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"This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.
When you end each week feeling defeated and piled on, it can be overwhelming. You begin the week with a plan, neatly listed in your calendar app. This week you'll be focused – you'll add reminders.
But by Wednesday, you've made a fraction of the progress you've planned.
Does that describe your typical week? Are you grabbing that glass of Chardonnay on Friday night like it's the tape at the end of a marathon?
If it is, I've stumbled on a way to actually start checking off those to-dos. It's actually used all around us in business and in education – it's time blocking.
The idea of time blocking, or using a block schedule, is that it's not enough to just write down your plan. We all have things we want to get done. But unless we get super intentional with our time, those things just keep getting moved to next week.
"It is not enough to be busy… The question is: what are we busy about?" ~ Henry David Thoreau
Time Blocking is Everywhere
Remember those awful bells in high school telling us when we were able to move? It seemed prison-like, and immature at the time, but is it really?
Suppose your school system made the announcement: "We're going to continue to teach your kids Math, Reading, Science and History. But we're not going to have structured time periods. We'll just work it all in where we can".
You'd probably wonder how they'll get anything accomplished. They're teaching hundreds of students simultaneously. So if your daughter needs to know Algebra by June, wouldn't it feel more secure knowing that she'll be doing just that every single morning from 9:15 to 10:00?
And when there's a test or quiz scheduled for a certain day, isn't it always first up? The most important thing is done first, and the less crucial things – the sand – fill in the rest of the period.
Controlling the Chaos
Have you ever visited an emergency room on a weekend night? Or, who hasn't seen episodes of Grey's Anatomy or ER on TV, when fifteen injured patients arrive within minutes.
It seems chaotic initially, but everyone working there already knows that the guy with the heart attack will be looked at before the kid with the broken arm.
They'll get to everyone, but before they lift a finger, they've already prioritized tasks.
Our day may not be as dramatic, but if we don't triage what's coming at us, we'll reach the end of the week wondering how so many things fell through the cracks.
It's not enough to jot down a to-do list.
To really accomplish tasks, we need to decide two things about each task:
1. How important is it?
2. How long will it take?
Of course, the same task may be a "would like to do" in the beginning of the month, and switch to a "must do" in the last week. But assigning a priority each week to every task is key.
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What About You? Do You Time Block Your Day?
To be honest, I haven't used a time blocked schedule very long. I've always thought writing things down was the key to getting them done. But I'd always find myself transferring half of today's list over to tomorrow. Sound familiar?
In early in 2017, I took my list making a step further. This whole blogging thing was new to me, so I needed a more detailed way to make progress in several unfamiliar areas.
I began with 5 goals for the year, then I estimated where I should be by the end of each quarter. So far so good. At least it looked that way on a spreadsheet.
I figured out what areas I should be concentrating on, and I came up with a daily schedule of 7 things to focus on each day. As long as I kept banging on those 7 things, I estimated that I should be moving toward my goals.
Now, if I had stuck with the schedule religiously, I would have ended the year much closer to my goals. But here's what I didn't take into account:
- I get side-tracked easily. I'll check YouTube to see how to do something, and then flip through 10 more videos.
- I tend to lock in on tasks. I'll spend hours working on one thing at the expense of 4 others.
- I'll check email a dozen times a day, losing focus each time.
- I'm a procrastinator. If there's an uncomfortable call I need to make, it'll be the last possible thing I do today. Or I'll push it to tomorrow.
Time blocking would have helped me with each of these issues. I would have prioritized things on my schedule, and assigned each task a specific time of day and a duration.
Here's what I noticed the first week I started using a time block schedule:
- I had more of a sense of urgency. Knowing I had 30 or 60 minutes for something, inspired me to shut out distractions. I became more disciplined right away.
- I started seeing progress on multiple things. Instead of locking in on one thing at the expense of others, using time blocks forced me to keep multiple tasks moving.
- Just the act of assigning 'must do' to an item is a great way to fight procrastination.
How You Can Get Started With Time Blocking
Using a time block schedule is really just a matter of doing three things.
- Brain dumping your to-do list onto paper.
- Assign each item as either a Must Do, or a Would Like to Do.
- Inserting each item into a 30 minute (or more) slot on your schedule.
Where to Write Your Time Blocks
This doesn't need to be complicated. You can lay out a simple Excel spreadsheet, or use the Numbers app on a Mac. In fact, here's one that I've used.
You can download this one here. Feel free to edit it however you want.
Google Calendar, below, is another simple option:
- You can access it from anywhere.
- It'll send you reminders during the day when it's time to move on to the next task.
One shortcoming of Google Calendar is, that it doesn't seem to have a built-in feature to mark items as 'complete'.
But there's a way around that.
- Your regular calendar is probably already named as your own name.
- On the left side of the screen, where your calendar is listed, you'll see the box that says, "Add Calendar". Select that, then click "New Calendar".
- Name this new calendar Completed or Done. Select a color other than your regular calendar.
- You should see your new 'Completed' calendar appear now under your own calendar.
- Now, when you've completed an event on your calendar, just click to Edit the event.
- In the Event Details section, just click the drop-down arrow next to your name, and select Completed.
- Click Save. Now the task should change color in your calendar, indicating it's done.
You can also use time blocking with an app like Asana. It's free, and takes just minutes to learn how to use. Asana has some cool features where you can assign due dates for projects, get reminders, and assign tasks to other people.
In my opinion, start simple. Use whatever you know you'll make use of.
Tips to Make a Time Block Schedule Work for You
Tip #1
If it feels challenging to get started time blocking, try it for one day. Even if it's a weekend day. Say you have 5 things you want to accomplish and usually you're lucky if you get to number 3. So try to block schedule your morning for instance.
Even if you don't finish some things within their block, stick to your times – for now anyway.
Here's why:
- It'll give you a sense of what it's like to be disciplined with your time.
- You'll develop a sense of urgency, and you'll take steps to shut out distractions.
- You'll stop that cycle of never getting to certain things on your list.
Tip #2
Try inserting a "catch up" block towards the end of the day. For those tasks where you just needed ten more minutes to look up something, make a call or check some detail. Having a catch-up block to tie up loose ends makes it easier to move from task to task without guilt.
Tip #3
Adjust! it's great to have a system that'll help you to be more disciplined with your time. But we're all working with unique constraints too. Maybe you have a young child at home. Or maybe you find that your focus starts to fade by 3PM. Arrange your tough tasks for when you're best equipped for them.
Final Points
Using a time block schedule has some similarities to budgeting. When you start living within a budget, you discover things about yourself that you may not have realized otherwise. You start seeing patterns in your spending, and you spot your own weaknesses that you can now plan for and avoid. You build in safeguards.
That's what'll happen when you're intentional with your time. Your calendar will begin to reveal things.
- You'll see that certain things take longer than you thought.
- You'll recognize that certain things need to be delegated. (lots of time spent & low ROI).
- You'll recognize what you need to start saying No to.
- If you're in business for yourself, you'll see where you need to charge more.
Here's another similarity that time blocking has with budgeting:
People resist using a budget because they see a budget as restrictive. If you confine your spending, then you're confining your life, right?
Well, no. Using a budget is just being intentional with the money you have. And in the long run that expands, not confines your options.
Since we also have a finite amount of time, being intentional with it will expand our options too. Who hasn't had a day where you go off on a tangent, then find yourself working overtime to make up for it?
Getting control of our schedule enables us to squeeze everything we can out of our day. And it leaves us with guilt free time for ourselves.
Remember. Our most valuable commodity isn't money, or people or apps. It's time.
So instead of saying, "I wish I was able to get that done this year", try time blocking and see if you don't make more progress.
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If you've read the two recent articles in Macleans and La Presse titled "Why Québec is closed for business" and "Investissements des entreprises : Québec, le cancre," you may have noticed that they both use non-residential business investment data to show how poorly the economies of Québec and Ontario fare against those of other Canadian provinces.
Such numbers are often cited by decision-makers and the media, but are they a good measure of economic performance?
To begin with, business investment data covers only business capital expenditure, i.e., what businesses spend on buildings, machinery, and equipment. Even though such investments help increase business productivity, they do not reflect the strength of tech industries and other growth sectors, which are central to the economic development strategy of Greater Montréal and many other major cities around the world. Montréal's video game industry, for instance, has seen dramatic growth in the past few years despite relatively low capital investments.
We should also bear in mind that, in knowledge-based economies, businesses often spend less on machinery and equipment, but invest more in the salaries of their skilled workers and in intangible assets such as R&D, technology transfer, training and professional development, and marketing and brand building. Such investments create considerable value but are not reflected in currently available data.
Additionally, as long as we're talking economic development, investment is not an end in itself, but a means to generate economic wealth. Just how much wealth an investment generates depends on the economic return of the investment, which varies greatly from one industry to the next. Not all investments are created equal.
According to a recent SECOR-KPMG study commissioned by Montréal International, the GDP impact of a $100-million investment would be $491-million in the scientific services industry as opposed to just $60-million in the paper industry, meaning that a paper mill would have to invest eight times as much as a scientific services company to generate the same amount of wealth.
And we've seen that with some investment projects we've helped get off the ground. For example, a food processing company that turned to Montréal International for assistance wanted to invest five times as much in capital assets as a video game company. In the end, however, the amount invested by the video game company generated twice as much wealth because it created more jobs.
To sum up, we believe that Québec's -- and Ontario's -- poor performance in terms of non-residential business investment is just a reflection of the decline in traditional manufacturing in the two provinces over the past few years. It is hardly representative of the vibrant, high-tech, creative, and knowledge-driven industries, which have seen tremendous growth in Greater Montréal and have played a major role in driving wealth creation. Investment data should be interpreted with a grain of salt when used to rate a region's economic performance. Investment alone is an incomplete and -- in this case -- misleading indicator, which is why we should also consider others, such as revenues, salaries paid, and GDP impact. The analysis of these high-knowledge industries requires indicators tailored to their reality.
Dominique Anglade is president and CEO of Montréal International, an organization whose mission is to attract talent, foreign businesses, and international organizations to Greater Montréal.

subset: commoncrawl


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Millions of travelers visit Miami to take in its world-class beaches, nightlife, restaurants and shopping, but with all that glamour going on few get a chance to explore the city's hidden and off the beaten path sights. The large majority of Miami visitors don't experience the most authentic and fascinating aspects of South Florida's cultural and historical locations because they are not featured in mainstream guidebooks or travel sites.
Known only to locals and those visitors tenacious enough to seek it out, Stiltsville is one of the most unusual historical locations in South Florida and can be seen glimmering in the distance from the shores of one of Miami's most popular beaches. Hovering above the clear shallow waters of Miami's Biscayne Bay, this unique collection of colorful shack-like houses sit just over 1 mile offshore of the southern tip of Key Biscayne. Accessible only by private vessel or organized boat tour, very few travelers have ever heard about or seen Stiltsville although it is a Miami landmark and a vibrant part of the area's history.
Legendary characters started building the houses on shallow grass flats in the late 1920's with the first known structure constructed in 1928 by the venerable Crawfish Eddie who sold beer and crawfish stew from his shack. During prohibition Stiltsville was a haven for "rumrunners" and many shacks featured speakeasies where prominent locals rubbed elbows with Governor's and celebrities of the era. It is rumored that mobster Al Capone had a gambling establishment in one of the small wooden shacks.
By the 1940's and 50's privately owned clubs and establishments including The Calvert Club, Quarterdeck Club and Bikini Club became popular hangouts and were known for their "anything goes" atmosphere.
At the peak of its popularity, Stiltsville had 27 homes built over the shallow water flats along Biscayne Channel with the last house built in the late 1960's. Over the years most of the earlier structures were destroyed by hurricanes or fire, and with only seven houses remaining today, this one-of-a-kind landmark is highly cherished by those fortunate enough to experience it.
In 1968 the National Park Service established Biscayne National Park and incorporated Stiltsville into the northern most section of the park. The original owners of the homes now act as caretakers of the structures under the non-profit Stiltsville Trust.
Other than knowing a local with a boat visitors have a few ways to experience this colorful relic from Miami's past. Currently there are only two outlets permitted by the National Park Service to take paying customers for visits to Stiltsville. Ocean Force Adventures has daily small group boat tours departing out of South Beach and History Miami conducts larger group tours two times a year with Dr. Paul George.


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40 meters off of the ground, the Redwoods Treehouse is an amazing sight. Located in New Zealand and built in part from sustainably-harvested pine, it is one of the most celebrated restaurants that most of the world has never heard of. Truly awe-inspiring architecture.
Asia has been at the forefront of sustainable, eco-friendly design for years now. Malaysia, China, and even the United Arab Emirates. Great work. So this restaurant in New Zealand should come as no surprise. I just wish we could do this sort of project on a mass scale in the United States. There have been sporadic projects, but I'm looking for a big push.
I figured my readers might enjoy this. It's a feast for the eyes...and for the environment!
Photos Courtesy of Modern Architecture and Design News


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Organon was a pharmaceutical company whose headquarters were based in Netherlands.
In the year 2007, the company was acquired by Schering-Plough Corporation, a company that is based in New Jersey. Organon was an active producer of pharmaceutical ingredients and it was acquired together with its sister company Intervet, that manufactured veterinary pharmaceuticals. In 2009, Schering-Plough merged with Merck under the name Merck & Co. Organon deals with production in various fields such as contraception, reproductive medicine, HRT, psychiatry, and anesthesia. Organon products are sold to international markets, and it uses various online channels in marketing and selling its products. The company was founded in 1923 by Dr. Saal Van Zwanenberg in Netherlands. Initially, Organon concentrated in the production of insulin, and in 1930s it started manufacturing estrogens. In 1948, the company acquired the Newhouse research site that was based in United Kingdom. In its period, Organon manufactured a significant number of compounds that were never adopted for use in medical purposes. However, those products were used for a variety of research.
In 2014, Organon was charged with misrepresentation of drug prices by United States government. The company was also charged with providing financial incentives that were deemed improper to nursing homes. These incentives were to be used to acquire market shares discounts so as to encourage the use of Remeron. To be restituted under Federal Anti-Kickback Statute, Organon paid $622,350. The company had gained a big name in 1953 when if initiated the production of cortisone. Later in 1962, it bought the Neder Cocainefabriek. Currently, Organon is known as Koninklijke Zwanenberg-Organon (KZO) after being fused with fibre producer AKU in 1969. Later the company became AKZO Nobel. While AKZo's headquarters remained in Anhem, they were later relocated to Amstrerdam. Its manufacturing facilities are currently in Germany, Ireland, Japan, USA, United Kingdom, and Netherlands.


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As Halloween is approaching, I thought why not incorporate it into my baking. The original recipe for the shortbread is taken from the "Great British Bake Off: Everyday" but I will write the ingredients, measurements and recipe below, just in case you would like to have a go and haven't purchased the book, although it does have some amazing recipes.
Wednesday, 7 October 2015
Halloween Shortbread
As Halloween is approaching, I thought why not incorporate it into my baking. The original recipe for the shortbread is taken from the "Great British Bake Off: Everyday" but I will write the ingredients, measurements and recipe below, just in case you would like to have a go and haven't purchased the book, although it does have some amazing recipes.
53 comments
Kat these are adorable! I was thinking about doing a Halloween baking post and this post is getting saved right into my inspiration folder. You seem to make significantly less mess than I do though haha.ReplyDelete
Sophie x | Essential Twenty
- Anonymous7 October 2015 at 09:24
These look so cute, I love the little ghosts especially!ReplyDelete
fourcatsplusus.co.uk - Amy
I was looking forward to this post yay! They're so cute! I want to eat them allll 😌ReplyDelete
Tore | atinymew.com xo
These look too cute, I'm also obsessed with shortbread so I'll definitely have to give this recipe a try!ReplyDelete
Toni x
Oooh, these look awesome! I want to buy loads of cookie cutters now :D xReplyDelete
These are so cute!! I'm definitely going to have to try it out!ReplyDelete
So cute, Mine will NOT look like that if I give it a go though! :)ReplyDelete
These are so cute! I want to make something similar for Halloween this year, definitely taking a look on Hobbycraft now. xReplyDelete
Megan | http://www.meganjean.co.uk
These look so yummy, please send me one in the post;)! They look so cute though, and delicious! I wish I was good at baking, need to practice I think! Would love to see more baking posts from you in the future, especially at Christmas! xxReplyDelete
Jasmine || http://www.blogsallbeautyy.blogspot.co.uk
OMG! These look so cool! I wish I had time to make cakes again x :(ReplyDelete
Wow these look amazing! Your photography is fab and you're so good at decorating, I wish I had the patients! Love their little faces ahah. I wish I was a good baker because these look so yummy!! Great post lovely, can't wait for more baking posts xxReplyDelete
These look so lovely, bet they taste amazing too, especially with the jam xxReplyDelete
Ioanna | Hearting.co.uk
Oh I love them, they are so cute and I think very good too! Thank you for the idea, I want to do them now :) xxReplyDelete
Giulia | www.giulietteblog.blogspot.com
These are the most adorable Halloween cookies I've ever seen! I bet they taste delicious too!ReplyDelete
Aria | Girl in a Whimsical Land
These are super cute!! I love your pictures <3ReplyDelete
Ramsha | Rose
oh my gosh these look so good!!!!! Love the shapes you did :)ReplyDelete
Amanda | amanda-speroni
Those cookies look delicious! I'm going to be doing some vegan ones, oh I wish I could bring some to you :(ReplyDelete
Love always, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Thank you sooooo much for sharing this lovely recipes! The cookies turned out amazing :)ReplyDelete
Love the icing, shimmery spray & decorating you've done hon. These are gorgeous!
I so love baking posts mixed up with beauty/fashion/lifestyle posts <3
xox Nadia
Soo cute you make it look so easy though. Really want to try theses for Halloween now I'm hungry.ReplyDelete
Omg Kathryn, how can you make shortbread look so adorable?! I'm absolute rubbish at baking, but I'd try this just because they look so good! Loving the photos, too!ReplyDelete
May | THE MAYDEN
These look amazing! I've been thinking about making some halloween treats for home and the office and I think these will do perfectly! xReplyDelete
I need to make these for Halloween! They turned out so great xReplyDelete
Jordan | Keep Dreaming
awww they are so flipping cute! i've saved this as i really want to make them this week now hahaReplyDelete
Hannah x hannatalks
These are INCREDIBLE!!!!ReplyDelete
These are too cute! I really wanted to do some halloween baking and these are just ideal! xReplyDelete
Jasmin Charlotte
I need to find a way to convert the measurements for US home cooks like me!! But I love the cookies and great idea on using fondant to frost the cookies!! Your cookies are Spooktacular!! :)ReplyDelete


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It's perfect soccer weather.
Nicky entertaining Sarah Annie. Mary Beth mixing pumpkin muffins with Katie and Karoline.
blueberry banana boats for "B" week
To Live the Liturgy...
I think that Our Lady of Sorrows will have particular poignancy this year. The feast of St. Robert Bellarmine is my godson Bobby's birthday.
To be Fit and Happy...
Michael and I are providing 24/7 text message support to each other as we try to avoid pumpkin spice lattes this fall. He's got a rougher road ahead than I do. Starbucks has just opened a store in his dorm, right next to his suite. The poor guy is literally living in Pumpkin Spice Land, while trying to be entirely sugar-free.
I am thankful for...
the opportunity to take the whole first week of school and do as Laureen White suggests: Rename it "Orientation Week" and start "for real" on the following Monday.
I am pondering ...
This, and this, and this--all great advice from a down-to-earth expert.
And then, I'm pondering this, this, and this, too. Technology has changed the way we communicate and we are a generation of parents who have to learn about what this technology can (and cannot) do as quickly as our children are learning both the technology and how to navigate in the world. Michael had to get a twitter account for one of his classes this semester (go ahead; follow him). We've been chatting back and forth about the value of twitter. And we're thinking about how technology has changed both the vocabulary and the structure of the way teenagers and young adults communicate. I have decided (with a little nudging from Marybeth Hicks) not to fight it any more. instead, I choose to learn it and to share lessons with my children in the blessings and the burdens of communication in the 21st century.
A lot of links here, I know. I think this is a topic of much importance for all parents. The technology is not going to go away. If we want to protect and guide our children, we need to be aware of the world in which they will navigate.
A fall menu plan is in the tweaking stage.
I am wearing ...
A white shirt with rosettes along the neckline, a green cardigan (team colors today), and jeans. Pearl earrings and a pearl St. Anne necklace make the ponytail a little less ponytail-ish.
I am creating ...
Re-running this from last week: it's still a work in progress:-)
a new home management notebook. (Links to the other versions.) The goal is for this one to be dynamic and, so, more functional. I'm using iCal. I've long known that if we are intentional, life can be lived in a fuller, more purposeful way. If we are intentional, we don't live our whole lives just managing the crisis of the moment. At least that's the premise.
Most of our lives can be planned to some degree. We can set goals and then set aside time to use to achieve those goals. Routines are a mom's good friend. Several years ago now, Katherine and I started to set all our different routines in Google calendar: school rhythms, housekeeping, meal prep, liturgical year. We shared calendars back and forth and got a little too happy over all those neat little boxes.
Then, Katherine discovered the iCal button on her Mac. And I had major issues with envy. She could make a calendar rock. She could make a whole Homemaking Notebook go digital, in perfectly beautiful shades of every color under the sun.
I acquired a third-hand, cobbled-together Mac last year before Michael left to go back to school. It's lapbook with a screen that doesn't work and a keyboard that doesn't work--so it's a desktop with a Dell screen and a wireless keyboard. Whatever. It has iCal. Last summer, I started making beautiful calendars of neat, pretty colored charts and boxes.
And then there was bedrest. Somehow, in my brain, the more organized I was, the more I was tempting the universe to knock me on my backside;-) This is, of course, theologically ridiculous and patently stupid. Order is good in a crisis. Order doesn't create a crisis. Still, I avoided iCal for a long while.
But now, we're in love again. And I'm tinkering with all those rhythms and routines. I think it will take me a good month to nail down the basic outline for each area I want in my management notebook. I'm committing to paper, printing, living it, revising, living it, revising again...you get the idea.
Here's a peek at what we're attempting to do. I put these up on Sunday. Sunday night, before I went to sleep, I realized that I had completely forgotten tea time. I'll revise today. Picture quality is terrible, but the colors sure are pretty as long as I don't think about it too much;-) If you click on the photos and then click to magnify, you CAN read the type (for whatever that's worth to anyone but me).
The largest goal of all in this endeavor is to create very large pockets of quiet and rest in my days. Those have long been missing and I have recently recognized that they are no longer optional, but that I need them for my very survival--physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
It's going to be a longterm project. I might just post to Faithful Over Little Things as it evolves.
No promises there, though
On my iPod...
Hide 'Em in Your Heart Volume 1
Hide 'Em in Your Heart Volume 2
My big boys loved these when they listened to them as audiotapes in the car as little boys. And my middle kids listened to them as CDs. My little girls beg for the MP3. And everyone can sing the tunes. These verses really are hidden in our hearts.
pondering the enormity of the universe
Towards a real eduction ...We worked out schedule kinks last week. It looked a little chaotic as we lived it but in retrospect, it was really a rather productive week. I learned that I need to keep the big kids with me more, so I'm adjusting their plans to line up a little more closely with ours. Other than that, we're good.
I am thinking...
about what God wants from me.
What He really, really wants.
There is a mess of weeding to do. And I think it's nearly time to plant bulbs. We're planting hope this year.
Mary Beth is digging in to the homemaking portion of her studies this year. And, by golly, she's organizing this household with an enthusiasm, energy, and idealism that inspires me. Thank God!
Around the House
.Sarah Anne this week...
She claps. She's long known how to clap but now, she's in clapping overdrive. She loves soccer--clap for our team, clap for their team, clap for the referee. Everyone claps all the time. Her kind of good time.
for the Snow family, the Barrett family, and the Cushman family. May they be consoled by family and friends, saints and angels, and the good Lord himself.
Christa Bartlett and her family
and now,
For the Mitchell family, too.
When I am stressed, I want nothing more than to be at home. But I recognize that home is where ten other people live as well and so, it isn't always such a peaceful place of respite for me.
I set the tone and I "keep home." If it is to be a place of respite for my family--and for me--I must endeavor to make it so. And if it is very important that it be that way, then keeping home must truly take its place near the top of the priority list.
One of my favorite things ...
September mornings.
How's the burnout recovery going?
Well. Slowly, but well. I began by promising myself that I would not read message boards. I love message boards. I have great respect for their ability to inform and encourage. I even founded a message board. But, for me, message boards are just too much information, too much drama, and too much anxiety. I've taken breaks before, only those were breaks where I didn't let myself post. About a month ago, I decided that it was best that I not even read. I miss it. But it's a good decision. Then, I continued on by eliminating 3/4 of my Google Reader. There's still plenty to read there:-). Writing is actually a joy for me and not so much a burnout-er. But lately, there is little time for leisurely journaling here. Soon.
Mostly, though, my recovery consists of what I'm doing in "real life." I'm eating ridiculously well. I'm exercising. I'm seeing a chiropractor (very necessary and long, long overdue). I'm sleeping decent hours (yes, Aubrey, you made sense and I did see the crash soon after that email). I'm taking very deep breaths. I'm taking time to carefully nurture well the relationships that matter.
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:
My godson Ian will be baptized today. I wish Mike and I could be there. So much. Still, I'm glad they didn't wait.
We have seven dentist appointments beginning at 8:15 tomorrow morning.
Choir begins.
Soccer, soccer, soccer...


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Master baker Van Der Meulen asked us to make a TV commercial 20 years ago. Apart from the revised packaging, there wasn't anything new and there also wasn't any money. The master baker must have thought 'a good start is half the work'. But the creative team wasn't going to chicken out.
So a month later the commercial already aired on Dutch TV. We see a picture of the new packaging and hear a voice-over say: 'Van Der Meulen's crackers are now placed horizontally rather than vertically in the new pack. You're probably wondering: what difference does it make? Well, a huge difference. It means the crackers are totally laidback when you get them. Plus they're already in the spread position.' And that's often the way it goes.
Clients drop by to share their visions of innovation with electrifying enthusiasm. But innovation takes time and money, so it often doesn't go much further than a few modest innovations along the lines of 'with Jojoba', '10 per cent more peanuts' or – yeah, you better sit down for this one – 'now in raspberry flavour'. So they expect the advertising guy to present these breakthroughs in a really revolutionary way. And even though he's happy to do this, people also want to be treated to a true innovation every now and then.
Like for instance the new Het Parool – an Amsterdam evening newspaper that started out as a resistance newspaper during WW II. The editor-in-chief wants to step out of the crowd of upbeat human-interest-and-other stuff newspapers. So no old wine in new bottles. But new journalists, columnists and sections that bring back the old fearless Het Parool pen and point of view. It even inspired a billboard at no place less than Times Square in New York.
Coincidental or not, we stumbled across another world-class innovation on the West Coast this week – the new Barbie. After 57 years of anorexia and a wasp waist, the new Barbie is curvy. Now that's innovation we can grab and run with: 'Barbie, now with 10 per cent more boobs and buttocks – absolutely free!' So life is always good when you're an advertising guy. Either you get to be the first to discover the most fantastic innovations. Or if there don't happen to be any at the moment, you get to really put your creativity to the test. Or at least get to scramble up a Columbus' Egg.


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Salad Italia
A clean salad highlighting the delicate flavour of bocconcini.
View the method
- 1 small pottle of bocconcini from the deli or tub from the cheese bar
- 1 bag of baby spinach from the produce department
- 1 pack of cherry tomatoes from the produce department
- 2 tablespoons of Pams extra virgin olive oil
- 2 wholemeal bread rolls from the bakery
Back to ingredients
- Halve the cherry tomatoes. Finely slice and cut the bocconcini into strips - set aside in two separate small bowls.
- Roughly chop the baby spinach and put into salad bowl.
- Add half the cherry tomatoes and bocconcini to the spinach tossing through gently.
- Drizzle with olive oil and mix.
- Finally add the remaining cherry tomatoes and bocconcini.
- Season with salt and pepper and serve.
To add an extra flavour dimension add finally chopped basil before serving.


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So, it's been a while since I've done a review but I decided to do a Sony A7R review. Why? Because I've recently bought this little game changer and have a lot of people asking me about it and it's potential.
Now before I start, as always I want to make a couple of things clear. I am in no way endorsed by Sony despite being a fellow user of their cameras since I started. I am doing this review off my own back to benefit potential future owners. I also don't claim to be an expert, this is an end user review for other end users, in other words a "real world review". I also aim to be unbiased as possible, while I have spent my hard earned money buying this camera I wouldn't want to waste yours so I will be as honest as possible. I also aim to be as none technical as possible and just give you an end user perception. I don't care much for technical reviews that baffle, I just want to know does it work and how well (That said I feel technical enough myself to appreciate what achievements have been made).
So now that's out of the way, we can get on with the meat of the review.
I will be writing this review from the eyes of a landscape photographer and will be basing my judgement on that. If you're looking for an excellent all rounder that does everything then this probably isn't the camera for you. I have also been using the camera since it was first released at the end of November and have held off the review so I could get a proper feel for the RAW files as for a while they weren't supported in a final version of Lightroom/Photoshop and two months of testing also gives me a good feel for the camera rather than just a week.
First off, a little background. The Nex line of cameras were first released in 2010 and were if I remember correctly the first compact mirrorless cameras to have APS-C sensors in them making them truly an alternative to DSLR's if you wanted the same quality in a small package. It took a long time for them to make a dent though, with a lack of lenses and those arguing the lenses were too big the uptake was slow. Over the years though they did gain following especially with the Nex 7. I originally had a Nex 5 but found the lack of viewfinder somewhat off putting and eventually upgraded to the Nex 7. The Nex 7 surprised me though, I intended it to become my back up camera and use it for wild camp's where I wanted to go light but I soon started to love using it and a DSLR felt backwards ever since. The sensor from the Nex 7 was exactly the same as the camera I was using at the time anyway.
This for me was a revelation and as soon as the Sony A7R was announced I got my pre-order in. I had wanted to go full frame for some time but struggled to justify the cost (easily £5k with a couple of lenses, you get a decent car for that) but this just made sense. Nikon D800E quality in a small body, for around £600 less!
So, first off the technical specifications of the camera:
- 36.4 megapixel full frame Exmor CMOS sensor (newly developed sensor)
- No optical low-pass filter
- XGA OLED Tru-Finder electronic viewfinder
- 3inch tilting screen
- Full HD video, 60p, 25p
- Clean HDMI output
- Fast intelligent AF
- Smart remote control, Wi-Fi and NFC
- Tough magnesium weather sealed body
- ISO 100-25600, expandable to ISO50 and ISO51200
- 4fps continuous shooting
One thing to note is the sensor. A lot of people assume that this is the same sensor found in the D800/D800E but it's newly developed with pixel pitching on the corners. As Sony make the D800 sensor, it would make sense for them to perform similarly and from professional tests it would seem they do, with the Sony maybe edging it in some regards probably down to sensor improvements over the last couple of years.
Next, I just want to talk about a few things. While the Sony A7R has been generally well received there have been quite a few people commenting on some of the features/designs of it. Here are the things I've seen and my thoughts to the right of them:
- Lenses should be smaller/plastic to make it more compact and lighter – The lenses are designed for a full frame sensor, they just aren't going to get any smaller, you can't defy physics. Get a micro four/thirds camera if you want smaller lenses. One of the nicest things about E Mount lenses are their metal construction and premium feel for me. They're not what you'd call heavy or big next to a DSLR lens anyway.
- The batteries should have been bigger – 270 shots isn't enough for you? Batteries are cheap enough now days, especially respected third party ones. If you really need it, get a battery grip. I've shot full sessions without going through a battery.
- No optical viewfinder – Optical viewfinders require a lot of space and would make the camera so much bigger. The EVF is very good and most of the time you can't tell the difference.
- It won't be as weather sealed as a D800 or Canon 5D MK3 – The Sony A7R is weather sealed, along with tests showing it having a glass of water chucked over it. Until I see destructive tests showing which camera fair's better I think this is an unfair hypothetical assumption. I can only assume people are giving size and substance over fact.
- It doesn't perform as well as a DSLR in terms of speed etc – In some respects this is true if you compare it to the likes of a 5D MK3, but that's more of an all rounder camera which is some ways is behind the times in terms of sensor etc. The Sony A7R however performs very similarly to the D800. However, I'm looking at this from a landscape photography perspective and as I manual focus and don't shoot burst modes these don't really concern me much.
- We want faster lenses – Faster lenses will only add size and weight to the lens.
- No lens line up – It's a new system, there's not going to be many until it matures. However Sony have given a promising road map. You can also use just about any lens from any system via an adapter possibly actually giving the system the largest lens selection in the world. You can also use APS-C lenses in crop mode.
- Blurry images with telephoto lenses – This needs more testing but it would seem the shutter in the Sony A7R causes image shake when shooting with a telephoto lens mounted to a tripod. A counter weight circumvents this. However, this needs testing more and I must stress the issue lies only with third party lenses. The Sony FE lens is not out yet and I'm sure it will work fine. If it doesn't big mistake on Sony's part but you can't blame them for not supporting third party options. Also, suggested firmware fixes can also get around the issue so it's a time will tell kind of thing.
- No charger included – I believe this is a cost saving exercise to lower the price. You will be able to pick one up cheap enough or charge via USB. A good advantage of charging via USB is being able to charge in the car while on the go inbetween shoots.
So really, what I'm trying to say is that this camera is by no means a compact camera. What it is, is a specialised camera that loses a lot of weight and packs really small. It's really ideal for landscapes if you want to shed weight for those longer hikes. A lot of the features people are asking for would make the camera so much bigger. I think the thing that confuses me most is that for years a lot of people have been asking Sony to put a full frame sensor in a Nex size body and they said time after time it would be very difficult to do, but they've done it, performed some of the best engineering in cameras overall and then people still complain.
Just to note also that Sony have dropped the Nex brand in favour of unifying the Alpha brand.
So onto the actual Sony A7R review and first off is the handling.
The camera is small! Initially I expected it to be smaller but in fact when comparing it to the Nex 7 it's not that much bigger. When you look at that full frame sensor inside the mount you realise what they're achieved here with no space at the corners of the sensor. Some might even argue that the e-mount may have actually been designed with full frame eventually in mind?
I haven't got any native full frame lenses for the camera yet, so can't give an in hand feel with a native lens but with a metabones adapter and Canon 17-40 f/4l it still feels well balanced especially when mounted on a tripod.
With a magnesium alloy body all round, it feels premium as do all the dials. I've always liked this about the Nex cameras with metal bodies, they feel expensive compared to the plastics of a DSLR. It's painted black to give it a sleek look, which while in practice looks great I've managed to nick mine somehow already and the silver underneath shows. Now I've never had this with the Nex 7, so bad one on your part there Sony. That said it's only minor and cosmetic so I won't worry too much.
To the rear there is a 921k dot 3 inch tilting screen, which tilts up and down. This is by now means the most flexible compared to something like the Sony A77, but most full frame cameras come with fixed screens so it's not too bad. Again, to make it fully articulated would add more size. It is clear and bright and asks what you want of it.
What I really like though is an EVF, somewhat controversially. The EVF is 2.4 million dots, same as the Nex 7 but has been improved somewhat. I loved the EVF in the Nex 7 and A77 but always found it got harder to work with when working in low light. However, I'm pleased to say these shortcomings have been overcome in the Sony A7R and the EVF is really clear even in low light, the full frame sensor will help here as well creating less noise. Initially, I didn't see too much difference in the day time between the two EVF's until I did a shoot where I took the Nex 7 with me and seen them side by side at which point the difference becomes clear. A lot of people like a traditional viewfinder for the clarity but I can honestly say the an EVF is just as clear in daylight conditions. The advantage of an EVF is being able to see changes you make instantly, like the effects of a graduated filter, stopping down the aperture etc. It's sort of like liveview, through the viewfinder. However, I struggle with live view to compose and review images due to size and reflections where as an EVF suddenly becomes a dark box allowing you to view images without distraction. Quite often I try to look at peoples images on their cameras without and EVF through the viewfinder. EVF's aren't to everyones taste, but they've come a long way and I like them.
Another thing you can do with an evf is create custom features to be shown on screen like spirit level, ISO, histogram etc etc.
The NEX menu systems have been scrapped in favour of the more traditional Alpha menu's found on Sony's DSLR's. A lot of people disliked the NEX menu's but I can honestly say I never had any issues., But again side by side you can see the logic, there's much less delving into menu's to find something and everything is laid out much more logically. I also like the new feature of being able to choose to go old school and only having your camera settings details on the back screen without any overlay.
For me, something Sony have always been good at are giving you customisable buttons. Quite often they will just leave buttons blank and let you assign functions to them, in the Sony A7R's case they've put c1, c2 and c3 but almost every button you can customise. This will allow you to set the camera up the way you want for it's fastest use. I've got mine set up mainly to aid manual focus etc. You can also set up your function menu in a custom way to display only what you need. There's that many choices and I still didn't use all my slots but you can do such things as turning off steady shot (IS), focus selection, exposure metering all the way to creative styles and other random settings you may want such as quick access to settings.
One thing that does bug me though is that you can only really customise the buttons for when you're taking photos and not when reviewing. I really miss zooming in by pressing the centre button on the scroll wheel and instead I can only zoom in by pressing C2 which by the way Sony isn't intuitive to find without taking your eye away from the viewfinder. Everything else is pretty much perfectly laid out so it doesn't matter but please give customisation in a firmware update.
The movie button has also been moved out of the way, onto the side where you're not going to catch it accidentally. A frustrating design flaw of previous Sony cameras which was fixed in a firmware fix by being able to turn it off.
There is now a mode wheel which has always been a soft menu thing before, kudos here. Also there is a nice touch of a dedicated exposure compensation wheel plus two further wheels, one on front and one on the back for setting aperture and shutter speed.
Handling in hand feels solid, with a large textured grip which gives enough purchase so it doesn't feel like it will slip out of your hand.
Another thing you can do is take advantage of the built in wi-fi or NFC and launch the app on your phone to control the camera. In practice this works very well but I haven't found the need for it out in the field where often you don't fancy using your phone at the risk of getting cold hands. Nice feature though and once an intervalometer app is released will no doubt be used much more. There are other apps such as auto lens compensation and file upload over wifi with more to be released. Speaking of intervalometers, there's no wired one as of yet and the connection for a remote has now changed. Hopefully in time though because the Nex 7 never even had a port! You could always use an IR intervalometer like the astrus-nex in the interim, though hardly ideal.
Manual focussing is made super easy using both the EVF and the focus peaking feature. Focus peaking is where when in MF mode the camera will highlight in a colour which parts of the image is in focus. I have mine set to red and high sensitivity and when manual focussing I get a screen full of red dots shouting at me confirming focus. Usually what I do is zoom in on a third first, set focus, check peaking, make adjustments then double check focus around the frame to make sure. It's really simple and should make manual focus less scary. I know it's a feature that most Canon and Nikon users wish they had.
Also, the charger. There isn't one. Well, not a traditional one anyway. You can charge via USB or buy an external charger. An external charger is worth it if you're like me and want to charge faster while leaving your camera safely packed away in it's bag. However there is an advantage of also being able to charge over USB as you can charge in the car on the go inbetween trips, pretty nifty eh? I think the exclusion of a charger was to just bring the price down.
Images of the camera below:
And a few of my own camera in the field, paired with Canon 17-40 f/4 L via a metabones adapter. Excuse the dirty filter, it soon got changed!:
The next image shows the rear view, you can just see focus peaking in action:
Having all these features are all well in good, but at the end of the day what you need is solid performance. Being very truthful here, I am not bothered about what camera system I or you use, I don't get involved in camera wars and brand snobbery. If a camera is good, it's good and that's what matters. Not one system out there is tons above the others and I always laugh when I see the Nikon vs Canon debate (that said Canon are falling somewhat behind at the moment). I even considered a Nikon myself once!
So, the short of it is the performance of this camera is just amazing.
The 36mp sensor really excels resolving an incredible amount of detail. Also, with a lack of AA filter like the D800E it really sharpens images up with lines now being clean and not fuzzy. Previously I had thought the Nex 7 and 5d MK3 was good (I had original RAW's from a friend and we were both splitting hairs which were better for landscapes) but the Sony A7R comes along and blows them both out of the water. Most other reviews are agreeing with my sentiment. I still get a wow feeling when reviewing images with an almost lifelike sharpness and 3D pop which i've never seen before but always yearned for.
JPG processing is good and in honesty, you really could get away with just shooting JPG if you were so inclined as the dynamic range is so good out of camera you don't need to faff about with recovering highlights and shadows so much. Of course, it's always better to shoot RAW though for full control but it's such a pleasure being able to reduce processing time even more. One thing to note is perhaps in sunset light the Sony seems a little yellow, as do other Sony's of the past though it's now not as apparent. One way to get around this is to just notch the yellow channel down a little.
I have my Sony A7R mated to a Canon 17-40 f/4 L via a metabones adapter. Strange you may think seeming as I've never owned a Canon lens but until Sony get their lenses out this is all I can do. The lens in fairness performs admirably on the camera just showing weakness in the corners. I was a little weary given that lenses that aren't up to the job usually wouldn't resolve well on a sensor with such high MP. Luckily, a friend lent me their adapter to test with the lens before I forked out.
I haven't had a chance to properly test high ISO, I'm a tripod guy and shoot at ISO 100 unless I do astrophotography but I've done a couple of shots up to ISO 800 and they seem just as clean as ISO 100. General consensus is from the community it's a great performer at high ISO and also some RAW's a friend sent me from his Sony A7R look good. I look forward to doing some star shots with it eventually. It will also expand down to ISO 50 though you will lose dynamic range by doing this.
Switching the camera on, it does take some time to get to a shooting state, approx 5 seconds but if you're a landscape shooter I guess you'll be ready in position anyway won't you?
Another concern to some is the rather loud shutter noise, however it's quite a satisfying sound and if you're a landscape photographer you're not going to disturb anything but the grass anyway.
Dynamic range as mentioned is great, it holds so much detail especially in the shadows. It really is a selling feature of this camera.
Exposure metering seems good too. I've been looking at some of my old images recently from some of my older cameras and you appreciate how far camera's have come. Exposure seems to always be spot on when the correct use of filter is used to balance the sky. I never have to use that dedicated exposure compensation wheel except when shooting in snow/frost.
RAW files come out incredibly detailed and are easily handled in Lightroom/Photoshop. Surprisingly they don't take as much grunt to process as expected but still may make you think twice if you have an old computer. The only thing I noticed was loading a lot of the images at once in lightroom, loading the previews took some time but actual editing is fine. RAW's are around 36mb (1mb per mp) and JPG's come out small at around 10mb. There is a lot of compression using JPG's but it can't be noticed apart from in areas of similar detail where it becomes a little smudged.
Another thing with a 36mp sensor is you have to be very technical when shooting, there is no room for error or you're results will reflect even the slightest mis-focus. It really is so critical to be spot on. This isn't a flaw by any means but I'd certainly be cautious using this as a walk around camera. Tripod, 2 sec timer or shutter release and manual focus all the way,
This first image shows an unprocessed photo from the A7R, exported directly to JPG:
The next image is the final exported, hardly touched except turning down the yellow channel:
And here are the lightroom settings:
Here some 100% image samples and further other images:
Value for money:
At £1699 the Sony A7R is an absolute bargain. Compare this to the D800E which is still around £2300 it's a huge saving of £600 which you could put towards buying a lens. It also seems cheap to the overpriced Sony A99 which was Sony's last full frame offering which has only just started to hover around the £2k. Consider the fact that smaller usually means more expensive, especially given the fact it's an all metal body and you're looking at something really quite tempting here regardless of what camera system you're coming from. In fact I know many people who have adopted the A7R and used their existing lenses on it. I honestly had set £2300 aside to buy this camera and was shocked at the price. If you source from outside the UK you can get them for a smudge under £1100, which seems like daylight robbery though do take into account warranty and customs here.
For landscape photography the Sony A7R has got to be the ultimate camera. It's light weight, packs small, delivers outstanding image quality and has all the features a landscape photographer needs. As I've mentioned before there are flaws especially if you shoot outside of landscapes but that's not what this review is about. I have a feeling the next revision will address a lot of peoples issues (realistic issues at least) but for now you won't get a better camera in my opinion without going to medium format. There is little wonder that both the A7 and A7R are winning many awards and "camera of the year" in places.
Sony have been trying to break the camera market since their acquisition of Minolta but were realistically never going to overtake Canon/Nikon in terms of market share with regards to traditional DSLR's. However, what Sony are very good at is spending money in R&D and trying new ideas with things like EVF's and the SLT mirror tech. Where it had paid off for them though is their persistence in the mirrorless market. The Sony A7R is a game changing camera and I think in 5 years time compact cameras will be more the norm while DSLR's are left to a certain niche. I predict the next film vs digital and even if I wasn't around for a lot of that, I do remember a lot of people saying digital will never win or match the quality and look where we are now. It's also left Canon and Nikon scratching their heads with their pants down. Canon are massively behind in a lot of ways at the moment and a lot of Canon friends will agree with me here. While Nikon have the D800, it doesn't really tick all the boxes for landscapes and the recently announced DF seems a little daft to me. The Canon and Nikon mirrorless attempts were poor and I think it will be some time before they catch up while the likes of Sony, Olympus and Panasonic enjoy the market.
I think whatever system you use, you have to give a nod to Sony for listening to it's user base and providing a camera that was technically very difficult to produce and engineer. It's exciting times ahead in the camera industry.
You can view more about the camera and purchase here:


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The Hollywood Sign District: An (Un)Natural Disaster
In a 1974 earthquake, a 20-story tower at the corner of Sunset and Vine in Hollywood collapsed into a pile of rubble. On film, that is, in the disaster movie, "Earthquake."
But the office building suffered a real disaster in 2001, when an electrical fire rendered it uninhabitable. It stood vacant until two years ago, when it was extensively renovated into a mixed-use condominium and retail project.
As part of this renovation, the building was stripped to its steel skeleton and given a new "skin" that included frames on all four sides for 10 story-high, 5,000 sq. ft. billboards. Technically called "supergraphic" signs, these brightly-lit advertisements for movies, TV shows and products like premium whisky dominate the visual landscape of that intersection and surrounding area.
Someone with only a passing knowledge of billboard regulation in L.A. might reasonably ask how these signs were legally permitted, given that the city adopted a ban on new billboards in 2002. The short answer is that the city made an exception for signs erected in selected areas designated as signage supplemental use districts, an exception that has proved to be giant loophole allowing our public spaces to be invaded by ever more bold and intrusive forms of commercial advertising.
The Hollywood Signage Supplemental Use District, which encompasses a large swath of that community, was adopted in 2004. One of the stated purposes of the district was to "reflect a modern, vibrant image of Hollywood as the global center of the entertainment industry;" another was to "limit visual clutter by regulating the number, size and location of signs." Perhaps there is an inherent conflict in those intentions, but if a vibrant image of Hollywood is projected by huge, flashy advertisements incorporated into such buildings as the Sunset and Vine tower, and the tens of thousands of square feet of advertising signs either installed or proposed as part of new developments, it's clear which intention has carried the day.
A few blocks away, an entire block at the iconic corner of Hollywood and Vine is being turned into a hotel, condominium and retail project that will have 23,000 square feet of supergraphic signs and rooftop billboards.
On Hollywood Blvd. near Graumann's Chinese theater the restoration of an historic building is to include a 5,000 sq. ft. roof sign that is taller than the building itself. A block north, on Highland Ave., an office building undergoing renovation includes three supergraphic signs totaling more than 6,000 sq. ft., and the recently approved mixed-use project at old Spaghetti Factory site on Sunset Blvd. will have two supergraphic signs of more than 3,000 sq. ft. That's a total of 57,000 square feet of off-site advertising signs in just five projects, or the equivalent of 84 full-size billboards.
The signage district provided the legal path for this onslaught, but the real enablers have been two city bodies, the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and the Central Area Planning Commission (CAPC). The CRA has encouraged developers who claim they need the revenue from advertisers to make their projects financially feasible, even though that argument becomes a little curious when one considers that CIM Group, the developer of four of the above five projects, has worked extensively in Santa Monica, a city that has an absolute ban on billboards and other forms of outdoor advertising.
The Hollywood Signage Supplemental Use District includes specific regulations concerning the number, size, and location of signs, but the CAPC has regularly sided with developers who propose signs that go far beyond these limits. For example, the sign district regulations would have limited the supergraphic signs on the Sunset and Vine tower to a total of two, and required that they not be visible at the same time from a single location. The CAPC approved a doubling of the number of signs on the grounds that no two signs would be visible at the same time, which is completely false, as is clear from the preceding photograph.
The CAPC, whose president is Young Kim, a Koreatown attorney appointed by former Mayor James Hahn and who was fined for making an illegal contribution to Hahn's campaign, has overruled city planners who have said that sign regulation exceptions sought by developers do not meet the criteria set forth in the city charter for granting such exceptions. For example, a city planner found that the 5,000 square foot roof sign proposed for a building to undergo renovation at 6904 Hollywood Blvd. would violate multiple provisions of the Hollywood sign district, but that decision was unanimously overruled by the CPAC. Although the city charter doesn't include economic hardship or feasibility as grounds for granting variances or exceptions to city zoning and planning regulations, the CPAC has repeatedly cited a project's need for revenue from off-site advertising as a reason why limits on size and number of signs should be greatly exceeded.
The Hollywood Signage Supplemental Use District is one of only two adopted in the city, but the fact that eleven more are pending in various stages of the approval process makes the huge proliferation of advertising signage in Hollywood a cautionary tale for other areas of the city. Do people want to create a replica of Times Square in Koreatown, at the Mid-City Crossings area, on the north side of the 110 freeway downtown? These are just three of the proposed sign districts, but each time one is approved there will certainly be more pressure to approve the next.
In 2002, the people of the city spoke through their city council representatives who approved the ban on new off-site advertising signs and put in place a program to find and remove illegal signs. The statement inherent in those actions would seem to be that the people of the city wanted less advertising filling their outdoor vistas, not more. Former Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who was at the forefront of that effort, called the inclusion of sign districts a mechanism by which people could get a reduction in the number of billboards in their communities. She was carrying on the tradition of her former boss and long-time councilman Marvin Braude, who was a staunch defender of the city's visual environment against the relentless inroads of the sign companies. If he was alive today and saw what was happening in Hollywood, he'd surely be turning over in his graveDennis Hathaway


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Math Challenged
Said the two snakes to Noah: "We'll give it a try, but we're adders, you know, we don't multiply."
Don't Confuse Me!
Some of my best arguments are spoiled by people who know what they're talking about.
Courtesy of George Kottwitz
Trinity Lutheran Church
Edwardsville, Ill.
An English Lesson
A pastor used the word phenomenon in his sermon. At the close of service, a member of the congregation asked him the meaning of the word. "If you see a cow, that's not a phenomenon," the pastor explained. "If you see a thistle, that's not a phenomenon. And if you see a bird singing, that's not a phenomenon, either. But if you see a cow sitting on a thistle and singing, that's a phenomenon."
Adapted from Heavenly Hoots
by Ken Alley
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Hamas flexes muscles with Gaza drone flight
Palestinian members of al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, display a home-made drone during a military parade marking the 27th anniversary of Hamas' founding, in Gaza City Dec. 14, 2014. (Reuters)
The Islamic militant group Hamas staged a show of strength to mark its 27th anniversary Sunday, with a military parade through Gaza including a flyover by a drone.
Founded in 1987 shortly after the start of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, Hamas was inspired by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.
Read the full text news resource site…
Source News: Alarabiya


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Welcome to Spaceport Colorado!
Spaceport Colorado is both a broad-based, state economic development initiative, and a physical project to:
-Increase the value and revenue-generating potential of the airport. -Engage the sub-orbital commercial space market. -Establish Colorado as the major national commercial space node, connecting to an international Spaceport system. -Sustain and accelerate Colorado's aerospace industry by attracting high-value aerospace businesses that support advanced manufacturing, technology, educational, and R&D industries and establish a key aerospace development center.
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How to clean a carpet like a pro?
In the recent years, many people decided to ditch the carpet and leave their floors bare. But, rug gives your home a special warmth and help you feel like at home. On the other hand, if your house is full of carpets, then it has to be a real nightmare to clean them. You can always choose to hire cleaning professionals, but their services aren't cheap, and we all know that you need to clean carpets regularly, which can involve a lot of money. So, if you want to take things into your own hands, then we have a couple of cleaning advice.
Learn how to vacuum
You would think this is a basic thing all people know, but you are wrong. Keep in mind that a lot of soil gathers at the door. In this case, a lot of cleaning experts recommend placing mats in front of the door, but also inside. Keep in mind that you need to clean them frequently. Experts say that 85% of the soil in the carpet is the dry soul and when its rooted in carpet fibers, it can cause permanent damage.
Carpet manufacturers recommend you should vacuum your house at least once a week, for each person living in your home. A high – traffic areas in your house should be vacuumed daily, especially if you have pets. So, when you are vacuuming, always push the vacuum away from you and then pull it back slowly, to remove all the soil from carpet and don't wait for the bag to be full in order to empty it.
Why and how to clean the carpet deeply
Deep carpet cleaning should happen every 12 to 18 months to remove trapped soil. If your carpet is under warranty, then you will have to use a professional carpet cleaning service. But, if you decide to clean it on your own, know that biggest mistake people make is when they use too much soap. In this case, more is not better because too much product can leave residue and firm texture and it can be hard to clean everything. So, when you are using some cleaning product, make sure to read instructions and mix proper ration of water and detergent.
Pro carpet cleaning tips
The fresher the stain, the more comfortable to clean. The best substance that dissolves most of the matters is water. It is essential not to smear the stain, instead of that, you have to blot. For example, if you have red wine spilled over your carpet, you can use white towel and pour salt over stain. Allow it dry completely before you use vacuum. On the other hand, you can use white wine or vodka, this will only work, if you use this method first.
Also, hydrogen peroxide can be a useful solution when removing stains. But, you will have to repeat this method several times before the stain is completely removed. Just spay this solution over the stain and let it sit.


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Those who like to shop will find Lockeport and Shelburne the place to be. Perhaps it is the uniqueness and affordability that makes shopping fun and enjoyable. Many boutique shops are scattered throughout our Towns; each offering items that are special to our area. Take the opportunity to purchase souvenirs and gifts. We may not carry all brand names but we have items made in Shelburne, Lockeport and other areas of Nova Scotia.
Add your favourite to your Wish List!
161 Water Street, Shelburne, Nova Scotia B0T 1W0, Canada
The shop for the sports athlete and the outdoor guru that wants quality wear.
20 Maiden Lane, Shelburne, Nova Scotia B0T 1W0, Canada
A weekly Farmer's Market held on the Shelburne Waterfront during the months of May - October. Join us after your Saturday morning stroll at the historic waterfront.
157 Water Street, Shelburne, Nova Scotia B0T 1W0, Canada
Helping you feel your best, this local pharmacy has all the convenience that you need to make your trip on the road or your stay in Shelburne at ease.
24 Dock Street, Shelburne, Nova Scotia B0T 1W0, Canada
A not-for-profit shop supporting the restoration of the Shelburne waterfront and the Shelburne County Museum.
138 Water Street, Shelburne, Nova Scotia B0T 1W0, Canada
Book lovers will enjoy the wide selection of book, from local authors to used novels that you can take to the beach, park or at your cottage to read.
Upcoming Festivals & Events
African Heritage Month Proclamation Launch
Nova Scotia Lobster Crawl Festival 2020
Town of Lockeport Birthday Celebration


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Social media may feel like a lot of noise, sometimes. Because of that, you may be looking at a lot of information and working out exactly what may be necessary in order to make your experience the best that it can be. Maybe you're trying to get more followers on Instagram. Or maybe you're looking at options and trying to make sense of how you can find the people that you wanted to connect with. Or perhaps you're a business owner that is trying to work out how you want to use it to your advantage.
No matter how you go about any of this, you want to know that you have some fairly solid options to get people to check out what it is that you're doing. For example, did you know that you could actually spend some cash to buy followers? While it's something that only works well on platforms like Instagram, where the rules for algorithms are rather loose, you will find that there are a lot of great ways to get this to work out in your favor.
It's not only money that helps you to connect with people on social media, though. Are you willing to be – well, social? Many people know that there's a lot of work that goes into social media, but as you work out what you need to do and how you're going to make it happen, you actually need to be chatting with the people who are interacting with you. By taking that time to chat and interact with others, you let them in to see what you or your brand is about and they are going to be a lot more interested if you have something to offer, like a product or service.
Not only that, but you also want to be sure that you're always putting content out on your site. If you slack on this at all, you will find that it's a lot harder for you to try and keep people around. You want to be consistent as you work out what it is that you want on your site and, as you post online, be sure that you try to keep up with the best practices. It'll make things easier and make it so that you can keep your followers that you worked so hard to get in the first place.
The fact is, social media is something that you need to work at, and it doesn't just happen overnight. As you look at what is involved and sort out how you want to get everything taken care of, you will find that there are a lot of different ways to go through with what it is that you want to get done. Look at what you have available and learn what you can in order to make the right choices of what you need to do and how you want to work out all that you can accomplish with Instagram and other social media sites.


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October 16, 2018
Need help filling out your ballot? Looking for facts you can trust? We can help! Check out our nonpartisan online voter guide, Voter's Edge to get all the information you need to vote with confidence by mail or on Election Day this November 6.
- Enter your address to get your personalized ballot with info on candidates, measures, and funding.
- Check where, when, and how to vote.
- Save and share your choices via social media to engage family and friends


text: Feb 201511 Suits for the 6 Nations Joel Dear fancy dress costumes The Six Nations Championship is upon us again, and people throughout the UK are once more rediscovering their fondness for rugby (if only so that they can be smug when their country wins).Of course, you're not one of those fair-weather fans; you're a true supporter. You care about rugby every second you're awake, and you've no time for these clowns who only watch five games a year.And since you're such a big rugby nut, you'll no doubt be attending a match or two before the end of March. If this is the case, you'll need something to wear...and that, dear reader, is where we come in. We don't doubt that you were already planning to hit the stadium in your team's colours, but why wear a boring old rugby jersey like everybody else when you could be wearing an awesome OppoSuit?For example, our eye-catching Irish Shamrock Suit will help you stand out from the crowd at the Aviva Stadium......and this ravishing Red Suit is so wonderfully Welsh that Max Boyce himself would turn green with envy!If you don't support Ireland or Wales, panic not - we've got plenty of other OppoSuits to suit your allegiance:Union Jack SuitWe don't have any England-themed suits, but if you can overlook the irony of wearing Union flags while you jeer at members of the other home nations, this snazzy blue-and-red number will do just as well!Moustache SuitWe were going to suggest that this suit would be good for fans of the French rugby team, but then we realised how terribly trite it would be to suggest that moustaches are somehow inherently French.Stars & Stripes SuitAmerica is one of the six nations, right?More OppoSuits here! >>


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High Quality at an Affordable Price
Reynolds Electric has the capability to cater to all electrical needs. We are a highly confident, safe, and certified team ready to deliver high quality service, with manners-driven professionalism, at a price that is reasonable with the purpose that many can afford the high standard they are looking for in this economy. Whether you have a residential, commercial, or industrial project, we are the team you can partner with now and in the future.
Your Electrical Needs Partner
Let us partner with you to satisfy your electrical needs. We want to be the support you call for in time of need. We want you to know we care about you and your needs. From responding in a timely manner, to high quality, to an affordable price, discounts for Vets, Seniors, and referrals. We care about our business done right and your satisfaction. Thank you for considering Reynolds Electric for all your electrical needs.
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Cannot access this performance because it occurred in the past: 3/22/14 8:00 PM.
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National YoungArts Foundation
2014 YoungArts LA 2014
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Los Angeles Theatre Center - Theatre 3
514 S. Spring Street
Los Angeles,
Spring is a One-Way street located in downtown Los Angeles between 5th and 6th street.
Near Pershing Square Metro and several bus lines. LATC does not own a parking lot. Several parking structures surround LATC.
The performance runs 2 hours.
YoungArts Los Angeles invites the 2014 YoungArts Winners from the region to participate in the inaugural program, providing these talented young artists with once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Activities include master classes and workshops with masters in their field, as well as two performances by winners in dance, voice, jazz, classical music, theater, and cinematic arts. Winners in writing will also read selections from their works as part of the exhibition opening by visual arts winners.
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Doli Armaanon Ki 27th January 2014 Written Episode Update
Doli Armaanon Ki 27th January 2014 Written Episode, Doli Armaanon Ki 27th January 2014 Written Update
Scene 1:
Location: Urmi's residence
Ishaan comes along with urmi, and tries to pacify her, while she is sad that he would be leaving. In the drawing room, saroj comes with sweets, and is told that ishaan is inside. She says that she made as ishaan likes them. Samrat gets tensed. Devishanker asks them to be send to the room, only for ishaan. Gaurav asks saroj to serve sweets to ishaan too, as samrat is also given some of it to taste. granny too asks to be given another delicacy to samrat and some to ishaan too, as he loves them. Samrat is frustrated with the increasing mention of ishaan in the household. Samrat gets into a rage saying that it feels like, he isnt and ishaan is the son in law of this hosue, and he means more to them, than he himself, urmi's husband. they are shocked and tensed to see his anger and gets disturbed. He says that anyone who sees them would say this, as he has become more than son in law, without even marrying into this house. Devishankar tries to salvage his ego, saying that they attend to him, as his best friend, and they always prioritise him over ishaan any day. granny too says that ishaan comes so much, hence is treated so well. Saroj too says that same, as he is the son in law, and his respect always comes first. samrat asks them to stop their clarifications, as that lightens the topic. He says that he felt like it and said, but doesnt need justifications, as he knows what and why all this is happening. all are tensed.
Scene 2:
Location: Samrat's residence
As the servant asks saroj, for the bag to be given to samrat, she is iriitated and asks to be done whatever she feels. As the servant leaves, she is still upset about Goa and urmi's convincing samrat to go. she says that urmi is very conniving, and that she wont let urmi be successful in her attempts.
As they return, samrat's father asks about anu, and urmi tells them that she's better now. Shashi sees them and is fuming. Samrat starst taunting kanchan as usual, when she says that she too wanted to go and see anu. Ishaan lightens the mood, saying that she can talk. but she still goes on rant to talk, and samrat begs her to stop. he asks about shashi, and is told that she's preparing for their Goa plans. Meanwhile, in her room, shashi locks the bathroom, and tries different positions lying on the bathroom floor, and seeing which best convinces them. She opens the door, and sprinkles water on the floor, and starts shouting to catch their attention. They get tensed hearing her scream, as she p-retends to have fallen down. they all tend to her, while she says that she fell down and broke her legs. They help her sit on the bed, while she screams out in pain, that she wont survive now. urmi too makes her comfortable on the bed, with pillows. Her husband asks shashi how did she fall. she gets nervous and then makes an excuse and says that she slipped, and is in great pain. Samrat taunts her as to what was she doing inside, dancing. all are tensed, while she continues with the drama. ishaan suspects that its slip disk, and asks to call the doctor. shashi says thats whats happened, and her slip disk has broken. samrat asks her to be quiet as she doesnt even know what slip disk is. samrat geos to call the doctor while ishaan and urmi try to calm her down. ishaan gets anu's call, and gives it to urmi, thinking that she must have wanted to talk to her. urmi asks hastily if there's anything urgent, and when she denies, she cancels the call. Anu wonders where's ishaan and why did she pick the phone. she thinks that he cant leave without meeting her.
The doctor inspects her and says that the kind of pain that she is talking about, it seems that its a slip disk, and asks them for an X-ray, tomorrow, to confirm. shashi gets tensed. samrat says that they can treat her with the proper medication. Shashi says that she wont get the X-ray done. The doctor says that she would need long bed rest, and prescribes some painkillers, and asks them to contact her, if the case worsens.
Shashi asks how would the work be done, as one is in delicate condition, and she herself is bedridden, and the third lady is going for honeymoon. samrat asks her to be quiet first, so that they can think clearly. Shashi again goes on her rant about the condiiton of the house. Urmi and ishaan asks her not to worry, as they would handle everything. Ishaan says that he would stay back, and till he gets better, they too would return. But kanchan says that some work can be done only by the ladies, and he wont be able to do this. Ishaan offers to appoint a nurse. Samrat likes this idea, and goes onto place some calls. But urmi stops him. urmi tells them that till shashi gets well, they wont go anywhere and would cancel the trip. shashi is happy, that her plan worked, while samrat is tensed. His father asks them not to cancel the trip, as they would find some alternative here. But ishaan too supports urmi's descision. Samrat reminds them about the nonrefundability of the tickets, and it would be a waste of money, and that he wont be able to tolerate. His father tells them to go, and shashi too says that she would manage anyhow. But urmi is adamant that she wont go anywhere, and would take care of her. samrat says that her descision to take care of his mother and staying back is good, but he wont let the tickets go to waste, and hence would go with ishaan, so that only urmi's tickets go to waste. urmi is distraught to hear this and his stance. Samrat's father is surprised. samrat says that there are so many people to take care of shashi, and still they wamnt the three to stay back. But if urmi feels like this, that nothing would happen without her, and she is the only one who can take care, then she is free to stay back. He says that he and ishaan would go, anbd thats a good descision too. Shashi is very happy with this, and at urmi's torment. The screen freezes on urmi's sad face.
Precap: urmi asks samrat, in their room, if its absolutely essential to go, given shashi's condition, and cant he cancel the ticket. He repeats thatv he has already told once, that its a non refundable ticket, and asks what does she want, that he let this money go to waste. He taunts her asking, who would repay the money back, her father. urmi is distraught to hear such rudeness.
Update Credit to: Rimjhim


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Calif. changing gas taxes to close budget deficit
California lawmakers on Thursday began passing a complicated change to the gasoline tax to address part of the state's $20 billion budget deficit.
The state Senate passed the Democratic package on a majority vote, largely along partisan lines. The Assembly was scheduled to consider it later Thursday.
The legislation is modeled after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to replace the sales tax on gasoline with a larger excise tax. The swap allows some accounting maneuvers that funnel more money into the state's general fund, where the deficit exists.
The tax exchange is estimated to generate $1.1 billion for the general fund while continuing to provide about the same level of funding for public transit and repairs to highways and streets.
Californians would see no difference in prices at the pump.
Republicans opposed the swap, characterizing it as a bait-and-switch for Californians that eventually would result in higher taxes at the pump.
The sales tax is a percentage, so it fluctuates with the price of gas, but because the excise tax is a flat amount per gallon, drivers might not see as much savings when the cost of gas declines.
Senate Minority Leader Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, said the original plan offered by the Schwarzenegger administration proposed lowering overall gasoline taxes by about 5 cents per gallon. The Democrats' legislation, however, keeps overall taxes the same while applying more of the revenue to the general fund.
Hollingsworth said the legislation circumvents California's two-thirds requirement for passing tax increases. He described the maneuver as a lowering of one tax while raising fees to cover the difference, then redirecting the revenue.
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said the exchange from a sales tax to an excise tax did not require a two-thirds vote because it replaces taxes "dollar for dollar." He said it also maintains funding for transportation projects, which he said could create 10,000 jobs.
The Senate also passed remaining parts of a Democratic package to address the current-year cash shortfall.


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KIM LANDERS: After the record rainfall many states got over summer, the Bureau of Meteorology is predicting a dry autumn.
La Nina has officially ended and that means drier conditions during April so far, with lower than average rain.
Fortunately for many farmers, the Bureau says there's enough moisture in the soil to begin planting crops now.
Michael Vincent reports.
MICHAEL VINCENT: For many in eastern Australia it was a summer to forget. Grey skies and showers seemed the norm.
Dr Andrew Watkins from the Bureau of Meteorology.
ANDREW WATKINS: Well indeed we've had a very wet summer and in March we continued to see rainfall through large parts of New South Wales of course, quite heavy rains there and highest on record in some places.
But it started to dry off through parts of south-eastern Queensland and also through south-west, Western Australia. Indeed during April to date, we actually have seen only about 20 to 40 per cent of our normal rainfall falling and of course so far, through April, we should be seeing around 70 per cent.
So a lot drier during the past month.
MICHAEL VINCENT: And the dry conditions are expected to persist across the southern states.
ANDREW WATKINS: We've got odds of 60 to 70 per cent of drier than normal conditions through much of Victoria, Tasmania, and also parts of southern South Australia as well.
MICHAEL VINCENT: Is that going to be a problem for farmers trying to get crops in?
ANDREW WATKINS: Well farmers have in most locations, fortunately have reasonably good soil moisture at the moment, the result of good rains over summer. In fact, of course, some people got more than good rains. So the soil moisture is there, they can probably make a reasonable start and then they'll have to be looking for rainfall more into the winter.
MICHAEL VINCENT: But the rain isn't easing off for some areas.
The Bureau is predicting southern Queensland and northern New South Wales, as well as the Northern Territory will get higher than average rainfall in Autumn, and for many areas it's expected to be warmer than usual.
ANDREW WATKINS: Some parts of Australia are actually looking quite warm, odds of up to 80 per cent of getting warmer than normal days through much of Victoria and Tassie and south-west WA as well. And nights are looking fairly warm as well, particularly over Queensland, where the odds are again up 75, 80 per cent of getting warm nights for the coming three months.
MICHAEL VINCENT: The Bureau of Meteorology says the dry weather in the coming months in southern Australia is a part of a trend that's been consistent since the mid 1990s, but whether that's due to climate change is not clear cut.
Professor Andy Pitman is the director of the Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science at the University of New South Wales.
ANDY PITMAN: We can't formally attribute the drying to global warming. That does not mean it's not caused by global warming, it means we can't say it with scientific certainty at this time.
MICHAEL VINCENT: When do you think you'll be able to, if you can ever do it?
ANDY PITMAN: That's a tough question. Each year that you get an ongoing drying trend it gives you a little bit more data that gives you a little more statistical certainty around the drying trend. My suspicion is that as more high quality science comes to the table, we will become increasingly convinced that the drying trend is caused in part at least by global warming.
MICHAEL VINCENT: You're talking about over 15 years of research already.
ANDY PITMAN: I know. It's a really complex problem. That's like saying we've had 15 years of research in curing cancer but we haven't cured it yet. Climate science is as complex a problem as any in the natural sciences and it takes a hell of a long time to make definitive statements about issues that are close to our heart.
Doesn't mean to say that we don't think it's caused by global warming, it's that we can't with certainty prove that it is.
MICHAEL VINCENT: The Bureau of Meteorology says it expects to have better predictions about whether Australia will remain neutral or enter an El Nino phase by mid July.
KIM LANDERS: Michael Vincent reporting.
The full story...
La Nina ends: now for the Big Dry
Michael Vincent reported this story on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 12:48:00
KIM LANDERS: After the record rainfall many states got over summer, the Bureau of Meteorology is predicting a dry autumn.
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This post contains press samples. All opinions are mine alone.
In recent months I have neglected the beauty department for one reason or another. Now that summer break is here I have more free time. For those of you who don't know I enrolled back in college and started in January, as you can image I was jammed with school work. Therefore, as a college student my budget for splurging in beauty has diminish drastically. Accordingly, finding products that are high quality for an affordable price has become a priority anytime I shop. For this reason, I wanted to introduce Nuance by Salma Hayek a beauty brand that can easily be found in local CVS Pharmacy's.
Flawless Finish Illuminating Blush & Bronzer Duo, Coral Glow $12.99
Cheekbones are defined and highlighted to perfection, with a color finish that works beautifully on all skin types. I personally enjoy this duo because it's very pigmented and easy to blend. Needless to say, the undertones in the bronzer and blush are perfection for my skintone.
Endless Eye Effects Shadow Collection, Smoke Signals $13.99
Color blends flawlessly, wet or dry. This collection offers matte, frost and shimmering finishes. The eyeshadows in this particular collection are somewhat powdery creating a predictable fallout. Another thing to point out, is that in order for pigmentation to be at it's best a good base is needed. In all honesty, this is a skip product.
Flawless Finish Contour & Illuminate Duo, Pearl Light $12.99
A lightweight highlight that glides on easily, adding a shimmery glow for a healthy finish. In fact, this is a beautiful cream duo for an everyday use. It is the perfect combination to help bring the appearance of a healthy glow without been extreme.
Important to note, Nuance by Salma Hayek is not tested on animals. Therefore, it is a cruelty free brand at an accessible price. As I mentioned earlier finding budget friendly products that are high quality has become a priority. As a result, there will be more affordable products feature in upcoming stories.