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It all starts with the dropping of the green flag unleashing the fury of 43 high powered racing engines.
That's 43 cars flying around a half mile concrete oval, literally inches from each other, until the 500th mile is completed. The elements of physical endurance and mental focus are sky high during this race. Drivers have to negotiate a left hand turn about every four to six seconds. They have to maintain a sharp awareness of track position while avoiding hitting the rear bumper in front of him. They have to find a way to quickly calm themselves down when they find themselves on the receiving end of a bumper hit. This is a race where road rage is more the norm than the exception. This is Bristol. It is the birthplace of the bump and run. With it's unique grandstands placement it's NASCAR's answer to racing in a coliseum. It's also NASCAR's answer to "March Madness." It's the one event that NASCAR Sprint Cup fans look forward to each and every year.
[media-credit name="Brad Keppel" align="alignright" width="300″][/media-credit]THE STORY BREAKDOWN
For many years now the first Sprint Cup race of the season at the Bristol Motor Speedway has been known as the Food City 500. This year the race is named the Jeff Byrd 500, presented by Food City. Jeff Byrd was the long time, highly respected and well loved, President and General Manager of the Bristol Motor Speedway. Sadly, he passed away this past October. The executives at Food City were only too happy to forgo their long time entitlement rights to this race in honor of their long time friend and associate. On race day Sunday Byrd's wife of 36 years, Claudia, along with son Christian and daughter Belton Caldwell will be on hand as the official Grand Marshalls. A tip of the racing hat goes to Food City for this very special gesture.
With only three races in the record books of the still young NASCAR Sprint Cup season, it may seem too early to discuss the series' championship point standings and the prospects of drivers making the ten man roster for the Chase. But NASCAR's re calibrated points system, 43 to one, is beginning to display some rather interesting scenarios worthy of Monday morning water cooler conversations.
Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch are currently tied for first in the standings, at 113 points each, although Stewart is listed as the number one seed because he had the highest finish last weekend at Las Vegas. Stewart last points lead dates back to September of 2009. Compared to previous seasons, he seems to be surging to the top unusually early. Stewart is noted for getting hot during the hot summer months. In other words, where's there's "Smoke" there's heat.
Stewart is a former winner at Bristol and understands the fast way around there. He also hedged his bet a little this past Monday by testing a newly prepared short track car at the Little Rock, a one half mile oval, located at the North Carolina based Rockingham Motor Speedway.
As an owner-driver he has also been monitoring the progress of his Stewart-Haas Racing team mate Ryan Newman who has elevated his points status from 20th to fifth during the course of the last two races.
In this modern era it's almost impossible to say the name Bristol Motor Speedway without eventually adding the name Kurt Busch to the conversation. He's a five time winner at the track and a heavy favorite to park his Penske Racing Dodge in victory lane this Sunday. Busch is off to a strong start in 2011 after winning the non points Budweiser Shootout and a Gatorade Duel event. Like Stewart, Busch also tested a newly prepped short track car earlier this week at the Gresham Motorsports Park half mile oval in South Carolina.
Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards is a perfect example of how NASCAR's new 43 to 1 point configuration can work for or against you. Edwards left Daytona on top of the points standings. But a crash, that ruined a strong performance at Phoenix, had him leaving Arizona 12th in the standings. He rebounded with a win last Sunday at Las Vegas and that effort moved him back to third only seven points from the top.
The same cannot be said about his Roush Fenway team mates although, in all fairness, it appears that Matt Kenseth may be on the rebound. The driver of the #17 Ford has moved from 31st to 23d to 16th over the course of the last three races.
But it's Roush driver Greg Biffle, a solid pre season favorite to make the Chase, that has a lot of Sprint Cup observers scratching their heads. Biffle has been hampered by bad luck so far this season, including pit road miscues last Sunday in Las Vegas with the new vented fuel can. He remains mired down at 31st in the points. It's way too early to write this team off as a Chase participant, but Biffle needs to make quick work of digging himself out of this hole. By the way, a new gas man will be fueling his car this Sunday at Bristol.
One of the true surprises early on in the season is the fact that Paul Menard is the highest rated driver, 6th in the standings, among the four teams from Richard Childress Racing. His finishes have been consistent and there's has been a highly noticeable improvement from behind the wheel. It also seems that those snide remarks from seasons past, such as "he's driving his daddy's checkbook," are drying up and rightfully so.
Meanwhile his Richard Childress Racing team mates, all three of them pre season Chase favorites; seem to be busy digging themselves out of holes. Clint Bowyer seems to be on a points roller coaster and over the past three races has moved from 16th to 21st to 18th.
The sight of RCR's Kevin Harvick blowing an engine so early in the Daytona race stunned everyone and left the driver with an initial start of 37th in the standings. Harvick appears to be on the rebound and has worked his way to 20th
RCR's Jeff Burton also started the season with an expired engine at Daytona and has experienced nothing but problems since. The pre season Chase favorite is languishing at 32nd in the points. It's also way too early to write this team off but the time to get out the hole is now. That process could begin at Bristol where Burton is a former winner.
Denny Hamlin, eighth in the current points, leads the charge for Joe Gibbs Racing after starting the season 19th in the standings.
Meanwhile team mate Kyle Busch will be on the rebound after falling from the points lead all the way to 14th following an engine failure at Las Vegas. Here's yet another example of how the new points configuration can work for or against you. Bristol is the perfect place for Busch to launch that return to the top. He's a four time winner there including sweeping all three of NASCAR's national touring series events during the same weekend last year.
After leaving Daytona 22nd in the points, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is leading the Hendrick Motorsports efforts after consistent performances moved him to tenth in the standings much to the delight of the Junior Nation. Actually he tied for tenth with HMS team mate Mark Martin.
Following a somewhat dubious beginning at Daytona, five time HMS champion Jimmie Johnson is moving forward and has leaped from 25th to 12th in the points after three events. However four-time HMS champion will be in the rebound mode at Bristol Sunday. After winning the Phoenix event, Gordon jumped from 26th to 5th in the standings. An unfortunate crash last Sunday in Las Vegas sent Gordon plummeting backwards to 19th. But Bristol is an excellent rebound track for him. He's also a five time winner there.
So, who's going to elevate their points status and who's going to take a fast ride down the sliding board at Bristol? The answer to that question may be in some rather strong hints from "The Las Vegas Insider", (LVI), and their driver odds rankings for next Sunday's race.
To no real surprise Kyle Busch sits on top of those rankings at 4 to 1 odds. The Rowdy one is a four time winner and amazed everyone last August when he swept the Bristol victory lane with a very large broom after winning three races there within a period of 48 hours. He's joined at 4 to1 by Jimmie Johnson the defending race winner from last year. The highly productive Carl Edwards, who has won three of his last five starts, is also a rock solid consideration at 5 to 1. Edwards is also a two time winner at Bristol. Yet another rock solid wager is Jeff Gordon, at 6 to 1, a five time winner at Bristol. At 9 to 1 is Kurt Busch the other five-time Bristol winner. This might turn into an excellent long shot consideration. The elder Busch brother always seems to be very strong at this track.
In the middle section of "The Las Vegas Insider's" rankings you will find former Bristol winner Tony Stewart along with Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick at 10 to 1. Clint Bowyer, another former Bristol winner, is ranked at 14 to 1 while two time race winner Matt Kenseth is right behind him at 16 to 1. The duo of Greg Biffle and Mark Martin are rated at 18 to 1. Martin's presence here is especially interesting because he could turn out to be a rather lucrative long shot wager. Martin is a two time Bristol winner who also holds the track record for top five finishes, 16, as well as top tens, 23. Martin is also strong there on qualifying day. He holds the track record for winning the pole nine times. Completing the middle section of this week's ranking is a quartet of drivers, at 25 to 1, that includes Jamie McMurray, Joey Logano, Juan Pablo Montoya and former Bristol winner Jeff Burton.
If you're seriously into long shot wagers, the type of bets that are considered more tax write offs than frequent winners, then you may want to take a look at the "LVI's" lower tier for Bristol. It starts with Kasey Kahne and former race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr at 30 to 1. They are followed by Ryan Newman and David Reutimann-35 to 1, Brian Vickers and Martin Truex Jr-40 to 1, David Ragan-60 to 1, A J Allmendinger-75 to 1, Brad Keselowski and Paul Menard-100 to 1, Marcus Ambrose-150 to 1 and the duo of Bobby Labonte and Regan Smith at 200 to 1. Any driver not listed on the official list are rated at 50 to 1 odds for the Bristol race.
Now for the disclaimer: NASCAR wants us to remind you that these numbers are for information and entertainment purposes. They neither encourage nor condone the placing of wagers on their races. The fact of the matter is this track has a 50 year reputation of producing some very crazy highlights and betting on the outcome of a Bristol race might be even crazier.
The Jeff Byrd 500, presented by Food City, is 500 grueling laps, 266.5 miles, around the Bristol Motor Speedway's 0.533 mile concrete covered oval.
The race has 44 entries vying for the 43 starting positions. Nine of those entries are on the go or go home list. These teams are not guaranteed a starting berth in the race because they are currently outside of NASCAR's top 35 in owner's points. These teams will have rely on qualifying speed to make the race. The lone exception from this group is driver Bill Elliott who has a past champion's provisional available.
The speedway has progressive banking in all four turns measuring 24 to 30 degrees. The two straight-aways are banked 4 to 9 degrees. Bristol is physically demanding on the drivers because the front and back straight-aways are only 650 long which means the left hand turns come fast and frequent. Adding to the driver stress level is fact that the track is only 43 feet wide which often creates some interesting traffic situations.
The Bristol Motor Speedway has the distinction of being the only track on the NASCAR circuit that employs the use of two pit roads. There are 22 pit stalls facing the front stretch and 21 stalls located on the backstretch. Making this situation even more interesting is the fact that the pit stalls only measure 25.5 feet long by 15.5 feet long. The pit road speed is 30 MPH.
The Bristol Motor Speedway is also unique because this short track has 160,000 seats that are arranged coliseum style, meaning the seats completely circle the track.
The track was built on a former dairy farm by three local businessmen who, only a daily basis, drew plans for the speedway on envelopes and brown paper bags. The track officially opened in 1960.
The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held at Bristol in 1961 and was officially won by Jack Smith although it was relief driver Johnny Allen who actually drove the car under the checkers. Since that time there has been 100 Sprint Cup points races that has sent 38 different winners to victory lane. The win list is led by Darrell Waltrip who conquered Bristol 12 times during his career. Chevrolet leads the manufacturers win column with 42 followed by Ford-33, Dodge-6 and Toyota-3. There are 17 additional wins by manufacturers no longer active in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
A track with the reputation of Bristol is certainly going to breed yellow caution flags. The track record is 20 cautions in one race set three different times with the most recent being in August of 2003. The track record for fewest cautions is an unbelievable zero dating back all the way to July of 1971.
The most lead changes during a Bristol race is 40 set in April of 1991. The record for the fewest lead changes, zero, dates back to March of 1973 when race winner Cale Yarborough led all 500 laps. The fewest laps led by a race winner is one when "Fearless" Fred Lorenzen led the final circuit back in 1964.
The track qualifying record, 14.908 seconds/128.709 MPH, was set by Ryan Newman in March of 2003. In any form of short track racing qualifying is extremely important. Since 1961 22% of the Bristol races have been won from the pole position. 58% have won from the top five starting spots while 80% of the trips to victory lane have originated from the top ten starting berths.
Weather should be ideal for racing conditions this weekend. The forecast for the Bristol-Thunder Valley area calls for sunny skies and 70 degrees on Friday along with partly cloudy conditions, with daytime highs of 72 degrees, on Saturday and Sunday.
The Jeff Byrd 500, presented by Food City, will be broadcast live by Fox Sports beginning with the pre race show at 12:30 pm eastern time. The replay of the race will be on Wednesday, March 23d, on the SPEED Channel at 12 pm eastern.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com.


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The city of Salem is Tamil Nadu's 4th largest city surrounded by a natural range of hills starting by the Jeragamalai to the south, the Nagaramalai to the north, the Godumalai to the east and the Kanjanamalai to the west. Popularly known as the geologist's treasure trove, the location is richly blessed with large mineral reserves. Claimed to be the birth place of the famed Tamil poetess Avaiyaar, Salem has a rich traditional past as a center for culture and literature.
The current city has been transformed into a center for stainless steel and textile industry. Enveloped by hill ranges, Salem is also a part of Kongu Nadu (Erode and Coimbatore). Salem is situated at the foothills of the popular tourist destination, Yercaud hills which offers a spectacular view through the ride uphill and from its peak.
Top Tourist Places In Salem:
1. Yercaud Hills:
Yercaud is one of the renowned hill stations in Tamil Nadu and also the most preferred tourist place in Salem, which is located around 20 kilometers from the city. These hills are an extension of the Shervarayan range on the Eastern Ghats located at a height of 1500 meters or close to 4900 feet above mean sea level. The hill scape is also known for its orange groves and coffee plantations in addition to a orchidarium operated by Botanical Survey of India.
The highest vantage point on these hills is the Shervarayan Temple which is situated at a height of 5326 feet, on account of which these hills are sometimes referred to as the Shevaroy Hills. Yercaud hills is also famous for its lake, a very popular tourist boating site along with its lush landscape and gorgeous gardens. Yercaud gets its name from the lake located at its center, in Tamil Yeri refers to lake and Kaadu refers to forest.
Related Article: Top 6 Tourist Place in Kerala
2. Kiliyur Falls:
Kiliyur Falls is an untouched water fall situated on the Shervarayan range, Eastern Ghats. Kiliyur Falls is a pristine and popular tourist spot visited by nature enthusiasts and tourists who throng the location during the peak season period every year. The waters over flowing the Yercaud Lake drop 300 feet or 90 metres in to the Kiliyur valley region.
The falls is situated at a distance of 2.5 kilometres or around 1.6 miles from the Yercaud Lake. The last stretch of around 500 metres or roughly 1600 feet or so consists only of an unpaved rough steep path way. It is a spectacular sight during the monsoons when the water level is the highest.
3. Kolli Hills:
Located in Tamil Nadu, Kolli Hills is an imposing natural formation towering some 1300 metres above mean sea level. It takes around 70 odd hair pin bends to ascend to the highest vantage point of Kolli Hills. Popular sightseeing spots of interest for tourists are Selur Nadu and Sekkuparai, places which should not be missed when you visit Kolli Hills.
These spots are currently being widely promoted as tourist destinations and offer you the chance of exploring the un-explored. Have you ever heard about hybrid pineapples? This place has a pine-apple research farm which grows a variety of never before seen pine-apple varieties.
For adventure lovers and the dare devils out there, Kolli Hills is an adventurer's paradise and has become the favorite hotspot for hikers, trekkers and adventure seekers. The local government is on full throttle to develop this location as a preferred tourist spot and begun the job of giving it a face lift to attract tourists.
If the notion of exploring an untouched Eastern Ghat location thrills you, then Kolli Hills is definitely worth a visit. If someone wishes to explore this pristine destination at its best then they can visit during the post-monsoon or the monsoon period.
4. Hogenakkal Falls:
Hogenakkal is a location in Dharmapuri District where the river, Kaveri enters Tamil Nadu. It is regarded as one of the most popular picnic spots in Dharmapuri with a lush and picturesque landscape attracting local as well as regional tourists across the state as well as all over India and even abroad.
At this point in Hogenakkal, the wide stream of the Kaveri River forks out. It forms an island from where one stream continues and drops down into a deep gorge to create a fantastic water fall. From the water spray of this fall rises a droplet cloud resembling a screen of smoke hence the name, Hogenakkal (Hoge denotes smoke and Kal denotes rock), smoking rock.
The river Kaveri flows in a specific gorge so narrow that it could be easily leapt across by a goat. Thus that location in Hogenakkal is termed as Meka Dhattu or goat's leap. Bathing in the waters of the Hogenakkal falls is generally considered to have a therapeutic effect on your body as the waters of the Kaveri flows through an herbal jungle before it reaches Hogenakkal. So people throng the falls to take a bath with a stimulating oil massage for rest and relaxation.
The parisal is a round basket type of boat which is used by tourists to feel the thrill of a boat ride on the river here at Hogenakkal. It is a perfect holiday destination for families and for people who wish to take a break and relax.
5. Mettur Dam:
The name Mettur denotes a town with troughs and crests. The place got its name on account of the undulating rocky nature of the landscape. This makes the town an ideal location for the dam constructed on the Kaveri River, the lifeline of Central and North Tamil Nadu. The Mettur dam is a large and the oldest dam in India built-in the year 1934.
It was constructed in a gorge where the Kaveri River enters the plain. It is a source of irrigation to farm lands situated in other districts surrounding it. The length of the dam is around 1700 meters. The Mettur hydro-electrical power project station is situated there. Surrounded by hills, Mettur is a very popular tourist attraction. On the upstream of the dam is the Hogenekkal falls.
6. Panamarathupatti Lake:
This is a natural lake located near a village called Panamarathupatti situated very close to the suburbs of Salem City. This lake is used to meet the water needs of some parts of the southern suburbs of Salem City as well as for the agricultural farm lands around the lake. The total area covered by this lake is around 500 acres.
Tourists are drawn by the scenic beauty of the lake. This lake is even called as the Vedanthangal of Salem district as the lake attracts different species of many birds during the peak season. Panamarathupatti has frequent bus services from Salem bus stop. A drive is also a good idea to reach the place. It takes around 25 to 30 minutes to reach the Panamarathupatti Lake from Salem city.
So, the next time you are planning to spend time out in Salem, visit these tourist places and have fun!

subset: commoncrawl


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Stephanie Mellissia Vise ( Female ) was 44 years old at the time of the arrest. Stephanie Mellissia Vise was arrested on 2020-09-20 12:00:00.STEPHANIE was arrested in BOIS DARC, Missouri. The arrest number on file is 483346. The arrest was made by GREENE COUNTY .
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Thursday, September 11, 2014
Beware of classical music's new silly conventions
Speaking at the recent Salzburg launch of Deutsche Grammophon's Discovery classical music streaming app DG president Mark Wilkinson asserted that "The digital audience is our audience". If we leave aside concerns that the Discovery app - £2.59 a month to access more than 450 albums - will destroy rather than creates financial value, Mark Wilkinson's sound bite requires closer study. Speaking in a 2010 radio interview with me, the composer Jonathan Harvey said, quite rightly, that "nobody should be deprived of classical music, least of all by rather silly conventions, which we all tend to think are sacred". But in the intervening four years since that interview, the debate about classical music's silly conventions has been hijacked by a small but vociferous lobby that advocates abolishing a narrow range of concert hall conventions to further their own commercial agendas. This lobby is led to Universal Music's Max Hole, who has been dining out for years on his stories about classical music's silly conventions. The irony is that Max Hole is right, but he has been targeting the wrong conventions: what he should be targeting is fashionable silly conventions such as the one peddled by the president of DG - a Universal Music label - that the classical music audience is 'digital'.
Studying the facts - which music industry executives seem puzzlingly loath to do - proves Mark Wilkinson wrong. As highlighted in a previous post, the audience for CDs, not streamed music, is the most important recorded classical music market in fiscal terms, and will remain so for some time. But another silly convention rears its head here - the mythical 'digital audience'. Talking about a 'digital audience' as a separate entity to a 'non-digital audience' is nonsense. All recorded music delivery platforms - CD, download and streaming - rely on digital technologies, and from 1979 onwards vinyl LP's were cut from digital master tapes. And my inbox currently attests to yet another silly convention, that if you query any aspect of this binary hegemony, you are a luddite who does not embrace digital. Which, yet again, is nonsense - RTFB. However, the difference between embracing and fixating on new technologies is at the core of many of classical music's current problems.
In his spirited defence of collectable music formats Alex Ross highlighted the silly convention, that CDs are "space-devouring, planet-harming plastic objects". The extension of this convention is that those who still buy CDs are to despised and dismissed. This latter is more than a silly convention: it is a deeply unpleasant sentiment that found expression in this tweet by a Independent journalist: "My column on the problem with classical music and how a large proportion of [BBC] R3's audience should hurry up and die....". That silly - no sorry, loathsomely stupid - sentiment morphs into the dogma that the only good audience is a young audience, and that the current ageing core of mature concertgoers is no more than cannon fodder to be sacrificed in the battle for the elusive digital audience. Again this dogma is proved wrong by facts: mature audiences are classical music's revenue earner, and, like CDs, they show no sign of relinquishing their preeminence.
Which leads to the ultimate silly convention, that there is any such thing as a single classical audience, yet alone a single digital audience. There is, undoubtedly, a large market for classical music, but there is no single mass market. Classical music is granular and is made up of lots of connected but different niche markets. Which means there is no 'one size fits all' classical music, and no 'one size fits all' delivery platform for recorded classical music. We need Harrison Birtwistle and we need André Rieu, and we need CDs, downloads, streaming and vinyl. And we also need young and mature, knowledgeable and neophyte concertgoers. Because when classical music is homogenised for the elusive mass - read digital - market it loses its essential appeal. Which explains why so much classical music today is bland and unappealing. Which, in turn, explains why classical radio in the UK lost one million listeners in just twelve months.
Venerating 'digital audiences' is just another form of the elitism that Max Hole professes to despise so much. Jonathan Harvey had it exactly right: nobody should be deprived of classical music. Least of all by silly new conventions which the high priests of Universal Music and other sects have declared sacrosanct.
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3 comments:
- Qi said...
Thank you so much for writing this essay. I have railed on about many of the same issues to my colleagues for some time, but as you presciently observe: "Studying the facts - which music industry executives seem puzzlingly loath to do.." I find myself bashing my head against the wall.
In recent months, a new bottle of snake oil has been sold to a number of classical labels, mainly the critical importance of being "retweeted" by iTunes. The sheer number of man-hours being invested in crafting the perfect 140 character cipher (with all the relevant hashtags, "@s" and what-have-you) is mind-numbing. And for what? the hopes that the very entity that first destroyed the CD retail trade, and who is now in the process of killing off their own iPod Classic with 160 Gb of memory in order to force listeners to abandon ownership in favor of a new streaming model (via their recently acquired Beats Music service)? The new tech can be helpful; I often use Spotify to preview potential purchases... of CDs! As for Pandora, that entity ought to be euthanized! I previously posted an account of my own attempt at music discovery on that digital sham, specifically when I was searching for "Chinese Traditional Music." The first album that played was John William's score to "Memories of a Geisha" and the banner image for the entire channel was a detail from the movie poster featuring a BLUE-EYED Zhang Ziyi. Well, at least Ms. Zhang IS Chinese. I suppose I ought to be grateful that Richard Clayderman didn't show up in greater number.
Your conclusion has application far beyond the classical market: ALL MUSIC "...is granular and is made up of lots of connected but different niche markets." But in the current state of collusion between the surviving three major labels conglomerates, techcoms and Tech manufacturers, diversification is NOT a virtue and pretty much ALL audiences that choose not to be funneled into a touch-screen universe are being to they "should hurry up and die."
Thank you again for saying with such eloquence what I have felt for so long.
- 4:06 pm
- Dave MacD said...
I do not listen to CDs. Ever. I don't even have a great way to play CDs. My computer does not have a CD drive. I find physical media to be cumbersome and annoying. If an album comes on CD only and no digital formats, it is unlikely that I will ever hear it.
- 3:33 pm
- Pliable said...
"... but there is no single mass market. Classical music is granular and is made up of lots of connected but different niche markets. Which means there is no 'one size fits all' classical music, and no 'one size fits all' delivery platform for recorded classical music. We need Harrison Birtwistle and we need André Rieu, and we need CDs, downloads, streaming and vinyl."
- 4:56 pm


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Carson City WIC to celebrate new space
Special to the Nevada Appeal
An open house to celebrate the opening of the new WIC offices is set for 9-11 a.m. Tuesday at Carson City Health and Human Services.
The new space offers a play area for children and better privacy for clients, according to HHS.
WIC is a federally funded program that offers nutrition assistance and support to women and their children who meet certain eligibility requirements. To learn more about eligibility guidelines, go to http://www.gethealthycarsoncity.org or call 775-887-2190.


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Who's that girl carrying her Celine Luggage Tote?
Nicole Richie is that girl!
I was debating where to put this post – in our Who's that Girl category or our weekend obsession category. Because honestly, I am obsessed with this bag. The entire PurseBlog team (ok, Amanda and I) are so enthralled with Celine bags, especially the Luggage Tote, that we dream about it often.
Seeing Nicole Richie with this bag only furthers my love. Typically I dislike stark black/white contrasts on a handbag, but Celine is able to implement this so magnificently that it is a welcomed contrast. Is it just me or does Nicole Richie's style in these photos look very similar to Rachel Zoe? I am feeling the RZ vibe with the leopard coat, large shades, black skinny jeans, and Louboutin shoes.
Are you loving the Celine Luggage Tote as much as we are?


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The ATD-Research Triangle Area (RTA) Chapter is affiliated with the National ATD organization, a leading professional organization focused on the promotion and advancement of workplace learning and performance. We have over 250 members with a variety of backgrounds, including corporate trainers, external consultants, people considering entering the field, students of the T&D profession, human resource professionals, career development professionals, training managers, and many other positions.
As an organization, we strive to meet the professional development needs of the learning and development community throughout Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and the surrounding areas.
The strength of our Chapter is in our membership. Together we strengthen the training and development community and our profession. Our overall focus is to engage members, provide the best value possible and foster connections among the community. We value you as members and look forward to supporting your needs.


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If you need assistance with bookings, please get in touch. Please read our booking info page for details on how to make a booking. Also we would love to hear from you if you have any questions or suggestions.
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Contact Details
Beyond Shangri-La Travels Ltd
20 Oxford Road, Upavon, SN9 6BH, UK
Have a question?


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Clinton Man Wins $50,000 Top Prize on Jackpot Riches Scratch-Off
Shon Williams said that his wife has a habit of letting the gas in her car get low. Being the doting husband, he took her car to refuel and while at the gas station observed a gentleman purchasing Maryland Lottery scratch-offs. "I saw him and thought I'm going get a couple," said the occasional Lottery player.
Shon, who was accompanied to Lottery Headquarters by his wife, Jehan, and their 7-month-old daughter, bought a $5 and $10 ticket and took them home. It wasn't until two or three hours later that he remembered to scratch them. The band and choral teacher won $15 on the $10 ticket, but it was the $5 Jackpot Riches scratch-off that really paid off. "I was numb," said the 38-year-old. "I called my wife and said, 'Baby, I've got a major surprise for you.'"
The father-of-three said that in keeping with the recession, he will use his money to pay bills and put some away. He is also looking into investing in a couple franchises.
The winning ticket was purchased at the Clinton Citgo, located at 9100 Piscataway Road in Clinton.


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Environment : HyperV Wk28 : One Virtual Machine(VM) XP SP3 build on this server W2k8 with the client EPo 22.214.171.1248
This environment is reproduced 192 times with Name different for the Server and the VM
The name server is like XXXXYYY000 and the name for the VM is like XXXXYYZ001
The address IP is different for each VM et Server . The Guid Agent EPo is unique for each server and VM
Problem: 90% VM are not presents in the console EPO and however they receive tasks ( example update dat file )
One VM can be present one day and disappears the next day
We have checked Address mac , Address IP , Guid for each Server and VM . The client ePo was installed after sysprep step
We search information about this problem in the forum mcafee but nothing similar
Any idead about it ?
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- Plug and play cable adapter for GoPro and Gaoki cameras.
- The cable connects your GoPro camera directly to an OSD or plug and play transmitter, allowing you to get live feed video.
- Use any servo extension if you want to lengthen this cable.
- Approximately 8" inches (22 cm) long.
Notes: The little plastic tab on the cable connector can be easily shaved off to easier fit in to some OSDs or plug and play transmitters.
This is a plug with 4 contacting rings with a 3 pins connector, pin 1 video and pin 3 ground. Some OSDs uses a 4 pins video connector (pin 1 video and pin 4 ground).
Current Reviews: 0
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"Don't frown; it will cause wrinkles!"
If my Grandmother said this to me once, she said it a million times. I miss her. While it has been years since she passed away, she took flight over Memorial Day weekend.
Grandmother was elegant, charming, and always a lady. She was also an extraordinary flirt, which is a win-win for a gorgeous woman, which she was.
She was the only child of prosperous parents. Her aunt made every piece of her wardrobe (including everything from the lace to the buttons of her trousseau).
Grandmother had three husbands, three children, and seven grandchildren. People still come up to me and say that she and my Grandfather looked like a movie star couple.
I don't think she felt like much of a movie star during WWII. My Grandfather was in the Cavalry and she lived on an army base in San Antonio with three children under five. There were lots of Hispanic children on the base, which, for some unknown reason, inspired my five-year-old Mother to become a humanitarian. She took my Grandmother's jewelry box, which was filled with some serious bling, and passed the contents out to all her young friends. My Mom still remembers the spanking she got and none of the jewelry was ever recovered. Whoops. Completely overwhelmed with kiddos and trying to live on a very small budget, she finally threw in the towel, called my Great-Grandmother and pleaded for help. My Great-Grandmother thought over her darling daughter's plight – no money, three ankle biters, and army base life. She did what any mother would do. She sent her a full-length mink coat. No wonder my Grandmother's hair turned white at 26.
Flash forward to my appearance on the scene. Grandmother was all of 40 when I was born. She adored me because she didn't have to birth me, I was her first grandchild, and I went home with my parents. She also loved me like her own child, which I could have been. My sister and cousins will tell you I was the female equivalent to "Baby Jesus" according to my Grandmother. They were loved as well, but sort of had "shepherd status". Happens.
I spent lots of time with my Grandparents. And it was all good.
Flash forward to the last years. She called my Mom, "Sis"; they lunched together every Friday. While "mothering" might not have been her best gig, she gave it what she could. Grandmother never said a bad word about anyone but I'm sure she thought of some zingers. And she had very nice manners. When my Dad's father, Andy, came to town, she invited him for dinner. Andy was born and raised in the very rural deep South. And he thought Grandmother was "hubba hubba" material. After dinner, he gave my Grandmother a big compliment. He said, "Beautiful Lady, them squashes was delicious!". Her reply, "Oh Andy, you do go on so."
She was a steel magnolia. Her southern accent got deeper when she sipped on her favorite adult beverage, a scotch mist. The only time we got sideways was when McPaddie was born. We decided to call McPaddie by a nickname; Grandmother said she absolutely would not call the new baby anything but her formal name. I said that was fine, the entire world minus her, would be using the nickname. She caved, and dearly loved both of my daughters. When she passed away, we ordered a blanket of fresh magnolias for her coffin. When I went to check on the situation, all the magnolias looked like they'd barely survived a southern tsunami. I marched myself into the funeral director's office and said, "SHE MAY BE DEAD BUT THE FLOWERS SHOULDN'T BE, MR. MAN!". Winner, winner, scotch mist for dinner!
I miss her.
And she was right, you know. If you frown, you will get wrinkles.


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We spent a few minutes with the just-announce Backflip and, well, it's a Moto Cliq with weird swivel keyboard. Really, everything about the device feels the same as the Cliq. Even the love-it-or-hate-it MotoBlur interface is still in place. But depending on the price and carrier, it could be a popular product.
The device is different and that's important these day. The Backflip's claim to fame is that there is touchpad on the backside of the screen. It allows users to interact with the phone without their fat fingers getting in the way. Controlling the phone this way wasn't exactly instantly intuitive during our hands-on, but it was certainly.
But the interface is somewhat clunky and laggy just like the Cliq. It doesn't have the power or the grace of the Droid — or the keyboard or the solid feel or the 5MP camera.
The Backflip isn't anything that will change the Android landscape like the Droid or Nexus One. It's just a solid entry-level Android device that tweens and geeks on a budget will probably dig.


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Hi everyone! I got a new card for you. This card is similare to the last one. I have used Mo Mannings amazing stamps again. They are just sooo cute. I have also used the same collection from Maja Design, "Fika". I finally got to use my new Magnolia dies. All my flowers are from Wild Orchids Craft, and from Kort og Godt. The round text stamp is from Lily of the Valley. The pearls are from Wild Orchids Craft too.
For some reason copiccolor.com are having problems creating my Copicc pallett, so I will make it for you another day.
Hope you like my card and please leave a comment.


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This title is firm sale. Please select carefully as returns are not accepted.
By Green, John
Now a major motion picture from Twentieth Century Fox New York Times bestseller from the award-winning author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault In Our Stars. Quentin Jacobsen - Q to his friends - is eighteen and has always loved the edgy Margo Roth Spiegelman. As children, they...'d discovered a dead body together. Now at high school, Q's nerdy while Margo is uber-cool.One night, Q is basking in the predictable boringness of his life when Margo, dressed as a ninja, persuades him to partake in several hours of mayhem. Then she vanishes. While her family shrugs off this latest disappearance, Q follows Margo's string of elaborate clues - including a poem about death. Q's friends Radar, Ben and Lacey help with the search, and a post turns up on a website: Margo will be in a certain location for the next 24 hours only. The race is on! After an epic drivethrough the night, they catch up with Margo, and Q learns first-hand that the way you think about a person isn't the way they actually are. MORE PRAISE FOR PAPER TOWNS 'Paper Towns is a smart, thoughtful, funny, and hopeful novel that really epitomises John Green's brilliance. It has razor-sharp wit, fantastic writing, originality in spades, truth ... do everything in your power to get a copy immediately' -- Teenbookreview 'A teen-pleasing read. Readers will enjoy the edgy journey and off-road thinking' -- Publishers Weekly 'fascinating, cleverly constructed, and profoundly moving' -- School Library Journal, starred review 'Green ... delivers once again ... A winning combination' -- Kirkus MORE AWARDSWinner - 2009 Edgar AwardRead more
There are no reviews for this title.
John Green is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of several YA novels including THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. He has received numerous accolades including the Printz Medal, a Printz Honor and the Edgar Award. John is also one half of the Vlogbrothers (youtube.com/vlogbrothers). You can join the millions who follow John on Twitter (@johngreen) or visit him online at johngreenbooks.com and fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com. John lives with his wife and son in Indianapolis, Indiana.
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Copyright © 2020 Wheelers Books
· All rights reserved


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(Los Angeles, CA) – Scambook recognizes that Craigslist offers great deals, but there are safer ways to utilize these local classifieds and reduce the risk of being scammed. Whether consumers are buying, selling, or browsing, scammers are always thinking of new schemes to defraud users.
"We know that scams on Craigslist can lead to robbery, vandalized property, identity theft, harassment, and even physical assaults. Therefore, we want to educate consumers on how to protect themselves to avoid such problems while browsing online," says Kase Chong, Director of Marketing at Scambook.
Scambook is providing the following ten tips to consumers to keep safe and protect themselves against scammers on Craigslist:
- TRUST INSTINCTS: The number one rule is to trust gut instincts going into any transaction. If a Craigslist ad seems phony, don't proceed.
- STAY LOCAL: Craigslist is designed to be city/region specific and if anyone makes up any excuses for why they cannot meet, it's a red flag. Remember that scammers tend to lie.
- AVOID WIRE TRANSFERS, CASHIER'S CHECKS AND MONEY ORDERS. These are huge red flags. If something goes awry when making a wire transfer (through Western Union or MoneyGram for example), the money will not be protected. Exchange cash instead. Checks and money orders can bounce, leaving consumers with bank fees, possible legal action, and no money. Large transactions can be performed in a bank where money can be withdrawn and deposited right away.
- NEVER USE ONLINE ESCROW. If someone insists on using an escrow website, cancel the transaction immediately. Online escrow sites are normally run by scammers.
- DON'T COMMIT WITHOUT SEEING THE GOODS IN PERSON. Make sure an item is up to standards and be cautious of those willing to buy an item without seeing it first. A common Craigslist scam involves a "buyer" sending too large a check, asking for it to be deposited, and wanting the difference to be deposited via Western Union. After the money is wired, the bank can discover the counterfeit check and the "seller" is stuck paying.
- DON'T FALL FOR JOB SCAMS. Be wary of "employers" who don't require an interview and make sure to visit the job's physical location prior to sending personal information such as a credit/background check. Any job that requires an upfront payment, involves "working from home" without detail, and job offers for secret shopping, international shipping management, foreign financial transfers, and survey-taking are almost always a scam. Learn more about job scams.
- USE A COUNTERFEIT DETECTION PEN. This pen's ink will change color on wood-based paper, allowing consumers to detect fake bills because real money is printed on fiber-based paper. Visit a nearby office supply store or buy one online for $5.
- CRAIGSLIST DOESN'T CERTIFY LISTINGS. Anyone who claims to be "certified" or "guaranteed" by Craigslist is likely a scammer. Craigslist has no verification or screening process. Be aware of language such as "buyer protection," "seller certification" and "Craigslist payment services."
- RESEARCH THE BUYER/SELLER. Use both Scambook and Google to search someone by their name, email, or business name. Make sure their identity is not an alias and that this person comes up clean. More tips for safely selling on Craiglist.
- DON'T GIVE OUT MORE PERSONAL INFORMATION THAN NECESSARY. Don't release any personal information in a public listing. The only personal information consumers need to list in a Craigslist ad could be a phone number. Google Voice allows the creation of a free disposable phone number. If someone needs to retrieve an item from a home address, due to the item's size, put the item outside and do not let the buyer inside.
Scambook is an online complaint resolution platform dedicated to obtaining justice for victims of fraud with unprecedented speed and accuracy. By building communities and providing resources on the latest scams, Scambook arms consumers with the up-to-date information they need to stay on top of emerging schemes. Since its inception, Scambook has resolved over $3 million in reported consumer damages. For more information, visit scambook.com.


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Well, it's a Thursday alright! We're doing a major overhaul in the cottage. Cleaning, gutting and downsizing. I made two trips to one charity store this morning to bring them two side tables we were getting rid of. Mr. Michie helped me make the other trip before work, to a different charity shop, that will take electrical items. I've dusted high up places and low down underneath places that haven't been dusted in awhile and in doing this my vacuum broke. It hasn't been very happy for a bit, so I guess it thought today was a good day to go.
Well, I just had to laugh, because this would only happen to me. So, even though it is just the first of December and not the first day of Christmas, I started singing, as I often sing and talk to myself: "On the first day of Christmas my true love bought for meeeee, a new-eww vaa-ac-uuummm!"
I've been a very good girl this year, so there is one winging it's way to me now as I type. So, I thought I shall take a five minute break, catch my breath, re-work my plan of attack for the day and share something with all of you. I saw this gem on Monday and it is just pure Wes Anderson happiness. So, here's to the first of the month and here's to Thursdays, let them be short, so we can move on to Fridays and then on to the merry weekend! And, wherever that train is going, I want to ride within it's mint green walls and rattle down the tracks.


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Knitter's Year, The - 52 Simple Seasonal Knits
Pages: 160
Photographs: Over 60 photographs
Anyone who has caught the knitting bug will know that knittersnever like to be wihtout a project on the go. So what could bebetter than a compendium of 52 handknit designs that will takeevery knitter all the way through an entire year? Each of theprojects in The Knitters Year has been designed to take a week orless to make, with some being as quick to knit as a rainy afternoonor a couple of evenings. Designs include homewares, accessories andthings to wear. They range from a sumptuous yet zimple chunkyscarf, which takes a few balls of yarn, to the adorableEaster-bunny egg cosies, which can be made using yarn leftover fromlarger projects. Divided into four seasons, the book featuresspring-time ideas such as a floral corsage and some fingerlessgloves, plus homeware items including a shelf edging and lacybolster cushion. Following are summery projects like a beach bag,simple tank and string shopping bag. Moving into Autumn, Debbiegives ideas for a back-to-school iPod cover and simple beret andscarf. Finally Winter, where knits really come into their own withsnug socks, slippers and even ideas for Christmas gifts and treedecorations. The collection provides a blissful year of inspirationfrom a leading knitter to either make yourself or to give as aspecial gift.ISBN13: 9781844008421
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Climbers on Ama Dablam, Nepal
While on the Everest Rocks trek, I ran into my friend Justin Merle, who was guiding a climb of Ama Dablam for International Mountain Guides. Several days after we met in the Khumbu Valley, our crew was stopped for a rest in the town of Pangboche, which sits beautifully below the massif of Ama Dablam.
If you haven't seen this mountain before, it is one of the most beautiful in the world, and thus one of the more popular peaks to climb in the Nepal Himalaya.
At any rate, as we sat taking in the view, I figured there might be people on this beautiful day heading for the top. So, I took out my Nikon D200 and my 80-400 VR lens and took a few shots of the summit slopes.
Later on, when I zoomed in using Photoshop, I was able to see that, sure enough, people were just descending off the summit ridge, miles away and 9,000 feet above us.
Take a look at the Zoomify image of the mountain and zoom in to see the climbers yourself – quite a nice day to be on the hill!
– Jake Norton is an Everest climber, guide, photographer, writer, and motivational speaker from Colorado.


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It's the journey.
Chapter One: I'd Like To Climb A Tree
"Ow! Kopa, get off me!" Izze screamed at the nut-brown lion who had just tackled her into the dirt.
Kopa grinned. "Say uncle," he dared her, his tail twitching. Izze responded by slapping Kopa in the muzzle with a forepaw and then shoving him off of her with her hind legs. Kopa landed in a heap a few feet away.
Izze smirked. "Uncle," she said in mock-terror. "I told you not to try to play rough while I'm grooming." She was vexed by her coat dirt-filled coat, but the satisfaction at having trounced Kopa outweighed her anger. Easily.
"Yeah, yeah, get at me." Kopa replied to nobody in particular, getting back onto his feet.
Izze picked up on it. "Oh, get at you? I'll call around and see if there are any mice around, that should be a fair fight," she taunted.
Kopa shot a glare in her direction. "Shut up," he snapped, and was about to mount another attack when Azdgari intervened.
"Oh, cut it out," Azdgari said. "Don't yell at each other, it's been a long day and this is just making it longer." He had been with the pair long enough to know that Izze wasn't going to back down, and that Kopa was just going to get more and more frustrated.
Azdgari's words hung in the gloom. It had been a long day. The traveling-group-gone-family had spent the better part of the day tracking a herd of zebra only to find themselves beaten out by a pack of cheetahs who were less than inclined to share. For their day's efforts the group were rewarded with a dinner consisting of two measly rabbits Kopa had caught. It's no surprise they were bickering at each other.
Azdgari flopped down onto the grass with a phump, and heard two similar phumps as Kopa and Izze did likewise. Their campsite, at least, hadn't been a disaster. A small glade in the stomach of a field of tall grass perhaps ten feet by ten feet provided both comfort and relative safety. Even feels a little cozy, Azdgari thought. …it would be cozier if Kopa and Izze stopped trying to dismember each other, he mused, but kept that thought to himself.
"Man, the next time I see a cheetah I'll give it something to run about," Kopa said bitterly. He clawed at the air as if tearing a cheetah to pieces.
Izze shifted in the grass. "We need to find food."
Kopa's swiping paws swung to his stomach, just below his chest tuft. "Yeah, we do. We'll have to hunt tomorrow, first thing."
"We should probably keep this as our meeting point," asserted Azdgari. "Good central location. I figure we can each strike out when we wake up, then meet back here at midday, hopefully with our kills."
Kopa yawned. "Biggest kill gets a back scratch!" Izze rolled her eyes, although nobody saw it in the dark. Kopa always caught the biggest kill, and he loved his back scratches.
"Aright, guys, what do we want from tomorrow?" Azdgari asked, initiating their evening ritual. It was a simple question, but Az felt like it kept them focused and also made them think a little bit, something that wanderers had a tendency to overlook.
"Food… my backscratch…" Kopa smiled. "And to start making our way East again," he finished, growing somber. Kopa had been separated from his family at a young age. He didn't like talking about it; he'd only mentioned it when pressed by Az and Izze and barely even then. Ever since either of them had met him he'd been on an inexorable quest Eastward to find his long lost pride. How he knew they were to the East or how he intended to find them ('Eastward' isn't exactly a precise location) neither Az nor Izze knew. But they both joined him for the journey and they grudgingly accepted he must have some idea what he was doing.
Izze met Kopa when both of them were very young, shortly after Kopa's separation. Izze was an orphan whose parents were killed in a stampede. They became fast friends, bonding over their situations and their similarly headstrong attitudes. They butted heads frequently, but over the course of their time together they became like brother and sister, albeit bickering ones.
The scraggly pair ran into Az for the first time when he saved them from a particularly ill-tempered wildebeest (Kopa had pissed it off by kicking a rock at it after Izze had told him, "Do it. You won't."). Since then Az had traveled with them partly because he felt uncomfortable leaving the two alone after seeing the trouble they got into and partly because he really had nothing better to do. Azdgari evolved into the older brother of the group, mediating their fights for the most part and keeping the group from getting in over their heads too many times in one day.
Now, after six months together, Kopa and Izze had grown out of adolescence into young adults, and Azdgari was nearing adulthood.
"…and to slap a cheetah," Kopa finished, drawing a wave of laughter from the group.
Izze went next. "Food would be nice. I want to find a meerkat, I've heard they're really funny."
Azdgari chuckled. "Good luck with your meerkat. Food and another good campsite…" He fought the almost irresistible urge to say 'without so much wrestling'. "And a good tree to climb."
"A tree?" Izze questioned.
"A tree," Azdgari replied. Izze shrugged, closing her eyes. One by one, the lions drifted off to sleep. Kopa fell asleep last, dreaming of chasing terrified cheetahs across a wide savannah.
Chapter Two: All's Well That Ends With A Full Stomach
I was dragged from a perfectly cheerful dream involving a Meerkat by the name of Timon by the warm rays of the morning sun. "First one up, as always," I murmured softly. Azdgari lay slumbering quietly close to where the fire would have been. I watched him for a moment, hypnotized by the gentle rhythm of his chest. So peaceful.
Kopa was strewn across a patch of grass to her left, snoring like a congested rhino. And… Kopa. Koooopa, Kopa, Kopa.
Shaking my head with just a hint of sisterly affection, I started to make my way out of our campsite. Which way? North sounds good. Or maybe East? West? South is always a solid option. Let's go south. Just because I can't read the scents on the wind like Azdgari and Kopa doesn't mean I can't hunt. We'll see who lands the big one! With that thought, I forged a path out of our glade and into the outside world.
I slowly lifted my eyelids, the sun's rays shooing me from the nights' sleep. With a cavernous yawn I pulled myself up to my feet. Rolling my neck in its socket, I noticed without surprise that Izze was already gone. I didn't need to look over to know Kopa was still asleep; his wildebeest-stampede snoring was probably scaring the local wildlife at this point.
Let's see what the day holds, I said to myself bracingly as I stretched my forelegs. I sniffed at the air, sifting through the different scents for a trace of prey. Nothing. I waited for another moment. …There. Gliding subtly through the air was the musk of a lone zebra, probably separated from his pack. Sorry buddy, your luck is about to get even worse. With a huff, Azdgari set off into the grass to track his prey.
Go away Mr. Sun, I groaned to myself. Come back in an hour.
Okay, thirty minutes?
Just five minutes? Please?
With a grumble, I reluctantly peeled my eyelids back to be rewarded with a blinding smile from the ever-chipper Mr. Sun. At least that made one of us.
I'm not a morning person, in case you couldn't tell.
As soon as my eyes adjusted, I tossed a lazy glance about the campsite and found it quite empty. I stretched, arching my back and digging my claws into the dirt. Late start, no problem, I smiled. How late are we talking? I squinted up at the sun, trying to make out its position.
Oh, sh**!
I knew I should've gone west, I complained to myself. No point sugarcoating it: after two hours of meandering on a general eastward bearing, I was absolutely no closer to, and quite possibly farther from, any prey that might have been in the area. I now found myself on the crown of an earthy knoll overlooking rolling green fields. With the sun caressing my back it was actually tempting to flop over and take a nap. Has it become apparent yet I'm a master hunter?
Well, this is why I travel with companions, I thought to myself. Time to admit it: hunting just isn't and never has been my strong point. It's a miracle I survived long enough to meet Kopa and Azdgari and get them to hunt for me. I pull my weight in other ways. And I can still slam Kopa in a fight.
Heaving a sigh, I turned back to commence my return journey. I had complete faith that I would be welcomed back by a well known sight: Kopa, seated on his haunches wearing that goofy, smug grin, flanked by the carcass of an absurdly large and tasty looking kill.
Tall grass faded to plains that transformed into a forest as I pursued the Zebra's scent. Yeah, I'm sorry, but you are going to taste really, really good, I couldn't help but think to myself as I bounded along. Twenty-four-plus hours without a meal has a way of sucking the charity out of me. I felt my adrenaline glands start pumping in anticipation as the scent grew stronger. I was closing in.
You're going down, Kopa. I should admit that wasn't just about hunger. For some reason and I can't figure it out, Kopa's a better hunter than me. It denies reason. I have strength, speed, age, situational awareness… and yet he always brings back a kill without fail. I know it shouldn't bother me, but it does. Let's be honest, I'm basically taking care of him and Izze. I should be the one bringing home the bacon.
I rattled my head, shaking the extraneous thoughts out for the time being. I was almost on top of the scent. I could see a clearing up ahead through the trees where the scent was coagulating. With a renewed vigor in my veins I sprinted out into the sunlight to claim my kill only to be stopped dead in my tracks.
You've got to be f***ing kidding me.
The sun was just centering itself in the sky as Izze strolled back into the campsite. She saw two things, neither of which she had anticipated: the campsite was short one Kopa and a very, very angry looking Azdgari was hunched over with a diminutive dead mongoose at his feet. "I do not want to talk about it," he spat, flaring his nostrils and gritting his teeth.
Izze glanced at the ground, then at the sky, then to her right. "Well, this is awkward," she balked, pursing her lips. Where is Kopa? There is no way we are missing another meal, she asserted to herself.
Both the lions' ears and noses perked up at a familiar scent and sound. Surely enough, Kopa plus one emerged from the surrounding sea of green. His plus one was a hefty and, surely enough, rather palatable looking Ostrich he lugged with him, dragging it by its neck with his jaws. Setting it down in front of his companions, he settled onto his haunches and a triumphant smile made its way across his muzzle. Izze couldn't help but laugh. Azdgari's whiskers twitched; he was bemused and a bit irked, but Kopa's smile was infectious. And all was well that ended with a full stomach for the group.
The group chowed down heartily. Between bites, they exchanged tidbits from their respective days. "Well, it's not like we had sky high expectations for you anyway, Izze," Kopa teased.
"Yeah, watch your mouth, tough guy," Izze bantered back. "I'll take you any day, and then we'll see who's got expectations. Speaking of which," Izze turned to Azdgari, hoping his bad mood had been ameliorated by the food, asked, "What exactly happened to you?"
Azdgari spat out a bone in disgust. "You won't believe it if I told you."
"What was it? More cheetahs?" Kopa joked. Azdgari's dark look was all the response he needed. Izze exercised a remarkable amount of restraint in containing her laughter. Kopa was not so disciplined, a single guffaw escaping his mouth before Izze punched him in the stomach, muting him.
Azdgari rolled his eyes. "Whatever, it's over now. Yeah, I ran into more Cheetahs. Stalked a Zebra for almost a mile only to find a pack of them making the kill," Azdgari recounted bitterly.
Kopa, feeling a bit sheepish after cracking up Azdgari's misfortune, gestured to the mongoose with a paw and a questioning expression. "Consolation prize," Azdgari answered shortly. Kopa had work hard to squelch another peal of laughter, choosing instead to fill his mouth with another bite of Ostrich.
Bellies bulging, the humble pack retired to the ground in contentment. "What now?" Izze inquired.
Kopa's grin was wider than a ripe banana.
"Now's when you give me my back scratch."
Chapter Three: I Found This Cozy Little Camp...
Though night had fallen and sleep had claimed the gang, the campsite was far from silent. The constant cacophony of bugs blanketed the camp. The hoots of owls peering at the darkness and the stirring of restless snakes wafted through the night. A gentle breeze whispered along, shaking the grass this way and that before softly brushing through the coats of the dreaming lions. And then there was Kopa's snoring, which defies description.
An unusually boisterous rumble shook Azdgari back into consciousness. C'mon. I swear I will stuff his damn nose with the two ends of a Cobra if he wakes me up one more time. Needless to say, Azdgari was not the friendliest lion during the small hours of the night. Half asleep, he cast a look around the camp, performing a dazed body count. One… Two… Three… all here. Satisfied, he collapsed back on the ground, surrendering the warm and welcome embrace of sleep. His mind, quite a few steps behind his body, then processed what he had seen.
He jerked back up. One, two, three? He squinted through the darkness. Kopa he could find without looking. There was Izze, sound asleep a few feet beside Kopa. About ten feet away from Kopa, and unfamiliar animal, roughly lion sized, was dozing. Azdgari's sleepiness was swept from his limbs, replaced by adrenaline. Silently, he stalked closer to the intruder. When he was only a few feet away, he pounced, landing his dead weight on the outsider's chest to trap him and slamming a paw on the outsider's windpipe. "Who are you?" He growled.
The racket awoke Izze, who quickly shook Kopa awake. "Huhza? Whoza what is when?" Kopa mumbled groggily before realizing the gang had an unwelcome guest. The two younger lions gathered close to the captured intruder, although not too close.
"Answer me! Who are you? What are you doing here? Why did you sneak into our camp?" Azdgari demanded. Upon close observation, the creature in question was a leopard. The leopard only stared back at Azdgari, bewilderment creeping into his eyes.
Izze got it first. "Uh, Az?" She started, "It's kind of hard to talk when you're being choked." Azdgari looked down at his paw, then lifted it lamely. Coughing, the leopard glanced over at Izze in thanks.
"Sorry if I scared you," the leopard apologized. "I was just looking for a place to knock out when I heard this noise… it sounded like trees falling," he told them pleasantly. Kopa briefly examined the ground. "And then I followed the noise and found this cozy little camp and figured I'd share it with you guys. I'm Swahil. What are you all's names?"
Azdgari stared. Kopa blinked rapidly. Izze was the first to respond. "I'm Izze," she said.
"Izze," Swahil repeated with a lazy smile. "Nice to meetcha."
Azdgari and Kopa were baffled. Here was a fellow predator who'd never met them. He waltzes into their camp and decides to sleep ten feet away from them, breaking every rogue rule in the book. When caught, he acts like there's nothing out of the ordinary going on. Seperately, Kopa and Azdgari were coming to the same conclusion: Swahil was nuts.
Izze appeared to be the only one taking their visitor at face value. With an irritated glance at her stony silent brothers, Izze continued, "That's Kopa, and that's Az… Azdgari."
Swahil nodded at both of them. "Kopa, good to meet you. Azdgari, glad to meet you." He paused momentarily, then asked, "Um, would it be okay if I asked you to maybe get off? I'm starting to lose feeling in my legs."
With a start, Azdgari realized he was still on top of Swahil. "Oh. Yeah, sorry," he apologized, climbing off. A truly awkward silence settled over the group, although Swahil seemed unaffected by it, peering around cheerily and observing his surroundings.
Finally, Swahil yawned. "Well… I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat. Let's continue this thing in the morning." With that, he lied down, curled himself up and instantly fell asleep.
For the second time in so many minutes, the gang was bewildered. "Is it safe to go back to sleep?" Kopa asked, eyeing the slumbering leopard.
"I'm pretty sure he's not a threat," Azdgari replied. Am I sure he has his head screwed on right? Not so much. "Looks like he's out cold."
Izze returned to the ground. "Good plan." Kopa nodded, collapsing. Shaking his head at the oddness of the night, Azdgari laid down and closed his eyes.
What a weird dream, Izze thought to herself as she woke up, stretching her mouth in a cavernous yawn. Licking her chops, she squinted through the early morning sun at her sleeping brothers. It took her a few seconds. …One of these is not my brother, she thought to herself as smartly as anyone who woke up thirty seconds ago could. So… that wasn't a dream, her laggy mind concluded brilliantly. She raised a paw, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Lowering it, she stared intently at the newcomer.
He slept peacefully, a feat of constitution given Kopa's nighttime breathing patterns. He was curled up into a ball, his tail wrapped around him as if holding him together. He was dug in slightly, Izze noticed. Just enough so that he was angled slightly into the earth. As weird as it sounded, as an early riser Izze spent a lot of time watching her brothers sleep. He's got the same slow, rhythmic breathing as Az, Izze mused. They're both such tranquil sleepers. Oh! He's waking up!
Swahil's eyes fluttered open. With a yawn, he unfurled himself from his sleeping position. He lifted his head to the sky thoughtfully. "What a beautiful morning, don't you think?" he remarked without looking over at Izze.
Izze was surprised at the leopard's perception. He didn't even glance in my direction, how did he know I was up? Spending a second to actually look around, she had to agree. The morning sun swam in indigo skies, its light painting the distant crowns of acacias a brilliant shade of golden maroon. Puffy, thick clouds lined the horizon below the sun as if brushstrokes by some master of design. "Yeah," she responded a minute later.
"Yeah?" Azdgari replied, sending Izze a quizzical look. She appeared to the just-awoken Az to be talking to no one.
Izze looked over at Az. "Yeah," she repeated, amused.
"Yeah? Yeah what?" Kopa questioned groggily, last to rise. Per usual.
"Just yeah," Azdgari answered.
Swahil smiled. "Glad we all agree!" It earned him a confused expression from Azdgari and Kopa and a giggle from Izze. "So what's the plan?"
"Plan?" Kopa repeated. "I don't know if we're both going to be following the same plan." Letting him sleep with us for a night is one thing. But I'm not sure if we need to be picking up strays, especially crazy ones.
Azdgari shared Kopa's outlook, though he took a mediatory approach. "We should eat," he said firmly, defusing the situation for the moment. He turned to Swahil. "Can you hunt?"
Swahil grinned. "Like no other!" He responded.
"Great!" Kopa replied. "Go hunt for all of us then," he said snidely.
"Oh, I don't think you guys would want that, unless you guys have a taste for berries and roots and the sort," Swahil responded, smiling. "I'm a vegetarian," he explained. For the second time in so many hours, the leopard nearly heard the sound of his companions' jaws hitting the ground.
Leonine Time Travel
"Oh yeah, I hope you have a taste for berries!"
"Mmm, yeah, I'm a weirdo, I sure am."
"Oooh, who wants to go make grass sculptures and then shove them up our—"
Izze hip checked Kopa, knocking the wind out of him. "Quit it," she admonished. Kopa had been spewing a steady stream of mockery in Swahil's general direction since the morning. Swahil was either fantastic at pretending he couldn't hear or had somehow developed selective deafness. It would hardly be a surprise at this point; the Leopard seemed to be on a mission to prove he had more idiosyncrasies than spots. For whatever reason, though, Izze took a liking to him. He's odd, she thought. I like odd.
And I bet I could kick his pacifistic butt.
She probably could. Swahil was not an impressive physical specimen. His sedentary, herbivorous lifestyle didn't cultivate the long bands of sinewy muscle that rippled under the lions' coats. Instead he was lanky, with little to separate his bones from his dusty khaki coat and mottled brown spots. She wondered about his speed; Leopards were legendary for their swiftness, but it seemed as if Swahil was more likely to saunter towards a dangerous situation than to bolt away from one.
He was up ahead with Azdgari, while Izze and Kopa hung ten feet or so behind. Up front, Swahil was explaining to a (to his credit) only mildly bewildered Azdgari the rationale behind vegetarianism. "You see, friend," he continued, "All beings are connected through the great flow of energy. To crush the life from another creature, unnecessarily, that interrupts the flow." He smiled in a 'How could one possibly disagree?' sort of way. "I'm more than capable of thriving on the bounty that grows in the Savannah."
Azdgari glanced at Swahil's wiry frame. Not sure that's what I call thriving, he thought.
All the talk about the morality of hunting was just serving to remind Azdgari that they needed food before sundown. And the clearing that they had ambled into would serve them well as a home base. "Hey, you guys," he called back to Kopa and Izze, who kept 'accidentally' cutting one another off and then apologizing wildly. "Time to hunt?"
"Gruuuuuub," Kopa replied hungrily before walking into Izze's flank for the thousandth time.
Izze whipped her head around in horror. "Oh, no! I can't believe it, I just didn't even see you there, Kopa! I'm so sorry!"
"You know what's gonna be fantastic, Izze? When you scratch my back later."
"So!" Azdgari said loudly. "We'll split off and meet back at…" Azdgari trailed off as he saw Swahil's snout digging into the ground. "Err…" Azdgari said, shaking it off. "We'll meet back here at uh," he stopped again, distracted by Swahil, who was now digging into the ground with a sort of lethargic enthusiasm.
"Yep, we'll meet back at dusk. Be sure to watch—Swahil, man, what are you doing?" he exclaimed. Swahil had begun shouting into the hole that he'd dug. Kopa wasn't sure whether to laugh or run. Izze just stared. Az inched towards him as if getting too close might cause him to combust.
Azdgari jumped back as Swahil jerked head up from the hole. "Hey, you won't believe where we are!" he said with a grin. A skinny, tawny head peeked up from the hole.
"Swahil!" the meerkat yelled delightedly, leaping out of the hole to embrace the Leopard.
The rest of the gang collectively tilted their heads almost a complete ninety degrees and gawked.
"Don't even think about it," Izze hissed.
Kopa's expression dropped, cowed, and he promptly stopped fantasizing about meerkat buffet.
The question is, Azdgari wondered, is this more or less unpredictable than anything else that's happened to us in the last twenty four hours, or twenty four days, or however long they'd been together? The lions found themselves surrounded by a clearing brimming with perhaps forty meerkats, disappearing one second and reappearing the next through a matrix of holes that snaked through the clearing. They were jittery things, and at first had kept a wide birth from the dangerous predators. But when they realized the trio was traveling with Swahil, they quickly warmed up the them and proceeded to pepper them with ludicrous questions about life aboveground.
"What's swimming like?" "Are elephants real?" "Can lions can travel through time? Can you verify that?"
Kopa had responded that he'd rather they pepper a nice meal than pepper him with questions. He was, for once, speechless when they responded by producing a shockingly diverse platter of bugs and grubs which, although initially anathema to Kopa, proved to be both delicious and filling. With a full stomach, Kopa was happy to volley with the meerkats, and had quickly parlayed his way into a back scratch which, he assured them, was the key to leonine time travel.
Izze didn't touch the grubs until Azdgari pointed out that she may literally starve otherwise. She didn't warm up to them as much as her friends.
Azdgari was sitting on his haunches next to a reclined Swahil and the head of the colony, a tall, burly (if you can say that about a meerkat?) individual by the name of Randyl. He guffawed and threw a hand around the leopard, or as close as to around the leopard as he could get. "And by the time we came back, this guy was just sleeping! Can you believe that?" He threw his head back in laughter. "It was then we knew we weren't gonna have to worry about him. And honestly, his knowledge of herbs and spices changed our culinary scene for good. It's livin' large out here!" he proclaimed, punctuating his sentence by popping a ripe grub into his mouth.
Swahil laughed benignly, putting a paw around Randyl and hugging him into his neck. "Yeah, you guys aren't so bad," he teased.
Azdgari should've felt awkward around the two old friends, but the cocktail of disbelief and odd fondness that he was beginning to associate with all things Swahil was too powerful. The meerkats continued to mingle until the sun slinked away, when they bid farewell heartily to Swahil and not ungenuinely to the trio. And then, suddenly, they were alone once again.
The Tall Grass
They don't need to see this, Az thought with a shudder.
The lion's carcass was badly managed. A massive tear had rent it from front to back shoulder, exposing what was left of its insides after the carrion birds had preyed on it. Lions are predators, and live a harsh life. Hunting and killing was part of their nature. But seeing one of their own so gruesomely mauled was unnerving. Not to mention that lions didn't have predators of their own. Seeing a dead lion meant conflict with another animal that sat on top of the food chain. That meant danger.
The sun was drifting towards an early evening angle in the sky, and the light was softening over the grasslands. The air was uncommonly cool and comfortable; by all measures the day was beautiful. Az looked down at the corpse glumly. To survive as a rogue, a lion needs sharp edges. But those edges had been dulled a little more every day since meeting Kopa and Izze. Every day the group travelled together fostered a little more empathy, and as it was Az found himself worrying about his two adopted siblings. They were hardened to a degree by life out in the wild, no doubt. The two, particularly Kopa, had impressive muscle mass and size for their age. But they were still only adolescents, as Kopa's meager mane betrayed.
"What do you see out there?" Kopa called. Az shook himself out of his reverie and turned to walk back through the tall grass to the rock where his companions were resting. Izze sat back on the rock, sunning herself. Kopa was sitting on his haunches, tapping a claw against the rock restlessly.
Azdgari shuffled over and flopped down lazily in between them. "I think I made out a clearing a little more to the east." Izze's ears perked up at that, and she opened her eyes and glanced over at Kopa. "Might not be a bad place to spend the evening."
Kopa straightened up, nodding fervently. "Yeah, let's head that way," he replied, hopping down from the rock.
"Hohohoho, c'mon," Izze, drawled. "Kopa, it's real nice right here. Just gimme five," she said, stretching herself across the warm stone before rolling onto her side and closing her eyes. Az shot a look at Kopa, wondering if he would fight for it.
Kopa made a dissatisfied face, but sank back down onto his haunches. "Fine, five minutes," he replied grumpily.
"Now you guys are speaking' my language!" Swahil breezed, drifting in through the tall grass and leaning on the stone. "Slowin' down never hurt anyleopard." Izze giggled despite her attempt to doze. Swahil had been with the group for two weeks now, during which Izze had grown fond of him. The two were generally the first up in the morning, and Az often awoke to the sound of Swahil retelling one of his many unusual-if not bizarre-life experiences.
Me? I can't say I mind having him around, seeing as he pulls his own weight. Kopa, though...
It's like an itch, really. An itch that I can't pinpoint or explain, but that's always buzzing in the back of my mind. A voice that just pushes me to be in constant motion, always moving towards the East. I mean, is that really so hard to understand? That makes sense, doesn't it? I want to go home. I want to see my family and get my life back.
That's not to say that I don't feel anything for these guys, for Izze and Az. That's crazy. I love them. They've become my siblings, absolutely, and I'll jump a cliff for them any day of the week. But to go home, to piece together exactly what happened and meet my parents again? That's been me, my whole purpose, for so long that it's just... ingrained. What else am I supposed to do? Just rove around forever?
No. I know what I want.
"C'mon, let's get go going," I said, jumping down from the rock. "If you stay with this rock any longer I think you're gonna marry it and make little rock-babies with it, Izze." Constant motion. Like I said.
Izze stretched, yawned, and popped up. "Nah. This rock's not my type," she purred. She slunk down onto the ground, rolling back her shoulders and giving me a playful cuff. "Lead the way, Kop." With Azdgari and Swahil in toe, we strode forward and were enveloped by a field of tall grass. Yeah, Swahil was still with us. Don't get me started.
The tall grass made me a little bit edgy. It's always made me feel, I don't know, vulnerable. You can't see what's going on around you. Sure, you can hear the shuffling if something's running towards you, but a good predator can easily slink through without making much noise. It happened to when I was real small. Luckily it was just a leopard who happened to bump into me, and decided to leave the cowering cub alone. That's some real charity, right? That was back when I was on my own. Which was really a pretty short amount of time, but... still pretty formative I guess. Obviously.
That's one of my earlier memories. I don't remember much from my family. Just sort of jumbled images. I've got this impression of my father; he's huge and strong, but gentle too. He's colored like me, but his mane's redder than mine. I wish I remembered my mother.
I recall an incredibly sharp pain in my head, and... cold. Wet. Scrambling, clawing my way onto driftwood. Then a lot of black, and then I was on a beach. I didn't know where I was, didn't know what I was doing, only that I wanted to be as far away from the water as I could. I walked aimlessly for a long time. That bit's fuzzy. Eventually I guess I came out of shock, realized just how lost I was. And then began my time as a rogue. The tall grass incident wasn't long after that. I still hadn't made up my mind to pursue one of the last, sharpest images in my mind: the sun rising behind a massive monolith. The memory that gave me the bearings I'm still chasing today, the East.
A fly landed on my snout, snapping me back to the present. Then I heard the tall grass rustling in the distance.
"Everybody stop," I said in a voice that I hoped they knew to obey.
Izze smirked at me. "Somebody's jumpy. Yeah, there's a field mouse or something out here rustling the grass. What, are you afraid it's gonna be a pack of cheetahs again?"
I didn't respond, instead listening for the rustling that had disappeared as suddenly as it came.
Surprisingly, Kopa replied quietly, "I actually heard it too."
Izze looked like her eyes were going to pop out of her head. "What, you're going soft too, Kopa? I'm gonna have a field day over here."
I didn't laugh, or even grin at her joke. I was thinking about the corpse I'd seen earlier and about the chance I'd rather not take by ignoring this. "Not now, Izze," I replied, gritting my teeth and shooting her a look. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she shut her mouth, confusion with a trace of concern creeping across her face.
This was less than ideal. I sniffed at the air fervently, but all I could get was pollen. Then I heard the rustling, closer this time. "We're going to get out into the open, and we're going to do it now." I declared.
Unfortunately, that idea sounded better than it really was. I had no idea which way led out of this sea of green. Worse, the sun was teetering on the horizon, ready to give way to the night. The last thing I wanted was to try to make camp with the knowledge in the back of my head that some psycho rogue was prowling around, devising ways to creatively and spectacularly murder us.
Thankfully, if either Kopa or Izze (or Swahil, I guess) saw the gaping flaw in my plan of action, they kept their mouths mercifully shut and followed at my tail as I hustled straight ahead, blindly hoping that we would reach a clearing. Behind us, I heard the rustling getting louder and closer. We broke into a dead sprint. If the others weren't worried before, my desperate sprint definitely did the job. For a long few minutes, all I heard was the cacophony of labored breathing, paws thumping on the ground, and that infernal rustling.
Finally we exploded out of the field into flatlands, a few trees dimly illuminated in the twilight. My momentum carrier me a good ten yards or so into the clearing before I stopped myself and spun quickly to see what was on our tail.
He burst out of the wall of grass and didn't break his pace one bit, hurtling towards Az and ramming into him at full speed before any of us could react. The two went tumbling, claws and jaws tearing at each other trying to get an advantage. Az was able land a glancing blow into his attackers' midriff, knocking the breath from his lungs and giving Az a chance to free himself. The intruder stood up and snarled, and we all got the first good look at him.
Gods, he's a monster. This was by far the biggest lion I'd ever seen. I think we could've fit all of us inside him and still had room left over. His teeth along were practically bigger than my head, and his claws looked like they could rend me in two in one swipe. He might've been dark brown, but in the twilight he looked jet black save for his yellow eyes. A few bits of blood were dripping from where Az had caught him, but the cuts clearly didn't even graze the bulging muscles beneath his coat.
My eyes fell to Az and my breath caught in my throat. I hadn't even seen it happen but there was a nasty gash on his right front shoulder. He was heavily favoring that same leg, which I couldn't figure out until I look down and saw that his left foot had been badly crushed by the weight of the black lion. They'd barely fought for five seconds and Az was already beaten.
My claws were out and my adrenaline was pumping. One glance at Kopa and I knew he was on the same page. We fought against each other a lot. Now, it was time for us to see how to we worked as a team.
Not super well, turns out.
First, I sprinted towards him without even trying to coordinate with Kopa. I was five yards away, then two, then I was on top of him... and then I was skidding on the ground. I came to a stop and was just able to make out the fuzzy image of Kopa being similarly slapped out of the air like a gnat. Okay. He's as fast as he is strong, I thought, still dazed. I picked myself up and took a second to steady myself before I remembered how badly wounded Az was, and saw the bastard stalking towards him. "Kopa!" I yelled.
"Guh... what," he mumbled, swaying to his feet.
I crossed the distance between us with a few bounds and grabbed his head in between mine, forcing his eyes into mine. "That was stupid. We're smart. I'm going to straight, you're going to go around, I'm going to go high, you're going to go low, and we're going to do it now." He scrunched up his face for a second in pain, then exhaled and narrowed his eyes.
"Let's kick this guy's ass," he snarled, sprinting to the rogue's flank at about a ten foot radius. Once he was directly across from me he cornered without slowing down and sprinted straight for the enemy. I waited just long enough to match up with Kopa then bolted, claws outstretched and looking for blood.
The rogue hit me again, hard, straight down this time. I saw stars, and black spots were playing at the corner of my vision. But I heard him release a bellow of pain, and his left leg buckled as Kopa crushed his shin between his jaws. The rogue lashed out with its good leg, aiming a vicious kick but at Kopa, but Kopa was too fast, darting away to a safe distance. The rogue roared again and his eyes locked on me, who was nowhere near a safe distance. I tried feebly to crawl away but I saw him raise an claw to finish me off. He swung... but never followed through. Az made it just in time, intercepting the deadly blow by body slamming the rogue in the shoulder, driving it out of the socket with a sickly pop. Az, disoriented and already handicapped, crumpled from the impact, but before the rogue could react Kopa was already rending his other arm with his claws. The rogue savagely screamed and flailed, on his side now, snapping at Kopa. In that moment, I saw the chance, as Kopa pinned one arm and the other danged lamely.
I slipped underneath past shoulders and neatly slotted a claw in between his ribs and into his heart. The rogue's flailing stopped abruptly as he exhaled slowly. And died.
Everyone just breathed for a minute or two. Then, Swahil emerged from where he'd been cowering and, shockingly enough, took complete control of the situation.
"C'mon, easy," Swahil crooned to Az, lending a shoulder to help Az limp away from the rogue's body. Probably better not to do this inches away from the creature that caused it all. He looked at Izze, his gaze clinical, noting her empty eyes and quivering frame. "Kopa, bring Izze," he said with authority. Kopa hesitated, but was too exhausted to argue. He helped Izze over to where Swahil had eased Az down onto his side. "Lay her next to me," Swahil requested.
The leopard examined the laceration on Az's shoulder. Long and deep. Looks like it missed any major arteries. "Kopa, I need you," he said without looking up. "Please go look for a ekkaroot flower." There was a pause. "...a plant with a long stem, three leaves and a purple blossom," he added patiently. Kopa turned and fanned out, his head hanging from his shoulders, trying to keep his eyes open long enough to find whatever he was supposed to be looking for.
Right. Swahil shifted his attention to the more serious matter, the crushed foot. "Easy," Swahil said, gingerly flattening out the paw to examine it, drawing a cry of pain from his patient. No good. The weight of the rogue had badly bruised the muscles. Whether or not the bones of the paw themselves were broken was difficult to tell, although they didn't look particularly out of alignment. In any event, those would take care of themselves over time. It's the ankle I'm worried about. Azdgari's ankle was hyperextended almost forty five degrees forward past where it should have been. "I'm really sorry, friend," Swahil apologized.
"For wh--" Az was cut off by a bony crunch as Swahil jammed the ankle back into place. Azdgari didn't finish his sentence, instead choosing to pass out from the pain. Hard to blame him, Swahil thought, turning his attention back to the long cut. Kopa appeared next to him, a purple-tipped plant between his jaws.
"Thanks, Kopa," Swahil responded, taking the flower and grinding it between his paws into a fine powder. Can't let that get infected. "Natural disinfectant," he said by way of explanation, feathering the powder onto the open wound. Azdgari stirred, but didn't wake.
Swahil heard Kopa shift next to him "Is he gonna be alright? And what about Izze?"
Swahil finished his work before replying. "Izze is just bruised and rattled. Az will need time," Swahil said, finally stepping back from Azdgari and sitting back onto his haunches. He glanced at Kopa and offered a smile, his suddenly ultra-serious demeanor beginning to evaporate. "We're out of the woods for now, my man. Get some sleep, you look a little rough."
Kopa was almost too tired to roll his eyes before collapsing.
Very loosely based off my RP with the lovely Arbarano. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it going for a ways and see where it goes! Critique is wonderful, it's been a long time since I've written and any tips to help get me back in the saddle would be great. Thanks!


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Written by Christian Nordqvist
Women who are pregnant for the first time and decide to have a home birth should be aware that there is a significantly higher risk of complications, compared to first time mothers who have the baby in an an obstetric or midwifery unit, researchers from Oxford University reported in the BMJ (British Medical Journal). However, for second and subsequent births, women with low risk pregnancies do not have a statistically significantly higher risk, the authors added.
Professor Peter Brocklehurst and team explained that in general, women with low risk pregnancies should be able to freely select where they wish to give birth. They say their findings "support a policy of offering women with low risk pregnancies a choice of birth setting.". Mothers-to-be and their partners should have informed discussions with their medical team about where they plan to have the baby.
The authors explained, as background information to the article, that birth settings have been extensively debated over the last decade. However, there are very few quality studies which focus on the benefits and risks of home births, obstetric units, and midwifery units.
Brocklehurst and team set out to determine what the perinatal outcomes and interventions might be at four birthplace settings across all NHS trusts in England.
Planned places of birth included:
- The mother's home
- Freestanding midwifery units
- Midwife-led units at a hospital which also had an obstetric unit
- Obstetric units
They collected data on the following adverse outcomes:
- Upper arm or shoulder injuries during birth
- Meconium aspiration syndrome – feces in the lungs of the baby
- Early neonatal death
- Encephalopathy (brain injury)
- Stillbirth after start of care in labo
The study included 64,538 full term infants whose mothers had low-risk single pregnancies (no multiple births). The researchers took several factors into account, such as BMI (body mass index), ethnic group, and maternal age. In all birth settings, the overall rate for adverse outcomes was 4.3 per 1,000 births. They found no important differences in the adverse outcome rate between non-obstetric and obstetric unit settings.
They report that for first time mothers – nulliparous women – the risk of a home birth adverse outcome was 9.3 per 1,000 births – more than double the 4.3 per 1,000 overall average. Nulliparous women who gave birth at home were also found to have a significantly higher risk of adverse outcomes compared to similar women who gave birth in a midwifery unit or obstetric unit. For women who had already given birth before – multiparous women – there was no significant difference in risk between having the baby at home or elsewhere (uncomplicated pregnancies).
The intervention rate during labor was considerably lower in all non-obstetric unit settings, compared to obstetric unit ones. 45% of first time mothers were transferred from a non-obstetric unit setting to an obstetric one, compared to just 13% of those giving birth for the second, third, etc. time.
The researchers wrote: "These results will enable women and their partners to have informed discussions with health professionals in relation to clinical outcomes and planned place of birth. For policy makers, the results are important to inform decisions about service provision and commissioning."
The authors say they are currently investigating the cost-effectiveness of different birth settings.
In an Abstract in the same journal, they concluded: "Women planning birth in a midwifery unit and multiparous women planning birth at home experience fewer interventions than those planning birth in an obstetric unit with no impact on perinatal outcomes. For nulliparous women, planned home births also have fewer interventions but have poorer perinatal outcomes."
Compared to giving birth in an obstetric unit, one that occurs in a midwifery unit is £130 (US$200) cheaper, while a home birth is £310 (US$496) cheaper. The Daily Telegraph quoted Maureen Treadwell, from the Birth Trauma Association, as saying: "These findings are useful but are based on a study of only 5,000 women in each type of midwifery unit and do not tell us how many babies died or were brain damaged in each group."
Treadwell hopes the UK government does not use this apparent cost-benefit to eventually limit women's choices to the cheapest option.


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Circa 1990
Versace Jeans Couture suit dress in yellow floss and cotton, consisting of a dress and a yellow matched jacket. Sleeveless dress and round low-cut closes in the back by a zipper (40cm) . The jacket closes on the front with three yellow pearly buttons. On the jacket, two small false hip pockets and three yellow pearly buttons on each sleeve a the wrists. Can be worn together or separately. Excellent condition of color and conservation.


text: I've been the family cook for years now. I was competent- and took a certain pride in my competence- but I didn't find it fun. I wouldn't experiment. Now I'm reading recipe books. Monday morning I was at a loose end, so I made a fritata. I had a slice for lunch- and we ate the rest cold when we came back from St. Helens. Yesterday I cooked a huge dish of moussakha.


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