Wi-Fi Calling and make calls anywhere you have a Wi-Fi connection. First Class / Standard (Ground).Let us know if you have any question. The item "Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S7 SM-G930A 32GB Gold Platinum (AT&T, T-Mobile) Phone" is in sale since Thursday, June 16, 2016. This item is in the category "Cell Phones & Accessories\Cell Phones & Smartphones". The seller is "cph2020" and is located in Houston, Texas. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, United arab emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Brazil, Costa rica, Antigua and barbuda, Aruba, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Saint kitts and nevis, Saint lucia, Montserrat, Turks and caicos islands, Barbados, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Brunei darussalam, Bolivia, Ecuador, Egypt, French guiana, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Cayman islands, Liechtenstein, Sri lanka, Luxembourg, Monaco, Macao, Martinique, Maldives, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Reunion.


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cPanel, being a famed control panel used by different experts working on websites, servers, systems, and data management, offers a demo platform that allows users to have an idea about its features. Just like cPanel, its recognized add-ons also extend the same to ensure users will know what they offer. One of these add-ons is Blesta.
The importance of demos
Add-ons are considered as investments for cPanel users. Hence, users want to make sure that they will get the right add-ons before buying a license and including them in their systems. Numerous add-ons are available for users, but not all of them are deemed suitable for every client. Thus, the importance of demonstrations.
Blesta developers understand the significance of these demos to clients. They set up a demo page as well that offer a details about how to check the product themselves. The following are what potential users can find on the demo page.
Staff Area
Blesta is designed for both clients and service provider. The staff area is designed for service provider and taking advantage of its features can be beneficial for them. Staff area demonstration will present its user interface complete with its features. Seeing these features will give them an idea about what the system has for them. The logins are available on the demo page, which allows public users to access the demo account easily.
Client Area
The Client Area has the interface designed for server providers' customers. They need to access this page for their own server procedures like account creation, password resets, and many more. Similarly with the Staff Area, the Clients Area demo page has all the vital features that introduce the product.
Order forms
More than just the interface, Blesta developers also want users to get a glimpse of the order forms, which are vital in setting up packages for clients. Service providers want to ensure every form is processed fast to complete the orders immediately. It is a vital process that any business owner wishes to guarantee. The form samples include General, Client Registration, and Domain Name.
The good thing about these forms is they are designed regularly. Upon seeing the forms, Blesta developers are willing to take suggestions from users. They want to ensure the forms will be ideal for potential clients.
Free Trial
Blesta developers are not done in giving users an idea about the plugin through demos. The company also lets users experience Blesta at its full feature by offering free trials of the platform. Upon installation, the user can choose the 30-day trial option to have a complete look of the system. This trial offer is risk free and users can uninstall it from the system. In case the user decides to get the platform, they simply need to update their trial license keys to see its features.
Overall, Blesta takes advantage of the opportunity to inform users with its offered features through demos. This is also beneficial for users as they will know what the system offers first before investing it for their services.
Order a Blesta license now! https://www.buycpanel.com/order-addons?blesta#blesta More information on Blesta: https://www.buycpanel.com/addons/blesta-unbranded-license


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Try whistling this…
I stepped unnecessarily carefully around a spent chrysalis — I suspect for a monarch butterfly — on a walk the other day, and in retrospect, should likely have recognized it for the sign it was. If not that, the strange dreams that have been visiting me should have been enough. Rebirth, renewal; change. Maybe a whiff of death about the fragile little shell that remained, shed and left behind.
In a little over 24 hours, yet another birthday will come (and go). I'm not particularly thrilled about it, and at this point only hope to get through it as unscathed as possible. I noticed growing wrinkles (albeit laugh lines) around my eyes, without even meaning to look, the other morning; I've already encountered at least one gray hair, though I suspect more lurk beneath the fading red dye. I entered my third decade of life last fall with fairly solid optimism, for a good host of reasons, but thread by thread, just about all of it has been stripped away from me, at times in great, cutting strips. Spring is about the last time I can recall feeling as though any of the ground beneath my feet was still solid enough to trust, and here now fall is already upon us. Some years, my birthday even falls squarely on the equinox. It has not been a good year.
I don't typically assign much meaning to my birthdays, but a friend who celebrated her own just over a week ago suggested that she was "pretty happy to celebrate leaving this last year in the past," and I could only emphatically agree with her. (My response: "I very much like the concept of leaving this year in the dust on my birthday rather than waiting for NYE. Can that be a thing? Can we just hit reset now? Because seriously, fuck this year." Hers: "Right there with you. In any case, it can be a thing for us.") So yes, I choose to leave the past year behind me. There is very little in it, and my memories of it, that I can look at now as worth salvaging. I've certainly weathered rougher ones, but it was unquestionably my worst since moving here five years ago. I don't care to struggle through another like it. I have learned from it (albeit painfully), but all I wish to do now is move past it.
I refuse to give up hope, though I have been greatly tempted to at many points leading to now; just because some things I had come to trust and believe in have failed me of late does not deter me entirely, and I still hold on to my hopes as best I can. But I can see now that many of them are going to have to be wrapped up in a casing of their own, shiny and hard, ideally to reemerge at some date in the future, though likely not any time soon. If, right on the heels of this birthday, I have the loneliest holiday season I've ever encountered approaching, too — not guaranteed, but looking more possible by the day — I need to shore up any reserves to prepare as well as I can manage for it now. I know now that any rebuilding of myself, any repairs to the damage I've incurred, the losses my fears have cost me, will have to be done in the solitary space of my own mind, as I wrap myself up to protect what I can, and hopefully transform myself into something better, to emerge on the other side. I know fairly well what I want to be, and how strong my desire is to become it. How long the wait between pupa and imago may be, there is obviously no way to know; I just have to continue to be patient, to wait, to continue working my best at acceptance.
I cannot change where I've ended up, nor undo what got me here — neither the mistakes that are my own fault, nor those that are not — and there is no moving backward in time. I refuse to believe any losses are permanent; I'm not old enough (yet) to feel quite so jaded. May as well take advantage of the ability to still believe in better things ahead while it still beats away somewhere in there, even if that means secreting it away behind a dark, tough little cocoon for some time, before it's safe to once again stretch my wings out again.


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We've been drowning in a Lord of the Rings marathon for a while at our house. I know some people would say it's only a marathon if you start at the beginning of Fellowship and watch until the Return of the King final credits roll, only pausing occasionally to scribble a few notes in dwarf runes and nibble some Lembas bread. But I'm still calling this a marathon though it took us many days–we've got the extended versions, and even the most die-hard fans will admit that some of the last scenes in Return seem marathons in themselves.
I mention this because not only do I have the soundtrack alternately lilting, menacing and soaring in my head, I also have visions of orc teeth and gigantic spiders to keep me company in odd moments. And then there are the larger, sweeping themes. (If you're not a fan of the books or the movies, stay with me; there's an analogy coming just around the bend.)
One of those themes appears in the story of the transformation of Smeagol into Gollum. During the travels of the fellowship we watch as Frodo, through kindness to the creature, seems to be reversing some of that process. Gollum seems to feel some loyalty, some affection for Frodo, and wants to be better. We see the creature arguing back and forth as the dark and the light war for control.
Always wary of potential threats to Frodo, Samwise remains suspicious, and certainly shows by the way he treats Gollum that he hasn't achieved his sensitivity training certification. Sam shouts and curses at him, and doesn't stay his hand. I don't think we can say that Sam shoves Smeagol back into the dark–the one ring has been calling to him the whole time, after all. But we know that however much progress Gollum makes (spoiler alert!), he is not, in the end, truly reformed.
And now we get to the analogy portion of our post.
I've mentioned that we have much too much stuff in our house and in our barn, and that as a result of our positive experience with very-much-less stuff while living in Spain, we're striving to cut ourselves loose of what we can, and set it adrift in an outward direction. I've reported that we've made some progress: I don't have the official tally, but we've schlepped 2 car-loads of household things off to the thrift store, and sent very many bags of clothes on their merry way as well. Even as I write this there's a very comfy gold plush easy chair out on the curb with a thumb raised, trying to look attractive to passers-by (if you're interested, I'll help you load it in your car). We've been filling up our recycling and trash bins with bits we had been keeping around "in case." We've been trying to reform.
And then it happened–an event came along that started to lure us back from all our de-junking progress. The bow and arrows we ordered for Loquita were delivered. How is this a crisis, you wonder? Well.
First we needed a target–no problem! I have a stash of styrofoam blocks (that I've been saving in the hopes that I could find a styrofoam recycling place or event–they happen, but rarely; I've had the stash for a long time), and I've got a variety of cardboard boxes we can take apart and cut to size and fill with the styrofoam.
And for a target face, well, how about this stuff that I think may have had some wallpaper-related purpose, and whose advent is lost in the mists of time, and which turns out to have developed a strange mottled pattern which makes it look sort of like hand-made paper–I'll just draw a bulls-eye on there, and it will be great! A bit low to the ground, but wait–here on this shelf we have a sort of PVC-and-webbing bench/chair thing that I probably picked up from the side of the road during the first Clinton administration. It's just the thing. We'll get some scrap wood and pound a stake into the ground to anchor the bench thing in front of it with the box on top of that. Now doesn't that look fine!
And then in case the shots go wide, we ought to have a sort of curtain thing, like they have at the archery range at camp. Well look! Here's the big tarp that used to cover the woodpile, now weathered to the point of uselessness, that we haven't gotten around to throwing away. We'll just string a rope between some trees, and hang that over.
Oh, the arrows just whiz right through it? Well, I save those bags from buying wheat in bulk, and they're made of the same thing as tarps–if we just stitch them together in rows we could hang those, too, and maybe that will help. Where did we put the painting drop cloths? Maybe they'd be useful here.
Do you see what's happening? We can talk a good line, and we can bag up clothes, and box up a hand-crank pasta maker and the wooden table-top loom and that thing you can attach to your dryer hose to humidify your house, and take them all off to be donated, but the minute there's an Event, a thing that calls for supplies, then we are rewarded for our reluctance to shed stuff, and our procrastinating, our keeping-in-case is reinforced.
We've got many more chapters to go in this story, and we are determined. I positively refuse to fall backwards into a molten river at the end. We will maintain our focus; we will keep at it.
And let me know if you're interested in that chair.


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- MagazineHot, warm, cold: What's the best DR site for your company?
- MagazineBack up remote site data
- MagazineOracle NAS comes up big -- twice
- MagazinePredicting that storage predictions will be forgotten in 2012
- MagazineIOPS per what?
- MagazineSolid-state storage proving its worth among users
- MagazineNot all scale-out NAS systems are created equal
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Predicting that storage predictions will be forgotten in 2012
It seems like everyone is making predictions about data storage technologies for 2012 and beyond, but who are you going to believe -- them or me?
- Rich Castagna, Vice President of Editorial
It seems like everyone is making predictions about data storage technologies for 2012 and beyond, but who are you going to believe -- them or me?
It's the start of a new year, which means storage analysts, consultants, pundits, bloggers and vendors, along with their mothers, brothers, sisters and cousins, feel an urgent need to make predictions for the coming year. I haven't done much predicting myself, but it looks like a pretty cool thing to do considering that a year from now nobody's going to know if what you predicted happened or not. So the more outrageous your prediction, the better, right?
Doyenz, a cloud disaster recovery (DR) vendor, predicts "the demise of cloud storage," which might seem a little self-defeating because the last time I looked cloud storage played a fairly significant role in cloud DR. But I guess the company is trying to make some kind of differentiation between plain old cloud storage and its DR service. Still, predicting the demise of cloud storage puts Doyenz out on a pretty thin limb. I'll be sure to check back in 12 months to see if it was right.
On the other hand, you could play it safe and make your predictions broad enough so you'll never get pinned down for details -- and then you can pat yourself on the back a year later and say "See, what'd I tell you?" Consider this classic exhibition of expansive prognostication from an IDC press release: "One year ago, International Data Corporation (IDC) predicted that the IT industry's next dominant platform, built on mobile computing, cloud services, social networking, and big data analytics technologies, would begin its transition into the mainstream."
C'mon, guys, why not toss eating, breathing and sleeping into that pretty-darn-general catchall mix? It doesn't hurt that "cloud services" is so undefined it can mean just about any IT thing in your shop or that you might hook up to in someone else's shop. IDC goes on to say that spending in these categories "is expected to account for at least 80% of IT spending growth between now and 2020." I just put a reminder on my Outlook calendar for December 2020 to check to see if the prediction was correct. (I just hope someone predicts Outlook will still be around in 2020.)
Here's a prediction from a Synergy Research Group press release that's bold enough to be the headline: "Cloud Infrastructure Equipment to Exceed $33B in 2011." I found that particularly interesting because a definition of "cloud infrastructure" is, to say the least, somewhat elusive. Supporting the headline, the release says "the fastest growing segment includes Private Cloud platforms, which is growing at over 30% annual growth." Synergy capitalized "private cloud," by the way, which it defines as "a virtualized data center, which resides behind an organization's firewall." Hmmm . . . the company isn't exactly crawling out on that limb with Doyenz with that kind of context for its prediction. Based on that statement, you'd be hard-pressed to define what's not private cloud gear (which makes $33 billion seem like a lowball estimate).
Obviously, these predictions are fodder for fun, just as long as they're not taken too seriously. But they all seem to overlook one important piece of the data storage technology puzzle: you. I don't think you make your storage purchasing decisions based on predictions I might make or those that think tanks might run up the flagpole. You make your decisions based on what your company needs and what vendors' products meet those needs best. And if I tell you that a year from now solid-state storage will cost less than hard disk drives, I'm sure that won't influence your decision. (Just want to see if you're still paying attention.)
I also predict that a year from now I'm going to try to get away with another column making fun of other people's predictions. Until then, Happy New Year.
BIO: Rich Castagna is editorial director of the Storage Media Group.
* Click here for a sneak peek at what's coming up in the February 2012 issue.
Related Resources
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Thermaltake V9 BlacX Edition Mid Tower Chassis (Page 5)
Inside The Thermaltake V9 BlacX Edition Mid Tower Case
Just in case you couldn't see this from the previous shot of the left side of the chassis. Thermaltake placed both their name and slogan at the bottom of the window.
I like the looks of the all black interior and at first glance it looks pretty well apportioned with features and ease of use.
As I mentioned, there are technically four 5.25" bays, but since the Dock takes up part of the first bay, Thermaltake ships the rack with only three tool-less locks. They are clearly marked locked and unlocked on the tabs, and just a simple twist either releases them or locks them back into place. The other side will require you to use screws for a more secure mount, but I found these latches worked very well. Just below the 5.25" bays you will find a pair of 3.5" bays in case you have plans to install a floppy drive, or possibly a smaller bay device such as a fan controller or card reader.
On the bottom of the drive rack Thermaltake offers room for up to five 3.5" hard drives. One thing I am missing here and that is some sort of adapter to install a 2.5" SSD or laptop drive.
The motherboard tray is labeled clearly for the risers you must install. The tray offers six risers as raised bumps in the tray, so you only need to install a few for m-ATX, or the same amount for an ATX board, three. Thermaltake also offers a CPU access hole for those who swap coolers a lot.
The wiring on the whole is short in length, but as you will soon see, i had no issues with the shorter lengths. Here you have connectivity for the HD Audio, USB, 2.0, fan power leads, and the power, reset, HDD activity, and power LED connections.
Under the 120mm exhaust fan you run into a set of clips that I have yet to see used. While the expansion slot covers will break away when you need to use them, once the card is in place it gets locked with these tabs. To unlock them you simply lift the large tab and slide it to the left. To lock the card into place, slide the latch to the right, align the pin, and then push the tab down to lock it into place.
There is plenty of room at the bottom of the case to send wires from the PSU to the hard drives. The motherboard is too close to the door panel to be of any use to hide wiring, and is likely why the tray doesn't offer any holes for wire management.
Last updated: Apr 7, 2020 at 12:30 pm CDT
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- Page 1 [Introduction]
- Page 2 [Specifications, Availability and Pricing]
- Page 3 [Packaging]
- Page 4 [The Thermaltake V9 BlacX Edition Mid Tower Case]
- Page 5 [Inside The Thermaltake V9 BlacX Edition Mid Tower Case]
- Page 6 [Accessories and Documentation]
- Page 7 [The Build and Finished Product]
- Page 8 [Final Thoughts]


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Please consider supporting this website by disabling your ad-blocker. This website does not use audio ads, pop-ups, or other annoyances. And please support Terra Relicta by giving a little donation if you can! Thank you!!!
01. Aeon Sable - Aether
02. Amorphis - Queen Of Time
03. Atrium Carceri - Codex
04. Dimmu Borgir - Eonian
05. Behemoth - I Loved You At Your Darkest
06. The Eternal - Waiting For The Endless Dawn
07. MGT - Gemini Nyte
08. Primordial - Exile Amongst The Ruins
09. Khôrada - Salt
10. Immortal - Northern Chaos Gods
After the successful show at Cold Meat Industry 30th Anniversary Festival last year, where Norwegian visionary artist Mortiis re-interpreted his cult Era 1 album Ånden som Gjorde Opprør (1994) in its entirety, decided to bring this work on stage all across Europe and in other parts of the world. Mortiis will also make a visit to Australia and perform there for the first time in his career. There will likely be more shows coming up in the second half of 2018. In the flyer below you can check out what is scheduled for European fans so far. More tour dates can be found at this location. Link


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I just learned this and had to share it!
My friend, Rachel Zimmerman, is a journalist and runs the WBUR Health Blog. She asked me to write something about my experience going through chemotherapy.
If you are interested, here is a link to the article and an accompanying audio, which was done by our friend, Annie Brewster. Annie is a physician at MGH and doing studies of people going through various challenging life situations.
Please leave comments about either; they are really helpful. If you are shy, I don't think you need to use your real name.
I haven't yet figured out how to do the automatic link on this page, so you'll need to cut and paste to see it.
I hope you are having a wonderful day!
Love, Marie
P.S. I'm writing from the chemo infusion room. A friend, who came to visit today and had chemo a few years ago, commented that this is a nice place, so I see it through some new eyes now. Still, everything is relative. I'm thankful for the awesome view of Boston I got today. (Not to complain, but Bali would be nicer.)


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I am going through and updating any posts I might have made in favor of using Yogi's guidebook. I had previously considered a lot of my issues with the books more of a HYOH issue, but now after personally witnessing some online interactions I have come to the conclusion that this person is more harmful and destructive to the culture around the trail than helpful and I cannot in good conscience continue to support that kind of person, especially as she is branching out her guidebook business to other trails like the CDT and the AT.
Then there is my personal experience with the guidebooks.
From what I saw, her guidebook was dead wrong about almost every town and steered a lot of hikers astray (some in rather funny ways, but thankfully not dangerous ones), additionally I heard numerous first-hand reports that she refuses to take updates from the field (I.e. you can be standing in front of something that is obviously wrong/incorrect and it will not be amended or corrected in the guidebook for future hikers) which is a pretty major problem if you want an up to date experience. The one thing I did end up carrying and not throwing away was the pink cards that come in the guidebook packet, however I even witnessed misinformation in those which I would not be surprised if it was still wrong.
If you need a guide, right now your best option is actually having a smartphone and then paper maps as a backup. I used the Guthook app and Google for everything I needed, and was fine, I only looked at the guidebook pages if I was really bored. Save yourself the weight, you will be carrying a phone and maps anyway. My idea was that I kept my phone in airplane mode most of the time and would flip it on a few times per day to check things and it worked great. This is what everyone pretty much ends up doing. My main reason for choosing the Guthook app was the campsite images, that way you could look at where you want to camp in the morning and then coordinate with your hiking partners.
The second note here is that you could probably skip the K.O. (Kick Off) as it is almost entirely a format to sell you things at this point, and/or party. It is really more of a reunion for the prior years hikers than new hiker information. The main reason for going as a new hiker would be to meet people, which is a positive, but you are going to meet people on the trail anyway so why stop for days right at the start to be crammed in with other hikers. Also another thing to keep in mind is that the K.O. creates "the" HUGE bottleneck and "herd" on the trail which means the entire section to, at least, Kennedy Meadows has huge packs of hikers that overwhelm the small towns near the trail, and deplete the water caches and trail magic left out for hikers. Perhaps the main focus of K.O. is the water report, and that is what nearly everyone was concerned with, this is entirely available online and the PCTHYOH app will keep a cached version. Also, you can find these printed out and up to date all along the trail. The main thing I got out of K.O. was new tent stakes for my tent, really.
For Lake Morena campground/K.O. You will be hiking through the park anyway, stop at the nice little store down the street and get a burger and some resupply and carry on. If you really want to experience K.O. then start earlier and hitch back to it and then forward again after it is done, though you would probably want to start a couple weeks early if you do this route.
The PCT is losing a lot of it's trail angels this year, trail angels that I was planning to be volunteering and taking time off of for work and paying for car rentals to help. (I was just looking over dates and was deciding where to angel or help angel along the trail near where I live) It makes it a lot easier to help hikers if they are not all crammed together. Something that the trails angels in the southern section did was to kind of hold back the tide, so to speak, and evened out the herd created by K.O.. Now they are gone thanks to in-fighting in the PCT community on the online forums.