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Two al-Qaida-affiliated forces in Syria nearing war with each other
By ROY GUTMAN | McClatchy Foreign Staff | Published: January 7, 2014
ISTANBUL — The two Islamist fighting forces in Syria affiliated with al-Qaida on Tuesday appeared to be on the edge of an all-out conflict, with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria declaring war on all other factions in the Syrian resistance Tuesday with a blood-curdling statement that urged fighters to "show no mercy" in their 5-day-old conflict.
"We have armies in Iraq and Syria full of hungry lions, who drink their blood and consume their flesh, and they find nothing tastier than the blood" of the groups now fighting ISIS, said Abu Muammad al-Adnani, the ISIS spokesman.
The statement, in an audio recording posted to YouTube, came on the heels of a firm but measured declaration of resistance by Jabhat al Nusra.
ISIS and Nusra are affiliated with al-Qaida. ISIS consists mainly of foreign fighters and is directed from Iraq, while Nusra is Syrian-based and consists mainly of Syrian fighters.
Together, the statements confirmed the fighting that began Friday has turned into an all-out battle pitting all factions in Syria against ISIS.
Nusra leader Abu Mohammad al Julani charged that ISIS' "misguided policies had a significant role in instigating the conflict."
"We will defend ourselves against any aggression directed against us, from whatever source," he said in a recorded statement.
The two radical Islamist forces squared off amid reports that dozens more captured civilians and soldiers have been executed by ISIS fighters.
The surprise offensive has forced ISIS to abandon many of the bases and towns its forces had occupied in the past six months in northern Syria.
Heavy fighting was reported Tuesday around at least three remaining locations occupied by ISIS — Raqqa, the capital of the northeastern province; Aleppo, Syria's biggest city; and Saraqeb, an important crossroads town in Idlib province, where ISIS was reported to be sending reinforcements.
Reports of two new massacres by ISIS centered on the base it set up at the Eye Hospital grounds in Aleppo's Kadi Askar neighborhood. They were likely to add to the growing public fury at ISIS, which until last week dominated the main border crossings into Turkey.
In the first reported massacre, a Syrian media activist was reported as witnessing the execution of 22 civilians, among them five media activists. Four belonged to Nusra and one was a Syrian working for a Saudi television channel, Shadha Alhuria, local activists said.
The second massacre was discovered at the same base by a Nusra fighter who was on a visit, according to leading media activists in Aleppo.
Western reporters have been threatened by ISIS with indefinite detention if they try to cover rebel-held territory, so the allegations could not be independently confirmed.
Ahmad al Ukda, a member of the Union of Syrian Journalists in Aleppo, told McClatchy that a media activist had personally witnessed the execution of the 22 civilians, some of whom were citizen journalists. Other colleagues said the media activist had been covering the fighting from the side of the anti-ISIS rebel forces besieging the ISIS position.
The second reported massacre occurred at the same location.
Ghassan Yassin, a journalist and activist in Aleppo, said a fighter with Nusra saw the corpses of the dead while on a visit to the Kadi Askar base. The soldier had received permission from ISIS to visit his brother, who was supposed to have been detained by ISIS, and was astonished to find him dead among at least 20 corpses — some of them Nusra fighters.
The soldier declined to be interviewed by McClatchy via Skype.
ISIS, whose main tactic is the use of suicide bombers, now is using that strategy to break into the garrisons of other resistance groups and to attack civilians. One attack was made against a base of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army in Darkoush, a town northwest of Idlib, and there were reports of a second attack against the Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham.
In an audio tape Tuesday, Julani said the disagreements with ISIS "have accumulated over time without any means of resolution."
He cited the case of Nusra's top commander in Raqqa province, Abu Saad al-Hadrami, whom he said ISIS had kidnapped, and whose fate today "is between missing and killed."
He called for a cease-fire with ISIS, in order to strengthen the battle against the Assad regime, and urged ISIS to resolve its differences with the other groups through recourse to religious courts. But he said for Nusra, the ISIS behavior so far amounted to sedition.
The 37-minute statement by Adnani, the ISIS spokesman, singled out anyone linked with the Western-backed Syrian Coalition, as well as the Supreme Military Council, as "targets of ISIS." He labeled the rising against ISIS an "awakening," similar to the rising of Sunni tribes against al-Qaida in Iraq that began in 2005 during the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
He said anyone who calls for a secular state in Syria — as does the Syrian Coalition — "is an agent for and a partner of the Jews and the Crusaders," a favorite jihadi reference to Israel and the West.
He called on the factions fighting ISIS to "repent or face the same fate as the awakening movements of Iraq." But he called on the ISIS fighters to "show no mercy to their enemy, 'the awakenings.'"
Nusra announced its presence on the Syrian scene in January 2012, 10 months after the start of the national uprising against President Bashar Assad. Its membership was comprised largely of Syrians who had fought in Iraq against the American invasion. Following a public appeal by al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri a short time later, foreign volunteers started arriving to fill its ranks.
It was widely viewed as the most effective of the forces fighting the Assad regime until April 2013, when Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State of Iraq, announced that ISIS would take over for Nusra.
Julani publicly rejected Baghdadi's claim, Baghdadi broke off along with most of the thousands of foreign volunteers, and the rivalry began.
In the fighting that began Friday, Nusra has attempted to serve as a go-between, helping to negotiate the surrender of ISIS forces, with mixed results.
Julani on Tuesday called on all Nusra fighters to defend the foreign volunteers who'd come to Syria to fight the regime. But he also warned them: "Do not allow your journey and your jihad to be used for any purpose other than the great cause you have joined. Do not allow your fighting to be directed toward other priorities."


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It's that time of year again and the demons are desperate.
Crown of Thorns336730
- by Kumiko-san
- Rating:
- Published: 19 Aug 2016
- Updated: 19 Aug 2016
- Status: Complete
The war was something that she never desired, but her birthright as a daughter of the Yagari family forced her to be a part of it. She killed level Est and slowly destroyed herself until the night her life was saved. Salvation was a distant dream, but maybe it was closer than she had originally believed.
Join MovellasFind out what all the buzz is about. Join now to start sharing your creativity and passion
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subset: commoncrawl


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LAS VEGAS – Just a week after Anthony Pettis became next in line for the UFC's lightweight title, and not yet an hour after Jose Aldo again defended his featherweight belt, Dana White got a bit of a surprise.
Pettis told the UFC president he wants to drop down to featherweight for a shot at Aldo's belt.
White, reluctantly at first, made the announcement at the post-fight news conference for UFC 156, at which Aldo beat Frankie Edgar in the main event for his sixth defense of the 145-pound title.
UFC 156 took place at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas with a main card on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and Facebook.
"Anthony Pettis texted me and he said, 'I want to go to 145 and fight Jose Aldo,'" White said. "He just texted me 10 minutes ago. He'd go down, telling me he'd go to 145."
White said he had not yet responded to Pettis, the former WEC lightweight champion.
Pettis (16-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) this past week at UFC on FOX 6 in Chicago stopped Donald Cerrone (19-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC) in the first round, and after the fight White said Pettis was next in line for the lightweight title. Champion Benson Henderson is scheduled to defend that title in April at UFC on FOX 7 against former Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez. Pettis is in line to meet the winner of that fight.
Aldo (22-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) beat Edgar (14-4-1 MMA, 9-4-1 UFC) in a five-round unanimous decision. As for who would be next in line for him, that was up in the air. Ricardo Lamas (13-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) made a case at UFC on FOX 6 with a devastating second-round TKO of Erik Koch to improve to 4-0 in the lightweight division.
If the UFC were to make an Aldo-Pettis fight happen, that would leave Lamas on the outside looking in. But White said a possibility would be that he could fight Chan Sung Jung, "The Korean Zombie," who currently is sidelined with an injury.
"If (Pettis) went down and fought (Aldo), you do Zombie and Lamas," White said. "But Zombie's hurt. Zombie's out for a while still." White said he believes Jung might be out until late spring.
White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) following the news conference that if Pettis didn't wind up making the drop, he was unsure who would be next in line for Aldo.
Aldo said he's willing to fight anyone the UFC puts in front of him
"It's up to Dana, but that is an interesting fight," Aldo said. "I train to fight the best and respect them all. Pettis is almost there with a title shot in his own division, but that would be an interesting fight."
For more on UFC 156, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.
(Pictured: Anthony Pettis)


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- By Steve ShifmanFebruary 10, 2012
- By Steve Shifman
Next Avenue Editors Also Recommend:
- 7 Ways to Avoid Losing Your Job
- 5 Career Lessons From the Wisest Americans
- The Truth About Career Coaches
Next Avenue brings you stories that are inspiring and change lives. We know that because we hear it from our readers every single day. One reader says,
"Every time I read a post, I feel like I'm able to take a single, clear lesson away from it, which is why I think it's so great."
Your generous donation will help us continue to bring you the information you care about. Every dollar donated allows us to remain a free and accessible public service. What story will you help make possible?
© Twin Cities Public Television - 2020. All rights reserved.


text:
How do I know what age group my child will play?
Age control dates are:
Basketball Sept. 1, Softball Jan.1, Baseball May 1, Soccer Dec. 31, Cheerleading Sept. 1, Football September.1
Is there a rain-out hotline?
Rain-out line is 678-835-1073
Out-of-city/county fee?
The out-of-county fee is $40
What teams might my child compete against?
Our teams could play against and travel to: Carroll County Rec. Dept., Bowdon, Temple, Mt. Zion, Bremen, Haralson Co., Tallapoosa, Heard Co., Cedartown, and Carrollton
What does my registration fee provide?
Uniforms, officials, and equipment expenses will be covered by registration fees.
How do I become a coach?
We register coaches during the same time as registration for kids. Coaches must complete background check and sport specific certification.
How are teams divided?
Teams are divided by skill level and every effort is made to make teams as even as possible.
Is my property in the city or county?
Each city is incorporated and sets their own rules and regulations. To find out if you are in a city or in the unincorporated Carroll County, start by looking up your property on Carroll Tax. If there is a letter in front of your parcel number, then you are in a municipality. No letter, you are in the county.
You can also call the Map Room at 770-830-5820.
Does my child need to attend skill evaluations?
Each child needs to attend at least one skill evaluation to aide in the dividing of teams. Kids that do not attend will be placed on teams at random.


text:
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Olivia Arthur - AFRICA. Water Aid. 2008.
UGANDA. Amuria. 2008At the 'traditional well' women and children fetch water. People say that they try to use this water just for using for laundry and washing up, but as there are so few boreholes and most are broken, many end up using this water for drinking and cooking as well.
TANZANIA. Michese/Chigongwe. 2008 Michese, 2008.
"This district has problems finding and keeping teachers. Some come and see that there is no water and electricity, they come for one day and leave. Some children don't come to school because they have to go and fetch water. There are less children he
TANZANIA. Michese/Chigongwe. 2008 The landscape in this region in incredibly dry, the soil so thin it is like powder.
TANZANIA. Michese/Chigongwe. 2008 Men walk the 15 kilometers from Michese to the nearest town of Dodoma carrying heavy bags of charcoal. Women and men trek the 30 km return trip several days a week in order to sell and buy produce at the market.
TANZANIA. Michese/Chigongwe. 2008 Mwajuma Yona at home in Chigongwe, 2008; "I know about the new water project and I'm very happy. There will be changes because we can get water easily. I think the children will be sick less because the water will be more clean."
TANZANIA. Michese/Chigongwe. 2008 A woman queues for water in Michese, her scarf wound up on her head to help carry her bucket of water home.
TANZANIA. Michese/Chigongwe. 2008 A woman queues for water at one of the only two water holes in Michese, 2008. Before the taps were installed, this community of three thousand people suffered constantly from water scarcity, with the women spending up to six hours each day queuing at the water holes
Tanzania.Michese/Chigongwe.2008 In Michese women hang their washing on the bushes to dry.
TANZANIA. Michese/Chigongwe. 2008 Michese 2008. Fifteen year old Nyemo Amani is helped out of a water hole by neighbours. "I come alone to get water for the six people in my family. I come in the morning and am expecting to come again in the evening, it takes two hours each time, it's difficult to g
TANZANIA. Michese/Chigongwe. 2008 Michese, 2008
At 6am Joyce Yohana Kajembe waits at the top of the deep waterhole in the moonlight. She has been here since 4am in the bitter cold, the water so scarce and the queue so long she has only managed to gather two buckets so far. When she has gathered thre
TANZANIA. Michese/Chigongwe. 2008After work and chores are finished at the end of the day the community gets together for a drink of the locally brewed beer choya.
TANZANIA. Michese/Chigongwe. 2008 In 2008 in Chigongwe the tap is turned on for the first time as part of the water project funded by WaterAid and Simavi. Gracie Masuguzi collects the very first bucket.
TANZANIA. Michese/Chigongwe. 2008
TANZANIA. Michese/Chigongwe. 2008 A weigh-in at the ante- and pre-natal care session at the clinic in Chigongwe responsible for the delivery of babies and care of mothers. In 2008 Clinical Medical Officer Dorothy Moslu described her work as difficult; "I am alone, I work twenty four hours a day, sev
TANZANIA. Michese/Chigongwe. 2008"I collect a lot of water. I use it for drinking, cleaning, cooking, all kinds of things. I have to go two or three times. Sometimes there is a queue of women. Sometimes I come and leave the buckets and go away and then I can come back after an hour to get water. Som
TANZANIA. Michese/Chigongwe. 2008Chigongwe 2008
Before the water project women used to collect water from holes dug deep into the dry riverbed. The water would seep so slowly through the sand that the women started every morning at 4am to queue for their turn - each taking up to two hours to fill on
UGANDA. Amuria. 2008On a Sunday people gather to watch films in the local cinema. Hassan Okello, owner, says that Jean-Claude Van Damm films are the most popular; "fighting interspersed with bullets!" The population growth in Amuria means that the cinema is busier than ever, with Hassan able to buy
UGANDA. Amuria. 2008In 2008 Esther Ariao, 22, was pregnant with her third child. "I go about twice a day to fetch water. I use it for cooking, washing clothes, washing plates and the babies. It is more difficult to carry water now that I am pregnant. It will be a big big relief to us to have more ti
UGANDA. Amuria. 2008"I have lived here for a long time. I moved here from Wila - not far. I came to escape the fighting during the 1985 civil war. It was not easy coming here, I had to run through the bush. I had torn skin and clothes. I arrived with nothing, not even a change of clothes. I didn't k
UGANDA. Amuria. 2008Amuria suffered a flood in July 2007 that killed hundreds of people and destroyed crops, homes and livelihoods. Temporary boreholes were put in at the time to provide water but the severe water shortage here meant that these were still in use in 2008 despite the water being conta
UGANDA. Amuria. 2008In 2008 the St John Catholic Church was mid-way through construction. While the services took place in a simple thatched building next door, the priest held confession in the semi-constructed church.
UGANDA. Amuria. 2008Amuria's football team warm up before a county match in 2008. They won the game…
UGANDA. Amuria. 2008Farida Acam bathes her baby at the end of the day. Amuria, 2008.
UGANDA. Amuria. 2008Eid in Amuria in 2008. The Acam family break their fast at sunset with tea, yams and bean stew.
UGANDA. Amuria. 2008Boys run to the water hole on Toronogwe rock for swimming after school.
UGANDA.Amuria.2008"The rebels (LRA) took me at night. I was sixteen when they came. They came into the house when they were attacking the village, it was chaos. When I was with them they were moving all the time, to escape capture and to find other children. We had to carry sugar and salt, very heav
UGANDA. Amuria. 2008
UGANDA.Amuria 2008
An abattoir worker fetches water from a dirty stream to clean the meat. This was the only water source, making it impossible to keep conditions sanitary.
Now that Amuria has running water, a new abattoir is being built, cutting down the opportunity for disease to spread through c
UGANDA.Amuria 2008
Men skin a freshly killed cow in Amuria's old abattoir.
UGANDA.At school in Amuria, 2008
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text: Being an established commercial Photographer & a self taught artist I feel proud n refresh by converting one form of art into another. My Principle is to move n move forward and live life to the fullest. I'm passionate to explore myself as Fine Artist.I have successfully done the following Exhibitions in different states of India :-SOLO SHOW • Solo show Glimpse of India at Gandhi Art Gallery, M .G Road Sultanpur, Jan 2017, Delhi.• Solo show at Marwah Studio by Indo Nepal Film and Cultural Forum, April 2016, Noida.• Solo show My India at Lokayata Art Gallery, Hauz Khas Village, Oct 2015, Delhi.GROUP SHOWS• Group show Summer Symphony at Gold Souk by Uchaan Foundation, May 2017, Gurugram.• Group show Summer Symphony at Lokayata Art Gallery,Hauz Khas Village by Uchaan Foundation, April 2017,Delhi.• Group show Creatives of India at Gaiety Heritage Cultural Complex by Creative Zone, March 2017, Shimla.• Group show by GROUP 21 at Gandhi Art Gallery, M.G. Road Sultanpur, March 2017, Delhi.• Group show National Level Art Exhibition Cum Competition Mindscape by Rasrang Arts,at Gandhi Art Gallery, Sultanpur, March 2017, Delhi.• 6th Annual Art Exhibition by GROUP 21 at Fine Art Museum, Feb 2017, Chandigarh.• Creations a group show at AIFACS Gallery, March 2016, Delhi.• Group show in All India Art Competition & Exhibition by Agnipath at Artizen Art Gallery,Dec 2015, Delhi.• Group show Art n Art by Nav Shri Art & Culture at Artizen Art Gallery, Nov 2015, Delhi.• Group show Contemporary Expression at Artizen Art Gallery by Art Mantra, Nov 2015, Delhi.• Annual Art Exhibition organised by Sahitya Kala Parishad at AIFACS, Nov 2015, Delhi.My Awards and Recognition are:-• Won First Prize in a Group Show Creatives of India at Gaiety Heritage Cultural Complex,March 2017, Shimla.• Won Gold Medal in National Level Art Exhibition Cum Competition Mindscape organized by Rasrang Arts at Gandhi Art Gallery, Sultanpur, March 2017, Delhi.• Won Gold Medal in All India Art Competition & Exhibition organized by Agnipath at Artizen Art Gallery, Dec 2015, Delhi.• Won 1st Prize in a Group Show Contemporary Expression organized by Art Mantra at Artizen Art Gallery, Nov 2015, Delhi.


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The theme of this year's spring meeting is Pulsating Stars. The meeting will begin on Thursday evening at 6pm CDT with a keynote address by Dr. Horace Smith, Professor Emeritus of Michigan State University and a noted expert on RR Lyrae stars. Dr.
August 20, 2015: Prof. Simon Jeffery (Armagh Observatory; Trinity College Dublin) has requested photometric monitoring of the pulsating helium and zirconium-rich hot subdwarf LS IV -14 116 in support of upcoming HST and VLT/UVES spectroscopy. AAVSO observations will supplement photometry due to be obtained with the SAAO 1.0-m and IAC 0.8-m telescopes from 18 August to 2 September 2015. Photometry is requested beginning immediately through 2 September.
By Dr. Kristine Larsen, Central Connecticut State University
The pulsating red supergiant Antares ("anti-Mars"), at V = 1.06, is the 15th-brightest star in the night sky, but it gets less attention than its near-twin Betelgeuse. Check the length of their entries in wikipedia, for instance.
October 17, 2012


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The mid-afternoon can be a difficult time for your body and brain.
Blood sugar levels tend to drop between afternoon and evening, causing your energy level to fall and your brain function to become sluggish due to a lack of oxygen.
More: 10 Ways to Increase Energy
Many folks will reach for a candy bar for a boost of energy or even head to a nearby bar for happy hour. But these "quick fixes" will only add to your fatigue. What is really needed is a natural boost.
What Your Brain Really Needs
A well-balanced diet, exercise, brain activities and plenty of rest are essential elements for a healthy brain. It also needs oxygen. And without the proper circulation of blood—which delivers oxygen—your brain will not function well.
Proper brain functioning requires a balance of proper breathing and the right flow of carbon dioxide and nitric oxide for circulation.
More: 4 Ways to Fuel Your Brain
When you go to the doctor for an exam, one of the vital signs looked at is oxygen saturation. The doctor's office attaches a pulse oximeter to the end of your finger. This tells them how well your blood cells are saturated with oxygen.
This is important because your brain uses about three times as much oxygen as your muscles. Brain cells are sensitive to a decrease in oxygen levels. Brain cells won't function or survive very long without oxygen.
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Orlando, FL – The Rocket Bottle Plus is taking the blending world by storm! Rocket Bottle, LLC is planning the launch of a new innovative portable and rechargeable blender "Rocket Bottle Plus.
In August of 2015, Archie Askie inventor of Rocket Bottle Plus was stationed in Afghanistan and needed a suitable device to mix his protein drinks. With limited resources, it was nearly an impossible task to find the right blender that was portable, lightweight, and easy-to-use. Archie recognized this problem and being a warrior by body, and innovator by mind, formulated the perfect device to suit his nutritional needs. This device was named the Rocket Bottle Plus.
The Rocket Bottle Plus is designed to let the user make blended drinks such as margaritas, smoothies, or protein shakes on the go. The Rocket Bottle Plus is perfect for the beach, camping, road trips, gym, or tailgating for the big game because unlike traditional blenders it doesn't require an outlet to operate. Simply charge the Rocket Bottle Plus and use it whenever you are ready to make your favorite blended drinks.
The Rocket Bottle Plus sports a sleek design that is aesthetically pleasing and functional. Its rechargeable motor spins 6 blades at a baffling 18,000 RPM, and of course, it is lightweight and portable to make blending on the go a breeze. Other features are below:
- Leak Proof
- Odor and Stain Resistant
- Easy to Clean
- Holds 22oz (650ml)
- 6 blade blending system
- Up to 18,000 RPM
- Rechargeable Batteries (20 blends or 2 hours run time)
- Designed in America
Surveys show that 81% of people own multiple shaker bottles and blenders, and the Rocket Bottle Plus aims to cut that number down to one for everybody. 45% of these owners replace their mixer every 6 months and 75% of these owners experienced a foul odor coming from their shaker or blender. The Rocket Bottle Plus will be the last blender bottle you will ever need, serving as a mixer that also blends ice, fruits, and vegetables. With its odor and stain resistant design, you will be able to drink in comfort without the foul smell of previous mixes. Overall, the Rocket Bottle Plus will eliminate the need for fragile shaker bottles and bulky blenders leaving you with more money in your pocket to buy more nutritional supplements, take a vacation, and/or spend quality time with your loved ones.
The Rocket Bottle Plus is poised to take the blending and nutritional world by storm at an affordable price. Rocket Bottle, LLC is allowing early supporters to take advantage and is offering exclusive prices and rewards via his Kickstarter campaign that is coming soon in June.
Sign up for the Rocket Bottle's newsletter here https://www.rocketbottleplus.com/ to receive $20 off your first purchase
About Rocket Bottle, LLC
Rocket Bottle, LLC established in 2016, has developed the Rocket Bottle Plus to replace the existing blenders and mixers on the market today. Rocket Bottle Plus is a portable and rechargeable blender that pack a sleek luxurious design and the functionality of most home blenders.
Media Contact
Company Name: Rocket Bottle, LLC
Contact Person: Archie Askie
Email: email@example.com
Phone: 352-973-2750
Country: United States
Website: https://www.rocketbottleplus.com/


text: "The word boondock originated early in the 20th century from American military servicemen serving in the Philippines. It comes from a Tagalog word for mountain bundog. They started using it to mean a rural, remote, bushy area. When they came home they developed the slang word "boonies". The RV community adopted the word to use it to describe remote camping in rural areas."


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The Sitcom Sultan
Kelsey Grammer became an actor because "it was the closest thing to surfing I could do for the rest of my life."
Growing up near Cocoa Beach, Florida, Grammer spent his spare time chasing waves—at Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale "and Boca had some nice breaks." But he discovered acting in high school and found the same thrill treading the boards as in riding a surfboard: "There was something about it—the energy, the magnificent connection."
Forty years later, Grammer is still riding the wave as an actor—despite the occasional wipeout. Professionally, there haven't been many spills. Grammer's career got its liftoff in 1984 in what was supposed to be a brief arc as a guest star on the classic sitcom "Cheers," as the very proper Dr. Frasier Crane. He ended up playing the character for 20 years, in 203 "Cheers" episodes, before effortlessly segueing into one of the most successful spin-off series of all time, "Frasier," for another 263 episodes. The latter show earned him a shelf full of Emmy and Golden Globe awards—and set a record by winning five consecutive Emmys as best comedy series.
But as he talks a few days before Thanksgiving, the storm clouds apparently already are forming about his latest series, "Boss," a one-hour drama that just finished its second season on the Starz pay-cable network. Asked whether there would be a third season of the show, for which he won a Golden Globe in its first year, Grammer is politic as he says, "They're talking about it. In my mind, the show is designed to be five or six seasons long in its telling. But there are other options if it turns out the show won't go on. We have another idea of how to button things up so the show comes to a natural end."
Here's hoping that's true—because two weeks later, Starz announced that the show had been cancelled. A two-hour movie—to wrap up the storylines—was being discussed. Which is no less than Mayor Tom Kane deserves. The character at the center of "Boss," Kane—played by Grammer—is the mayor of Chicago, a man who wields what seems to be vast political power over the far-ranging precincts of his city. He's a natural politician and a raging megalomaniac, who also happens to be suffering from a degenerative brain disease that leaves him prone to hallucinations. He's slowly losing the ability to hide the fact that he can't tell what's real from what's not and spends precious time chasing unorthodox and experimental remedies—or trying to cover up his illness.
But that doesn't stop him from running his city like an iron-fisted dictator. By the last episode of the second season, he had faked an assassination attempt on himself (to buoy his poll ratings), all but crushed the career of the journalist who threatened to discredit him and nearly let his wife suffocate before bringing her back from the brink to remind her that her life is in his hands.
Even before that, however, Kane was never afraid of erring on the side of Tom Kane. Every city project seemed to line his pocket in some way, even as he dallied with women who weren't his wife while letting his drug-addicted daughter go to jail (briefly) for the political message it would send. Early on in the series, Kane nearly tore a man's ear off for failing to hear and act upon his wishes—and then put that same ear down a garbage disposal when the severed appendage was later offered to him as a trophy.
Is there anything this guy wouldn't do?
"Nothing," Grammer says, with mock gruffness—a gravel and gravity in his voice. It's a long way from the elitist tones of Frasier Crane, or Grammer's own voice, for that matter, which is higher and lighter than you'd expected. "What's great about playing Tom Kane is that he's ruthless and capable of anything," Grammer continues. "He's always aware of what must be done to maintain power, and he's willing to do it. The kind of mind he has is usually five or six moves ahead of everybody else. I think I understand his nature.
"If I have the luxury of exploring him more fully, I want to find that something in him that redeems him, something nobody knows about. I want to find that belief, on some deep level, that belief that he's doing the world some good. His final curtain should finally reveal that in some way, so the audience senses that losing him is truly a loss."
Grammer isn't saying whether that finale would include the sight of Kane finally succumbing to his debilitating condition. But Grammer has enjoyed the irony in playing a man of great power who finds himself at the mercy of something he can't control: his own body.
"He's now faced with something bigger," Grammer says. "Death has come knocking earlier than expected. And it is uncompromising."
Playing the character meant toggling between states of consciousness: the alert, eagle-eyed, supersensitive professional and the man slipping into dementia, who cringes or shouts at imaginary figures and nightmarish environments—until he is yanked back to reality. It's a tricky line to walk.
"Even if you're playing an insane person, there's something sane to connect to," Grammer notes. "What's great about Tom Kane is he does care deeply about Chicago—and about his place in it, his place among the men who have run Chicago. There's something redeeming in that.
"Of course, he tends to believe that what's good for Chicago should also be good for him. He believes that having him in charge is what Chicago needs."
"Boss" was not an obvious choice for Grammer—nor Grammer for "Boss," at least not based on his track record for the preceding 25 years or so. He did, after all, play Frasier Crane on NBC for 20 years—and then followed that up three years later with "Back to You," a Fox sitcom that cast him as the vainer, nastier, shirtchasing Chuck Darling. Chuck was a TV news anchorman forced to put his tail between his legs and return to his old station in Pittsburgh, after a spectacular flameout in Los Angeles. There, he discovers that his ex-flame coanchor (played by Patricia Heaton, just out of "Everybody Loves Raymond") is the mother of an adolescent daughter he didn't know he had.
"That show was like the greatest gig ever," Heaton says. "Kelsey is a really great guy who is really efficient. He works really quickly. My kids didn't even know I was working on a show; I was always home. I was sad when that show was canceled."
The series earned some strong reviews—and featured a cast that included such rising stars as Josh Gad and Ty Burrell, as well as veteran comic actor Fred Willard. The zing and the drive came from the rivalry and attraction between Grammer and Heaton, in a show created by the same veterans of "Frasier" who went on to create "Modern Family." But a strike by the Writers Guild of America that started in November 2007 shortened the series' exposure just after its premiere—and when the strike ended in February 2008, the series barely got the chance to play out its first season before being canceled.
"I thought that show had a good head start but unfortunately not," Grammer says with a shrug.
He's quick to admit that his next series, ABC's "Hank," about a disgraced Wall Street executive forced to go live with his family in his wife's rural home town, deserved its quick dismissal in 2009: "It was not a good show. We never found the right tone or rhythm."
So he began discussions with "Boss" creator Farhad Safinia about the possibility of a drama.
"I said I was interested in an updated King Lear," Grammer says. "We thought about Washington, D.C., as a sort of central power place—but then we gravitated to Chicago. It's possible for a man with big shoulders and vision to leave an impression on a city like Chicago. D.C. is a lot more amorphous; Chicago is like a fiefdom, a minor kingdom. And there's definitely something Shakespearean about this character."
Grammer was classically trained at the Juilliard School and had worked extensively in Shakespeare (including a limited run of Macbeth on Broadway in 2000). But he still had to convince Starz executives to consider him for the part.
Actor Martin Donovan, who played Tom Kane's right-hand man in the first season of "Boss" (until Kane had him killed because of a betrayal), says, "Anybody who has played the same character for 20 years—well, I don't know that I'd be able to shake it off. You get into patterns and rhythms. But when he was being Tom Kane, I'd have to remind myself that he had this background that he never got to show as Frasier."
"I thought it was time to surprise people," Grammer says. "Frasier was a successful character; now I wanted to go do the flip side."
People make the mistake, says David Hyde Pierce, of assuming Grammer is like his most famous character. "Watching 'Boss,' I realized that Kelsey is a lot closer to that character than he was to Frasier," says Pierce, who won multiple Emmy Awards playing Frasier's brother Niles, and set a record by being nominated in each of the series' 11 seasons.
"Kelsey is a very powerful guy. And he carries that power easily. It shows what a great actor he is. Frasier so frequently was confused, powerless, befuddled. Kelsey, however, is a leading actor with an incredible gift for character."
Donovan adds, "He's powerful—but he's not intimidating. He was absolutely a strong presence. But he doesn't wield it, or power-trip people. The guy has got a tremendous emotional reserve. He had a lot of pain and anguish in his life—so he has a lot to draw on emotionally. The role of Kane required emotional, volcanic volatility. You can see that in his work. But that's what we do as actors—draw from our own emotional history."
"Frasier is definitely more of a stretch for me than Tom Kane," Grammer says. " When I walk in to work at 'Boss,' I just learn my lines and I'm available. With Frasier, there was a lot more artifice; a lot more of it was about getting from laugh to laugh. Originally, in 'Cheers,' Frasier provided hit-and-run comedy: Get on with a bit of energy and get off. On 'Cheers,' Frasier was a satellite character. But on 'Frasier,' he was the center and everyone else was a satellite. And Frasier reaped a lot of what was funny about them; he was used to reflect what was going on. His reactions allowed the audience to participate in the show with him."
But the well-meaning snob, the persnickety psychotherapist living in a world that seldom meets his expectations—that was only a character, not a reflection of the actor. "I'm not as affected as Frasier," Grammer says. "I don't live in that world. I've got a lot of issues. I guess I'm more emotional than Frasier. Frasier is a little more bogged down in the minutiae. Tom Kane lives big and I've always been that way. I try to live and love fully, with my whole heart."
It extends to his relationship with his castmates. Though they now live on opposite coasts, he and Pierce see each other and talk regularly—and make a point of catching the other on Broadway, when one of them has a show.
Pierce noted, "When you're together for 11 years on a show, especially at the ages we were, a lot of life happens. People get married, sometimes many times. It was a very close company. I feel particularly close to him, like a brother. I adore him."
Grammer had graduated from Juilliard (where he was classmates with Mandy Patinkin) and was waiting tables and looking for work in New York, when he had a revelation.
"I realized that, as long as I was waiting tables, I wasn't an actor—so I quit my job," he recalls. "I said I was no longer a waiter and I got a job acting two days later. I've worked ever since."
He put in a number of years working in regional theaters, then began working regularly in New York, on and off-Broadway. In fact, he was understudying the original production of Hurlyburly on Broadway, while rehearsing for the first workshop production of Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George, when he got the call to read for "Cheers." Grammer admits that he looked down his nose at the idea of doing television, when the role of Frasier was first offered. "I got called in for what they call a personality read, and a couple of weeks later they flew me out to California and gave me the job. I was such a snooty kid about working in TV. I thought, 'Dear God, this could ruin my career.' "
Landing the role of Frasier Crane in "Cheers" seems like just one in a series of cosmic dominoes that had to topple exactly so in order to propel Grammer into what is probably the defining role of his life. For starters, "Cheers," the series he joined at the start of its third season (as the new romantic interest for Shelley Long's Diane Chambers and romantic rival for Ted Danson's Sam Malone), barely survived its first season; it was nearly canceled, despite strong critical support.
When he was cast as Dr. Frasier Crane, the character initially was slated for only a seven-episode run. Instead, Frasier was plugged into the intelligent and well-executed character comedy and became a mainstay of the show, well after Long left the cast. "I was just meant to be a foil for Sam and Diane's relationship—but I was funny enough that they decided to keep me around," he says.
"I remember him being incredibly funny," Ted Danson says of Grammer's audition. "Kelsey is an incredibly talented guy. He's very smart, very bright—and his ability to learn lines is uncanny. When we'd be about to shoot a scene, he would appear to not be paying attention right up until the camera came on and the audience was there. And out came all this complicated comedy with flawless timing."
As the end of "Cheers" drew closer, Grammer negotiated an exit to spin off "Frasier," launching the new series in the fall of 1993, a few months after the final episode of "Cheers" aired. The fact that "Frasier" was a hit wasn't a surprise, given the "Cheers" lineage in the pedigrees of the creative team behind the show. "It was always a pleasure to realize how good it was," Grammer reflects about "Frasier." "To go to work and realize you'd be doing something that was a cut above was energizing. I had a place to go that was always challenging and interesting and fun."
But the fact that the show survived network timeslot meddling after the first successful season does qualify as a bit of a miracle. "I'm not surprised the show was a success," Grammer says. "But I am surprised that it did go for 11 years. That is consistently surprising to me. When they called me after the first season and told me they were moving us to Tuesday night opposite 'Home Improvement,' I was concerned—but I believed in the show. I always thought we would find an audience, no matter what they did to us in terms of scheduling."
The show was moved to Thursdays but "I think we were pitted against 'When Animals Turn on Their Masters,' or something like that. So we went back to Tuesdays and that became our home where we finished out a great run." The success of "Frasier," Pierce says, has to do with both the quality of the writing and the chemistry of the cast, an ensemble the included John Mahoney as Niles's and Frasier's father, Jane Leeves as the father's attendant and Peri Gilpin as the lovelorn producer of Frasier's radio advice show.
"Kelsey is the kind of star who is not intimidated by others' success," Pierce says. "He regularly looked to the other actors for input. He didn't demand to have all of the funny lines." The longer they worked together, Pierce says, the more fraternal the two actors felt in real life. "From the beginning, we had this personal timing and chemistry—the chemistry of brothers," Pierce observes. "It was a match made in heaven. We wondered one time if we went back far enough, whether we'd find that we were actually related. We almost knew what each other was thinking."
With great success, however, comes great press scrutiny. Which is when problems that Grammer had been able to control or hide began to get public attention. His tragic personal history included a father (who he'd rarely seen after his parents divorced when Grammer was 2) shot to death when Grammer was in his teens; a younger sister who was abducted, raped and murdered; twin half-brothers who died in a scuba-diving accident—all within a few years of his departure from Juilliard.
So his long-time drinking—and eventually cocaine use—began to cause Grammer public problems when he gained some fame playing Frasier Crane on "Cheers" and "Frasier." A series of arrests for drunk driving and cocaine possession, beginning in 1988, threatened his career—particularly a 1990 arrest that culminated in a three-year sentence of probation and community service. The last public episode involved a 1996 car accident while intoxicated, after which he entered the Betty Ford Center for a 30-day stint.
"What you see is what you get with Kelsey," Danson says. "But he was always professional, even when he was going through his hardest time. He wasn't secretive about that stuff; he's very much who he is."
Pierce recalls that, even as the media storm built in 1996, Grammer approached it all head on: "He was always an open book," Pierce says. "That's part of his power. He's a very courageous guy. He didn't want to waste time hiding things. There was nothing that happened that we weren't aware of. But we loved him and we were as supportive as we could be. I know the show helped him through that. No matter what else was going on, his craft was sacred to him. And he wasn't going to let anything get in the way of that."
Grammer has stayed out of trouble since then—"It's been 15 years since I was pulled over for DUI," he observes. When he sobered up, he also gave up tobacco: a cigarette habit, as well as a passion for cigars. Not that he doesn't remember his years as a cigar connoisseur with fondness.
"I did enjoy Cuban Cohibas and several others," he says. "There's an art form to it. Smoking a cigar was taking a moment out of the day, usually in the evening, sitting in a bucolic environment, enjoying the taste of tobacco. But I decided to put some things behind me at a certain point. They weren't the best thing for me, in terms of my health. Do I miss cigars? Sometimes."
The only time his substance abuse ever seems to come up anymore is in articles about him: "And I think, 'Dear God, do they have any idea how long ago that was?' There are no longer substances that control me. I don't think that's the thrust of my identity any longer. I would like to believe that it is not the tragedies and challenges of my life that define me but rather what I have accomplished in spite of them. That to me is a far more compelling narrative. If I were to run for office, it wouldn't even be an issue."
Grammer has, in fact, contemplated the idea of seeking public office: "I've thought about it seriously," he says. "But then I'd have to quit acting. And I love being an actor. I'm not quite finished with that yet." Grammer's marital life has been almost as public as his personal struggles. He married for the fourth time in 2011—to Kayte Walsh, a British flight attendant—and, in mid-2012 at the age of 57, became a father for the fifth time. His children range in age from 29 years to seven months—and he has a year-old grandson.
His divorces and remarriages have all served as media fodder, particularly his last one: Ex-wife Camille was filming episodes for the first season of Bravo's "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" even as their marriage was unraveling.
Grammer, however, seemingly shook it all off, says Heaton: "He wears his celebrity so lightly," she notes. "When you've been through as much as he has, you know which stuff ultimately is not important. I really learned from that. He's a very relaxed guy."
Asked about the optimism implicit in marrying for a fourth time, Grammer smiles and says, "Ahh, yes, Samuel Johnson. But this has been a revelation about true love. I've spent more than half my adult life in search of love. Just when I was ready to quit, something came along and surprised me. Kayte has been a continuous revelation. I've had different lessons from the past but the one I'm living today is one where I am consciously present, attentive and honest about how I feel and connect. I admire my wife. I enjoy her. And I know she loves me."
He's similarly effusive about becoming a father again: "It's hard to describe why it seems better this time," he says. "It's not that there was something missing in the past; all of my children are extraordinary. But I am in a real partnership in raising this child. I was not as hands-on in the past. We have no nannies; we take her everywhere. I prefer to live it that way. "It doesn't seem like a different experience being a parent this time. But being present can make all the difference, day to day, morning to night, just being there. Quantity is quality for a child. I want to spend as much time as I can with all my kids."
Which means attending to his own health. Grammer had a scare in 2008 when he had a heart attack in Hawaii, after the cancellation of "Back to You."
"It meant a new landscape for my physical life," Grammer says. "The pills and the working out—I'm focused on trying to stay in shape. All I could think when it happened was, 'Don't show me anything fancy—don't show me the light. I've got things I need to do.'"
Grammer was nominated for a Tony Award when he starred in a Broadway revival of La Cage Aux Folles in 2010, and is eager to return to the stage, though he says that doing a Broadway musical "is like running a marathon every week." He still has roles he'd like to play, though some of them are out of reach. "I'd love to play Hamlet but I'm too damn old," he says with a laugh. "And I'd like to play King Lear, but I've still got 20 years to get to that. I'd love to do another musical and be back on Broadway. And I'd love to make one great film."
One would assume that, after 20 years of playing Frasier Crane (reportedly earning more than $1 million per episode for the final few seasons as star and executive producer of "Frasier") in two shows that perpetually yield residuals from syndication reruns, Grammer would not need to worry about earning a living; before his last divorce, his fortune was estimated to be in the $100-million range.
But Grammer quickly speaks up to debunk that notion. His divorce from Camille reportedly cost him $30 million. Past marriages and child support, as well as a lifestyle that includes two houses in Beverly Hills (one of which he's trying to sell) and one in Malibu, a home in Hawaii and a ski lodge in Colorado, among others, require a breadwinner who keeps the machine oiled.
"When you produce at a certain level, you don't have the option of not doing it," Grammer says. "You need to keep feeding the beast. There are a lot of things in place that require me to keep working. "But I like to work. When I was a kid, I was inspired by John Smith at Jamestown, who said, 'No work, no food.' I think that's the natural order of things. I just believe in it."
If anything, he says, he gets even more satisfaction from acting now than he did as a young man. Age brings experience, if not wisdom, to draw upon when you're on the stage or in front of a camera, in ways the younger Kelsey Grammer could only imagine.
"That audience is a living, breathing thing," he says. "And it's about them. When you go through acting school, they tell you, 'It's not about the audience—it's about you and the character.' That sounds a lot like masturbation to me. It's not art unless someone looks at it. You must attend to the audience or it will bite you. But it's wonderful to live in that moment. When I was on Broadway, for three hours every day, it was a pretty nice way to make a living.
"With practice comes an ease about acting. I love the human experience and I love exploring it through the human imagination. What's great about acting is that the canvas is your imagination. If you've got a good imagination and you're a good observer, you can do anything. It just requires trust—and the willingness to surrender to the kid in you."
Contributing editor Marshall Fine writes about movies and entertainment on his website, www.hollywoodandfine.com.


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All DVDs are scheduled for release Tuesday, but release dates are subject to change.
"Nim's Island"
Rated PG
Most people identify Gerard Butler as the bleached-teeth Spartan leader of "300," but the man's carving out a career filled with diversity: musical-theater adaptations, horror and science fiction, chick-flick weepies and now a family adventure akin to 1984's "Cloak and Dagger."
Here, Abigail Breslin stars as the title character, who lives on a deserted island with her scientist dad Jack (Butler) and a handful of animal friends. But when Jack goes missing at sea and the island is invaded, Nim reaches out via e-mail to Alexandra Rover (Jodie Foster), the author of Nim's favorite adventure novels. Alexandra turns out to be a neurotic who only helps at the insistence of her fictitious creation, Alex Rover (also Butler).
DVD and Blu-ray extras include commentary with Foster and Breslin, a second commentary with filmmakers, three featurettes and deleted scenes. The Blu-ray disc adds four interactive games.
Rated R
Once one of two dueling killer crocodiles slated for release in 2007, "Rogue" got shelved and, eventually, scuttled to DVD in the wake of "Primeval" (one of last year's best guilty-pleasure films).
Written and directed by Greg McLean ("Wolf Creek"), the film is available stateside unrated on DVD as part of Dimension's Extreme shingle. Michael Vartan ("Alias") plays a cynical American travel writer on assignment in the Australian Outback, where he boards a boat captained by Radha Mitchell ("Silent Hill"). One by one, its passengers are picked by off by a carnivorous croc.
DVD extras include a commentary with McLean, a making-of documentary, mini-documentaries and a featurette.
Also next week
Straight-to-DVD stalwart Casper Van Dien returns to the franchise that was supposed to make him a major movie star with "Starship Troopers 3: Marauder." Now a colonel, Johnny Rico is sentenced to death for acts of insubordination, but he's freed from jail to fight both a new surge of big-bug aliens and treason that will take down the Federation, of which he's a part. DVD and Blu-ray extras include two commentaries, two featurettes and a music video. Paul Verhoeven's original "Starship Troopers" also gets a Blu-ray release.
Heather Graham stars as a young professional who learns she only has one month left in which to conceive a child and sets out to find a Mr. Right Father in "Miss Conception."
"The Counterfeiters" won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The Austrian and German film from writer-director Stefan Ruzowitzky fictionalizes a secret Nazi plan during World War II to destabilize the United Kingdom by flooding its economy with forged currency. In the film, a Jewish counterfeiter is coerced into assisting the plot at a concentration camp. Extras include commentary, deleted scenes, interview and featurettes.
Three of the 1980s' best comedies. Now three of the most egregiously double-dipped titles in the history of DVD — "The Breakfast Club," "Sixteen Candles" and "Weird Science." All three John Hughes films get "flashback editions." At least "Club" reunites Judd Nelson's jock and Anthony Michael Hall's brain for a commentary track. The other two just have featurettes, and "Weird Science" adds the pilot for the eventual TV series.
Children's titles include: the fourth season of "Ben 10"; the animated feature "Garfield's Fun Fest"; "Handy Manny: Manny's Pet Roundup"; and "Little Einsteins: Flight of the Instrument Fairies."
Long available only through a Time-Life TV offer, the first season of "Get Smart" comes to wide-release DVD. Other TV titles include: the second season of the original series of "Star Trek"; the fourth season of "Family Ties"; a two-disc collector's edition of the landmark miniseries "Lonesome Dove"; Tommy Lee Jones in "The Executioner's Song"; and the stand-up special "Dana Carvey: Squatting Monkeys Tell No Lies."
All DVDs are scheduled for release Tuesday, but release dates are subject to change.
State Journal-Register


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NuvoH2O Home Complete Salt Free Water Softening System Review
Best Water Softener Reviews – Imagine having softer water in your apartment of condo and not have to lug around bags of salt. If this interests you, then you need the NuvoH20. It is an innovation that reduces the PH level in water without having to add salt. This system developed from 30 years of experience working with hard water and once you start using this system you will begin to reverse the damage to your pipes, hot water heater and all your fixtures.


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Volkswagen Launches New GTI With iPhone App
Filed under: advertising, blogroll, Internet Business, Internet Marketing, mobile marketing, newsletter, Online Business, Optimization of websites, Social Media, Uncategorized, Use Paid and Free Listings, Use Social Media, video advertising, web business, Write and publish press releases | Tags: advertising, internet, Internet Marketing, marketing newsletter, online advertising, online marketing, video advertising |
(Source: Digital Buzz) – Volkswagen have just launched one of the boldest digital campaigns of any car brand in recent times. And by bold I mean they not only launched it solely as a digital campaign – no TVC's – no press – no radio – they launched it only to the iPhone, as a customised GTI racing game app.
So the launch of their flagship car rests on the games viral potential and the competition to accompany it! Just get the app and register to play, you'll automatically go in the draw to win one of 6 new GTI's in the next 6 weeks… And if you play every day, you'll get bonus entries into the competition to boost your chances of winning.
It's a risky strategy – they've simply licensed the app called "Real Racing" from Aussie developer Firemint (same guys who built flight control) that's already been a hit on the iPhone for 6 months now, but have customised the game with complete GTIness! (if that's even a word!).
Is that good or bad? People already love that game play, but would you download a GTI version just for a competition? Some will. Some won't.
Would you have known that Volkswagen had launched a new GTI if I didn't post this or you didn't read it on some marketing blog online? Probably not, because I'm sure you're not searching for new iPhone app racing games! Which, ofcourse, leads us to their target market, perhaps they are the iPhone app "racing" gaming type… But I can't really see that with the price they are here in Australia!!??
However, VW get huge bonus PR points for being first in I'm sure. And hopefully that, with some good seeding for the competition will generate a serious new lead list for the brand, whilst saving them the $60 million they spent on the last GTI launch in 2006!
I think it's a great step forward for the industry, both Automotive and Advertising to be bold enough to try something so different, particularly for such an important product. Hopefully it takes off and there are some serious downloads to get in the running for those free cars!
Providing they get good download numbers, the game play and frequent brand interaction will be far more effective in the long run than a typical bust of TV ads. People who like the game will continue playing into the future even after the competition closes, VW will have the stats to track that, and that's where the branding gold mine lays hidden.
Read the June newsletter: click here


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- Fonds
- 1915–1971
Fonds consists of speeches, addresses, lecture notes, degrees, memorabilia, correspondence, 1915–1971, of Harold Bennett; verse exercise by John Charles Robertson, 1929.
Bennett, Harold
Fonds consists of speeches, addresses, lecture notes, degrees, memorabilia, correspondence, 1915–1971, of Harold Bennett; verse exercise by John Charles Robertson, 1929.
Bennett, Harold
Fonds consists of personal correspondence files, 1926-1949, photograph, and files re the W.S. Dyer Syndicate, which was formed to exploit an oil claim in the Northwest Territories, 1921-1930; minutes, financial records, correspondence regarding the O.R.B. Club, which was founded as a literary and dramatic organization in Toronto in 1908, 1929-1937; scrapbook including clippings about Victoria University, 1905-1918.
Little, William Jackson
Christopher Charles Love fonds
Fonds consists of the following series: Papers relating to Victoria University/University of Toronto, 1959–1998; General correspondence, 1951–1996; Papers relating to education and early employment, 1933–1984; Papers relating to literary activities, 1948–1992; and Personal papers/memorabilia, 1933–1997.
Love, Christopher Charles
Fonds consists of Frederick Carson Stokes' personal correspondence, 1960-1985, manuscripts of prayers for Victoria College Chapel, 1955-1970 and material re Class of 4T3 reunion, 1968 (including a 1943 class photo). Also contains on file of correspondence related to Victoria University and F.C. Stokes' work as Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds and Bursar, 1951-1980.
Stokes, Frederick Carson
Fonds consists of manuscripts, notes, outlines, bibliographies, research material and other records for Emmanuel College course regarding missions, 1932-1941 (Box 1); and manuscript of "The expansion of Christianity: a history of missions," [193-?] (Box 2).
Wallace, Edward Wilson
The fonds consists of a scrapbook assembled by Murray A. Cayley that focuses mainly on the activities of the various musical and dramatic clubs of which he was a member. It includes newspaper clippings, posters and announcements, and programmes for concerts and plays. The scrapbook also contains many ephemera items from his time at Vic, including programmes and invitations for the Freshman and Senior Receptions, Senior Dinners and Graduating Class Dinners as well as Admit to Lectures cards, class schedules, and Hart House membership cards.
Cayley, Murray Alexander
Albert College (Belleville, Ont.). fonds
Fonds consists of records of students registered, examinations, student marks, orders of proceedings, 1857–1884; financial records, 1861–1891. Some records were kept by Albert Carman in his capacity as Professor and later Principal.
Albert College (Belleville, Ont.)
Fonds consists of correspondence and other records re teaching and other activities at Emmanuel College, 1976-1998; published lectures, article and review, 1989-1993; publicity material, programmes, photographs and other records re conferences, concerts, 1988-[2001?]; correspondence, reviews, publicity material, photographs and other records re "Crucified Woman", 1986-1992; course descriptions, [200-?]; published lectures, article and review, 1989-1993; curriculum vitae, 2001; and photographs of travels, conferences, students, Emmanuel faculty, and other subjects.
Dyke, Doris Jean
Part of Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Bursar's Office fonds
These photographs are primarily of buildings and grounds around Victoria University.
Emmanuel College (Toronto, Ont.). Registrar's Office fonds
Fonds consists of the following series: Subject files, 1932-2003; Records relating to students, 1913-2003; Correspondence of the Registrar, 1928-1975; Records related to courses and programmes, 1893-2003; and Emmanuel College Chapel records, 1945-1960; Records related to orientation and convocations; and Records related to recruitment.
Series 4 - Records related to courses and programmes - contains records of Union Theological College, the antecedent of Emmanuel College.
Emmanuel College (Toronto, Ont.). Registrar's Office
Emmanuel College (Toronto, Ont.). Student Society fonds
Fonds consists of the following series: Constitution, 1939-1994; Minutes, 1927-1999; Records of the President, 1954-1981; Financial records, 1932-1955; Various records, 1963-1999; Records of the Association of United Church Theological Student Communities, 1975-1977; Records of the Athletic Society, 1947-1965; Records of the Clerical Collar, 1968-1971; Records of the Cousland Lectures Committee, 1961-1978; Records of the Missionary Society, 1947-1965; Records of the Theological Society, 1955-1963; and Records of the Worship Committee, 1955-1963, 1983-1997.
Emmanuel College (Toronto, Ont.). Student Society
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Middle House fonds
Fonds consists of financial record book of Middle House, 1954–1975; a minute book, 1952–1960; a collection of reminiscences by a resident from 1952–1954, an address to the members, 1996; and miscellaneous records from the 2000s.
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Middle House
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Stephenson House fonds
Fonds consists of constitution, 1990; minutes, 1940-1982; Board of Stewards minutes and other records, 1941-1979, 1991-1998, 2001-2009; financial record books, 1941-1965, 1990-1991, recipe and menu records, 2004-2005; and one series of photographs.
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Stephenson House
Victoria College (Toronto, Ont.). French Department fonds
Fonds consists of Victoria College French Department files concerning individuals who have taught French courses at the College. The files include class evaluations, resumes, letters of recommendation, applications for sabbaticals and funding, and other correspondence, 1970-1998.
Victoria College (Toronto, Ont.). French Department
Emmanuel College (Toronto, Ont.). Principal's Office fonds
Fonds consists of 12 series containing the records of the former Principals and the Principal's Office: Subject files ; Correspondence ; Records relating to the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada ; Records relating to the Emmanuel College Financial Campaign ; Records relating to teaching staff ; Records related to committees and task forces ; Records related to inter-institutional agreements and cooperation ; Records related to honorary degrees ; Records related to programs and degrees ; Records related to Lectures, Conferences and events ; Records related to bursaries, scholarships and funds ; Records related to grants and endowments
Emmanuel College (Toronto, Ont.). Principal's Office
Fonds consists of records, 1946–2009, consisting of six series relating to Johnston's academic life and research, including those relating to her education, 1946–1961; professional life, 1957–2009;Records relating to the church, theatre and other activities, 1965–2003; teaching records, 1959–2008; scholarships and publications, 1971–2009. and photographs, [1961?]–2002.
Fonds consists of records created between 1946–2009, consisting of six series relating to Johnston's academic life and research, including: Education, 1946–1961; Professional life, 1957–2009; Records relating to the church, theatre and other activities, 1965–2003; Teaching records, 1959–2008; Scholarships and publications, 1971–2009; and photographs, [1961?]–2002.
Johnston, Alexandra F.
Fonds consists of personal papers of John Ratcliffe Grant, 1942-1983, including his doctoral thesis on Ancient Roman History for Harvard University, 1946.
Grant, John Ratcliffe
Alumni of Victoria College (Toronto, Ont.). fonds
Fonds consists of constitution, 1971-1977; minutes 1971-1996; Executive minutes, 1988-1989, 1992-2003; President's book, 1973-1974; General files, 1973-1975; file re reunions for the classes of 1918, 1923, 1930, 1935; Continuing Education Committee minutes, 1976; Programme Committee minutes, 1976; and photographs.
Alumni of Victoria College (Toronto, Ont.)
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Bob Revue fonds
Fonds consists of corporate records (minutes, a subpoena, correspondence, constitution, petition, reports, questionnaires - 1894-1981); Articles and reviews (1895-1981); Music, scripts, programs, posters, and other ephemera (ca. 1894-1997); Audio tapes and records (1954-1963).
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Bob Revue
Emmanuel College (Toronto, Ont.). Alumni/ae Association fonds
Fonds consists of the following series: minutes of the Union Theological Alumni Association, 1927–1933; minutes and reports, 1928–1935, 1968–1992, 1995-2014; records of the Secretary/Treasurer, 1928–1973; correspondence, 1930–1934, and Records of events, 1978-2011
Emmanuel College (Toronto, Ont.). Alumni/ae Association
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Ryerson House fonds
Fonds consists of general files containing minutes, correspondence, memoranda, lists of residents and other records, 1959–1961, 1966–1967, 1970–1981; minutes, 1981–1987; minutes, 1990–1991, and minutes and other records, 1991–1992; and photographs.
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Ryerson House
Fonds includes various records, 1983-1997, including constitution, correspondence and photographs used in publications.
The Strand
Fonds consists of diaries, 1885-1944, which reveal the activities and concerns of the Victoria University Library; correspondence, 1881-1941; 15 photographs; a handwritten copy of "The Old Ontario Strand", 1910 (copied by Annie Barker); and Annie Barker's will, 1951.
Barker, Rose Hannah
Fonds consists of the following series: correspondence, 1912-1949; addresses, articles and other records, [1903?]-1945; personal material, 1912-1954.
Brown, Walter Theodore
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Union Literary Society fonds
Fonds consists of constitution, 1893; minutes, 1893-1911, (including rough, 1893-1900), 1896, 1911-1919, 1919-1922; correspondence, 1907, 1922; song books; and correspondence file concerning repayment of a loan made by the Board of Regents to the Union Literary Society for the purchase of Indian relics, 1903-1913.
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Union Literary Society
Victoria College (Toronto, Ont.). Alumni Association fonds
Fonds consists of the following series: constitutions, 1963-1964; Minutes, 1865-1970; Records concerning revival of the Alumni Association, 1921-1922; Records of the Secretary Treasurer, 1925-1963; Records concerning the Victoria Emmanuel College Building Fund, 1929-1930; Records concerning World War II students, 1939- [ca. 1946]; Records concerning class reunions, [ca. 1920]-1968; Minutes of the Library Improvement Committee, 1893; Directories of alumni, 1884-1964; Correspondence of World War I alumni, 1915-1918; and Photographs.
Victoria College (Toronto, Ont.). Alumni Association
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Students' Administrative Council fonds
Fonds includes photographs and consists of eleven series: Constitution, 1970–1998; Minutes and reports, 1970–2011; Directories, 1981–1993; Financial records, 1970–1987; Correspondence of the President, 1971–1995; Records relating to member organizations, commissions and committees, 1970–2009; Records relating to orientation, 1977–2004; Records relating to elections, 1976–1998; Records relating to land and property issues, 1973–1989; Subject files, 1969–2007; and Photographs
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Students' Administrative Council
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Northrop Frye Centre fonds
Fonds consists of records relating to the various activities of the Centre, including the staging of conferences/seminars and the publication of The Collected Works of Northrop Frye. The four series are: Director's records, 1989-2001; Records relating to "The Legacy of Northrop Frye" Conference, 1991-1995; General records, 1993-2013; and Records relating to The Collected Works of Northrop Frye, 1991-2011.
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Northrop Frye Centre
Victoria College (Toronto, Ont.). Registrar's Office fonds
Fonds consists of the records of the Registrar and Associate Registrar, primarily relating to Victoria College students and student records as well as awards, prizes and scholarships, convocations, registration procedures, baccalaureate services, receptions, counselling, etc. Fonds also consists of material related to the Registrar's work with the Senate. Records include correspondence, annual reports, as well as ephemera and photographs.
Fonds consists of three series: Correspondence/subject files, 1893–2013; Student records, 1837–2008; Photographs.
Victoria College (Toronto. Ont.). Registrar's Office
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Dean of Men fonds
Fonds consists of the following series: General/correspondence files, 1948-1990; Subject files, 1957-1989; Residence Council records, 1937-1990; Students correspondence, 1955-1983; Records concerning orientation, 1962-1988; Personal papers, 1953-1969, 1982-1983; and Records concerning 50th Anniversary of Burwash Hall, 1963.
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Dean of Men
Fonds consists of various diaries, journals, correspondence, manuscripts, photographs/negatives, regarding travel, careers, school, and life. Includes documentation about travel to China, Europe, World War I, Go Home Bay and the Madawaska Club (cottage community associated with the University of Toronto).
Fonds has been divided into four series: 1 - Paul Anthony Wilson Wallace; 2 - Edward Wilson Wallace, Jr; 3 - Muriel Joy Wilson Wallace; 4 - Photographs.
Wallace, Paul Anthony Wilson
Fonds consists of correspondence, reports (including photographs), notes, addresses, printed material and other records re Margaret Ray's investigation of the Germans from Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia) settlements at St. Walburg, Saskatchewan and Tupper Creek, British Columbia, on behalf of the Sub-Committee on Refugees of the University of Toronto Women's War Service Committee and her own research interest in refugees and immigration, [ca. 1940]-1952; correspondence, reports, photographs and other material re "rehabilitation" of Indians in British Columbia, particularly the Okanagan Society for Revival of Indian Arts and Crafts, [ca. 1940]-1948; typescript of play written by Margaret Ray relating to Victoria University, [n.d.]; personal records, 1942-1965, including correspondence, typescripts of plays, poems, reviews of "A Book of Canadian Humour" (edited by Ray and J.D. Robins), and material relating to the Okanagan Society.
Ray, Margaret V.
Fonds consists of papers, including photographs and scrapbook, of Carolyn Temple, 1929–1988, predominantly relating to Class of 1933 activities, mainly reunions.
Temple, Carolyn
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Dean of Students fonds
Fonds consists of the following series: Residence committees, 1990-2001; Other records concerning University bodies, 1989-2002; and Subject/correspondence files, 1975-2005.
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Dean of Students
Fonds consists of the following series: Student records, 1928-1931; Diaries and journals, 1924-1989; Writing, 1937-1992; Tributes/memorabilia, 1927-2004; and Memoirs, [ca. 1983] - [ca. 1988].
Moore, Arthur Bruce Barbour
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Board of Regents fonds
Fonds consists of the records of the Board of Regents and its committees
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Board of Regents
Victoria College (Toronto, Ont.). Athletic Union fonds
Fonds consists of financial record and list of users of the Rink Committee; constitutions and minutes, 1931-1938, 1965; minutes of the Field Day Committee, 1909-1918; petition re playing field, [ca.1902]; and financial records, 1895-1916, 1951-1972.
Victoria College (Toronto, Ont.). Athletic Union
Fonds consists of correspondence (including records as Principal of Emmanuel College, 1932–1943; notebooks; notebooks, quotations and background material; sermons; prayers and essays; essays and essay notes; essays and addresses; orders of service, worship; Book of Praise material; Book of Common Order material; and lecture notes. Also included is a series of his son's personal letters (John Craig Davidson).
Davidson, Richard
Victoria Women's Association fonds
Fonds consists of records related to the Victoria Women's Association from 1898 to 2002, including their time as the Barbara Heck Memorial Association, and the Victoria Women's Residence and Educational Association. Materials include meeting minutes, constitutions, records on the history and recognition of the association, administrative reports, correspondence, financial records, information relating to members and donors, event records, photographs, an audio cassette, and ephemera.
Victoria Women's Association
Fonds consists of mostly personal papers divided into the following series: Studies (1863-1872); Ministry (1871-1926); Finances (1863-1936); Autobiography (1873-1921); Memorabilia (1883-1933); Family Correspondence (1839-1930).
Wallace, Francis Huston
Fonds contains letters sent by Harold Morrey Smith to his family from military training camps in Ottawa, England and France during the period 29 June 1916 to 22 May 1919. There are some additional items such as a procedure manual for Signal Training (1918), dispersal certificate (1919 May 24), a small encased picture of Jesus Christ, and a student essay written for a Modern History course.
The letters provide an exceptionally clear and vivid picture of both the external and internal worlds of Harold Morrey Smith during the period of his military service. The world outside him is described in great detail: living conditions and social life in the military training camps; training methods and signalling techniques; excursions to towns and cities, and the social life he found outside the camps; religious services attended as well as movies, plays and musicals taken in.
The internal world of Harold Morrey Smith is pictured in as much detail. It is a world shaped both by the moral and religious outlook of Canadian Methodism, and by a broad education in the liberal arts. The mind of a future lawyer is suggested in descriptive passages that are precise and analytical in approach. Other passages, in which the writer's emotions are more visible, express moral and aesthetic opinions. In some instances it appears that the writer seeks to reassure his parents that their distant son is not falling prey to the common vices of military life. Nevertheless, the letters do explore in a frank and insightful way some of his feelings about his routinized existence and the moral complexity of the war he is training to fight. Other subjects discussed in the letters are his attitudes toward his promotion to higher rank, his desire to see "action", his unwillingness to commit himself to a romantic relationship during this period, as well his thoughts about religion, art, writing, and other more abstract topics. Throughout, his closeness to his family and his fondness for the Victoria College community as remembered in Toronto and experienced abroad are evident.
The letters are written in an unusually lucid and vigorous style, which makes their reading generally quite effortless in spite of all the descriptive detail. It is evident that Smith had definite ideas about composition and style, and that he invested a good deal of time in keeping up his correspondence and diaries (the existence of other letters and the diaries are not presently known). Researchers interested in the subjects addressed in the letters to his family are the ultimate beneficiaries of this substantial investment.
Smith, Harold Morrey
Fonds consists of a scrapbook titled "Some of my College activities and interests," which includes photographs, ephemera, correspondence and clippings showing activities and events from Alma E. Wales' years as a student at Victoria University, 1924–1928.
Wales, Alma E.
Fonds consists of addresses and lectures notes by Samuel Nelles; clippings, eulogy and biographical information regarding Samuel Nelles and his family; photographs.
Martin, Alida
Fonds consists of notes, drafts and final version of biography of John Fletcher McLaughlin, [ca. 1972]; record of McLaughlin family; correspondence re McLaughlin scholarship, 1969–1970; family correspondence, 1913–1976; and photographs.
Irwin, Roberta
Fonds consists of the following series: Records relating to teaching,1924-1952; Records relating to writing and editing, 1944-1951; and Student records, 1909-1913, [ca. 1926].
Robins, John D.
Fonds consists of: Correspondence, 1947–1986; Records and memorabilia relating to early education and personal life, 1934–1995; Articles and other writing, 1959–1994; Records relating to research and projects, 1943–1990; Records relating to academic life and community service, 1959–1989; and Photographs, [1951], n.d.
Robson, John Mercel
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). President's Office fonds
Fonds includes records from the terms of:
Nathanael Burwash (1887-1913), Richard P. Bowles (1913-1930), Edward Wilson Wallace (1930-1941), Walter Theodore Brown (1941–1949), Harold Bennett (1949-1950), A. B. B. Moore (1950-1970), John Edwin Hodgetts (1970-1973), Goldwin S. French (1973-1987), Eva Kushner (1987-1994), Roseann Runte (1994-2001), and Paul Gooch (2001-2015).
It consists of the following series:
General correspondence, 1907-2005; General subject files, 1897-1970; Records relating to the Board of Regents, 1912-2008; Records relating to the Senate, 1954-2008; Records relating to the Victoria College Council, 1928-2008; Records relating to the academic administration, 1915-2013; Records relating to the financial administration, 1905-2000; Records relating to awards, 1918-2005; Records relating to student assistance, 1916-1976; Records relating to students, 1915-2007; Records relating to alumni, 1928-2008; Records relating to functions, 1913-2010; Records relating to the University of Toronto, 1929-2011; Records relating to the United Church of Canada, 1928-2001; Records relating to gifts, 1897-1973; Records relating to the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, 1981-2006; Records relating to fund raising, 1974-2008; Records relating to Emmanuel College, 1968-2008; Records relating to Victoria College, 1975-2012; Records relating to Victoria University, 1968-2008; Records related to the Chancellor and Chancellor's Council of Victoria University; and Records relating to Senior Administrative Meetings (SAM), 2001-2007.
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). President's Office
Margaret Eleanor Theodora Addison fonds
Fonds consists of diaries, 1900–1912, family correspondence, 1875–1931, notes, clippings, publications, biographical material, 1941, scrapbook, a portrait, monogrammed handkerchief, and broach.
Addison, Margaret Eleanor Theodora
Victoria College (Toronto, Ont.). Principal's Office fonds
Fonds consists of correspondence/subject files and general files that are primarily related to faculty, other academic staff and courses. Also consists of records related to the Victoria College Council and its committees as well as U of T committees upon which the Principal sat. There are gaps in the records for the brief periods when the Principal's Office was served by the incumbent President: 1928-1932, 1941-1944, and 1966-1967. For records of the Principal's activities during these periods, consult the President's Office fonds (Fonds 2021).
Victoria College (Toronto, Ont.). Principal's Office
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). North House fonds
Fonds consists of minutes, 1955-1976; financial record book, 1966-1972; and other material relating to North House and an invitation to a party and song sheets [between 1912 and 1916].
Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). North House


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Dear friends,
As she lay in bed, her morphine drip keeping her painfree and clear-minded, Desley was a little anxious about her garden. During the last months of her three-year illness it had been neglected and she wanted it tidied up before she died. Her four beautiful and strong-willed daughters had cared for her devotedly at every stage of her physical decline and had tried to keep up with her spiritual ascent. They still jumped, but lovingly, at her commands as if they were twenty years younger. They came in to tell her the gardener had finished and needed to be paid. How much and where was the money. Desley answered the questions decisively as she was used to doing. The man in the room observed admiringly as a woman ran the complex affairs of a home.
If it hadn't been Buddhist it would have been in a way very Catholic. I was at the consecration of the largest Buddhist temple in Europe, held in a curve of the soft hills of southern France, the rituals performed by the Dalai Lama. Madame Sarkozy was there, looking beautiful (and a little nervous they said) at her first public engagement alone. So were the Minister of Foreign Affairs and other local and national politicians. On the other side of the aisle, segregated, as a supposedly secular nation would like, were the religious leaders.
No one, not even the British Crown, can put on a show like the Catholic Church. A papal funeral or election or the World Youth Day here in Sydney becomes a global liturgy. Hostile press, complaining about costs and road closures, join the bandwagon and run headlines about the Pope working miracles with the weather and the euphoria of a city caught up in the youthful energy of God. The world stops and watches the ceremonies unfold (apparently) with religious perfection. More boats fill Sydney harbour for the pope than for the Australian centennial celebrations. The non-believer and cynics reluctantly feel moved by what they don't believe in. Politicians declare that faith is real. It is a brave critic who voices dissent to such a populace. And there truly is grace at work in the numbers, hectic schedules and the over-stimulation of it all.
Many hearts must have sighed at the recent Tablet photo of the cardinal robed in his capa magna posing before a celebration the Tridentine rite, the long trail of scarlet silk like a beautiful serpent daimon out of Philip Pullman, held at the right distance by a devout altar boy. Similar looks of frozen solemnity appear in many similar sepia photos of the past, sacred tradition pressing down on weighty prelates, majestic memory enshrined in rituals and gorgeous vestments. They seem reminders of a real or imagined era when people knew where God wanted them to be in His hierarchy.
It is nice to know that ancient chants and fragrances of worship can be used again. The photo could also be read however as a very modern statement about the tradition of modernity. This is marked by a pluralism of styles (including nostalgia and restorationism). The modern church has learned to allow complementary rites to coexist simultaneously and non-competitively, Gregorian here, folk mass there, as different windows can be pulled up on a computer screen. Tradition has an odd way of updating itself.
Prayer as Meeting
The Pope's lecture was a mixed blessing for our annual Way of Peace event last weekend. "Prayer as Meeting" brought together Christians and Muslims to pray together and taste the riches of our contemplative traditions. As the meeting opened I was receiving emails from friends of the World Community anxious that the wildfire of rage would spoil the peace of our gathering. Perhaps it was the young people present or perhaps the older ones, in fact I think it was the prayer itself, but certainly while the bad news got worse, we seemed to grow closer, friendlier and to share at deeper levels of the spirit.
The river attracts both locals and visitors at the cool times of the day. But even in the leaden heat of noon you can find a villager washing himself or his compliant cow. The Cauvery is the sacred river of southern India. Like the northern Ganges it feeds, washes, refreshes and is an ever-present source of contemplation. It is vastly wide and majestic and at this time of the year largely dry.
Shantivanam, the Benedictine ashram that Fr Bede Griffiths made famous, where he welcomed pilgrims for forty years and where he died and is buried, rests on its banks. In the relaxed rhythms of the ashram that make the life of western monasteries seem driven, or in walking beside the river, time brakes, reality sharpens and, most surprisingly, what you desire begins to change.
In the new morning light the group of Aborigines was sitting still and silent, like meditators, in a circle on the dry river bed. Mick, the parish priest who was showing me the town slowed down and greeted them. His words and kind smile traveled slowly across the dust towards them; their response came back even more slowly through their alcoholic haze.


text: Thanks all. I won't post every time I enter a contest but this is the first one I've done that followed BJCP style guidelines so I'm pretty happy with the result. I have to thank all of you who've given me such great advice to help me brew these beers. Couldn't have done it without all the help from the AHA forum. I may have to send some to NHC next year, assuming I can get them across the border that is.


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Discussion forum for portable electronics (MP3 players, portable CD-players, etc.), cell phones, radar detectors, etc.
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TORONTO - Ontario's governing Liberals are axing a controversial law that has outraged public school teachers, just a few days before the party is set to choose a new premier.
The change, which will take effect on Wednesday, comes only four months after the law was passed.
Bill 115 allowed the cash-strapped Liberals to impose contracts on about 126,000 teachers and education workers across the province earlier this month, which froze the wages of most teachers and cut their benefits.
The legislation sparked a major protest by teachers' unions after it was passed in September, resulting in rotating one-day strikes by elementary teachers and the withdrawal of extracurricular activities by high school teachers.
Education Minister Laurel Broten, who promised to kill the legislation after imposing the contracts on Jan. 3, said repealing the law will remove what became a lightening rod in the province's labour battle with teachers.
The contracts allow the government to fight a $14.4-billion deficit while keeping class sizes small and roll out full-day kindergarten for four- and five-year-olds, she added.
"Bill 115 allowed us to do that," she said. "We've done that. We no longer need the Act."
It also alienated a powerful group that's helped the Liberals get re-elected over the last nine years. Making the law history before the Liberal leadership convention on Jan. 25-27 may help the party press the reset button with teachers and give the winner a clean slate as premier.
It could also clear the decks for the departure of Ontario's self-described "education premier," Dalton McGuinty.
But Broten insisted the legislation is only being axed because it has served its purpose, and expressed hope that teachers will return to providing extracurricular activities as well as other volunteer work.
"I think teachers want to move forward and want to continue to do what's best for their students, including extracurricular activities," she said.
"By moving to repeal the Act, the government is promoting goodwill and stability in Ontario schools, and we hope that we will see (the unions') leadership allow their teachers to provide extracurriculars."
In a statement Monday night, the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario called the government's intent to repeal Bill 115 "a meaningless gesture and shallow response to the chaos it has created in schools."
"The premier and education minister are deluding themselves if they think the repeal of Bill 115 will promote goodwill and stability in the education sector and restore their popularity," said ETFO president Sam Hammond.
"They used the bill and are now trying to make it disappear in the most crass of political acts," Hammond added.
ETFO members were set to stage a one-day walkout in protest of the forced contracts on Jan. 11, until the government took it to the Ontario Labour Relations Board, which deemed it an illegal strike.
Several unions, including ETFO and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, have already put the wheels in motion to fight the legislation in court, calling it unconstitutional and a violation of their right to strike.
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