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Celebrity Quotes on Obama and Romney
Famous Women Weigh In on the Presidential Candidates
Famous Women Weigh In on the Presidential Candidates
As we get closer to the presidential election, we're seeing more celebrities getting vocal about who they're voting for and what issues are important to them. Some famous people showed their political support at the RNC in Tampa and the DNC in Charlotte, either by speaking at or attending the conventions. Others have been tweeting their endorsements and attending or throwing fundraisers for their favorite candidates. And while both Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama appreciate the star-power support of their campaigns, the famous females are especially important in an election season so focused on women. So click through to see what celebrity women from Sarah Jessica Parker to Lindsay Lohan have said about their presidential picks and this election season.


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Artist's description:
In life there are measures and fractions with corners. When put together in vibrant colors with texture they speak as one, like a story that comes to life, which goes beyond two dimensional thinking. The easy feeling of an inter-spacial relationship with form and color promotes this expression.
The painting is an abstract contemporary modern painting painted on a staples free sides canvas. It is ready to hang.
If you have any questions, please, write me message.
Materials used:
Acrylic on Canvas
Diamond Cut (2016)
Mixed-media painting by Jakthon Phaengtho
- Mixed-media painting on Canvas
- One of a kind artwork
- Size: 36 x 24 x 1 in (unframed) / 36 x 24 in (actual image size)
- Ready to hang
- Signed on the front
- Style: Abstract
- Subject: Abstract and non-figurative
This artwork is sold by Jakthon Phaengtho from United States

subset: commoncrawl


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Back to All Events
Earlier Event: September 5First Day of School Grades 1 - 5
Later Event: September 11First Day of School - Kindergarten
Making a difference, one child at a time.
The Helen Keller PTA was created as a non-profit organization to help support and improve the health, welfare, and education of our children
Shop on Amazon anytime and they will return a % of your purchases to the Keller PTA!
The specialists at Keller are always looking to improve and invigorate our library, physical education and music room's collections.
One way you could help our students grow in these areas is by considering a donation from one of the below Amazon Wish Lists!
For Book Donations - To show our appreciation, a book-plate with your/your family's name will be added to the inside cover of every book you provide!


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Now I just post photos on Instagram. Here are some recent highlights:
The beginnings of my Once Upon a Time sampler (and my first cross stitches since I was a teenager):
Patching my favorite jeans with Chicopee corduroy:
I destashed some of my yardage as part of The Great Fabric Destash on Instagram.
And finally, I took this little sweetheart on a trip to visit my sister. She did wonderfully on the plane!


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With three tweets about aftershocks on a Saturday afternoon, USGS seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones joined the Twitter ranks, causing some reverberations of her own. But in a medium that doesn't require you to be yourself — or even a person — to get an account, her emergence on Twitter was met with some cautious optimism, especially in the beginning.
Click here for a better view on mobile.


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Bangkok Flood Latest News: 506 Dead in Historic Flooding
The death toll from the devastating Bangkok floods is now at 506. Drowning is considered to be the prominent cause of death as floodwaters continue to rise.
Last week, Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra told reporters that the peak tides had passed through the region and that Bangkok will avoid the worst of the floods. However, it appears that Bangkok is getting hit hard with 12 of its 50 districts having already faced ordered evacuations and flood water inching closer and closer into Bangkok's southern district.
Some areas in the north of the city have seen receded waters, but other areas remain under threat and authorities are working diligently to keep the commercial heart of Bangkok dry.
On Sunday the governor of Bangkok expressed concerns as 14 flood gates in Western Bangkok were not functioning properly.
One Bangkok resident told CNN, "I don't know what the government is doing. They promised that water would be diverted to the east and west… Why is water coming closer and closer to (the) central part? I don't see any improvement."
The flooding in Thailand began in July and is the worst flooding the East Asian nation has witnessed in over half a century.
With such heavy flooding concerns are abounding about the effect the flooding will have on sanitation, access to clean water, and the overall health of people in the country.
The most common diseases that emerge following heavy flooding include diarrhea, dengue fever, and malaria and could potentially create a higher level of devastation in the country even after the floodwaters subsided.
Thailand's record breaking flooding came as a result of two typhoons and unusually heavy monsoon rains that persisted for three months.
Over three million people across the country have been affected by the flooding and four million acres of farmland have been damaged according to a recently released Thailand Disaster and Mitigation Department report.
The government has said that the floods currently affect 25 of the country's 77 provinces.


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Professional golf spoils us with incredible moments over the course of each calendar year.
Whether it's a hole-in-one, a monster of a putt, or a hole-out from the fairway with everything on the line -- 2013, like every other year -- provided some great drama on the course.
In this week's, "A Quick Nine," we reached out to our friends in PGA.com Facebook Nation (Click here to join the masses!) and asked them to answer the question: What was your favorite golf moment (professional golf) from 2013?
Many great answers rolled in. Here are the best of the best, along with video of the moment outlined.
9. Tiger Woods winning the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational by an incredible seven shots. Few golf courses fit Tiger's eye better than Firestone in Akron, Ohio. Back in August, he won there for the eighth time in his career -- his 79th career PGA Tour victory. Woods distanced himself from the field with an amazing second round of 9-under 61. For that one week, Tiger looked like the Tiger of the early 2000s, who didn't just win, but completely dominated the competition.
8. Sometimes you don't have to look too far for a great moment. Many of our PGA.com Facebook friends identified Zach Johnson's, 72nd hole, hole out from 59 yards at Sherwood Country Club over the weekend -- which set up a playoff with Tiger Woods -- as one of those great moments. Johnson would go on to defeat Woods on the first hole of that playoff in the World Challenge.
7. Tiger Woods winning the Players Championship. As beautiful as the golf courses are week in and week out on the PGA Tour, the players have their favorites and least favorites. TPC Sawgrass, annual host of the Players Championship, falls into the latter category for Woods. Prior to 2013, Woods had won the tournament once in 2001. Other than that, he hadn't experienced a whole lot of professional success at TPC Sawgrass (he did win the 1994 U.S. Amateur there). This was a special one for Woods.
6. Jason Dufner's win at the PGA Championship. Oak Hill, site of the 2013 PGA Championship, is a classic Donald Ross design. It was fitting that a guy with a classic, Ben Hogan-esque swing would win there. Dufner was clinical throughout the week at Oak Hill, striping drives down the center line of the fairway and delivering stellar approach after stellar approach. It was also nice to see Dufner get redemption just two years after that difficult playoff loss to his buddy Keegan Bradley in the 2011 PGA at Atlanta Athletic Club.
5. Phil Mickelson's unbelievable pitch shot in a playoff at the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart. Mickelson has made a career out of making seemingly impossible shots not only look possible, but easy. This was one of them. Mickelson was in a playoff with Branden Grace on Castle Stuart's par-5 18th hole. Short of the green in two, Mickelson was left with an awkward pitch from an extremely tight lie. With 64-degree wedge in hand, Mickelson proceeded to hit an incredible pitch that landed on the green, took a couple of skips and danced backwards to within one foot of the hole to set up what would be a winning birdie. No doubt this win gave Mickelson the confidence to believe he could win the following week in the Open Championship -- which he did.
4. PGA Professional Rob Labritz provided one of the best spine-tingling moments of 2013. Labritz, part of a playoff at the PGA Professional National Championship in Sunriver, Ore., to determine the final spots for PGA Professionals in the PGA Championship field, holed a 95-yard wedge shot for birdie to lock up the PGA berth. Labritz looked to be in trouble after a tough-luck second shot, but miraculously holed his third shot.
This, from reader David Sanchez: "Nothing beats Rob Labritz holing out to get the last spot in the PGA at the PNC. And to top it off, he was an Assistant Golf Pro at Monarch back in the day, and I am now the Head Pro. Couldn't be prouder of someone who works so hard. Like the greats always said, 'the harder I practice, the luckier I get.' Awesome job, Rob. So proud."
3. Phil Mickelson's final-round 66 at Muirfield en route to winning the Open Championship. What made this win so special is that Mickelson had struggled for so long in this particular major, seemingly unable to figure out the best way to approach links golf. At Muirfield, not only did Mickelson figure it out, but he romped to a three-shot victory in that final round, powered birdies on four of his final six holes.
2. Adam Scott's long birdie putt on the 72nd hole at Augusta National, which would eventually earn him a spot in a playoff with Angel Cabrera. Normally a pretty reserved player who never gets too excited, Scott went crazy when he holed this putt on the final hole of regulation, famously screaming, "C'mon, Aussie!" Not long after, Scott would win the playoff to become the first Australian-born player to win the Masters.
1. Jarrod Lyle's return to professional golf at the Australian Masters. The 32-year-old Aussie marked his return to competitive golf after a battle with acute myeloid leukemia -- the second time he has beat that form of cancer in his lifetime. It was an emotional opening tee shot for Lyle at Royal Melbourne and one that golf fans could never forget.
Writer's honorable mention: No offense to our readers, but how about Justin Rose's incredible win at Merion in the U.S. Open? That one was somehow overlooked, but we know you meant to include it! Right?
Follow T.J. Auclair on Twitter, @tjauclair.


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A truck driver was killed early Monday morning in a chain-reaction crash sparked after another tractor-trailer lost its load on Interstate 80 eastbound in Pocono Township, officials said.
A truck driver was killed early Monday morning in a chain-reaction crash sparked after another tractor-trailer lost its load on Interstate 80 eastbound in Pocono Township, officials said.
The driver of an eastbound flatbed tractor-trailer lost control of his rig near mile-marker 295, causing two pre-fabricated concrete forms to fall from his flatbed.
Video: View the crash's aftermath
One of the forms landed on the interstate, setting off a chain reaction involving three more tractor-trailers and a passenger car, according to Monroe County Coroner Bob Allen. Allen said the area was foggy when the 3:28 a.m. crash happened.
The resulting investigation and cleanup closed I-80 for more than a dozen hours and caused spillover bottlenecks onto other roadways.
Daniel L. Snyder, 41, of Youngstown, Ohio, was hauling a load of aluminum extrusions to Brooklyn when a tractor-trailer in front of him struck the fallen concrete forms and became disabled by a flat tire, according to Allen.
Snyder plowed into the back of that tractor-trailer, driven by Jason Osborne, of Port Crane, N.Y. Allen pronounced Snyder dead at the scene.
The impact of the crash pushed Snyder's tractor into the trailer in front of him. His load of aluminum extrusions crashed though the back of his tractor, pinning him in the wreckage.
His body was removed about seven hours later after the two trucks were separated. No one else was injured.
Snyder worked for Coy Brothers Trucking in Canfield, Ohio, for the past eight years. His boss, Arlan Coy, said the staff was shocked by the news of his death.
"We are a small company, so everybody knows everybody," Coy said. "We just had our company Christmas party on Saturday and (Snyder) was there. We all had such a good time and now this," he said. "We have never had a driver die while driving in our company history, and that goes back 54 years."
Snyder is survived by his wife and four children.
The truck that hauled the concrete is owned by Kaplan Trucking Co. in Cleveland. David Ferrante owns the company and said he is sending staff to the area to find out how the wreck occurred.
"We are a family company, and when something like this happens we take it very, very seriously. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim and everybody else involved," he said. "I'm hesitant to say anything else until I find out exactly what happened."
I-80 East was closed all day and into Monday night. Traffic was diverted onto I-380 north.
A team of state police accident reconstructionists spent all day on the scene documenting the wreck. A dozen workers from Schlier's Towing worked into the night to clear the wreckage and clean diesel fuel from the road.
Volunteer firefighters were on the scene and used water tankers to wash fuel, absorbent and debris from the road.
The closure of I-80 East meant huge traffic jams in and around Mount Pocono. To help ease long lines of traffic on Routes 611 and 940 in Mount Pocono, Councilman Bill Jabara began tweaking traffic lights and monitoring traffic.
Jabara said he and borough workers tried to make sure that trucks and buses didn't get caught in intersections.
"How many cars use I-80 East each day — 40,000? Well, that's how many we have in town today," he said.
Pocono Record Writer Howard Frank contributed to this report.


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I'm having trouble installing 12.04.1 on my HP Pavilion dv4 1514dx.
The installation crashed after copying files and just as configuring
apt started. I tried to report the crash details but the message said that my Ubuntu version is not the authentic version and thus the crash can't be reported.
I have tried both 32 and 64 bit version of 12.04.1, and even 32 bit versions of 12.04, 11.04, and 10.04. They all have the same type of crash with version 12.04.1.
All Ubuntu ISO images were burned to disk and were installed via an external DVD drive. 12.04.1 was also installed from a USB (created using LinuxLive USB Creator). Also, my laptop does not have USB 3.0 ports, only USB 2.0 ports.
I also tried to install 12.04.1 on my old Acer laptop (both from external DVD drive and USB) and it works like a charm. No problem occurs. So I believe this is not ISO image or disk problem.
The crashes are very consistent. They all appear during configuring
apt, just after copying files.
Did Ubuntu have any issue with HP laptops in general? Or is my laptop so special? I have no problem with Windows 7, but I can't install Windows XP either (BSOD right away).
If there is any information you guys need, please let me know.


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LOUIS VUITTON DORA ULTRA SOFT BAGCategories:Louis Vuitton
Meet the Louis Vuitton Dora Ultra Soft Bag.
And you're right, it's belongs to the Louis Vuitton Dora Bag Collection, but the style is different and unique. The shape is more round and because of this, it deserves its own page on BRAGMYBAG.
READ: Louis Vuitton Dora Bag
The sides of the Dora Ultra Soft Bag have the curves like a woman. It's crafted in rich Taurillon Leather, and it adds a happy pop of color to our neutral wardrobes. This is the newest version, which is made soft with rounded lines that highlight the skin's supple feel and distinctive grain.
The MM size has plenty of space for all your essentials and it's the perfect accessory for everyday. Because of the leather strap (which can be removed) and the handles, it can be carried by hand, over our shoulder or even on your elbow.
It comes with a leather luggage tag and with metal LV signature on it, the interior features double pocket and large pocket. Measuring 36 x 24 x 15 cm, priced at $5450 AUD via Louis Vuitton boutique.
Tags: Louis Vuitton bag Soft DORA ULTRA


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Source: http://tennesseeticket.com
On November 6, 2012, Chattanooga voters opted to amend their city charter by repealing one section and inserting new language having to do with recalling an elected official.
Or, put another way, Chattanooga voters simply made official what a state appellate court has already decided: that the requirements pertaining to validation of petition signatures have been set by the Legislature.
Several provisions in Chattanooga's recall procedure were out of line with state law, but the one change that motivated this amendment—from requiring 50% of the number of voters in the last election to requiring 15% of registered voters—is one of two* pieces the state statute leaves flexible. Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-5-151 (j) carves out the ability for qualified municipalities to set their own numeric thresholds, if they enact or amend charters after June 1997.
Do you feel like you just went in a circle? Hold tight and get something to clench your teeth on, because this post is going to get wonk-y.
The process for a voter-initiated recall effort starts in the same way as for a voter-initiated ballot measure (referendum or initiative). At least one registered voter composes a question that voters would answer in a general election. That voter or group of voters then submits the question to their county election commission, who approves the wording.
Recall petitions have an extra requirement beyond the question: they must state at least one reason that the official should be removed.
The Chattanooga City Charter, until the recent amendment was approved, was not clear on the guidelines for creating the actual petition. If you followed its language and mapped it out as a process diagram, well…first you're a nerd, and second, you'd see that it was a bit murky until the step in the process where the petition comes back to the election commission full of signatures.
But now, the petition process itself is very clear, and quite easy to follow. (My eight-year-old was able to navigate it, with a couple of hints.)
And you thought I was kidding about the swimlanes.
In summary, the items gained or clarified by opting to follow state law are:
- A petition question validation process (30 days) by the election commission, before signatures are gathered
- A chance (15 days) to amend a rejected petition and resubmit for election commission approval (15 days) before it gets circulated
- A specified time period (75 days) for gathering signatures
- Corrected the timing of when the question can be put on an election ballot
A couple of things went away when we replaced the former Chattanooga City Charter § 3.18:
- A chance to amend a rejected petition post-circulation (i.e., get more signatures)
- The ability to use the most recent election's turnout as a basis for the signature threshold
But all that is only about creating, filing, circulating, and verifying the petition for recall. What is supposed to happen upon and after the election? For that matter, what is the very nature of the election?
After doing a bit of reading, it seems quite clear to me that the election that gets triggered by a certified petition is not one in which candidates vie for office. Well, not technically.
Some states do hold the special election at the same time as the recall election, but it is specified that the recall election itself is simply the question "Shall [name of incumbent] be recalled?" or something to that effect. Voters choose between options "For the recall" and "Against the recall." Then, on the same ballot, they vote on which candidate they would like to see fill the office.
Holding these elections at the same time no doubt saves money, but there are a couple of inherent problems with this approach. First, will the best candidates sign up to run in an election where they're not even sure if the recall will pass? The pragmatic person might rather wait for that step to be decided, and then run. (It's fair to argue that this could be gauged by measuring petition support.)
Second, what about the following scenario? The recall question and special election are on the same ballot. A majority votes for the recall; but a majority also votes for the well-known incumbent, whose name recognition conjures up a knee-jerk reaction among voters who really are paying that little attention. (Don't make me list examples.)
What then? Or what if the recall fails, but a challenger ends up with the most votes? It could happen.
It seems like the clearest way to express the will of the people is to hold the recall election first, and certify the results. If the recall passes, then the incumbent is removed (heads-up, council chairperson, this would be your chance to serve as interim mayor), and can opt-out or join the waiting throng of would-be replacements in a special election. If the recall fails, then all those others don't need to bother; the general electorate effectively will have told the petitioners to sit down and be quiet.
But which is it? The sense during the recall effort that sparked this month's referendum was that we would see candidates on the very next ballot. In contrast, referendum law seems to indicate that voters' first response to a recall petition is to decide en masse whether it should occur.
In a way, the mayor's lawsuit that successfully stopped the election helped fend off both an answer to this question and a very confusing mess.
Since neither the Charter nor Tennessee law is abundantly clear**, I guess we'll have to try out the new process to find out—er, I mean, when and only if one of our elected officials demonstrates that there are specific grounds for removal. Until then, the election part of a recall election remains as foggy as the petition part was before.
*The other is the number of days allowed for petition circulation. The law has 75 days, but cities can change this.
**This statement only means that I have not been able to determine the exact process. If someone knows where it's clearly laid out, please point to that information.


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Developing systems to be easy to use and effective can be
accomplished by a simple guess-build-test approach, but this
is often slow and expensive. A better approach is first, base
the interface design on concepts and principles from human
factors and cognitive psychology. Examples: why finding an
object on the screen is easiest if it has a distinctive color rather
a particular icon; why the mouse and touchscreens are more
effective for selecting objects than joysticks, trackballs, or
keyboards. Then second, analyze and predict the effectiveness
of the design using simulated humans that are based on a
cognitive architecture for human perception, cognition, and
action, similar to those developed in artificial intelligence. My
research focuses on developing such modeling techniques
both for the initial design of the system functionality, and the
evaluation of specific detailed interface designs.
CSE FacultyBanovic, Nikola
Kieras, David E.


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Guy Tillim: City Hall offices, Lubumbashi, DR Congo, 2007Photo courtesy of Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
As the first recipient of the Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography at the Peabody Museum, Guy Tillim traveled through Angola, Mozambique, Congo, and Madagascar, documenting the grand colonial architecture and how it has become part of a contemporary African stage. Tillim told an interviewer in 2008: "The buildings are very much inhabited, but many are decaying, so the challenge was not to become a connoisseur of decay, or come up with some sort of Havana-esque vision. I'd thought about this project for quite a number of years, wondered how I'd ever get around to it. Then the Fellowship came." (a. magazine, July 2008.)
Guy Tillim's photographs reveal the decay and detritus of colonialism in Western and Southern Africa on a scale both monumental and slight. He exposes the stains, cracks, and filth of huge, crumbling institutional structures—post offices, school, offices, hotels, and banks. He winds around their staircases and looks through their windows, finding offices and classrooms void of basic equipment and furniture. While the people in these images are almost peripheral—at the frames' edges, with turned backs, or slightly out of focus—there is an acute sense of humanity in the images, shown through the personal objects left behind: an umbrella, a house plant, a purse, a book.
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology11 Divinity AvenueCambridge, Mass.


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Music and Video Summary -> Gram Parsons' legend is so great that it's easy for the neophyte to be skeptical about his music, wondering if it really is deserving of such effusive praise. Simply put, it is, and if you question the veracity of that statement, turn to Rhino's peerless double-disc set, Sacred Hearts and Fallen Angels: The Gram Parsons Anthology. This is the first truly comprehensive overview of Parsons' work, running from the International Submarine Band, through the Byrds, to the Flying Burrito Brothers and his two solo albums, scattering appropriate rarities or non-LP tracks along the way. This is no small feat, since it depends on extensive cross-licensing between record labels, plus concentration from the compilers, who won't allow personal biases to get in the way of telling the story. Miraculously, this happens, and the result is a lean, yet thorough, utterly addictive set that summarizes the brilliance of Gram Parsons, capturing his magnificent songwriting abilities and how he made country sound like rock & roll, while giving rock a sense of country's history. It's possible to complain about the handful of omissions -- "Break My Mind" is one of the greatest recordings he did with the Byrds, the version of "Do You Know How It Feels" is better with the Burritos, the barroom anthems of his solo records ("Cry One More Time," "Big Mouth Blues," "I Can't Dance," "Cash on the Barrellhead") gave the weepers context -- but this still hits every major point. After all, counting the early version of "Do You Know," only two songs are missing from The Gilded Palace of Sin and only four songs are missing from the two-fer of GP/Grievous Angel, plus this has the best of the ISB, Byrds, and songs that didn't make the solo album. So, even if there may be a personal favorite or two missing, nothing major is missing, which means this is a perfect, irresistible summation of Parsons' career, containing every great moment from all of his bands. His genius has never seemed purer than it does here, since it conveys the true scope of his talents and his career. If you are a fan of Parsons, this isn't necessary, even if it is an excellent listen (there's only one unreleased track, the ISB's "Knee Deep in the Blues"). If you haven't fallen in love with him, skip every other disc -- this is what you need. Once you hear it, there's no way that you won't become a life-long fan. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. (c) 2019 Rovi Corporation.


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Weird science
8 minutes ago
"Freedom Outlaw. It's not what you do; it's how you do it. It's an attitude — from which actions always follow. It's a do-it-yourself occupation. And a lifetime vocation."
- Claire Wolfe, Backwoods Home Companion, 6-07-10
"Authority should derive from the consent of the governed, not from the threat of force."
- Barbie


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Your browser does not support iframes.
Reece Murphy
When it comes to student essayists, they don't get much better than Indian Land senior Savannah Adams and her sisters.
While many students struggle with even the most routine class papers, Savannah's skills as a writer earned her first place in this year's state-wide student journalism contest sponsored by the S.C. Governor's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities.
The importance of perseverance rang true for all 74 University of South Carolina Lancaster students who participated in graduation ceremonies Saturday, April 28.
But it was especially true for Amy Johnson, who donned her cap and gown and listened to guest speaker Dr. Leah Moody.
For Johnson, 54, perseverance is her only option, as she's battled cancer off and on for the last several years.
A lot has changed since the years when kindergarten was little more than ramped-up day care.
Bolstered by pre-school programs, kindergarten these days is seen as the obligatory first step in a child's successful education, and by extension, the rest of their lives.
Preparing a child for the transition to school takes more than socialization and learning classroom fundamentals, especially when poverty is a factor – it takes meeting the child's fundamental needs both at school and at home.
While still in the works, Lancaster County School District officials say the forecast for this year's budget is looking good.
Tony Walker, the district's finance director, said at the school board's March 27 meeting the district is in good financial shape as the fiscal year draws to a close. Walker said both general fund spending and revenue are in line, or better, than expected.
Last year's general fund budget for day-to-day operations totaled $70.8 million.
An Andrew Jackson High School junior was arrested Friday for having a loaded handgun in his truck.
Also on that same day, a Clinton Elementary School fifth-grader was suspended after he was caught with bullets at school.
Dorian Drake Knight, 17, 6982 Shiloh Unity Road, was arrested March 1 at Andrew Jackson High and charged with possession of a weapon on school grounds and possession of a firearm by a person under the age of 18, according to a Lancaster County Sheriff's Office incident report.
VAN WYCK – J.R. Wilt, 73, has announced his candidacy for the reshaped Lancaster County District 1 school board seat.
The new District 1 includes Van Wyck, where Wilt lives.
The seat is open as a result of redistricting, which split the Panhandle into two districts. By law, school districts must follow the same lines as County Council districts.
Don McCorkle, current District 1 school trustee, lives in what will be the new District 7 and will continue to represent that district until his term expires in 2014.
An Indian Land mother has filed a civil rights complaint against the Lancaster County School District alleging racism by school officials at Indian Land high and middle schools.
In a report that aired Wednesday on WBTV, Krisma Gregory, who is black, said the unfair punishments meted out by school officials in two separate incidents involving her sons were racially motivated.
There's no two ways about it. If you missed this year's second annual University of South Carolina Lancaster Soul Food Cook-Off on Wednesday, you missed out.
The 2012 event was even bigger and better than last year's inaugural event, drawing about 400 people to the university's Bradley Multi-purpose Room. Eager diners were welcomed by the smell of down-home cooking so thick you could almost taste it in the air.
And all for a good cause: the USCL Emergency Textbook Fund for students in financial need.
Two Lancaster County students are among the 10 finalists who will compete Saturday at the annual Poetry Out Loud state competition sponsored by the S.C. Arts Commission.
Robert Massey of Andrew Jackson High School and Raina Hill of Buford High School advanced from classroom to school-wide to regional contests to compete for South Carolina's spot in the national finals, which will be held May 13-15 in Washington, D.C., and a shot at a $20,000 scholarship. More than 4,000 South Carolina students competed this year.
Reece Murphy
High School senior Rachel Joy Scott knew she was going to die young.
And she did, shot to death on April 20, 1999 as she sat outside on the lawn at school eating lunch with a friend – the first victim of the tragic Columbine High School massacre.
That Rachel had such a premonition came as no surprise to those who knew her, she'd often talked about how she just knew it, how she accepted it as fact.
Copyright © 2019
The Lancaster News is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Lancaster County and Lancaster, South Carolina, and the surrounding area..


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Gay marriage takes next steps
Gay activists are preparing to quickly use the momentum from this year's election to try to legalize marriage in at least seven new states and force Congress and the president to make major changes in discrimination laws.
Advocates have identified Oregon, Rhode Island, Delaware, Minnesota, Colorado, Hawaii and New Jersey as states where they believe that as early as 2014 they'll see gay marriage legalized through ballot measures, court decisions or state legislative action.
Story Continued Below
And the U.S. Supreme Court is set to decide next week whether to consider legalizing gay marriage.
The Court will decide which cases they'll hear in what's expected to be a landmark decision. There are several options: five separate Defense of Marriage Act challenges that could be rolled together, the constitutional challenge to California's Proposition 8 and the case challenging Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's attempt to stop gay couples from receiving domestic partnership benefits.
( PHOTOS: 20 gay rights milestones)
Meanwhile, activists are aiming to quickly use the momentum from this year's election to boost marriage legalization efforts in at least seven new states and force Congress and the president to make major changes in discrimination laws.
They sense a major change from this year's election victories — which included successful gay marriage referendums in Maine, Maryland and Washington state, the defeat of a Minnesota ban, the first successful retention of an Iowa Supreme Court judge who favors gay marriage, the election of Tammy Baldwin as the first openly gay senator, the election of two new gay House members and the reelection of the president widely praised by advocates as the most pro-gay rights ever.
( PHOTOS: Celebrities tweet about Obama's gay marriage stance)
Together, there's clear proof that opponents to gay marriage and gay rights have lost support, said Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin.
"Now that they're on the defensive on all fronts and we're on the offensive on all fronts, we've got to take this momentum and turn it into our next victories," said Griffin, whose organization has already prepared a four-page "post-election agenda" memo detailing an administrative, legislative and personnel agenda. "At times like this, you can't slow down. You've got to double down."
( Also on POLITICO: New Senate breed: Liberal and proud of it)
Inspired by post-election conversations in Congress on immigration reform, gay leaders believe there's hope on passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, as well as succeeding in getting President Barack Obama's signature on a long-sought executive order to ban discrimination among government contractors. Changes in military benefits, tax measures and health care provisions are also in their sights.


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Whakatane: A coastal paradise
A thousand years ago, the mighty Chieftan Toi crossed the Pacific Ocean in a huge waka (canoe) and landed in Whakatane.
A thousand years ago, the mighty Chieftan Toi crossed the Pacific Ocean in a huge waka (canoe) and landed in the eastern Bay of Plenty. Discovering paradise, he founded Whakatane.
Toi's adventurous voyage inspired the mood of the town forever. Whakatane ("focka-tarnay") embraces the great outdoors - especially activities based around the water.
The bustling town (population 15,024) sits on the mouth of the Whakatane River, and is around 90km from Tauranga, 250km from Auckland, and 500km from Wellington. Many Whakatane homes look out from the green hills behind the central business district to the sparkling Pacific Ocean, dotted with islands and boats.
The warm coastal waters offer magnificent game fishing, as well as diving, whale watching and swimming with dolphins. Just over the hill is magnificent Ohope Beach, a family playground and Ohiwa Harbour, a tidal harbour of international ecological significance. Ohiwa is home to many rare and endangered birds, as well as being a perfect spot for swimming, kayaking and boating.
Basking in a friendly year-round climate, Whakatane is sensational for outdoor pursuits.
"The Heads" of Whakatane attracts surfers, and the Whakatane river frequently jostles with waka ama (a fast growing sport involving teams of paddlers) and kayaks. Other local rivers offer white water rafting. Less than an hour's drive away, is the Rangitaiki river, offering some of the world's best trout fishing.
If you enjoy walking or running, living in Whakatane you'll enjoy stunning terrain, notably on the Nga Tapuwai o Toi track (Maori for 'in the footsteps of Toi') which starts virtually in the town centre, and twists around to the glorious expanse of Ohope beach. (There are also plenty of walking groups and a very popular, family-focused, athletics and harrier club.)
For the less actively inclined, there are incredible beaches within minutes of Whakatane's central business district, and outside the summer holiday season (December-January) they're virtually empty. Golden sands and secluded coves abound, with the mild climate enabling you to make the most of them.
Great for the kids
If you're on holiday with children Whakatane is naturally family friendly, with plenty of parks, gentle walks, safe beaches and camping grounds. It's the perfect place to relax for a few days and experience authentic New Zealand.
For more information, please go to www.whakatane.com.


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We choose to create the products of conscience that we had searched for ourselves. Our success is based on knowing there are other people out there that feel the same way.
ZENMED® continues to be at the forefront of developing Doctor-formulated skincare targeted towards persistently troubled skin. Our belief in this approach continues to be supported and endorsed by the medical and naturopathic community. Our skincare offers the immediate effects of cosmeceutical procedures using proven medicinal and esthetician-grade actives without compromising the holistic foundations upon which we are based.
We manufacture formulations 100% free of animal testing or animal products (Vegan). There are no dyes or fragrances, petrochemicals, sodium lauryl, or laureth sulfates in any of our products. We only use 100% recyclable packaging and use organically sourced ingredients whenever possible. No wasteful cosmetic boxes are utilized. Minimal impact on the environment has been our goal from day one and we will continue to work on decreasing our environmental footprint every day.
Our expertise from the very beginning has been creating skincare for persistently troubled skin. We make formulations specifically designed for sufferers of Acne, Rosacea, Hypersensitivity, and Eczema. We also offer products for Digestive Wellness and Immune Support.


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Echo244 was lynched. She was Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, a member of the Town.
Role Details:
Role Name - Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
Role Description - You are Rudolph, leader of Santa's herd of reindeer. Others follow your advice, even when indirectly given.
Role Abilities - Once each day you may pm the moderator the names of 2 other players; any active powers they use will be redirected onto each other, instead of their original targets, until the start of the next day.
After recovering from the shock of finding they had lynched wrongly, the few remaining townies discovered another body, mpolo
mpolo was killed during the night. He was the Clumsy Watcher, a member of the Town.
Role Details:
Role Name - Clumsy Watcher
Role Description - Just what it says on the tin.
Role Abilities - Once per day, you may PM the name of another player to the mod. At the start of the next day, you will be informed of all players who targeted that player during the night. However, there is a chance that the player targeting your target will be informed that you saw them.
Hidden Mechanics - random.org decides with a 25% chance if the watcher is seen by the visitor. This will be rolled independently for each visitor in case of multiple visitors.
After careful consideration of the remaining numbers, Lawrencelot turned to bessie and said, "We outnumber these guys if you don't count the ghost. Should we make them an offer they cannot refuse?"
The Mafia has won.
Congratulations to Madge, Lawrencelot, bessie, and emlightened.


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You're probably familiar with the anatomical illustrations of Godzilla and his pals, but have you ever seen these cross-sections of Gamera and his buddies? Check out eyelids that eject shurikens and dorsal spikes that shoot rainbows.
Over at Pink Tentacle, there's a great round-up of Daiei Motion Picture's kaiju anatomy. For example, Barugon's (above) accoutrements include "dorsal spikes that produce a deadly rainbow ray," a "30-meter-long weaponized tongue, "a stomach that can digest diamonds (his favorite food), and radar horns atop his head." Radar horns! Of course!
Guiron over here comes equipped with a head "100 times harder than diamond and [that's] packed with shuriken-like stars that can be fired from a pair of openings above the eyes." He also has 60 times more teeth than a piranha, but the illustration shows maybe 12. This is highly enlightening, as I always assumed the leathery hides of kaiju hid extremely sweaty actors.


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Hello, World!
As the Llama appears, so do I! For those of you who are new to my little blog, which was set up by my LOVELY friend Chris, I'm Nicohle Christopherson. A pleasure to meet you all!
To give a little bit of information about me, I am an aspiring Author, a Nanowrimo winner, an artist, a technical support agent, a girlfriend, and a blogger. Occasionally. When I'm not online, I'm gardening, writing, reading, drinking coffee, or hanging out with my friends.
With luck, my first published work will be a Novella entitled Princess of Dolls. Followed by the first in a series, The Sorcerer and the Swordsman. Please look forward to it!
Due to some interesting turns of event, you'll see that my URL here isn't nchristopherson.com, which is probably what you typed in to get here. The reason for this is because Chris, my friend, helped me set this blog up on his own server, for which I am eternally grateful. So, the URL is his website, followed by mine! Please favorites this page, not nchristopherson.com, as that doesn't currently lead anywhere.
I hope you all intend to watch diligently, as my goal is to put out works at least once a week, preferably more. Some things I will refer you to my tumblr for, as they are just too amusing! I'll be posting reviews, ideas, various snippets of my works, and also various life-stories.
I hope you enjoy, and it's a pleasure to meet you all! <3
P.S. Go see Chris' blog, which is full of amazingly informative articlesmore


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Life moves slowly at Burrum Heads, which makes this sleepy fishing village a great place to go for a relaxing getaway. Just a short drive from Hervey Bay, Burrum Heads is located at the southern entrance of the mouth of the Burrum River. With extensive sand flats, beach channels and mangrove-lined waterways - it's an idea location for prawning, crabbing and fishing. For those who enjoy being out on the water, there's the chance to go canoeing, boating or paddle boarding. Keep an eye out for birdlife as you cruise the waterways.
There's a range of budget accommodation found in town - from campsites to holiday houses - many offering breathtaking water views. Be sure to go for a walk in the nearby Burrum Coast National Park, with mangrove-lined riverbanks, wallum heath and tea tree stained swamps.
Note: Information on listed products and services are provided by the operator and were correct at the time of publishing. Rates are indicative based on the minimum and maximum available prices of products and services. Please visit the operator's website for further information. All prices quoted are in Australian dollars (AUD).


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To start out my internship with Todd Sanders, social media specialist for UW-Green Bay, I was given the responsibility to populate the UWGB Foursquare account and get more students and staff to use it. I began by identifying different lists that users could participate in, including study spaces, campus art and dining locations. I then walked around campus taking photos of all these locations. From there, I had to create each location I was identifying on Foursquare so that our followers could "check-in" to the locations. In addition I took photos of all campus buildings to ensure there were identifying factors attached to each location. I also began leaving tips about locations for followers to add to or participate in. Throughout the semester, we continuously were adding "friends."
In addition to the Foursquare project, I also assisted with producing videos for Academic Advising with Diploma. We used an actual UWGB diploma and attached eyes to it. It then had conversations with Darrel Renier from Advising in short videos that the office used to connect with students.
I was then a part of a zombie video for Academic Advising. Both students and staff played zombies, which represented students confused about the general education requirements at the University. I played the student running from the zombies, but eventually was caught and turned into a zombie. I met with an academic advisor, and transformed back into a human when I realized the requirements weren't as difficult as I thought. The final video was put out on the UWGB webpage and Facebook page.
I then began a question and answer video campaign. Through this, I took a video camera out to talk to students. Topics I covered included what do you use social media for, and Thanksgiving plans, traditions, etc. Through this process, I found it was much harder to get students to talk to you than I anticipated. Many students proved to be camera shy and would decline the request to be taped. Some students would be willing to answer questions, but would soon change their mind when they found out I was going to video tape them. I discovered it was easier to find students to talk to in social settings like the Cloud Commons rather than in a high traffic area like the Garden Café. Students on their way to class do not want to be stopped to answer a couple questions. Students who are simply eating, or just hanging out tend to be more perceptive to participating as well, rather than ones that are studying. After finally completely interviews, I got to play around with Premiere Pro, a video editing software, to produce the final project.
I was tasked with the project of creating a video for the Admissions Office to use on Admitted Students Day. After brainstorming ideas, we came up with producing a Student ID video, highlighting the many uses the ID serves on campus. Todd and I identified which uses to highlight, and then I created a large version of a Student ID card, with a box cut out where the headshot should be. Todd and I worked on shooting segments that I would act as the ID. I then rounded up other students to be in the video. After shooting about a dozen locations, Todd and I worked on editing and putting together the video. The final project was included in a welcome email from me to more than 50 prospective students. The video has also been on the UWGB Current Students webpage for more than a month.
I final project for the semester that Todd and I worked on together was a One Day on Campus event. This event included getting photos of different aspects of campus for 24 hours. The idea was to get at least one photo of something on campus every hour for the full 24 hours. We reached out to the campus community for help in order to get more people involved and have a better turnout of photos. We created both a Facebook page for the event, as well as a Twitter hashtag titled #gb1day. Todd and I were awake and on campus for 24 hours straight. We created challenges along the way to get students involved. By the end of the 24 hours we had taken and/or received about 230 photos. The photos were then all compiled into a flickr album for people to view.
In addition to these projects, I was invited to participate in social web meetings throughout the semester, involving various departments around campus who are involved and using social media. Through these meetings, I have gotten to know some extraordinary people and learned so much about the uses of social media.
Many days included a brainstorming session to come up with ideas of how to better incorporate social tools to reach out and connect with the campus community. I enjoyed the experience very much, and learned something new each day from Todd and others involved with social media.
I look forward to continuing the internship for the spring 2012 semester. We have many projects already that will come including a welcome video for Admissions, working with the Weidner Center to use social media, and Commencement. I plan to continue to work with Foursquare and get the campus community more involved with these types of tools.


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What's Included
About This Organizer
The Da Vinci Science Center (DSC) is a nationally-recognized science center that has connected science to life and lives to science since 1992. The Center excels in engaging people with the wonders of science in their lives, tomorrow's innovative careers, their enjoyment for discovery, and their creative curiosities. This active and fun approach is inspired by Leonardo da Vinci and transformative figures who have succeeded him into the 21st century.
Organizer Info
Da Vinci Science Center


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- Home
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Legislation aimed at consolidating school, government building needs
TELL CITY - Perry County Council members voted at a regular meeting Nov. 20 to avoid oversight by a board that might have been created under legislation adopted this year.
The state legislature passed House Enrolled Act 1478, which establishes a board of tax and capital projects review in each county, Council President Pete Franzman said. "We can opt out of the council having the budget overlooked; I would suggest that we do."
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Perry County News, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
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Local Violin
Resources for Wyoming
Violin Teachers
Small Ensembles
Violin Shops
Orchestra and Other Large Ensembles
Job Opportunities
Jobs Wanted
Universities and Colleges with Exceptional Music Programs
Youth Orchestras and Other Educational Organizations
Summer Camps, Festivals and Institutes
Musical Support Groups and Organizations
Find professional musicians for
Wyoming. Orchestras, string quartets, violin teachers
and other music ensembles. Use the forms below to get contact information
for groups in Wyoming.
You can also find job opportunities and
post your resume or other information if you are looking for a job.
If scholarships if what your are after,
then this is the place. You can search for a scholarship and get contact
information for it.
Violin shops are also listed. We all
need work done, or maintenance. And when the time is right, we need to purchase
new instruments. You can find a shop near you to meet all your musical needs.
If you want to post something on
these local resource pages, but don't want your personal identifying information
shown, please let me know. I can always have inquiries sent to you and it
will be up to you to contact the interested party.
Violin Teachers
Learning to play violin is a very
gratifying pursuit. It is difficult, but once you get the basics down, the fun
never stops!
Our violin teachers are interviewed and
qualified to be able to teach expertly on their instrument. If you want to get
violin playing basics, look no further. We check references and their history.
We make sure they have received the proper education.
Learn how to play a violin with ease.
You can get basic violin lessons, or advanced if you have already played awhile
and are just looking for a new teacher. See our Finding A Good Violin Teacher
page for some excellent tips on finding a good violin teacher.
Each teacher has their own violin
methods they use. If you prefer something specific, be sure to discuss this
with the potential teacher. Some teachers are more suited to give violin
lessons for kids, while others may prefer adults.
We have both Suzuki and traditional
teachers. Just indicate on the form which type you would like.
Find A Violin Teacher in Wyoming
Become One Of Our Highly Skilled Teachers
Small Ensembles
For your special occasions, we have many
types of small string ensembles, and other types of ensembles including
strings. Each of these groups play different types of music, including
classical, jazz, pop, country and hard rock. You should consider what type of
event you have, and what atmosphere you desire. Then you need to figure out the
role that the ensemble will carry on.
While contacting the group's event
coordinator, be sure to ask the groups specialty, and of course rates. If it is
important to you to have special requests, be sure to bring this up as well.
Some groups could charge a higher fee to arrange a new piece of music that is
not already arranged for their ensemble type.
Find A Small Ensemble in
A Group Here
Violin Shops
We also have relationships with violin shops in
Wyoming. Each of these shops perform different functions.
Some might provide online violin sales
or in store sales, some give advice about buying a violin.
Others might offer violin repair and bow
rehairing. Some are into violin making. Still other can do violin
Look for the specialty shops that are
electric violin manufacturer, or offer electric violin sales.
If renting a violin is what you're
after, be sure to request a shop that offers violin rentals, because some do not
offer this service.
Some shops might do a combination or all
of these services. If you require a specific task, it is best to let us know so
we can direct you to the best location for your needs.
Find A Violin Shop
List A Violin Shop Here
Orchestra and Other Large Ensembles
Wyoming has a wide variety of
orchestras and music ensembles. There are full symphony orchestras both large
and small, chamber orchestras, pop orchestras, baroque ensembles and many other
We have listed information for the
orchestras in Wyoming. Each orchestra has their own requirements for
auditioning, joining, or being on their sub list. We have included an email
address for most of the orchestras. Some also included audition applications or
other pertinent information for you. Those links are provided if we have them.
Find an Orchestra or Large Ensemble
List an Orchestra or Large Ensemble here
Job Opportunities
Have a Job Opportunity to Post?
Post it here where violinists are looking everyday for employment or gigs.
Post your ad today!
Don't worry, I will not post your personal identifying information on my site. I
will post your background and what type of work you want. I will send any
inquiries to you and it is up to you to contact the interested party.
Jobs Wanted
Are you looking for a job or
opportunity? Can't find what you are looking for above? Click here to advertise yourself. Potential employers can
see your qualifications and experience and contact you for work.
Universities and Colleges with Exceptional Music Programs
Do you know of an exceptional music program
within a college or university? List it here so others can know how great
it is. It just might convince them to attend your university over another.
List your university or college here.
Do you need to find a university or college
with an exceptional music program in Wyoming, or another? Ask us to help.
Double your efforts and maybe we can find the perfect choice for your education.
Some universities specialize in certain programs or degrees. We will help
you decipher among all the many choices out there.
There are many scholarships out there. But finding
them is another story. We try to collect all the many scholarships for
violinists that are available and put them in one spot. That way, you can
focus on more important matters, like applying for them. Some violin
scholarships are for specific schools. Some scholarships for violin
players are for specific states. Still, some focus on the type of degree
wanted, or grades or other requirements. We try to include all that
information to make them easy to sift through.
If you cannot find the scholarship you need listed, let us help you. Or you can visit our Scholarship Page,
which lists several scholarships that aren't for a specific state. Some of
these scholarships are for multiple states.
If you are from a school, and would like to list your
scholarship for violinists, please use the link below. There are many
scholarships that are difficult to find, so a little help is appreciated.
If you are student, and you received a violin scholarship and think we should
know about it, you can also use the link below. Please help us help each
If you
would like to list your scholarship, list it here.
Youth Orchestras and Other Educational Organizations
We strive to include all youth orchestras and other
educational organizations in Wyoming. These are a very important part of
a musical education. I learned many things about how to prepare for rehearsals,
and what is expected of me, before I was accepted into my first
professional orchestra. Some orchestras do not hold their musicians to a
high standard, but I think most do.
Find A Youth Orchestra
If you help run a youth orchestra, then we want to hear
from you. Please tell us about your orchestra and what sets it apart
from others. If you have links to the applications that we can post
online, we will do that.
List an Orchestra
Summer Camps, Festivals and Institutes
We all look forward to the summers when we can travel to different places and
meet new people. Summer music camps are for forming new friendships,
gaining new musical experience and just having fun. I always enjoyed going
to the same camps. But I know there are a lot of you out there that want
new camps, festivals, and institutes to try.
Find a music camp, festival, or institute for me!
If you have been to a terrific camp, festival, or institute, please tell us
about it. Tell us what you learned, and why you think others should attend
it. If you are part of putting on a summer music camp, festival, or
institute, please list it below.
Post a great summer camp, music festival, or institute here.
Musical Support Groups and Organizations
These groups function in special ways in our communities.
They all hold different roles but in general are very useful. Some give
out scholarships while others may help to locate scholarships for you.
Some give funding for different events while others may give time. Some
help with other types of financial aid for music education. Some can help
professionals. These organizations are a great help if you know about them
and use them.
If you are a part of one of these organizations, please
list it below. Or if you know about one of these then please help the rest
of us know.
List a group here.
Find a Music Support Group or Organization in my area.
If there are any other resources that you think would
be helpful for me to list on the state pages, please Contact Me!


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We all have done it – gone to a trade show. Most of us have been to several if not dozens.
In a sense you're not a true American business professional until you've had more than a few experiences of the modern trade show:
- putting up booths;
- tearing down booths;
- walking a seemingly endless show floor filled with a seemingly endless number of booths;
- watching the same endless parade from within a booth for seemingly endless hours;
- repeating the very same script over and over and trying to make it sound original;
- handing out "me-too" tchotchkes while praising their uniqueness;
- chasing after the best tchotchkes you happen to see and acting if they're not such a big deal;
- attending a sequential series of lectures and panel discussions in a hotel conference hall that's either too hot, or too cold and always too bright;
- eating too much rubber chicken;
- going a little overboard on the free beverages;
- blaming how tired you feel on jet lag, even if the show is in the same time zone from which you traveled;
- yearning for "get-away-day"…
One interesting thing about trade shows is while the show brings together people from all walks and places to focus on a single agenda or theme the people attending the shows are anything but singular in their purpose and style. In fact, like the colors of the rainbow, there is a wide spectrum of possible attendees.
See if you can find yourself among the following cast of characters we've seen at recent shows:
Business Types:
These people attend the show in the spirit of getting work accomplished as their priority. They generally are early to sessions, readily found on the show floor and their conversations center on the business of the show.
The Expert The Expert is just that – someone who is at the show either presenting or attending and possesses a sizable body of knowledge and experience relating to the theme of the show. The expert is tough to access as their time is highly scheduled and they have their own "must see" attendees with whom they expect to spend time. You will know a true expert because they typically are very curious and want to know as much about you and your business should you get the opportunity to chat with them.
The All Business The All Business either refuses to or just doesn't know how to socialize. They talk business at breakfast. They talk business during the coffee breaks. They talk business at dinners and during events. The Stalker[1] NEVER follows after an All Business.
The Whale The Whale is a sought-after contact typically a customer and sometimes a vendor or Expert with whom everyone seems to want to connect. You can see the whale coming and going by the throng of other attendees hanging off of them and tracking their every step. To preserve their collective sanities, Whales develop a relative indifference whereby they stop noticing the throngs they generate. Whales tend to like All Business and Social Butterfly types.
The Never Happen NH's seem like Whales and by all rights they should be Whales. However while Whales make relationships and do business as a result of shows, NH's represent they will do business yet fail to respond to follow-up emails and calls once they return home from shows. NH's and All Business types attract each other however anyone interested in doing business is better off avoiding NH's altogether.
The Brush Off This is the attendee who, when engaged, is curt, quiet, non-engaging and looks to leave the conversation as soon as possible. They behave as if they ended up in the conversation by mistake and there are clearly more important people than you with whom to connect.
The Jekyll and Hyde The Jekyll/Hyde is the person who functions like an All Business during the day yet magically transforms into a Party Animal at night. They are the one in the morning who's asking the most interesting and intelligent questions to the speaker involved in an explanation of the Flux Capacitor and ends up with their tie around their head while doing "the worm" at the social event that night.
The Big Wig The Big Wig is a Whale who attends the show for a restricted amount of time. The other members of the Big Wig's company utter phrases such as "Come by the booth Tuesday because that's when Ms. Big Wig will be here and you should meet her." Big Wigs show up to a show just to see how many five-minute meet-and-greets their employees and coworkers have arranged.
The Good Soldier While the Good Soldier manages to have fun at a show, their first priority lies with their duties with respect to the show. Good Soldiers help set up and tear down the booth. They attend the sessions of importance to his/her work. They work the booth and are excellent with customers. Every company hopes to have Good Soldiers representing them at a show.
The Rookie The Rookie looks more lost than Bambi in Times Square. They are new to attending shows and have never seen such a mass of people, booths, companies, speakers, events, and things to keep track outside of Disney World. Rookies are on time, impeccably dressed, sitting up front and taking notes. Rookies read the entire event information guide BEFORE the first session and they always butcher their booth script.
The Veteran Veterans have attended too many shows to keep track. They are a watered-down combination of Jekyll/Hyde and Social Butterfly. Veterans know which sessions and which social events matter and manage to put their share of time in at the booth. They are also the ones most likely to use the exercise facilities at the event destination.
The Borg The Borg are a group of people from the same company which seems to be operating on a collective consciousness. They typically come and go at the same time, practically arm in arm, and they always dress in the same theme if not the same clothes. The Borgs are totally enamored with Whales, Experts and Big Wigs and they protect their Rookies demonstrably.
The Booth Babe The Booth Babe (sometimes a Booth Boy) is the very attractive, often younger woman who's from the company but not really involved with the business of the show. Sometimes she's a model from a local talent agency. Either way, her instructions are to smile invitingly to attract people into the booth and then turn them over to an account exec ASAP and move on. The Booth Babe is very effective in industries dominated by one gender – think software and engineering
The Event Staff The Event Staff have to be at the show. Plus, they have to be personable, energetic, informative and helpful. In truth, the Event Staff are totally tired of having to deal with all the other types. If they are lucky, the event itself is in a great destination and they will get one or two days after the show to calm their nerves in a lovely setting.
The Show Warrior Show Warriors also have to be at the show. Nothing bothers a Show Warrior. They have seen it all, have done it all, and don't get too rattled from one show to the next. The Show Warrior sets up the show, tears down the show, staffs the booth, eats the rubber chicken, and hands out the tchotchkes. On get-away day they head home and the following Saturday or Sunday they will end up in another town. Each show is Groundhog's Day for them.
[1] There are references herein to Trade Show "types" which will be presented in Part II of this blog.


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The roles that are nested within the nested role are specified by using the nsRoleDN attribute. Use the following command to create a role that contains both the marketing staff and sales manager members of the roles created in the previous examples:
$ ldapmodify -a -h host1 -p 1389 -D cn=admin,cn=Administrators,cn=config -w - dn: cn=MarketingSales,ou=marketing,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com objectclass: top objectclass: LDAPsubentry objectclass: nsRoleDefinition objectclass: nsComplexRoleDefinition objectclass: nsNestedRoleDefinition cn: MarketingSales nsRoleDN: cn=ManagerFilter,ou=sales,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com nsRoleDN: cn=Marketing,ou=marketing,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com nsRoleScopeDN: ou=sales,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com
Notice that the nsNestedRoleDefinition object class inherits from the LDAPsubentry, nsRoleDefinition, and nsComplexRoleDefinition object classes. The nsRoleDN attributes contain the DN of the marketing managed role and the sales managers filtered role. Both of the users in the previous examples, Bob and Carla, would be members of this new nested role.
The scope of this filter includes the default scope, which is the subtree where the filter is located, and the subtree below any values of the nsRoleScopeDN attribute. In this case, the ManagerFilter is in the ou=sales,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com subtree. This subtree must be added to the scope.


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Emanuel: D.C. hero, Chicago goat
CHICAGO — In Washington, he is "Rahmbo," the ruthless, profane operative who survived the Clinton White House despite being vanquished by the first lady. In Chicago, Rahm Emanuel has been dubbed the "murder mayor" by one critic, a snipe at the city's high homicide rate.
Story Continued Below
In Washington, he's the campaign mastermind who reportedly mused about a 2016 presidential run if Hillary Clinton takes a pass. In Chicago, he's the ham-fisted gentrifer who's been tripped up by the city's entrenched racial politics.
In Washington, he's the star of the CNN series "Chicagoland" — a careful keeper of his image whose office helped coordinate the show. In the real Chicago, a city known for its mobster history, his tough-guy veneer just isn't as intimidating.
( PHOTOS: Rahm Emanuel: Rock star in D.C., not-so-much in Chicago)
When Emanuel exited the Beltway in late 2010 to run for Chicago mayor, he had the tacit backing of a current president and the overt support of a former one. He won the race to succeed Richard M. Daley, and expectations ran high that Washington's supreme enforcer was just the person to tame the Wild Midwest.
Now, just nine months out from the next election, Emanuel is unexpectedly vulnerable, with an approval rating that is perilously low. The comedown for the Illinois native, who terrified staffers and donors over more than a decade in Washington, has been striking. So has been the contrast between how he's regarded in D.C., New York and Los Angeles — as opposed to some wards of Chicago.
A Chicago Sun-Times poll released last month showed that Emanuel would draw just 29 percent of the vote if the election were held then. His 8 percent showing in the survey among black voters, a crucial voting bloc for him last time, creates a truck-size hole for another candidate to drive through.
( Also on POLITICO: The Obama Paradox)
Emanuel still has the upper hand in his battle to retain his job. He has $7 million in the bank and the power of incumbency behind him. The one challenger who gives his supporters agita, Cook County Supervisor Toni Preckwinkle – an African-American woman with name recognition who could fare well in Chicago's identity politics – has said she's not running. She also hasn't closed the door on the prospect, but her campaign account holds a tenth of the cash of Emanuel's.
As his fundraising gears up for his campaign, Emanuel is hosting a high-dollar event on June 20 with Bill Clinton and indie band The Head and the Heart, according to an email invitation obtained by POLITICO.
Emanuel's allies say that a Sun-Times poll is an outlier, although they concede he's not in a comfortable position politically.
"He's had his challenges," said James Carville, who's known Emanuel since the two worked for Bill Clinton. "I think he'll win reelection but he's got to run a good campaign. Nothing's easy in politics." Ultimately, Carville added, people "have a lot of faith in Rahm."
( Also on POLITICO: Sanders, McCain strike VA deal)
Another Emanuel ally was blunt that his problem is as much his style as it is the substance of his message.
"There's a straight-ahead quality to Rahm's personality that allows him to get things done, but also can be off-putting," the ally said.
Emanuel declined to be interviewed for this story. A spokeswoman provided this statement: "Leading a great city is a difficult job and there is much work left to do. But under Mayor Emanuel, Chicago is making steady progress in addressing the huge challenges that have built up over decades."
Ben LaBolt, who was an aide to Emanuel in his first race, said the mayor has tackled "big, burning challenges at a turning point for the city. … The school day is longer and the graduation rate is higher, the murder rate is down after he reintroduced community policing, and he sliced the deficit in half while balancing the budget."
Still, his adversaries smell blood and plan to make the most of the next year.
"I hope he loses, and I will work very hard to have somebody else [replace him]," said Karen Lewis, the African-American head of the Chicago Teachers Union. Emanuel was widely reported to have said "F—- you, Lewis" during a private meeting with her in 2012 about a new contract. (He did not deny it.)
"If you've seen any of the polling, he's in serious trouble. No one seems to think that he's doing a very good job. I think he is not suited to this kind of work," said Lewis, who dubbed him "the murder mayor" last year after a big uptick in crime soon after he took office.
Some of the city's problems are out of Emanuel's control, and he's tried hard to ease crime, with some success. He extended the school day for kindergartners, an achievement he frequently touts. But he's had difficulty mastering the stagecraft needed to appease different constituencies in big-city politics.
Instead, Emanuel has approached the job like a latter-day Michael Bloomberg, a business-minded centrist without much interest in bending to opposition. Except unlike Bloomberg, he has no personal fortune with which to appease critics and enhance political friendships.
It's a particularly difficult task at a time when income inequality has driven voters in Democratic-leaning cities further to the left. In Chicago, class politics fall along starkly racial lines.
Lewis recalled telling reporters that Emanuel had used the F-word with her, a move that fanned much of the initial anger among black voters against him. She noted that he demurred when asked by reporters whether he'd said it.
"And that's where, if there were any stretch of the imagination of having any fear of Rahm Emanuel, it vanished at that moment," she said. "Because I knew then he wasn't the bad-ass he claimed to be."
Succeeding Daley — a beloved figure whose family is etched into the fabric of the city — would be challenging even for a politician without Emanuel's blunt edges. Daley, whose father was mayor before him, was skilled at the type of interest-group politicking that has bedeviled Emanuel.


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1700: Into the Temple is a very special Collection of works that have been crafted upon an ancient, and sacred anvil that found it's way home to the OSIRIS studio. Centuries of tradition combine with contemporary design to create something that is ancient and present at the same time.
"I wanted to construct pieces that spoke of Ancientness,
That told the stories that are embedded still in the depths of our Consciousness;
Relics of our archaeologies emerging at this End Time...
We are alive as the Collective Consciousness and Perfect Summary of all of our lifetimes,
For the sake of Understanding.
These sliding doors of the Ages move constantly, as Mists of Time,
As we seek Self Knowledge and Remembrance of the Truth of us as Only God."


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With more than 46 years of success, Golden Corral ® is recognized as "America's #1 buffet and grill*."
Our concept is a proven winner - a high-value, family-oriented lunch and dinner buffet served daily and breakfast every weekend.
We are the first-choice franchise brand for savvy restaurant operators looking to expand their local dining market share or successful franchisees seeking to diversify their portfolio with a proven high revenue restaurant brand.
* Nation's Restaurant News
I've been in the restaurant business most of my life, so I love visiting Golden Corral restaurants and talking to our guests, our coworkers and our operators.
We have a great base of outstanding operators that make up our system, and with our plans for the future, we're very optimistic about our ability to continue to deliver our mission statement of making pleasurable dining affordable to every guest, in every restaurant, every day.
The greatest thrill of my business life took place on January 3, 1973. That was the day that Bill Carl and I opened our family steakhouse in Fayetteville, NC. We raised $50,000 and took a leap of faith into the world of entrepreneurs.
When a Golden Corral franchisee describes the thrill of opening his first restaurant, his very own business that puts all his accumulated capitol at risk,I know exactly how he feels. I've been there.


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Comic Tribute to Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes)
Calvin & Hobbes is easily my all-time favorite comic, and Bill Watterson was able to beautifully offer thousands of life lessons through the 10 years of C&H comic strips. Freelance cartoonist Gavin Aung Than has designed this fantastic Comic Tribute to Bill Watterson, and posted it on his site, Zen Pencils.
The quote used in the comic is taken from a graduation speech Watterson gave at his alma mater, Kenyon College, in 1990. Brain Pickings has a nice article about it. The comic is basically the story of my life, except I'm a stay-at-home-dad to two dogs. My ex-boss even asked me if I wanted to return to my old job.
My style is already influenced by Watterson, but this is the first time I've intentionally tried to mimic his work. It's been fun poring through Calvin and Hobbes strips the past week while working on this comic and it was a humbling reminder that I still have a long way to go.
The quotes I've used in the write-up above are taken from the introduction to The Complete Calvin and Hobbes collection, which sits proudly on my desk.
So, why am I posting this on Cool Infographics? I want to pose the question: Should we consider this to be an infographic?
There's no numeric data. No charts. No data visualizations. No call to action.
However, there is information. The information source is Bill Watterson's speech from 1990, and the illustrations do a great job of communicating the message visually. The image layout follows the tall infographic style that is easy to share online.
My own opinion is that "Yes" this is an infographic. What do you think?
Found on LifeHacker
I miss Calvin & Hobbes…


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76ers Sign Free Agent Guard Kareem Rush
Sixers Newsroom
76ers Sign Free Agent Guard Kareem Rush
Philadelphia, Pa. July 29, 2008 Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski announced today that the team has signed free agent guard Kareem Rush. Per team policy, terms of the agreement are not disclosed.
"As we continue to build our team, we're fortunate that we were able to sign a player as talented as Kareem Rush," Stefanski said. "We feel his abilities on both ends of the floor and his range as a three-point shooter will be assets to us this season."
In five NBA seasons, Rush (6-6/215) has appeared in 314 games with 77 starts, averaging 6.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 18.1 minutes per game while shooting 40.2% from the floor, 36.0% from 3-point range and 69.8% from the line. Rush has also played a total of 31 playoff games, averaging 3.6 points while shooting 39.3% from 3-point range.
Last season, Rush saw action in 71 games with 15 starts for Indiana, averaging 8.3 points, a career-high 2.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 21.2 minutes per game. After not hitting more than 57 3-pointers in any of his first four NBA seasons, Rush drilled 102 3-pointers in 2007-08 on a career-high 38.9% shooting. He recorded at least two made three-pointers in 33 games, including three or more 13 times. Andre Iguodala led the Sixers in games with multiple three-pointers made last season with 30.
Rush was originally selected by Toronto with the 20th overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft before his rights were traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. In his second season, the Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals with Rush averaging 14.3 minutes per game playing alongside Kobe Bryant, Gary Payton, Karl Malone and Shaquille ONeal. In the deciding Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals vs. Minnesota, Rush hit six three-pointers en route to scoring a playoff career-high 18 points.
In December of 2004, the Lakers traded Rush to the expansion Charlotte Bobcats, where he would average 10.7 points over the next season and a half. Rush signed as a free agent with Seattle in October of 2006, but was hindered by a groin injury and was waived before appearing in a game. In January, he joined Lietuvos Rytas of Vilnius, Lithuania was later named the ULEB Cups Import Player of the Year and All-ULEB Cup First Team by Eurobasket.com
Rush played all three of his collegiate seasons at the University of Missouri, earning All-American Honorable Mention his sophomore and junior seasons. His older brother, JaRon, played basketball at UCLA and his younger brother, Brandon, won the NCAA Championship with Kansas back in April and was the 13th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.
The 2008-09 season is going to be even more exciting with the addition of two-time NBA All Star Elton Brand. Season tickets start at just $516 and fans who purchase any new season ticket package between now and July 31 will receive a free Elton Brand Autographed Jersey. Learn More


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What's in the exam?
- Three tunes
- Scales and arpeggios
- Aural tests
- Quick study
In Grades 1–3, candidates may play an adapted instrument (of reduced size and/or weight) sounding at the same pitch as the tenor trombone.
An album of graded pieces providing Jazz Trombone repertoire.
All the scales for the Jazz Trombone exam.
Practice tests for the Quick Study and aural component.


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Become a social impact investor for as little as $50.
Does your nonprofit have a unified communications system? Are you using an old-school phone system or have you switched to using VoIP or PBX? What about using instant messaging, online conferencing, or webinars to hold meetings? Are you using VPN to let your employees work remotely?
What has (and hasn't) worked for your organization? Do you have a great VoIP, PBX, or POTS (plain old telephone system) provider you'd like to recommend? Share your resources for creating effective communications systems in your office (and across many offices) here!
TechSoup has a new article coming out soon with discussions about how new telecommunications options are changing the way nonprofits do business. I'll post the link here once it's live.
Update: How Telecommunications Is Changing Work for Nonprofits
Becky Wiegand is the Webinar Program Manager at TechSoup.org @bajeckabean on Twitter
Unified would be nice, but to cut costs we are using a blend of technologies to get the same effect. For my PBX type service, I am using a hosted service from Grasshopper. It gives me auto attendant and voicemail boxes. Each extension (and voicemail box) can be configured separately to ring another number (we usually use Skype-In or a cell phone - there are a lot of options here) and if there is no answer, take a voicemail. Voicemails are then delivered to me in 2 ways: via email as an MP3 attachment and also as an MMS message to my cell phone. Since all staff have a Skype number and account, we constantly utilize this software for conference calling, video calls (this works with 2 people only), , and instant messaging. Skype is great for its hands-free capability by using our PCs. We also have two fax numbers, one from MyFax.com and the other provided free with out account from Grasshopper. We use the MyFax.com fax as a general fax for our company and it emails to a public folder on my mail server that is monitored by staff and distributed appropriately. The other fax line from Grasshopper.com emails to a separate public folder available only to executives and hr.
So, with multiple services we were able to get the features of unified communications (voicemail, email, faxes all in one inbox) without the upfront cost of an all-inclusive system. This was a great solution for us when we were only 5 employees. Now that we've grown to 10, we're having some management issues on managing all of the services we strung together. Usually, once its set up its fine but getting new employees set up is becoming a pain since we have different people in charge of monitoring and managing the different services. Eventually, we will probably move to an all-inclusive system if we continue to grow.
A couple of my clients use the ShoreTel suite of products and I'm pretty happy with those for unified communications. If we grow like we have been, we will be looking into a system from either ShoreTel with paid support or we will do a roll-your-own system from someone like TalkSwitch or even the open source Asterisk.
Chris Shipley Nutmeg Consulting
We've gone to a VOIP system and I'm very glad. The two main things that it has given us are the voicemail to email integration, which is hugely important. The other thing is that we can not have remote staff who are part of our system. It's been hugely useful to us, especially the ability to allow some staff to work from home, with almost no impact on their ability to get certain parts of their jobs done.
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I recently did a lot of research regarding comm systems since our office is moving to a nearby location and we currently don't own a phone system (we're using another organization's system and have outgrown it). I was excited to learn more about VOIP - the flexibility is attractive to us. After further research, however, we were able to secure a used "plain old phone system" for $3,000 and monthly service of only $250. There was no VOIP or hosted PBX system that could compete with these prices. We're a small office (about 17 staff) and we have limited phone needs but I was surprised to get quotes from the hosted services that were far more than the $250 we would be spending with a hardline phone system. Of course, we won't have someone to call when the phone system fails which can be a real problem but we can't afford other solutions.
Have any nonprofits out there considered SHARING VOIP or hosted PBX systems between multiple organizations? Since location isn't an issue with these services, we briefly considered sharing a hosted system with other nonprofits. In this economy, I am interested to hear if this is a potential savings for anyone out there.
We will be using TelePacific for our phone service and I highly recommend them. They set us up with California discounts on service so we'll be paying 50% less than originally expected.
I look forward to hearing more from fellow nonprofit managers on this topic...
Amy Thoe, Volunteer San Diego
I can't wait for our new telephony forum that is going to start soon (poke poke to TS staff).
So, there are a lot of VoIP options. Two of my clients use regular telephone service to get their dial tone, but put VoIP on their network to run it. so the VoIP doesn't have to replace POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) or T1's or whatever else you might be used to for a good price.
$3,000 for a phone system is a good price if it included the handsets... but if it didn't, you might take a look at talkswitch.com for hardware.
I actually have a hosted PBX at Grasshopper.com and it works really well for me. And its cheap. We pay less than $100 a month for it and have 20 virtual extensions. We set up those extensions to ring at Skype lines which cost us $30 / yr. Not a solution for everyone, but a great one for us.
I think that a unified system makes the most sense for [self-promotional link removed by admin] because it's easier to manage. VoIP seems to have worked well for us in terms of price. There are some latency issues, but we find that it works best when we separate the data line from the voice line.
Ditto for Skype In/Out and MyFax.
I've used pFax for years (which MyFax bought), and it's the best $3/mo I've ever spent. I also upgraded to the business class Skype so that I can manage multiple lines and buy phone numbers in other countries for projects I'm working on.
It's all very turn-key, but would likely not scale well with lots of employees
We are looking at VoIP and I have been begging TechSoup's Cisco team to get the UC500 series products donated again, another poke. I have research many other solutions but what Chris has done ilooks like the only way our non profits can take advantage of this technology, and I think if Chris ever leaves his non profit they will have a hard time replacing him with someone who could support their systems.
Our company is also considering multiple locations and if you start to add this into the mix the Cisco system starts to become the best choice since it will support ups to 10 locations, 5 auto attendants (different companies), and as many remote users as you have licences. I can get 100 DIDs from XO Communications to support all locations and/or companies and it can all be done with one UC560/520, which means one tech can support all locations from one location. The features of this system is endless, conference calling, Skype, P2P video calls, call recording, single number, calls from cellphone can be routed through office so caller ID will display office number, just to mention a few!
So sharing is the goal to reduce costs for both equipment and support and if we can get the hardware from TechSoup then I would be implementing this today, after I do my endzone celebration dance!
I agree with Shipley. A mixture of hosted/virtual phone system plus some VoIP services will do the job.
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From Anna Quindlen on feminism to Charlayne Hunter-Gault on journalism to Sheila Nevins on documentary filmmaking, Power Talks feature today's leaders in conversation on provocative topics of the moment. Each talk is followed by an audience Q&A.
On September 24, 2013, we will welcome Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that engages more than 5 million Americans in service through its core programs -- Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and the Social Innovation Fund. She also leads President Obama's national call to service initiative, United We Serve.
Prior to joining CNCS, Spencer served eight years as the CEO of the Florida Governor's Commission on Volunteerism, commonly known as Volunteer Florida. During the state's record-breaking 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, the agency coordinated donations worth more than $85 million and more than 252,000 volunteers, the largest mobilization of volunteers in the history of U.S. natural disasters at that time.
This event is free of charge.
Registration Required. Please Click Here to Register.


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Safe Haven
There was a great article on Cracked.com a couple years back called "How to Write a Nicholas Sparks Movie." After a quick critique of the marketing for his movies and his approach to telling his stories, it breaks down the facts:
1) Nicholas Sparks is an author who churns out about one romance novel a year.
2) All of these books are almost immediately made into movies.
3) All of these books are the same book.
Truer words have never been spoken and because of this, Nicholas Sparks stories always come with a large degree of predictability. If a film critic going to his latest book-turned-movie adaptation were to write his or her entire review before seeing the film, roughly 90% of it would be accurate. For years, Sparks has been telling the exact same story, repackaging them with a new disease or tragedy and puking them out to the public. Such monotony means that his movies are largely dependent on the strength of the main characters and the chemistry they create onscreen.
More often than not, the leads aren't up to the task, but Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough in this week's Safe Haven are different. Their relationship rings true and actually works, despite the cheese they're forced to work with. Katie (Hough) is on the run from a police officer that is hot on her trail for unknown reasons. She eventually lands in a small town in North Carolina where she meets widower Alex (Duhamel). She's initially reluctant to pursue his advances, but his charm eventually wins her over and they begin seeing each other.
For the first time, at least as far as his movie adaptations go, Sparks switches it up. Safe Haven isn't a straight forward romance, though it of course features all of the Sparks gooeyness we've come to expect. It's actually somewhat of a romantic thriller and is amped up with a mystery. Kudos must be given to him for mixing his all-too-familiar formula up a bit, but unfortunately, the film suffers from terrible timing. In any other circumstance, such a change would be welcome, but because the leads are so good together here, the movie, ironically enough, works best as an aforementioned straight forward romance. It's in the thriller elements that the film ultimately fails.
Just as Katie is adjusting happily to her new life, that cop tracks her down and the chase is on. What follows is a twist of Lifetime movie proportions, where the man's role of keeper-of-the-peace turns to something more sinister. At this point, the dialogue gets hammier, the music gets more manipulative and the scenarios become more clichéd. It gets so ludicrous, it begins to feel like the film has somehow transitioned to a daytime soap opera. This feeling is only enhanced once another, final twist rears its ugly head. Although obvious in retrospect due to its none-too-subtle foreshadowing, it's handled so clumsily and fits the context of the story so poorly that it's difficult to predict. Frankly, Sparks is such a simplistic writer, even the most discernible viewer will refuse to give him enough credit to pull such a silly, out-of-left-field move.
It's a conflicting feeling as a film critic who has sat through each and every Sparks movie. I've begged for Sparks to do something different for years and now that he finally has, the result is shoddy at best. Josh Duhamel is one of the few leading romance men who is charming and, despite his looks, can come off as vulnerable and Julianne Hough compliments him perfectly with her own beauty and vulnerability (the latter of which is brought out more by her above average performance than the writing that gives her character that trait). Dumping them in an inane thriller was the wrong way to go. What Safe Haven proves beyond a shadow of a doubt is that thrillers aren't Nicholas Sparks' strong suit. Then again, neither are romances. With any luck, he'll stop writing both and we won't have to sit through any more of these movies.
Safe Haven receives 2/5


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Every Thursday from April through December, there is an informal .22 rimfire pistol practice in the indoor range. For some, it provides structured practice for the January through March Pistol-Postal Matches which occur in the same time slot.
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: December 6.22 Rifle Fun Shoot
Later Event: December 9Range Orientation