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University of Mary Washington
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University of Mary Washington
(formerly Mary Washington College) is a co-educational, state-funded, four-year
liberal arts college
and a member of the
Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges
Fredericksburg, Virginia
The university is located between
Washington, DC
The university's undergraduate campus serves 4,271 students and its graduate campus has 730 degree-seeking students.
Founded in 1908 as a
women's college
, the school was originally called the
and Industrial School for Women
It was renamed
Mary Washington College
in 1938 after
Mary Ball Washington
, mother of the first president of the
United States of America
George Washington
In 1944 the college became associated with the
University of Virginia
as its
women's college
Following the university's transition to coeducational status in 1970, the Virginia General Assembly reorganized Mary Washington College in 1972 as a separate, coeducational institution. Today UMW is the nation's only public, coeducational college named after a secular woman.
The General Assembly of Virginia enacted legislation changing the college's name to
University of Mary Washington
March 19
The institution sought university status to reflect the addition of master's degree programs and increasing enrollment at its College of Graduate and Professional Studies, formerly the James Monroe Center for Graduate and Professional Studies, located in nearby Stafford County. Students can earn an MBA, M.Ed., MSMIS, MBA-MSMIS dual degree, BPS or other graduate certificates or professional certifications at this campus. The Carnegie Foundation reclassified the college to university status based on its graduate programs.
On June 30, 2006, Dr. William Anderson retired after 23 years as the institution's president.
On February 17, 2006 the UMW Board of Visitors had selected
William Frawley
, Dean of the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences at
The George Washington University
, as the next president of the University.
Dr. Frawley's presidency began on July 1, 2006. He was inaugurated on September 30, 2006.
On April 11, 2007, Dr. Frawley was arrested on DUI charges for two consecutive offenses. After a unanimous vote from the Board of Visitors, he was dismissed. Richard V. Hurley served as Acting President.
The Board of Visitors published an announcement on March 10, 2008 naming
Dr. Judy Gayle Hample
as the new President of UMW. On November 17, 2008, she outlined her vision for the University, which includes her "Students First" initiative.
The former library, Trinkle Hall features a beautiful rotunda.
Most of the Fredericksburg campus is located on Marye's Heights, a steep hill which, like Sunken Road (the campus' northeastern boundary), played an important role in the 1862
Battle of Fredericksburg
The campus itself is a short distance from
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park
Brompton served as a
field hospital
during the battle and is the home of the university's presidents.
Most of the architecture on the Mary Washington campus is
, or
(because of its similarity to
Thomas Jefferson
's design of the
University of Virginia
Several buildings are named for notable women from American history.
Frances Willard
Hall is named for the famous temperance leader and crusader for women's rights.
Ann Carter Lee
Hall honors the mother of
Robert E.
Thomas Jefferson
's daughter,
Martha Jefferson Randolph
, is acknowledged by Randolph Hall. While the university no longer refers to the buildings by their full names, one can find them on those buildings that have dedication plaques.
The university also maintains athletic facilities both on and within walking distance of the Fredericksburg campus. Goolrick Hall servers as UMW's primary venue for varsity
, men's and women's swimming, and men's and women's
. The Battleground athletic facility is a few blocks away from the main campus and houses several multipurpose fields, an outdoor track, a baseball stadium, a softball field, and an indoor and outdoor tennis complex.
The University is currently engaged in a number of construction and renovation projects. The two newest construction projects include Eagle Village and the William M. Anderson Center. Eagle village will include apartment-style student residences, a secured transportation center, a pedestrian bridge spanning U.S. 1, and new retail, restaurant and "Class-A" office space on seven acres at the northern end of the shopping center. At a cost of $115 million, construction of Phase I began in March 2009 with an estimated completion date of summer 2010. The start of construction for the William M. Anderson Center was celebrated at a groundbreaking ceremony on September 17, 2009.The two-story center is designed to provide seating for more than 3,000 people for convocation events and approximately 2,000 spectators for athletic events. The 52,000-square-foot facility is expected to be completed in mid-winter 2011. The Carmen Culpeper Chappell '59 Centennial Campanile was completed in May 2007, and was heard for the first time ringing in the 2007 commencement procession. Ringing twice a day, the campanile can be heard over a mile away. Lee Hall just opened after a two-year renovation, and now brings key student services under one roof. One exciting feature is the Underground, a casual cafe, which reopened in the Fall of 2009. Beginning in May 2009, Monroe Hall, the oldest building on campus, will begin renovation. A parking deck was completed in the fall of 2006 and has helped to ease the parking situation on campus.
Graduate Campus
The University's
College of Graduate and Professional Studies
is located in nearby Stafford County. At this campus, working adults are able to take classes at night or on weekends to complete a bachelor's degree or earn a master's degree. Opened in 1999, the College of Graduate and Professional Studies now has more than 1,000 students enrolled in degree programs and other credit-bearing courses.
Academic departments
Virginia Tech memorial held on Ball Circle.
Undergraduate campus
Art History
Biological Sciences
, and
Computer Science
, and Communication
Environmental Sciences
Physical Education
Historic Preservation
American Studies
Modern Foreign Languages
Philosophy Pre-Law Concentration
Political Science
International Affairs
Also, several new certificates have been added:
Business Language Certificate
Middle East Studies Certificate
Instructional Leadership Certificate
Certificate in Geographic Information Science
Graduate campus
Degree Programs
Bachelor of Professional Studies
(Adult Degree Completion Program)
Master of Education
Initial Teacher Licensure
Master of Business Administration
Master of Science in Management Information Systems
MBA-MSMIS Dual Degree
Professional Development and Certificate Programs
Honor System
Mary Washington prides itself on its
honor system
, one of its proudest traditions. The system is run entirely by students and creates a sense of trust and mutual respect on the campus. All entering students must agree to abide by and support the Honor System.
UMW reviewed 4,600 freshman applications for the fall of 2008, offered admission to 3,258 candidates, and enrolled 917 first-time freshman for the 2008 fall semester. These students hail from 32 states and 15 foreign countries. Their average SAT score was 1768 and their average ACT score was 25.7.. The strongest Admission factors include Standardized Tests scores, as well as the rigor of secondary school record.
Environmental sustainability is playing an increasingly important role on the Mary Washington campus and within the community. The first
-certified building, CGPS North Building, was built in 2007. To promote environmentally-friendly transportation methods, the university works with the Fredericksburg Regional Transit System (FRED) to provide specific routes and subsidies for students and staff. An Energy Performance Contact with the
energy service company
NORESCO from 2005-2007 has reduced waster usage by 25% after the installation of water saving devices. NORESCO also installed low energy light fixtures, occupant sensors, HVAC controls, and completed replacement of leaking condensate piping.
The UMW Recycling Program currently collects corrugated cardboard, printer ink cartridges, mixed paper, newsprint and co-mingled plastic, glass, and aluminum. Each Residence Hall recycling program is lead by a Recycling Coordinator (RAs) and an elected Hall Council Recycling Chairperson. In 2009, UMW participated in the RecycleMania competition and increased its amount of recycled material three-fold.
UMW Ecology Group is the only student-run organization dedicated to sustainability on campus. The Ecology Club works as a part of the Campus Climate Challenge and is affiliated with the Virginia Climate Action Network.
UMW is an
Division III
institution. The University plays in the
Capital Athletic Conference
, where it has won more conference championships than any other school. In fact the Women's swim team has won all 18 straight CAC Championships, while the Men's swim team has won 14 out of 18. To date, the UMW "Eagles" have had more than 100 student-athletes achieve All-American status. Three UMW teams have won national championships (1982 AIAW champion women's tennis, 1988 NCAA Division III women's tennis, 1991 NCAA Division III women's tennis), and UMW athletes have won three NCAA individual titles (1993 - Shannon Hutcherson, 200 yard backstroke, swimming; 1996 - Myra Simpson, long jump, outdoor track & field; 2004 - Dan Uyar and Paul Bristow, doubles tennis). In recent years, the men's tennis team has advanced to eight straight NCAA Tournaments, finishing in the top eight four times, and the women's basketball team has advanced to three straight Sweet 16s, including a third place finish at the 2007 Final Four.
Men compete in the following 10 team sports: baseball, basketball, crew, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, and track and field. There are 12 NCAA women's sports: basketball, crew, cross country, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. Both men and women compete on the
riding team. The sports facilities are available in Goolrick Gym and outdoors on the Battleground Athletic Complex, and the school's home barn is Hazelwild Farm. These facilities are utilized for intercollegiate competition as well as for intramural and recreational activities. The University also features a number of very popular club teams, including tennis, synchronized swimming, men's and women's rugby and ultimate frisbee teams, along with many others. In 2007 the women's rugby club made their fifth consecutive appearance at the national championship tournament.
Forbe's 2009 list of "America's Best Colleges," lists the University of Mary Washington 13th among public colleges and universities in the United States. UMW ranks 121st among all public and private colleges/universities in the United States.
In its 2009 edition of "America's Best Colleges," U.S. News & World Report ranked UMW's undergraduate program 7th among southern master's degree-granting institutions and third among public schools in the same category.
Mary Washington has one of the preeminent debate teams in the country, having consistently ranked in the Top #20 over the past ten years. The University of Mary Washington Debate Team is currently ranked 8th according to CEDA rankings. The National Debate Tournament (NDT) ranks Mary Washington at 11th place.. 2009 was the most successful year for Mary Washington debate ever. Top debaters Kevin Kallmyer and Matt Struth earned a first round bid to the National Debate Tournament, competed in the quarterfinals of the tournament, and won the American Debate Association national championship.
The University of Mary Washington has one of the highest percentages of students volunteering in the
Peace Corps
. Mary Washington ties for the #6 rank among the top Peace Corps producing small schools in the United States in the midst of other prestigious schools as of September 2007. These universities include Dartmouth, Wake Forest, Johns Hopkins, University of Chicago, and Wesleyan University.
Forbes.com online news magazine has rated the University of Mary Washington as the 13th best public college in its inaugural list of "America's Best Colleges" in 2008. Overall, the University ranks 144th out of 569 undergraduate institutions that the magazine considers the nation's best.
The University of Mary Washington was ranked by
Men's Fitness
Magazine as being the #24 most fit college or university in the country.
The University of Mary Washington gained recognition from the
Washington Post
in 2006 for being one of the top 500 schools in the mid-atlantic region.
In its 2009 edition, The Fiske Guide to Colleges listed UMW as one of the nation's 300 best colleges and universities, stating that "Mary Washington has gained a reputation as one of the premium public liberal arts colleges in the country". It was also listed in the 2007 and 2009 editions as one of the best buys in public higher education.
Barron's Profiles of American Colleges' 2007 edition placed Mary Washington in its "highly competitive" category, designating the University as one of the 171 top colleges and universities in the nation in terms of academic selectivity.
In the Voluntary Support of Education 2002 edition published by the Council for Aid to Education, Mary Washington ranked first in Virginia among public institutions for its alumni participation rate in fund raising.
In the 2004 edition of America's Best Value Colleges published by the Princeton Review, Mary Washington was listed as one of the nation's top 77 undergraduate colleges and universities.
UMW is listed among Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine's "100 Best Values in Public Colleges" for 2009. The University is ranked 23rd when using in-state tuition costs to calculate the listing. UMW also was named the 16th "best value" when comparing out-of-state tuition costs. The magazine ranks schools on their combined academic excellence and affordability, with more emphasis placed on academics.
The 2009 Fiske Guide To Colleges has listed the University of Mary Washington among the nation's top 300 colleges and universities, and among 23 public college "best buys."
Mary Washington is one of the 146 colleges named a Best Southeastern College by The
Princeton Review
Notable alumni
Karen Olsen Beck
, former first lady of
Costa Rica
Marion Blakey
, former
Federal Aviation Administration
Jean Donovan
, relief worker martyred in
El Salvador
Shin Fujiyama
, co-founder of
Students Helping Honduras
Thomas Johnson
, musician, television personality and philanthropist
Judy Muller
, journalist
Nan Grogan Orrock
House of Representatives 58th district
Toddy Puller
, Virginia District 36 Senator
Desiree Marie Velez
, actress
Christopher Williams
, political scientist
Eugene Williams, Jr.
, writer and educator
Notable faculty
Bulent Atalay
and author of
Math and the Mona Lisa
Helga Bullock
singer and mother of
Sandra Bullock
David Cain
noted for his research of
Søren Kierkegaard
Joseph Dreiss
art historian
, author of "
Gari Melchers: His Works in the Belmont Collection
", leader in art's relation to
Claudia Emerson
, poet, 2006
Pulitzer Prize
James L.
Farmer, Jr.
African-American civil rights
Brown Morton III
, international
, former principal architect of the
Historic American Buildings Survey
, led efforts to save
birthplace (
Ron Smith
, poet
Julien Binford
, artist
Frank M.
Snowden, Jr.
, scholar of
classical antiquity
Stephen Stageberg
track and field
team member,
Pan American Games
Gregory Stanton
, founder and president of
Genocide Watch
See also
History of Mary Washington College 1908-1972, by Edward Alvey, p. 227
History of Mary Washington College 1908-1972, by Edward Alvey, p. 278, 511
S-464 Act of the General Assembly of Virginia
The Freelance Star
UMW Presidential Search
UMW Honor System
NCAA Division Listings
Debate Results
National Debate Tournament Homepage
Peace Corps.gov
Men's Finess Magazine
Fiske Guide
The Princeton Review
External links
University of Mary Washington
The Bullet
UMW Student Government Association
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Ellie Wilde EW118026
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
"Flapper" in the 1920s was a term applied to a "new breed" of young Western women who wore short skirts, bobbedtheir hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior. Flappers were seen as brash for wearing excessive makeup, drinking, treating sex in a casual manner, smoking, driving automobilesand otherwise flouting social and sexual norms.
Flappers had their origins in the period of liberalism, social and political turbulence and increased transatlantic cultural exchange that followed the end of the First World War, as well as the export of American jazz culture to Europe.
Actress Louise Brooks (1927)A flapper onboard ship (1929)


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The Mom of the Year Award #MOTY
I don't think very many of us FEEL like Supermoms very often. In fact most of the time we feel like the complete OPPOSITE of a Supermom.
I am often surprised by how many of my mom-friends feel crappy about themselves and their skills as a mom because when I look at them I see how incredible they are. We are often much harder on ourselves than others are. We think we are the only ones who have dishes in the sink or a pile of laundry or who forgot to send that form back to school. Again.
One of the amazing gifts of the online community is learning that we really aren't the only one! It only takes an open admission of your latest imperfection on twitter or Facebook to discover that being human will not get you kicked out of the Supermom club. In fact- it is a requirement to be in the club in the first place!
Being a mom is hard work and Walmart wants to celebrate and recognize moms with their Mom of the Year Award.
About the Mom of the Year Award
This year Walmart is launching the Mom of the Year Award to help celebrate and recognize the huge contribution moms make as role models and integral members of the family and community. This award will become an annual program to celebrate all that Mom does and shine a light on what is important to her.
Nominations will be accepted Mother's Day (May 13) through July 8, 2012 and can be submitted through www.momoftheyear.ca. They can come from daughters, sons, family members, friends, colleagues or community members.
Eight finalists will be selected and notified in mid-August and will be treated to an award celebration weekend in September. The Mom of the Year Award recipient will receive $10,000 for personal use and $100,000 to their cause or charity of choice. The remaining seven finalists will each receive $10,000 for personal use and $10,000 to their cause or charity of choice.
When I first heard about the Mom of the Year Award I thought about who I would nominate and the names of dozens of women came to mind. My life is filled with amazing women - both in real life and women I know only on line- who fit the category of Mom of the Year.
- Moms who deal with medically fragile children every day and continue to face each day with hope and optimism
- Single moms who don't have the support of a spouse and have to carry a very heavy load all on their own but rise to the challenge every single day
- Moms with physical or mental challenges of their own who care for their children despite daily pain and suffering
- Moms with children who have special needs who end up being advocates and therapists and teachers as well as parents
- Moms who have lost a child and have to continue to wake up each day and carry on as though a part of their heart has not been forever lost
- Foster moms who care for children that are only theirs for a relatively short time but who love them with their whole heart and then have to let them go to an unknown future
- and that doesn't even cover the dozens of "regular" moms who continue to get up every day and do wonderful things with their lives just because they can
My list of potential "Moms of the Year" is simply too long to list. I think if you look around you will see that there are a whole lot of potential "Mom of the Year" candidates in your life as well, so how about you take a minute and nominate one or two of them for this fantastic award!
Say Happy Mother's Day to a great Mom in your life today- tell them that you SEE the great contribution they are making and that it MATTERS! I guarantee you that every mom would love to hear that someone thinks she belongs in the Mom of the Year category.
Disclosure: I'm part of the Walmart program by Mom Central. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own. Mom of the Year Award: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY Internet access and valid email account required. Nominations open May 10, 2012 to July 8, 2012 for legal residents of Canada over the age of majority. Entrants cannot nominate themselves. One (1) grand prize available to be won consisting of $10,000 cash, a $100,000 donation by Wal-mart Canada Corp. to charity/cause and a trip to Toronto (ARV $22,000). Seven (7) runner-up prizes available to be won consisting of $10,000 cash, a $10,000 donation to charity/cause and a trip to Toronto (ARV $22,000). Charity/cause subject to verification and final approval by Wal-mart Canada Corp., at its sole discretion. Odds of winning depend on how the judging panel evaluates each entry according to the criteria. For Official Contest Rules and to nominate an entrant, visit [www.momoftheyear.ca].


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Some new photos of the foundation contractors performing a gratuitous "reach-around" on Memorial Baptist Church property after a recent cave-in. It was quick, and it was anonymous. I don't think their heart was even in it.
I am not sure the congregation knew that their lawn
was being "sod-omized" until it was too late.


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Article 1. Use of Personal Data Collected
Personal data collected by XTIVIA, Inc. will be used by XTIVIA for feedback purposes, for marketing and promotional purposes, for product development, for content improvement, and to customize content and layout of XTIVIA website. Names, e-mail addresses, and postal information collected may be added to XTIVIA's databases and used for future e-mails, mailings regarding site updates, new products and services and upcoming events.
The customer's contact information is used to contact him or her in the event of a drawing winner, and to notify the relevant taxing and regulatory authorities regarding drawing prizes awarded.
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Random Name Generators are ideal for the purpose of getting unique and cool names for various online platforms. You might have the idea for a blog or a YouTube channel or you might want to get a cool username for your social media profiles. A random name generator is just the right tool for this purpose.
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Can you feel the excitement in the air? Could it be because it's Friday? Or because most of us got paid today? Or perhaps it's because there's a bank holiday coming up?
Don't be silly. It's obviously because the time has come for your weekly dose of digital marketing stats courtesy of the Econsultancy round-up.
This week we'll be covering everything from email marketing to online conversion rates and selfie sticks.
63% of consumers prefer to be contacted by email
A new study by Adobe claims that marketers are failing to engage 'email addicts'.
While 63% say they prefer to be contacted by email, only 20% favour direct mail, 6% social media, 5% the brand's mobile app, 4% text message and 2% phone.
This shows that email contact is favoured way above even the second most-preferred form of contact from brands, suggesting that email marketing should still be high on every digital marketer's agenda.
Facebook has 1bn users in a single day
According to founder Mark Zuckerberg, over 1bn people used Facebook on a single day for the first time since its creation.
In a recent post on the social network, Zuckerberg described the news as "an important milestone" and highlighted the fact that "one in seven people on Earth used Facebook to connect with their friends and family."
Third of European and US marketers struggle to create personalisation through data
According to a new infographic by Yieldr, marketers in these regions do not rate their ability to analyse data to create personalised customer experiences, with only 29% saying they do it well or very well.
Online sales through mobile devices plateau
New data from IMRG and Capgemini has revealed that the percentage of online sales completed through mobile devices has stayed the same from one quarter to the next for the first time since 2010.
This suggests that rapid growth in this area is finally beginning to slow.
The key stats:
- 42% of UK online sales were via mobile and tablet devices in Q2, unchanged from Q1.
- Rate has shot up rapidly since 2010. This is the first time it has remained static.
The percentage of visits to retail websites made via mobile devices continues to increase however, reaching 60% in Q2 2015/16, up from 58% in the previous quarter.
Online conversion rates drop
According to the latest Ecommerce Quarterly report from Monetate, online conversion rates dropped sharply in the first quarter of 2015.
The study says global conversion rates had fallen to 2.32% in Q1 2015 compared to 2.54% a year earlier.
Add to cart rates were also down in the same period: 7.39% in 2015 vs. 8.31% the previous year.
Abandoned mobile purchases cost £6bn
More than a half of UK smartphone owners have abandoned a mobile transaction due to poor user experience according to a poll by Harris Interactive, costing retailers a potential £6bn.
The study found that 55% of respondents had given up on a mobile purchase, while a quarter had abandoned attempts to open an online gaming (24%) or financial services (25%) account.
Around one-third (32%) of those abandoning a transaction did not attempt it again.
Email opens on Apple devices slow while Android rises across EU
The iPhone makes up almost a quarter (24%) of email opens and clicks in the UK, but this is an 8% decrease on 2014 according to new figures from SendGrid.
The iPad has also suffered when it comes to email, seeing a 15% year-on-year decline across Europe.
Android on the other hand is on the rise, with email usage on Android devices increasing by 68% across the EU.
Net-A-Porter achieves 3m page views with The Net Set
The Net Set is Net-A-Porter's first venture in uniting its social media, fashion and shopping communities in one place. It enables luxury fashion brands to manage a real-time social dialogue with consumers.
Since its launch in May, The Net Set has achieved 70,400 downloads, 3m page views and 620,000 'loved' items.
Net-A-Porter will be talking about the platform, which opened to the public as of 27th August, at the Festival of Marketing 2015 in November.
Customer feedback service truRating hits 500,000 ratings
Point of payment ratings system TruRating, which negates the problem of fake reviews by only allowing genuine customers to rate a product or service when their experience is fresh, has reached 500,000 ratings just five months after launching.
This figure suggests that many UK consumers and businesses are seeking a fairer and more representative method to give and receive customer feedback. It follows a surge in fake reviews in the UK.
What Londoners want from Amazon Prime Now: Marmite and selfie sticks
Amazon UK has released a new report covering what Londoners are ordering from its Prime Now service, where users can get items delivered within one hour of purchase.
Spending habits differed according to post code, with North Londoners favouring parenting products such as baby wipes and nappies along with tennis balls and 500g jars of Marmite.
South London favourites include adult colouring books, male grooming items, confectionary and hamster-related products such as food and bedding.
In the West of the capital people appear to be healthiest, ordering wellness books and coconut water. They do also order plenty of champagne however.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, East Londoners are fond of selfie sticks, yoga mats and male grooming. Organic pet food and designer dog leads also score highly in this part of town.
For lots more up-to-date statistics…
Download Econsultancy's Internet Statistics Compendium, a collection of the most recent statistics and market data publicly available on online marketing, ecommerce, the internet and related digital media.
It's updated monthly and covers 11 different topics from advertising, content, customer experience, mobile, ecommerce and social.


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Shine the Divine:
Creativity IS a Spiritual Practice
When we see through our hearts, we recognize that every single one of us is infused with creativity. Divine Sparks are embedded in everyone and everything. It's up to us to be courageous, to look and listen deeply, to find the sparks, gather and release them back into the universe, transformed into something new. Join me as we wake up to the sacred-ordinary blessings waiting to greet us each and every day.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Islands In A Sea of Humanity
36 comments:
I love this post, very apt at this time.ReplyDelete
In Canada, our federal election is on Monday, May 2nd. I'm sure there will be holocaust remembrance ceremonies as well. There is always one here in Edmonton on the grounds of our Legislature where there is a large Holocaust Memorial.ReplyDelete
A powerful post reminding us what shadows have been cast in our history!ReplyDelete
Excellent play of light and shade with a nice color.ReplyDelete
lovely pst and photos for an important day.ReplyDelete
I share your sadness and your moral outrage at the inhumane side of humanity.ReplyDelete
thanks for the photos and your loverly words of compasion.ReplyDelete
the holocaust was a terrible time for humans on this Earth. time may heal the wound but a scare will always be.
Thanks for letting me know about May 2nd, I did not know. Yes it was a horrible time in humanityReplyDelete
Gorgeous shadow shots!ReplyDelete
My Shadow Shots, have a blessed Sunday!
I love your shadow shots, and your post is fantastic. Thanks for the reminder of what Monday the 2nd is,we have services here in New Zealand to remember these horrific events.ReplyDelete
Thanks so much for visiting my blog and becoming a follower.
The photo on the header is not far from where I live.
there was a time when I was in University that I started to study all of this more..ReplyDelete
now, I feel as though the details elude me,
but the reality?
stronger and more important than ever.
hugs, Laura.
(i'm hoping your daughter has returned to your arms, safe and sound!)ReplyDelete
I read somewhere that the more we identify with a certain group, the easier it is to hate another group. The thoughts and feelings are subtle, but this post helps shine the lights of mindfulness, wisdom, and compassion for us to be aware, and choose love over hate.ReplyDelete
Thank You. The ones who lost their lives to these crimes will be remembered.
powerful message, beautiful photo's, woven well together. hope you had a peaceful day!!ReplyDelete
I've arrived here through the maze of cyberspace, and am so moved by this post with the former part about our experience and memory, the latter about human follies, and the photos symbolic of your writing.ReplyDelete
That horrible dark aspect in our history must be a constant reminder that humans must be always alert so that we will never repeat the same thing.
Thank you for letting me know abot the day.
Mmmmm, heavenly!!!ReplyDelete
My Link:
Sand, Surf, and Shadows
Have a glorious Sunday. Hope to have you as a visitor today when you find time.
Eloquent post~~I have never understood how one group of people thinks they are in a place to judge that another should be considered unworthy of living....it is a thought past my capacity.ReplyDelete
For all who have lost their lives under the thumb of governments that allow this, a prayer, a song, a quiet moment to seriously THINK.
If my 4 children can live their lives not just accepting others, but learning from them and being open to the wonderful differences, I will have accomplished everything an be content.ReplyDelete
wonderful compassionate post!ReplyDelete
thank you
images are beautiful!
Inspiring post!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMay 1, 2011 at 11:27 AM
Loved this post.ReplyDelete
I love how you create a place of enchantment in this post.ReplyDelete
We have a Holocaust memorial museum here in Montreal and I will look to see if it is open tomorrow. I have never been to it, but keep telling myself that I should go. Tomorrow would be the ideal time.
I like the blues and greens with the rock and shadows.ReplyDelete
The shadows fall softly on the forest floor. The rays of light filtering in through the branches are as soft. The woods are not foreboding with the exquisite shades of light. The shadows are the result of a sunny day, another day for us to treasure (as is every day)...ReplyDelete
Great post. It starts out with very beautiful pics, some insight into your thinking about them, and then remembrance in general and then about the Holocaust.ReplyDelete
The numbers are astounding, 11 million people. That is worth thinking about one day a year.
Thank you
So sad that humanity has this dark side. I hope we can create a brighter future and let the light pierce through our own darkness.ReplyDelete
Beautiful softness and shadow in the land-turned-ocean. So lovely. I cannot understand anyone hating, persecuting, harming anyone they think of as the Other. There is no Other. We are all One. When we harm one, we harm every one. Thank you for pointing out the commemoration on May 2. Let us all embrace our Oneness and let no one be the Other.ReplyDelete
Gentle hugs, my precious Laura.
very thoughtful post Laura, it's good to remember so we may never forget. The world needs people of all colors and faiths, all should learn from each other and live respectfully together. It's my wish for the generations growing up now.ReplyDelete
when there is such beauty in the world, it is particularly shocking and tragic that humans can be so heartless and inhumane to each other and to the earth...ReplyDelete
your photos and words leave me pondering, and that's a good thing. have a great week Laura. be well.ReplyDelete
"Night," by Elie Wiesel, is another good one. Although, as you say, remembering is not always pleasant or easy, it is important.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMay 1, 2011 at 5:57 PM
I see the light. Nicely done. This would work well as B&W.ReplyDelete
As always, your words are worth taking the time to read in full and ponder. Earlier today I was in conversation with a young stranger and our conversation led us to acknowdedge that we all share a common ancestor, we are all of one family.ReplyDelete
May we all come to know a world of peace.
Thank-you for reminding me that tomorrow is Yom Hashoah. May we always remember..and never forget!ReplyDelete
Thank you for this tribute and the reminder for today.ReplyDelete
As you say, so much atrocity is being committed now. As well as remembering, i am visualising light shining into the shadows of those dark hearts too. This is a lovely piece of writing, sweet one xReplyDelete


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Summary: Duolingo in general uses a 'gamification' approach to make learning fun and to motivate learners to study. You progress somewhat like in a video game by leveling up to reach the next set of challenges with each task aimed at making you learn the language.
The Portuguese version includes elements of Brazilian and European Portuguese though you will learn next to nothing about the culture of these places. While it is free, there are a number of downsides to what is on offer. It could, however, be useful for learning vocabulary but that's about it. A beginner will learn a bit of Portuguese but they would do much better looking elsewhere.
Duolingo is really well put together and is easy and fun to use. Unfortunately the content itself isn't great.
The content is very poor in comparison with other learning resources. Barely any explanations so you just mimic everything.
It's great that it's free. For learning vocabulary it could be useful but only in addition to something else.
It is really nicely designed which makes it enjoyable to use.
By making language learning a game it helps encourage people to keep studying.
They've helped democratise language learning by making the resource free.
The 'Stories' part of the resource is an interesting and innovative way to 'read' a story.
It's basically an endless matching game where you match Portuguese words to their English equivalent.
The content is poorly explained (if at all) so you learn by copying rather than by actually understanding how the grammar matches up.
You might learn some words and phrases but it is highly unlikely that you'll be able to communicate very well. The fact that there is no cultural immersion does not help either.
Nonsensical content. Some of the sentences are completely useless and don't make sense.
Price: The best thing about Duolingo is that it's free. While there are a couple of ads every now and again, they are unobtrusive in comparison with other platforms. You can pay to remove them, however. One ad-free month is 9.99 Euros otherwise it's 6.99 Euros if you pay for 12 months.
Alternatives: There are several online Portuguese courses which I prefer over Duolingo.
I wasted a lot of time with Duolingo
In the past, I used to use Duolingo quite regularly.
I remember progressing quite far with it until the learning style became a bit repetitive. My vocabulary increased but my knowledge and understanding of grammar did not improve.
Since then I've tried a number of different learning resources to help improve my Portuguese and Duolingo now feels inadequate and pretty poor in comparison with them – I am actually quite disappointed with my younger self for having wasted so much time on it!
There are way better language learning resources out there so your time would definitely be better spent elsewhere.
Semantica and PortuguesePod101 are just two resources which are much much better than Duolingo and will certainly help you progress in your Portuguese studies.
Their courses will immerse you in Brazilian culture, explain the grammar and give you a variety of exercises to test what you have learnt so far.
They pretty much trump Duolingo in every category imaginable.
Having said that though, there are a couple of good things about Duolingo. It's free!
This means that anyone can sign up and start learning within seconds.
The game aspect of the course does make you come back and do more than you probably would have otherwise.
Finally, Duolingo is quite useful for people looking to increase their vocabulary although you will not learn how to speak Portuguese through using it.
Funnily enough, however, I don't think the content is even good enough for casual learners looking to learn a few phrases before going on holiday to a Portuguese speaking country.
The progression of lessons in Duolingo is all over the place so won't even provide a useful build up in terms of essential phrases and vocabulary.
Duolingo is possibly useful for beginners looking to add to their vocabulary (alongside another learning resource) and people who would not otherwise attempt to learn a language at all but stick with it a bit due to the gaming side of it.
So if you really want to learn the language – look elsewhere!
The app is missing some of the useful features
Duolingo is available on the PC or as an app on your phone.
The PC version is much superior which is a shame because casual learners probably use it mostly on their phones and in doing so miss out on quite a few of its features.
Having said that though, if you're on the computer anyway, you might as well use a better resource than Duolingo!
The Portuguese 'lessons' on Duolingo are divided into different 'skills' such as Basics, Colours, Prepositions, Family, Past Tense, Imperative etc.
Some of these have just one part to them while others consist of up to ten sections. There are 69 of these different skills and they gradually progress in difficulty level.
In the beginning, you start off learning about colours and food while the last couple of skills deal with spirituality and politics. To keep unlocking new lessons you need to complete the different skills to progress through the levels.
All of the lessons follow the same format and to complete each one you need to answer enough questions correctly.
You get tested through a number of ways on the material that is the focus of that particular lesson.
Sometimes you test your pronunciation by speaking into the microphone and repeating a sentence.
Other times you select the English words to match the Portuguese sentence and vice-versa.
Another variation that crops up is to write down what you hear from the audio that plays.
After a while, it becomes a bit repetitive but Duolingo keeps motivating you by giving you points and little motivational pep talks.
On the computer, you have an option at times to look at lesson notes that briefly explain the grammar point or vocabulary of the lesson.
Phone users do not have this option so must simply mimic or parrot the words and phrases without gaining a deeper understanding of how Portuguese works in practice.
For slightly more advanced learners, there is a section available on the computer called 'Duolingo Stories'.
These are short interactive stories which need your input to continue. You answer questions about what is going on, add the appropriate conjugations and at times speak into the microphone to say some of the sentences.
It is quite innovative and I found it interesting to use though again the lesson content is pretty random and the beginner levels at least do not look at cultural aspects of Portuguese speaking countries. There are six levels containing ten stories each which are meant to improve your reading and listening comprehension.
Unfortunately, they don't appear to be available on the app.
Duolingo is best for casual learners
It is very easy to sign up to Duolingo and you can pretty much start your language learning within seconds of reading this review if you wish to try it out for yourself.
Duolingo is very well presented and they certainly make it easy for people to use – you don't even need a profile though they will encourage you to sign up either through facebook, twitter or by email.
After selecting your language of choice, you complete a short placement test to determine where you should start with their exercises.
What comes in handy at this early stage is that when you click on a word or hover above it, the English translations for it will appear.
As a beginner, you will likely be placed at the start. After using Duolingo for a while, if you feel the level is too low or too easy for you, there is the option of taking a short test which helps you skip ahead of some of the exercises.
Shortly after starting with your language learning, Duolingo will ask you how long you would like to spend studying each day. The goals are really short and the 'insane' option is only twenty minutes long…
This kind of indicates in itself that the platform mainly caters to casual learners.
At various times through your learning journey, you will be also asked if you would like to increase the amount of time you spend using Duolingo. Each short exercise only takes around five minutes and it is pretty easy to whizz through quite a few of them in one go.
This is in part the appeal of Duolingo; if you are bored or on the way somewhere you can easily 'study' and complete a few exercises in no time at all.
The exercises help you to learn Portuguese in a variety of ways and you get to practice speaking, writing, reading and listening.
All of the exercises are very short so you will at most hear or see a short sentence of fewer than ten words. This means you only learn snippets of Portuguese in isolation from the larger context.
Unfortunately, the content is also quite random in terms of what they teach you, both at the beginning and later on.
While there is definitely a progression in difficulty levels, the content is not all that useful.
The short exercises are geared towards beginners and even if you know no Portuguese at all when starting out; it shouldn't be too hard to complete the early sections.
From listening to a short phrase in Portuguese and writing it down to matching the English word to its Portuguese equivalent, the way the exercises are set up means you'll never be stuck for long.
As aforementioned, you have to answer enough questions correctly to progress to the next level. This is just one of the examples of how Duolingo makes language learning a bit of fun and game-like.
You are also rewarded with points for answering questions correctly and with lingots (a sort of currency within Duolingo) for completing different sections.
On top of the points and rewards, the platform strives to motivate you in a number of ways.
A series of positive messages greet you at various times, triumphant music plays after you progress with your studies and previously grey and drab uncompleted skills turn colourful.
If you use the app you get reminders to check in and study and you can also receive email reminders as well.
There are a lot of things I dislike about Duolingo
The Portuguese course that Duolingo offers is comprised of 69 different skills for you to complete, each with a varying number of sections to them.
While the difficulty level does increase somewhat, the format remains the same. The length of each skill and time it takes to complete also remains constant.
There isn't the same level of progression like with other language learning resources where you might start reading longer texts and listening to longer passages of spoken Portuguese.
The way the content is structured is also a bit off-putting as you learn some pretty unnecessary vocabulary early on when your time would be best spent learning the basics.
Learning how to say bleach seems very much like advanced Portuguese to me.
Duolingo essentially has a huge number of weak points which actually makes it a challenge to list them all here!
To start off with, regardless of the skill you're working on, there is no cultural element about the lessons at all.
You could be learning Portuguese in a vacuum in outer space for all the connection it has to Brazil or another Portuguese-speaking country. While the picture of the app is of the Brazilian flag, some grammar points early on focus on words that are actually used in Portugal and not in Brazil.
This makes it a bit of a mishmash of Portuguese from around the globe.
For learners using the app, the only way they can learn grammar is through mimicking and repeating what the exercise tells them. There is no explanation at all as to why the grammar rules are the way they are.
People using Duolingo on the computer at times have access to short grammar explanations. While this is a step in the right direction, the explanations themselves pale in comparison with the depth that PortuguesePod101 and Semantica go into.
While you can record your voice and Duolingo rates whether you have pronounced the words or phrases correctly, you can get away with some terrible pronunciation.
Unfortunately, this is the only spoken element to the exercises and there is no way to practice conversations in a real setting. I doubt in any case that the content you learn would actually enable you to have a conversation that makes much sense.
When completing the short exercises, a number of them involve writing answers in Portuguese. Computer users again have it better here, as you have access to all the accents through a small keypad that pops up.
App learners can just ignore the accents and Duolingo will accept the answers as correct anyway.
So as you can see there are a number of issues when it comes to speaking, comprehension, grammar and writing parts of Duolingo. Again, other platforms provide much better resources when it comes to your language learning needs.
So what does Duolingo do well?
Well, it certainly does a good job of motivating people to use their resource and continue learning a language.
When researching what other reviews had said about it, I saw numerous people commenting proudly about the long streaks they had managed to keep up.
Duolingo informs you how many days in a row you have used it/studied your language and it kind of compels you to keep it up.
As it only takes five or ten minutes to complete a couple of sections, it is relatively easy to keep up your streak and just do a little bit of Portuguese each day.
While it may not be the most useful language learning in the world, at least you are doing a little bit. The series of badges and achievements you unlock also help to make you feel like you're achieving something!
After using Duolingo for a short while, you will be prompted to download a sister app called Tinycards. This is basically a flashcard app which has all the vocabulary from the Duolingo Portuguese course already on it.
It is actually quite useful and you can make your own deck of flashcards quite easily. While it is not as good as the plethora of packs that PortuguesePod101 has, it is still pretty good if you just simply want to build your vocabulary.
Another useful part of Duolingo is the 'Stories' section. I could only find this part on the computer and never found a way to navigate there on the app. It is quite an innovative approach to storytelling and I enjoyed the interactive element to it.
You answer comprehension questions and fill in different part of the story for it to carry on. In contrast to the 69 different skills, the stories and the questions asked are nearly completely in Portuguese.
Again, however, the content is pretty random.
While it might make it entertaining, it doesn't necessarily mean that it will be useful. These stories are more suitable for intermediate learners than beginners although there is never anywhere that you would ever get stuck.
If you are using Duolingo on the computer there is also a 'Discussion' forum that you can access and you can also join different language learning clubs. By answering questions and posting you earn points and move up a leaderboard.
This helps you come in contact with other learners and have short written conversations with them. The Portuguese community, however, did not seem to have much going on.
From the discussions, I could see Duolingo seems to have recently changed some parts of its layout and how it helps learners to keep track of their progress. That is positive as it shows they are looking at improving the users' experience of using their resource.
Duolingo is a really nicely put together resource but the main problem is the content itself.
While it is great to use and certainly motivates people to study, you're just not spending your time in the best possible way.
In contrast to Semantica, for example, beginners will be able to start from the beginning without feeling overwhelmed. They will, however, miss out on understanding the grammar, immersing themselves in the culture and ultimately from learning the language.
Duolingo makes it easy for people to feel that they are learning a language when maybe they are just actually learning vocabulary.
Used in conjunction with other language learning resources, Duolingo can be a fun way to learn vocabulary.
If you are looking to actually learning Portuguese, however, you should definitely look elsewhere!"
The best part about Duolingo is that it's completely free to use
The best thing about Duolingo is that it's free to use. While ads do pop up every now and again, like everything about Duolingo they are tastefully presented and feel slick in comparison with other learning resources that have ads plastered everywhere.
You can pay to remove them though with one ad-free month costing 9.99 Euros. Otherwise, it's 6.99 Euros if you pay for 12 months. This ad-free version is Duolingo Plus which also enables you to download the skills and access them when you're offline.
While it is great that Duolingo is free and that anyone can use it, the sad truth is that the content just isn't very good.
Nonsensical sentences regularly arise and the content is organized in a strange way.
Right at the start, for instance, you end up learning vocabulary that you will probably never need to know.
Although it is fun, you will never really learn Portuguese through using it and I can only recommend it if you use a serious learning resource alongside it.
Duolingo could help you to improve your vocabulary but its random nature means it's not even suitable for people looking to learn a few phrases before going on holiday.
Better look elsewhere!
It has too many flaws to be something I'd recommend
While it is free, fun and friendly to use, Duolingo just falls short in way too many ways for it to be a resource that I can recommend.
You may have fun using it and a sense of accomplishment at seeing your points and lingots increase but sadly I think it is highly unlikely that you'll progress much in your Portuguese studies.
If you are serious about learning Portuguese, consider using a different online course. You may also want to incorporate Portuguese podcasts into your study routine.
This post was originally written by Alex – an amazing freelance writer and experienced language learner.
It was edited by me – Nick Dahlhoff.
I'm the creator of All Language Resources. I'm not a polyglot who speaks 20 languages, in fact, I'm currently struggling with Mandarin. I'm not here to teach you how to learn a language – countless people are more qualified to do that than me. But, I have tried out an insane number of language learning resources. I want this site to remain the most comprehensive and least biased place to figure out which courses, podcasts, apps, websites, etc. are worth studying with. To learn more about myself, the site, or our reviewing process, check out the about page.


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How was the Toronto Market in September 2012?
So, what's happening with the Toronto market?
First, let's look to see what the Toronto Real Estate Board says in its Marketwatch:
Strong Average Price Growth in September
TORONTO, October 3, 2012 – Greater Toronto Area (GTA) REALTORS® reported 5,879 transactions through the Toronto MLS system in September 2012. The average selling price for these transactions was $503,662, representing an increase of more than 8.5 per cent compared to last year.
The number of transactions was down by 21 per cent in comparison to September 2011. However, it is important to note that there were two fewer working days in September 2012 compared to September 2011. The majority of transactions are entered on working days. On a per working day basis, sales were down by 12.5 per cent year-over-year.
"While sales have been lower due to stricter mortgage lending guidelines, we continue to see substantial competition between buyers. The months of inventory trend remains low from a historic perspective, which explains the strong price increases we are experiencing," said Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) President Ann Hannah.
September average selling prices were up compared to last year for all major home types. Price growth was strongest in the City of Toronto, including for condominium apartments with eight per cent year-over-year growth. All benchmark home types included in the MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI) experienced year-over-year price increases, with substantially stronger increases for low-rise home types.
"Barring a major change to the consensus economic outlook, home price growth is expected to continue through 2013. Based on inventory levels, price growth will be strongest for low-rise home types, including single-detached and semi-detached houses and town homes," said TREB's Senior Manager of Market Analysis, Jason Mercer.
As you know by now, TREB reports its statistics year to year. So, generally prices ought to be favourable. In the September 2011 to September 2012 comparison, the increase was 8.5%. But, more importantly the short term direction was also positive. The average price was 5.24% higher in September than it was in August.
Now, for the mathematicians, that would equate to a 63% annualized return. However, real estate markets don't work that way. Some months are positive and some are negative. It's part of the real estate cycle and it's quite predictable.
September historically is one of the positive months and usually a turning point. October is usually a positive month as well.
TREB points out that sales are down 21% in the month of September on a year over year basis. Is that important?
What are the year to date numbers? In 2011, there were 70,179 sales to the end of September. In 2012, there were 69,909 sales or 270 fewer than the previous year. This works out to 0.038%. That's less than one half of one percent. All in all, that's as close as you are going to get to a "statistical dead heat".
April and May were particularly strong, as were the early months. You can't have the sales early in the year and late in the year too!
Any reasonable analysis should include the expectation of a decline in sales activity. It's already been recorded for 2012. So, you won't be seeing it again.
TREB points out that low rise housing price growth will be the strongest. That suggests, of course, some moderation in the apartment condo prices. And, it is the high rise condo market which has been the topic of much speculation in terms of a price drop. However, the demand is still there, and apartment condos are the entry level for many buyers. GTA immigration continues at rates in excess of 150,000 annually. This places a great deal of upward pressure on the housing market.
It is clear that the apartment condo market is moving into a more balanced situation.
Don't forget that there are still a lot of areas in central Toronto which are high in demand and will attract bidding wars due to the short supply of inventory.
Right now, the expectation is for a strong market in October.
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker is a Manager at RE/MAX West Realty Inc., Brokerage 416-745-2300.


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© 2019 SchoolSeed Foundation, All Rights Reserved
Shelby County Schools and SchoolSeed Foundation are working together to raise funds to support the funeral expenses of 10 year old Richard Jordan. He was a student at Alton Elementary School in Memphis, Tennessee. The 10 year old was a victim of a tragic incident that occurred Monday afternoon near Airways Blvd. and Ketchum. .


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Ken Davenport is a Broadway producer whose Once On This Island is nominated for eight Tony Awards.
Davenport says his parents, a doctor and a landscape designer, bestowed him with the discipline and creativity he's leveraged to succeed on Broadway. In our conversation we go back to his early work and you hear how he financed his first few shows and the marketing strategy he used to promote them with limited resources.
In his youth Davenport spent time at Radio Shack playing on computers; his passion and understanding of the digital sphere led to his unprecedented use of the internet, not just for marketing his shows, but also for the online community he's built to inspire, and provide professional development, to emerging producers.
Ken Davenport's blog and podcast – The Producer's Perspective
Podcast with Elizabeth Furze – advertising and marketing trends in the theater
Ken's online training program – The Producer's Perspective PRO
Ken on Twitter
Ken on Facebook
Once on this Island
Podcast with Steffi DiDomenicantonio.
Steffi performed in the first national tours of Spring Awakening and currently appears in Come from Away in Toronto.
She shares the secret to her successful auditions for both shows.
Podcasts with other Producers
Bat Out of Hell with Randy Lennox


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Badri set to flick the switch in UAE
UAE conglomerate establishes new electronics retail brand
New consumer electronics and household appliances power retailer Switch Electronics unveiled its first store in Dubai's Lamcy Plaza last month, coinciding with the start of the Dubai Shopping Festival.
Boasting 4, 000 square feet of retail space, the mall-based outlet is the first of five multi-brand, multicategory stores planned for the UAE market.
Owned and operated by the Badri Group of Companies, Switch Electronics' Lamcy Plaza store will serve as a 'prototype' for the company's future retail developments.
The store will showcase products across the AV, IT, notebook PC, telecommunications and home appliance categories, sourcing many brands from sister-company, UAE consumer electronics distributor Eros Group.
However, Rahul Misra, senior manager of Switch's retail division, stressed it would not source product exclusively from Eros.
"The store will showcase over 35 of the top brands in each market segment," he said. "We are committed to meeting consumer demand for the best brands and products in the industry. This approach is fundamental if you want to succeed in the UAE, which boasts a very competitive retail sector."
Misra said this open policy extended to the company's approach to developing the Switch retail concept and refining its in-store customer service standards.
"Switch is the first multi-branded consumer electronics store to open in Lamcy Plaza. As a result, we are planning to further customise our service offering and product portfolio in response to feedback we receive from our customers.
"We aim to apply this strategy to developing future stores. Customer convenience and quality service are lynchpins of our strategy."
Misra said the company planned to open additional stores in Abu Dhabi and Dubai within the next three months, with a further outlet scheduled to open in Sharjah before the end of the year.
He also anticipates the company will look to open an additional outlet in Dubai in early-2008.
Misra explained that while the company expected its Dubai-based outlets to account for 60% of its business in the UAE, it also predicted that Abu Dhabi would hold great potential for commercial growth.
"We are very keen to establish a presence in Abu Dhabi as quickly as possible, because we believe it holds greater potential for rapid growth than Dubai, which is reaching market saturation," he said.
Despite its reputation as an 'emerging' retail market we predict that our forthcoming Abu Dhabi outlet will contribute 20% of our overall profit in the coming year."
Misra said that while Switch had no plans at present to expand its presence outside of the UAE, it did not rule out venturing into neighboring GCC markets in the future.


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The Death of an Industry
Remember the days when you would spend hours and hours building a single character in an MMO, trying your best to min/max all of those little stats to win a few duels, or to just survive long enough to turn the tides in battle?
Remember the feeling of getting that super-mega-awesome sword from some jungle temple after over a month of farming the place, and once you put it on and walked through town, you got that first whisper: "Dude, where did you get that???"
Unfortunately, those days are over. With the coming flood of what could only be considered as vapor-ware, game developers, and publishers are showing they are no longer worried about the long term success of their games. They simply want the money grab.
This is becoming ever so apparent with Bioware's ME3 disaster, as well as the quick pace of SWTOR's leveling system. (Seriously, did anyone even notice it rush by?)
Not to mention the upcoming financial models of some MMOs. For instance, Funcom's The Secret World's current financial set up screams, "This game will die. Please buy a lifetime sub so we make more money before it goes free-to-play." The fact that they are offering lifetime sub packages, as well as preorders, before a decent amount of game footage should be a red flag.
Maybe I'm being paranoid. But I sure as hell have earned a little paranoia with the amount of garbage the gaming industry has been producing lately.
Now, I'm most definitely a Blizzard fan-boy. I grew up playing those games, and loved EVERY. SINGLE. MINUTE. of it. But I firmly believe they slowly ruined the genre. Over time, WoW has grown easier, quicker, and just downright un-mmo-esque. There is no "epic feeling" when it comes to epics. They're just purples. Who cares? Not I.
Blizzard may have been the tip of the scales for the downfall, but they haven't stopped the plummet.
Diablo 3's real-money auction house is another masked attempted to nickel and dime the customers. They swear up and down that it is a better model than players going out and spending money on third party sites. But here is the question that should be asked: If these players want to spend real life money on their accounts, don't they deserve the risk of being hacked, as well as their credit card numbers stolen? It's cheating. Plain and simple. You spend outside resources to increase your in-game resources. It's the same damn thing as entering a cheat code you learned from an outside source into the game. Blizzard is just learning to make a little cash in the process of the cheating, and in essence, condoning it.
Apart from the obvious pay-to-win models, even the cosmetic money-bought items need some rethinking. Part of the point in playing a game is to make your character look as bad-ass as he/she can be. I'm a sucker for awesome looking gear, and I feel like a difficult fight, or even hours and hours of farming for a piece of awesome looking gear, (even for a damn social tab) is part of what makes an MMO great. So why can players just cheat a major part of the game for 5 bucks and look awesome immediately upon enter the game? (Huh, Anarchy Online?)
It seems like I've mainly just attacked two companies. (Funcom, and Blizzard). But other companies are not immune. PLEX in Eve, hats/weapons/items in Team Fortress 2, character skins in League of Legends, weapons/skins in Bloodline Champions, the "gem" system in Guild Wars 2: It's all the same. Each time you spend outside money on anything other than a box fee or subscription fee, you're taking a major part of the experience out of the game.
Who is to blame, though? Though I think some of the blame is placed upon the companies for a lack of artistry in their games, the truth is that WE are to blame. We spend the money, we tell them it's ok to nickel and dime us, and they continue to see how far we will go.
What can we do?
Stop paying for stuff that should be included in the games to begin with.
Boycott games with financial models that are obvious money grabs,
And expect more out of these companies.
Yea, I get it, the economy sucks, whatever. But for Christ's sake, what ever happened to games made for art, and not ONLY for a profit? I would gladly pay a sub fee and even a box fee for a game that is honest about their product, and legitimately tries to make a piece of art.
Half of the issues in the game industry could be solved by companies not withholding that their game sucks. If it sucks, say so. Chances are we will still play the damn thing if it has some redeeming quality to it. The problem is, with a money-grab and sneaky advertising that only shows the polished parts of the game, you don't give us gamers a chance to look at it with a critical eye until after you have our money. It probably should be illegal.


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JIBC Store
The JIBC Store is located on the main floor of the New Westminster campus. Store hours are Monday to Friday, 12 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Order enquiries should be emailed to email@example.com, or faxed to 604.528.5701. Remember to include your contact name, phone number and email address in the email.
The JIBC Store has been serving the needs of students and staff, since 2001. Our mandate is to provide high-quality crested apparel, giftware, books, and student supplies available for our many students, alumni, staff and friends through our New Westminster storefront and online.
Our products range from uniform shirts and pants; to branded JIBC t-shirts and jackets; to stethoscopes and safety boots; to pens and certificate frames; to a unique selection of giftware, as well as many text books relating to our various academies. The store is also the BC distributor for books from Fire Protection Publications in Oklahoma, USA.
Customer Service
We ship anywhere in North America.
- Canada: orders are shipped regular mail or Greyhound – this is the best combination of safety, speed and economy.
- USA: orders are shipped by UPS or Purolator.
- Some orders may have to be shipped in two or more parcels.
- Recipients outside of Canada may have to pay customs duties or other government charges. We are required by law to affix custom forms stating the Canadian dollar value of the goods.
In a hurry? Rush delivery service is available; pricing is based on destination, parcel size, and weight. Please phone 1.604.528.5870, fax or email us for a shipping estimate for your order.
Returns & Exchanges
Items can be returned or exchanged within 14 days of purchase, with original receipt. Items must be in the same condition as purchased. Custom and special orders are non-refundable. Final sales on books.
To exchange or return an item, please send the item to us by regular mail, indicating the reason for the return and the action to be taken, such as exchange or refund, and include a copy of your receipt. Please call 604.528.5870 or email us at firstname.lastname@example.com and a customer service representative will discuss your order information for the exchange or return and give you instructions on mailing the item back to us. We'll be as quick as possible, but please remember it takes time to receive your return and process your request.
Exchanging Items
Once we have received your returned item, we will ship you the exchanged item.
If you are exchanging for a different item, we will refund you for the price of the returned item and applicable taxes and process your credit card with the new item, including taxes and shipping/handling.
Returned Items
Once we have received and approved your returned item, we will credit you for the price of the merchandise and any applicable taxes.
Last updated November 26, 2019


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Official poster for musical "Goong" [Group 8]
Hit television drama "Goong" is set to be made into a musical, according to a press release by the show's producer Group 8.
Group 8 explained that they had long planned on creating the musical version of "Goong", originally based on a comic series before being made into an adaptation on the small screen in 2006.
The musical "Goong" -- the first of the "Group 8 Musical Collection" series -- will be filled with fancy art direction, which the TV series was also famous for, and include various music genres and dance sequences.
The producers are currently casting the lead actors for the musical through an open audition on www.group8tv.com/audition.html.
"Goong" (MBC, 2006) is a story about an average high-school girl marrying a royal prince in 21st century Korea, which is in fiction a monarchical country. The drama was a huge success and turned its two lead actors, Yoon Eun-hye and Joo Ji-hoon, into household names.
The musical will premiere on September 3 at the National Museum of Korea.
Reporter : Lynn Kim email@example.com
Editor : Jessica Kim firstname.lastname@example.com
<ⓒ10Asia All rights reserved>


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Columbia River
While the Columbia River and its tributaries had already been an epicenter of culture and trade for thousands of years, many European and American explorers sought the mouth of this great river of the West for years without success. James Cook, John Meares, and George Vancouver all searched for and missed it. In 1792, a U.S. fur trader and merchant sea captain, Robert Gray, became the first non-native man to sail a vessel into the river. He named it for his ship—the Columbia Rediviva. Ongoing exploration was accelerated as a result of Gray's discovery, aided by the 1803 Louisiana Purchase.
Lewis & Clark, Wilson Price Hunt and the Astorians, the Hudson's Bay Company, missionaries like the Whitmans and the Spaldings, Benjamin Bonneville, and Peter Skeen Odgen all helped discover and open up the Pacific Northwest by way of the mighty Columbia. What first started out as a small smattering of explorers and traders would eventually become a flood, as thousands of Oregon Trail settlers came west seeking a new start.


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WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 — Thanksgiving is the traditional time for appreciating our country and its bountiful harvest of everything special, from family and friends to plasma TV's and stainless steel fridges. This year something else requires special recognition. Please hold hands around the holiday table and join me in giving thanks for our country's blessed collection of celebrity opinion.
Let's pass the gravy and review the year's bumper crop of celebrity thought. First, war.
Sheryl Crow said in January: "I think war is based in greed and there are huge karmic retributions that will follow. I think war is never the answer to solving any problems. The best way to solve problems is to not have enemies."
Good advice. Maybe that's why the Pilgrims got along so well with the Indians — both feared karmic retributions. And turkey leftovers.
Sean Combs was similarly struck by the peace bug. He puffed up and said, "I'm totally against war — whoever's wrong. …I think of peace every day. I want us to all get along. It may sound corny … but I'm strictly peace." During Thanksgiving, I'm strictly peace, too — strictly piece of pie. Pumpkin only, please.
OK, enough tomfoolery. Let's take celebrities serious because they take themselves serious. As America faced great issues of war and peace this year, celebrities got very, very earnest. And they can be sooooo cute when they're earnest.
Like cutie pie Madonna who said, "I am not anti-Bush. I am not pro-Iraq. I am pro-peace." And equally adorable Harrison Ford, who called for "regime change on both sides." Then there's George Clooney who's half heartthrob and half peacemaker, like some creature from Greek mythology. Clooney advised, "You can't beat your enemy anymore through wars. Instead you create an entire generation of people revenge seeking." That great pretender Chrissie Hynde went further in a San Francisco concert on the eve of the Iraq war: "Bring it on! Give us what we deserve!" That's always been my Thanksgiving cry for pumpkin pie.
(How much has celebrity thought on American military success evolved over the years? Since it's Thanksgiving season, consider John Wayne's thoughts on Native Americans in Playboy years ago: "I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them, if that's what you're asking. Our so-called stealing of this country from them was just a matter of survival. There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.")
When we weren't getting celebrity thoughts on war, we heard them talking sex. And lots of it. So let's give thanks to celebrities who this year reduced politics down to its base level, sex.
When Arnold Schwarzenegger said, "I think that gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman," you knew this would be a special year. Hilarious, but special. And it helps explain what "Terminator 3" co-star Kristanna Loken meant in the New York Daily News. Asked if she was ever attracted to a politician, Loken replied: "Physically? Hillary Clinton. That was a joke." Hi-yo!
Proving that there's always room for J-Lo, Ben Affleck said, "I pay more attention to national politics probably right now than state politics for some reason. I don't know why. Maybe it's just a sexier political scene." Ben Affleck thinks national politics is sexy? The man has obviously never met Dennis Kucinich.
Let's return to George Clooney, who's ending his outspoken year feeling a tad prosecuted. Why? Because of sex. Sex, sex, sex. Clooney said, "I always say you have to stand by what you've done. Yes, I smoked grass. Yes, I had sex with more than one person. In the U.S., they make a big deal out of everything as soon as you run for higher office. It's time we did away with this bigotry in America." Now there's a rallying cry — end bigotry against over-sexed celebrities. Warren Beatty, call your answering service.
Other political news of note
Animated Boehner: 'There's nothing complex about the Keystone Pipeline!'
House Speaker John Boehner became animated Tuesday over the proposed Keystone Pipeline, castigating the Obama administration for not having approved the project yet.
- Budget deficits shrinking but set to grow after 2015
- Senate readies another volley on unemployment aid
- Obama faces Syria standstill
- Fluke files to run in California
- Animated Boehner: 'There's nothing complex about the Keystone Pipeline!'
Clooney might want to comfort Cybill Shepherd, who was last seen cavorting with a recalled California governor. Shepherd admitted to an old romance with Gray Davis, saying they "made out passionately on the beach. We were covered with sand, but we were never lovers." Take that, Ben Affleck — there is state level sex. Maybe even municipal dating.
This was a year that political celebrities celebrated sex. But could they love, too? Hugh Grant defined love as "loving someone no matter what their faults in a blind and unconditional way, such as the love Tony Blair has for George Bush." Not that there's anything diplomatically wrong with that.
Let's leave celebrity political thought on a high note. Tim Robbins told the National Press Club last spring: "Hollywood is many, many different things, just as America is many, many different things." If Tim Robbinsis thankful for America, I'm thankful for him.
Of course, some celebrities might be swallowing a bitter pill with their candied cranberries. After saying. "Here in France I feel at home," surely Madonna has no Thanksgiving plans on this side of the Atlantic. She's welcome to share mine. But please, Madonna, no French kissing. Freedom kissing only. And some turkey.
Howard Mortman is a producer for "Hardball with Chris Matthews."
© 2013 msnbc.com Reprints


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Koshari Street
Time Out says
We'll walk down Koshari Street any time: mega-filling, mega-tasty, mega-cheap. It's the closest thing in the West End to a free lunch.
London may have swooned for Ottolenghi and Yalla Yalla, but this homage to Egypt's hole-in-the-wall koshari vendors, from food writer and champion of Levantine cooking Anissa Helou, is still a brave move. The small, pristine space with a stainless steel counter is slightly reminiscent of a school canteen: there are a handful seats along one wall. This is really a takeaway joint, with a menu only a shade more varied than it would be at a stall in Cairo or Alexandria.
Warming, comforting and many-layered, koshari is falafel's more substantial older brother – a solid, simple dish of lentils, pasta, vermicelli and rice topped with tomato sauce and fried onions. That's it. Helou's version comes in mild, hot and 'mad' (it's not really), plus a twist of her own doqqa recipe – ground spices, nuts and herbs.
Then there are a couple of plain salads, a daily soup (we had sharp, lemony lentil and chard with real depth of flavour), freshly pressed juices and traditional desserts – muhallabiyeh milk pudding and mishmishiya apricot purée, the former creamy and laced with rosewater like a grown-up version of a Wall's Mini Milk, the latter an intense shot of fruit like a blast of summer sunshine.
Service in the early days of opening was haphazard, but charming. Let them iron out the wrinkles, and London may swoon again for this simplest of Middle Eastern menus.
56 St Martin's Lane
|Tube: Leicester Square
|Do you own this business?
Users say (9)
Average User Rating
4.6 / 5
Rating Breakdown
- 5 star:5
- 4 star:3
- 3 star:0
- 2 star:0
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So delicious and satisfying!! Authentic Eygtian street food that is tasty, filling and excellent value. That said the falefal wrap was not so exciting so I would stick to what they specialise in next time!!
Love, love, love Koshari! It's my fallback for a rainy day when all you want is carbs and somewhere I eat often before the theatre. It's cheap, healthy and always delicious. A great place to come with vegetarian/vegan friends, I hope Koshari has a long lifetime on St Martin's Lane.
I have been here a few times now. The food is nice and simple and honest. It comes with three different types of sauces Mad, Hot and Mild. They also come in three different tub sizes. Lots of carbs, It is all topped with Fried onions which gives the food the special taste. During lunch time you can find a bit of queue, although on more than one occasion, there was just one person serving and a huge queue waiting outside in the rain. I would like to think it is a one of thing, but the food is nice and cheap. (between £6 to £7) for the largest tub size. The eat-in space is a bit too crambed, so may not suit a large crowd.
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While writing this I am singing the Skyfall theme in the style of a bad pub singer, kinda like Vic Reeves would do.
I couldn't face queuing and all that jazz during the opening weekend of Skyfall, so I went at lunchtime today instead. I'm an old git, so Sean Connery will always be the "real" James Bond for me, but I think Daniel Craig is a very close second. I like the fact he looks like he'll **** you up if you mess with him! The last bond that really had that presence was Connery.
Looper is not, "This years The Matrix", or whatever crap they put on those posters. It's easy to be blasé now, but The Matrix was totally amazing when it came out, before they could ruin its legacy with the sequels…
So now I've managed your expectations, it's worth saying that Looper is a pretty decent film. Unlike most time-travel related films, it doesn't try to get too intellectual, which is good because on the way out I listened to some guy trying to explain the plot to his uninterested girlfriend and he got it all wrong. Time travel is a mind-f*ck for regular folk, so stupid people should steer clear of the concept…
What do I really want out of a Resident Evil movie?
With Resident Evil: Retribution, I guess 2/3 ain't bad. I like the fact the previous 4 films are virtually interchangeable. My biggest criticism of this film is it does things a little differently.
On the positive side, most of the cool characters from the previous films are brought back for this one, including the dead ones. As usual, the films leaves itself primed for a sequel. Let's hope we don't have to wait too long for the next one.
If, like me, you like mindless and incoherent trash zombie films, then you are in for a treat.
I've just got back from watching the re-spin of Total Recall. I was a fan of the Arnold version, but that was 22 years ago (Wow!), so I though it was worth a watch to see what they had brought to the table. As you would expect, some bits are very similar, but there is a lot that is very different from the previous incarnation.
Colin Farrell was pretty good. He certainly looked like he'd hit the gym and stuck to his diet in the lead up to the film. Very impressive. At times I was watching him and found myself thinking he'd make a cracking James Bond! When Daniel Craig gets bored of that gig, Colin should send in his CV.
I was dissapointed in The Expendables, but I hoped they would make another film and try to get it right this time. I've just got back from The Expendables 2 and I'm glad to say they got it completely right this time!
If I'm honest, many of the elements of this film are the same as the previous one. The difference is this one is done with a lot more humor. The film and the cast don't seem to take themselves too seriously and that pays dividends in the enjoyment factor. In the previous film there was a lot of violence, but this film has even more. What makes it better is it is taken to almost comic book proportions. Some of the grizzliest scenes had people in the audience laughing.
I'm looking forward to The Expendables 3!
I went to watch The Dark Knight Rises yesterday. Wow, that is one loooong film…
Let's start by saying I never really got into the previous films (Batman Returns and The Dark Knight). This one was more of the same for me. Nothing felt new. Nothing really excited me. One of my mates thought it was amazing and couldn't understand my apathy. Apart from the length, there is nothing wrong with the film. It just doesn't do it for me…
I guess I've got to wait for the next kick-start to see if that one suits me…
I went to see Prometheus at the start of the month and wrote about it here.
A few days ago some friends asked me if I wanted to go with them to see it in 3D, so I did.
In 2D, the opening sequence was amazing. In 3D it was a bit of a let down. The opening credits (being 3D) jumped out at you and distracted from scenes behind. As for the rest of the film, some scenes worked and others didn't. Pretty much any time there is movement, 3D sucks.
If I had gone to see the film in 3D first, I think my impression of it would have been quite different. If you have yet to see it, please go to the 2D version!
PS. The Spiderman trailer was a mess in 3D. All of us commented on it being just a big blur. Truly terrible. I think the film will be good though (in 2D).
Let me start by saying, I'm a big fan of all the Alien films, even Alien 3, which seems to be the least liked. Having said that, if someone said I had to pick one it would always be Alien. I watch that film several times a month. Ridley Scott is renowned for being uncompromising, so I went into Prometheus with some seriously high expectations, which always worries me as it kinda sets you up for a fall…
The opening sequence of Prometheus is quite possibly the most beautiful thing I've ever seen on film. As I watched it I thought it was probably worth the £6 just to see that on a big screen…
Imagine what you would get if you attempted to shoot a film using a cameraman balanced on one leg, standing on a spin dryer, balancing on a wobble board, with electrodes up his ass, intermittently sending electric shocks where the sun don't shine… The result would be the camera work employed by the makers of Safe.
If you have ever enjoyed a superhero film in your life you simply must go to see Avengers Assemble. It is totally fantastic. It has great action scenes, some really neat characters and is really funny at times too. I've not enjoyed an action film this much since I saw the first Iron Man Film. Awesome!!!
Iron Man/Tony Stark : I want to be him. He is too cool for school. He is Kool and the Gang.
The Hulk : All The Hulk films have been a bit of a let down because the only thing I really like is the green monster running around destroying things. The great thing about this film is it doesn't have to fill two hours with the story of Bruce Banner, so you just get to see the bit you really want to see. The Hulk is fantastic in this film and adds greatly to the comedy elements. He literally had the whole audience laughing hard on several occasions.


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The Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) is an independent non-profit organization dedicated to problem gambling prevention.
Newscan (Vol 15, Issue 16)
RGC is pleased to announce the addition of Sue Birge to RGC's executive team, beginning May 6, 2013. As Director of Standards and Accreditation, Sue will oversee RGC's growing RG Check program, as well as the implementation of new RG standards such as those for online gaming operations.
Until recently, Sue was Executive Director of Policy, Responsible Gambling and Business Services for British Columbia's gaming regulator, the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch. Before that Sue held many policy and communications jobs in Ontario and British Columbia. Sue is also Chair of the Board of Greenpeace Canada.
RG Check is an accreditation program created by the Responsible Gambling Council based on the RGC's Responsible Gambling Index (standards). The program offers gaming companies the opportunity of an independent endorsement of the quality of their responsible gambling safety net. Under the oversight of Kevin Noel, the RG Check program has grown significantly since it was launched in 2011. Currently, 24 venues have been accredited, and 20 other site visits are complete and awaiting Panel review.
With Sue's arrival on the executive team, Kevin has accepted the role of Chief Operating Officer. In this role, he will have oversight responsibilities for the delivery of all awareness and prevention programs including Problem Gambling Prevention Week, Know the Score and the youth drama program, as well as human resources and finance.
At the same time, Jamie Wiebe expands her role to Director of Research and Development. In this portfolio, Jamie will continue to oversee the RGC Centre for the Advancement of Best Practices as she also assumes lead responsibility for content development for a variety of programs including MARGI, social marketing campaigns and RGC publications.
Paula Antoniazzi, as Director of the Responsible Gaming Resource Centre, will continue to focus on the 24 existing sites as well as the expansion of RGRCs into OLG Bingo operations.
Please see the RGC Staff Directory for a more complete listing of RGC staff.


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These captivating film stills from SOPHIA featuring Maria Mastori and Filep Motwary's F/W 09*10 Collections might be the perfect carbon neutral way to experience a state-of-the art fashion week, i.e. gorgeously crafted pieces, no jet plane travel, and a transporting magical narrative. Sit back, make tea or a cool drink, and enjoy the odyssey. You can also read an interview with the designers on DazedDigital.com
"SOPHIA " A Film by JANOS VISNYOVSZKY TO THE MARIA MASTORI & FILEP MOTWARY COLLECTION Fall/Winter 09*10 from JANOS VISNYOVSZKY on Vimeo