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The groundbreaking celebration for the new Kruizenga Art Museum at Hope College emphasized the building's role as a resource not just in one discipline, and not just for the campus, but across disciplines and for the entire Holland community and beyond.
"My vision is that art museums should be lively places that bring people together. The phrase that I've settled on is that art museums should be a community convener," said Dana Friis-Hansen, director of the Grand Rapids Art Museum, who was the featured speaker during a luncheon held in conjunction with the Friday, May 24, event.
"And I know that that's the philosophy behind this wonderful place," he said. "And I predict that the Kruizenga, with its central location at an important campus crossroads, will become a lively town square where wonderful exchanges will happen that will drive creativity of all different types."
The Kruizenga Art Museum, scheduled for completion in 2015, will be built immediately northwest of the De Pree Art Center, for a total project cost of $5 million including construction and a maintenance endowment goal. The museum is being developed with an emphasis on engaging faculty and students from many academic disciplines in the study and interpretation of art, and envisioned as an educational resource not only for the college but for West Michigan.
The museum is among the initiatives of the college's "A Greater Hope" comprehensive campaign, announced in October 2011. It is being named in honor of a leadership gift from Dr. Richard and the late Margaret Kruizenga of Dallas, Texas, and Holland.
"When we started this campaign, we really wanted to do for the arts what we had done for the sciences, intercollegiate sport and some of our historic buildings," said Dr. James E. Bultman, president of Hope College. "What has evolved, I think, is a very nice arts corridor that we hope will be enjoyed not just by the Hope College community but by the community of Holland."
The five blocks of Columbia Avenue between 13th and Eighth streets feature a variety of arts centers in addition to the Kruizenga Art Museum, which will be located on Columbia Avenue at 11th Street near the already-extant De Pree Art Center and gallery. The college's Dow Center at the corner of Columbia and 13th Street houses studio space for the department of dance. The DeWitt Center and the college's main theatre are on Columbia at 12th Street. The college's new concert hall and music facility is planned for Columbia Avenue between 10th and Ninth streets, and the Holland Area Arts Council is near Columbia Avenue between Ninth and Eighth streets. In addition, the college's Knickerbocker Theatre is located just a few doors away on Eighth Street between College and Columbia avenues, and the Holland Museum is a few blocks west on 10th Street between River and Central avenues.
Holland Mayor Kurt Dykstra discussed the concept of "place-making"—of communities striving to distinguish themselves through unique and attractive features.
"Obviously we in Holland have much of that, but this facility, this museum, will help add to the art and culture scene that already exists here in Holland with places like the Arts Council down the road, or the Holland Museum close by," he said. "But it's not just a Holland phenomenon. It's really a whole West Michigan phenomenon. So the presence of the Kruizenga Art Museum here in Holland in this location on this campus is certainly a gift to Hope College, and a tremendous gift to Hope College, but it is more than that because it is really a gift to the entirety of Holland and a gift to the entirety of West Michigan."
The museum will provide exhibition space for the college's extensive Permanent Collection as well as visiting exhibitions, with additional support for curation of the collection. It will complement the De Pree Art Center, which will continue to host exhibitions in addition to housing the offices and faculty and student studios of the department of art.
The museum's architect is Matt VanderBorgh of The Hague, The Netherlands, a 1984 Hope graduate who is director of C Concept Design, which has developed projects in 19 countries on four continents. Leadership guidance for advance programmatic planning has been provided by Donald Battjes, a 1968 Hope graduate from Los Angeles, Calif., who is retired from a career in corporate facilities and real estate administration, most recently as chief of operations and facility planning with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Work across the summer months will focus on the museum site, including transformation of the former 11th Street into a pedestrian walkway between Columbia and Lincoln avenues. Earlier in the week, the college removed Gringhuis and Sligh cottages, whose lots will be part of the art museum site.
See Grand Rapids Press/MLive coverage
See Photos of Kruizenga Museum Groundbreaking


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I finally got around to watching Steins;Gate during Thanksgiving. And then rewatching it this Christmas season with my sister. I thought it was a fantastic show. And it gets better the second time through. Actually, I thought even the pacing seemed quicker the second time around, maybe because I was noticing things I'd missed the first time. Even though the time travel to change fate storyline has been done, and quite well actually with Higurashi and Madoka Magica, Steins; Gate still felt fresh, smart, engaging and interestingly enough, lovable.
Continue reading "Finishing the best animes are like saying goodbye to a friend"

subset: commoncrawl


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Student Support Service is composed of two distinct entities- The TRIO Program and Disability Support Services.
The Office of Student Support Services and Disability Support Services is located in 01 Montgomery Hall. The phone number is (662) 325-3335.
To provide supportive services for low income and first generation students. To enhance their academic skills, increase their retention and graduation rates, and as appropriate, facilitate entrance into graduate and professional programs.
Disability Support Services seeks to provide educational access and opportunity through support, resources, advocacy, collaboration, and academic accommodations for students with disabilities (as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) who are accepted to the University.


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Red, White and Blue
- Laura Hayden Author
- 2009 20 Mar
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is an excerpt from Red, White and Blue by Laura Hayden (Tyndale House).
Chapter 1
Kate Rosen sat on the edge of the stage, the large hotel ballroom stretching beyond her, long emptied of people. The only things left behind were the detritus of a grand night of celebration—balloons skimming over the carpet, trampled paper streamers, discarded signs, and swags of limp bunting that sagged against the walls.
No more cameras, no strobe lights, no cheering throng.
The exuberant but exhausted audience had finally faded away hours earlier, the journalists following suit shortly afterward. America had finally gone to bed, either celebrating or lamenting the fact that that they'd just elected their first female president.
Kate cherished the silence. She needed someplace where she could collect her thoughts, which had been shattered tonight. She'd discovered things she could hardly believe even still about her best friend. And she'd been disillusioned in a way that nobody, even a politician's top aide, was prepared to be. Her headache and heartache had been made worse by the oppressive crush of supporters commemorating their candidate's—her candidate's—triumph. Once Emily and her entourage, minus Kate, went upstairs, the party had finally broken up and the ballroom's capacity crowd started to stream home for their own private celebrations.
But Kate's ears still rang with the sound of more than a thousand people cheering, screaming their support of their candidate.
"Benton! Benton! Benton!"
Emily Rousseau Benton, former governor of Virginia, Kate's best friend, had been elected president of the United States, in no small part due to Kate's hard work. Emily's race for the White House had dominated both of their lives for the past four years. Everything Kate did, every action she took as Emily's campaign manager, had been done solely in support of her friend's bid for the presidency.
And now that Emily had won, Kate was alone, horrified at the prospect that she might have made a terrible mistake.
She slipped down from the stage riser and kicked idly at the balloons in her path, creating a slight rippling effect across the bubbled mass of them. An occasional balloon still floated down from the ceiling, a day late and a dollar short.
Kate's most recent revelation had been like that, one day too late. . . .
"Hey, Kate."
A lone voice penetrated the silence. She stiffened in surprise and raised her hand to shade her eyes and get a better look at the person standing on the balcony. Her mood lightened and her shoulders relaxed when she realized who had spoken.
"Hey, Wes."
"Y'all all right? Need some company?"
She nodded.
It was a classic Southern salutation, and the familiarity of it was oddly comforting. Then again, Wes Kingsbury always knew what to say—he was equal parts her friend and her spiritual mentor. Disappearing into the shadows, Wes emerged a few moments later from the staircase leading to the balcony box.
Kate glanced at her watch and stifled a yawn—3:46. That was a.m. Too early to be called morning, too late to be called night. The true dark hours of the human soul, when body rhythm and spirit were at their lowest point.
"I can't believe you're still here," she said. The man had a wife and a small child, a real world and home to which he could return. He hadn't closed his life down to a single obsessively sought goal. That had been her mistake.
"And I can't believe you're not upstairs. M's still up in the suite, partying hearty."
She kicked at a balloon, stirring up a small whirl of color. "I know. I'm not in much of a party mood."
"So I see." He fell into step next to her. "What's going on? I would have thought you'd be thrilled. This was the goal, right?" He pointed to an abandoned placard: Benton/Bochner '08.
"It was. It is." She couldn't help but shiver. "It's complicated."
"It's Emily. It's always complicated." He chuckled, then sighed. "Okay, what has she done now?" At Kate's hesitation, he added, "It's got something to do with Talbot, doesn't it?"
Charles Talbot had been Emily's opponent in her race for the White House. As such, he'd pulled out all the stops to find all the dirt he could on his challenger. Kate, as Emily's friend and ally for more than twenty years, had been positive there was no dirt to be found.
She'd been so wrong. . . .
Talbot's investigators discovered that Emily's family had illegally won important highway construction contracts in Virginia while Emily was the state's governor.
When Kate learned his camp was prepared to release this information, the only way she could stop him was to explain to him exactly the unsavory facts that her own investigations had uncovered on him—details she'd kept out of Emily's hands.
The last thing Kate had wanted was her friend to strike an ill-timed and unnecessary first blow—using a nuke when a nudge would have worked just as well. She'd learned the hard way that Emily, though a talented politician, wasn't exactly good at being subtle when she had a bigger weapon handy. But when Talbot made his big, bold move to not only discredit Emily but take down her family by attempting to dismantle the entire Benton legacy, Kate had intervened by threatening to use her opposition research.
Talbot had killed . . . and Kate felt that she had no choice but to remind him of the lengths to which he'd gone to cover up his own crimes. She had the bloody proof that he'd been criminally negligent, if not morally responsible, in the grisly death of his college girlfriend. Talbot might have maneuvered his way out of the scandal, but Kate had the goods on him—incontrovertible evidence.
If released to the public, her evidence would have been sufficient to end his campaign, destroy his reputation, and possibly land him in jail for a long, long time. Talbot saw the light and backed down from his threats.
So Talbot had been stopped. The situation had served to cement Kate's resolve that Emily Benton would make a far better president than her opponent. Emily was a policy wonk who knew her stuff, she was talented at getting things done, she worked hard for the people she represented, and she was charismatic enough to persuade even those who opposed her to allow time for her ideas to have a chance to work. In other words, Emily was the best politician of her time.
However, Kate soon learned not only that her actions had made Talbot her enemy for life, but also that no one ever wins in a competition of "who has the best blackmail" because the games like that never end. She'd felt sickened, soiled, and finally betrayed.
Kate drew a deep breath. "Emily found out."
Wes straightened for a moment. He'd been one of only two confidants who knew the sins of both candidates, other than the candidates themselves.
"About . . ." Wes paused and glanced around as if gauging the likelihood of being overheard. Even though no one was in sight, he kept his voice low. "About the ammunition you had? How?"
"I told her I'd stopped Talbot, but I refused to tell her how. I didn't think she needed to know. So in the middle of the night, my best friend M sent one of her protégés to 'borrow' the report from me."
"'Protégés'?" Wes's gaze narrowed. "Maia," he said in a flat voice.
Kate nodded. "Our very own ingenue in training." She stared across the vast ballroom, watching a piece of bunting as it slipped from the balcony railing and wafted gently to the floor. "Though apparently she's more iron maiden than ingenue. Scruples don't seem to concern her. I rip my heart out every day, trying to find the right balance between my Christian convictions and loyalty to my country and to my friends—especially Emily. I want to make a difference in the world, make people's lives better. I don't always like how I do it. Maia didn't have a second thought when Emily asked her to steal the reports from me in the middle of the night. She made copies, then replaced the originals so I wouldn't know. Then Emily had Maia contact Talbot with what you'd call a very thinly veiled threat."
Wes read between the lines. "Destroying any hope of the campaign staying out of the gutter."
"Yeah. But then came the weird part. It did—stay out of the gutter, I mean." A shiver coursed up her spine and she crossed her arms in an effort to combat it. "Buttoned up tighter than Fort Knox. Maybe my way wasn't effective enough. Maybe Emily's decision to send him a second threat was the only real way to stop him." A second tremor joined the first, and Kate knew it wasn't because she was cold. "Maybe I was wrong. Or maybe I'm in the wrong business. Or maybe I'm simply overreacting."
"Or maybe not."
They took several more steps through the remains of the revelry before Kate stopped. She reached down and rescued a placard bearing Emily's likeness.
"In any case, I don't know . . ." She hated how her voice broke when she spoke. "I don't know if I can stay. If I can continue working with her. She lied to me, stole from me. Maia actually expected me to be impressed by their cleverness. Emily knew better. But she set it up anyway." She studied the picture plastered across the placard. Emily's resolute smile looked effortless despite the fact it'd taken the photographer over two hours to capture the perfect expression.
"You have very high standards for your behavior." Wes took a few more steps, then stopped, pivoting to face her, his hands jammed in his pockets. "Emily's a lot more flexible; she's a big proponent for 'the end justifies the means.' You know that. I know that. The question is, can you tolerate that? Jesus himself said, 'Render unto Caesar that which was Caesar's.' But there have to be consequences when a person crosses the line. Nobody's above the law, not even Emily—though she'd probably argue that point. The big question you have to answer here is what is the right thing for your faith and the right thing for the world. Think hard about that and then move forward. I'll pray for you. I know it's going to be a tough decision."
Kate looked up from Emily's compelling expression, the look in her eyes that said, You know you can trust me. "A decision I was hoping you'd help me make."
To her utter surprise, Wes shook his head. "Nope."
He raised his palm to stop her. "Hear me out. I'm always willing to offer advice, lend a hand or even a shoulder, but when it comes to something like this, you need to work with a higher authority." He pointed upward.
Kate managed to conjure up a tight smile. "Somehow, I don't think you mean President-Elect Benton in the penthouse suite."
"Nope. A lot higher."
They rode up the elevator in silence. It wasn't until they reached the door to the suite, flanked by Secret Service agents, that Wes hesitated.
Kate fought the urge to say, "You're going in with me, aren't you?" She realized she needed to speak to Emily in private. If any of the campaign entourage still hung about, Kate would have to bide her time, smile, make nice with the natives, and wait for her chance after all the hoopla finally ended. It had been relatively easy to have the candidate's ear in private, but getting the attention of the next president would be more complicated.
She practiced her smile on the two agents, whose names she needed to learn. Then she stopped herself.
Or maybe after tonight it wouldn't matter.
"This is where I say good-bye." Wes leaned over and kissed her forehead. "And good luck. Let me know what happens."
"Thanks. I will," she whispered. Drawing in a deep breath, Kate reached for the doorknob, but the agent on the right beat her to it.
"Allow me, Ms. Rosen." He opened the door.
It was a testament to the construction of the hotel that she heard little in the way of sound from the suite until the door opened. Then a cacophony of laughter and voices met her, the celebration evidently still in full swing. The crowd had dwindled some, but an impressive number of folks still lingered, including several of Washington's biggest power players, senior members of the party, a large assortment of Benton family members, and some of the key campaign staffers.
Kate didn't see Emily at first but finally spotted her in a corner of the room, holding court. They made eye contact and Emily raised her hand as if saying, Over here and motioned Kate over. In response, Kate began to pick her way through the clusters of people. She was stopped every foot or so to be congratulated, hugged, and offered a drink.
She felt odd accepting the accolades, but she had no trouble waving off the libations. The last thing she needed was the muddle of alcohol. She could only hope that Emily had kept a clear head as well.
Before Kate could reach Emily's position, she bumped into a rather solid male form. Before she could recover her balance, a hand grasped her elbow and she was hit in the face with a cloud of whiskey breath.
"Katie-girl!" Emily's old family adviser Dozier Marsh pulled her into an awkward embrace. He might have looked like someone's sainted grandfather, but it was as far from what he really was as the North Pole from Antarctica. He was the ultimate political fixer—a devious, dangerous old power broker with a fondness for hard liquor and Emily, though not always in that order. And right now, he was acting like a lecherous uncle.
"Where you been, darlin'?" he wheezed. "Hard to have a party without Emily's right-hand gal!" He tried to swing her around. The move would have made them both fall over had the young aide standing next to him not reached up and steadied him.
"Sir, perhaps you'd rather sit," the aide said.
Dozier gave Kate a grin and leaned heavily against his aide. "I suspect you're right, Percy. The room is definitely leaning to one side." He dropped heavily into the nearest chair, managing to spill two drinks that were abandoned on the nearby end table. He stared blearily at the mess. "Would you be a dear, Kate, and get me a couple of cocktail napkins so I can clean up behind my sorry, drunken self? I'd ask Perry here, but he's playing a key role in supporting me."
"Now, Dozier . . ." Emily's voice knifed neatly through the chatter, instantly commanding the attention of the room. "You're not asking the future White House chief of staff to be your fetch-it girl, are you?"
Dozier's ruddy complexion deepened. "Of c-course not, Emily. . . . I mean . . ." He pulled awkwardly to his feet, away from his aide, and managed a small stiff bow without falling over. "Madam President."
The room went silent, no one quite sure what direction Emily's response might head next.
"I've never really liked being called 'madam.'" After a tense millisecond, Emily allowed a smile to spread across her face. "But I guess I'll get used to it, if president gets to follow."
Dozier, freed from the sharp conversational hook on which he'd impaled himself, offered a weaker version of her smile and lifted the drink he'd never lost grip of. "Hear, hear."
With the momentary tension broken, the room went back to its earlier state—celebrating people clustering in small discussion knots. Dozier's aide, a young man whose name was neither Percy nor Perry but Zack, distracted Dozier with something shiny, giving Kate a chance to escape. Once again, Emily gestured for Kate to follow her and led to the bedroom portion of the suite.
Once the door was closed behind them, Emily gave her a warm hug. "I was starting to get worried about you." She gave Kate a close scrutiny. "Honey, you look like the weight of the free world is still on your shoulders. But the campaign's over. We won. You can afford to relax now."
"No. I can't." Kate said. She bit her lip before her words started pouring out, uncontrolled and bitter. She wanted to be completely in control of her emotions before she confronted Emily.
Emily sighed, obviously ignorant of the battle brewing inside Kate. "I know. I feel the same way. Campaigning is hard work, but nothing compared to running a country." She dropped to the bed. "If I allowed myself a chance to stop and think about what I'm taking on, I'd probably run out of this hotel screaming like the Madwoman of Chaillot.
"Remember when we went to New York on spring break back when we were in school? How we jumped on our beds at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel and had a pillow fight? Mom was horrified, but Dad told me that he hoped I'd never get too old to bounce on the bed."
"Yeah," Kate said. Decades of memories came crashing down upon her. Room service, going to plays, Emily's genuine pleasure at sharing the treat with her friend. The phrase had become an inside joke, a motto for that trip and later, the watchwords for those times when the responsibilities of law school—and beyond—threatened to drag them down.
When Nick and Emily got married, their gift to each bridesmaid included a sterling silver box engraved with that motto. Kate still had that box sitting in a place of honor on her dresser.
"Well?" The next president of the United States, the Honorable Emily Rousseau Benton, took off her shoes and took a few experimental bounces on the bed as if to test the bed's recoil potential.
"Not today." Kate tried to smile, desperately wanting to recapture that same sense of giddy accomplishment that Emily evidently felt. Kate had indeed expected to feel a sense of joyous triumph when thinking ahead to this day. But now her heart was too heavy, her mind too burdened with the difficult decision that lay ahead of her.
Emily stopped jumping, the bed undulating in her wake. "Why not?" she said. The confusion that initially filled her face dissolved into an expression that Kate couldn't quite understand. Then it passed almost immediately to a tight, guarded smile. "You have a point. I need to be dignified. Somehow, I don't think the White House curator is going to let anyone jump on the bed in the Lincoln Bedroom. Not you. Not even me."
"That's not what I meant."
Emily locked eyes with her for a moment. Then she turned away, unable to hold the contact for long. A Benton never crumbled under pressure. A real Benton dodged it. The president-elect slid off the bed, pulled on her heels, and straightened her skirt. She didn't meet Kate's gaze.
"You're right. We're both exhausted. You've always dealt with exhaustion in different ways than I do. Why don't you take off a—"
"I'm exhausted. But that's not the problem. I'm confused. Angry. And I'm disappointed in you." Kate's heart took the extra beat it always did when she made the final decision to confront her best friend. "You didn't need to send Maia to steal the files from me. You should have talked to me about it."
"Oh." Emily spoke in a low, even voice. "You found out about that?"
Kate nodded.
"I didn't send her," Emily said. "She did that on her own, trying to curry my favor."
Kate didn't know whom to believe. She knew Emily better than she knew herself in some ways. Emily was brilliant, capable, the best person imaginable to have around in an emergency. She was a born leader. But part of that leadership tool kit was that she would also stop at nothing when she wanted something. Of course, Maia was cut from the same cloth. Emily's words were plausible. "So did the favor currying work?" She tried to keep any emotion out of her voice. "Did she make a big impression on you?"
"Yes, but it was a mixed bag. I thought Maia showed a remarkable amount of initiative, but I told her that she'd chosen the wrong person to cross."
"But that didn't stop you from reading the reports, did it?"
"Of course not. I'd have been a fool to lose that unexpected opportunity. I'm no fool. You know that."
"Yes, I do. And I guess that's why you instructed her to send the threatening e-mail to Talbot. Were you just taking advantage of another unexpected opportunity?"
"Sure. It seemed the wise thing to do at the moment. He was a loose cannon. He needed to be locked down."
"And now? Are you still glad you did it?"
Emily collapsed on the bed, her ice queen facade shattered. A single tear trickled down her face, leaving a glistening trail through her perfect makeup. "No. I regret it more than you'll ever know." She bent her head, trying desperately to hide the additional tears, but a sob tore through her, making her shoulders shake.
Kate almost gaped at her friend. She'd seen Emily's crocodile tears before. But they didn't look anything like this. This was the real thing.
Real emotion. Real regret. . . .
Emily continued. "Mind you, I didn't hate what I did to Charles Talbot. He's a pariah, an abomination. A murderer. He should never have been able to get away with driving that car while drunk, and leaving that poor girl behind, still clinging to life, to take the rap for his actions. Had he gotten her help at the time of the accident, she might have survived the crash as something other than a vegetable. But no, he had to save face, run away, pretend nothing had happened. He left her to die in that car. It took hours for anyone to discover the wreck. Then he had the audacity to bribe and threaten people into giving him an alibi. He had to make everyone think she'd been the one driving while intoxicated, even if it killed her. He's the lowest of scumbags. I won't apologize for pricking whatever fragments he has left of his conscience. I'm pretty sure all I did was dent his enormously bloated and unconscionable pride."
Emily's flare of anger dissipated quickly, as if she suddenly felt guilty of failing to be remorseful for her own actions. Kate knew that, for Emily, anger was an emotion easier to understand and embrace than remorse. Especially when she felt that anger was righteous. Emily could move mountains when she had on a full load of righteous anger. Kate had seen her shame an entire state legislature into voting for health insurance for disadvantaged children, all because she'd vented her anger into a biting five-minute speech to them.
Kate gave her friend a steady stare. "What he did and what you did are separate issues. And you know it."
"I'm sorry." Emily's voice dropped to a whisper. "You're right. When Maia gave me those copies, I did exactly what you were afraid I was going to do." She looked up, naked emotion filling her face, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I allowed my need for revenge to overwhelm my sense of honor. I'm so sorry." She stood, her arms at her side. Her voice broke in a show of raw emotion that Kate had never seen from her before.
"Kate, can you forgive me?"
Kate felt tears forming in her own eyes.
Could she forgive Emily? Of course she could. Christ was clear on the responsibility to forgive a repentant sinner. Kate could do no less.
But could she trust Emily enough to continue working for her? That was another question entirely.
For now, she reached over and hugged her friend. The two of them cried together for what seemed like hours.
But the big question—whether Kate would stay on after this—hung over them. No matter how often Emily asked it, Kate refused to answer.
Finally Emily said, "Take some time, go home, cool off, and then we'll talk."
As was often the case, Emily was right.
From Red, White & Blue. Copyright © 2009 by Laura Hayden. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.


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Posted by Alisa on Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Actor John Travolta and his wife actress Kelly Preston were seen at the Cannes airport with their children Ella, 14, and Benjamin, 3 on Tuesday (May 21). Kelly and John's son Jett died in January 2009 after suffering a seizure and hitting his head on the bathtub. Jett was only sixteen.
source: celebritybabyscoop.com


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A Burlington, Ontario-based startup called Temporal Power is the focus of my Clean Break column in today's Toronto Star. Temporal has designed a stationary flywheel energy storage system that it claims can dramatically outperform the next-best system on the market, which you might say comes from Mass.-based Beacon Power. The company has filed patents on the system but they have yet to become public — likely in a few months. Until then, the company is keeping quiet about how it achieves its claimed performance, and I don't blame them given the competitive pressures. The story behind how the company came about, however, is interesting. And if Temporal can convincingly demonstrate what it claims, it could prove a breakthrough for economical grid-scale energy storage.
For a good primer and innovation update on flywheel energy storage systems, check out this recent story in the Washington Post. My column also explains the basics of how the systems work and the challenges of making them efficient and economical.
So what does Temporal claim? The company says it has designed a system with zero parasitic losses and extremely low friction using relatively simple and easily available components. It uses permanent magnets, not electromagnets, but the overall integration of components is largely a mystery — for now. It claims its flywheel will lose less than 5 per cent of its energy after up to 10 hours of spinning, making it ideal for storing energy from a wind farm in the evening and dispatching it hours later when the power is needed. This is a departure for flywheel systems, which are typically used for short-term energy backup and services such as grid regulation.
The company plans to standardize on 50-kilowatt-hour units, double the size of the main Beacon model, and these systems could be grouped together to achieve a larger scale of energy storage. It already has a working 20-kilowatt-hour prototype. Its first demonstration is likely to be a 10-flywheel project deployed in Hydro One's distribution network, where the technology will absorb fluctuations from nearby wind turbines in an area of the grid that has strained capacity. The project is partially funded by a grant from Sustainable Development Technology Canada.
I've already received a couple of e-mails from skeptics who say flywheels have been researched for years and what Temporal is claiming can't possibly be done, at least not economically and reliably. I always get a kick out of these knee-jerk, borderline arrogant reactions, usually by engineers who think they're smarter than everyone else and that anything new can't be true because, if it was, it would have already been done. I like to keep an open mind. No doubt, others will question the fact Temporal isn't explaining in detail how it can do what it claims, but really folks, why would it reveal its secret sauce at this point? Why would it risk erasing a competitive edge prematurely?
Anyway, skepticism is a good thing, as long as it doesn't degenerate into outright uninformed dismissal.


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New report spotlights improved graduation rates, suggests solutions to the dropout crisis
WASHINGTON - November 30, 2010 -
The America's Promise Alliance has released a new report that highlights states, school districts and schools where graduation rates are improving. Building a Grad Nation: Progress & Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic also explores what must be done to reach the goal of a 90 percent graduation rate by 2020.
The National Education Association (NEA) is an America's Promise Alliance partner on dropout prevention.
"Although we are not satisfied with the dropout rate, the report shows progress and that's promising," said Dennis Van Roekel, president of NEA. "We know that the commitment educators demonstrate every day does make a difference in students' success. Our members want to make certain that every high school student walks across the stage, diploma in hand, prepared for the next stage in life."
From the national down to the local level, NEA has worked hard to improve graduation rates. The Association has partnered with many organizations and developed several resources to address the issue. One is a 12-point dropout prevention and intervention plan which offers strategies from preschool through age 21. The new report from America's Promise Alliance includes recommendations that are in line with NEA's plan, which stresses early intervention as well as improving career education and workforce readiness programs, involving families and communities in education, creating smaller learning communities and gathering accurate data.
NEA also developed Preventing Future High School Dropouts, an advocacy and action guide for NEA state and local affiliates. NEA affiliates themselves have collaborated on dropout prevention summits and implemented strategies to keep students in school and close gaps in student achievement.
"I applaud the Alliance for working to increase graduation rates," added Van Roekel. "We hope this report will not only spark additional conversations about improvement strategies but will also encourage the various stakeholders to act. All of us—educators, parents, community members and policymakers—share the responsibility of making sure every student graduates from high school."
NEA Guide to Preventing High School Dropouts
NEA's Dropout Prevention Initiatives
Follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/NEAMedia
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The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing
3.2 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.
CONTACT: Ramona Parks-Kirby (202) 822-7823, email@example.com


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Bob "Hurricane" Hannah will go down in history as one of the greatest American motocross racers of all time. When he was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999, he had seven AMA national championships to his credit, and was one of only two riders in the history of AMA racing to win championships in 125cc motocross, 250cc motocross and Supercross.
Hannah easily ranks as the most versatile motocross racer of his era, and perhaps of all time. During his 15-year racing career, Hannah won Nationals in the 125cc, 250cc and 500cc categories as well as Supercross and Trans-AMA. When he retired from racing, Hannah held the record for the most career wins in both AMA Supercross and AMA 250cc National motocross.
Hannah was born in 1956 in Lancaster, Calif. He grew up riding in the rugged Southern California deserts with his father and got his first bike, a customized Honda 55, when he was 7 years old. The one thing Hannah didn't do in those early years was race.
"My father was against racing," Hannah explains. "He did not mind me riding, but at the same time he didn't want me getting hurt. So I never raced until I was 18 years old and living on my own."
By the time Hannah hit the motocross tracks of Southern California, he was more than ready. Even though he didn't have racing experience, he had practically lived on a motorcycle since grade school and likely had more hours on a bike than any of his fellow competitors. Hannah won his first and only race in the amateur ranks. After his dominating debut, local racing officials told the young Hannah he would have to move up to the expert ranks.
In 1975, his first full year as an expert, Hannah rode in just two AMA Nationals. His best finish was sixth overall in the AMA 125cc National in San Antonio, Texas. Not bad for a rider with less than a year's racing experience under his belt. A Saddleback racetrack announcer called him "Hurricane" Hannah, and the moniker stuck: He was forever to be known as Bob "Hurricane" Hannah.
Early in 1976, Hannah won the prestigious 500cc Florida Winter-AMA Series. Then Yamaha took a chance on the 19-year-old phenom, who was largely unknown outside of the local Southern California motocross circles.
Yamaha signed Hannah to race the 125cc outdoor AMA Nationals. He started out the year with some success on a 250cc machine in the AMA Supercross Series, but his real strength was on the 125cc bikes at the outdoor motocross circuits.
The AMA 125cc National Motocross Championships were only two years old when Hannah launched into his first full season. Honda and its rider, Marty Smith, had dominated the 125cc Nationals for the first two years. Smith was gunning for his third-straight title and was the heavy favorite coming into the '76 season.
At the first round of the series at the famous Hangtown Nationals in Plymouth, Calif., Smith made the early laps of the first moto look like a replay of 1974 and '75. Eight laps into the relatively dull race the crowd came to its feet when Hannah, on his No. 39 Yamaha, came bouncing through the field to grab second. Hannah had picked off 21 other riders in his charge. On the next lap, Hannah took over the lead from Smith, leaving the tens of thousands of Northern California fans stunned. Smith tried to get back past Hannah, but fell in the process and finished a distant second. Hannah came back to win the second moto in an even more decisive fashion.
It was one of the most stunning debuts for a factory rider in the history of AMA racing. Hannah proved that his 1976 opening round victory was no fluke, and stormed ahead to win five of the eight 125cc nationals that year en route to the championship.
In 1977, Hannah hopped aboard a stock production Yamaha 250 and won the Florida Winter-AMA Series and the AMA Supercross Championship in impressive fashion, taking six of the 10 rounds. By the end of the AMA Nationals season, he was in contention for the 125cc, 250cc and Open Class titles -- becoming the first rider to win races in all three classes in just one season.
Hannah would go on to win the AMA Supercross title for three straight years. Known for his tireless training regimen and fierce demeanor on race day, his tell-it-like-it-is, never-say-die attitude toward racing endeared him to hundreds of thousands of fans, and he became the first genuine superstar of Supercross racing.
In 1978, Hannah moved up to the 250cc ranks in the outdoor Nationals with devastating results for his competition. Hannah's riding was nearly flawless. He won a record eight consecutive 250 outdoor events, a record that still stood at the time of Hannah's 1999 Motorcycle Hall of Fame induction. He continued his impressive streak in the fall Trans-AMA Series, winning four nationals in that series and winning the championship to become the first American to win the Trans-AMA Series.
In 1979, he came back and dominated the 250 outdoor Nationals again, handily winning the title by earning victories in six of the 10 events. By the late 1970s, Hannah's career was at its zenith, and he was clearly in a class of his own.
Even though Hannah had numerous attractive offers to race in world championship motocross, he never seriously considered it. Displaying classic Hannah dry humor, he quipped that the main reason he didn't want to race overseas was that the Europeans "served their drinks without ice." Even though he preferred racing close to home, Hannah did represent his country three times in the prestigious Motocross des Nations team competition, and was part of the victorious 1987 team when the international event was held at his favorite racetrack, Unadilla, in New York state.
Hannah's training methods were uncommon for the era. In addition to riding countless practice laps on motocross tracks, he went back to his roots and trained by riding in the desert. He was obsessed with winning and trained every day, but purposely downplayed his training regimen to maintain a psychological edge over his competitors.
"There's no better place to practice than out in the desert," he told British journalist Chris Carter in 1981. "I ride there anytime I can. Out there the unexpected happens quickly and you have to sharpen your reactions to stay on the bike."
Water sports were the recreation that Hannah chose for relaxation. A water skiing accident in the Colorado River at the end of 1979 nearly cost Hannah his career, and the near amputation of his right leg. Hannah's leg was broken in 12 places when he hit a submerged rock and was catapulted onto the riverbank. Doctors initially told Hannah he would never be able to race again. He was forced to sit out the entire 1980 season while recuperating. During his recovery, Hannah earned his pilot license and for the first time in his adult life found interests outside of motorcycle racing.
Whether it was his injured leg or other seemingly endless injuries that Hannah suffered during the early 1980s, or perhaps the loss of his one-time single-minded approach to racing, Hannah was never quite able to harness the magic needed to capture another championship. Yet he was still a formidable force to be reckoned with, and he won 20 more Nationals during the 1980s. His best results were a second-place finish in the 250 outdoor AMA National series in 1981, and, following a switch from Yamaha to Honda, third in the same series in 1983.
Hannah's final win came in the 250 outdoor National held in Millville, Minn., on Aug. 11, 1985. He continued to race part-time with Suzuki from 1986 until his retirement in 1989.
In his 15-year career, Bob "Hurricane" Hannah had become the all-time win leader in AMA motocross/Supercross history, having won 70 AMA Nationals during his career. That record would stand until fellow Hall of Famer Jeremy McGrath broke Hannah's overall win record in 1999. Hannah's record of 27 250cc National wins still stood when he was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.
"He was a rider of tremendous determination," said multitime world champion, Hall of Famer, and Hannah's team manager for the winning 1987 U.S. Motocross des Nations team, Roger DeCoster. "Sort of a tough guy, like John Wayne. He didn't make excuses and he had a good rapport with the public," an understatement given Hannah's deep devotion to his fans.
After retiring from racing, Hannah continued to be a test rider and consultant for Suzuki and later, for Yamaha, through the early 1990s. His knowledge, skill and work ethic made him a valuable bridge between racing generations, competing with the earliest AMA motocross stars and then the even bigger stars of the 1980s.
Hannah continued to seek the adrenalin rush even after his motorcycle-racing career ended. For almost a decade, he raced a highly modified P-51 Mustang at speeds close to 500 mph, 30-50 feet of the ground, in the Unlimited Gold Class at the Reno Air Races.
Bob "Hurricane" Hannah was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. He was named an AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Legend in


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Consulting Cases – Three steps to your dream career in consulting
Consulting Cases are a kind of job interview that are commonly used in consultancies as recruitment test. The topics range from challenging business situations to fancy brainteasers. Central is the evaluation of the candidate's ability to solve a client's real-life problems, which means being a consultant. It is the most feared part in the application process at the top management consulting firms like McKinsey, BCG and Bain (MBB). Nevertheless, by choosing an intelligent preparation phase containing the study of theoretical resources, the simulation of consulting cases with peers and coachings with experienced experts, you can get the confidence and assurance you need. This is a short guide to structure your preparation:
Theoretical resources to improve your consulting interview skills
Your case interview prep should be based on a good knowledge of frameworks and concepts to solve cases. Our Experts and case interview coaches periodically hold Crack the Case workshops at universites where they present these concepts and give valuable advice. The workshops contain the most commonly used frameworks in management consulting, new case solving methods, as well as how to effectively prepare for a consulting interview.
Practice consulting cases with other applicants
Skill comes with practice. We recommend that every candidate should definitely practice more than 30 live consulting cases. This is where you can benefit from PrepLounge and its vast database of students and young professionals from all over the world. Finding case interview partners is as easy as never before and in the interactive meeting room you can explore the dynamics of real-life case interviews. Your ability to read the interviewer and your responsiveness to the real-time guidance they provide will increase highly. Your self-awareness in the process will become greater, the more you practice with others.
Ask case interview experts for their advice
Coaches can help you to figure out your weaknesses and focus on your strengths so that you can show yourself in the best light. Experts will lead you to the point where you feel familiar with consulting case frameworks and where you will intuitively utilize concepts in your analysis of business situations. Their company specific insider tips for the consulting firm (McKinsey, BCG, Bain etc.) you are applying for, are priceless.


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Flows into taxable bond exchange-traded funds reached just over $7 billion in May, the "second-largest inflow ever" to the asset class, Abe Bailin, an ETF analyst with Morningstar, told AdvisorOne on Thursday.
An analysis by Morningstar of flows into ETFs for May also found that, for the second month in a row, Vanguard saw the largest inflow into ETFs, collecting $3.24 billion in new assets.
The Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), which gathered $1.2 billion and $644 million, respectively, drove inflows for the firm, Morningstar found.
While ETFs posted "lackluster performance" across the board, those with broad large-cap exposure managed moderate inflows, the Chicago-based Morningstar found. The Vanguard Five Hundred VOO and SPDR S&P 500 SPY collected $644 million and $332 million in May.
Across the board, Morningstar says investors flocked to investment-grade and government bond ETFs and shunned high-yield bond offerings.
The international-stock asset class accounted for the lion's share of May outflows, losing $3.5 billion. "The big story there was the international stock category saw substantial outflows that was pretty much the lion's share driven by money coming out of the emerging markets," Bailin says.
Emerging-markets equity ETFs "provided the fuel for the fire," Bailin says, as EEM and VWO both saw significant outflows. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM) shed $1.5 billion, while the Vanguard MCSI Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) gave up $622 million.
Although the U.S.-stock asset class saw a net outflow of only $562 million, a number of notable products "bled," Bailin says, namely the iShares Russell 2000 IWM and PowerShares QQQ (QQQ), which gave up $1 billion and $777 million, respectively.


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Thirty feet above the ground, my friend Samantha clings to a granite cliff, her face a mix of determination and desperation. A rope at her hips connects her to the rock and, ultimately, to climbing instructor Ashley Woods, standing on solid ground below.
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"So," Sam asks plaintively, "am I up enough?"
This is hardly the brazen attitude we took in planning our 10-day Girls-Take-Colorado outdoor adventure. But here at the start of our journey in a canyon west of Boulder, Sam has a demon to slay. Last time she went rock climbing, in a beginner class, she was labeled "Noodle Arms."
"You can stop now if you want," Ashley advises. Diplomacy is as much a part of her work as teaching fingerholds. "But I bet you can make it to the top."
Our friend Kate has already bounded up the cliff face in about three moves. She watches with an experienced climber's confidence: "You can do it," she calls.
Sam reaches out and, in a burst of strength, pulls herself to the cliff's upper edge. Noodle arms begone; Ashley was right all along.
Boulder to Rocky Mountain National Park
Sam, Kate, and I have come from the West Coast to Colorado to, in effect, prove ourselves. Our 690-mile road trip tackles a sporty smorgasbord of this most rugged Western state, from horseback riding to mountaineering, biking to river rafting. We're cutting a long fishhook from the Plains to the Rockies, Boulder to Durango to Buena Vista. With no husbands, in territory unfamiliar to all, we are on a quest to find the great adventure of the West.
Slideshow: 10 great American road trips The first night, fresh from our triumph on the cliff face, we strut through Boulder's pedestrian mall. But my victory glow doesn't last. Sure, I had mastered that cliff — or, if mastered is too strong a word, at least I'd made it to the top, shakily. But Boulder's cafe tables are full of fit, beautiful college students — sports hounds who, I realize, would scoff at our beginner climb.
Perhaps we aren't exactly going to take this place by storm. I don't mention to the other two my concern that the Rocky Mountains are possibly far bigger and badder than we are.
Northwest of Boulder, at what would become 415-square-mile Rocky Mountain National Park, intrepid Englishwoman Isabella Bird wrote, "This is no region for tourists and women." At the time, 1873, the world traveler was, in fact, both things, and she went on to climb the park's crown, 14,255-foot Longs Peak — in a skirt. She was also awed: "Never, nowhere, have I seen anything to equal the view ..."
We too are amazed at the beauty of this place. We drive past wildflower meadows and a herd of bighorn sheep to meet up with our afternoon rides at Hi Country Stables: Cactus Jack, Pepper, and Lotsa Dots.
Sam, Kate, and I have purchased cowboy hats for the event. "This is the kind of sport I like," I tell our guide, recent college grad Melissa Day, as I settle into the saddle atop Cactus Jack. "You get to wear cool clothes." I tap my new brim.
Surprisingly, Melissa fails to comment on my cute hat. She smiles weakly and nudges her horse up the trail.
We ride to Upper Beaver Meadows, stepping around quaking aspens and purple lupine. We ride through a dense lodgepole pine forest; with the rows of equidistant, narrow trunks, it's like entering an M.C. Escher painting.
A four-hour ride, however, makes for difficult walking afterward. I step achingly around our campground. Kate boasts that she will prepare "the perfect camping meal": couscous with lentils and spinach. It is delicious. Maybe Kate's a better cook than I knew, or maybe anything tastes fantastic around a campfire after a day of horseback riding.
Rocky Mountain National Park to Aspen
Driving is tiring in Colorado, not just because of the twisting mountain roads but because every place is so beautiful that it drains your concentration.
We already have our routine in the station wagon: Kate takes the wheel, Sam runs the music, and I check the map and rock out in back. At high points, we play Outkast's "Hey Ya!" Andre 3000 calls out, "Okay, now ladies ... we're going to break this down," as we descend from 12,095-foot Independence Pass through shimmering forests into Aspen.
In this famously rich town, we'll face the biggest challenge yet. At dawn the next day, we meet up with Gabe Metzger to, in local parlance, bag a fourteener.
Mountain climbers make lifetime sport of tackling peaks above 14,000 feet in the Rockies. No adventurer could really say she'd experienced Colorado without attempting to summit one. But climbing that high is not to be underestimated. We chose Castle Peak, one of the area's less challenging climbs, and hired an Aspen Expeditions guide to take us. In a move that would upset traditionalists, we also drive up to 12,000 feet to start.
The drive is frightening enough. Gabe's truck has a name—Munson—and appears not to be affected by the gravitational forces that limit other vehicles. We negotiate a rutted dirt path that rises nearly straight up. We pitch to the right, then tilt 40° to the left, providing a nose-to-glass view of the sheer drop inches away. I yelp. A couple has joined us, so Gabe has five passengers. All five of us yelp. Gabe is calm. He seems confused: Why the commotion? My heart pounds as we unload at the trailhead. And the hike hasn't begun.
We follow a path through the Montezuma Basin, then cut across slopes of scree. Along with the other man in the group, Kate and Sam bound off up the mountain. I am more of a plodder than a hiker. Gabe and I, with the man's wife, another Lisa, bring up the rear.
Lisa had mentioned the night before that she has a fear of heights. But she clearly didn't anticipate how this would affect her. Once we get over the first ridge, the view opens up. We see the puce Maroon Bells to the north, the ridges of the Elk Mountains to the south. Everything, except the trail rising before us and the white-bellied clouds overhead, is far, far below.
Lisa freezes. "I can't do this."
"Yes, you can," Gabe tells her. Her legs have stiffened, knees locked. She can't seem to walk. Gabe takes her arm, urging her along the 2-foot-wide path. "You're fine." When the path narrows, she drops to all fours.
"I'll just stay here," she begs. "Go on without me." She clings to a boulder.
Gabe shakes his head. He ties a rope around her waist and attaches it to his own. Lisa starts to laugh, but there are tears in her eyes. She is crawling on her hands and knees on the path, Gabe guiding her with the rope. She rises unsteadily to a crouch. "I have a leash," she points out. But the trick gives her enough security to keep going.
I was thinking that the whole 14,000-foot thing was just a numbers game. But I am beyond exhilaration by the time we reach the 14,265-foot summit of Castle Peak. Lisa makes it too; we are all breathless. On the rocky, bald mountaintop, with nearly all of the world below us, we take pictures and sign the register to mark our triumph.
Aspen to Durango
A few gray clouds are hovering on the horizon as we select our rental bikes at a shop in Crested Butte. The funky mountain town has a ski slope at its northern edge and miles of single-track bike trails running all around in the hills. Crested Butte is a cyclist's heaven; locals like to claim that this is where mountain biking began.
The clouds scud closer as we gear up. Fat drops hit my legs. By the time we reach the trailhead a mile out of town, it's raining steadily.
Sam hates biking. When I asked her to join me on this trip, the first thing she said was, "Okay, but do we have to go mountain biking?" So it's a testament to her spirit that she looks at me now, her blonde hair plastered to her face, and smiles an enormous fake smile: "This is fun!" she says.
We take the Lower Loop along the Slate River to Oh-be-joyful Creek. The trail cuts under cottonwoods at a gentle grade. It would be spectacular if, at about 5 miles out, it didn't start to hail.
Cold water streams from my helmet down the back of my neck. My thighs are peppered with red dots where the hail balls hit. Kate's legs are covered in mud.
Kate is a truth teller. "I am not proving anything by staying out in a storm," she says. "This isn't joyful. Let's get out of here."
We do.
We can hardly wait to warm up in Ouray, but it's a three-hour drive. Set at 7,760 feet in a box canyon, the town is ringed by sheer rock walls; beyond them peek out jagged, snowy edges of the San Juan Mountains. It's like being in a rocky double boiler.
We've come for the area's natural hot springs, like many travelers before us. At 126-year-old Wiesbaden Hot Springs Spa, we follow a tunnel underneath the lodge to the vapor cave. The little room is dreamlike and steamy; the walls drip, echoing. The shallow pool is 108°. I dip a toe in.
In the corner, a man we hadn't noticed for the steam starts chanting. The deep sounds reverberate off the rock walls. He's a skinny, bearded guy in a half-lotus position, eyes closed. I want to giggle. He opens his eyes and starts licking the wet rocks. Well, at least we're warm.
We are ruddy, steamed dumplings by the time we hit the road south, known as the Million Dollar Highway; according to some locals, the name doesn't refer to its construction price tag of $1,000 per foot but to the gold found in the gravel used to pave it. We twist and turn up to Red Mountain Pass at 11,018 feet, with visions of snowcapped Twilight and Sunlight Peaks set off by a crystalline blue sky.
At a vista point, a group of Harley riders are taking pictures alongside us. In the last two days, we've seen at least 100 motorcyclists. That's no surprise, I say, since this is such a beautiful drive. The bikers stare at us: "Then you don't know about the rally?"
Apparently we are the only people on the road who don't know about the year's largest biker rally tomorrow in Durango — just where we are headed.
When we roll in, downtown's Main Avenue is roaring. Bikers two abreast line the road as far as we can see, chrome gleaming. Our sensible four-wheel-drive wagon, packed with water bottles and sunscreen, seems suddenly very tame.
Kate and I find a quiet canyon outside of town on the Colorado Trail, the 500-mile super-hike that cuts across the state. But Sam won't let us avoid the rally entirely. That night she drags us down to Main. The sidewalks are full; every bar is packed. We stop outside the front door of Orio's Roadhouse, where a group of men in leather chaps are smoking.
"I don't think so," Kate says.
"Nonsense," says Sam.
Inside, people aren't so much dancing as stomping about the place. One guy is howling. "This is where I draw the line," Kate says.
Sam uses her non-noodle arms to push Kate and me up to the bar. She slaps down a 20: "Three shots of Jack!"
Kate may have led us up the cliffs and mountains of Colorado so far, but at Orio's, it's Sam who's the sure-footed one. With her, we close the bar.
Durango to Buena Vista
Recently named a national park and preserve, the Great Sand Dunes rise 750 feet above the San Luis Valley in the south-central part of the state. We pull into the visitor center, and I ask a ranger where we go to rent boards.
"Boards?" she asks.
"For dune boarding," I say confidently. "We've come from California to go dune boarding."
"From California, huh?" She laughs at me. "I think there was a guy out here renting boards a few years ago. But he's not here now."
"That's okay," I tell Sam and Kate. "I'm sure we can slide on these camping mats." The mother of invention, I think smugly, stuffing the mats into my pack.
Built up over centuries in a bend at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the dunes are golden and soft and sinuous. But they are tough to climb; the sand sucks at our feet. We trudge up toward a finely etched spine. One side is gold in the afternoon sun, the other is in shadow.
We plunk down our stuff. I blow up the mats. "This is going to be fun," I say. Sam nods.
I arrange myself on the mat and scoot over the dune's edge. The mat doesn't move.
"I think it needs a running start," I say. I jump down onto the mat from the top of the dune like it's a skateboard, lose my balance as the mat sticks, and land on my side, rolling loglike halfway down.
I shake sand out of my hair and climb back up. Sam and Kate are laughing. "It needs more weight," I suggest. I force them to get on the mat with me; we make a train. "Now scoot."
They scoot. The sand squeaks. The mat barely budges.
"It's not so bad," Kate tells me kindly. "The dunes are gorgeous. We don't need no stinking boards."
Still, to top it off, I get us lost that night. We have to backtrack over a mountain pass, arriving at the motel after midnight for a 7 a.m. wake-up. We barely have time for breakfast as we rush to meet our guide at 4 Corners Rafting in Nathrop. We slip on life vests, grab our paddles, and head out to the Arkansas River.
My arms feel sluggish on the paddle. I'm feeling guilty about yesterday's goof.
We float. We're headed for Brown's Canyon, one of the most popular river runs in the state for its string of rapids. But it's midweek, and no one else is on the water.
The boulders lining the bank are rusty orange; cliffs high above hold a smattering of pines. A hawk passes overhead. We swirl against a rock, and water splashes all of us.
Colorado works its magic. My funk burns off like fog in the sun. We picnic on a small beach and find a giant fish jawbone. We finish the day at a sandy spot with a view of the Collegiate Peaks to the west. We've come to the end of the trip's challenges as well. Ahead is only frosting: celebratory milkshakes in Buena Vista, one last overnight, then the flight back to husbands and home.
Sam, Kate, and I have measured ourselves against Colorado's peaks and valleys, and we'll go home with a fresh perspective. Maybe we didn't rock the state, but we surprised ourselves in the face of challenges.
On the beach, our guide worries that the raft is too heavy to carry to the truck. We all shake our heads: "Not for the three of us."
© Copyright 2012 The Sunset Publishing Corporation


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Passing of the Peel: Kesté Has a New Pizzaiola
Pizza reviews in NYC.
Captured in the Twitter feed of editor emeritus Adam Kuban is the big pizza news that Roberto Caporuscio over at Kesté on Bleecker Street has turned over the pizza making responsibilities to his daughter Giorgia. The news come from i-italy.org who reports on Georgia's path to becoming a pizzaiola worthy of taking over one of New York's finest Neapolitan pizzerias:
Two years ago, after obtaining a travel and tourism degree, Giorgia came to the United States to study English, but inspired by her father's passion for the restaurant world and especially for pizza-making, she asked him if he would teach her the skill. And teach her he did!
For eight months she studied under his expert guidance, before returning to her native Italy. She then told her father that she would like to help him run Kesté, but before Roberto gave her the green light to mange an already renown business, he decided to send her to Florida to help out in opening a Neapolitan Pizzeria Scuola Vecchia in Delrey Beach.
Her trial period was far from over, as she then had to complete a long training internship in Pizzeria Materdei in Naples, under the supervision of pizza-making guru Antonio Starita, Roberto's partner and teacher.
In January of this year Roberto finally decided that his daughter was well prepared and ready to face the New York restaurant scene and brought her to the United States. It is with her help that Don Antonio by Starita has been opened and became an immediate hit among restaurant goers.
This all comes in the wake of the restaurant's interior and menu renovation. With the new family talent helming the oven, there's a lot of reasons for lovers of great Neapolitan pizza to get a trip to the new Kesté on their calendar.
Watch Georgia in Action
Video produced by Jessica Leibowitz with narration and interview by Adam Kuban.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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George W. Bush Tells Jeb to 'Run,' Says Jeb vs. Hillary Would Make 'Fantastic Photo'
Rick Klein
By Rick Klein
UNIVERSITY PARK, Texas — Former President George W. Bush says he isn't interested in playing on the national political stage any longer. But for family, he's making an exception.
Asked in an interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer whether he thinks his brother former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush should run for president in 2016, the ex-president was unequivocal.
"He'd be a marvelous candidate if he chooses to do so. He doesn't need my counsel 'cause he knows what it is, which is 'run,' " the elder Bush brother said about Jeb's possible candidacy, in an interview that first aired Wednesday on "World News with Diane Sawyer." "But whether he does or not, it's a very personal decision."
The former president even allowed himself to picture the potential 2016 matchup: Jeb Bush vs. Hillary Rodham Clinton. It would be a family rematch of the 1992 election, when George H.W. Bush lost to Bill Clinton.
"It'll be a fantastic photo here. It would certainly eclipse the museum and the center," Bush said on the eve of the formal opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University, just outside Dallas. "I'm interested in politics. I'm, you know, I'm fascinated by all the gossip and stuff that goes on. But the field won't be become clear 'til after the midterms."
Asked for a word of advice to the Republican Party, the former president struck an optimistic note amid rounds of GOP soul-searching: "You will exist in the future," he said with a smile.
On several major issues, though, Bush made clear he's staying away from day-to-day political battles.
With some Republicans calling for immigration reform to be slowed down in the wake of terrorist attack in Boston apparently carried out by two immigrants, the former president brought up his previous support for comprehensive reform but said he wouldn't be commenting on specific legislation.
"I'm a strong advocate in reforming a broken system," Bush said. "It's a difficult issue for members of Congress to deal with. And they're just gonna have to figure out how best to deal with a very complex issue. And I don't know all the particulars of the bill. I do know the system is not working."
Bush also took a pass on the issue of gun control and expanded background checks, which he voiced support for as president.
"There's a lotta issues that people would like to get my opinion on, and I really decided to stay out of the public arena," he said.
He took a similar tack on gay marriage, which Bush opposes — a position that puts him at odds with his former vice president, Dick Cheney; his 2004 campaign manager, Ken Mehlman; and his wife, Laura, and daughter Barbara.
"No, but thank you for trying," Bush said when asked whether he'd like to explain his position in that fast-evolving debate. "I'm not weighing in on issues. … See, you're either in or out."


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6 Must-Try Pastries from Dovetail Bakery, Portland, OR
NE Alberta Street in Portland has an incredible lineup of food establishments. And Dovetail Bakery, an all-vegan spot at the corner of NE 31st Avenue and Alberta, is one of them.
Food has been a huge part of owner Morgan Grundstein-Helvey's life, and that love and history comes out when you try her baked goods. While in college in San Francisco, Morgan earned extra money by selling homemade baked cookies. When she moved to Portland, she longed to get back into baking. Morgan noticed the lack of vegan bakeries around town, and she started Dovetail as a side project. Before long, Morgan had a successful business on her hands.
Morgan sticks with fresh, local, organic ingredients, avoiding processed foods and refined sugars. Only a few tweaks are required to keep everything vegan. For example, Morgan uses vegan Earth Balance instead of butter. Soy milk or coconut milk replaces regular milk, and egg replacer is used if necessary.
Originally intending to try only a couple of popular items, resistance became futile with each delicious choice. Somehow, we've narrowed it down to six baked goods that are must-trys when visiting this classic Portland bakery.
Dovetail Bakery:
3039 NE Alberta St., Portland, OR 97211; (503) 288-8839; map; dovetailbakery.blogspot.com
About the Author: Aaron Wakamatsu is a food blogger who loves to eat very spicy food. He also loves delicious, normal meals, but still prefers to entertain friends by consuming random fiery combinations. Please follow him on Twitter @aaronwakamatsu.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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I'm back writing articles for clients. But only as a part-timer. Now that I'm a fulltime stay-at-home-mom, I only get to work for a few hours. I am not complaining though. The little money that I earn helps anyway. I am happy that I get to choose which topics to work on. I sometimes accept topics that are challenging, those that I need to research on first. And I learn, which is good. Just the other day, I had to write about heroin addiction and rehab. Thankfully, I have no one close to me who is addicted to this substance or any other drugs, but writing about it made me understand individuals and families who had to go through that ordeal.
Anyway, yeah. Life is kinda busy these days; my hands are full with the girls and Ane, the house, and my work. I'll try to drop by here as often as I could.


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Advice from Recent Graduates
"Don't be afraid to take classes outside of your major and experiment around because you always seem to need to find fill in classes."
"Keep in close contact with the advisors and double-check everything because even your advisors are human and can gloss over things. Also, maintain close relations with your major advisor so that you do not fall behind. Have fun, be safe. Don't think that because you have only three years you are missing out on something. Live every day in Ashland to the fullest."
"Keep on top of your scheduling. In more cases than not (three of my good friends are all in different majors in the Acc Bacc program) you will run into problems because your major advisor is only specialized in a four year program, not three. Be prepared to be flexible and take on more, not less."
"Take it one day at a time."
"Take the time to sit down and plan out your three years, it will definitely make things less stressful as you go along. Keep an updated list of required courses you still need, it helps when planning things out."
"Take advantage of your advisors and their knowledge; they know the program better than you. Enjoy your classes... you only have three years!"
"Take the initiative to seek out your place at SOU."
"Know what classes you need right away. Don't get overwhelmed; the key is to plan well and know what you're doing."
"Plan ahead and take fewer credits in the last year; plan to go abroad."
"Many advisors don't know much of anything about the Accelerated Baccalaureate program. If you are really trying to graduate in three years, you have to be organized and figure your schedule out on your own. Advisors are there to look it over, but you need to know what your three-year plan is. The program staff was the only advisor who actually cared that I was in the three-year program and was the only one who helped me make sure I had everything right."


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Autumn Apger had to look twice last Tuesday evening to make sure she saw what she thought she saw.
She was driving south on Page Street and approaching East Locust when she saw a small herd of deer running into town on Locust Street. She counted seven in all—mostly bucks—and noticed they were being chased by someone in a loudly honking automobile.
She called 911, fearing that anyone out walking could be injured in a collision with a charging whitetail.
It was a head-slapper of a report for her husband, Ron, when he returned home.
"I was sitting out in my deer blind wondering where all the deer were," he said.


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If you've ever toured a winery, particularly a cellar, you've probably seen it – the glass or plastic stopper wedged into the top or side of a barrel. The stopper itself is called a "bung." So it only follows that the whole in which that stopper is wedged is called the "bunghole." There is a hole here for obvious reasons – how else do you get the wine in or out of the barrel? Winemakers also use the bunghole for stirring the wine on its lees, tasting the wine during the aging process and of course, racking the wine when it has finished its time in the barrel.
So next time you're touring the cellar, go ahead and use this slightly off-beat (I say this only because apparently Beavis & Butt-head used it in a more derogatory way) wine term since you're well aware of what it actually means.


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AT THE PALACE: Tickets on sale for Elmo Super Heroes show
WATERBURY >> Calling all super heroes! Super Grover needs your help - and it's Elmo and the Fabulous Five to the rescue when this fantastic musical production zooms into Waterbury. Join Elmo, Zoe, Abby Cadabby, Telly Monster and Zoe's pet rock Rocco for Sesame Street Live "Elmo's Super Heroes" at the Palace Theater from Saturday, April 20 through Sunday, April 21. Tickets for all four performances go on sale Feb. 13.
When Super Grover loses his superness, Sesame Street needs a hero! Never fear, Elmo and his team of super heroes are here. Teaching lessons of healthy habits through song and dance, Elmo, Abby Cadabby and your favorite Sesame Street friends will explore exercise, nutrition, sleep/energy and hygiene - all in a quest to put the "super" back in Super Grover. It's Elmo's Super Heroes to the rescue!
Sesame Street Live "Elmo's Super Heroes" features an array of popular (and healthy!) songs, many of them renditions of tunes that parents will remember and kids will love: "Old MacDonald," "Splish Splash," "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Sunny Days." Like television's Sesame Street, each Sesame Street Live production features timeless lessons for all ages. Through the dazzle of this full-blown Broadway-quality show, the production will teach children lessons in healthy habits that they can use long after the show ends. Adults will appreciate the universal appeal of Sesame Street Live, the high-tech stagecraft and cleverly written scripts.
Performance dates are Saturday, April 20, 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.; Sunday, April 21, 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. at Palace Theater, 100 East Main Street, Waterbury, CT 06702.
Tickets are $15 and $25. A limited number of $35 Gold Circle seats and $65 Sunny Seats are also available. A facility fee of $3 will be added to all ticket prices. Additional fees and special offers may apply.
Special $65 Sunny Seat packages are available at all shows. Sunny Seats feature VIP seats and a pre-show meet and greet with two Sesame Street Live friends.
For more information, or to order tickets by phone, please call (203)-346-2000. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.palacetheater.ct.org. For information online, please visit www.sesamestreetlive.com. Become a fan of Sesame Street Live on Facebook.


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Just a few:
The Pat McAfee Show - Ex-Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee. Dude is hilarious and has some really good insight on the NFL.
The Lowe Post - Zach Lowe (ESPN) talks about basketball. He has a great basketball mind for sure.
Spittin' Chiclets - Part of the Barstool Sports network. Hockey podcast featuring former players.
How Did This Get Made - Jason Mantzoukas, Paul Scheer, and June Diane Raphael discuss terrible movies, sometimes with an audience.
The Bill Simmons Podcast - General sports and pop culture from The Ringer's Bill Simmons.
SWIM (Someone Who Isn't Me) - Daniel P Carter from BBC1 interviews musicians/artists. They're not frequent, but they're always good.
There are various other sports-related shows in there, but those are probably my favorites.


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We can rule out any possible return of Toby Hall to the Rays. Buried at the bottom of the Iwamura article is the news that Hall has been offered a minor league contract by the Rays. Hall scoffed at the idea and was quoted as saying "That was funny…I guess it would be a minor-league contract because they're a minor-league team." Of course in 85 games with his Major League team last season, Hall could only manage to crack the starting lineup 13 times, and then he was non-tendered. So does that make Toby Hall a minor leaguer? We promise not laugh too hard when Hall ends up signing a minor league deal with another ball club.
Devil Rays Webtopia
- One day after the Pink Hats That Are The Boston Red Sox reached an agreement with their Japanese League acquisition, it now appears that a deal between the Rays and Akinori Iwamura is imminent. On a side note, we are getting tired of looking up how to spell his name. We are desperate for a nickname for this kid. Kino? Wamu? While a deal for Iwamura answered one question, it actually raises more questions for the Rays roster. Most likely Iwamura will be the opening day third baseman for the D-Rays. That leaves B. J. Upton without a position, and likely back in Durham at the beginning of the season. However, the Rays continue to dabble in the trade market and this signing increases the chance that somebody is going to be traded. The most rumored player to be on the move is Rocco Baldelli. If Rocco were traded, Upton would likely be shifted to center field. However at this point all comers have balked at the Rays asking price. If Rocco is not moved, the Rays may decide to just trade Upton. While still considered a great prospect, the Rays would receive less than full value for Upton due to his uninspiring play at the major league level and the growing questions about his ability to ever field a position, any position. Finally, the Rays could decide to deal Jorge Cantu, or move him to first base. Moving Cantu would allow Iwamura to be the everyday second baseman and Upton would remain at third base for the time being.
- Yesterday was the non-tender deadline, in which arbitration eligible players were required to receive a contract offer from their ballclubs. Players not receiving a contract offer immediately became free agents. The Rays non-tendered Damon Hollins. The move frees up a second spot on the 40-man roster. One of those spots will be filled by Akinori Iwamura, and the second needs to be filled by a utility infielder.
- In addition to Damon Hollins, the non-tender list of major league players is a who's who of former Devil Rays. Toby Hall, Mark Hendrickson, Victor Zambrano and Jorge Sosa were all awarded free agency yesterday by their respective clubs.
- Dropping Victor Zambrano was just the final barb for the Mets since they traded Scott Kazmir to the Rays. In 35 starts for the Mets, The Human Walkman, Zambrano, was 10-14 and spent most of his time on the DL. At one point it appeared that Zambrano's career may be over, but now it appears that he is healthy and ready to pitch again. If Zambrano signed with the Rays and found even a modicum of success in the bullpen, Met's fans everywhere may need white jackets.
- Another player granted free agency was second baseman Marcus Giles. The Rays are one of three clubs that are rumored to be interested in the former Atlanta Brave. Signing Giles seems unlikely, as it would require both B. J. Upton and Jorge Cantu to change positions and/or be traded.
- The odds of the Rays winning the 2007 World Series? 100:1. Only the Washington Nationals are a longer shot at 150:1. Quite frankly we think that the number is missing a couple of zeros.


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BBB Advice on Giving to Tornado Relief Charities
As posted on March 5, 2012 on www.bbb.org
Americans seeing the devastation wreaked by recent tornadoes are responding with generous gifts of time and money, as they've traditionally responded to disasters throughout the world. But even when needs are close to home, givers should take steps to assure themselves that their donations will go to legitimate and reputable charities and relief efforts that have the capability to help victims, cautions the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance.
"Despite long experience in giving for major natural disasters, and with the desire to quickly help those in need, Americans sometimes forget to heed advice that's relevant to all charitable giving," says Art Taylor, President and CEO of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance. "In the present situation, we advise donors especially to learn about what individual charities are doing and the time frame of their work. Donors who know what to expect from the charities they support are less likely to question the benefit of their gifts."
BBB Wise Giving Alliance offers the following five tips to help Americans decide where to direct donations:
Take time to check out the charity. The best way to avoid being disappointed in helping Storm Relief Charities is to find out more about the charity before making the donation. Unfortunately, most people don't. Donors should review the charity's website and go to third party sites such as the BBB Wise Giving Alliance (www.bbb.org/charity) to learn more about the charity and verify its accountability.
Identify what stage of relief the charity intends to provide. There are three general stages to relief efforts. Find out which stage the charity is intending to address. The Emergency Response stage involves immediate assistance and rescue needs and takes place within the first days after the storm. Next, Disaster Relief occurs in the first month and provides clothing and temporary shelter for displaced families. Finally, the Recovery Stage can last over a year and involves clean up, repair and/or rebuilding homes, and other long-term recovery needs.
Find out if the charity is providing direct aid or raising money for other groups. Some charities may be raising money to pass along to relief organizations. If so, you may want to consider "avoiding the middleman" and giving directly to charities that have a presence in the region. Or, at a minimum, check out the ultimate recipients of these donations to ensure the organizations are equipped to effectively provide aid.
Be wary of claims that 100 percent of donations will assist relief victims. Despite what an organization might claim, charities have fund raising and administrative costs. Even a credit card donation will involve, at a minimum, a processing fee. If a charity claims that 100 percent of collected funds will be assisting disaster victims, the truth is that the organization is still probably incurring fund raising and administrative expenses. They may use some of their other funds to pay this, but the expenses will still be incurred.
Verify if the charity is registered to solicit donations in your state. Most states require charities to register with a state agency (usually the Attorney General's office or the Secretary of State's office) in order to solicit charitable contributions. Contact your appropriate state agency to determine if the soliciting disaster relief charity is properly registered. Watch out for newly created entities that do not have a track record and/or experience in providing disaster relief.
For more information or to schedule an interview with a BBB Wise Giving Alliance spokesperson, contact Kelsey Owen at 703-247-9376.
About the BBB Wise Giving Alliance
The BBB Wise Giving Alliance produces reports on over 1,300 nationally soliciting charitable organizations. The BBB Wise Giving Alliance does not rank charities but rather seeks to assist donors in making informed judgments by providing objective evaluations of national charities based on 20 strict standards. The outcomes of the evaluations are available online at www.bbb.org/charity. The BBB Wise Giving Alliance is an affiliate of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the national organization representing 123 BBBs serving communities across the U.S. and Canada – evaluating and monitoring nearly 4 million local and national businesses and charities. Please visit www.bbb.org for more information about BBB.


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I recently worked on a project to create a custom content folio renderer in WebCenter Content. It needed to output the native files in the folio along with a manifest file in HTML format which would list the contents of the folio along with any designated metadata and a relative link to the file within the download. This way a person could hand someone the folio download and it would be a self-contained package with all of the content and a single file to display the information on the contents.
Main Article
The default Zip rendition of the folio will output the web-viewable version of the file with an HDA formatted file for each one. And unless you are fluent in HDA or have a tool to read them, they are difficult to consume.
I thought this might be useful for others, so I'm posting a copy of the component here. Beyond the standard instructions for installing a component, there is an environment configuration file (folionativezipwithmanifestrenderer_environment.cfg) which has a couple of options.
FolioMetadataManifestList - This is a comma separated list of metadata fields (system or custom) that should be included in the manifest file.
FolioMetadataManifestUseOriginalFilename - (True or False) If set to True, the filenames in the zip file will be based on the original filename as it was checked into WebCenter Content. If False, it will use the 'Name' of the item as defined within the Folio. This is usually the Title of the item.
The component also includes the source code, so feel free to use this as a reference for creating other interesting folios.


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Track packages from Oman Post, EMS, USPS, DHL, FedEx and others.
Try: RP000103809OM
Get a personal tracking page to track your parcels from Oman Post or any courier in the world.
Our tracking service supports more than 500 couriers, including Oman Post, EMS, USPS, DHL, FedEx and others.
Receive status notifications about shipping status updates of your Oman Post package via E-mail.


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SIMONA® PE 100-Line piping systems
Solutions for drinking-water supply
Supplying the population with clean water will be one of the key challenges of the future. For the safe and efficient supply of drinking-water we offer high-quality piping systems with DVWG/SVWG (German and Swiss gas and water associations) approvals.
The benefits of our products are indisputable: excellent corrosion resistance, long service life of up to 100 years, very smooth interior surface to avoid incrustation and high resistance to salty water.
DVGW/SVGW certified products do not affect drinking water quality nor do they impair the supply network.
Special properties
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- DVGW/SVGW approvals


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6 Apps You Don't Want To Miss
6 Apps You Don't Want To Miss (11/3/2012)
It can be tough to keep up with all the new apps released every week. But you're in luck — we take care of that for you, creating a roundup each weekend of our favorite new and updated smartphone applications.
This week we found an app that stitches together 3-second video clips you record into a movie, and another that lets you delete the photos you send to a friend's smartphone.
A popular music app got a huge overhaul this week, and Google put out an update to one of its apps that give Apple's Siri a run for her money.
Check out the gallery above for a look at this week's app highlights.
Still looking for more? See last week's Apps You Don't Want To Miss for more highlights. Think we left a great new app off the list? Let us know about your own app highlights from this week in the comments below.
Photo courtesy iStockphoto, scanrail.