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You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April 2011.
What are you doing next Tuesday night between 7-11pm?
If you don't already have plans, then I suggest that you head over to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel to eat some wonderful dishes prepared by Nobu Matsushisa, Wolfgang Puck, Mako Tanaka, Hideo Yamashiro, and Tim Goodell to support the relief efforts in Japan. Tickets range from $40 general admission to $300 VIP all access to all the dishes, chefs and open bar!
All the chefs are donating their time and the food, so that all of the proceeds will go towards helping people who have survived the Tsunami and earthquake in Japan, so even if you can't attend, you please donate.
Having been to Sonoma Wine Garden when they first opened for breakfast (see my previous post), I have been wanting to go back for a meal and finally did last week. Sunset on a balmy Southern California day is the perfect time to take advantage of the rooftop views of the Pacific and to bask in the last rays of sunshine on the outdoor patio.
The tomato basil soup with a drizzle of basil oil and garlic croutons, was a perfect way to start.
I chose the Caesar Salad ($12) because it had white anchovies (my favorite), but I was pleasantly surprised by the high garlic content of the dressing and the Parmesan crisps which added a nice crunch to the crisp leaves of romaine.
Cindy chose the beet salad with shaved fennel and goat cheese ($12) and cleaned her plate. She loved the presentation as much as the flavor combination.
We both had the 2005 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon from the Alexander Valley and very much appreciated the ability to order a half as well as full glass (Cindy never drinks more than a half glass). A truly wonderful way to end the day is watching the sunset over Santa Monica, sipping wine from Sonoma, with a great friend.
I love introducing my old friends to new places; it's like watching kids discover a new toy hidden in their closet. Even though Cindy only lives about one hour away, coming to "The Big City" offers possibilities her bedroom community does not, and some of my neighborhood favorites, like Huckleberry Cafe, are exotic tantalizing experiences for her. Since she is a pescatarian (eats fish, but no other animal), a place which offers vegetarian choices automatically gains a spot on my list of places to take her.
Being an omnivore, my choice was the asparagus salad, made with arugula, Jidori chicken, fried prosciutto, roasted red peppers, feta, red wine vinaigrette, and of course asparagus for $12 (normally farro is also included but they were out). This was an incredibly luscious combination of crunchy prosciutto, tender greens, and juicy Jidori chicken. The light dressing enhanced the salad without overpowering it, and the tender asparagus was perfectly cooked. I would order this salad any day as a hearty meal.
Cindy chose a trio of salads for $12 from the deli, with brussel sprouts, squash, and the best quinoa salad she has ever eaten (her words) made with pistachios.
She adored the soft slice of bread that came with her salad so much she took it home.
She also ordered a cup of the pureed vegetable soup for $4 which was a symphony of fresh goodness in a cup.
I had to order a doughnut ($2.50) since Huckleberry makes my favorite fluffy yeast doughnut (but I did share it with Cindy).
I would have ordered some of the best beef brisket I have ever eaten to go, but we were going shopping and I wasn't sure it was cold enough to leave it in the car for several hours. Oh well, that just means I have to come back (again)!
Today is Earth Day and there are many ways to help the Earth with simple acts, some of which will get you free coffee and trees:
1) CREEDO is planting a tree in your honor if you simply click that you like them on your Facebook page by April 30, the more people click, the more trees get planted, so pass on the information and post it on your wall.
2) M Cafe is offering $1.00 off to all take out customers who bring in their own bag to take home their food, and if you bring in your own reusable mug they will give you a free coffee as well.
3) Lowe's is giving away one million trees today, stop by a store and pick one up.
4) Starbucks is giving away free coffee today when you bring in your own reusable mug.
5) Do what you can everyday to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle 🙂
I prefer the European style of chocolate because it is less sugary and more intensely chocolate than the American style. Since the chocolate supply I brought back from Paris' Debauve Gallais is now gone, I headed over to Madame Chocolat in Beverly Hills to get some truffles from my favorite local chocolatier for a friend's birthday this week (and a few pieces for myself).
With Easter coming up, the store window and interior are both filled with delightfully whimsical and mouthwatering creations. Whether you are looking for a traditional chocolate Easter Bunny, Easter Eggs, or marshmallow "chicks", they have them all, ranging from small kid friendly sized, to a gigantic decadent party centerpiece size. Her Glitter Truffles have been featured on television and you can have them shipped to you if you don't live nearby.
Madame is famous for her beautiful (chocolate) shoes and handbags, so if you would like to get something truly unique for your favorite shoe-a-holic who also happens to be a chocoholic, the perfect gift of Blahnik, Louboutin, or Valentino heels can be had for a fraction of the inedible version! For the men, there are watches, golf balls, and cigars, and for the kids (even grown up kids), there are chocolate S'Mores, chocolate covered Oreos, and cheerios.
In a romantic chocolate love story, Madame Chocolat, Hasty Torres, is married to Mr. Chocolate, Jacques Torres, so some of his creations are also in the store like the Wicked (pictured above), made with a spicy chili, and Love Potion #9 (pictured below) made with dark chocolate ganache.
Fortunately, the love of chocolate does not involve the possibility of heartbreak, with the exception of not having enough, so make sure you stock up before the holidays.
Since I was attending the French Film Festival COLCOA (City of Light City of Angels) all week, there were times when I could not go further than a few blocks for food in between movies. There is The Counter for burgers across the street, and Veggie Grill for vegans, two blocks away, and Trader Joe's for ready made food, but I opted for the place I had not yet tried, Pizza Fusion, literally right next door.
It was more attractive simply because they advertised specials for Earth Day, they use organic ingredients, give all their employees who work more than 20 hours a week medical benefits, offer free sustainable classes for kids every month, and they even offer gluten free options for pizza, beer, and brownies; I don't see either Veggie Grill or Trader Joe's offering these kind of options and benefits.
On one break, I had a large Fusion Salad ($8.99), made with Arugula, romaine, cucumber, red onion, tomatoes, basil, shaved carrots and toasted crostini (all the green items are organic and you can omit the crostini for gluten free diets). I chose the balsamic vinaigrette but it was drowned in Italian when it arrived; they switched it out for another one as soon as I tasted it and asked for a replacement with the dressing on the side. Everything was freshly prepared and had the added "feel good" component of being organic, so I knew no pesticides were in my plate of greens.
Because this is after all a pizza place, I had to come back for a pizza, so I opted for personal sized ($8.99) a multi grain crust (you can also choose an organic white) made with sauteed spinach, roasted portobello mushrooms, goat cheese, and Italian sausage (which was hormone & preservative free). They offer several cheese options, from organic Mozzarella to Daiya vegan.The tomato sauce is organic and very tasty and although this is not a classic pizza, I enjoyed the thin crispy crust and the flavors I combined. I would order this again as an alternative to the traditional American "pizza" any day.
I saw the stuffed mushrooms ($6.99) on the appetizer menu and had to try them. They are criminis (mini portobellos) stuffed with sausage, goat cheese, and herbs and they were my favorite of all the things I tried here. They would be perfect paired with a glass of the Malbec ($8) and during happy hour from 4-7pm they offer specials on either their beers (they offer flights of beers), wines, or appetizers.
Convenience is always a good reason to try something, but when it is combined with ethical actions that combine healthy food with happy employees in the community, that is a reason to come back.
Century City is one of my favorite places to go for movies and food, especially when for $25 (advance purchase) you can get EIGHT dishes (with drinks) from the restaurants in the Westfield Mall and 100% of the proceeds go to Food 4 All.
The offerings on April 12th for the 6pm-9pm event include:
Breadbar – Signature sliders with wine selection
Giggles N Hugs – Pizza bites, mini mac & cheese, mini cupcakes with a fresh fruit smoothie
Gulfstream – Smoked salmon and chef's dressing with Sauvignon Blanc
Houston's – Spinach & artichoke dip with white wine selection
Obika Mozzarella Bar – Caponata, eggplant parmigiana, ricotta mousse with a Pim's mojito
Pink Taco – Signature pink-hued taco with a margarita
RockSugar Pan Asian Kitchen – Princess shrimp, chicken samosa, spicy ahi roll with blood orange sangria
Toscanova – Mozzarella pizza, porcini mushroom risotto, umbricelli with sausage, spinach & ricotta ravioli, cherry tart and tiramisu with white wine spritzers
Not only is this a great deal, but your money will feed others as well as yourself; a win-win!
Dear Readers,
As you may have already noticed, I am not posting as often as I used to on my blog. Some other parts of my life need my attention, and as much as I love writing about restaurants, travel tips and shopping, they are not the focus of my life. Please continue to read my posts, even if I only post sporadically and less often. I enjoy sharing my finds with you and will continue to do so as I endeavor to balance time with those I love and writing about things I love to do.
Elaine 🙂


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Here's a music vid I chopped together for my friends, The Ed Woods. They're a great, demented Japanese horror-themed punk/psychobilly band. They always put on an incendiary live show, so you should check them out if you get a chance.
Ed Woods – Hot Rod of the Living DeadJune 6, 2013
I Heart CrapApril 13, 2009
Nice bag, missus!
Shoichi Nakagawa: The Piss-Head Politician's Biggest Boozy BlundersFebruary 27, 2009
In this climate of global financial crisis, it can't be heartening to discover that the guy in charge of your country's economy is a bumbling booze-hound. This was the case in Japan a couple of weeks ago, when the finance minister, Shoichi Nakagawa, showed up at a G7 summit in Italy, as shit-faced as a 17-year-old sailor on shore leave, and proceeded to slur his way through a nonsensical, factually-innaccurate speech on live television for all the world to see. For the Japanese, who routinely hand over a sizeable chunk of their monthly wages for their government pensions, to witness that blundering dipsomaniac's performance in the knowledge that he was in control of their life's savings, must have been like finding out that your priceless Ming vase had been entrusted to the Three Stooges.
Nakagawa blamed his bad behaviour on taking too much cold medicine, but he wasn't fooling anyone, and was forced to resign (let's see how unemployment affects his alcohol problem!) The nation collectively bowed their heads in shame and embarrassment, as opposed to the cackles of glee that the disgrace of a statesman invariably provokes in western countries, where people love nothing more than having the opportunity to mock and poke fun at snooty authority figures.
Which is what I shall proceed to do now!
A bit of research reveals that Nakagawa's a typical, old, out-of-touch politician, who got his job via an expensive private education and his Dad pulling strings (his father was the prominent Hokkaidō politician, Ichiro Nakagawa).
And, much like a spoiled Hollywood brat, he's been getting up to a lot of booze-fueled tomfoolery over the years.
Even though I can hardly blame the guy for turning to the bottle during the worst financial crisis in decades, by nature I find Nakagawa's humiliating alco-antics pretty funny, and will catalogue them below. here they are:
Shoichi Nakagawa's Top 6 Most Hilarious Drunken Mishaps!
1: Appearing on Global TV, Totally Rat-Arsed, and Disgracing a Nation.
2: Setting off a Security Alarm in the Vatican
During the same fateful trip to Italy, the bungling politician caused a scene in a Vatican museum, with slapstick antics worthy of Inspector Clouseau. While being shown around the museum by the ambassador and other local dignitaries, the accident-prone minister wandered around the museum like he owned the place, touching an off-limits priceless statue, not once but twice, and setting off a security alarm. Reportedly, he even sat on a precious exhibit, almost as if it were a bar-stool.
3: Freaking People Out by Screwing Up a Festive Tradition
In Japan, it is common practice for politicians to paint one eye of a traditional Daruma doll before an election for good luck, then to paint the other eye if they win, to show that their wish has been fulfilled. In June 2000, when a swaggering, inebriated Nakagawa found out he'd been elected for a sixth term in office in Obihiro, Hokkaido, he stuck his brush in the inkpot to paint the doll's eye. Unfortunately, the clumsy nitwit put way too much ink on the brush and ended up splattering the doll's face with black ink. Witnesses to this cock-up were horrified- black tears were not exactly the symbol of optimism that voters were looking for on election day.
4: Showing Up Wasted for His first Cabinet Meeting
In September 2004, then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi decided to have a Cabinet re-shuffle. At the time, Shoichi was somehow minister of economy, trade and industry. On the day that Koizumi was to announce his new team, Nakagawa, perhaps anticipating that his glory days were over, held a farewell news conference, before leaving the ministry for the nearest pub to get totally pissed-up.
Surprisingly, however, Nakagawa was reappointed and, still smashed, he had to rush back to the prime minister's office. As a result, Nakagawa spent his first Cabinet meeting utterly shit-faced.
5: Causing a Massive Slide in Stocks by Being Hungover
Last October, in the midst of the financial crisis, as bankers around the world were pulling their hair out in frustration, the Japanese government decided that Nakagawa should hold a news conference to inform the public of his emergency measures to stabilize the market. Nonchalant Nakagawa sauntered up to the podium 15 minutes late, and didn't have anything helpful to say. He hadn't actually come up with any decent emergency measures. Somehow, this useless announcement dragged on well into the afternoon and, consequently, the worst slide in stocks in decades wasn't stopped in time. Japan's economy was buggered. The notorious drunkard Nakagawa was rumoured to be hung-over at the time, and was slammed by the press for his lax response. Nice going, Shoichi!
6: Late, Drunk, Almost Bumping into a Pillar
In 2006, when Nakagawa was somehow head of the government's "Policy Research Council", he indulged in a little old-fashioned Mr.Bean-style physical comedy. Most people, when asked to attend a high-profile meeting between various important political figures, would work hard to be punctual and well-prepared. Not our Shoichi!
When expected at a conference in a plush Tokyo hotel, between the the Policy Research Council bosses, the secretaries general of the ruling parties, and the governent affairs chiefs, Shoichi arrived late, was too trashed to walk in a straight line, and very nearly bumped into a concrete pillar. D'oh!
All of this would be acceptable if he were a nice guy, but Nakagawa's an out-of-date chauvinist. In a (surely drunken) interview with the UK's Daily Telegraph, about Japan's declining birthrate, he boorishly declared that "Women have their proper place: they should be womanly. They have their own abilities and these should be fully exercised, for example in flower arranging, sewing, or cooking."
The woman's place is in the kitchen, eh, Shoichi?
That might be the case in your house, pal, but I suspect it's because you, yourself, are either too smashed to cook without burning the house down, or because you'd be drinking all the cooking sherry.
And if the birth-rate is declining in the Nakagawa household, it may well be because you're too pissed to get it up.
Hold on. Drink problems? Sexist? Following in Daddy's footsteps? He's the Japanese Charlie Sheen!
Ex-Celebs in Old Japanese CommercialsFebruary 2, 2009
Japanese drinks corporations, most famously Suntory Whisky, are known for paying vast sums of cash to international superstars such as Harrison Ford to add a little glitz and glamour to their products by appearing in their TV commericals. The companies agree not to show the ads outside Japan, to avoid damaging the stars' classy reputations by exposing them as shameless sell-outs.
However, when profits are low and booze companies and forced to make cutbacks, they have to hire the likes of Jan Michael Vincent instead, (who must have thought all his Christmases had come at once when Suntory waved the cash in front of his face. "Holy shit! Where do I sign?! Somebody get me a pen before they change their minds! Quick!" He probably sneaked a few of those bottles of whisky into his bag after filming when no-one was looking, too.)
In these times of global financial crisis, Screech from "Saved by the Bell" must be sitting by the phone just waiting for that call from Suntory Whisky.
Here are a selection Japanese booze ads featuring cut-price celebs who were probably pleased to get the call. I don't blame them (hell, if anyone from Suntory wants to put me in a commercial, I'd be more than willing.) At least they actually need the money, unlike Harrison Ford.
Actually, I feel bad putting Phoebe Cates in there, since she looks phenomenal and I worshipped her as a kid, in Fast Times at Ridgemont high and Gremlins. I'm guessing the rights to the Elvis Presley song cost more than her fee, though!
I'm off!
Japanese Drinking Games. No#6: Kiku No HanaJanuary 26, 2009
This is an enjoyably brutal game involving much consumption of sake for the loser. It's named "Kiku No Hana" which means "Chrysanthemum Flower"- you'll find out why later.
You know the trick that magicians do where they hide a sponge ball under one of three cups, then move the cups around really quickly, and you have to guess which cup the ball is under? Well, this game would be like that if the person who picked the cup with the ball was actually the loser and was subsequently forced to fill the other two cups with booze and drink them (a deviation that would certainly add an edge to children's parties!)
Here's how to play: Take a sake cup for each player and put them face down on a tray. One player must then conceal something under one of the cups (traditionally a chrysanthemum, hence the name, but a coin will do nicely on one of those rare occasions that you don't happen to have a chrysanthemum on you.) Next, the tray is passed around in a circle and each player must pick up a cup. If you lift the cup under which the coin is hidden, you have to take a bottle and fill all the cups that have already been turned over, then drink the lot. That means that if you're the sixth person to pick up a cup and you're unlucky enough to lose, you have to knock back six cups of sake.
If the tray finds its way back to the sneaky bastard who concealed the coin in the first place, then he will get his just desserts and have to fill the entire tray of overturned cups with sake, and glug it down.
A wild game, Kiku No Hana could be adopted as a version of Russian Roulette for thrill-seeking Alcoholics Anonymous members.
I found the "Kiku No Hana" game on this fella's site, which has an informative list of quite a few excellent Japanese drinking games. Check it out!
Japanese Bikini TrombonistsDecember 18, 2008
Just my luck- I wait all my life for a band of bikini-clad trombone players, and when I finally discover one I find out they broke up last month. Tsk!
"Futomomo Satisfaction" featured three female trombonists in bikinis,
performing covers of The Ramones, The Rolling Stones and Buggles, alongside original tunes. The three fetching girls, Jackie, Suzuyakko, and Lumiere, certainly put the "bone" in "trombone," if you catch my drift.
The girls described themselves on their Myspace Page thus:
Futomomo Satisfaction is a Japanese bikini Trombone gal band.
This revolutional icon in Japanese indies, will inevitably fascinate you!
Indeed. This is the exact kind of inspired, uncynical silliness and lack of regard for convention that keeps me living in Japan. Here are some videos of their shows.
Here's a link to the Futomomo Satisfaction website.
"Get Your Picture Taken with F*cking Angels"December 3, 2008
I'm a big fan of Japanese clothes with appallingly mis-translated English on them. They make great Christmas presents for friends back home. Here's an unnecessarily rude T-shirt, available from this website.

subset: commoncrawl


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As you are more than likely aware, EVO happened this month, and it was a pretty big deal! It was undoubtedly the biggest the event's ever been, both in terms of attendance and presentation, with a split venue of the Las Vegas Convention Center on Friday and Saturday and the Mandalay Bay Event Center on Sunday. It was also the first time EVO was broadcast on national TV through ESPN2… well, the Street Fighter V part was, anyway. It was a weird transitional year, as EVO experiences the growing pains of wanting to both serve a grassroots fighting-game community, and dealing with the reality that… well, like it or not, the FGC is #esports now.
And, like any year of transition, there were issues. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time at EVO this year! I did a lot of work for Red Bull eSports that I'm really proud of (check out this KoF feature in particular), saw a lot of friends, and watches some really cool stuff go down. Of course, I also didn't see certain friends for long enough, didn't get to set up Fighting Vipers 2 and other obscure competitive games I like, and missed a few legendary matches for the ages. But that's more personal gripes: this year's EVO had some more pervasive issues that I heard a lot of folks grumbling about. I'd like to get some of those complaints off my chest here. (I know the folks at home had issues with some of the streams, as well, but since I didn't see many of those until after the fact, I feel it's better for me to address the issues with physically attending the event.)
As an FYI: This article's gonna be rather picture-light, mainly because I'm not about to rip off TempusRob's great pictures like so many others folks like to do. Go visit him if you want rad EVO photos, because we're here to talk.
The layout of the Friday-Saturday venue made crowding miserable
I really liked the layout at Bally's for EVO 2015, with one gigantic room devoted to a main stage and tournament setups, and another room with additional setups. More importantly, though, the second ballroom had big areas set aside for vendors, BYOC, and exhibitor demos/stage shows. Here, they could thrive without having to fight for attention from the noisy crowd and booming audio from the big screen — and also provide a place for people who might not want to stay throughout all of Sunday's Grand Final events to retreat to.
This year, everything was packed into the same giant Las Vegas Convention Center convention hall on Friday/Saturday, with no vendor/exhibitor presence on Sunday due to the Grand Finals shifting to the Mandalay Bay Event Center. As a result, there were lots of issues this year that weren't as severe a problem previously: namely, the crowding. Of course, EVO attendance this year was the biggest it's ever been — I heard in the 11,000-person range, so that certainly contributed. But the sheer numbers aren't the only culprit. EVO's definitely not the most crowded event I've ever been to (hi, 11-time Comic Market veteran here), but even so, a lot of it felt more congested than it actually was thanks to some really puzzling layout decisions.
There are a handful of big vendors at EVO, the two most notable being Arcade Shock and Gaming Generations. (Mad Catz has had a big showing in previous years, but their diminished presence this year is probably linked to the company's recent financial woes.) Both of these vendors had massive, MASSIVE lines at all times – I heard something like hour-long waits for Arcade Shock at certain points during the day – and due to the layout, a lot of the lines spilled over into other areas. (I had people asking me "are you in line" or "is this the end of the line" at various times and places when I was not lined up at all). At least Gaming Generations was near the entrance, which gave them some room at the counter to serve more people and offer up raffles – a luxury that Arcade Shock, who were jammed in the middle, didn't have. I really wanted to stop by Arcade Shock and pick up a few small things, but I couldn't justify an hour-long wait for a new joystick balltop with my work schedule.
Atlus and SNK were also at the event with one of the first King of Fighters XIV builds to have all of the game's cast featured, and this, too, drew quite a crowd – especially on Saturday with a special 48-player tournament. A lot of folks who wanted to spend time with KoFXIV simply couldn't get as much hands-on as they wanted to, thanks in part to some of the crowding around the area. And with no Sunday demos, a lot of players simply couldn't get a chance to try the game out between playing the games they signed up for, getting food, and waiting in lines to buy stuff.
It wasn't just the vendor and demo areas that suffered, either. Having all of the tournament games being played in one gargantuan convention all made finding certain stations a real nightmare. I had to cover some specific pools for assignments, and between the crowds and the not-very-distinct-at-a-glance areas assigned to different games, it got pretty tough to figure out where I needed to go. Most of the time I just had to wander through a morass of game setups that seemed vaguely geared towards a particular title in hopes that I'd stumble upon the pool I needed to find. While BYoC was easy to locate, side events related to "official" games were not: There was a Pokken US vs. Japan exhibition I wanted to try and cover for Red Bull, but I couldn't find it at all.
How can this be fixed? Well, I'd really like to see things split up again. Get another two-ballroom deal to make it easier for people who want to watch, shop, or play to know exactly where to go. It might even be a good idea to see EVO organizers rent out a few extra spaces and devote them to particular games: Smash 4/Melee and SFV could easily command their own tournament areas, and could be turned into casual play/BYoC after pools have run their course.
Splitting the event between two venues made group gatherings a pain in the ass
One of the big draws of EVO, as with any nerd convention, is that all of your friends are gonna be there to do fun stuff with! In the case of EVO, this involves a lot of room parties and specialty suites catered to certain groups or particular games. If you want to play the really obscure stuff, like money matches of Jackie Chan in Fists of Fire, you're gonna need to set up in a room somewhere and tell people to drop in. In previous years, this was a compelling argument for reserving a room at the Official EVO Hotel: you'd be near the EVO venue, you could retreat to your room whenever, and then invite folks to hang out, grab food, then come back to your room to play games — or you could go to another room to play games until absurd hours in the morning. (It also means you never have to go outdoors in Vegas during summer – temperatures were in the high hundreds during the event!)
The problem this year is that since EVO was split between the Las Vegas Convention Center (connected to the Westgate) on Friday and Saturday, and then the Mandalay Bay Event Center (tied to the hotel of the same name) on Sunday, people were spread across not just two, but three hotels: The Westgate – which hosted EVO in 2014 and was not well liked, Mandalay Bay, and the Luxor (which a lot of people opted for over Mandalay Bay since they're connected by walkway and Luxor is cheaper). This made setting up gatherings an awful experience: the Mandalay Bay is a good distance away from the Westgate/LVCC (which isn't even on the Vegas strip!). I wound up skipping VF gatherings on Saturday because I just didn't want to have to go all the way over to the Mandalay Bay where the suite was, play for an hour or two, then go all the way back to where I was staying and write up the day's proceedings before crashing and making it groggily over to the finals in the morning. If it was just a case of a short hotel room jaunt, well, that wouldn't have been an issue at all. I'm sure I'm not the only one who was forced into a situation like this, either.
I found myself wondering why EVO just didn't hold the whole thing at the Mandalay Bay, which is equipped with copious convention facilities to complement the Event Center. The answer is probably something like "it was already booked" (I did see there was some tech convention happening on Thursday). Hopefully in 2017 the EVO planning crew can book a space that provides all of the necessary facilities without dividing people up.
<Insert non-SFV Game> isn't getting the proper respect it deserves
Let's face it, folks – the big thrust of this event was Street Fighter V. Nothing else got nearly the same amount of main stage presence, and none of the other Sunday games were shown on the much-vaunted ESPN2 broadcast. So much was slanted in favor of showcasing SFV that it felt like every other game was getting shafted in some way. Marvel top 32 took place in a crowded corner venue. Mortal Kombat X went to top 8 late Saturday evening and was scheduled for 8 AM in the Mandalay Bay the following day. Guilty Gear Xrd's finals were laden with sound issues. And so on.
The biggest complaints came from the Smash 4 players: badly run pools, lots of delays, Saturday finals, no stage presence, you name it. And I believe that many of these complaints have merit. Logistics, of course, dictate that you can't show everything that comes out of EVO, – especially on the main stage — but when you look at how many entrants Smash 4 got versus its organization and stage presence, well… it's really easy to see why that scene is unhappy with their treatment.1
What can be done to fix this? Unfortunately, there isn't a particularly easy solution to this – you just have to listen to the members of various scenes (some of who are, let's be real here, a wee bit hyperbolic) and try to address specific things next time. If there is a next time. (I don't think Marvel's coming back guys 🙁 )
The Chair Problem
I think I heard this from more folks than any other complaint: there aren't enough chairs in the venue! And yeah, this was a pretty pervasive problem, especially for the side tournaments, BYOC, and games not on the main stage. If you wanted to sit down, you basically had to appropriate a chair from a setup nearby that looked like it was going unused. If somebody had just left the game for a moment and was planning on coming back – well, tough shit, it's YOUR chair now! By the end of the evenings something like 2/3rds of the chairs had mysteriously wandered away from their stations.
Even then, there still weren't enough chairs, because the ones close to places people want to sit were claimed very quickly. Your choices were mostly limited to stand up and kill your feet, or sit on the hard dirty floor as a potential roadblock to the aforementioned crowds. I certainly did the latter more than a few times!
Why were there so few chairs? I'll wager that EVO staff just underestimated how many would be needed. Most of the chairs and tables are provided by the convention center, and typically, you'll get a space plus X amount of chairs/tables as a package deal. They just need to up the chair count when they're making arrangements next time.
Did I mention that EVO somehow assigned me press seating for Sunday that didn't exist?
Well, they did.
. @ArtofArkayne @MechaShinOni @Soniti my assigned section, and what's there pic.twitter.com/2fowUh5Jbw
— デビル零@WaitingforVF6 (@Zerochan) July 17, 2016
Yup, my seat was in the area where Mike Ross and Seth Killian were going to be doing ESPN2 commentary… and no chairs were there. So I officially had no seat. The Event Center staff was just like "well, we were told not to seat people there, so you just have to find another seat. Of course, it would be assigned to somebody else, so you'll have to leave if they show up." what.
Then again, the nosebleeds actually gave a better overall view, so maybe it wasn't so bad. But still.
So, what do I want to see next EVO?
- Better stage time planning that gives more games a time to properly shine
- Better location organization: separating pool play, casual play, demo, and storefront/artist alley areas well to reduce crowding and make things easy to find
- A convenient all-in-one hotel/convention/finals location that allows for people to easily gather together to enjoy EVO when the competition part isn't running
- Please, please, more places to plop our behinds into
- Food options that aren't absurdly priced (yeah, it's Vegas hotels – that's not happening)
How about you folks? Do you disagree/agree? Maybe you have your own specific gripes that I didn't address? Post away in the comments!
- Not to mention the shit they have to put up with from The Melee People on top of that. ↩


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This is the third of five blog posts adapted from the new book "Zero Hour: Time to Build the Clean Power Platform," by Reed E. Hundt, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and Board Member of the Advanced Energy Economy Institute. Read all the posts here.
Buy the book: Amazon | Google | Kobo | Barnes and Noble | EbookMall
The shift to the new power platform will become unstoppable when consumers can buy cleaner energy solutions – including both electricity and efficient ways to consume it – for less money than they would otherwise pay for emission-intense energy. As long as those who want to abate climate change insist that consumers must pay more for clean energy, the success of the movement away from coal-fired generation and gas-driven cars will be in doubt.
Margaret Thatcher famously said, "There is no such thing as society." But even the Iron Lady would have conceded that there is such a thing as mass purchasing power. The mass purchasing power of consumers will cast the deciding vote for the new power platform, when consumers can buy energy solutions that are both cleaner and cheaper than what is otherwise available.
Let's imagine the passage in every state and at the federal level of a consumer bill of rights. Each American should be able to order and get (1) a cheaper and cleaner bill for household or business consumption, (2) no up-front payments for any of the steps necessary to get cheaper, cleaner energy solutions, and (3) convenient access to charging stations for electric cars.
As a consumer, I want to order cheaper, cleaner energy. I am willing to be put on a waiting list, recognizing the utility might not be able to provide my individualized energy solution for six months or even more. I understand that the utility has to study my pattern of electricity usage, figure out how much space is on my roof, and maybe ask me some questions about whether I need to keep all the computers on all the time and so forth. Perhaps the utility will give me a package that includes installing solar panels on the roof, switching out the old windows in the living room, and doing the laundry in off-peak hours. I want to pay less for my total energy solution (compensating me for the trouble of allowing people to install solar on the roof or moving my laundering routine to the evening). And I want a promise that my electricity is generated with less greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition, I want someone else to pay the upfront cost of the steps I had to take to lower my energy bill. I will pay that cost on my energy bill, or as part of my mortgage. I do not mind paying over time, as long as the total of the energy bill and the payments makes me better off than I was without taking these steps. State green banks could provide capital to financing companies in return for a promise on their part to enter this financing business. After all, consumers can finance car and furniture purchases. Just as easily, financing should be available for the new power platform. Consumers should not have to pay any up-front cost of distributed power or efficiency.
I would like to buy an electric car, but I do not want to worry about finding charging stations on the way to work. Automobiles would not have made America a car country so quickly and thoroughly if governments had not taken on the responsibility for building roads and establishing zoning regulations that brought gas stations into multiple intersections. Now governments should assume the job of creating in every urban area a network of charging stations and battery repair and maintenance facilities. Eminent domain and licensing power can accomplish wonders in network building. Uncoordinated, individual action cannot efficiently produce a charging network soon enough for me, or the rest of the car buyers who are eager to go without gasoline.
To launch mobile communications, the government needed to make sure someone built cellular or cable networks. In those cases, the government awarded exclusive or limited licenses, required interoperability, granted spectrum, and took many other actions to attract the private capital to build those networks. These same actions can be replicated for charging networks – knowing that if the networks are built, the electric cars will come. Utilities, for instance, might well seize the opportunity to build charging networks, just as the old Bell telephone companies now own vast networks of cellular base stations.
These three rights – buy cheaper and cleaner energy solutions, finance up-front costs, and rely on others to provide charging station networks – will make consumers leaders of the move to the new power platform. Candidates for public office should want to advocate this bill of rights. It will gain many more votes than telling people they ought to pay more per kilowatt-hour because the utilities need the money due to regulatory requirements.
More than a dozen states already require their utilities to offer what is usually called "green power." But in almost all cases, the regulators allow the utility to charge more for the electrons that are said to come from clean fuel generation. The premium prices are 10 percent or more above the prevailing price. The marketing could be more persuasive; the billing is not a model of clarity. But the major problem is that "green power" is more expensive than normal power. Meanwhile, RPS and possibly the EPA will make the utility move to the new power platform anyway. So, consumers do not see much reason to buy "green power" as it is now offered. After more than a decade of experiments in retailing green power, its market penetration is trivial.
Regulators need to change their approach to green power. Utilities should be given many ways to offer cheaper, cleaner energy solutions. They ought to be able to borrow from state green banks to finance the up-front cost of their consumers' energy efficiency measures, or solar panel installation. They should be able to use green bank money to fund clean energy generation so as to give themselves greater access to clean electricity supply. If the utility can lower its costs because electricity demand is falling, the utility should be allowed to garner extra profits from expanding its margin.
At present, state regulators ask utilities to comply with RPS obligations to purchase clean energy, instead of doing much to encourage consumer demand for clean energy. The utilities, typically, buy clean energy at a higher price than other generation sources, and then they pass the extra cost on to all consumers. Without consumer demand for clean energy, utilities will only purchase renewable power until they satisfy their regulatory obligation. Growth in renewable generation will flatten as RPS's are met, unless RPS targets are increased or consumers demand more clean energy. No one does much to explain to consumers what is going on. The utilities, their regulators, and politicians worry about consumer backlash. So most states impose fairly light RPS requirements and enforce them gingerly.
The principle behind RPS is that all consumers should bear the cost of moving to the new power platform. In some states, the utility recovers the RPS cost as a surcharge on its bill. This collection mechanism resembles a sales tax. It is regressive; that is, the charge mulcts lower income earners more as a percentage than it takes from higher income earners. Its design minimizes potential consumer support, because no one is given a chance to select clean energy or to decide to buy an RPS credit by installing rooftop solar or spending on energy efficiency. Agency lies with the regulator and the utility, not with the consumer.
Suppose half the consumers order cleaner, cheaper energy solutions. In this way, consumers would participate in a purchase-driven plebiscite that in effect resets the RPS at the level that popular support permitted. The utility then would focus on giving consumers what they want, instead of dedicating its efforts principally to negotiating with regulators.
Regulators, for their part, will find their jobs much easier if people are choosing to move to the new power platform. To govern and direct, a regulator must be an advocate for the people. The regulator has to make people better off, as opposed to imposing on them a view about a better way society or the economy should be organized. In the energy sector, the people want and deserve cheap electricity solutions, affordable not only by some but by absolutely everyone. Making that electricity clean is the problem to be solved. Raising the price to consumers is the solution that must be ruled out.
Putting consumers on the side of change should not be seen as a radical idea. Creating greater consumer demand for clean energy resembles normal marketing ideas in other sectors. Many businesses introduce new products by offering discounts, rebates, and credits. Government itself has sometimes ordered firms to offer new choices to consumers. Back in the day when long distance service was monopolized by AT&T, government ordered AT&T to offer its customers a choice of moving to MCI or some other carrier, in order to restructure the market in a more competitive fashion. In the 1996 Telecommunications Act, Congress told the FCC to require dominant telephone service companies to share portions of their network with rivals in order to shift market share toward a more competitive structure – a far more radical move than any necessary in the energy sector.
By assuming the customer is always right, regulators, elected officials and energy business leaders will find that human behavior is not an obstacle to change. A good deal is a good reason for supporting a new power platform.
Previously: Why We Can Move Quickly
Coming next: No Doom and Gloom in Selling the New Power Platform
Over the course of 2013, AEE has held several CEO forums, co-sponsored by AEE and MIT's Industrial Performance Center, to discuss building the 21st Century Electricity System. Click below to learn more.


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Saturday, October 9, 2010
It's mine...Stay out...!
My best bud Spencer's birthday was a blast! All sorts of Pug-centric happenings...more on that later.
Being a pug, I have certain pug-doggie behaviors. One of these is protecting MY backyard. Not Mommy's or Daddy's backyard...It's MINE! I sit in front of the big see-through door and wait for any non-pug interloper. Daddy even bought me a mat to put outside the door, warning all that it's my backyard! I chase away all the evil doers, including squirrels, possums, various bugs, raccoons, tigers, lions, bears, alligators (I thought I saw one in my mini-pug-pool!) and even trains. But one critter eludes me and teases me and gets me all excited. She sits on the fence with her cute grey fur and pretty pink collar and MEOWS AT ME! What the F*--...Ooops, I almost used a Daddy-word...
The cat's name is Gracie. She's pretty friendly, but she shouldn't be in my backyard. Of all the backyards to do her cat thing in, she picks mine. Meow...Meow...Meow...While sitting on her high fence. I do my protecto-pug best to alert the parental units to feline danger, but Daddy GOES AND PETS GRACIE! Really, Daddy, using precious petting skills on The Enemy?!?!?!?
Daddy says me and Gracie can be friends. He's even introduced us and wanted me to make peace with her. But, it's not aboot Gracie, it's aboot her invading my backyard and teasing me! GGrrrrrr......
I think it would be best if we tolerated each other. I won't bark, she won't meow...And Daddy...I know you're reading this, you won't pet her!
6 comments:
Hi Bellatrix,ReplyDelete
Hmmmm... I'm thinking. Where does this Gracie live? Perhaps if you went over into her yard and started peeing and pooping, that might alert hereto the idea that she should stay on her own turf. I don't know though. These cats, they seem to think they have a far reaching territory, for hunting and roaming. Hmph. Might have to become friends. Let us know how you make out.
Aboot Bellatrix? You sound like Jamie Baker talking about the SJ Sharks!ReplyDelete
Go Sharks!
Love Noodles
PS I don't like interlopers on MY BACKYARD either.
The nerve of Daddy petting the invader! Well I understands the whole protect backyard thingy. The other day mum almost sent me inside. I was helping her garden and a squirrel invaded. I barked and ran and chased. Then I barked, barked some more and continued to bark for minutes afterward, I mean come on gotta tell them who is boss here. Mum threatened to lock me inside if I did not stop barking!!!!!!!!!! PFT peeps just don't get it! Anyway I luvs the door mat it is perfect!ReplyDelete
The mat is so funny....we need one too!!! Belly I have the same problem. You see there are many (mom thinkgs between 10 to 12) stray cats running arounds out apartment complex. The nieghbor feeds them and so they hang around MY backyard too!! Oh I hates it. I understand your pain Belly.ReplyDelete
Oh Belly!!!ReplyDelete
You are funny wits 'dis stuffs!! We's loves yous gray mats!! We's need ones!! We's tinking yous should send Gracie back down 'da brick road to Kansas perhaps... maybe she from 'dere?? She could have wondered yous way...
Anakin tinks 'dat only cuz he's been tormented by his Alvin and he's in his scarecrow costume right now... oh brother...
Yous Daddy still loves yous!! Don't worry...
'da Josie
Hey Bella-T!ReplyDelete
I need to get one of those doormat warning thingys for my house. Maybe that'll keep the raccoons out of the kitchen!?!


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Starts: January 29, 2020 9:00 am | Ends: January 29, 2020 4:00 pm
In this workshop we will examine various types of trauma and its manifestations. We will look at brain science and self-regulation as it relates to trauma. We will discuss historical and systemic trauma as a way to reframe an exclusively individual orientation. Rather than focusing on deficits, we will pay particular attention to protective factors and resiliency, including culturally specific ways of healing. Opportunities to practice restorative justice as a trauma informed practice will be offered throughout the day.
The workshop is intended for people who work with youth but could be beneficial to anybody. We will discuss self-care in the context of vicarious trauma.
Registration Details:
The fee for this workshop is $240. We ask each person to pay what you are able. Space is limited. Register here.
- Prerequisite: None
- Trainers: Gabriele Ross & Stephen Fowler
- Date and time: January 29 from 9:00am – 4:00pm (lunch on your own)
- Location: 2538 NE Broadway St, Suite A, Portland, OR 97232 – accessibility, transit, and other info here
Event Organizers
Gabriele RossGabriele Ross brings with her two decades of working as counselor and advocate with marginalized populations such as youth struggling with substance abuse and mental illness, students who return from being incarcerated, students who are homeless, sexual minority youth and undocumented students in public schools in Seattle and in Vancouver, WA. Gabriele has a Masters Degree in Conflict Resolution from Portland State University. She is active in social justice organizations and worked as an advocate with victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, and as a community organizer. She came to the US initially as a volunteer for Action Reconciliation/Services for Peace, a German organization founded by survivors of the Nazi regime. She likes to be in her garden or on a dragon boat, or out running and biking. She is an avid soccer fan and volunteered for the Women's World Cup twice as a translator.
Stephen FowlerStephen Fowler is a performing artist, activist, justice advocate, and community educator from Portland Oregon. Convicted as a teenager, sentenced to 7.5 years in the Oregon Youth Authority, Stephen used his time to educate and expand his understanding of self-worth, potential, and purpose using art forms. Stephen is now committed to educating community members, teachers, law enforcement, parents, and students about the practice of restorative justice for community rehabilitation and also showing adolescents the power of their own voice and story. Stephen is a co-founder of Verbal Escape, an employee of Resolutions Northwest, Black Educational Achievement Movement, and is affiliated with Morpheus Youth Projects.
January 29, 2020 9:00 am
January 29, 2020 4:00 pm
$240 (pay as you're able)
Lead Organizer
Gabriele Ross
VENUETrauma, Resiliency and Restorative Justice
2538 NE Broadway St, Suite A, Portland, OR 97232
Gabriele Ross
January 29, 2020 9:00 am
January 29, 2020 4:00 pm


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Media Circus: How Would Your Market React to the Team Signing Colin Kaepernick?
With Week 1 of the NFL preseason upon us, I thought it would be a good time to impanel some respected NFL beat reporters for a roundtable discussion on a number of NFL-related topics, including the biggest league-wide story heading into the season, the biggest story on their beat, and how much discussion exists in locker rooms on the issues of CTE. They were terrific.
The panel:
• Eric Branch, Niners reporter, San Francisco Chronicle
• Mary Kay Cabot, Browns beat writer, Cleveland.com.
• Clarence Hill Jr., Cowboys reporter, Fort-Worth Star Telegram
• Stephen Holder, Colts reporter, Indianapolis Star
• Nicki Jhabvala, Broncos/NFL reporter, The Denver Post
• Mike Reiss, Patriots reporter, ESPN
The panel was asked to go as long or as short as they wanted with their answers. They were free to skip any questions. Some of the answers have been edited for clarity. Here is Part I.
Part 2 is specific to Colin Kaepernick. I was curious how the panel perceived Kaepernick signing in their city. Plus, with Eric Branch part of this panel, it was a chance to get insight from someone who actually covered Kaepernick daily. Here's how they responded.
Roundtable: NFL Reporters Discuss League's Future, Players' CTE Concerns and More
In your opinion, how would your market react to the team signing Colin Kaepernick?
Branch: Last year, Kaepernick might have created the most outrage in the Bay Area when he threw an interception. That's not to say a segment of the fan base wasn't deeply bothered by his national-anthem stance (I have their e-mails), but this is a progressive, liberal area with a rich history of social activism. Fans didn't picket or boo, rather many mobbed Kaepernick for autographs before games. Sponsors didn't abandon the team. And the 49ers, from the owner, to the coaches, to the players, publicly supported Kaepernick's right to protest and express his views on police brutality and racial inequality. After the season, Kaepernick won the team's prestigious Len Eshmont Award—an honor voted on by teammates and given to the player who best exemplifies courageous and inspirational play. The 49ers have made plenty of missteps in recent years, but they deserve credit for helping set the tone locally after Kaepernick's protest became public. Given Kaepernick deeply fractured relationship with the front office—and declining play—I thought the 49ers might use his protest as a reason to cut him. Instead, it helped thaw their icy relationship. Owner Jed York publicly supported him and matched his $1 million donation to social causes. Head coach Chip Kelly hailed Kaepernick for shedding light on a "heinous" situation during the season when police brutality prompted unrest in Tulsa and Charlotte.
Other NFL teams, the Ravens, in particular, would do well to follow the 49ers' example. Even in a far different market, I think the fears of Kaepernick being a distraction or a lightning rod for outrage are overblown. Last year, even as he continued to kneel during the anthem, something he won't do in 2017, his story receded to the background for long stretches of the season. I think Kaepernick wants to play in the NFL again, but part of him is probably pleased the league hasn't found a spot for him. Among other points, it's proving owners are uncomfortable with employees who speak their mind. I'm fairly confident Kaepernick won't follow the advice of Michael Vick (cut his hair) or Ray Lewis (keep his mouth shut) to land a job.
Fox Won't Comment on Pete Rose's Status, but He's Likely Done at Network
Cabot: I think there would be the initial uproar, but I think Cleveland could handle the signing of Colin Kaepernick. This is a town that, for the most part, forgave running back Isaiah Crowell for posting a depiction of a police officer getting his throat slit after the initial backlash from fans and police. Crowell apologized, donated money to the Dallas Fallen Officers foundation and has done community service. The police union has made peace with Crowell and so have most of the fans. Kaepernick has said he wouldn't continue his national anthem protest into next season, and if that's the case, I think the furor would die down. Even if he knelt again, I don't think it would cause the same outcry as it did initially.
Hill: The same way the market reacted to the signing of Greg Hardy. Some would love it. Some would hate it. Nobody is going to stop watching the Cowboys because of it. Besides, this is market that is used to dealing with controversial players, issues and distractions when it comes to the Cowboys. Jerry Jones is still printing money.
Holder: I think the reaction here would be very mixed, at best. Let's be honest: Indiana is a very conservative state and I do not believe Kaepernick's statements and protests would be viewed with an open mind by many local fans. Antonio Cromartie, who played for the Colts for part of last season, was among the players who took a knee during anthems last season. The reaction I got when I published stories about his motivations was largely negative. It was frustrating to write stories explaining Cromartie's position—which he articulated very well—yet have people not even make an attempt to listen to the substance of his statements. I do think fans here are like fans everywhere, which is to say they are willing to forgive anything if a guy throws enough touchdown passes. But I would not place Indianapolis on a list of ideal destinations for Kaepernick. And it disappoints me greatly to have to admit that.
Media Circus: Marty Smith Lands Monthly Interview Show on ESPN
Jhabvala: I think there would be some who support it, but many more who wouldn't and the latter group would be much more vocal about their opinion. When Brandon Marshall joined Kaepernick in kneeling during the national anthem last season the backlash was disturbing, and almost instant. He lost two endorsement deals, received death threats and was sent derogatory and hate-filled messages online. There was even a fan who pulled up to the Broncos' training facility and burned an orange shirt with Marshall's name on it. There are many folks out here who saw the protests as disrespectful to service members, and remember the Broncos are headquartered near Ft. Carson Army Base, the Air Force Academy and Peterson Air Force Base. Sadly, I think Marshall still receives negative comments, despite ending his protests and despite all the work he's done in the community and prompting the Denver Police Department to change its use-of-force policy. When the Broncos were chasing Kaepernick in 2016—before his protests—feelings were mixed. I'd say half the emails in my inbox were in favor of it—they believed Kaepernick would be great with Gary Kubiak and perfect in Denver. The other half came up thought he wouldn't be a good fit, be it because of the system, his playing style, money, whatever. There are lots of opinions in Broncos Country.
Reiss: Given the cache that Bill Belichick has, if he endorsed the move as one that was in the best interest of the Patriots franchise (highly unlikely he would actually do so), I could envision a scenario where the reaction wasn't as extreme as one might expect among fans. But the media coverage in the market, of course, would take on a life of its own.
(SI.com examines some of the week's most notable sports media stories)
1. Episode 130 of the Sports Illustrated Media podcast features Tim Kawakami, the editor-in-chief of The Athletic's Bay Area edition, and Matt Yaloff, a host and reporter for MLB Network. In this podcast Kawakami discusses why he joined The Athletic, a startup focused subscription-based quality sports journalism; the expectations of the site; why he believes this model can succeed; how to convince readers who have never paid for sports content to pay for sports content; how he is dealing with the business side of journalism; why Marcus Thompson is a different-maker as a hire; what the initial days have been like for the site; how The Athletic will adapt when its paywall hardens; his philosophy when it comes to blocking people on Twitter and whether that runs counter to building a subscription based business; the line between talking politics and sports on social media; how he perceives the national reporting to be on Colin Kaepernick; a cameo from Peter King, and much more.
Yaloff discusses how he prepares for MLB Network Strike Zone, a baseball equivalent of NFL RedZone; what he thinks the toughest job in baseball broadcasting is; the stroke he suffered on July 29, 2016 and how it changed his life; the difficulty of rehab; how MLB Network allowed him to work back slowly; how he is a different person post-stroke; working in the baseball media in baseball-crazy Philadelphia and New York City; whether the Astros are built for the postseason; why he loves Jim Thome, and much more.
You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Google Play and Stitcher.
2. Season 12 of HBO's Hard Knocks debuts on Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT, with this year's program embedded with the Bucs. The series arc will change from previous years given NFL owners voting to eliminate the first cut-down period, forcing teams to trim their roster to 75 before the final preseason game. There will now be just one cutdown following the preseason, from a 90-man roster to a 53-man roster.
HBO said they have a staff of 32 in Tampa (featuring 20 cameras overall including six manned cameras) and have been filming since July 21. The director is Matt Dissinger, who was the first robotics camera operator for the series. The production now uses 14 robotic cameras to shoot 350 hours of film for each episode.
3. On Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN will air Morningside 5, a 25-year journey into the lives of the starters from the 1992-93 defending state champion Morningside High (Inglewood, Ca.) basketball team. The piece is narrated and directed by Mike Tollin, who directed a documentary in 1993 on the team entitled "Hardwood Dreams." Here's an L.A. Times review of the film and a trailer for the film.


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Little more than one year ago, I bought shares in Canada's largest airline, Air Canada (TSE:AC), at about $9 per share. At the time, my investor geek friends (naturally, I count myself among the geeks) questioned whether jello had replaced the brain previously inhabiting my head.
Historically, you see, the airline industry has not been friendly to investors. That, I suppose, is putting it mildly. For the brutally honest take, lets defer to legendary investor and gazillionaire, Warren Buffett, who called the airline business a 'death trap' as recently as 2013.
From one notable quip to another, Buffett offered this in your face sketch:
"If a capitalist had been present at Kitty Hawk back in the early 1900s, he should've shot Orville Wright; he would have saved his progeny money."
So … if I haven't been invaded by jello, what makes me think I know more about investing than Buffett?
Research, Research, Research, Before You Buy
Let's get this out of the way: I fully recognize the limits of my investing chops. Besides, comparing myself to Guru Buffett? Really? He's a self-made gazillionairre. I'm not. Enough said.
Then what was I thinking?
To start with, life is nothing if not teeming with change. And that includes the aviation industry. So when I read a research report issued by TD Securities (TSE:TD)(TSE:NYSE) that argued the case for AC, saying that the airline was massively undervalued, and slapped a $21 target price on a stock hovering around $9, I took notice.
But, hey, it's just a research report. And it's essential to keep these reports in perspective, to understand that the company issuing the report may be self-interested (i.e., they may own the stock directly or through a subsidiary). That if you have ten securities companies issuing reports on one publicly traded company, often, nine will have a 'buy' or 'hold' recommendation and one lone voice will issue a 'sell' recommendation.
What does this all mean? While stock analysis may be informative, prudent and reasonable, it's also self-promotional. By way of research reports, analysts do what they can to support the investment industry, to get investors to enter and stay in the game.
So while TD's report was intriguing, it wasn't enough to convince me to buy AC.
And the $21 target price? Which was more than double the current value?
Every investor must absolutely, positively, take these with a healthy grain of salt, skepticism and doubt. If I'm not making myself clear, how about this: Do NOT make investment decisions based solely on a stock analyst saying a certain stock is about to lift off, destination moon.
Because here's the thing about target prices: they're educated guesses, nothing more. Granted, securities analysts have access to more information than your typical investor, and may have more of an understanding of a particular industry and inner workings of a particular company. But, and this is hugely important, they do NOT know where a stock is headed, no matter how confident and blustery they appear.
Off Target
Consider a research study published in 2006 by Mark Bradshaw of Harvard Business School and Lawrence Brown of Georgia State University. These two guys examined nearly 100,000 12-month price targets issued by analysts from 1997 to 2002.
And here's what they found: only 25% of stocks were at or above target at the end of a 12 month period; and less than 50% of stocks exceeded the target (then fell back) at some point during the 12 months.
This is their conclusion:
"Target price forecasts are overly optimistic on average, and … analysts demonstrate no abilities to persistently forecast target prices.
This evidence is consistent with prior findings of low abilities of various experts to forecast interest rates, GDP, recessions and business cycles, and the infrequency with which actively managed funds beat the market index."
Okay, fine. Then are price targets and analyst reports of any use? Sure. Read the reports. Understand the rationale for slapping on a high price target. But don't be sold. And certainly don't let these reports be your only information source upon which investment decisions are made.
Getting back to AC, reading TD's report was step one. After which I reviewed AC reports issued by other securities firms; researched and compared other airlines based within Canada, USA, and elsewhere; and read domestic and foreign newspapers, searching for information about the airline industry. And after taking time to digest all this information, I made the decision to buy AC.
The Times, They Have A Changed
It just so happens that as I was contemplating purchasing shares in AC, Warren Buffett was considering buying certain American based airlines. And after word got out that Buffett invested nearly $10 billion in four airlines in late 2016, he had this to say:
"It's true that the airlines had a bad 20th century. They're like the Chicago Cubs. And they got that bad century out of the way, I hope."
As an investor, what did Buffett's considerable investment do for my psyche, for my decision to buy AC? Reflexively, I experienced a boost, felt good about my call. 'Hey, look at me, I got in the game before Buffett.'
Then I talked myself down. I mean, what did it really matter that I spotted an investment opportunity before Buffett? It meant nothing other than I may have had access to some similar information. And just because Buffett is buying airlines, that in itself is no reason for me to buy. Because my investment objectives are likely different than his. Because he can afford to lose $10 Billion, and I'll be hurt if I lose a lot less. And most importantly, even though Buffett is an investing genius, he's human (gasp!) – no, really, he is – and he too experiences losing investments.
Higher and Higher … Not
This week, nearly one year after my buy of AC, the stock soared to $22. More than doubling my money. Well, look at that, the TD analyst was right! Uh huh. And on 50-75% of his other predictions he was wrong. So, as my teenage son would say: whatever.
Still, I have to tell you I was feeling good. To my thinking, I bought low, and sold high. The perfect trade. And I rode that wave of satisfaction for about 24 hours. Because the next day, I read a new report issued by TD. Seems that they have now upped their target price to $34. Other securities analysts have also increased their target price, most to the mid and upper 20s, with one lone voice calling for a fall back to the teens.
And for a few minutes after reading these ambitious price targets, jello does jiggle my brain. Suddenly anxious, I'm thinking, uh oh, did I sell too early? The analysts say AC stock is going even higher! I could make even more money! Oh no! Why did I sell?!
The insanity then passes. BuddhaMoneyLama takes hold, reminding me that greed sucks. Telling me to be grateful for my good fortune, for my wisdom to sell at a peak. All is good now. Mental balance returns.
Will AC go higher still? Maybe. Do I care? No. Because I'm no longer invested. Because I'm satisfied with my profit and am now looking forward to investing the proceeds in other companies that offer better value.
And I'm certainly not buying the analysts bluster that the stock will now rise another 75%. I mean, this is what analysts do. If they're lucky enough to make a correct call on target price, as soon as the price is reached or within spitting distance, they raise their target even higher. 'Hold forever; the stock will go up, up, up!' And they do this because it's their job, to entice more people to invest in the stock market.
Here's what I have to say to that: don't succumb to jello brain. Once a security has reached YOUR target price, whether on the upside or down, stay disciplined and sell. Say thank you very much. And move on to the next investment.


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Here it is at last! Never before posted chapter, right from under my fingers! Sadly, a blog post can't give out 'the new book smell,' but I hope you enjoy the idea of being this chapter's first 😉
Comment section is still open to your suggestions; and your comments are answered a week after, before the next chapter is posted. If I haven't answered you, feel free to contact me again, or message me on my writer's Facebook page.
And now to the world of Wrennie and world renown neurosurgeons!
You dial Thea first. No one picks up. She's either at a do in the Halls, or shagging Jimmy. It's been on and off with the two of them the past few months; and mostly off, but she seems to sustain some sort of tortured monogamy.
You hang up and take a sharp painful breath in. The air is cool, but heavy and humid in your throat and lungs. What the sodding hell just happened?!
He isn't going to follow you. It's below his sodding majestic self, and he isn't a character of a romance novel. Somehow you clearly imagine him calmly go to the bathroom, brush his fucking perfect teeth, and go to bed, in his boxers, just as always, his clothes thrown on the floor.
You look up. There are no stars, of course, but the sky seems dark and deep. All sorts of childish thoughts rush through her mind – something very middle school like 'if he loved me, he'd never let me run out in the middle of the night.' Or 'if he loved me, he'd apologise and agree and we would be shagging right now.' Or something very grown-up like 'if he truly loved me, it wouldn't feel as if every time I'm with him, it's like taking a test.'
And you ask yourself the same question you asked when going into his flat, but the tone's quite different now. Why is it always so hard with him? Isn't love supposed to be – at least a wee bit – simpler? And against all laws of logic you make a deduction: if it isn't easy, is it love?
You shake your head. You're clearly in no state to make any sort of conclusions. You just had the biggest row you've had with your fiance, and you're shaking.
Killian is the next on your call list. His mobile sends you into voicemail right away, and you hang up without leaving a message. It's half past four, and you're standing in the middle of the street, under the windows of the flat of the man you're marrying in a few weeks.
Lan picks up after six tones. You guess, the life of a med students taught him to rise and if not shine, then at least talk at any hour of the day.
"Um… Yeah… What is it?" he mutters, and then loudly clears his voice.
"Lan, hi. It's Wren." Your voice suddenly breaks, and you realise you're going to bawl now. It's a strange feeling. You remember your teen years psychologist calling it disassociation: your mind just took a step aside, allowing your emotions run havoc. "I'm sorry to call so late…" Sodding, sodding fuck, your voice is shaking! You sink your teeth into the bottom lip.
"Wren, what's wrong?" He's immediately awake. "Are you alright?!"
"Yeah, yeah, I just need to stay somewhere…" You swallow bitter flavour in your mouth. "Can I..?"
You don't get to finish, because he's already answering, "Sure, sure! Get a cab!"
You know he's lodging somewhere North East, and you ask for his address. You'll have to pay like for a plane ticket, but at least you now have a place to drop.
You start crying five minutes into the ride, and then sobs are so loud and uncontrollable, that you catch the cabbie's eyes on yourself in the mirror all the time. You only hope that doesn't lead to your ridiculous demise in a car accident.
Lan opens the door in tracksuit bottoms, and somehow it's very funny. Maybe, because you know how his Father looks; maybe because Lan himself looks like royalty. He tells you to shut your gob and shows you to his tiny flat. It's somewhat messy, cozy, and every surface is covered with papers and books. You feel right at home.
He has no extra bedding, and you jump and hug him. You're crying again, and mumble how grateful you're for the spot on his old sofa, and for asking no questions. He calls you an idiot, and kisses your forehead. The two of you go to the respective corners. You pull your clothes off, crawl under the quilt, and stare at the ceiling. You don't notice how you fall asleep.
The next day is Friday, and you need to go to work. You take a cold shower. You try to avoid it, but you catch your reflection in the mirror – you look like shite. There're deep purple shadows under your eyes, the lids still red and puffy. Lan makes you coffee, apologises for not having anything else in the kitchen, and the two of you sit down in front of each at the tiny table, between some lab reports.
He suddenly sharply exhales, and asks in a choked voice, "OK, you can tell me to fuck off, but what happened? I mean, you don't have to tell me what, but just tell me if you're safe! Did he hit you?"
You're staring at him in shock. The idea itself is absurd. You could've sort of understood the question if you were sporting a giant shiner, but what?!
You're so confused that you feel that you need to ask, "Who he?"
"Fuck it, Wren, I don't want to meddle…" His lips twist; he's so uncomfortable that he squirms on the chair. "Did Thorington threaten you? You know… Did he hit you?"
"No! No, he didn't! We… We just had a row, and I had nowhere to go, since no one was picking up…" You mumble and mumble, and he exhales in relief. And then you stop, think about it, and ask, "Wait, do you actually think it's possible? I mean, for him to hit me? It's John we're talking about…" Lan shifts his eyes, avoiding to meet yours. "Lan, do you know something?! Was there a story, or something?" It still sound surreal to you – John hitting a woman!
"No, no!" He energetically shakes his head. "No, never… But he is sort of…"
"Sort of what?" you press on, feeling confused and apprehensive.
"He seems like the type." Lan's voice is low.
"The type to hit a woman?!" Yours is squeaky.
"Not to hit a woman, but… Listen, Wren, we all know it, right? He's crazy about you. And sort of… possessive. Controlling."
You want to tell him that 'no, we all don't know it.' Sometimes it feels like you don't know nothing, like Jon Snow. Sometimes you think you don't know if he loves you; and most of the time you don't know why he does. On the other hand, in retrospect, he's proposed; he's done everything possible to keep you near; and yes, he's controlling.
You drink the cheap coffee and think. Lan can't wait for this breakfast to end, but you have one more question. You twirl the empty mug in your fingers. You could ask whether he thinks that you and John will last; and whether you're making the right choice; and whether you're making any choice at all, or one is made for you. But you think you know his answer, and you think no one knows the right one.
"Lan, did John arrange my transfer to the lab I'm in now?" You don't need to elaborate that you mean the lab in his project division, with the office near his flat.
Lan is quiet for a few seconds, and then he nods. You don't need any more explanation.
You go to work, and ring up August Anderson. You invite him to a lunch under the false pretense of needing to clarify a few more details of the contract. He gleefully agrees, and you suspect he's just gotten the wrong idea about this lunch.
He invites you to the restaurant in the lobby of his hotel. You're unpleasantly reminded of the Hilton incident of the last year, and you change it to a small pho place not too far from his hotel – just far enough for him not to expect the two of you to walk back to it, but close enough to be polite.
You chat about this and that while studying the menu, order, and you're twirling a napkin ring in your fingers.
"Could I ask you for a favour?" you ask, and he chuckles softly.
"You could try. I can't promise anything, but I'll do my best."
You like it that he didn't agree right away. That was an honest answer, and you need honest answers.
"Tell me what your personal history with John Thorington is."
He theatrically raises his eyebrows, and you're waiting.
"Well, well, you don't beat about the bush, do you, Ms Leary?" He leans back in his chair and studies you. "I assume you aren't asking about those couple times we played golf together in Japan." You shake your head, keeping your eyes locked. Despite everything else, you can't deny that being with John taught you a lot – the art of power struggle included.
Auggie Anderson grins widely, and shakes his head in some sort of amused disbelief.
"There were a couple of contracts stolen from under my nose. He was lobbying our rival's offers; he was successful." His grin grows only more cheery. "And couple time I did the stealing. I've heard a lot about him, but I can't say we actually have personal history."
"So, no stolen girlfriends, no heartbroken sisters?" you ask, and he emits a hearty fruity laughter.
"I have four brothers, and one of them would actually consider an offer from Dr thorington, but I'm afraid he's not Thorington's type. Judging by Dr Thorington's current favourite." He rubs the right side of his jaw with his left hand in some sort of a very Auggie way. There is something from those Western film characters in him, something Gary Cooper-ish perhaps. "No stolen girlfriends either. I've never had anything stable enough to steal, and if a woman moves to another man after a week of fun with me, that's her business. I never ask questions about the past, either." He shrugs and takes a sip of his green tea.
So, John lied. There's absolutely nothing dangerous about August Anderson. At least, not more than about an average male in the Western society. And if your intuition is right, even less so when it comes to Auggie. His flirting with you is exactly that – flirting. No hidden agenda, no vendetta through the loved ones.The expression in his eyes is earnest, and the line of his full lips is relaxed.
"Wren, are you OK?" he suddenly asks. "Is there something I could do..?"
"I'm quite alright, thank you," you interrupt, and busy yourself with the tea. "Let's talk about the contract."
After the lunch, which you wrap up as quickly as proper manners and good business practices allow, you say goodbye and plod back to the lab. You need to think. Some sort of a decision is almost made in you. It's always like this with you. First, you're shell-shocked, numb and confused, almost dysfunctional, and then a decision comes; and though it might seem out of the blue to others, it's just your mind having finally processed and presenting you with the decision that you will make and won't regret.
It's big, and scary, and you're 99.9% sure.


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The people behind the FFADO project accept donations. There are however some remarks that have to be made in order to avoid false expectations from donors.
Any donations you make are considered a token of appreciation for the work being done by the people that develop FFADO. This means that doing a donation does not grant you any additional rights whatsoever. You won't get guaranteed/better support, you won't get more say in the projects evolution by paying (only coding can give you that). We still might decide at any point in time that life doesn't allow us to continue working on FFADO. Donating is to be taken literally: you give it away.
We think that we have shown our commitment to the project over the years, and therefore we believe that we can expect that our users have some trust in what we do. The donations won't change the way we are working in a negative way. On the contrary, they will most likely motivate us to do more.
By stating this disclaimer we hope to keep everybody's life simple, also with respect to tax issues on our side.
The donations will be managed by Pieter Palmers, which is why the donate button links to his personal paypal account. Until we decide otherwise, the money will be redistributed to the other contributors as follows:
Pieter Palmers ...: 75% Daniel Wagner ....: 10% Jonathan Woithe ..: 10% Arnold Krille ....: 5%
These numbers are based upon code contributions and project activity. They have been agreed upon by all (code) contributors to the project. If changes would happen to the FFADO developer team, we will revise this redistribution key.
Should there be any problems or remarks regarding our policy or anything other donation-related issue, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com or the firstname.lastname@example.com mailing list.


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As a brand new blogger I find it very disheartening when I have spent time and supplies to make something for a challenge and nobody bothers! So, thank you one and all over at the 'Less Is More' blog for making time in your busy lives to comment on a newbies attempts. I am very grateful to you all!
Rant over . . . sorry about that folks!
Here is my submission for the terrific, Less Is More challenge #194 - 'Little Critters'
This was also my very first shaker card! Although LIM, say that the card should be one layer and clean and simple I was unsure whether - with it being a shaker card - this was allowable - perhaps someone from the LIM team could tell me?
I really enjoyed this challenge, it was fun!
Stamps & Dies - Simon Says Stamp 'Best Fishes' & Clearly Besotted 'Basic Banners'
Stencil - Simon Says Stamp 'Waves'
Inks - Tim Holtz Distress Inks 'Tumbled Glass' & 'Pumice Stone'
Colouring - Intense Watercolour pencils
Embellishments: Mixed sequins, acetate & gems.
Thanks for looking!


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Justin Peters Ministries exists to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost and to help equip the saved to "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15). Great care is taken to preach and teach God's Word in its proper context and simply let the text speak for itself. JPM is overseen by a Board of Directors and Justin and his wife, Kathy, are members of Kootenai Community Church, Sandpoint Idaho.
Biblically baptized March 13, 2013 at First Baptist Church, Texico, NM
Biblically ordained July 28, 2013 at First Baptist Church, Texico, NM


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13″ diameter | 74′ – 114′ lengths | Up to 11,000 bph
The GULP2 transports with your MKX 130 auger, no disassembly required, and features a low profile drive over height of just 4.5″, a large catchment area and a hydraulically controlled power swing. The GULP2 is designed to match the auger capacity, making it the most efficient grain auger on your farm.
| Features
Redesigned mover system
Stronger rear canvas, pan, and end plate
90º grease zirk for all bearings
Cable clamp to lift cable
One-piece swing flight
**Patent Pending


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The sun is shining brighter and longer, and the temperatures are rising. Summer is here! We all know what this means- shedding our winter clothes and showing more skin. Wouldn't it be incredible if you could take those unwanted areas of fat and move them somewhere else (the butt, the breasts)? Thankfully, we have the technology to do so! The process, called fat transfer or fat grafting, involves removing fat from one area of the body via gentle liposuction and injecting it into a more desirable area.
As a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon with fellowships in Aesthetic, Breast, & Laser Surgery, I have been on the cutting edge of breast augmentation surgery for more than three decades. In a typical week, I meet with dozens of patients seeking breast augmentation. Several questions and topics are discussed, with the most popular being "saline or silicone?" I take pride in empowering my patients at Persons Plastic Surgery in Lafayette to make informed choices. Implants have come a long way since being developed over fifty years ago. Advances in technology and surgical techniques make it easier and safer than ever to enhance the shape and size of your breasts.
Let's face it: age and menopause are not topics women talk about enough. Like many women in my age group, I recently started going through pre-menopause. It seems unfair: my youngest child is only nine, and I feel like I just recovered from the changes associated with growing three children in my body. Now here I am in pre-menopause, having internal sauna moments; the heavy then light cycles, the fog, and oh my gosh, the shape change. The changes happen because female sex hormone levels naturally decrease as we get older.
Give a Gift Card To That Someone Special
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Cherry Grove Roof Repair Company
There is almost nothing worse than discovering that you have a leak in your roof. However, if that leak is left unresolved, it can lead to even bigger problems like damage to your interior, your personal belongings and even extensive mold. You might end up needing Roof Repair.
It could be quite challenging to find and work with a good contractor in Cherry Grove. Great homes in Cherry Grove aren't worth anything without an effective roof, however, you can't get that without getting acquainted with the type of repairs or hiring a professional roofing contractor.
Above The Rest Roofing knows that solving a roof problem immediately is essential to you and your investment. We provide free inspections of your roof and can often be there in the same day. A roof inspection is a process that must be done at least once per year to make sure that the roof of your home in Cherry Grove is in good shape.
At Above the Rest Roofing, we believe getting the job done right is the only way to do it. Hopefully when it's time for you to replace your roofing system, you'll call us for a complimentary roof assessment of your roof needs including a written quote. Above the Rest Roofing follows these roof replacement procedures based on many years of roofing experience. Call us if you need Roof Repair.
The roof is the true defense against weather, sun and all other damaging elements. It also takes hits from these elements, which can cause harm and make a case for fixes or possible replacement.
Above The Rest Roofing gives free roof inspections to homes in Cherry Grove to find out what must be done. You can rely on us to be fair and reliable.We are dedicated to providing you with good and reliable Roof Repair to consumers in Cherry Grove.
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text:
Lifan Motors started sales of the seven-seat LIFAN MYWAY crossover with five-speed automatic transmission in May 2018. Prior to that, the LIFAN MYWAY crossover was presented in the Russian Federation, which included a five-speed manual transmission. Under the hood of the Russian MYVIEW set a single gasoline engine working volume of 1.8 l and 125 HP, which he develops closer to 6,000 rpm a Maximum torque of 162 N. m available in a range of 4200-4400 rpm.
The SUV pleasantly surprises by the sound insulation. In the salon penetrates very little extraneous sounds. This is mainly the sound of the engine during heavy acceleration. Even at high speed you can talk with a passenger without raising his voice.
The salon space is really a lot. The front will easily accommodate people of any weight. The driver's seat can be adjusted for height and steering — tilt. Rear sofa consists of two parts, divided in the ratio 40:60. Each of them can move in the longitudinal direction in a sufficiently wide range.
Sales of LIFAN MYWAY started in the autumn last year. The car could be notable i
f you are on the lookout for a family crossover. The car has already proved as a fine family crossover at the same time being reliable and practical.
LIFAN MYWAY is the unique car with optimum balance of style, comfort, reliability and spaciousness. Balance between SUV and MPV makes LIFAN MYWAY a genially smart crossover.
LIFAN MYWAY appears to be itching for an entertaining family summer road trip. The whole family can be seated in the SUV. The two rear seat rows can be folded thus making the trunk even more spacious.
KIA Motors invites to the Moscow International Auto Show of 2018 (MIAS-2018) that is to be held at Crocus-Expo Center from August 29 to September...
Groupe Renault releases the first teaser of an absolutely new crossover show-car – its worldwide premiere will be held at the 2018 Moscow International...
LIFAN MYWAY is available nowadays in the Russian market.
The Europe's first festival on mobility and logistics Mobilistic'1 will be held within the frames of the Moscow International Automobile Salon in Crocus Expo. The future of transport and logistics will be presented at the festival.


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Since many states have begun increasing enforcement of unclaimed property regulations, contractors need to proactively identify unclaimed property and comply with the applicable laws.
Contractors Face More State Audits for Unclaimed Property
Many types of property may be considered "unclaimed property" by state agencies if a company cannot find its owner. Almost all businesses have some level of unclaimed property liability, but it can be easy to overlook the importance of submitting unclaimed property to the state. This is particularly true for contractors, who may have unusual types of unclaimed property.
Examples of the typical types of unclaimed property include:
- Unclaimed bond interest and stock dividends
- Uncashed checks and payroll wages
- Unclaimed insurance benefits
Unclaimed property has not been a significant problem for contractors in the past, but an increasing number of contractors are finding themselves subject to unclaimed property audits by state agencies. Therefore, contractors should understand what kinds of unclaimed property they may have, and how to comply with state laws.
What happens if I don't submit unclaimed property to the state?
The amount of time a company can hold property before it is considered abandoned and must be remitted to the state vary by state. The company must try to contact the property owner by letter 60 to 120 days before the expiration period, and if it cannot find the owner, it must submit unclaimed property returns in the state of the last known owner.
Each state has a program that aims to return property to the proper owner. Before the property is claimed, the state holds the property and is entitled to the interest that it generates. Further, the majority of the property is never claimed by its rightful owners. When the property remains unclaimed, it stays in the state's fund with the purported goal of benefitting state residents.
Audits and the statute of limitations
Due to increasing budget deficits, states have increased enforcement of unclaimed property regulations, and have started using third-party auditors to conduct those audits. These third-party auditors are often paid on a contingency fee basis, and conduct audits on behalf of multiple states at one time.
Audits are further complicated by the fact that there is no statute of limitations on unclaimed property procedures. Most states limit the time period that companies can be liable for unclaimed property to the previous 10 or 20 years, although many states may increase this time period if no ownership records can be found.
This can be problematic because most companies do not retain financial records of its employees this far back. In the absence of records, auditors can estimate when the company took ownership of the property — and this may stretch as far back as the company's date of formation. The company then has no means of proving that these calculations are inaccurate and are forced to settle with the auditors to avoid costly litigation.
Additionally, because unclaimed property is not technically considered taxes, a company does not need to have nexus with a state to be subjected to its unclaimed property rules. Many businesses don't realize that they may have unclaimed property obligations in states where they are not paying taxes. Therefore, the potential liability arising from unclaimed property issues and potential audits can be substantial.
How do I comply with laws?
Contractors need to be proactive in identifying unclaimed property and complying with the applicable laws. They can find unclaimed property by reviewing records and identifying outstanding checks or dated credit balances. Further, businesses can prevent issues with unclaimed property by notifying previous and current staff and clients of a change of address, communicating with property owners, and promptly updating business record systems.
Ignoring unclaimed property issues will not make them disappear. These obligations can grow significantly because there is no statute of limitations. If you discover that you may have an unclaimed property liability, a voluntary disclosure agreement or other amnesty programs could help you manage your liability and become compliant with the various state unclaimed property programs. Your tax advisor can also help determine your potential exposure to unclaimed property risk and implement policies, procedures, and internal controls to reduce the risk.


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how long has it been since my last post? i cant even remember. besdies, why am i checking back on the blog and yr blog since we both gave up hope on each other? what am i actually thinking? this semester has actually been great... finance, measuring systems II, estimating are all alrite except building services. well, jst thought of what was happening in uni recently, i jst realised our estimating lecturer, a msian, would not like people to contradict him on anything. well, i think he's alrite, he lets us decide on our assignments, lecture times, tests, and many more...
this was wad happened in our first class with him...
Lecturer: hello class i'd like u guys to decide when to have your lectures, what type of assignments you want, when to pass them up and what to do if some1 hands up after due date.
Classmates: do u mean we decide on whatever we want?
Lecturer: yeah. so tell me, on the timetable, it says my classes are 9-12 tuesdays and 9-11 fridays. what do u guys think? having a lecture on tuesdays then tutorials on fris or vice versa?
Classmates: since u said we decide, then NO CLASS!!! woots...
Lecturer: now that is a little more off limits. u guys cannot have no lectures at all.
Classmates: oh well, then lectures on tuesdays and tutorials on fridays...
Lecturer: ok.
Classmates: oh and what do u mean by we decide our own assignments?
Lecturer: tell me what do u guys want for yr assignment? and how many assignments do u guys want?
bla bla bla
after deciding, we decided to have 3 assignments.
Lecturer, oh and what about the due date?
Classmates: the friday before the holiday?
Lecturer: okay that will be the date then.
Classmates: oh and what about extension if some1 were sick or some1 in the family died? bla bla bla
Lecturer, well, as i've said, u guys will decide on that as well... so 1 week? 2 weeks? 3 weeks? any suggestions?
bla bla bla
Classmates: 2 weeks would be good enough
Lecturer: okay so lets set it at 2 weeks then. so what happens if some1 passed up later than that? isit fair to give them a max of only C even though they did work that cud score them an A+ or A?
Classmates: yeah that sounds pretty alrite. oh and *name of lecturer* do we have to apply for the 2 weeks extension?
Lecturer: nope, u grant your own extensions. treat yrselves all as a lecturer and not a student. u grant yr own stuff, u decide what u want.
Classmates: sweet as.
Lecturer: oh and final tests? what do u guys want? more multi choices or short answers?
*time runs out*
Lecturer: oh and not to 4get u guys decide on what type of question will be tested. go home and have a think about it. thanks class
he's pretty lazy huh, but then it's alrite cause he lets us decide on what we want =D
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Posted by i HATE myself!!! at 3:26:00 AM 0 特斯提s(testis)
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