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Last edited by Jundo; 11-14-2012 at 03:15 AM.
I have experienced being connected to a computer by a Japanese Doctor (in Japan) and being diagnosed by virtue of his analysis of the meridians of energy pulsing throughout my body in order to decide on a treatment.My understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the human body is that the brain is the organ presiding within the cranium and can be argued to reach out as far as the axons reachAXON.jpg. In which case we would be talking about the Nervous system. Regardless, hasn't it been proven with in the past twenty years or so that memory can be found in the DNA which would suggest that the mind pervades the entire body?Isn't this like the difference between 'brain' and 'mind'?
But then of course, we can think of the mind as being of three minds; Magnanimous Mind (daishin), Nurturing Mind (roshin), and Joyful Mind (kishin). In which case we'd be connoting attitude or world view; bringing us back to big "M' mind.
gassho, Shokai
仁道 生開 / Jindo Shokai
"Open to life in a benevolent way"
No, I mean ontologically - the 'Brain' is the physical thing, the 'Mind' is the internal SUBJECTIVE experience of consciousness. We talk about them differently because they are inherently different experiences. We don't talk about our internal experience of happiness in terms of neurotransmitters (even if we know they are correlated). In general - we have different language for our interiors.
This is such a BIG topic, that I moved it into its own thread.
Here is my impression:
Modern science has not yet clearly resolved the relationship of the "brain" to the human "mind". Are they one and the same, or different? Is the brain the cause of the mind, or does mind exist apart from the brain? Is mind found only within your own skull, or is mind somehow tapping into something wider ... maybe universal or even super-natural? Philosophers and neurologists, materialists and mystics have long debated this, and while it appears that the brain plays a key role (if not the exclusive role) in some way ... still nobody has a complete answer.
For that reason, most Zen folks ... for centuries ... have been quite content to avoid the whole "chicken vs. egg" debate and to step around the question. We don't really care if the mind is "only the brain" or not.
You see, without regard to the relationship of "mind" to "brain", we have always said that "Mind" (big "M") is quite clearly a total process and flowing of data from the "outside" world, through the senses, into our inner mind (where it is all processed, categorized, appraised and reacted to) until then flowing back out of us as our responses and reactive behavior in the world. Without the "outside" world, you would have no experience of subjective "you" ... and so "Mind" is transcendent of inner and outer. It is much like saying that we cannot breath without both lungs within us, and air around us ... and one without the other is not life and breathing and thus no "us"! So it is with thinking and living! What is more, the "inner" and the "outer" are so intimately interconnected, that changing either pole can radically change the experience of the other (for example, a "beautiful sunset" outside creates the experience of "beautiful sunset" inside, but at the same time, only the inner experience of "beautiful" and labeling as "sunset" turn some aimless solar rays randomly striking gases of the atmosphere into "beautiful sunset" ... or perhaps, under other conditions, a "painful sunburn". Thus "Mind" includes even the sun and air! )
Mind thus includes everything and the kitchen sink, inside and out ... every darn things in time and space that in any way contributed to your being alive right now, so much so ... beyond even divisions of "this" and that", "in" or "out", that we might call "Mind" as "Buddha" too!
BOTTOM LINE: Apart from realizing that our Mind, whole life and all the world are interflowing as one ... Zennies tend to avoid the chicken-egg debate of brain-mind. Whatever science someday discovers (or never discovers) about it will be fine with us, and will likely be perfectly compatible with the process I describe above.
Now, off to watch the sunset!
Gassho, J
Last edited by Jundo; 11-13-2012 at 04:31 PM.
What does any of this, have to do with anything?
Nothing Special
Thanks Chet.
I pretty much get that. I just wondered if it is really worth the discussion in the Big picture, that was all. Like does it really matter? Absolutely nothing wrong with the discussion, it just seems for those who ask, just sitting and sitting no questions asked one finds the answer. There is no answer to this question, seemingly, only perception and what is relative.... and that is fine.
Nothing Special
We'll never know if we don't ask
gassho, Shokai
仁道 生開 / Jindo Shokai
"Open to life in a benevolent way"
Asking the questions isn't a problem - thinking you have the answer is the problem.
Further than that:
I think it's important not to reduce the interior landscape to exterior functions - because the interior landscape has it's own language and 'map'. As important as it is to not disembody it, it's also important not to reduce interiors to exteriors. They are co-related but they aren't the same thing.
Well, "the interior landscape" might be quite different from "the exterior functions", but for purposes of Zen Practice we are quite simple minded.
Yes, in is in, and out is out.
But out is thoroughly in, and in is fully out to the farthest star and beyond.
Then drop away all "in" vs. "out" and get on with it, freed of greed anger and ignorance.
All at once.
Gassho, J
Last edited by Jundo; 11-15-2012 at 05:22 AM.
I posted this in the "robot" thread today, and it also applies here and a couple of other threads ongoing ...
I wish a little, like a robot, that some of this conversation had an "off switch".
It would be fine to discuss some of these topics in a forum about artificial intelligence or scifi, ethics or philosophy or the like ... but in a Zen Forum, we often find the clearest clarity by keeping things simple and avoiding questions. My job is often to toss cold water on good discussions. It is not because I am anti-intellectual and don't enjoy such dorm room and coffee shop ruminations (I do!!). It is just that, for Zen Practice, we generally find our "answers" by stilling the debating mind.
For example, on the subject of the chicken-or-egg question of "mind" and "brain", please see this other thread where the question is side stepped.
Brain, Mind ... NEVER MIND!
On the subject of "free will", Buddhists generally believe that ... imagined or not ... we seem to choose our next step, are ever at a crossroads, and certainly pay a good deal of the consequences of our volitional actions. Apart from that, we are happy to avoid the chicken-egg debate. More here:
I offered this today on violent video games, and feel it may apply to this topic too ... and am not going to go much further.
I would think that it is not good to hurt sentient beings, even if they are imaginary sentient beings and "simulated" violence.
I am sorry if we sometimes sound like the "just stop it" fellow that was posted on another thread today ...
... but we are, although with an important twist. That twist is that we are more just "let it be" people when it comes to certain points of mental wheel spinning and debate. Is there free will, do robots have Buddha nature, is vanilla better than chocolate (and countless other such questions) ... just sit, live gently.
Gassho, Jundo
Last edited by Jundo; 11-15-2012 at 03:48 PM.
It seems you are reducing here. It could be said the Mind is inner/outer, with no beginning or end, encompassing all there Is; to include the brain organ which is mostly run by the small minded ego. While the brain at times may be brilliantly intelligent, at other times it seemingly keeps us clinging and in circles (that is where `emptiness can bring such relief, just empty the damn thing all ready ). It just seems so obvious the Mind is so much more (and less), how can it even be brought to the level of some mystery comparison of a bodily organ?
In another sense, Jundo and Dosho pretty much seem to have covered the circling and questioning.
Well done though Chet, on this bewilderment, in light of if even it was needed.
Nothing Special
A note from me as an academic--not trying to contradict Jundo (though I may do so inadvertently without trying); Jundo says "we have always said that "Mind" (big "M") is quite clearly a total process and flowing of data from the "outside" world, through the senses, into our inner mind (where it is all processed, categorized, appraised and reacted to) until then flowing back out of us as our responses and reactive behavior in the world."
Actually, this is one perspective on Mind that some (including me) have found problematic. A key work on this is "The Extended Mind" by Clark and Chalmers. They set out a thought experiment (Wikipedia quoted here):
The fictional characters Otto and Inga are both traveling to a museum simultaneously. Otto has Alzheimer's Disease, and has written all of his directions down in a notebook to serve the function of his memory. Inga is able to recall the internal directions within her memory. In a traditional sense, Inga can be thought to have had a belief as to the location of the museum before consulting her memory. In the same manner, Otto can be said to have held a belief of the location of the museum before consulting his notebook. The argument is that the only difference existing in these two cases is that Inga's memory is being internally processed by the brain, while Otto's memory is being served by the notebook. In other words, Otto's mind has been extended to include the notebook as the source of his memory. The notebook qualifies as such because it is constantly and immediately accessible to Otto, and it is automatically endorsed by him.
If the notebook is encompassed within Otto's mind, it is not too much of a stretch to replace the notebook with "friends" (social cognition) or event/environment (situated cognition). My own research on biodiversity conservation policy suggests that information is "processed, categorized, appraised and reacted to" in the brain, the social group, or some combination of people/artifacts/environment. (I just posted a semi-related comment in the Cyborg thread). The idea of mind as assemblages or articulations has increasing traction in social sciences. </academic hat>
What perceives, assesses, categorizes is the system, staring wide-eyed at itself...
Flowing of data
Inner mind is beaten by
Old man's walking stick
I read what you wrote a few times and had a difficult time following it. My whole point was to argue against reducing 'mind' to an epiphenomenon of 'brain' - not to limit mind, necessarily. Is 'mind' purely produced by brain? How could you know? Since 'brain' can only be accessed via mind, there is no way to conclusively excise mind from the act of knowing or deducing.
Maybe I've misunderstood what you meant.
Hi Ted,
If I understand correctly, we are not quite talking about the same thing. The above story seems to be talking about our small "m" inner mind, aided perhaps by an outside notebook, friends' advice, outside maps, street signs and the like.
I was describing your Big "M" mind model, in a Buddhist sense, in which the brain, eyes, light rays, notebooks, friends, maps, street signs, museums, bodily reactions in response, and much more are defined as one single thing, one single unbroken process, beyond all "drawn lines" of inner and outer. In a sense too, anything that has every contributed to the existence of any of the above ... including but not limited to the smallest atoms to distant suns where there atoms where born to make the brain, eyes, notebooks and museums ... are included in the process and definition of Big "M" Mind too.
And there is no reason to stop there. Many Zen Ancestors would go further in pointing to Big "M" Mind. Perhaps the most well known was Huang Po, who would take "Mind" a step beyond ... dropping, not only "in" and "out", but even our categories, divisions and names for "brain" "eyes" "light" "notebooks" "museums" and all the rest in a return to the undivided essence which sweeps all within ...
Only come to know the nature of your own Mind, in which there is no self and no other, and you will in fact be a Buddha.
When all the Buddhas manifest themselves in the world, they proclaim nothing but the One Mind. Thus, Gotama Buddha silently transmitted to Mahakasyapa the doctrine that the One Mind, which is the substance of all things, is co-extensive with [Emptiness] and fills the entire world of phenomena.
This ultimate pure source of Mind encompasses all Buddhas, sentient beings and the world of mountains, rivers, forms and formlessness. Throughout the ten directions, all and everything reflects the equality of pure Mind, which is always universally penetrating and illuminating. However, those with merely worldly understanding cannot recognize this truth and so identify seeing, hearing, touching and thinking as the mind. Covered by seeing, hearing, touching and thinking, one cannot see the brightness of Original Mind. If suddenly one is without mind, Original Mind will appear like the great sun in the sky, illuminating everywhere without obstruction.
Most Dharma students only know seeing, hearing, touching and thinking as movement and function and are, therefore, unable to recognize Original Mind at the moment of seeing, hearing, touching and thinking. However, Original Mind does not belong to seeing, hearing, touching and thinking but also is not distinct or separate from these activities. The view that one is seeing, hearing, touching and thinking does not arise; and yet one is not separate from these activities. This movement does not dim the Mind, for it is neither itself a thing nor something apart from things. Neither staying nor grasping, capable of freely moving in any direction whatsoever, everywhere, this Mind becomes the Bodhimandala.
All Buddhas and all sentient beings are no different from the One Mind. In this One Mind there is neither arising nor ceasing, no name or form, no long or short, no large or small, and neither existence nor non-existence. It transcends all limitations of name, word and relativity, and it is as boundless as the great void. Giving rise to thought is erroneous, and any speculation about it with our ordinary faculties is inapplicable, irrelevant and inaccurate. Only Mind is Buddha, and Buddhas and sentient beings are not different. All sentient beings grasp form and search outside themselves. Using Buddha to seek Buddha, they thus use mind [small "m"] to seek Mind. Practicing in this manner even until the end of [time], they cannot attain the fruit. However, when thinking and discrimination suddenly halt, the Buddhas appear.
Gassho, J
Last edited by Jundo; 11-17-2012 at 04:25 PM.
Huang's words feel so intuitively correct - but the moment I start 'thinking' about Mind the intuitive connection scrambles and evaporates.
I wish I had an off switch for thinking and discrimination.
Is Zazen the 'off switch' ? - I rarely reach a place where I could say it is so.
Practice very unfocused just now
Thanks, Jundo! Reading your response, I think I was talking about two things (memory as mind and other things as Mind); What I think is cool is that that some scientists (not necessarily Buddhists) are saying the same thing based on research that Buddhists have been saying based on intuitive mind-body experience: that Mind can't be restricted to just what is between our ears and actually includes all those other things.
I don't think this sort of academic understanding is the same as a whole-being realization, and I sort of come at it from the other side. Rather than being a scientist whose research brings me into alignment with some Buddhist ideas, I'm a Buddhist whose research inevitably reflects other aspects of my life. At this point, I'm officially rambling. I, I, I. One of my tendencies and one reason I don't post more. Back to the zafu!
Jundo.... thank you for this!
To feel this to the bone, it seems only the embodiment of such really matters, the rest can fall away. It seems, only goaless sitting and more sitting can hold the possibility of any releasing of everything we so cling to, when there is nothing to cling to but ego and suffering it entails.
Wow, this is so simple, yet so unobvious and unavailable to most in phenomena.
Last edited by galen; 11-18-2012 at 05:32 PM.
Nothing Special
Actually, Huang Po and others who speak of "let all fall away" are only 80% there, for then all must fall back (though ultimately no place to fall). One cannot live without ego, without phenomena, only in Emptyness. One should not just stay with Emptyness Only, but come back to all the seeing, hearing, touching and thinking, mountains, rivers, the concrete and abstract, clinging without clinging, throughout the ten directions, each also Emptyness all along. Dogen was a master of bringing this "up in the Empty airness" back down to earth ... into the kitchen, the toilet, the garden of the monastery. In modern term, we might say that "Mind" is the home, the children's nursery and sickroom, the office or factory, the bus and city streets, you, me and the other guys.
Don't get lost in the high atmosphere, keep one's feet planted on the ground.
Gassho, J
Last edited by Jundo; 11-19-2012 at 05:28 PM.


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7 Nights | Caribbean/Bahamas
You will visit the following 5 places:
Turks and Caicos Islands
The Turks and Caicos is a small archipelago nation known primarily for tourism and as an offshore financial centre. It's home to incredible beaches, abundant marine life, stunning tropical wetlands, luxury resorts and fine dining. There's so much to do and discover here in paradise. Quite simply, it's the best of the Caribbean!
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a sovereign state on the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Caribbean region. Though known for its wonderful beaches, all-inclusive resorts and golfing, it has a varied terrain comprising rainforest, savannah and highlands, including Pico Duarte, the Caribbean's tallest mountain. For the adventure tourist this Caribbean country offers a diverse countryside comprising tropical rainforests, arid desert expanses, alpine ranges and steamy mangrove swamps. It's a playground for trekkers, mountain bike enthusiasts and water-sport junkies!
Key West
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Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, 28 miles (45 km) north of Miami. The city is a popular tourist destination, with an average year-round temperature of 75.5 °F (24.2 °C), and 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. Greater Fort Lauderdale which takes in all of Broward County hosted 12 million visitors in 2012, including 2.8 million international visitors. The district has 561 hotels and motels comprising nearly 35,000 rooms. Greater Fort Lauderdale has over 4,000 restaurants, 63 golf courses, 12 shopping malls, 16 museums, 132 nightclubs, 278 parkland campsites, and 100 marinas housing 45,000 resident yachts. Fort Lauderdale is named after a series of forts built by the United States during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale (1782–1838), younger brother of Lieutenant Colonel James Lauderdale. William Lauderdale was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort.
Little San Salvador
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Hindu Blog receives numerous queries regarding what precaution pregnant women should take during Chandra Grahan or Lunar Eclipse? This is because many devout Hindus have numerous fears regarding Chandra Grahan or Lunar Eclipse. There is a belief that pregnant women will be affected by Chandra Grahan but this has not been scientifically proved. The safe option adopted by most Hindus is to remain indoors during the period of Grahan. Pregnant women chant the Santana Gopala Mantra during Grahan.
The Santana Gopala Mantra is dedicated to Lord Krishna and is chanted for an easy and safe pregnancy and to get a healthy baby.
The Santana Gopala Mantra is
Om Devaki Sudha Govinda
Vasudeva Jagath Pathe
Dehimey Thanayam
Krishna Thwamaham
Saranam Kadhahaa
Vasudeva Jagath Pathe
Dehimey Thanayam
Saranam Kadhahaa
Deva Deva Jagannatha
Gothra Vridhi Karap Prabho
Dehimey Thanayam Sheegram
Ayushmandham Yashashreenam!
Gothra Vridhi Karap Prabho
Dehimey Thanayam Sheegram
Ayushmandham Yashashreenam!
Ayurveda indicates that pregnant women should sit or lie down on a mat containing Darbha grass or Kusha Grass during Grahan. It is also advised to keep some Kusha Grass with the pregnant woman. This is advised more during Surya Grahan or Solar Eclipse.
Some devout Hindus fast (Fasting or Upvaas) on Grahan day but pregnant women should avoid fasting and should follow the usual routine prescribed by the doctor.
The most important thing that pregnant women should do is to avoid getting tensed with the fear of grahan. Eclipse is a natural phenomenon. If you are so concerned remain indoors.
There are some evil-minded people in the guise of astrologers who try to take advantage of people during Grahan by suggesting costly pujas etc. Avoid such people.
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Internet Providers in Sapiranga, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
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- State of Sergipe
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text:
OK, It's definitely time to make a little fun of myself in an effort to bring me back down to earth. I'm sorry about the picture quality. My scanner doesn't work with Vista (coughcoughconspiracy) so these are pictures of pictures.
Here we go...
And thus began my legacy of bad hair.
Yes, my parents made me sleep on a shelf.
I always say my kids are going to drive me to drink. Now I see it was my PARENTS who started me on that path!
The predecessor to the down vest. An attractive look, no? I wish I knew what was on my finger. I'd probably just picked my nose or something.
This is what happens if your parents forget to pack your blankie when you go to visit relatives. What??? You've never sucked your thumb while holding a cat's tail?
Unlike my daughters, I've never been especially fond of shoes. Orthopaedic comfort before style.
"You're serious? THIS is my Christmas present? But I asked for a tricycle!"
Even back then, I tried to hide my big butt with baggy clothing.
But even worse - check out the curtains!!!
Stacy! Clinton! HELP!!!
Yeah, I don't know - my dad always took pictures of me sitting next to inanimate people. But check out those snazzy pants! FORE!
The infamous smocked-top dress. No first day of kindergarten would be complete without it.
I know what you're thinking - why are those boys in dresses? I'm embarrassed to admit that those boys are actually me and my sister. See? We're holding dandelions. That's a girly thing to do.
Ummm, I'm pretty sure this outfit was NEVER in style.
Now boarding, flight 129, nonstop service to Orlando, at gate 23.
Nice barrettes, by the way!
What's with the tie, Colonel Sanders?
This is what a can of Aquanet can do. Just don't light any matches near that hair!
Oh and the eyebrows! Look familiar?


text:
Bracket v.4 - Memory Mate - H
Bracket v.4 - Memory Mate - H
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Christmas is almost here, so imagine you want to buy a good popular math book for your aunt (or whoever you want). Which book would you buy or recommend?
It would be nice if you could answer in the following way:
Title: The Poincaré Conjecture: In Search of the Shape of the Universe
Author: Donal O'Shea
Short description: The history of the Poincaré Conjecture.
(Perhaps something like "difficulty level": + (no prior knowledge of math, as the book mentioned above), ++ (some prior knowledge of math is helpful), +++ (Roger Penrose: Road to Reality (?))
I hope this is appropriate for MO, since I think is of interest to mathematicians (at least for those who want to buy a popular math book for some aunt :-) ).


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ABOVE PHOTO: Actress Kerry Washington, right, with cast member Taran Killam during a promotional shoot for "Saturday Night Live," in New York. Washington
will host the late night comedy sketch series on Nov. 2.
(AP Photo/NBC, Dana Edelson)
By David Bauder
Associated Press
NEW YORK — With Kerry Washington as guest host, "Saturday Night Live" wasted no time poking fun at itself after receiving criticism for having no black
women among its 16 regular cast members.
In the opening skit, the "Scandal" actress portrayed First Lady Michelle Obama, talking with her husband about an upcoming state dinner at the White House.
"Michelle, this is such a treat," said the president, impersonated by Jay Pharoah. "I feel like it's been years since I've seen you."
An aide came in, saying Oprah Winfrey had arrived for the dinner and wanted to see the president. "Don't you think you should get changed?" he asked
Washington. She wondered whether cast member Kenan Thompson couldn't play Winfrey; both Thompson and Pharoah have said recently they will no longer
impersonate women on the NBC late-night comedy institution.
Washington left the stage and returned as Winfrey. She was then asked to portray Beyonce — before show producer Steve Higgins interrupted with a voiceover.
Higgins said producers would like to apologize to Washington for the number of black women she would be asked to play in the show.
"We make this request both because Ms. Washington is an actress of considerable range and talent, and also because 'Saturday Night Live' does not currently
have a black woman in the cast," he said. "We agree this is not an ideal situation and look forward to rectifying it in the future — unless, of course, we
fall in love with another white guy first."
The show has had four black women among its regular cast since coming on the air in 1975 with the last one, biracial Maya Rudolph, leaving in 2007. Both
Pharoah and Thompson have recently addressed the situation in interviews, with Pharoah even lobbying for a specific comic to be added — Darmirra Brunson of
the OWN sitcom "Love Thy Neighbor."
To drive the point home in the skit, the presidential aide announced that six different Matthew McConaugheys were there to attend the state dinner — and
six different white male cast members trooped in dressed as the actor.
Then the Rev. Al Sharpton appeared on the stage.
"What have we learned from this sketch?" Sharpton said. "As usual, nothing."
He then delivered the show's traditional opening line of "live from New York, it's Saturday night."
During the show, Washington portrayed a gum-chewing assistant to a career counselor, a political science professor discussing her unwavering support for
Obama, Miss Uganda in a beauty pageant, a game show host, a teacher at the dunk tank in a school carnival and an 18-year-old contestant in an MTV dating
She also joked about "Scandal" co-star Tony Goldwyn, saying that she was "proud to be on a show that has the courage to cast a white man as president" in


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82-inch Tarpon Mount
Length: (tip to tip): 82-inches
Short Length: 75-iniches
Girth: 46-inches
Weight of Actual Fish: 180 – 190 lbs.
Direction of Mount: Faces Right
Production Time: 4 to 8 weeks*
*expedite service: available
EMAIL PHOTOS: firstname.lastname@example.com
(to Order this 82-inch Tarpon Mount, click "Add to Cart" in the box above)
Your Tarpon Mount will be a timeless personal reminder; a testimonial to friends and family of your Moment of Victory. KSM artists are masters of fine detail. Quality matters….we guarantee that you will see the difference!
Your Photos/Painting: We encourage anglers to provide images of their fish whenever possible. This allows our artists to "Authenticate" each mount. Even if your photos are not that great, we can still use them to "Authenticate" your mount by incorporating markings or patterns that are unique to your fish. If photos are not available, our artists will refer to colorful images of gamefish taken from around the world.
Striking, Lit-Up Colors are standard on all King Sailfish Mounts. Referencing your last name, email your photos to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Options/Accessories. In addition, we offer Commemorative Plaques with Custom Engraving. (see below) You might even choose to order a few Decorative Baitfish. Available options such as "Expedite Production" can be found in the Blue Menu Column, to the upper right.
To Order your 82-inch Tarpon Mount online, simply scroll up and click the "add to cart" button. Each KSM Fish Mount is lightweight and easy to install, and comes with a built-in balanced hanger. It's as easy to hang as a picture!


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Yes girls... It's that time again! Well, for me it comes a bit sooner in the year than most but I am pretty sure that is a hereditary thing (our mom puts on Christmas music in late September). So... Let's get to it! Here is my latest project...
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Ruffle Christmas Trees!!
Yes girls... It's that time again! Well, for me it comes a bit sooner in the year than most but I am pretty sure that is a hereditary thing (our mom puts on Christmas music in late September). So... Let's get to it! Here is my latest project...
78 comments:
- Plum Crazy said...
Ok...Love the trees...I have a pretty advanced sewing machine but never heard of the ruffler foot? Does it go by a different name? Great idea!
- November 11, 2010 at 6:10 PM
- Nancy Wyatt said...
Adorable!!! I love going to roundtop too and have stuff my hubby wants to throw out too, lol. Hugs from Conroe, texas
- November 11, 2010 at 6:13 PM
- Carmen @ Life with Sprinkles on Top said...
These are super cute! I do not, however, own a sewing machine. :)
- November 11, 2010 at 6:14 PM
- Erin said...
Holy cow!!! You took those and ran with them! Seriously, Whitney, they look amazing! Super great job. And I'm seeing burlap...can't wait to check out that version. You rock.
- November 11, 2010 at 6:16 PM
I love love love this idea! I have been thinking about getting a sewing machine for a while and I think this might have convinced me!
- November 11, 2010 at 6:17 PM
- Nancy Wyatt said...
I came back to leave a link to a project I did last month with one of those foam trees. Would love it if you dropped by when you get a chance to see it. And I love the logo and style you chose for your new look!
http://www.lovestocreate.com/2010/10/floral-topiary-with-my-silhouette-sd.html - November 11, 2010 at 6:26 PM
- {Bellamere Cottage} said...
LOVE my ruffler.. I don't know whatever I did before I bought one. AND.... I had a little girl! Oh, those ruffles.
These little trees are as cute as they can be. I'm going to whip some up one of these days... :-)
Warm blessings,
Spencer - November 11, 2010 at 6:31 PM
- Josh&Jenna said...
These are cute! I made something very similar with a drink bottle and hot glue gun (no sewing). http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=576185743559&set=a.564632860629.2076836.156801171
It's a really bad picture from my phone. - November 11, 2010 at 6:46 PM
- very merry vintage style said...
These are really cute. I need one in muslin, one in burlap.... thanks for the idea!
- November 11, 2010 at 6:47 PM
- Nita Stacy said...
These are darling! Oh...I want to make some.
- November 11, 2010 at 6:49 PM
- Heather said...
these are ADORABLE!! And you have convinced me to buy a ruffler foot for my machine :)
- November 11, 2010 at 6:49 PM
- Lorie said...
Those are BEYOND CUTE! I love them! I will be featuring them tomorrow morning!
- November 11, 2010 at 6:57 PM
- Unknown said...
Soooo cute-girly girl tree!!
- November 11, 2010 at 7:14 PM
- Infarrantly Creative said...
So cute! I stumbled your post and facebooked it out. LOVE IT!!!! Ruffles and Christmas trees? Yes please!
- November 11, 2010 at 7:15 PM
- Lisa said...
Those are adorable! I am actually looking for a sewing machine for Christmas. What model do you have? Any tips for picking one??
- November 11, 2010 at 8:05 PM
- Shirley said...
I LOVE these!!! So cute! And you know I have to try them out since they involve ribbon. Now to get a gathering foot. :)
- November 11, 2010 at 8:34 PM
- Country Wings in Phoenix said...
Oh My Gosh Sweetie...
I love, love, love the trees. The ruffles just make them. And those little finials, and then to know that something you had been saving all this time, was finally coming out for use? Oh I bet DH was thrilled to death, and then probably asked, can we throw them away NOW?
Oh thank you for the beautiful share. I am definitely going to be making a couple of these. So darn cute.
Many hugs, Sherry - November 11, 2010 at 8:40 PM
- Lori said...
This is such a fantastic idea, thanks for the tutorial. Heading to Hobby Lobby tomorrow, I have to make some of these.
- November 11, 2010 at 8:50 PM
- The Autocrat: Haley said...
Okay, I am a pretty avid sewer and I DIDN'T click off the page!! LOL I am going to buy one those!!!!! Hopefully, by the end of the weekend, you totally convinced me. I didn't realize it was that easy! Thanks for sharing.
- November 11, 2010 at 9:27 PM
- Modavesaire said...
oo its so easy but it looks wonderfful :)))
- November 11, 2010 at 9:40 PM
- Cathy said...
I can't wait to try this!! Thanks for the inspiration!!
- November 11, 2010 at 10:05 PM
- Cathy said...
...forgot to add....I love the cotton branches in the background. We recently went to a pumpkin patch that had a cotton field...we picked the cotton but it never occurred to me to get the branches....what a cool way to decorate for fall.
- November 11, 2010 at 10:10 PM
- Kara @ Mine for the Making said...
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! So stinking cute!
- November 11, 2010 at 10:10 PM
- Amanda Lee said...
Really adorable. I just love how they turned out!
- November 12, 2010 at 12:46 AM
- Shelly said...
I absolutely love these! I'll definitely be making a few. I'm not going to get started until I see the muslin/burlap reveal.I am, however, a little challenged learning to use my ruffler foot. Great project idea!
- November 12, 2010 at 6:06 AM
- Jane said...
Great idea! I have a lot of Christmas ribbon that could be utilized this way. Thanks for the details.
Jane - November 12, 2010 at 6:19 AM
- Tai Bender said...
these are so pretty! Thanks for sharing!
taidye original - November 12, 2010 at 7:10 AM
- Bethany said...
Those are so adorable it actually hurts a little bit :)
Bethany - November 12, 2010 at 7:12 AM
- Amanda @ Healthy House on the Block said...
I just love these, Whitney! They turned out absolutely gorgeous! I'm SO into Christmas trees right now -- so thanks a bunch for sharing!
- November 12, 2010 at 7:16 AM
- ashley @ little miss momma said...
BEST tutorial ever! Oh my hec, these are the cutest trees in the UNIVERSE, and how simple! I am in LOVE!
- November 12, 2010 at 9:00 AM
- Dee said...
When you attach the ruffle to the tree are you doing one layer, cutting the ribbon or do you wind it until you get to the top??? Love the look. Dee
- November 12, 2010 at 10:33 AM
- Erin said...
So Cute! I'm definitely trying these!
- November 12, 2010 at 10:58 AM
- Helena said...
I am in LOVE with this idea. And intrigued by the idea of a ruffle foot.
- November 12, 2010 at 12:12 PM
- KimMalk said...
Love--we'll be seeing this all over!
- November 12, 2010 at 12:51 PM
- Traci@ Beneath My Heart said...
Those are soooo stinkin' adorable!! I don't know if I have a ruffler foot, but I have to get one! I am going to make one of these for sure.
Thanks for the idea!
Traci - November 12, 2010 at 1:10 PM
- email@example.com said...
Ooh ruffles- I love them! Thanks so much for this, I'll be linking. Off to check out Erin's blog...
- November 12, 2010 at 2:00 PM
- EMBELLISH said...
Oh my, these are fabulous. I especially love the red one. Also, I pray that your new niece is doing well!!
- November 12, 2010 at 7:17 PM
- Allison @ House of Hepworths said...
Please tell me how & where to buy a ruffler foot. I've never heard of one and now I have to have one! I googled it but I'm still a little confused. I just bought a sewing machine. Do basic machines come with one?
~Allison @ House of Hepworths - November 12, 2010 at 8:44 PM
- nest of posies said...
may i pretty please, copy you completely on this!
LOVE THESE TREES WITH ALL MY HEART! - November 12, 2010 at 9:01 PM
- Mrs.B said...
I love these...but not sure I can make the ruffles!
This blog is FAB! - November 13, 2010 at 4:43 AM
- Tammy said...
Whitney - love those trees. Here is another tree idea you can do and use up those spindles. I make these every year for our towns huge antique festival and they sell out.
They are called spindle trees:
the trees are the burlap based ones from michaels- 24 inch for $6.99
tammy - November 13, 2010 at 6:38 AM
- Katie Olthoff said...
must. find. something cone shaped in my house TODAY and make these!
I LOVE that green one! - November 13, 2010 at 6:52 AM
- Crafty Sisters said...
Adorable! The spindle leg add just the right touch!
- November 13, 2010 at 8:14 AM
- CyndeJo said...
I love it!!!! Have got to make it!!! Hope you don't mind...I am sharing this post on my blog it is just too great. :) Have a great weekend
- November 13, 2010 at 2:14 PM
- Ashley A. said...
These are incredible! I love ruffles and you can't beat them mixed with Christmas. These are now on my "to Make" list. Thanks.
- November 13, 2010 at 8:15 PM
- La-Dee-da crafter said...
I am in texas....where or what is Roundtop? Love the trees.
creationsbyladeeda.blogspot.com - November 13, 2010 at 11:04 PM
- Angie said...
I adore these! So cute!
- November 14, 2010 at 12:07 PM
- Tardevil said...
Most awesome. I'll take 3 please! Lol! I've got to get one of those ruffler thingies.
- November 14, 2010 at 4:18 PM
- Christy said...
These are super cute! I am going to make these with my girls this year! What a fun project, I love it!
- November 14, 2010 at 5:37 PM
- Missy @ Chateau Chic Boutique said...
These are so cute. I must say though that I REALLY love the new ones you just did with the burlap. I have not sewn on my own...yet. My Mom is an awesome sewer and highly recommended a great Brother machine for me from Costco but I think it doesn't take a ruffler. I think it just takes a gathering foot. Do you think that would work too?
Thanks again for your inspiration!
Missy - November 14, 2010 at 9:23 PM
- Pamela Michelle said...
OMG, amazing! Newest follower :)
- November 15, 2010 at 5:13 PM
- Katie @ This Chick Cooks said...
These are adorable trees! I love them!
- November 15, 2010 at 5:14 PM
- Unknown said...
Very cute! Loving them. I am featuring this at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com.
- November 15, 2010 at 5:16 PM
- Maria said...
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! I am so copying it! How the heck did you score those banister things? I am interested in the store you got them at! Also, what do you consider a resonable price for a ruffle foot? I want to get one. Sorry for all the questions! :) You can find me at
youcraftmeup.blogspot.com - November 15, 2010 at 6:15 PM
- concretenprimroses said...
Very pretty and unique trees.
I'm still using the Singer touch and sew that my parents bought me almost 40 years ago, and I've not used all the attachments. Now I'm wondering if it has a ruffle foot. gotta go look!
Kathy - November 16, 2010 at 5:15 AM
- Beth Kreider said...
when you layered the different ribbons, did you do one row at a time?
- November 16, 2010 at 6:34 AM
- Sawdust Girl said...
Love this idea! So cute!!!
- November 16, 2010 at 8:20 AM
- Unknown said...
So cute! Since my new phone is my Christmas present this year, I have asked my hubby if I could get him a sewing machine :)
- November 16, 2010 at 8:56 AM
- Tracy said...
In love. Got tricked into decorating a table for a Christmas banquet ... I'm thinking you just saved my skin. Never heard of a "ruffler" foot before ... am going to break down and buy one. Thanks for the great idea!
- November 16, 2010 at 9:33 AM
- tomiannie said...
Oh, my goodness! I LOVE it!
- November 16, 2010 at 12:35 PM
- Liz said...
These trees are great! Thanks for sharing. I will be featuring you ladies over at ziggycrafts.blogspot.com.
- November 16, 2010 at 1:17 PM
- Tammy @ she wears flowers said...
These are gorgeous - thanks!
- November 17, 2010 at 4:56 AM
- Jeanne Lobsinger said...
Super cute! So glad I stumbled on your blog!!
- November 17, 2010 at 4:44 PM
- mmtncrfts said...
Oh, these are tooooo great! I just had to feature these on my blog. Linked back to you so I hope you'll come over and check it out.
http://www.mmtncrfts.blogspot.com - November 18, 2010 at 7:29 AM
- Terri said...
I just had to say I love these! I already copied you. I'll be posting mine on my blog soon but I will definitely give you the credit and a linky dink on my blog. I didn't have a ruffler foot for my machine so I just did the old fashioned gathering way...but hey it still worked. I'm making them for gifts for co-workers and members in my stamp club. Thanks so much for a wonderful idea. Oh, by the way did you know that when this came out I went straight out to Hobby Lobby and all of the wood stuff was half off? How about that for good timing?
- November 18, 2010 at 10:42 AM
- Jenny said...
Wonderful! I featured you on my blog!
http://aworldofcrafts.blogspot.com/2010/11/ruffle-christmas-trees.html - November 19, 2010 at 10:51 AM
- Coffee@3 said...
We tried out your ruffle trees, 1st one was a learning experience and the 2nd one went great....it was fun, thanks for sharing. Heres our pixs..www.coffeeatthree.blogspot.com
Lauren and Michele - November 21, 2010 at 4:10 PM
- Alethia said...
I love this project! What a great idea! I linked back to it from my blog on HOLIDAY PROJECTS at Sew Much Talent. It reminds meof a couple of ornaments that I did some years back; one was a christmas tree made from artifical leaves, and the other was an angel made using an empty serger thread cone. Check it out.
- November 22, 2010 at 5:18 PM
- Dacia said...
These are soooo cute!
- November 23, 2010 at 6:37 PM
- Esbe Chic said...
Super Cute, I had to share on my blog:
http://www.esbechic.com/1/post/2010/11/christmas-tree-decor-diy.html - November 24, 2010 at 7:39 AM
- Gay Vaughan said...
So cute! I HAD to make these and I posted on my blog with a link to you. I don't have a ruffle foot, so I did them the old fashioned way. I love them, thanks for sharing your ideas!
http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com/2010/11/busy-with-2sprouts-consignment.html - November 29, 2010 at 8:14 PM
- Stephanie Wadas said...
Cute Cute Cute!! I tried it out for myself (without sewing the ruffle...). Didn't turn out as good. Next time I won't be so lazy ;)But still pretty happy with it!
Thanks so much! - November 30, 2010 at 5:56 PM
- Katie @ This Chick Cooks said...
I love this! Thanks for sharing. I am featuring it at Not Just Decorating. Feel free to grab a featured button if you'd like and have a great day :)
- December 3, 2010 at 6:11 AM
- tomiannie said...
LOVE these! I had to make some and share them with you:
http://tomiannie.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-grown-up-christmas-trees.html - December 13, 2010 at 10:07 AM
I loved these trees (and the ones you just posted too) - I linked them up to my "Christmas trees" post today!!
- December 16, 2010 at 5:54 AM
- Amanda said...
Just dropping by to let you know that I linked to this post in a round up today from the Home & Garden channel at Craft Gossip. :) This will appear in the main Craft Gossip RSS feed, on the main home page and can be found directly here
If you would like a "featured by" button, you can grab one here!
http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/grab-a-craft-gossip-button/ - December 21, 2010 at 7:37 PM
- dollystar said...
linda demais; simples de confeccionar e com efeito final deslumbrante e inusitado.
Parabéns, Dolly - December 22, 2010 at 1:41 AM
- dining room table said...
I am planning of making this as my Christmas tree for the next year. Very pretty and I like the size.
- December 28, 2010 at 4:25 AM


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Can any steel drummer play my favourite song?
Professional steel drummers will often take requests, but you will need to give them plenty of notice. Please also keep in mind that steel drummers may ask for an small additional fee to prepare songs that aren't already on their song list. You can view the steel drummer's song list on their Encore profile.


text:
Dear Editor:
The Christie Administration and the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) are now providing New Jersey drivers and non-driver ID holders of all ages the opportunity to Skip the Trip to a motor vehicle agency and renew by mail. We respect your time and want you to be able to spend it doing the things you want to do.
In November 2012, we began offering customers born on or before December 1, 1964 the ability to renew their licenses and non-driver IDs by mail. Our initial Skip the Trip initiative yielded positive results. In fact, 340,000, or 60 percent of those invited to renew by mail, took us up on our offer. This huge success made us step up our efforts to be able to expand the program to all of New Jersey's eligible drivers and ID holders.
Last week, the MVC began mailing our first batch of Skip the Trip invitations to approximately 140,000 residents due to renew their documents in October. That equates to 1.5 million people over the next year that have the option to stay home and renew by mail. If our acceptance rate holds, that means about 1 million less people will be visiting our agencies in the next 12 months. That's a good thing for them and it's a good thing for those people who must still visit an agency to conduct their business.
We think this is another good example of how the Christie Administration and the MVC are dedicated to improving the customer experience and making our services more convenient to the public.
To take advantage of our existing online services, or to find out more information about the Skip the Trip program, visit us online at www.njmvc.gov.
Raymond P. Martinez, Chairman & Chief Administrator
NJ Motor Vehicle Commission


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Beauty coming in the form of best friends, homemade cupcakes, cobblestone streets and southern artisan bakeries.
Beauty coming in the form of best friends, homemade cupcakes, cobblestone streets and southern artisan bakeries.
Those are some great pictures Jenna. I still want to frame the cupcake one!
ahh you're in Charleston!! I'm going home tomorrow & you are getting me very excited. Only after moving do I realize how wonderful it is!
I just about ate my computer screen when I came across the blackened salmon and lobster pasta salad…yummo
Your pics are gorgeous, as always
Love the pics. You and your best friend are so cute! Makes me miss my best friend who lives far away.
You're just all over the place this week! You really are on some road trip!
I heart these photos. They have such a vintage flair and classic style 🙂
I'm loving all these pics!!! Especially that incredible bakery 🙂
I'm a CofC graduate living in California, so I loved looking at these pictures. I have such fond memories of restaurant eating in Charleston and the lowcountry in general.
that doorknob is rocking my world…it's beautiful! reminds me of home 🙂
thank you for capturing the beauty of the south! so many people in the north have a narrow minded/skewed perception of it.
love the candle picture.
Beautiful photos! What a great eye you have Jenna:) And I could probably gobble up all of those cupcakes! yum!
I'm gonna say it again, I want some desktop pics! I'll also echo Heather up there, the doorknob pic is one of my favorites – so much detail in a tiny space! Other than that, I think I like the "bathing in the sunlight" window one best 🙂
Love so many of these!! My favorite is "Make a Wish" though…that is such a cool photo.
I adore the first picture. I want to print it for my kitchen. I love the pink hue and the almost gray background. Beautiful.
Oh, I also love the candles picture and the Sugar Bakery picture. Beautiful!
There are no words. I just want to live in this cafe or have the owners decorate my life.
*Sigh*. So many great pics. Thank you for sharing! 😀
these pictures are great jenna, i'm loving this bakery also
I love this post – especially the pictures of Charleston. I got to visit over the summer and had lunch at Five Loaves Cafe per a previous recommendation of yours. My boyfriend and I just loved it! We also stopped at Sugar Bakeshop on our walk back to King Street and even went to Folly Beach before heading home. Such a beautiful place!
LOVE LOVE LOVE Charleston….
Your life continuously amazes me and sends me into fits of envy.
What a neat place to photograph! Must put it on the list of places I must see before I die.
Ironic that you posted this right now…..I'm currently about 6000 miles away from my little island. I'm in Charleston for a few days and then off to Savannah! We ate at Basil last night thanks to your blog post back in May 09. It was awesome!!
Much Aloha from Low-Country! Amanda
The bakery looked amazing. How cute!!
love your travel diary photos.
it's gorgeous how detail specific they are.
This post makes me want to visit the 'deep south'. I have never been!
any state south of the mason dixon line feels like home to me 🙂
great photos!
Wow! I am an uprooted Middle GA Southern Girl living on the West coast, too. You made me homesick for a few minutes. I could smell Savannah with the first picture. Old Bay Seasoning and Pecan Pralines all mixed together.
Thank you for such a wonderful photo post! It brought me right back to my many recent visits to Charleston and to Savannah! I loved Charleston, and am very familiar with so many of your places, as my brother lived right off of King Street a few years ago! Great memories and wonderful inspiration!
Yay for bestfriends! Hope you have a great time in Charlston. I've never been to Charlston either, but it seems to romantic to me!
These photos are beautiful! Both of those bakeries are gorgeous and so classic. That's the kind of store I've always wanted to open myself or just lounge for hours drinking coffee.
I have spent a lot of time in Savannah and Hilton Head and just love the South. It's a magical place. Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos… I think I want to frame some of them, too!
I'm delurking (first time commenter) to say that A. that's the cutest bakery ever and B. that's the cutest NECKLACE ever…where did you get it? Your pictures are wonderful.
My parents lived in Richmond Hill for several years and I'm actually getting married on Hilton Head Island and I want red velvet cupcakes from Back in the Day Bakery! SOOOOOO good!!!!!
You have an amazing talent for capturing the atmosphere of a place through photos! 🙂
Great pictures! I am counting down the days until I return to the South for Thanksgiving!
OOOH I am loving your traveling to Savannah. My husband and I were just there in the beginning of September. I am so bummed I didn't know about that bakery before we went. But we did go to the Pink House and it was amazing!!!! And I also saw you got that BLT "salad". When we went they sadi it was just featured in the top 10 foods to eat on the Food Network. What did you think of it because it rocked my world and I am still thinking drolling over it. And the mason jar with the cheese sticks……mmmmm. Really liking this posts.
[…] like fried chicken, pot pie or chocolate chip cookies immediately come to mind. But having lived in the Lowcountry, shrimp n' grits is on the top of my personal comfort food […]


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This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Jacki Lyden. Checking on your retirement and mutual fund statements is getting a bit less scary. The stock market cleared another hurdle this week with the S&P 500 closing above 1,400 for the first time in almost four years, and the Dow Jones Industrials up almost 25 percent from their recent low back in early October. NPR's John Ydstie is here to tell us what's driving the market. John, thank you for coming in.
JOHN YDSTIE, BYLINE: You're welcome, Jacki.
LYDEN: So, some interesting numbers - and unemployment is still high, gas prices higher, deficits still extraordinarily large. Why are investors pushing stocks higher?
YDSTIE: The economy still faces some big challenges, but there were a number of things this week that provided some optimism. For instance on Tuesday, Federal Reserve officials offered a somewhat brighter view of the economy in the statement that they issued following their regular meeting. They used phrases like the economy has been expanding moderately, and the labor market has improved, and strains on global financial markets have eased - a reference to some lessening of the European debt crisis. The Fed officials were still guarded - not popping champagne corks - but investors responded very positively.
LYDEN: There was another thing that was interesting this week: the Fed issued another report card on some of the nation's big banks. And what did that tell us about the health of the economy?
YDSTIE: Well, it certainly suggested that the financial sector, which has been at the center of our economic problems, is healing. The Fed put the nation's 19 largest banks through another stress test to find out how many could continue to lend if the economy really tanked again. It found all but one of them had enough capital to absorb losses and continue operating. And passing the test means many of these banks were taken off this short regulatory leash they've been on, and that means they can boost dividend payments to shareholders and buy back stock. And this made investors much more interested in owning bank shares, and that helped boost the market.
LYDEN: But gasoline prices continued to rise this week. And certainly that is a drag on the economy?
YDSTIE: Yes, they did rise. They're up about 20 percent since mid-December, and closing in on $4 a gallon on average for regular. And it is a negative for the economy. It has hurt consumer sentiment. On the other hand, a report earlier this week showed retail sales rising and consumers continuing to spend. And remember, the unemployment rate is down. We've had the best three months of job creation in a couple of years. And consumers are spending less to heat their homes because of the warm winter. So, all that is helping to support confidence.
LYDEN: You know, with that sort of good news, is it too soon to say that a recovery is finally here?
YDSTIE: Well, we're in a recovery. It's very slow. And remember, both last year and the year before we started strong and then faded. There are still threats to this recovery; from rising oil prices, a potential confrontation with Iran, another flare-up in the European debt crisis, a slowdown in China. So there's plenty to worry about, though it does feel a little different right now.
LYDEN: John, there's one other story we noted in the news this week that we want to ask you about, and that is a story of a Goldman Sachs vice president named Greg Smith who resigned publicly from the investment bank in the op-ed pages of The New York Times. And he slammed the bank for what he said was a toxic culture at the firm and a disdainful attitude toward clients. Given the doubts that have already been raised around companies like Goldman Sachs, what impact do you think that's going to have on Americans' attitudes about Wall Street?
YDSTIE: Well, it certainly doesn't help. In his letter, Smith says that Goldman employees denigrated clients, calling them Muppets and tried to sell them products aimed only at maximizing profits for Goldman Sachs. We've heard similar stories before. You'll remember congressional hearings after the financial crisis where Goldman executives were condemned for selling financial products to clients and then betting against them. Smith's letter got a lot of attention. And things like this may be one of the reasons that small investors continue to be distrustful and have not really jumped back into the market.
LYDEN: Well, NPR's John Ydstie. Thank you very much for being with us today.
YDSTIE: You're welcome, Jacki. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Study: Asian carp DNA may not signal live fish
By JOHN FLESHER
AP Environmental Writer
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) -- Live Asian carp don't necessarily have to be present for their DNA to turn up in the environment, according to a government study released Wednesday that could intensify the debate over how to prevent the aggressive, hungry invaders from reaching the Great Lakes and other vulnerable waters.
DNA is found in excrement, slime and scales from live fish. But the report by three federal agencies identifies six other possible means through which genetic fingerprints from bighead and silver carp could find their way into locations such as the Chicago waterway system and western Lake Erie, where it has been detected in dozens of samples taken in recent years.
Those potential pathways include storm sewers, fisheries sampling gear, fish-eating birds, dead fish carcasses, barges and sediments, the report said. It said carp DNA attached to any of those sources could remain for days before disintegrating.
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Scientists with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey are conducting a three-year study designed to answer questions raised by the repeated discovery of Asian carp DNA in rivers and canals in the Chicago area -- including locations beyond an electric barrier intended to block the carp's northward march toward Lake Michigan. Their DNA also has been found in the Mississippi River beyond Minneapolis.
"The purpose ... is to improve the understanding and interpretation of Asian carp environmental DNA results, so we can refine and make this relatively young monitoring tool the most effective to detect live Asian carp presence," said Kelly Baerwaldt, an Army Corps fisheries biologist and Asian carp program manager. Additional reports are planned as the study continues.
Bighead and silver carp escaped into the Mississippi River from sewage treatment ponds and fish farms in the Deep South decades ago and have migrated northward, invading numerous tributary rivers. The filter feeders gobble massive volumes of plankton -- microscopic plants and animals crucial to aquatic food webs.
Scientists say if allowed to infest the Great Lakes, the carp eventually could crowd out native species, endangering the region's $7 billion fishing industry. Silver carp, which spring from the water when startled and have collided jarringly with boaters, pose a threat to tourism.
Some state and local officials in the Great Lakes region want structures placed in the Chicago waterways to seal off Lake Michigan from the Mississippi watershed. Business and government leaders in Chicago say that would devastate shipping in the area, and some question whether the DNA findings are sufficient evidence that the carp have evaded the electric barrier.
Just one live carp has been found beyond the barrier, which is in a canal 37 miles southwest of the city, despite intensive netting operations after repeated positive DNA findings.
Asian carp DNA discoveries also have ignited a debate over whether to close a Mississippi River shipping lock in Minnesota's Twin Cities area.
In their report, the federal scientists said they have conducted experiments to determine the feasibility of alternative explanations for the sampling results. Skeptics have suggested the previously detected DNA could have come from excrement of birds that feed on dead carp, or perhaps from ice and wastewater flushed into Chicago sewers from markets that sell the carp, or from boats that touched the fish.
Without taking sides in the debate, the scientists found that fish-eating birds "have the capacity" to transmit carp DNA in their droppings, which could contaminate barges and other vessels. They found the telltale DNA in feces of birds that were fed Asian carp.
The study also found "considerable amounts" of DNA stuck to boat hulls, which can remain for days "and does not appear to be completely or quickly washed off of boats moving through the water."
Team members reported finding Asian carp DNA in Chicago's storm sewers. They said boats, nets and other gear used by commercial fishermen and natural resource agencies could spread the genetic markers.
Chris Jerde of the University of Notre Dame, who's among the scientists who have detected Asian carp DNA in recent years, said they never claimed that all the positive hits came from live fish. But alternatives suggested in the report don't explain the persistent DNA findings in the same general locations, he said.
Jerde said he and colleagues have tested more than 1,700 water samples from the Chicago waterways, Lakes Michigan and Erie, and many rivers in the region. The positive results have been concentrated in areas relatively close to where a live carp was landed in Chicago in 2010 and where a bighead was caught in Lake Erie around 2000, he said.
"These patterns ... would seem to indicate that there's at least some live carp present in the system, although we don't know how many," Jerde said.


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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Unforgettable songs like "Tennessee Waltz" and "(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window" made Patti Page the best-selling female singer of the 1950s and a star who would spend much of the rest of her life traveling the world.
When unspecified health problems finally stopped her decades of touring, though, Page wrote a sad-but-resolute letter to her fans late last year about the change.
"Although I feel I still have the voice God gave me, physical impairments are preventing me from using that voice as I had for so many years," Page wrote. "It is only He who knows what the future holds."
Page died on New Year's Day in Encinitas, Calif., according to publicist Schatzi Hageman, ending one of pop music's most diverse careers. She was 85 and just five weeks away from being honored at the Grammy Awards with a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Recording Academy.
Page achieved several career milestones in American pop culture, but she'll be remembered for indelible hits that crossed the artificial categorizations of music and remained atop the charts for months to reach a truly national audience.
"Tennessee Waltz" scored the rare achievement of reaching No. 1 on the pop, country and R&B charts simultaneously and was officially adopted as one of two official songs by the state of Tennessee. Its reach was so powerful, six other artists reached the charts the following year with covers.
Two other hits, "I Went To Your Wedding" and "Doggie in the Window," which had a second life for decades as a children's song, each spent more than two months at No. 1. Other hits included "Mockin' Bird Hill," "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte," and "Allegheny Moon." She teamed with George Jones on "You Never Looked That Good When You Were Mine."
Page was one of the last surviving American singers who was popular in the pre-Elvis Presley era when songs on the pop charts leaned more toward innocence than rock `n' roll's overt obsession with sex. Page proved herself something of a match for the rockers, continuing to place songs on the charts into the 1960s.
Page never kept track, but was told late in life that she'd recorded more than 1,000 songs. That's not what she had in her mind growing up as young Clara Ann Fowler.
"I was a kid from Oklahoma who never wanted to be a singer, but was told I could sing," she said in a 1999 interview. "And things snowballed."
Her popularity transcended music. She became the first singer to have television programs on all three major networks, including "The Patti Page Show" on ABC.
She was popular in pop music and country and became the first singer to have television programs on all three major networks, including "The Patti Page Show" on ABC. In films Page co-starred with Burt Lancaster in his Oscar-winning appearance of "Elmer Gantry," and she appeared in "Dondi" with David Janssen and in "Boy's Night Out" with James Garner and Kim Novak.
She also starred on stage in the musical comedy "Annie Get Your Gun."
In 1999, after 51 years of performing, Page won her first Grammy for traditional pop vocal performance for "Live at Carnegie Hall - The 50th Anniversary Concert." Page was planning to attend a special ceremony on Feb. 9 in Los Angeles where she was to receive a lifetime achievement award from The Recording Academy.
Neil Portnow, the Academy's president and CEO, said he spoke with Page and she had been "grateful and excited" to receive the honor. "Our industry has lost a remarkable talent and a true gift, and our sincere condolences go out to her family, friends and fans who were inspired by her work."
Page was born Nov. 8, 1927, in Claremore, Okla. The family of three boys and eight girls moved a few years later to nearby Tulsa.
She got her stage name working at radio station KTUL, which had a 15-minute program sponsored by Page Milk Co. The regular Patti Page singer left and was replaced by Fowler, who took the name with her on the road to stardom.
Page was discovered by Jack Rael, a band leader who was making a stop in Tulsa in 1946 when he heard Page sing on the radio. Rael called KTUL asking where the broadcast originated. When told Page was a local singer, he quickly arranged an interview and abandoned his career to be Page's manager.
A year later she signed a contract with Mercury Records and began appearing in nightclubs in the Chicago area.
Her first major hit was "With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming," but she got noticed a few years earlier in 1947 with "Confess."
She created a distinctive sound for the music industry on that song by overdubbing her own voice when she didn't have enough money to hire backup singers for the single.
"We would have to pay for all those expenses because Mercury felt that I had not as yet received any national recognition that would merit Mercury paying for it," Page once said.
"Confess" was enough of a hit that Rael convinced Mercury to let Page try full four-part harmony by overdubbing. The result was "With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming." The label read, "Vocals by Patti Page, Patti Page, Patti Page and Patti Page."
"Tennessee Waltz," her biggest selling record, was a fluke.
Because Christmas was approaching, Mercury Records wanted Page to record "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" in 1950.
Page and Rael got hold of "Tennessee Waltz," convinced that a pop artist could make a smash hit out of it. Mercury agreed to put it on the B-side of the Christmas song.
"Mercury wanted to concentrate on a Christmas song and they didn't want anything with much merit on the flip side," Page said. "They didn't want any disc jockeys to turn the Christmas record over. The title of that great Christmas song was "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus," and no one ever heard of it."
"Tennessee Waltz" became the first pop tune that crossed over into a big country hit.
The waltz was on the charts for 30 weeks, 12 of them in the top 10, and eventually sold more than 10 million copies, behind only "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby at the time.
She received the Pioneer Award from the Academy of Country Music in 1980. She also is a member of the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.
In her later career, Page and husband Jerry Filiciotto spent half the year living in Southern California and half in an 1830s farmhouse in New Hampshire. He died in 2009.
Page is survived by her son, Daniel O'Curran, daughter Kathleen Ginn and sister Peggy Layton.


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Portland Mattress Disposal
Portland Mattress Disposal Services
Portland (, PORT-lənd) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous county in Oregon. As of 2020, Portland had a population of 652,503, making it the 26th-most populated city in the United States, the sixth-most populous on the West Coast, and the second-most populous in the Pacific Northwest, after Seattle. Approximately 2.5 million people live in the Portland metropolitan statistical area, making it the 25th most populous in the United States. About half of Oregon's population resides within the Portland metropolitan area.Named after Portland, Maine, the Oregon settlement began to be populated in the 1840s, near the end of the Oregon Trail.
Argay Terrace, Bridgeton, Brooklyn, Burlingame, Central Eastside, Collins View, Crestwood, Cully, East Columbia, East Portland, Eliot, Far Southwest, Foster - Powell, Grant Park, Hayhurst


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Clayton Kershaw (15-9, 1.88) vs. Collin McHugh (0-3, 8.59).
Collin out? Around the world? Are you ready for a brand new beat? Well, the Dodgers might be, having won only two of their last six series. So look for a short but efficient night for Clayton Kershaw (in his last start before the postseason), and hopefully some more fireworks than what Dodger Stadium will put off post-game.
Oh, and we'll have two one Sons talking with Stan Kasten and other Dodger dignitaries this evening. Verbose writeups to follow!
Update 4:23pm (from Nomo): Dusty has been sidelined with the Boogie-Woogie Flu, so I'll be flying solo at Blogger Night.
Take it away, Martha, and redeem Mick and David:


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After the birth of his first child, and the subsequent separation from the child's mother, Romero began considering doing something to fill in the hours after work until he could be reunited with his son.
For light heavyweight prospect Ricardo Romero, who makes his UFC
debut this weekend against Seth Petruzelli, everything that happens
from Saturday night on will always link back to family.
If not for the sacrifices made by his parents to put him through
high school and then Rutgers University, he might not have picked up
the wrestling skills, not to mention the degree in Philosophy, to
compete at this level of the game. If not for his uncles and cousins,
he may not have developed the love for combat sports that set him on
this path. And if not for his son, his days would have been spent
strictly on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange, where he
still works as a phone clerk, brokering Natural gas and Crude oil
But it was after the birth of his first child, and the subsequent
separation from the child's mother, when Romero began considering doing
something to fill in the hours after work until he could be reunited
with his son.
"I was watching him a lot, and then she moved out of the area, and I
ended up not seeing him as much, so to fill the time, I started
training," said Romero, who found his way to Brian Katz' Advanced
Martial Arts Gym in North Brunswick, New Jersey. That's all it took.
"I respect the sport and all the guys that are in it, and you
definitely have to dedicate a lot of time to this," he said. "The
beginning, middle of the road, or cream of the crop, you're putting in
a lot of time. So when I went into it, I knew the dedication it would
take to make something substantial out of it. I did a jiu-jitsu
tournament and a couple amateur fights, and I felt that my lifestyle
warranted a possible pro career, so let's give it a shot."
By September of 2007, he was making his pro debut with a first round
win over Bryce Harrell in the Ring of Combat promotion that has been
his home throughout his career. Win after win followed, and suddenly
the buzz started about the nice Puerto Rican kid from Jersey with the
ferocious ground and pound attack.
Yeah, Puerto Rican. Not what you usually hear in mixed martial arts,
but this Boricua Bomber has got the love of fighting in his blood.
"My father and his brothers, they all grew up boxing," he said.
"That's where the roots come from – the drive to be competitive in that
type of one-on-one combative sport. My cousins in Puerto Rico do judo,
and I wrestled, so I guess we transferred from boxing over to those
sports, and now that I do MMA, my parents have grown with me in
watching and everything like that. It's funny to watch them. People who
watch my parents watch me fight tell me that 'they just sit there, they
don't say anything until you win, and then they start screaming and
going crazy.' (Laughs) It's a little bit different than wrestling
because they see that you can possibly get hurt in this sport, so it's
a little nerve-wracking for them. But they still appreciate the sport."
And so far, it's been pretty smooth sailing for the Romeros, as
their son has been the one dealing out the hurt. Winner of 10 of his 11
pro fights, his only loss came via disqualification against Glen
Sandull in September of 2008, but it was around that time when Romero
began looking at the fight game as more than just a hobby.
"It was probably the fight right before the DQ (a three round split
decision win over Constantinos Phillipou) where I said, 'you know what,
I have something here, and I think I can do this,'" he recalled. "I
don't know what it was exactly. I had a nice three round decision, I
came out of it, I felt great, I went toe-to-toe with a boxer for three
rounds, which wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I felt competitive.
And it was the DQ that made me say if you're gonna do this, you really
have to get focused. I went in and didn't make weight the right way, I
really had a hard time making weight that night and I didn't put on the
best performance. I was two seconds away from victory and I slipped up
and did a very weak soccer kick. I didn't know what I was thinking.
After that fight, I said if I'm gonna do this, let's do it the right
way, let's get focused, and little by little, we're trying to critique
things and get better."
Since that lone defeat, he has added wins over UFC vet James
McSweeney (submission) and Ultimate Fighter competitor Karen Grigoryan
(TKO), and earlier this year he supplemented his training with Advanced
Martial Arts by linking up with Mike Constantino and the AMA Fight
Club, home to the Miller Brothers, Charlie Brenneman, and Rafaello
Oliveira, among others.
"My first day (at AMA), there was over 20-something fighters in
there," said Romero. "My gym, there's two pro fighters, two amateur
fighters, and whoever shows up, and I'm one of the two. (Laughs) So
I've been very fortunate with my success so far. We say it in wrestling
all the time – your room makes you better. His (Constantino's) room is
definitely gonna make me better the more time I spend in there dealing
with the guys in there."
Next, he'll get to step onto the sport's biggest stage on Saturday
against a hungry returning vet in Seth Petruzelli. Romero is ready for
whatever 'The Silverback' throws at him.
"He has a wild arsenal that he can throw at you – whether it's
spinning back kicks, back hands, or whatever the case may be, he's
definitely gonna come with wild punches that you're not too familiar
with," said Romero of Petruzelli. "It's not a jab, cross, straight down
the pipe, so you've got to be ready for anything with him. That's the
thing that gets my attention right off the bat. He's very unorthodox
and has some knockout power too, but I'm hoping to come in great shape,
be consistent, stay aggressive, and get the victory."
Then it's back to work on Monday, but that's not necessarily a bad
thing. In fact, knowing that he can devote all his energies to his
fighting life without having to worry about where the next paycheck is
coming from is liberating for the 32-year old prospect.
"My mindset definitely isn't pressured so much where I'm wondering
where the next rent check is gonna be, thank God," he said. "That's
definitely not looming over my head, but I'm trying to take full
advantage of this opportunity. Having a son now, you look at things
differently, and I definitely want to try and set him up properly, the
way my parents did. They did everything in their power to give me a
successful high school and college life, and I want to do the same
And hey, if it happens, it would be pretty cool to fight for a living eventually, right?
"Every typical boy's dream is to do a sport as a job," he smiles. "If
it were to come to that, great; it would be a phenomenal thing. But
right now, I'm just taking it one fight at a time."
Jamahal Hill Talks UFC 300 Main Event
Hall Of Fame


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