text:
What the hell is wrong with me? I couldn't help but ask myself this question once again as I drove away from my brothers house, having dropped my nephew off at my brothers again. I shivered slightly, terrified about what could happen if Danny said anything. I close my eyes, just for a second, as I pause at a stop light. In the dark beneath the eyelids my brain swam with thoughts of flesh, the smell of sex, and the sight of those god damn emerald eyes looking up at my innocently.
I shook myself and return to the task at hand, driving safely without adding vehicular manslaughter to my list of crimes. Half an hour later I pulled into the dusty driveway of my old family home.
When Ty told my parents he would be moving to the city it was a dream come true for me, he left me the only heir to the ranch we had both grown up on. It had been years since it held any livestock or grew enough crops to sustain a whole family, but it was big, my closest neighbor was a mile and a half down the road, and the only time anyone bugged me was when one of the people from the closest little town needed something fixed.
Tyler's oldest son, Chase, had been coming out here since he could walk. He loved the open space and adored helping me work, so it wasn't unusual for him to ask to spend his weekends with Uncle Jake. The kid was 14 now, he'd be starting high school after this summer. All grown up now, in more ways than one. I practically crawled out of the truck and up to the house. My home, my hide away from all of the things I hated in the world, was now tainted.
I swore I could smell the little bastard as I walked through the front door. Like pine trees and teenage-boy favored deodorant. I groaned and climbed the stairs, heading into the bathroom. I paused by the door, wiggling the door knob. There was something wrong with the lock, and it was easy to get right through it, all you needed was to shift the knob the right way. It set you up for some accidental embarrassing encounters. I'd never thought to fix it, after all the only person I had over regularly was Chase.
Now that I thought back on that stupid fucking lock I cursed myself, some handy man I was. I stood at the basin of the sink, just like I had last night, and stared deep at my reflection. There hadn't been much sleep last night, and it showed. Dark circles showed through my tan, right beneath a pair of dark brown eyes, my sandy-brown hair was close cropped, but after last nights activity it managed to be as messy as it possibly could be, and the rush this morning hadn't left me time enough to shave, leaving my broad jaw with a coat of stubble.
I closed my eyes, unable to look at myself, I thought back on exactly what happened last night. I was his god damn blood, what the hell was wrong with me!?
But then, he had asked for it hadn't he? =+= I stood at the sink, the water running loudly as I scrubbed my teeth. Steam from my recently-ended shower fogged up the mirror, and I stood naked apart from a towel wrapped securely around my waist. I hummed idly and spit into the sink, enjoying the brief reprieves from Chase's excited chattering.
My moment of peace however was instantly shattered when the bathroom door suddenly opened behind me, I spun on my heel, tooth brush hanging comically from the corner of my mouth as one hand flew to the edge of my towel like a safety blanket.
Chase stood in the door way, a look of what appeared to be shock etched on his face, though looking back there was a glint in his eye that should have been a warning to me. The kid jumped, and scrambled for his own towel, which I quickly realized was the only thing covering his own pelvis, but somehow in the rush the terrycloth slipped from his hands and fell behind him.
We both sat and stared at each other for a long moment. I couldn't help but look, I swear to god it wasn't like I was checking him out, it was an unconscious decision. It was the most I'd seen of him since he was a little boy. And he certainly wasn't a little boy any longer. My eyes trailed head to toe in an instant, same shaggy hair, the same color as mine, same dark green eyes, he was a swimmer, and as a result had a slim compact build, the exact opposite of my thick brawny build.
But it didn't make him look scrawny, on the contrary it gave him a sleek agile appearance, and the muscle tone certainly wasn't anything to scoff at. My eyes passed that six-pack abs that he'd been showing off all summer, he had pubes now, trimmed neat, that was definitely different, and he had a slim, cut dick that sat half erect beneath his little patch of hair. For whatever reason I found myself judging it, comparing it to my concealed member, I wagered he'd fall somewhere between 5 and 6 inches when he was hard, respectable for someone his age and stature.
I didn't linger though, his hips were narrow and protruded, his legs were slim and he had only the lightest dusting of light brown hair on them, he had confided in me once that he shaved them for swimming, something to do with being more hydrodynamic. I took all of this in an instant before shaking my head and growling at the stark naked boy in front of me.
"What the hell Chase, haven't you ever heard of knocking?"I felt my face turn hot, but for whatever reason I couldn't turn away, I was waiting for him to pick up his towel and back out apologetically. "Sorry, I thought you were out already, the door just swung open.
You need to fix that lock, dude." He said hurriedly. He appeared every bit embarrassed, but still he didn't reach to cover himself, it was like he was daring me to look. "Is there any hot water left?" He asked suddenly, I looked at him like he was crazy.
"Uh, yeah, should be." I responded, arching my eyebrows as if to say 'put your fucking dick away, boy'. He seemed to suddenly catch on, he laughed loudly. "What's the matter, Uncle Jake? Haven't you ever seen a dick before?" He teased me playfully.
His taunts caused me to turn defensive, I faced him more openly and crossed my arms over my broad chest. "I wasn't aware you were used to showing it off to grown men." I shot back.
He rolled his eyes and strode into the bathroom, closing the door behind him to lock what was left of the warm steam in.
"I see naked guys all the time, swim team and all that." He said casually, nudging me out of the way to wipe off a spot on the mirror to peer in, apparently examining his face for any signs of stubble. Some part of my brain noted that this put him inches away from me, his dick almost brushing up against the towel that still covered me.
"Maybe you're just embarrassed cause you've got a stubby one." He teased. "Trust me kid, I've got you beat on that count." I said gruffly, moving to put away the tooth paste and my tooth brush, which unfortunately meant having to reach up, I was forced to position myself behind him and reach over his shoulder to place the brush atop the medicine cabinet, for an instant my flaccid dick pressed directly into the crack of his ass through the towel.
I swore, Chase wriggled his hips back at me. "Oh yeah?" He said suddenly turning, I found myself face to face with him, well, I was still a good 6 inches taller, but our faces were tilted to be just inches apart. The awkwardness returned. "Prove it." I was not comfortable with where this was headed, so I just rolled my eyes and turned to leave.
Before I knew it though, Chase had playfully shoulder checked me against the wall, grasping for the towel. I twisted to ward him off. We wrestled often, and he had yet to beat me, but the combination of surprise and the moisture collected on the tile floor led to me losing my footing.
I slipped, I felt my head knock against the wall and I blindly reached out to grasp anything to keep from falling flat on my ass, my hand found the towel wreck and I found myself in a clumsy half fallen half leaning against the wall position. Chase took advantage, and the next thing I knew my kid-nephew was on me, his chest pressed to mine and his hand pressed to my crotch. "Woah there" I said stupidly, the phrase deer in the headlights suddenly took on new meaning.
He ignored my comment and began groping and rubbing up and down the length of my cock. And god help me that thing started to rise under his palm. He quickly pulled the towel loose, it remained pinned between my ass and the wall but he had access to his goal now, he peered down beneath our chests as he stroked my cock. I'd always been proud of my member, it was a good 9 inches and thick. I had certainly never had any complaints about it.
But now that Chase stared open mouthed down at it, eyes wide, I wished the damn thing would just run away. "Woah indeed." He said softly, resting his hand on the base of my cock. "I guess you were right Uncle Jake, you do have me beat." I managed to stand, I felt the towel slide to the floor. I pushed him aside, maybe a little more rough than necessary, and stepped around him so I was no longer pinned to the wall.
Unfortunately this also left him between me and the towel, and my hard on certainly wasn't about to be hidden by my hands. There was a moment of silence, he looked up at me innocently, and I tried to figure out how best to deal with the situation.
When I was growing up an encounter like this would mean a beating. But I was smart enough to know the times were changing, and you couldn't beat a kid into doing what you want. So I went with the patient, progressive route.
"Chase, are you, like, a fag?" I asked, okay, so I'm not exactly winning any awards for progressive thinking.
Chase shrugged but did not drop his gaze. "Cause it's cool if you are, I mean, your parents and me, we'd still love ya." I finished gracelessly.
He laughed then and I felt that much more stupid, my dick hanging out hard as a rock in front of my equally naked nephew, trying to ease him into his sexuality. It was a lot easier when you just smacked the kid till he started liking straight things. "Why, you wanna help me find out?" he said teasingly, looking up at me through his lashes, those fucking green eyes. It took me a second to realize that Chase, my nephew, was flirting with me. My brain immediately filled with images of he and I, how had I never noticed how perfect his lips were?
I shook myself and mumbled something about going to get dressed, hurrying from the bathroom as fast as I could. I could hear his laughter as I practically dove into my room. I quickly pulled on a t-shirt, but boxers proved to be difficult to negotiate with my throbbing erection. In the end I wound up flipping the light switch off and crawling under the covers, clad only in the t-shirt. My heart thundered in my chest as I listened intently.
He would leave me alone now wouldn't he? I heard the shower flip on and I breathed a sigh of relief, laying there in the dark. I squeezed my eyes shut and I prayed he would go straight to his room when he was done, as he had every visit before. I counted to 500 but I still still too keyed up to sleep. The hard on didn't help. I felt sick to my stomach, my nephew had given it to me. Some dark part of my brain mumbled something about how Chase should be the one to take care of it.
I shook myself again and my hand found myself beneath the covers. Okay, I thought, I'll just take care of this, and in the morning he has to be back early for swim practice, it'll be like nothing happened. I started to slowly stroke myself, but I found myself imagining Chase in the next room showering.
I scolded myself, but I couldn't stop. It was so perverse, so sick, and so god damn sexy. After a couple minutes I gave up, and I found myself thinking of all the things his eyes had suggested. Those too-perfect lips wrapped around my swollen rod, those emeralds gazing up at me, so innocently and so suggestive all at once. And when he was done there, I'd want to fuck him, oh I'd help that little fucker decide whether or not he was gay. I pictured him in a multitude of positions, all fours, flat on his stomach, standing on his knees with his palms on the headboard of my bed, oh god I it was fucked up.
And suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, I nearly jumped out of my skin. I could see his silhouette and the self-satisfied smirk on his face. "Whatchya doin' Uncle Jake?" He said tauntingly, his fingers digging into my shoulder. I looked up at him, and he seemed to realize I just didn't have the will power to deny whatever it was he wanted from me. "What do you want, Chase?" I said, it was almost a terrified whimper.
He sat down on the edge of the bed, I realized he was naked. His hair was plastered to his scalp from the shower, and I could smell clean boy from where I lay. He leaned down until his face was inches from mine and I found myself under the full weight of those eyes that held me captive. "Will you fuck me, Uncle Jake?" he said softly.
My muffled groan seemed to be all the affirmation he needed, and he reached over to turn the nightstand light on, casting a ghostly light on us, he pulled the blanket down revealing my still hard dick, and he straddled my knees, pushing my shirt up and off.
I looked down at him, half horrified, half begging. He gave me a delicious little smile and suddenly leaned down and took half of my cock into his mouth in one gulp. I moaned in surprise as he turned sucking dick into an art form. I could feel his tongue, which seemed to have a life of it's own, wriggling up and down the length of my dick as his head bobbed. After a few seconds of feverish sucking, he suddenly went down as far as he could manage, I felt his throat constrict around the head of my cock as his gag reflex kicked into action.
Then he slowly pulled back, pushing the tip of his tongue hard along the under side, swirling around the head and pressing his lips together tight as he pulled my dick completely clear of his mouth, before diving back in to repeat the process.
I clenched the sheets, moaning loudly beneath his ministrations, but we didn't break eye contact. I think he realized the spell he had me under had a lot to do with those two orbs staring back at me, though the blowjob was certainly helping his mission.
He changed techniques again, his mouth was more loose but his tongue worked like mad and he kept taking me as deep as his teenaged throat would allow. It took me a few minutes to realize he was covering my pole in a thick layer of saliva. Natural lubricant. Oh god, this was really happening wasn't it?
I was getting the best god damn blowjob of my life from my kid nephew, and he was lubing me up to fuck his ass. "Will you eat my ass out, Uncle Jake?" He said innocently, the same tone of voice he used to use when he wanted to ride on my shoulders god dammit, "your cock is the biggest I've ever had, I'm going to need plenty of spit." His comment didn't click in my brain right that second, but I flipped us around and he spun around onto his stomach.
He lifted his hips slightly, sliding a pillow down to support his pelvis as he presented his ass to me on a silver fucking platter. I spread his his cheeks with my hands, he shivered at the callused touch. I found myself face to face with his opening, a tiny little thing really. I leaned down and began a full assault with my tongue. Chase started moaning like a bitch in heat, he ground his hips down into the pillow, seeking friction on what I imagined to be an aching cock. I didn't relent though, my tongue lashed his little boy-pussy with relish.
I found myself getting more and more angry as I ate away at his tight little hole. What the fuck was Chase playing at? I was his god damned uncle, how could he seduce me like this? He was a fucked up kid, that's for sure. Well if that little brat wanted his Uncle Jake's rod, he was going to get every fucking inch. Without taking any more guidance, I suddenly sat upright, Chases back arched as he pushed his ass out more, searching for my tongue, he looked up at me and he must have saw the steel in my eyes as I moved into position.
I pressed the head of my cock against his hole and stared down at him imposingly. Once again, he seemed to know exactly what I wanted. "Please Uncle Jake, I'm ready, I'm not a little kid anymore, let me have it." He whimpered, I had to rest my hands on his hips and pin him firmly to the pillow to keep him from backing up on my dick, still I did not thrust forward.
"Please, I swear to god it'll be good for you, I've got a great ass, I'm a hot fuck Uncle Jake, let me show you, please just give me your fucking cock." I punched into him, and the kid must have seen stars. He howled, I wasn't sure if it was pain or pleasure until his hips started straining against my hands trying to get some friction growing.
Content that he wasn't dying beneath me, I started to thrust in and out of him like a mad man. "Fucking. Little. Cocksucker. Turning. Me. Into. A. Fag." I grunted out each word with each thrust. Even as he writhed for more of my cock he still had the gall to show me cheek.
"You fucking love being a fag, Uncle Jake. I bet you've never fucked a bitch with a pussy this tight." It was true, though I wasn't going to tell the little fucker that. His ass seemed to ripple around my dick, pulling it in until I was sure I was spearing his guts to hell. I eventually let his hips go, leaning down further to get better leverage, and he started wriggling his hips in rhythm with mine.
And all the while he begged for more.
He really was a hot little fuck. And I gave him all I had, every fucking inch of my thick cock disappeared into his little hole. I was an animal in heat, determined to breed him. But I wanted this to last just a bit longer. When I started to feel the boiling in my balls I pulled out, he gasped at the sudden emptiness and his head whipped around to glare at me. I didn't explain myself to him though, I yanked his hips up and ate out his hole, tasting traces of precum.
He groaned in satisfaction as I slid a finger into him, wiggling my finger around, pulling out every few seconds to run my tongue along his boy-pussy for a taste.
When my dick calmed down a little more I roughly flipped him onto his back, almost like we'd practiced he hoisted his ankles up over my shoulders and I jammed my rod back inside of him. We were now face to face as I plowed his ass with abandon. The tables had turned, and he'd happily switched from temptress to submissive cock-whore.
"More, Uncle Jake," he whimpered out, I felt his dick against my washboard stomach, he reached his hand down to press his cock to my stomach to revel in the friction there. "Fuck me as hard as you want. All I want is your cum. God please make me your fucking whore. Please Uncle Jake." I sneered down at him but found myself picking up the pace, I don't think I even realized I was capable of thrusting my hips so forcefully.
His begging devolved into a series of whimpers that pitched each time my cock speared into him. His squeaks picked up, mingled with gasps, and suddenly one huge howl, I was suddenly covered in something far thicker than sweat.
I looked down, cum now smeared beneath our stomach. I was about to yell at him for getting his seed all over me when he scooped a bit off of my stomach and brought it to his mouth. I watched Chase gleefully eat his own cum from his fingers, the perversion of it all was too much. I thrust in one last time, yelling at the time of my lungs as I emptied out the load of a life time deep into my nephews bowels. He groaned again, wiggling his ass and going limp.
I pulled back, letting his legs fall to the bed. I looked down at him, now spread eagle on the bed, a look of utmost satisfaction on his teenaged face. I looked down at his ass, his hole gaped slightly and out leaked a steady stream of my fluid. Curiosity got the better of me and I found myself with my tongue back at his ass, casually testing the new flavor. My mouth was permeated with the salty cums flavor, and I found it was more than tolerable. Chase groaned loudly as I lapped my cum out of him, I tried to tell myself that his was to keep as much as possible off of my sheets.
When I was done with my drink I collapsed beside the bed. Chase's hair was now mostly dry, though I suspected the fluid that remained was the sweat of our sex more than anything. I drowsily reached to the nightstand and flicked off the light.
Chase nuzzled up against me, the smell of pine trees and sex invaded my nostrils. I hugged him tightly to my chest, a simple gesture that I had been doing my entire life, but now took on a completely perverse theme. Without another thought about the consequences of our actions, I fell asleep with my naked, cum filled nephew in my arms "You were always my favorite uncle." He said softly =+= I snapped back to my senses, back to the bathroom, back to the mirror that reflected the sick bastard that I was back at me.
I groaned softly and trudged back downstairs to the small closet-like room I affectionately called my office. I started going over some of the typical invoices, I thought bitterly of the days when it was okay to just show up, do whatever needed doing, take your money and leave.
God damn tax men. The phone placed precariously on a disordered stack of papers rang suddenly.
I jumped, my whole life flashed before my eyes, Chase had said something, this was Tyler calling to disown me, To tell me that he was calling the police, oh god, oh god, oh god. "Hello?" I answered calmly.
"Hey there Jake, it's Dale." Dale did not hear the sigh of relief that flooded my nostrils. "Hey Dale, what's up?" "Well, my fence is looking awful worn after those spring rains. I was wonderin' if I could get you to come around and repaint it for the usual rate? I'd like it done by the end of the week if you can manage, I've got family comin' around and my wife won't be pleased if it's lookin' a mess." I sighed, doing mental calculations. "Uh, yeah Dale I can get it done.
But if you want it done that quick it's a two man job." "I'd be willing to pay that boy of yours if you think he'd be up to it." My cock started to rise in my jeans, oh god it was going to happen again wasn't it? "Yeah Dale, I think. Chase would be all over that." == Chase lay in bed that night, staring at the ceiling and waiting.
"I'll be right there hun," he heard his fathers deep voice talking to his mother, "just gonna go say goodnight to Chase and ask him how his time with Jake went." He heard his mother spout out some muffled praise about what a good boy Chase was to help keep Uncle Jake from getting lonely.
In the dark the boy grinned, oh if only she knew. Tyler stepped into the room, and he crossed to the chair positioned by the bed side and sat down, looking down at his son with the same all-knowing grin Chase wore. He sat there as he had every night for a very long time.
He slid his hand over his sons crotch, gently massaging. "Tell me everything" Chase's father murmured excitedly. == Feedback is always appreciated, this is my second story posted and I'm setting it up for a sequel which I will write if there's any interest shown. I'm a little new to writing sex-oriented stories, but I'm certainly not new to using them!
So any response will be taken into account, thanks guys, hope you enjoyed.


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Mets watch
MANUEL JOB IS SAFE -- Manager Jerry Manuel's job is safe. Mets general manager Omar Minaya gave the vote of confidence during the fourth inning of New York's game against the Washington Nationals on Monday night, Minaya said that he recently spoke with Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon, and Wilpon was supportive.
"I want you to be our general manager, and I want Jerry to be our manager," Minaya said he was told by Wilpon.
Minaya, who's in his fifth season as Mets' GM, said the conversation occurred "a couple of weeks ago."
Minaya said he told Wilpon: "Jeff, thank you for that vote. I don't think about those things, and Jerry (doesn't) either."
Minaya said he understood there would be talk about firings since the injury-ravaged Mets entered Monday five games under .500 (43-48) and nine games back of Philadelphia in the NL East.
The team with the second-highest payroll in the majors was expected to compete for a division title in the first year of their new ballpark.
"When you lose, people are going to come up with those things," Minaya said.

subset: commoncrawl


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CENTRAL OKANAGAN - Lots of people have lots of ideas about what the Central Okanagan School District should do about French immersion but the chair of the school board says one thing is clear — some hard decisions need to be made, and soon.
"Absolutely, this is an issue that has not been dealt with and it's getting worse every year," board chair Moyra Baxter says. "Time is running out because ultimately this is a decision that will affect every single school in the district."
School trustees have just received results of the French immersion task force, which has developed four 'bundled options' for how the district could realign schools to meet demand for French immersion and relieve overcrowding at Ecole KLO Middle School.
The primary suggestion in three of the options suggest Dr. Knox Middle School be turned into a dual track immersion school. The fourth option suggests Springvalley Middle School be considered for dual track French immersion.
The four options are costed out at between $2.8 and $3.8 million but Baxter admits they are non-binding and trustees could still come up with something completely different, taking into account the budget pressure the district has been facing the last few years.
"The board has to think about the cost, is it sustainable, can we afford to do it and even if this is where we should be putting our money," Baxter says.
"If we are going to put all this extra money in, we're going to have to cut something," she says. "Is French immersion what we need, should it be another language like Mandarin (Chinese) or should we be focusing more on entrepreneurship? These are all questions that need to be answered."
Baxter says the French immersion task force began its work in the wake of a proposal last year to begin offering the popular program in Glenrosa Middle School in West Kelowna.
"Parent were outraged, they said we didn't give them enough information, you didn't give us enough time, wait until our kids are through before you do anything," Baxter recalls. "We backed off and then decided we can't just look at the Westside. We have to look at the whole district."
To that end, Baxter says the district will likely open it up to much broader public consultation this fall before making a final decision.
To contact a reporter for this story, email John McDonald or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.


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California may be #2 for syphilis cases, but don't let that silver medal status discourage you. There is plenty of syphilis to go around, especially in LA. Los Angeles County came in first place for the total number of syphilis cases reported from 2003-2012 for individual cities and counties.
Every day on my drive to work I see that billboard. Every day in my office a patient wants screening for sexually transmitted infections and asks about syphilis because they've seen the billboards too.


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As Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy gets rave reviews in Venice, author John Le Carre offers his support of the film and says Alec Guinness himself would have given it a standing ovation.
It's an unusual move for an author of the source material to give such a rave of a film, but British national treasure/acclaimed author/film fan John Le Carre has issued this statement in support of Tomas Alfredson's adaptation. What a class act. His statement in full:
I approached the prospect of a feature film of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy with the same misgivings that would have afflicted anyone else who had loved the television series of thirty-two years ago.
George Smiley was Alec Guinness. Alec was George: period. How could another actor equal let alone surpass him?
And how could any movie director, even one as distinguished as Tomas Alfredson, tell the same intricate story in a couple of hours?
The television series had needed seven episodes. And slice it how you will, television drama is still radio with pictures, whereas feature film these days barely talks at all.
My anxieties were misplaced. Alfredson has delivered a film that for me works superbly, and takes me back into byways of the novel and its characters that the series of thirty-two years ago didn't enter.
Gary Oldman's Smiley pays full honour to the genius of Guinness. He evokes the same solitude, inwardness, pain and intelligence that his predecessor brought to the part - even the same elegance.
But Oldman's Smiley, from the moment he appears, is a man waiting patiently to explode. The danger, the pressed-down fury and the humanity that almost doesn't manage to keep its head above the parapet of despair, are Oldman's own. If I were to meet the Smiley of
Alec Guinness on a dark night, my instinct would be to go to his protection. If I met Oldman's, I think I just might make a run for it.
The film, through my very personal prism, is a triumph. And if people write to me and say, 'How could you let this happen to poor Alec Guinness,' I shall reply that, if 'poor Alec' had witnessed Oldman's performance, he would have been the first to give it a standing ovation.
It's not the film of the book. It's the film of the film, and to my eye a work of art in its own right. I'm very proud to have provided Alfredson with the material, but what he made of it is wonderfully his own.
The film, a Working Title production for StudioCanal, premieres today in Venice and then opens in the UK on Sept 16.


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Lingzhi (mushroom)
It has been suggested that Ganoderma sichuanense be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since October 2020.
|Scientific classification
G. lingzhi
|Binomial name
|Ganoderma lingzhi
(Sheng H. Wu, Y. Cao & Y.C. Dai) (2012)
|Mycological characteristics
|pores on hymenium
|cap is offset or indistinct
|hymenium attachment is irregular or not applicable
|stipe is bare or lacks a stipe
|spore print is brown
|ecology is saprotrophic or parasitic
|edibility: edible
Lingzhi, Ganoderma lingzhi, also known as reishi, is a polypore fungus ("bracket fungus") belonging to the genus Ganoderma.
Its red-varnished, kidney-shaped cap and peripherally inserted stem gives it a distinct fan-like appearance. When fresh, the lingzhi is soft, cork-like, and flat. It lacks gills on its underside, and instead releases its spores via fine pores. Depending on the age, the pores on its underside may be white or brown.[1]
The lingzhi mushroom is used in traditional Chinese medicine,[2][3] but there is insufficient evidence that it is effective for treating any disease.[4][5] In nature, it grows at the base and stumps of deciduous trees, especially that of the maple. Only two or three out of 10,000 such aged trees will have lingzhi growth, and therefore its wild form is rare.[citation needed] Lingzhi may be cultivated on hardwood logs, sawdust or woodchips.
Taxonomy and ecology[edit]
Lingzhi, also known as reishi, is the ancient "mushroom of immortality", revered for over 2,000 years. Uncertainty exists about which Ganoderma species was most widely utilized as lingzhi mushroom in ancient times, and likely a few different common species were considered interchangeable. However, in the most famous book of herbal medicine in China, the Bencao Gangmu (1578), a number of different lingzhi-like mushrooms were used for different purposes and defined by color. No exact current species can be attached to these ancient lingzhi for certain, but according to Dai et al. (2017),[6] as well as other researchers and based on molecular work, red reishi is most likely to be Ganoderma lingzhi (Sheng H. Wu, Y. Cao & Y.C. Dai, 2012). This is the species that is most widely found in Chinese herb shops today, and the fruiting bodies are widely cultivated in China and shipped to many other countries. About 7-10 other Ganoderma species are also sold in some shops, but have different Chinese and Latin names and are considered different in their activity and functions. The differences are based on concentrations of triterpenes such as ganoderic acid and its derivatives which vary widely among species. Research on the genus is on-going, but a number of recent phylogentic analyses have been published in the last number of years. [7]
Petter Adolf Karsten named the genus Ganoderma in 1881.[8] English botanist William Curtis gave the fungus its first binomial name, Boletus lucidus, in 1781.[9] The lingzhi's botanical names have Greek and Latin roots. Ganoderma derives from the Greek ganos (γανος; "brightness"), and derma (δερμα; "skin; together; shining skin").[10] The specific epithet, lingzhi, comes from Chinese, meaning "divine mushroom."
With the advent of genome sequencing, the genus Ganoderma has undergone taxonomic reclassification. Prior to genetic analyses of fungi, classification was done according to morphological characteristics such as size and color. The internal transcribed spacer region of the Ganoderma genome is considered to be a standard barcode marker.[11]
It was once thought that Ganoderma lingzhi generally occurred in two growth forms: a large, sessile, specimen with a small or nonexistent stalk, found in North America, and a smaller specimen with a long, narrow stalk found mainly in the tropics. However, recent molecular evidence has identified the former, stalkless, form as a distinct species called G. sessile, a name given to North American specimens by William Alfonso Murrill in 1902.[7][12]
Environmental conditions play a substantial role in the lingzhi's manifest morphological characteristics. For example, elevated carbon dioxide levels result in stem elongation in lingzhi. Other formations include antlers without a cap, which may also be related to carbon dioxide levels. The three main factors that influence fruit body development morphology are light, temperature, and humidity. While water and air quality play a role in fruit body development morphology, they do so to a lesser degree.[13]
Ganoderma lingzhi is found in Asia growing as a parasite or saprotroph on a variety of trees[14]. Ganoderma curtisii and Ganoderma ravenelii are the closest relatives of the lingzhi mushroom in North America[15].
In the wild, lingzhi grows at the base and stumps of deciduous trees, especially that of the maple.[16] Only two or three out of 10,000 such aged trees will have lingzhi growth, and therefore it is extremely rare in its natural form.[citation needed] Today, lingzhi is effectively cultivated on hardwood logs or sawdust/woodchips.[17]
The word lingzhi (靈芝) was first recorded in a fu (賦; "rhapsody; prose-poem") by the Han dynasty polymath Zhang Heng (CE 78–139). His Xijing fu (西京賦) (Western Metropolis Rhapsody) contains a description of the 104 BCE Jianzhang Palace of Emperor Wu of Han that parallels lingzhi with shijun (石菌; "rock mushroom"): "Raising huge breakers, lifting waves, That drenched the stone mushrooms on the high bank, And soaked the magic fungus on vermeil boughs."[18] The commentary by Xue Zong (d. 237) notes that these fungi were eaten as drugs of immortality.
The Shennong bencao jing (Divine Farmer's Classic of Pharmaceutics) of c.200–250 CE, classifies zhi into six color categories, each of which is believed to benefit the qi, or "life force", in a different part of the body: qingzhi (青芝; "Green Mushroom") for the liver, chizhi (赤芝; "Red Mushroom") for the heart, huangzhi (黃芝; "Yellow Mushroom") for the spleen, baizhi (白芝; "White Mushroom") for the lungs, heizhi (黑芝; "Black Mushroom") for the kidneys, and zizhi (紫芝; "Purple Mushroom") for the Essence. Commentators identify the red chizhi, or danzhi (丹芝; "cinnabar mushroom"), as the lingzhi.
Chi Zhi (Ganoderma rubra) is bitter and balanced. It mainly treats binding in the chest, boosts the heart qi, supplements the center, sharpens the wits, and [causes people] not to forget [i.e., improves the memory]. Protracted taking may make the body light, prevent senility, and prolong life so as to make one an immortal. Its other name is Dan Zhi (Cinnabar Ganoderma). It grows in mountains and valleys.[19][20]
Chinese texts have recorded medicinal uses of lingzhi for more than 2,000 years, a few sources erroneously claim its use can be traced back more than 4,000 years.[21]
The (1596) Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica) has a Zhi (芝) category that includes six types of zhi (calling the green, red, yellow, white, black, and purple mushrooms of the Shennong bencao jing the liuzhi (六芝; "six mushrooms") and sixteen other fungi, mushrooms, and lichens, including mu'er (木耳; "wood ear"; "cloud ear fungus", Auricularia auricula-judae). The author Li Shizhen classified these six differently colored zhi as xiancao (仙草; "immortality herbs"), and described the effects of chizhi ("red mushroom"): {{Quote|text=It positively affects the life-energy, or Qi of the heart, repairing the chest area and benefiting those with a knotted and tight chest. Taken over a long period of time, the agility of the body will not cease, and the years are lengthened to those of the Immortal Fairies.[22][23]
Stuart and Smith's classic study of Chinese herbology describes the zhi.
芝 (Chih) is defined in the classics as the plant of immortality, and it is therefore always considered to be a felicitous one. It is said to absorb the earthy vapors and to leave a heavenly atmosphere. For this reason, it is called 靈芝 (Ling-chih.) It is large and of a branched form, and probably represents Clavaria or Sparassis. Its form is likened to that of coral.[24]
The Bencao Gangmu does not list lingzhi as a variety of zhi, but as an alternate name for the shi'er (石耳; "stone ear", Umbilicaria esculenta) lichen. According to Stuart and Smith,
[The 石耳 Shih-erh is] edible, and has all of the good qualities of the 芝 (Chih), it is also being used in the treatment of gravel, and said to benefit virility. It is specially used in hemorrhage from the bowels and prolapse of the rectum. While the name of this would indicate that it was one of the Auriculariales, the fact that the name 靈芝 (Ling-chih) is also given to it might place it among the Clavariaceae.[24]
In Chinese art, the lingzhi symbolizes great health and longevity, as depicted in the imperial Forbidden City and Summer Palace.[25] It was a talisman for luck in the traditional culture of China, and the goddess of healing Guanyin is sometimes depicted holding a lingzhi mushroom.[23]
Regional names[edit]
|Regional names
|Historical name
|Traditional Chinese
|Literal meaning
|spirit mushroom
|Middle Chinese
|Chinese name
|Traditional Chinese
|Simplified Chinese
|Hanyu Pinyin
|ling4 zi1
|Vietnamese name
|linh chi
|Chữ Nôm
|Thai name
|lin chue
|Korean name
|Revised Romanization
|Japanese name
|Revised Hepburn
|Look up 靈芝, 영지, or 霊芝 in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
The name of the lingzhi fungus has a two thousand-year-old history. The Old Chinese name 靈芝 was first recorded during the Han dynasty (206 BC – 9 AD). In the Chinese language, língzhī (灵芝) is a compound. It comprises líng (灵); "spirit, spiritual; soul; miraculous; sacred; divine; mysterious; efficacious; effective)" as, for example, in the name of the Lingyan Temple in Jinan, and zhī (芝); "(traditional) plant of longevity; fungus; seed; branch; mushroom; excrescence"). Fabrizio Pregadio notes, "The term zhi, which has no equivalent in Western languages, refers to a variety of supermundane substances often described as plants, fungi, or 'excrescences'."[26] Zhi occurs in other Chinese plant names, such as zhīmá (芝麻; "sesame" or "seed"), and was anciently used a phonetic loan character for zhǐ (芷; "Angelica iris"). Chinese differentiates Ganoderma species into chìzhī (赤芝; "red mushroom") G. lingzhi, and zǐzhī (紫芝; "purple mushroom") Ganoderma sinense.
Lingzhi has several synonyms. Of these, ruìcǎo (瑞草; "auspicious plant") (ruì 瑞; "auspicious; felicitous omen" with the suffix cǎo 草; "plant; herb") is the oldest; the Erya dictionary (c. 3rd century BCE) defines xiú 苬, interpreted as a miscopy of jūn (菌; "mushroom") as zhī (芝; "mushroom"), and the commentary of Guo Pu (276–324) says, "The [zhi] flowers three times in one year. It is a [ruicao] felicitous plant."[27] Other Chinese names for Ganoderma include ruìzhī (瑞芝; "auspicious mushroom"), shénzhī (神芝; "divine mushroom", with shen; "spirit; god' supernatural; divine"), mùlíngzhī (木灵芝) (with "tree; wood"), xiāncǎo (仙草; "immortality plant", with xian; "(Daoism) transcendent; immortal; wizard"), and língzhīcǎo (灵芝草) or zhīcǎo (芝草; "mushroom plant").
Since both Chinese ling and zhi have multiple meanings, lingzhi has diverse English translations. Renditions include "[zhi] possessed of soul power",[28] "Herb of Spiritual Potency" or "Mushroom of Immortality",[1] "Numinous Mushroom",[26] "divine mushroom",[29] "divine fungus",[30] "Magic Fungus",[18] and "Marvelous Fungus".[31]
In English, lingzhi or ling chih (sometimes spelled "ling chi", using the French EFEO Chinese transcription) is a Chinese loanword.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) gives the definition, "The fungus Ganoderma lucidum (actually Ganoderma lingzhi, see Ganoderma lucidum for details], believed in China to confer longevity and used as a symbol of this on Chinese ceramic ware.",[32] and identifies the etymology of the word as Chinese: líng, "divine" + zhī, "fungus". According to the OED, the earliest recorded usage of the Wade–Giles romanization ling chih is 1904,[33] and of the Pinyin lingzhi is 1980.
In addition to the transliterated loanword, English names include "glossy ganoderma" and "shiny polyporus".[34]
The Japanese word reishi (霊芝) is a Sino-Japanese loanword deriving from the Chinese língzhī (灵芝; 靈芝). Its modern Japanese kanji, 霊, is the shinjitai ("new character form") of the kyūjitai ("old character form"), 靈. Synonyms for reishi are divided between Sino-Japanese borrowings and native Japanese coinages. Sinitic loanwords include literary terms such as zuisō (瑞草, from ruìcǎo; "auspicious plant") and sensō (仙草, from xiāncǎo; "immortality plant"). The Japanese writing system uses shi or shiba (芝) for "grass; lawn; turf", and take or kinoko (茸) for "mushroom" (e.g., shiitake). A common native Japanese name is mannentake (万年茸; "10,000-year mushroom"). Other Japanese terms for reishi include kadodetake (門出茸; "departure mushroom"), hijiridake (聖茸; "sage mushroom"), and magoshakushi (孫杓子; "grandchild ladle").
The Korean name, yeongji (영지; 靈芝) is also borrowed from, so a cognate with, the Chinese word língzhī (灵芝; 靈芝). It is often called yeongjibeoseot (영지버섯; "yeongji mushroom") in Korean, with the addition of the native word beoseot (버섯) meaning "mushroom". Other common names include bullocho (불로초, 不老草; "elixir grass") and jicho (지초; 芝草). According to color, yeongji mushrooms can be classified as jeokji (적지; 赤芝) for "red", jaji (자지; 紫芝) for "purple", heukji (흑지; 黑芝) for "black", cheongji (청지; 靑芝) for "blue" or "green", baekji (백지; 白芝) for "white", and hwangji (황지; 黃芝) for "yellow".
The Thai word het lin chue (เห็ดหลินจือ) is a compound of the native word het (เห็ด) meaning "mushroom" and the loanword lin chue (หลินจือ) from the Chinese língzhī (灵芝; 靈芝).
The Vietnamese language word linh chi is a loanword from Chinese. It is often used with nấm, the Vietnamese word for "mushroom", thus nấm linh chi is the equivalent of "lingzhi mushroom".
Phytochemistry and research[edit]
Ganoderma lucidum contains diverse phytochemicals, including triterpenes (ganoderic acids), which have a molecular structure similar to that of steroid hormones.[35] It also contains phytochemicals found in fungal materials, including polysaccharides (such as beta-glucan), coumarin,[36] mannitol, and alkaloids.[35] Sterols isolated from the mushroom include ganoderol, ganoderenic acid, ganoderiol, ganodermanontriol, lucidadiol, and ganodermadiol.[35]
A 2015 Cochrane database review found insufficient evidence to justify the use of G. lucidum as a first-line cancer treatment. It stated that G. lucidum may have "benefit as an alternative adjunct to conventional treatment in consideration of its potential of enhancing tumour response and stimulating host immunity."[5] Existing studies do not support the use of G. lucidum for treatment of risk factors of cardiovascular disease in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus.[37]
Ganoderma lucidum extract has a counteracting effect on ageing and significantly prolongs the lifespan of the laboratory nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.[38] Ganoderma lucidum extract administered to laboratory mice has modulated the immune system of these animals, improving the phagocytic function of macrophages and the activity of natural killer cells. [39]
Because of its bitter taste,[40] lingzhi is traditionally prepared as a hot water extract product.[25] Thinly sliced or pulverized lingzhi (either fresh or dried) is added to boiling water which is then reduced to a simmer, covered, and left for 2 hours.[41] The resulting liquid is dark and fairly bitter in taste. The red lingzhi is often more bitter than the black. The process is sometimes repeated to increase the concentration. Alternatively, it can be used as an ingredient in a formula decoction, or used to make an extract (in liquid, capsule, or powder form).
Lingzhi is now commercially manufactured and sold. Since the early 1970s, most lingzhi is cultivated. Lingzhi can grow on substrates such as sawdust, grain, and wood logs. After formation of the fruiting body, lingzhi is most commonly harvested, dried, ground, and processed into tablets or capsules to be directly ingested or made into tea or soup. Other lingzhi products include processed fungal mycelia or spores.[41]
Other uses[edit]
Lingzhi is also used to create mycelium bricks, mycelium furniture, and leather-like products.[citation needed]
- ^ a b Arora, David (1986). Mushrooms demystified: a comprehensive guide to the fleshy fungi (2nd ed.). Ten Speed Press. ISBN 978-0-89815-169-5.
- ^ Cao, Yun; Wu, Sheng-Hua; Dai, Yu-Cheng (2012). "Species clarification of the prize medicinal Ganoderma mushroom 'Lingzhi'". Fungal Diversity. 56 (1): 49–62. doi:10.1007/s13225-012-0178-5.
- ^ Kenneth, Jones (1990). Reishi: Ancient Herb for Modern Times. Sylvan Press. p. 6.
- ^ "Reishi mushroom". Drugs.com. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ a b Jin, Xingzhong; Ruiz Beguerie, Julieta; Sze, Daniel Man-yuen; Chan, Godfrey C.F. (2015). "Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi mushroom) for cancer treatment". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 4: CD007731. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD007731.pub3. PMC 6353236. PMID 27045603.
- ^ Dai, Y.-C. (2017). "Ganoderma lingzhi (Polyporales, Basidiomycota): the scientific binomial for the widely cultivated medicinal fungus Lingzhi". Mycological Progress. 16 (11–12): 1051–1055. doi:10.1007/s11557-017-1347-4.
- ^ a b Zhou, Li-Wei; Cao, Yun; Wu, Sheng-Hua; Vlasák, Josef; Li, De-Wei; Li, Meng-Jie; Dai, Yu-Cheng (2015). "Global diversity of the Ganoderma lucidum complex (Ganodermataceae, Polyporales) inferred from morphology and multilocus phylogeny". Phytochemistry. 114: 7–15. doi:10.1016/j.phytochem.2014.09.023. PMID 25453909.
- ^ Karsten, PA. (1881). "Enumeratio Boletinearum et Polyporearum Fennicarum, systemate novo dispositarum". Revue Mycologique, Toulouse (in Latin). 3 (9): 16–19.
- ^ Steyaert, R. L. (1961). "Note on the nomenclature of fungi and, incidentally, of Ganoderma lucidum" (PDF). Taxon. 10 (8): 251–252. doi:10.2307/1216350. JSTOR 1216350.
- ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1980). A Greek-English Lexicon (Abridged ed.). United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-910207-5.
- ^ Pawlik, Anna; Janusz, Grzegorz; Dębska, Iwona; Siwulski, Marek; Frąc, Magdalena; Rogalski, Jerzy (2015). "Genetic and Metabolic Intraspecific Biodiversity of Ganoderma lucidum". BioMed Research International. 2015: 1–13. doi:10.1155/2015/726149. PMC 4359883. PMID 25815332.
- ^ "Ganoderma sessile". MycoBank. International Mycological Association.
- ^ Yajima, Yuka; Miyazaki, Minoru; Okita, Noriyasu; Hoshino, Tamotsu (2013). "Production of Ginkgo Leaf−Shaped Basidiocarps of the Lingzhi or Reishi Medicinal Mushroom Ganoderma lucidum (Higher Basidiomycetes), Containing High Levels of α- and β-D-Glucan and Ganoderic Acid A". International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms. 15 (2): 175–182. doi:10.1615/IntJMedMushr.v15.i2.60.
- ^ Loyd AL, Richter BS, Jusino MA, et al. Identifying the "Mushroom of Immortality": Assessing the Ganoderma Species Composition in Commercial Reishi Products. Front Microbiol. 2018;9:1557. Published 2018 Jul 16. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2018.01557
- ^ Loyd AL, Barnes CW, Held BW, Schink MJ, Smith ME, Smith JA, et al. (2018) Elucidating "lucidum": Distinguishing the diverse laccate Ganoderma species of the United States. PLoS ONE 13(7): e0199738. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199738
- ^ National Audubon Society (1993). Field Guide to Mushrooms.
- ^ Veena, S. S.; Pandey, Meera (2011). "Paddy Straw as a Substrate for the Cultivation of Lingzhi or Reishi Medicinal Mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum (W.Curt. :Fr.) P. Karst. in India". International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms. 13 (4): 397–400. doi:10.1615/intjmedmushr.v13.i4.100. PMID 2164770.
- ^ a b Knechtges, David R. (1996). Wen Xuan or Selections of Refined Literature. 3. Princeton University Press. pp. 201, 211. ISBN 9780691021263.
- ^ "草上品". 神農本草經.
赤芝。 苦, 平, 無毒。胸中結, 益心氣, 補中, 增智慧, 不忘。久食, 輕身不老, 延年神仙。一名丹芝。 延年神仙。
- ^ The Divine Farmer's Materia Medica: A Translation of the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing. Translated by Yang, Shouzhong. Blue Poppy Enterprises. 1998. p. 17–18. ISBN 9780936185965.
- ^ "Reishi Mushroom Benefits & Other Facts about Reishi". Reishi Essence.
- ^ Li, Shizhen. [Compendium of Materia Medica] (in Chinese) – via Wikisource.
胸中結, 益心氣, 補中, 增智慧, 不忘。久食, 輕身不老, 延年神仙。
- ^ a b Halpern, Georges M. (2007). Healing Mushrooms. Square One Publishers. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-7570-0196-3.
- ^ a b Stuart, G. A.; Smith, F. Porter (1911). Chinese Materia Medica, Pt. 1, Vegetable Kingdom. Presbyterian Mission Press. pp. 271, 274. ISBN 9780879684693.
- ^ a b Smith, John; Rowan, Neil; Sullivan, Richard (2001). "Medicinal mushrooms: their therapeutic properties and current medical usage with special emphasis on cancer treatments". Cancer Research UK: 28, 31. Archived from the original on 31 August 2009.
- ^ a b Pregadio, Fabrizio, ed. (2008). The Encyclopedia of Taoism. Routledge. p. 1271. ISBN 9780203695487.
Zhi 芝 numinous mushrooms; excrescences
- ^ Bretschneider, E. (1893). Botanicon Sinicum. Kelly & Walsh. p. 40.
- ^ Groot, Johann Jacob Maria de (1892–1910). The Religious System of China. Its ancient forms, evolution, history and present aspect. Manners, customs and social institutions connected therewith. IV. Leiden: Brill Publishers. p. 307.
- ^ Hu, Shiu-ying (2006). Food Plants of China. Chinese University Press. p. 268. ISBN 9789629962296.
- ^ Bedini, Silvio A. (1994). The Trail of Time. Cambridge University Press. p. 113. ISBN 9780521374828.
- ^ Schipper, Kristofer M. (1993). The Taoist Body. University of California Press. p. 174.
- ^ "ling chih". Oxford English Dictionary. 4.0 (CD-ROM ed.). 2009.
- ^ Bushell, Stephen Wootton (1904). Chinese Art. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 148. (Victoria and Albert Museum); This context describes the lingzhi fungus and ruyi scepter as Daoist symbols of longevity on a jade vase.
- ^ "Names of a Selection of Asian Fungi". Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database. University of Melbourne. 18 February 1999.
- ^ a b c Paterson, R. Russell M. (2006). "Ganoderma – A therapeutic fungal biofactory". Phytochemistry. 67 (18): 1985–2001. doi:10.1016/j.phytochem.2006.07.004. hdl:1822/5522. PMID 16905165.
- ^ Kohguchi, Michihiro; Kunikata, Toshio; Watanabe, Hikaru; Kudo, Naoki; Shibuya, Takashi; Ishihara, Tatsuya; Iwaki, Kanso; Ikeda, Masao; Fukuda, Shigeharu; Kurimoto, Masashi (2014). "Immuno-potentiating Effects of the Antler-shaped Fruiting Body of (Rokkaku-Reishi)". Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry. 68 (4): 881–887. doi:10.1271/bbb.68.881. PMID 15118318.
- ^ Klupp, Nerida L.; Chang, Dennis; Hawke, Fiona; Kiat, Hosen; Cao, Huijuan; Grant, Suzanne J.; Bensoussan, Alan (2015). "Ganoderma lucidum mushroom for the treatment of cardiovascular risk factors". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2): CD007259. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD007259.pub2. PMC 6486141. PMID 25686270.
- ^ Cuong VT, Chen W, Shi J, Zhang M, Yang H, Wang N, Yang S, Li J, Yang P, Fei J (March 2019). "The anti-oxidation and anti-aging effects of Ganoderma lucidum in Caenorhabditis elegans". Exp. Gerontol. 117: 99–105. doi:10.1016/j.exger.2018.11.016. PMID 30476533.
- ^ Huang Q, Li L, Chen H, Liu Q, Wang Z (June 2019). "GPP (Composition of Ganoderma Lucidum Poly-saccharides and Polyporus Umbellatus Poly-saccharides) Enhances Innate Immune Function in Mice". Nutrients. 11 (7). doi:10.3390/nu11071480. PMC 6682870. PMID 31261807.
- ^ Meuninck, Jim (2017). Foraging Mushrooms Oregon: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Mushrooms. Falcon Guides. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-4930-2669-2.
- ^ a b Wachtel-Galor, Sissi; Yuen, John; Buswell, John A.; Benzie, Iris F. F. (2011). "Ganoderma lucidum (Lingzhi or Reishi): A Medicinal Mushroom". In Benzie, Iris F. F.; Wachtel-Galor, Sissi (eds.). Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects (2nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press/Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-4398-0713-2. PMID 22593926.
- Media related to Ganoderma lingzhi at Wikimedia Commons


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Watch the video, hear the organ and learn why we're restoring it
The South Island Organ Company (SIOC) has removed the Town Hall organ so that concrete piles can be installed beneath the floor where it sits, and the north wall facing Civic Square can be strengthened. Parts of the organ will go to the SIOC in Timaru for restoration or repair and the rest will be stored carefully in Council buildings.
In 2016, when the Town Hall strengthening work has finished, the SIOC will put it all back together again.
This huge job is not without its challenges. We don't have the instruction manual from when it was built, but we do have some drawings to help us with taking the organ apart. As the SIOC do the work, they will prepare more detailed drawings we can use in the future. There are parts of the organ we haven't had access to since its 1906 installation, so we may be in for some surprises when we get to those areas.
NZ Lotteries has funded $847,900 of the $1.45 million needed to restore the organ. This cost includes:
The Wellington Town Hall organ was disassembled over several weeks November - December 2013. Watch this time-lapse video of the process.
Check out the photos showing the preparation work before the organ could be taken apart and removed.
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The gross development value is the most important figure and assumption which is used in the development appraisal. Minor fluctuations in the gross development value will have the biggest impact on the profitability of your development project and it is, therefore, critical that we spend some time getting this assumption correct.
I say it quite a few times, but your development appraisal is only as good as the quality of the inputs and assumptions you are using. By taking the time to make sure your assumptions are solid, you are taking a big step towards de-risking your development project.
This article is focused on residential gross development value and I personally use 4 sources to make sure I have the correct assumption for the gross development value in my appraisals.
So… lets get stuck in…
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Sold Price Data:
The best and most reliable source of data for the gross development value is the sold price data, specifically the data provided by the Land Registry.
As many of you will know, the Land Registry documents every land transaction and the title documents includes the price for which the specific property or land was purchased for.
The sold price data should be your first source for establishing your gross development value and the area which you should spend most of your time. The great thing being that this can all be done from your office online.
The sold price data can be found online from places like Rightmove House Prices and Zoopla.
Very simple…
Asking Price Data:
The next source of data for the values in your appraisal is researching what is on the market currently.
This is, of course, not real data as the prices shown here are only asking prices and there is no way to tell whether the price shown is under-valued, over-valued or bang on.
So tread with caution here…
However… be clever with your searches.
If you are planning to build flats in your project, then there is no point searching and analysis data for houses in the area. The comparable data you are using should reflect the design of your project.
Estate Agents:
The high street agent still plays a large role is residential property development and this starts way before they get their hands on your finished product to sell.
I have approached and spoken to at least 3 local high street estate agents for every single site I have looked at in detail or purchased.
They know the local micro market better than most and they love to talk about the market. So spend some time either phoning or meeting face-to-face to get their opinion of the potential values you can achieve.
They will be more than happy to help and you can get a lot of detail from them. Their end goal is obviously to get a chance to sell your finished development so they will usually always help with values.
Be careful… a local estate agent may not have experience with selling new-build product… they may want to over inflate the values to make them look good. You skill as a developer is to sift through the information and decided what the correct assumption is for the gross development value.
Development Surveyors:
Finally… the specialist property development surveyors.
These guys know development and often know exactly what us developers need. Unlike high street agents, the development agent specialises in property development and will use a variety of sources and experience to provide the data you want.
Sometimes this comes at a cost, but sometimes they will do it for free depending on your relationship with them.
If you are using a development agent to source and buy land through, then their opinions on values is a must, and they should be providing this data as part of their fee.
I personally tend to use development surveyors on larger sites when the gross development values starts getting into 8 figures, but that's just me.
The 4 sources above a perfect for correctly establishing your gross development value and whats even better is my FREE development appraisal excel tool…
Download that now…
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Sources of Gross Development Value – Final Thoughts…
So there you have it…
4 really simple sources to use to make sure your gross development value in your appraisal is as reliable as possible.
Remember this…
It is your job as a property developer to collate, analysis and agree on the inputs into your appraisal. You are the one who 'owns' the inputs and it is you who is taking all the risk in the development process.
A skillful and profitable property developer will be able to gather as much information as possible to help with the process, and importantly be able to sift through what is important and what can be ignored.
Just because an estate agent said you can sell your next development for £2m, doesn't mean you can. Use all the sources available to you and make sure you can fully justify and qualify the inputs you are using.
In the end of the day… as a property developer, you are the person in charge, and if a project fails to make the required profit the its on you…
All the best,


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Truth is essential but what is it to you? Will the TRUTH set you free? It's so easy to look at external things in life and work with them but how do we go about with our internal stuff?
How does one go about ones own TRUTH?
What is it to be TRUE to yourself?
So many questions with answers that only can be given by YOU!
How would you go about with your life if the world suddenly changed over night with no scarcity of anything?
Would you still work at the same place?
Would you still be in your current relationship?
Would you be more true to yourself after the change? If so why?
How do you measure your value? Is it even possible to measure? Do you need to measure it?
Update: 21st of May 2014
Just got this major download while having a conversation with a friend!
"Another distortion is the hunt for TRUTH, this makes people fight for truth, not realizing that everybody has their own TRUTH which should not be fought over thus letting go of the everlasting chase for the TRUTH cause TRUTH just is."


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There are many ways professional gardeners work in this area. Usually the work is seasonal, often only while renters are in place or while the owner is out for the summer. It might involve the installation of pots and maintenance of them and a garden area. Gardeners also design, install and maintain larger and even very large properties. Sometime a vegetable garden is involved, or a water feature. Often the gardener is involved with several or many properties, each with its own requirements. Choices of plants to use must be made based on the client's preferences, bloom time, amount and kind of maintenance needed as well as the various horticultural aspects of each plant.
But for the past eight years, I have worked on two properties year-round which has meant meeting all of the above challenges and opportunities throughout all the seasons of the year.
During that time I have worked with a father and son, both named Josue, and we have developed extensive beds, and areas on the properties. We have amended the barely plantable soil and in places removed it, reconstructed it and put it back. We have added worm castings, compost, shredded leaves and grass clippings and other assorted organic mulches to bring the soil in the beds up to a very good quality. We have been able, with the help of a flock of hard working chickens, to make our own compost and the tomatoes, started from seeds in the greenhouse, are almost jumping out of the ground.
We have had the distinct challenge of installing (yes, it's more than planting) and maintaining several stands of bamboo. Such a beautiful plant – but so naughty! The earliest installation was in a cement surround; it escaped over the top in a 1" layer of soil on top of the cement. We captured it. In another location on the property it escaped under the grout line in the wall cap of a cement trough. We captured it. Such a beautiful plant. Its rapid growth provides building material for bamboo rooms, trellises, and staking and we have made many of such for the flower gardens and vegetable gardens.
We have produced abundant quantities of vegetables, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and flowers for cutting for the house including some amazing calla lilies, the flowers of which are a full 6" tall with the texture of fine glove leather. They are minimally hardy in this zone, so to protect them in winter we mulch their beds heavily with salt hay and then build a burlap house to enclose them. There are also 12 six-year-old rose standards about seven feet tall in their pots which we also build burlap houses for in the fall.
We have been able to house tropicals used at the house in the summer in greenhouses during winter. And in another green house, we have developed specimen collections of succulents, bromeliads, orchids, nepenthes, aristolochias and ferns. And in the spring, the greenhouses are used to produce seedlings for the gardens.
We have been able to use plants in the garden beds that do not get used regularly because they require a lot of staking or frequent deadheading or their bloom times happen in the off seasons. We have been able to plant densely so the garden is heavy with bloom. And we have extended the garden seasons into the entire year.
The lotus garden that we built is amazing in bloom with exotic flowers like no other. And over the years frogs have found it and live there with the fish that monitor the mosquito larva population and because we use no chemicals, there are always many birds hatched each season and a good sized family of toads! This spring, a duck laid three eggs in one of the vegetable beds.
The profusion of pots accompanying the various tropicals from the green house has allowed us to punctuate the beds and gardens with noteworthy plants.
This situation means we can participate in the garden in a very complete way, from the compost pile and the chickens to the magnificent calla lilies on the table set for dinner using vegetables from the garden outside the door.
But these properties are now for sale and according to some real estate brokers visiting the property, the gardens may be a liability in that they require a good deal of care. One mentioned that the raised bed vegetable garden outside the kitchen with stone pathways would be a good basketball court. If, indeed, a new owner is not willing to do what is necessary to maintain the gardens, they would be removed.
As all gardeners know, the garden is constantly about change. And so the two Josues and I are changing the nature of the gardening we do and expanding our work to other properties and other ways to garden. We have loved the work we did in the past and look forward to new clients and new properties creating and maintaining year-round, seasonal, occasional and vegetable gardens.
Jeanelle Myers is the proprietor of Jeanelle Myers Fine Gardening. 631-434-5067.


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Ermalee & Wally Hickel
Ermalee Strutz was born on September 11, 1925 in Anchorage. Her father, Louis, was a Sergeant in the U.S. Army who was posted to Alaska during World War I. After the war, he brought his fiancé, Aline Sawhill, to Alaska from Missoula, Montana. They were married soon after the war ended, and in 1924 they acquired a home at the west end of the Park Strip, a former air strip that became a popular sports field and park in downtown Anchorage.
In that home they raised six children; four girls and two boys. According to Ermalee, who was the youngest daughter, her mother "hated housework" but loved gardening and eventually became one of Alaska's "master gardeners." Every summer she put out a fishnet on the beach just below their home. When the tide went out, one of the chores of the Strutz kids was to check the net and bring the salmon up to the house.
In those days, there was only one school in Anchorage. It included the elementary grades, middle school and high school in a single building located where the Alaska Performing Arts Center is today. Ermalee enjoyed sports, especially softball. She was a Rainbow Girl and rarely missed a dance, and she served as the editor of the school newspaper.
Her first paying job was to usher at the Empress Theatre. She also worked at the cannery at the Port of Anchorage as a "stuffer" packing the cans tightly with salmon before the lids were sealed. Well-known Anchorage banker Dan Cuddy also worked at the cannery at the same time in his teen-age years and credited the owner with helping him earn enough money to pay for law school.
Between her junior and senior years, Ermalee worked as a secretary at the large military base, Elmendorf Field, that adjoined Anchorage. She learned shorthand in high school and typed correspondence for a Major with an office "on the top floor of a great big building on base." When she graduated, she worked full-time for that same officer.
Not long after Wally returned to Alaska with his infant son, Ted, he asked a friend if he knew the Strutz girls. "Yes", his friend replied. "The last one got married last month."
"No, she didn't," replied Wally with his trademark confidence and determination. Wally had returned to Alaska following the death of his first wife, Jannice, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Distraught by the loss of his young and lovely wife, and needing to care for Ted, his two-year old son, Wally suddenly remembered Jannice saying "That Ermalee Strutz is such a wonderful girl." That convinced him to appeal to the military officers in charge of the Denver air field where he worked as a civilian aircraft inspector, and they allowed him to return to Alaska with Ted to be close to the Cannons, Ted's grandparents, who lived in Anchorage.
Wally kept looking for Ermalee and eventually ran into her at the Kashim Club on the base. "Are you Ermalee Strutz?" he asked.
"Yes, and you're Wally Hickel, and you married Jannice," Ermalee responded, having attended high school a year or two behind Jannice.
Wally and Ermalee were married in a small Catholic church on the same block where the Holy Family Cathedral is located today. But after the wedding, Charlie Jett, his best man, kidnapped the bride and raced off with her in his car in the tradition of the often-practiced "shivaree."
Someone said, "Hey Wally, I saw Charlie racing his car down the street and Ermalee was with him!" Wally grabbed another car and drove right across the park strip and headed for the only road out of town – the road to Palmer. Not finding them, he eventually drove back to town. Looking in the rear view mirror as he passed the South Seas, a favorite local bar where Wally worked evenings, he spotted Charlie's car.
"I thought that was fun," recalled Ermalee, as she re-told the story in her late eighties.
When Wally and Ermalee were married on Thanksgiving Day in 1945, they had four days off from Thursday through Sunday before they had to be back at work on the base on Monday. They had a brief honeymoon in Valdez, and Wally invited Charlie Jett to join them to share the driving. Soon after the wedding, Charlie and another friend, George Arcand, moved into the back room in the Hickel's tiny home on K Street. The rent paid by the men helped the newlyweds pay their bills including monthly invoices from the Mayo Clinic for the treatment Jannice had received the year before. Both Wally and Ermalee had to report to work at the base at 8 o'clock in the morning. They would return home after 5 pm for dinner, and then, Wally had to drive to the South Seas where he was a bartender and bouncer until midnight.
When Ermalee became Mrs. Hickel, she instantly became "Mother" to Wally's son Ted. Five more Hickel sons arrived in the ensuing years, and Wally would call Ermalee "Mother" for the rest of his life.
Ermalee never complained. Wally described her as "light as a butterfly and tougher than a boot."
He recalled in an interview nearly 60 years later that in 1946 he and Ermalee bought their home at 13th Avenue and K Street in Anchorage, paying $6,185. In their spare hours, Ermalee put fresh wallpaper on the walls and painted the remaining interior, while Wally put in a foundation beneath the house made of five-gallon gas cans filled with concrete. It's still standing.
In the summer of 1947, a lady from Valdez asked if the Hickels would sell their house for $14,100. "She wrote me a check for it," Wally remembers, "and boy, was that a lot of money!" He had just started his business, as he set out to complete three partially-built homes behind Chilkoot Charlie's, an old-time pub on Spenard Road, in what was then the outskirts of Anchorage..
Wally had come home from work one day and told Ermalee that he had quit his job on base and "he had figured it out." He was going into the construction business, beginning with completing those homes. He and Ermalee moved into one, and he had two new homes to sell. "That's how we got started in business," he said years later.
By 1952, Hickel Construction had built nearly two hundred homes and duplexes in Anchorage, and Wally built the first motel in Alaska, the Traveler's Inn. The previous year, he purchased 70 acres overlooking Turnagain Arm from an individual who had to sell the property in a rush. After an all night negotiation, Hickel finally agreed to pay $7,000 for what would become one of the most coveted neighborhoods in Anchorage, known today as Resolution Pointe.
And then Wally got into politics. In 1954, the Republican Party changed its rules and elected their National Committee man and woman by public vote rather than by the delegates who attended the State convention. Hickel ran for the position and won, serving as the spokesman for the party for a decade.
"Wally got deep into politics. He loved it!" remembers Ermalee. In 1966, he won the Republican primary and unseated Governor Bill Egan in the General Election.
One of the stories that Ermalee enjoyed telling in her later years was about her hero the aviator Charles Lindbergh, the first individual to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean from the US to Paris, France. In 1967, State Senator Lowell Thomas, Jr. whose family knew the Lindberghs, invited the aviator to come to Juneau to address the Legislature on conservation, one of his favorite subjects. When the Hickels learned that Lindbergh was coming, they extended an invitation for him to be their guest in the Govenor's Mansion. He accepted and stayed a week.
At dinner the evening before he was to address the legislature, Lindbergh asked Mrs. Hickel if "the help" could press his wool serge pants so that he would look presentable for his legislative presentation. Mrs. Hickel immediately consented, although there was no "help" available.
Later that evening, she set up her ironing board in her upstairs bedroom and personally pressed her hero's very thick and heavy pants. As she worked she thought to herself. "I never imagined when I was growing up and earning extra money working in the cannery at the Anchorage Port, that one day I would be married to the Governor of Alaska, live in the Governor's House, and iron my hero Charles Lindbergh's pants!"


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Beautiful Oamaru stone cottage architecturally designed in French provincial style, with fabulous views of Mt Hutt. Warm, comfortable and furnished to a luxury standard. Situated in a landscaped park-like setting with west facing veranda.
Whitestone Cottages are the perfect haven in Methven / Mt Hutt village for independent travellers looking for luxury self catering holiday homes. Whether you are coming to Methven (Mount Hutt), in New Zealand's South Island on a family skiing & snowboarding holiday and are looking for ski accommodation in Methven or whether you are here for trout fishing, golf, walking or simply to relax and unwind, Whitestone Cottages is an ideal base for your holiday. Methven's luxury ski accommodation.
These 2 bedroom ensuited cottages are self contained and are situated in a relaxing and spacious garden setting with superb mountain views and are just a five minute stroll from the centre of Methven - Mt Hutt Village on foot and a 30 minute drive from the Mt Hutt skifield. Each cottage sleeps up to 6 people in existing bedding.
|Downstairs each cottage offers a fully equipped kitchen with dishwasher, oven, microwave, fridge and complimentary tea and coffee.
Full laundry facilities include washing machine, dryer, iron/ironing board as well as a drying cupboard.
The living room provides all the comforts of home with an open gas fire, quality lounge suites, TV/Stereo & DVD player.
Undercover parking and ski/snowboard storage keeps your car and gear dry and safe.
All cottages offer a smoke free environment.
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Price starts from: $150.00
Maximum Occupancy: 6 pax
Room Bedding: Sleep max of 6 per cottage in king or single bed configurations
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Milhaud: Piano Music
William Bolcom, piano
Nonesuch H-71316
Don't ever be discomfited by a melody.
-Darius Milhaud to Burt Bacharach
Similar to his contemporary Francois Poulenc, Darius Milhaud had an eclectic range of styles that could be cheeky, kitschy or cutting-edge. Sometimes all at once. Unlike the dodecaphonists, who criticized him for not being into seriousness, Milhaud was unafraid of a hummable tune. His most famous work, The Creation of the World (1923) is notable as an early classical piece to utilize popular music (it contains a gigantic jazz fugue), while Milhaud's staging of Aeschylus's trilogy from around the same period is orchestrated with whips and hammers.
Milhaud's early works are marked by his use of polytonality–music that's played in multiple keys at once. The Saudades do Brasil (1920-1921) is perhaps his most popular piece for the piano. Based on the rhythms of South America, it's a series of simple melodic dances set against polytonal chords. The suites range from lightening fast bars, as in Copacabana to the topsy-turvy dissonance in a piece like Ipanema, with its cluster chords spawning a web of ninths, to Tijuca, which is like some surreal exhibition of polytonality.
Besides being an undeservedly obscure composer, Milhaud is known, if at all, as the teacher of a surprisingly diverse panoply of singers and musicians, including Dave Brubeck, Bacharach and the composer William Bolcom, the pianist on this recording.


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The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
About The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
The Department of Chemistry has 21 tenured and tenure-track faculty members, 10 lecturers, and 5 support staff thoughtfully engaged in the chemical education of university, elementary, middle school, and high school students spanning the Rio Grande Valley. We are committed to providing quality education, serving the community, and preparing students for graduate work or careers in chemistry by offering programs that lead to bachelors (B.S.), masters (M.S.) or minors in chemistry. Additionally, the Department of Chemistry prepares students for admission to schools of dentistry, pharmacy, and medicine. We also offer a program that leads to teacher certification through the UTeach program where you will work dedicated Chemical Education faculty. We provide undergraduate, graduate, and high school students with research opportunities supervised by faculty mentors that are experts in areas such as organic, inorganic, environmental, physical, analytical, computational, polymeric, and materials chemistry. Our department receives generous funding to support research from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Welch Foundation, and the Elliott Chemical Society.
The Department of Chemistry is located in the Science (SCNE) building on the Edinburg campus and the Life and Health Sciences (LHSB) building on the Brownsville campus. Our department houses the modern chemical instrumentation required to conduct innovative research publishable in national and international peer-reviewed journals. We have dedicated laboratories for teaching, community engagement, and for students to conduct experiments for coursework or to explore focused research projects mentored by inventive faculty.
1 job with The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Department Chair - Associate/Full Professor
Department Chair - Associate/Full Professor PLEASE APPLY ONLINE USING THIS LINK: https://careers.utrgv.edu/postings/25802 T


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Jeremih has been killing features left and right, but he's finally dropped another single off his (hopefully) upcoming Late Nights: The Album. All three singles we've heard so far have included rappers--first YG, then J. Cole, and now, the most mainstream of the bunch, Flo Rida.
On "Tonight Belongs to U!", Jeremih continues in the EDM direction with his danciest cut yet. This might be too upbeat for Late Nights (the mixtape) die-hards, but you're gonna be hearing this every time you step in the club, so you might as well dance along. No one can sing over a crescendoing beat like Jeremih, and Flo Rida, a club king himself, keeps the party going on the final verse.
If Late Nights ever drops, we'll be the first ones waiting, and with songs like "Tonight Belongs to U!", it should do huge numbers on the charts.
What do y'all think of the song?
Quotable Lyrics
Wasn't lookin' for it to heal the scar
But, today, I was ridin' on lonely boulevard
Wishin' all wasn't lost
And there, there you came
- Jeremih


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DYNASET Hydraulic Magnet
The Dynaset hydraulic magnet is a true plug-and-play solution for metal handling.
Quick de-magnetisation guarantees swift and accurate handling of ferrous materials. Vibration free running and automatic speed control makes sure that it is safe to use and will have a long life expectancy.
Both hydraulic and electro magnets are available and can be fitted quickly and easily with minimal service requirements.


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We were very honored to have Mr. Erik Gronlund and Mr. Tero Lassial from Finland with us during their recent trip to Hong Kong! We also learned that their home dojo follows the teachings of Endo Sensei! It was certainly a pleasure to practice with you and wished we had more time to train together! Looking forward to your visit again soon!
11 members from Doyukai Hong Kong attended Endo Sensei's Summer Seminar in Saku Dojo, Nagano Japan!
It was an wonderful experience for all of us, not to mention the new acquired techniques, bonding between old and new friends from around the world! Thank you all for making this a memorable experience!
Our member Wilson Chik's brief recount of Saku Trip. Thank you Wilson for your contribution and tons of fun!
Congratuations to all members who passed the June 2010 grading exams.
Grading Exam Results
Passed 1st Kyu Exam: Bernard Kwan
Passed 3rd Kyu Exam: Clayton Myers
Passed 5th Kyu Exam: Pamela Bringer, Steve Wang


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"I am a photojournalist, first and foremost, and if I cross a line, then there might not be any going back. I think you have to maintain journalistic integrity, and if you do the story right, then people will draw their own conclusions to the degree that there is a right and wrong in these stories. Hopefully, people come away with a right informed perspective."
Brian Skerry is a photojournalist specializing in marine wildlife and underwater environments. Since 1998 he has been a contract photographer for National Geographic Magazine, and in 2014 he was named a National Geographic Photography Fellow.
Brian is praised worldwide for his aesthetic sense as well as his journalistic drive for relevance. His uniquely-creative images tell stories that not only celebrate the mystery and beauty of the sea, but also help bring attention to the large number of issues that endanger our oceans and its inhabitants.
Brian's year round assignment schedule frequently finds him in environments of extreme contrast, from tropical coral reefs to diving beneath polar ice. While on assignment he has lived on the bottom of the sea, spent months aboard fishing boats and traveled in everything from snowmobiles to canoes to the Goodyear Blimp to get the picture. He has spent more than 10,000 hours underwater over the last thirty years.
Brian frequently lectures on photography and conservation issues having presented at venues such as TED Talks, the Royal Geographical Society in London and the Sydney Opera House in Australia. He is also a regular guest on television programs such as NBC's TODAY Show, CBS Sunday Morning, and ABC's Good Morning America. Recognition for his work includes awards from organizations and competitions such as Pictures Of The Year International (POYi), BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Nature's Best and Communication Arts. In 2010, National Geographic magazine named one of Brian's images among their 50 Greatest Photographs Of All Time.
Brian is a founding Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) and is actively involved with numerous conservation groups.
On learning to dive and photograph in cold, murky waters
"I knew that if I could work in those conditions, that are more challenging both from a diving and photography standpoint, that I would probably have a little bit easier of a time when I got to the warmer, clearer, easier places to work."
"You'd work all week for a half an hour on the bottom on a given dive or maybe a couple of hours over the course of the weekend. Part of that time was just getting down to these sights, the shipwrecks, or to the ledges that I was diving, looking for lobsters or fish and things. Trying to make a few pictures and then come back. It was a tremendous amount of time invested for a very little reward."
On breaking in to National Geographic
"[My colleague] said, 'if you want I will recommend you but I think you've got about a 98% chance of failure with this story. Keep in mind with National Geographic you're only going to get one chance so you might want to wait for a better opportunity to come down the road.' I thought about it and part of my gut told me that another opportunity may never come down the road."
"I was leaving [National Geographic], I was in the elevator wearing my suit and tie and heading back to my hotel. There was a woman in the elevator who I really didn't know, she was in a lot of these sessions. She started asking me questions, "Geez, Brian what else do you shoot? Do you do natural history? Do you have more stuff we could look at?" It turns out she was the Deputy Director of Photography, Susan Smith, at the time who was one of the people that was sort of a talent scout."
On drawing the line between photojournalism and advocacy
"I am a photojournalist, first and foremost, and if I cross a line, then there might not be any going back. I think you have to maintain journalistic integrity, and if you do the story right, then people will draw their own conclusions to the degree that there is a right and wrong in these stories. Hopefully, people come away with a right informed perspective. That being said, as a human being you can't do something for decades and not have an opinion."
"If I am in the ocean, and I see an anthropogenic stress that has occurred to an animal … For example, if I was swimming along a coral reef and there was a sea turtle all wrapped in fishing line in monofilament and struggling on the bottom of the ocean and if I could go over and untangle that turtle, I absolutely would do it."
On balancing the desire for meaning and the need to earn a living
"You've got to make a living, you've got to pay the bills, but if there's a little bit of time in your schedule to do something for free that it benefits the world, then boy, that's a rare opportunity."
"For the most part, I believe that the people who go into this kind of work do it because they very much care about nature, they care about the planet, they're not in it just for the money. I mean we have to make a living, but if we were in it for the money there's a lot of other careers that would be far more lucrative."
On excuses for not getting the shot
"They really don't care that there was a hurricane, or that the boat sank, or that my camera flooded. I mean, at the end of the day, either you got the picture, or you did not get the picture. That's really all that matters. It's like a professional athlete. You could have maybe one bad game. Boy, if you have a couple, you're going to be sitting on the bench."
Advice for emerging photographers
"Timing is everything and this is what I often tell emerging photographers, young photographers that it isn't really a race. Obviously, you want to get out there and do your thing but you also want to be prepared so the more time that you can invest in yourself, your skills and whatever it is that you want to do out there, it will not be wasted. That's really important."


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Do you need a yummy cake to feed a crowd? One South Bay option is Prolific Oven, which can make you a large sheet cake of very good quality. jkg notes that if you're not sure which flavor to get, they sell slices, so you can do "research."
katg likes the Asian-style cakes sold by Sheng Kee Bakeries, with light, yummy frosting and fruit inside. They sell cakes big enough to feed 25-30 people.
And Lori SF likes the cakes at Fleur de Cocoa.
Prolific Oven [Peninsula]
550 Waverley St., Palo Alto 94301
Sheng Kee Bakery [Citywide]
Fleur de Cocoa [South Bay]
39 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos
Board Links


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Allco Finance Group, a troubled Australian asset manager, said it planned to sell its non-core assets, following a business restructure, in order to cut its debt due to high funding costs.
Its shares tumbled as much as 66 percent to A$1.02 on resuming trade following a two-week suspension. Allco also reported a 14 percent drop in first-half profit.
The group said it was in constructive discussions with banks to restructure its debt facilities, adding the proposed restructuring was being viewed positively by its senior lenders.
The restructuring would enable the company to focus on its core aviation, shipping and real estate assets, while exiting its infrastructure and financial assets, Allco said in a statement.
"These areas contributed strong revenue ... and provide a good underpinning for our future strategy," said David Clarke, Chief Executive Officer, in a statement.
Allco core's business contributed about 76 percent to its first-half revenue.
Its shares were hammered last month on concerns about high debt levels and its opaque business model, and talk has circulated that the group is in sale talks, and that its lenders had called in a corporate restructuring team.
Allco also said it had agreed to sell its stake in Consolidated Edison portfolio to Australian pension fund manager Industry Funds Management.
In December, Allco along with Industry Funds had bought several generation projects from Consolidated for nearly $1.5 billion.
Clarke said Allco was not in breach of financial covenants and the company has never been late in meeting its interest payments.
He said the fall in Allco's market capitalization had provided a trigger for banks to review senior debt facilities.
Allco shares climbed to an all-time high of A$12.61 in May 2007, giving it a market value of A$4.6 billion, compared with its current market value of about A$500 million.
Allco said it had a A$250 million bridge facility maturing in May and another A$900 million in senior debt would need to be repaid.
"We emphasize that notice has not been given at this time and there has been no indication from our banks that they intend to accelerate repayment of facilities," Clarke added.
Allco, which earns the bulk of its revenues by leasing aircraft and ships, has been growing its specialized funds management business by selling down assets from its balance sheet.
But its efforts to establish a global transport and infrastructure fund received a set back after a domestic institutional investor walked out earlier this month, after previously agreeing to commit A$200 million.


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Sofar Sounds reimagines the live event experience through curated, secret performances in more than 400 cities around the world. Sofar shows begin as a secret: sign up for three unnamed performances in a unique location (everything from living rooms and rooftops to boutique shops and churches!)
Discover your next favorite artist! All our lineups are curated to showcase diverse genres and sounds.


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President Obama Talks About America Being The Envy Of The World:
"I want, occasionally people to step back and take a look. America's got the best cards, we are the envy of the world. This can be our century, just like the 20th century was, as long as we don't tear each other apart because our politics values sensationalism or conflict over cooperation, and we don't have the ability to compromise, and if we get that part right nobody can stop us."
"He Doesn't Believe Any Of That" ~Sheriff David Clarke
Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke takes a moment on Fox & Friends to respond to President Obama's goals and his comments about cooperation, politics, and the 'Envy Of The World.'
FN: Sheriff, good morning to you. What do you make of the president's, saying this could be our century as long as we don't tear each other apart? You know he's a guy who didn't start the divide in Washington DC, between the right and left, but he certainly has perfected it.
SDB: Yes, there was an opportunity, big swing and a miss by President Obama. Look he's disconnected from reality. He doesn't believe any of what he said on Fox News Sunday. He came into office with three objectives, one was to destroy American exceptionalism the next was to obliterate the United States Constitution, and a third was to destroy the Republican Party.
He's done a pretty good job with those two objectives but he's done nothing else to the American people. We used to be the envy of the world before he became president, but I don't think that's the case anymore. We're not respected on the world stage. Putin doesn't respect him, many of the other leaders, Benjamin Netanyahu might, out of political courtesy say he does, but he doesn't either.
The best thing about the Obama presidency right now is that it's coming to an end and as America's nightmare will be over and we'll be able to pick up the ruins left by him and put this country back together again.
He talks about compromise, but he's compromised on nothing. Did he compromise on the Keystone pipeline? No. Did he compromise on Syrian refugees or accepting them in the United States? No he hasn't. Did he to a compromise on the trans-pacific partnership? No. Did he compromise on the Iran agreement? No. Compromises not in his vocabulary.
His definition of compromise his you do it his way or he'll get out his pen in his phone in a bludgeon you with an executive order.
FN: Sheriff, we're short on time here today, but you know right now he's in the legacy stage so ultimately Americans have got to ask themselves, "am I in better shape today than I was eight years ago?" and the answer is?
SDB: The answer is 'No' this has been a disaster.
FN: That simple?
SDB: Its that simple, foreign policy, the economy sputtering along, I could go on for the next 10 minutes but like you said we're short on time. But it's just unbelievable what he said yesterday. He did it just for Fox but he doesn't believe a word of that.
VIDEO: Watch Sheriff David Clarke Shreds Obama Speech To Pieces!
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text:
Night number two of "American Idol" season 10 was shorter than the first, but just as sweet, particularly if you are a fan of new judge Steven Tyler.
The unpredictability and wackiness of the Aerosmith frontman is quickly becoming one of the most entertaining aspects of the show. "Idol" executive producer Nigel Lythgoe recently told MTV News that Tyler will be on a tape delay when the show goes live, but even though he is already bleeped out accordingly during these first few weeks of audition rounds, his unique commentary and compliments deserve a recap of their own.
So without further ado, here are Thursday night's (January 20) top Tyler-isms:
» "You know what they say about a little hat?" Tyler asked to camera, wearing a tiny black top hat. "Little [bleep]." (We have no idea what he said, but because it was bleeped out by Fox, it had to be good/dirty, right?)
» "It's not cold; it was the warmth of his voice," Tyler said of the evening's first contestant to fellow judge Jennifer Lopez, who complained of getting goose bumps from the audition and the actual chill in the room.
» "Where did you get those lips?" he asked one young lady, followed by, "You had me sold from the second you laid eyes on me. Wait ... "
» "From my melodic sensibility, it was really delicious," he enthused after one performance. "I really liked your voice."
» "Yes." (Responding to a query as to whether he was familiar Mick Jagger's mouth.)
» "The sparkle in your eye is like, forget about it," Tyler said to a baby-face 15-year-old hopeful. "Looking at you, I'm closing my eyes and it's a work of art, a thing of beauty ... and I will finish that off with a double helping of ooh-yeah."
What was your favorite Tyler-ism? Share it in the comments!
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