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Morrison's Restaurant (Kingston) – My weekly mistake
After a long shift, sometimes I take out the junior who was working with me out for breakfast. Our usual destination: Morrison's Restaurant. I am not entirely sure why.
This is the Morrison's Super Breakfast Pancake (pancake, french toast and two eggs with either bacon/ham/sausages) for $7.95. Pretty plain breakfast food. The bacon is crispy, the yolks are nice and runny, but the pancakes are a bit on the doughy side. I really enjoy that the food is served within 5 minutes of being ordered so it is literally still steaming when you get it. Take that Cora's!
This is the same thing but with ham and easy over eggs. Again, nothing special here. The price is a bit steep compared to some of the other breakfast places I've been to recently. One big gripe: they use margarine. Margarine!!!
This is the Western Omelette with Cheese for $7.95. Underseasoned, bland, and all-together sloppy. The potatoes are pretty bland too. The cheese they use is Velveeta (or Velveeta-like). When did fake cheese become equivalent to real cheese? Probably when people started to consider fake butter (aka margarine) equivalent to real butter.
Despite persistently mediocre food, I find myself here surprisingly often. On the weekend in particular, it is jam packed with locals. I theorize that there is something about going to a diner that is appealing to our collective unconscious. We want to go to a place where the servers are deathly old, the coffee is stale, the tables are greasy, the food is greasier, and the service is crude. I'll be back again and again and again.
Morrison's Restaurant, 318 King Street East, (613) 542-9483, no website.
12 Responses to "Morrison's Restaurant (Kingston) – My weekly mistake"
I look at Morrison's like I'd look at a cheap pizza joint: It's not very fancy and it's not really even that good, but it's exactly what it needs to be.
When I go there, I don't get pancakes or an omelette, I get something including some of: bacon, eggs, toast, sausage, hash browns. It only costs a few bucks and the food arrives pretty fast. I consider it like paying someone to fix breakfast for me.
Like I said, it's not great cuisine, but at the right time, it's exactly what I need.
lol… your last paragraph made me laugh , we always joke about where can we go and get yelled at by Waitresses… Morison's! Great blog – I just discovered it!
Morrison's is great when you want fast, cheap and greasy. Otherwise, don't expect much. The food isn't spectacular and the servers are usually surly. That said, we usually visit this place once a quarter. So long as you know what you're getting into, you won't be disappointed. My mom always gets a strawberry milkshake when we go here. She claims that they are the best in the city.
This resturent make me water, the food here is amazing. they are a small business and despite all the yelling i love it here. so please don't slander a great restaurant that has been there for years, the owners are good hearted people and don't deserve your rude comments. they use produce from across the street to help local farmers you know and love. and they use the best food from the best company. the students love the place and every time i go there customers love the food!! i see them happy and i know that the food is good. not lie denny's which the bacon doesn't even taste real, Morrison's use's real bacon i asked the owner he's very polite but he seems angry is because it's so packed, his family they all work there and I always found the staff entertaining! they don't use cheep music or tv's to draw there most loyal customers in. just there smiling face's!
also i forgot to add all there stuff is homemade if you go to any other place i have noctied they get there food in a bag!!!! like eggs! that really gross, but morrsions if you take a closer look they use real eggs and i asked how maney they go through a day they said about 2000 and it's double or triple that over the week end!
The food there is simple and good but the service varies from the extremely charming and polite to the downright rude and abusive. I found out the name of the one fantastic server is Adeline or Adelina (sp?). Request her and don't take no for an answer. You are the customer and if it's a choice between them losing your business or sitting you in her section, they will take the latter. There is a woman who works there who's name I did not catch but she is older (probably late 50's) who is Greek and just very obnoxious. She visibly shoves the other waitresses out of her way in view of customers and is rude to them in front of customers. It seems like she bullies the other servers. Her behaviour was downright unacceptable. I don't know who she thinks she is but if I go in again and see her acting like this again, I will call the better business beaureaux and ask that they send an inspector there.
On a better note, Adeline(a) and the younger girls are just lovely. I will always specifically request the young girl I mentioned (if she is working). At all costs I will not be served by the older woman even if I have to politely tell her to her face.
I would give it five stars if not for the rude employee.


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What does ABC to read training include?
Our 9 hour (over 2 school days) initial training sessions aim to give our volunteers the confidence and basic skills to help children who are struggling with reading, for a variety of reasons. The course is highly interactive and uses a range of activities to help prospective volunteers understand how they can help children learn to succeed at and enjoy reading.
The topics covered include:
- Being a good volunteer – the qualities required
- Why some children don't learn to read
- The importance of speaking and listening skills, rhythm and rhyme, sharing stories and other pre-reading experiences
- Exploring and reviewing picture books
- Some strategies for helping children
- The importance of praise
- Supporting children's reading – role play exercises
- Reading comprehension and asking open questions
- Safeguarding – not a replacement for Level 1 training but general information, advice and guidance specific to the role of ABC to read volunteers. (We do also run occasional Level 1 courses specifically for our volunteers, or signpost them to other locally provided courses. Some schools invite volunteers to join their own in-house training too.)
- The importance of games and a chance to try some out
- The National Literacy Strategy – what it is and some ways reading is approached in schools.
- Phonics – how initial sounds are made
- Planning sessions – hints and tips for different children
- Health and Safety and practical information about being in school
Following successful completion of the training course, volunteers are accompanied on an initial visit to their placement school by their ABC to read Fieldworker, where they will meet their link teacher, complete all necessary paperwork and usually have a tour of the school. They may also meet the children they will be working with on this visit.

subset: commoncrawl


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Seasonal & Holiday
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Come as You Are! All are Welcome!
Join us each week, and invite a friend.
Saturday: 4pm Sunday: 7:00am & 10:30am
Tuesday: 5:45 pm
Thursday: 8:15 am
Please Note: School Mass is on Thursday Mornings when school is in session
Saturday: 3–3:30pm or by appointment by calling 920-788-1492
The Eucharistic sacrifice is:
"the source and summit of the Christian life. For the most holy Eucharist contains the Church's entire spiritual wealth: Christ himself, our passover and living bread. Through his own flesh, now made living and life-giving by the Holy Spirit, he offers life to men. Consequently the gaze of the Church is constantly turned to her Lord, present in the Sacrament of the Altar, in which she discovers the full manifestation of his boundless love."
– John Paul II


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Patty Ferreira - Where are you?
I'm searching for the Patty Ferriera that posted genealogy info. on Abner Blanchard and Hannah Curtis. Her e-mail address that was listed is no longer any good. I am related to the Hannah Curtis that Abner married. If anyone knows how to get in touch with Patty, please let me know.


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To start with, she contracted polio when she was almost 6. She escaped paralysis but it left her weak. Polio also gave Dr. Carol Masheter something else – the determination to be strong plus the dream of doing something extraordinary.
Today, maybe because of some other setbacks, she has reached both those goals and holds two world "titles" that she will discuss April 18 [WEDNESDAY] at East Central University. Masheter is the second oldest woman in the world to reach the summit of Mount Everest and the world's oldest woman, as of last month, to successfully climb the Seven Summits, the highest points on the world's seven continents.
She will talk about her challenges, among them her fear of heights, and her successes at 7 p.m. in the Ataloa Theatre in ECU's Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center. She will be the speaker for the fourth annual Louise Young Diversity Lecture. Admission is free.
Her book "No Magic Helicopter: An Aging Amazon's Climb of Mount Everest" chronicles her preparation for the climb, her struggle to the summit and what happened on the descent that threatened her life. Copies of the book will be on sale at the lecture for $15.
Masheter was 61 when she summited Mount Everest's 29,035 feet of elevation on May 24, 2008, and 65 when she climbed the last of the Seven Summits, Mount Kosciuszko in Australia, on March 17, 2012.
The others were Aconcagua in South America (Argentina), Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa (Tanzania), Denali (Mount McKinley) in North America (Alaska), Elbrus in Europe (Russia) and the Vinson Massif in Antarctica in January 2012 just before Mount Kosciuszko.
Masheter was an unlikely climber because of her fear of heights and struggles with anxiety and depression. But her life changed at age 50 when a series of events devastated her. Once a biochemist, she was happy as a popular and successful professor in human development and relationships at the University of Utah. She was a finalist several times for a superior teaching award and her research on relationships between former spouses was being published in the top journals in her field.
Then, within 18 months, she was denied tenure, her long-term relationship with the man she loved ended badly, her mother died, her only sister became seriously ill and her own health began to deteriorate. She quit teaching, worked part-time, took science classes and felt terrible.
One of her colleagues had summited Cho Oyu, the sixth highest peak in the world, near Mount Everest. She thought if he could do something like that, maybe she could, too. Masheter already loved backpacking and had climbed mountains in the United States and Africa.
She signed up for high-altitude climbing instruction and mountaineering in the Andes and thought of it as vacation from anger, sadness, stress. It helped her focus and regain self-confidence. She learned how to break large problems into small, doable steps and found strategies for managing her fear of heights.
Masheter summited 15 peaks in South America over 17,000 feet as well as Cho Oyu. She also began a new career as an epidemiologist for the Utah Department of Health at age 55.
At age 60, she thought, "Why not try Everest?"
After a long process of research, thorough training, preparation and acclimatization, she was accepted for the climb to Mount Everest's summit. Her two months on the mountain alternated between feelings of self doubt, danger, relief, joy, fear, pain and fatigue.
The Carstensz Pyramid in West Papua in New Guinea, considered by some of the mountaineering community to be the "eighth summit," still remains on Masheter's to-do list if suitable arrangements can be made. A local operator previously failed to get her, three other climbers and their expedition leader close enough to climb it.
The Louise Young Diversity Lecture was established in 2008 with a $10,000 endowment from Young, an ECU graduate, to the ECU Foundation Inc. The annual lecture brings a speaker to campus each year to speak on various aspects of diversity.


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1 // The first thing we did was join a church and a lifegroup! Y'all, our lifegroup has truly made our move totally worth it. The girls have become my best friends - they've cried with me, loved me, have supported us, celebrated with us and are huge prayer warriors! I feel so blessed to have them in my life - the guys too! :)
2 // Valentine's Day in DFW
3 // Fiesta in San Antonio!
4 // San Antonio Missions games throughout baseball season
5 // Wine Tours in Fredericksburg
6 // Trip to Salt Lake City and the Young Living Lavender Farm
7 // Pool time all summer!
8 // Cassie from Sage the Blog came to visit!
9 // Honduras Mission Trip to an orphanage
10 // Young Living Convention in Dallas with Tiffany
11 // Kevin's birthday weekend celebration in DFW
12 // Lisa moved to San Antonio!
13 // Baylor Football Game!
14 // 2 Year Anniversary vacation in Mexico
15 // Kevin started a job at our church!
16 // Christmas!
17 // And we end it with a bang! We got licensed to be foster parents and moved into a larger home!
What a great year! Here's to 2016 being even better!


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After 1 month: Enjoy tripheads!
Amount : 1 centilitre for a nice bodyhigh, and you will be able to dance and communicate with people ;)
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I have experimented with psychedelic substances for 20 years, and I can recommend this recipe for those who love shrooms!
Best wishes from
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Sunday, May 13, 2012
Happy Mother's Day!
7 comments:
Ann ~ReplyDelete
So happy you had the perfect weekend.
Happy Mother's Day to you!
Pug hugs :)
oh but that takes me back. My boys played ball for several years...always a treat to watch them. Happy Mother's Day to you!ReplyDelete
Now THAT sounds like a really delightful Mother's Day weekend (really and truly!) Like I said, I miss my son's baseball days....he only pitched a few times; otherwise was the first baseman or catcher.....ahhh the good ol' days. Today he was in the "shop" taking an engine out of a buddy's car and putting a new one in. Not as much fun to watch (even if he let me) as baseball. Baseball I at least understood! Happy new week ahead! Smiles & Hugs ~ RobinReplyDelete
Aww, that was a sweet surprise. Oh yes, tournament days. I remember them well.ReplyDelete
What a nice gesture for the moms.Enjoy these days, they pass too quickly. Glad you had a wonderful day.(week end)ReplyDelete
Always so proud to see the kids enjoying their games! Happy for you!ReplyDelete
I'm glad you enjoyed your mother's day so much. I enjoyed mine too. We went to a Portuguese restaurant on Saturday evening, my boys made breakfast for me on Sunday and in the afternoon we all went to the soccer game. We don't have baseball, we have soccer :-). Soccer is a big thing here!ReplyDelete


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Recent Blog Entries
Fall Estate Plan Check-Up
Estate Planning Round-Up July 2020
Will COVID Change Long-Term Care Planning?
Monday, March 21, 2011
Probate is the process of your Executor of your will formally proving that such a will exists, and becoming legally named Executor by the appropriate county Register of Wills office. If you need an experienced probate attorney to assist you, call our firm today at (215) 706-0200.
Probate is generally considered easier in Pennsylvania, but there are still costs associated with the process. The main two factors for the cost is the size of your estate, and the complexity of the matter. Also, each county in Pennsylvania sets its own probate fees.
Your Executor is entitled to receive reasonable compensation for his or her work. The attorney that your Executor hires is also compensated. In Pennsylvania, there is a ceiling set by the PA Attorney General for compensation. The link for these rates are here (Scroll down).
To give you an idea of the range of costs for the County fees, here are links to the local County fees for probating a will. Generally, probating a will costs between $200 - $1,000 depending on the size of the estate.
Philadelphia Register of Wills fees
Bucks County Register of Wills fees
Montgomery County Register of Wills fees
Delaware County Register of Wills fees
Chester County Register of Wills fees
Although probate is generally easier in Pennsylvania compared to other states, an Executor still has legal obligations and a fiduciary duty to beneficiaries of the estate. Therefore, it is important to hire an experienced attorney to assist you with probate. If we can help you with any probate or estate administration matters, please give our office a call at anytime. (215) 706-0200.
Previous Posts
7 Reasons To Plan Your Estate Now
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Life Has Changed -- Estate Planning Hasn't
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Penny Ice Creamery's new restaurant coming soon
The visionary entrepreneurs behind the popular Penny Ice Creamery of Santa Cruz are at it again. They have just opened their first full-service restaurant called Assembly on Pacific Avenue and they plan to launch a special event space called Pop Up on March 31.
Since opening the Penny in 2010, business partners Zachary Davis and Kendra Baker haven't missed a beat. Their company—The Glass Jar—opened an ice cream kiosk on Pacific Avenue, followed by the Picnic Basket Café across from the main beach a year later. Earlier this year they debuted a second ice cream shop in the Pleasure Point area of Capitola. They also have a mobile ice cream stand that participates in dozens of community events and Farmers' Markets each month. The kitchen of the new restaurant will provide much needed additional space to help meet the needs of their expanding business.
"Assembly to us means both a place where people can get together and an assemblage of the local food artisans, growers and purveyors that we work with," said Davis, "We are looking for a rustic take on California cuisine, food that is familiar but done with a lot of care and a lot of skill."
"We want to be the kind of place that is representative of Santa Cruz. An amazing dining place that is not exclusive in any way," he said. "We're going to have Santa Cruz cuisine—which hasn't really been defined yet, but we're going to try."
It will be three years in August since "The Penny" opened its first shop in a low Spanish-style building on Cedar St. in downtown Santa Cruz and fans have been lining up outside ever since. The plan was to start a small, community-oriented food business using local ingredients and hosting events like CSA pick-ups, but Davis said they zipped through their three-year business plan and accomplished everything they set out to do in just nine months.
"We opened in the middle of the recession, but the timing was right," he says. "We tapped into something that was already out there. Our growth paralleled the growth of farmer's markets and people's increasing interest in how food choices impact health, labor and the environment."
"A lot of people don't have enough money for the full fine dining experience, but they still want to go out with friends and eat something special," says Baker, who is the chef behind the operation and was voted "2013 Chef of the Year" by readers of Edible Monterey Bay magazine.
Home grown
Thanks to their dedication to sustainability and imaginative seasonal flavors, Davis and Baker have expanded their business from the original three staffers to 58 employees working at 'three and a half' locations. In the process, they've become a much-loved Santa Cruz institution.
Two years ago they opened the Picnic Basket Café right across the street from the main beach, in between the boardwalk and the municipal wharf. "We wanted a hub that featured local food artisans and that's why we use things like Companion Bakeshop bread, El Salchichero meats and Verve coffee," explained Baker, who changes the menu of salads, sandwiches and ice cream according to what's available from local farms.
They also have an ice cream kiosk on Pacific Avenue in front of Bookshop Santa Cruz and earlier this year they opened a second ice cream shop on 41st Avenue, near the world-famous breakers of Pleasure Point.
Last summer they opened a 30-seat outdoor café in front of The Picnic Basket with one-of-a-kind metal and concrete tables and counter seating facing the beach—all designed by local artisans from 5 Feet From the Moon.
Whether scooping ice cream or bussing tables, the Penny looks for a certain type of employee who shares the values of the owners. "We hire friendly people who we want to hang out with," explains Davis. "It's important to have personal contact with our customers, to explain the flavors and where the ingredients come from."
"We try to be 100% sure that people are having a good experience," he adds. "It's a great opportunity for us to talk about local sourcing and sustainable farming."
Farm fresh flavors
Since Penny's has its own pasteurizer and makes all the ice cream bases in-house, they are the only ice cream maker in Santa Cruz and one of only a handful in the nation that make ice cream completely from scratch.
You won't find coconut or banana ice cream on the blackboard at Penny Ice Creamery, because those ingredients are not found locally. What you will find are nine creative flavors that rotate in and out, supplemented by what's in season around the Monterey Bay Area.
As of this writing, for example, you could try Sour Cream Apple Crisp, Salted Butter Toffee, Black Licorice Pear, Honey Lavender or the ever-popular Dark Chocolate Sorbet.
"If Daniel from Abounding Farms comes by with a crate of yuzus, I'll make yuzu ice cream or sorbet," says Baker. Buddha's Hand citrus sorbet was one of her creations this winter and for St. Patrick's Day she froze up a batch of Shamrock ice cream—made with foraged wood sorrel—along with Irish Coffee ice cream, made with Verve coffee and Jameson Irish Whiskey.
Baker is a classically trained pastry chef who studied at Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island and apprenticed in France. She started out at Gabriella Café, just across the street from the Penny's original location and kitchen, moving on to the renowned Bar Tartine in San Francisco's Mission District. After two short years, she was asked to become Executive Pastry Chef at Manresa, the 2-Michelin star restaurant in Los Gatos.
Penny is a very chef-oriented business and Baker runs the kitchen more like a restaurant than an ice cream parlor. Ingredients are sourced from local farms and three trips a week to different farmer's markets. Organic dairy products from Clover Stornetta are used exclusively and all eggs are Certified organic free-range.
Likewise, eggshells and other organic wastes from the kitchen are recycled and used to make soil amendments at Love Apple Farm and Fogline Farms.
Davis, who remembers not enjoying hand-cranking ice cream as a kid, has trouble picking out his favorite flavor. "Anything seasonal," he finally decides. "Strawberry Pink Peppercorn has just come back in season now, so it's like getting re-acquainted with an old friend." It's a flavor that only lasts a couple of months. Don't miss it!
The Penny Ice Creamery – original location
913 Cedar Street, Santa Cruz, CA | Open daily 12noon – 11pm.
Downtown Kiosk
1520 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA | Open daily 11am – 9pm.
Pleasure Point
820 41st Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA | Open daily 11am – 10pm.
The Picnic Basket
125 Beach Street, Santa Cruz, CA | Open M-Th 7am – 4pm, F-Su 7am – 9pm.


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Want to find out how you can fix up your property to SELL NOW & PAY LATER - INTEREST FREE!
- Are you ready to go to market?
- Do you need advice on what needs to happen before buyers visit?
- Do you need some time to get things done around the house?
- Do you wish you had the money to really maximise your return?
Then this might just be the answer you've been looking for ...
The best advice we can give you is to fix any problems with your home that could catch a buyer's attention and prevent them from falling in love with it.
For example, does the garden need weeding and landscaping or the gutters fixing, does the house need painting, carpets replaced or does your busy lifestyle mean you'd prefer to hire professional cleaners etc. If your home needs major repairs before you tempt prospective buyers, it's important that these be fixed before you go to market to ensure your home will pass the buyer's building & pest inspection with flying colours!
We're also happy to give you our professional advice on the things that will give you the best return.
In the past, as a seller you may have struggled to raise the necessary funds to get all the jobs done, outlaying this money at the beginning of the sales process, sometimes months before the property is actually sold.
Well not any longer!
First National Mudgeeraba has been appointed approved supplier for Newspay powered by Skye and that means we can guide you through a simple process to enable you to SELL NOW AND PAY LATER — INTEREST FREE FOR UP TO 6 MONTHS.
It takes just 10 – 15 minutes to complete an online application (or we can complete it with you) to finance up to $30,000 (depending on your individual circumstances) for your property marketing and all of your desired repairs and maintenance to get the property ready to sell.
And it costs nothing to apply.
It's just like buying goods from retailers who offer buy now / pay later for items like furniture and electrical. There is no down payment or monthly instalments – and you can finance any out-of-pocket expenses you choose and have agreed with your agent when listing your property for sale with us — without even talking to a bank! If you need any further information on how this all works, we're happy to help (we can even link you up with a range of reputable local tradespeople) – just give our office a call on 5525 2866 or drop into the office for a chat - 1/71 Railway Street, Mudgeeraba.
It might just be the best decision you've ever made!


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There are steps you can take that cost NO money directly from you, but we will receive a percentage of what you spend. Sounds almost too good to be true!
Please support us by following the instructions (if you use these companies)
- Amazon – Smile
- Fred Meyer – Community Rewards Program
- Good Search
- EarthShare – If your employer has an active EarthShare campaign, then you can allocate some or all of your donation to us.
- United Way – If your employer collects employee donations, you can allocate your funds directly to us!
- Volunteer with us!


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On Monday our new Brendan's Crossing cohort moves in. I'm looking forward to this year, this group of young adults and watching the good work they'll do in our city. Most of all I'm looking forward to hearing about their dreams. We promise our young adults "vocational discernment" and have long borrowed the famous Mary Oliver line, "Tell me what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life."
In preparation for this new program year, my days have been filled with applicant interviews, service partner meetings, scheduling for the year, and getting the ol' Riddle House ready to once again welcome community. In the midst of all this activity, I find myself constantly thinking about programming tweaks to make sure we deliver on this promise that we'll help our young adults explore their dreams and discover their calling.
With those thoughts in mind, I sat down late last night and came across this post by my favorite writer (disclaimer: I'm clearly biased). It helped me relax into the reality that if we create the space, try new things, and reflect on our experiences with an openness to God, our calling and our dreams often find us. Our calling may never become our job. The real question of discernment may end up being, "What is the thing you can't not do?" or "What is the issue, place, or people you can't not think about when you lie awake at night?" Below is Brooke's answer to that question. What's yours?
This morning TimeHop shared the following little gem with me. This is a post I wrote for a blog I had called "Confessions of a Pastor's Wife," back when my husband and I were in the thick of church planting, adopting babies and living in community. When I read the post this morning I was struck by the fact that even though those babies have grown into "tweens", the community house is in it's 4th or 5th iteration and the church has long since closed it's doors, some things remain the same.
Two nights ago I was awake for nearly 3 hours in the middle of the night. I could have written this same post the next morning.
WHEN I CAN'T SLEEP (originally posted, August 2, 2008)
When I can't sleep at night — which lately has been all too often — I toss and turn and fade in and out and all the while I think of Colombia.
I think about our Colombian friends. I think about our American friends who have Colombian children. I think about Victor and Yolanda, Susan and Ricardo, Isabel, Juanita and all the others who have touched my life in some small way. I think about the women who birthed my children. I wonder if they can sleep tonight.
I think about the children of Luz Y Vida and I wonder how Sister Valeriana ever sleeps at night. I think about the sweet voice of Treisy and pray she will come home soon. I think about the sad and broken eyes of the two girls with EB, a rare skin disease that makes it nearly impossible to be touched by another human. I think of the laughter of Claudia, Camilo, Mauricio, Tatiana and Juan David. I think about the way Jorge responds to Lori. I think of Johanna and how one day she will rule the world.
I think about the flowers and how they are always in bloom there. I think of how the sky is bluer than any other place I have ever known. I think about the constant crowds of people, the food, the sounds, the energy. I start to smell cilantro.
I think about how most Americans will never know that there is so much more to Colombia than what they see on CNN. I think about crop spraying. I think about coffee farmers and banana growers and greenhouse owners. I think about street children, refugees and poverty — real, opressive poverty. I think about the colors of the market on Sundays.
I think about how this place, these people and children, have invaded my soul. I wonder if I will ever be able to separate myself again even if I wanted to, which I do not. I wonder why God sent me there. I wonder why he keeps me awake at night thinking of a place I can't get to without a day-long commute and a stack of money I never seem to have. I wonder what will come of it all.
Colombia has shaped me in ways I am yet to discover, like underwater currents constantly running below the surface, forming caves and caverns that will be there for eternity.
When I can't sleep at night, I think about Colombia.


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National Boss Day is Oct 15th
Sometimes the best way to show your boss just how much you appreciate their fine leadership is by sending flowers. With a National Boss Day gift of flowers from JAGGARD'S FLORIST & GARDEN CENTRE, your boss will know exactly how you feel. Everyone wants a raise. Raise your boss's spirits this Boss Day with one of the many colorful flower arrangements from JAGGARD'S FLORIST & GARDEN CENTRE in Burlington, ON.


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Position: Production co-ordinator / Script supervisor / Make up – The Young Offenders (2016)
What inspired you to get into working with the film industry?
When I was 15, my parents pretty much had decided already that I was going to be an accountant. One day, I was sitting in an economics class and I had a sudden realisation that I couldn't bare the thought of someone asking me what I did in the future and having to tell them I was an accountant. So I decided to follow my passions, despite my parent's concerns. I had always written at scs long as I kept up my other subjects in case it didn't work out and I had a solid back up plan. I ended up getting full marks in my film school portfolio and took that as a very clear sign that I had made the right choice to run away from accountancy and live a crazy unstable film life instead.
Can you tell us a bit about your route through the industry?
I graduated form the National Film School of Ireland in IADT in 2013. For about 5 months, I was on the dole filling out job applications and sending begging emails to production companies trying to find work.
One day I got a call out of the blue from someone I was at college with. He was now working as a co-ordinator on a TV sitcom and needed someone to come in to the office to help the director out with some script notes. I was available and I went in and met with Peter Foott, and that kick started my career.
He seemed to like my work on that first day and invited me back to script edit on the show the next week. Then invited me back again to script supervise the entire sitcom shoot. After that, he invited me back to work on a few different projects, before The Fear Season 3 & 4 went into production and he recommended me to Julie Ryan, the show's producer, to work as a researcher on the show. I worked in the production office with Julie and Peter for almost a year, producing the two series. Then when the time came for The Fear to wrap and The Young Offenders began to kick off, they both asked me to come to Cork with them for the summer and work on set. Since then I've moved to London and have just completed my MA in Screenwriting at Goldsmiths University Of London.
What was the best part of making a film? And the worst?
The Young Offenders is my only experience of working on feature film so far. And funnily enough, the best and worst part is kind of the same thing; the sheer stress of it all. We had such a low budget and we were so understaffed, we all took on multiple roles (some of us taking on 4 or 5 at once). It was the most manic, most insane, most tiring experience of my career. To this day, I'm still not sure how some of us survived unscathed. But it was also the best part. There was such a good atmosphere on set, we all worked insane hours with no money but we all mucked in and got the job done. Everyone was so passionate about making this and doing the best we possibly could. There were absolutely no egos on set. If you had a problem, someone was always there to help, no matter how busy they were with their own stuff. We all chipped in and got the job done, which ultimately was incredibly inspiring to see, and I feel is a rarity in this day and age. Despite the hectic-ness and the sleep deprivation, Peter and Julie managed to create such a fantastic fun atmosphere on set so we all knew the hard work would be worth it.
Was there a person working in your field who you saw as a role model when you were first getting into the industry?
It's strange, I came into the industry as a writer but have found myself working mainly in production or script supervision. Not sure I had any major producer role models coming in, despite the big shots like the Weinsteins, the Coens, Scott Rudin etc etc. In terms of writers, I've always been a massive fan of people like Charlie Kaufmann, Pedro Almodovar and Julia Davis. Kaufmann for the complex character work in his films. Almodovar for his deft ability at mixing obscenity and pathos to create work that is truly unique and obviously "his". And Julis Davis for the pitch black sense of humour she brings to all of her projects, reminding us that there's never really a boundary you can't push if you're smart enough about it.
If you had to recommend one film to the audience what would it be and why?
In this instance, I'm going to say "When Harry Met Sally…" because it is a near perfect script. Sure Billy Crystal will never be believable as a college student in the opening scenes. Yes, his best friend in the film is really annoying. Yes, we all know how it's going to end. But structurally, and from a dialogue perspective, the movie just works. The quintessential romantic comedy that, to this day, has never been bettered.
What do you feel about illegal downloading? How will it impact your ability to stay afloat in the industry?
Illegal downloading is something you don't fully understand when you're younger. You kind of think, what's the harm, they'll never know the difference. But as you get older, and especially if you work in this industry, you see what a plague it can be. You put so much work and effort and time and money into creating something, and then someone steals it and makes it freely available. It's a little heartbreaking. I'm not sue the problem will ever be fully eradicated, it's become such a part of the entire process in a way, which is horrible in and of itself. But hopefully it can be quashed.
What do you think about releasing films online and in cinemas on the same date – is it all about the cinema experience?
Personally, nothing beats the cinema experience. But I think I'm an old romantic at heart. I think it's a little old fashioned to presume people will still drop everything and take a night off to go to the cinema to see a film the weekend it's released. I think the idea of a day and date release of films across a variety of platforms is a very interesting one and something we'll see much more of in the future. People are consuming media in new ways like never before and I think strategies like this might be the only way to catch up with that and help stamp out illegal leaks of the film hitting the internet before you had planned.
What's the viewing future?
Depressingly, it could be releasing your film in bite-sized chunks via snapchat to watch on your phone. Hopefully, that won't happen, but I'm waiting for a major film to try it. People's attention spans are getting shorter, and they demand everything be available for them to look at on their phone. It's only a matter of time, I fear.
Jonathan Hughes


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Update, 10:40 a.m.: Gillibrand's office's response is a masterpiece of political trolling. Bible study!
Original post, 10:23 a.m.: On Monday, Democratic New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand made the logical suggestion that if Democratic politicians like Al Franken and John Conyers are resigning over credible accusations of sexual misconduct, then Donald Trump should too. (See a list of Trump accusers here.)
Here's the president's response:
"And would do anything for them," nudge, nudge.
Incidentally, Trump did donate to Gillibrand three times, though the person who should be accused of having flexible morals in this situation is probably him, what with the donations highlighting his history of being a pro-choice registered Democrat who supported gun control and universal health coverage.
Anyway, I'm going to pass on having to cover the White House/Republican Party's pathetic justifications for this inexcusable comment by faking my own death and moving to rural northern Canada. Bye!!!!!!
One more thing
You depend on Slate for sharp, distinctive coverage of the latest developments in politics and culture. Now we need to ask for your support.
Our work is more urgent than ever and is reaching more readers—but online advertising revenues don't fully cover our costs, and we don't have print subscribers to help keep us afloat. So we need your help. If you think Slate's work matters, become a Slate Plus member. You'll get exclusive members-only content and a suite of great benefits—and you'll help secure Slate's future.Join Slate Plus


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Playlist: Eligibility
Do I have to be enrolled full-time to receive financial aid?
- A Minute to Learn It - Federal Aid Eligibility
Now PlayingDo I have to be enrolled full-time to receive financial aid?
- If I drop a course or withdraw, what will happen to my financial aid?
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Next PlaylistGrad PLUS Repayment
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- What will my monthly payments be on my PLUS loan?
- What does it mean to consolidate a federal loan?
- Loan Default
- What is loan deferment or loan forbearance?
- How do I apply for a deferment or forbearance on my Grad PLUS Loan?


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Teen gets his wish granted by Shelton business
Jonathan French, 14, was given a laptop and a special day, courtesy of Precision Computer Services, who teamed with Make-A-Wish Connecticut.
The mission of Make-A-Wish is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Jonathan, of Hartford, has from Sickle Cell Anemia, causing him to spend much of his time in the hospital.
On a recent Tuesday, Jonathan arrived by limo to a party hosted in his honor at Precision Computer Services in Shelton. He was treated to a
laptop, lessons how to use it and a celebration.
For Jonathan, a laptop computer was his one true wish. Having his own computer will save him numerous trips to the library to work on school assignments. Jonathan plans to enter the medical field when he graduates from high school.
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The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Connecticut grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.
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They give back to a child what a serious medical condition can take away-the chance to simply enjoy being a kid, choose something that will inspire happiness, and spend precious time with their families.
The Connecticut chapter has made more than 2,400 wishes come true since its inception in 1986. Learn more about Connecticut wishes at www.ct.wish.org or join Make-A-Wish on Facebook and follow them on Twitter @MakeAWishCT.


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Monthly Archives: September 2015
Our very weak little hoglet Hope, who we did not think would survive is making very rapid progress. She is eating mashed puppy food and dried mealworms. Several of our adult hedgehogs have now been released back to the wild … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized


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Veteran Alex Cobb remained in the division he knows best as the former starter with the Tampa Bay Rays has agreed the sign a new 4-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles, announced the American League East team on Wednesday. A report says the deal is for $60 million.
The right-hander, who is 30, posted career highs for games started, wins and innings pitched in 2017 finishing the season 12-10 with an ERA of 3.66 in 29 starts with Tampa Bay.
Cobb said that Baltimore made him feel that they needed him there and used the success he has had within the AL East as an example of why the Orioles were the best fit for him by remaining in the division.
Cobb turned a qualifying offer of $17.4 million from the Rays last November, and Baltimore has pursued the pitcher from the beginning of the free agency market opening following the end of the 2017 World Series. Cobb said the Orioles did not stop bothering him the entire offseason.
The career year for Cobb with the Rays was a comeback from the Tommy John surgery he underwent that kept him sidelined most of the prior two seasons. In 2016, Cobb was 1-2 with an ERA of 8.59 after he returned late in the season from the surgery that replacement a ligament.
Cobb is ranked fifth all-time on the Rays for wins and second for ERA with a career record of 48-35 and an ERA of 3.50 across six seasons.
The Orioles deal is the largest Baltimore has committed to for a pitcher in free agency of total value and average year value.
Cobb joins Chris Tillman and Andrew Cashner who both signed in February in a rotation that has been completely revamped that will include holdovers Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy.
Baltimore finished last in the AL East in 2017 with a record of 75-87.
The Orioles open their regular season March 29 against Minnesota at home at Camden Yards, but Cobb will not be able to pitch that day. He will be sent to an affiliate in the minor leagues to build up his innings, but said he would push it as much as he could so he returns quickly.
The free agent market during the offseason was very slow and several pitchers and position players have signed with new teams during spring training, which gives them limited time to prepare for the start of the season next week.


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It's okay I got this.
Today I've spent approximately 3 1/4 hours at school studying chemistry, and I'm still going here at home.
Yeah, I'm that stressed about it.
Really, though, I think I got this.
Calculating stuff with the pH of an acid or base, or calculating it from stuff? Check.
Working with the equilibrium constant? Yeah, check that too.
Calculating the needed amount of a substance to bring the pH of a fluid down to a certain level? Check-i-toh!
Basic acid-base reactions, and how to know what they'll do? QUADRUPLE-CHECK-COMBO!
In case you're at my school, taking the same tests at me, reading this, and thinking what the fuck is he talking about, then you're in some pretty deep shit. That's going to be an all-nighter!
First two days of the test week are the shittiest amongst shitty days. Chemistry tomorrow, biology thursday. FUCKING GREAT, COULDN'T BE BETTER.
I'm excited, you say? Neh, not really. Thing is, I WATCHED THE NEW HOMESTUCK EOA AND IT'S SO EPIC! And that soundtrack, too. Geez, composer's a God.
See you guys tomorrow (if I survive)!
~ Fang


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Owners who've damage to their drywall might discover themselves wondering whether or not they might want to hire a handyman or contractor to complete the repairs. The particular location of the repair space in your house can have some bearing on the price of the job. Drywall comes in massive sheets and can be lower to measurement by scoring the drywall with a utility knife and then breaking the sheet along the reduce. I even have large squares where the drywall was cut out – so this is not a patch with compound job, but a put in new materials in a couple of areas.
For small holes, just use the mud and mesh technique as an alternative of reducing out the drywall. If you happen to use a utility knife, you have to to attain repeatedly alongside a straightedge to cut all through the drywall. You do not have to resort to spending hours glued to YouTube to attempt to figure out tips on how to hold the drywall yourself.
The clips are ideal for opening up partitions for routine electrical/plumbing duties. Your provides will include ready-mix joint compound; 2-inch drywall tape, both perforated or mesh; taping knives in four-, 6-, and 10-inch sizes; and 400-grit sandpaper and a sanding block.
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The introduction of multilocus sequence typing (MLST) for the precise characterization of isolates of bacterial pathogens has had a marked impact on both routine epidemiological surveillance and microbial population biology. In both fields, a key prerequisite for exploiting this resource is the ability to discern the relatedness and patterns of evolutionary descent among isolates with similar genotypes. Traditional clustering techniques, such as dendrograms, provide a very poor representation of recent evolutionary events, as they attempt to reconstruct relationships in the absence of a realistic model of the way in which bacterial clones emerge and diversify to form clonal complexes. An increasingly popular approach, called BURST, has been used as an alternative, but present implementations are unable to cope with very large data sets and offer crude graphical outputs. Here we present a new implementation of this algorithm, eBURST, which divides an MLST data set of any size into groups of related isolates and clonal complexes, predicts the founding (ancestral) genotype of each clonal complex, and computes the bootstrap support for the assignment. The most parsimonious patterns of descent of all isolates in each clonal complex from the predicted founder(s) are then displayed. The advantages of eBURST for exploring patterns of evolutionary descent are demonstrated with a number of examples, including the simple Spain23F-1 clonal complex of Streptococcus pneumoniae, "population snapshots" of the entire S. pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus MLST databases, and the more complicated clonal complexes observed for Campylobacter jejuni and Neisseria meningitidis.
The ability to accurately determine the genetic relatedness of isolates of bacterial pathogens (or other disease agents) is fundamental to molecular epidemiological and evolutionary studies. In recent years, the use of nucleotide sequence variation at multiple housekeeping loci has become increasingly popular for strain characterization, as it has advantages for inferring levels of relatedness between strains and the reconstruction of evolutionary events (1, 2, 6-14, 18-23, 25, 28, 29).
In many bacterial species, genetic variation at housekeeping loci accumulates as frequently or more frequently by homologous recombination (replacement of small chromosomal segments with those from related isolates) as by point mutation (15). Over the long term, recombination may prevent the true relationships between distantly related isolates of a species from being discerned. Epidemiological studies, however, are typically concerned with disease outbreaks or the spread of antibiotic-resistant or virulent strains between countries. Over these very short evolutionary timescales, of weeks to a few hundred years, recombination is unlikely to prevent the recognition of clones and clonal complexes within most bacterial populations. Thus, although the phylogenetic complexities introduced by homologous recombination may be problematic over long periods of evolutionary time (14, 15), given an appropriate model of bacterial evolution, it should be possible to accurately reconstruct evolutionary events that occur over short timescales, even if rates of recombination are high.
Characterization of isolates of bacterial pathogens on the basis of sequence variation is carried out by multilocus sequence typing (MLST), which generates approximately 450 bp of nucleotide sequence for internal fragments of seven housekeeping loci for each isolate (23, 33). The different sequences at each locus are assigned different allele numbers, and each strain is defined by the alleles at the seven loci (the allelic profile). Each unique allelic profile (or genotype) is assigned a sequence type (ST), which is a convenient and unambiguous descriptor for the strain (or clone). Analyses of isolates of several bacterial species by MLST (7-10, 23, 25) support the view obtained from earlier studies (3, 26, 32) that a considerable proportion of a population belongs to a limited number of clusters of closely related genotypes, here referred to as clonal complexes. Clonal complexes are typically composed of a single predominant genotype with a number of much less common close relatives of this genotype (15).
The simplest model for the emergence of clonal complexes is that a founding genotype increases in frequency in the population, as a consequence either of a fitness advantage or of random genetic drift, to become a predominant clone (15). As it increases in frequency in the population, the founding genotype gradually diversifies, to result in a clonal complex. In terms of MLST, descendants of the founder will initially remain unchanged in allelic profile, but over time variants in which one of the seven alleles has changed (by point mutation or recombination) will arise. These genotypes, which have allelic profiles that differ from that of the founder at only one of the seven MLST loci, are called single-locus variants (SLVs). Eventually, SLVs will diversify further, to produce variants that differ at two of the seven loci (double-locus variants [DLVs]), at three of the loci (triple-locus variants [TLVs]), and so on.
MLST data are typically represented by a dendrogram (e.g., the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages [UPGMA]) on the basis of a matrix of pairwise differences in the allelic profiles of the isolates. This dendrogram provides a convenient means of identifying isolates that are identical or closely related in genotype and that can be assigned to the same clone or clonal complex. However, the topology of such dendrograms can be somewhat arbitrary, and they provide essentially no information on the patterns of evolutionary descent of the isolates within a clonal complex or the identity of the founder.
Here we describe a new implementation of the BURST algorithm, called eBURST. This approach subdivides large MLST data sets into nonoverlapping groups of related STs or clonal complexes and then discerns the most parsimonious patterns of descent of isolates within each clonal complex from the predicted founder. As this approach is dependent upon the correct assignments of founding genotypes, a bootstrapping procedure is introduced to gauge the level of confidence in these assignments. Through a very simple set of rules, eBURST can be used to explore how bacterial clones diversify and can provide evidence concerning the emergence of clones of particular clinical relevance. We demonstrate the utility of this approach by using MLST data from antibiotic-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (8, 35) and from Staphylococcus aureus (9, 11, 16), Campylobacter jejuni (7, 31, 34), and Neisseria meningitidis (20, 23). The rapid rate of clonal diversification in the latter two species (13, 31) provides a particularly challenging test of procedures that aim to untangle the short-term evolutionary history of a bacterial species.
eBURST algorithm.The eBURST algorithm is implemented as a Java applet at http://eburst.mlst.net , and detailed guidance in its use is available at this website. A description of the algorithm is given below.
Subdivision of input data into groups.The first step of the eBURST algorithm is to subdivide STs into groups. Every ST within an eBURST group has a user-defined minimum number of identical alleles in common with at least one other ST in the group. eBURST groups therefore are mutually exclusive; no ST can belong to more than one group. The default setting in eBURST is the most exclusive group definition, in which STs are included within the same group only if they share identical alleles at six or seven of the seven MLST loci with at least one other ST in the group. Thus defined, each group equates to a single clonal complex (see below).
The above procedure provides a list of the STs assigned to each group along with their observed frequencies in the data set. STs that cannot be assigned to any group are called singletons. For example, with the default group definition, singletons are defined as STs differing at two or more alleles from every other ST in the sample. eBURST also allows all of the input data to be treated as a single group by selecting a group definition of zero of seven shared alleles. This procedure allows the clustering patterns among all isolates within a complete MLST database to be visualized as a single eBURST diagram ("population snapshot").
eBURST groups and clonal complexes.We draw an important distinction between an eBURST group and a clonal complex. Whereas an eBURST group is simply a collection of STs that are placed together according to the selected group definition, a clonal complex refers to a biologically meaningful cluster of STs that have diversified very recently from a common founder. The STs within an eBURST group obtained with the most stringent (exclusive) group definition are closely related and are considered to belong to a single clonal complex. Groups obtained with a less stringent group definition should not be equated with clonal complexes. eBURST displays only the most likely patterns of evolutionary descent within each clonal complex and does not attempt to reconstruct pathways between clonal complexes, even if they are closely related. Clonal complexes therefore are defined conservatively as a cluster of STs in an eBURST diagram in which all STs are linked as SLVs to at least one other ST. These may be represented individually when the default group definition is used or as separate clusters of linked STs when a less stringent group definition is used.
Assignment of primary founders.For each clonal complex, eBURST identifies the ST that is most likely to represent the founding genotype (the primary founder). eBURST also attempts to identify the most likely founder of a group when a more relaxed group definition is used, although often in such situations the assigned founder is unlikely to represent the original genotype of the entire group. The primary founder is predicted on the basis of parsimony as the ST that has the largest number of SLVs in the group or clonal complex. This method of assigning the founder takes into account the way in which clones emerge and diversify; most of the initial diversification of a clone results in variants of the founder that differ at only one of the seven alleles (i.e., SLVs of the founder). If two STs in a group have the same number of SLVs, then the one with the larger number of DLVs is chosen. In such situations, the confidence in the assignment is low, as reflected in the bootstrap values. In some groups, typically those composed of a very limited number of STs, it may not be possible to assign a primary founder. The frequency of a given ST in the input data is not used in the procedure to assign founders; however, founders often correspond to the most predominant STs, a fact that adds independent support to the assignments.
Assigning levels of confidence in founding genotypes.A measure of statistical confidence in each of the assigned primary founders is made by a bootstrap resampling procedure. eBURST is used to divide the input population into groups according to the selected group definition; for each group, one example of each ST is extracted, and a user-defined (default, 1,000) number of random data sets of the same size as the extracted ST set is produced by resampling with replacement. eBURST is run on the resampled data sets from each group, and the ST that is assigned as the primary founder in each resampling is determined. Conditional bootstrap values for each ST in the group are generated according to the percentage of times that the ST is assigned as the founder; resamplings in which the ST cannot be assigned as the founder due to its absence from the resampled data set are omitted. An ST that is assigned as the founder in each of the resamplings in which it is present therefore has a bootstrap value of 100%. The computation of bootstrap values is restricted to gauging the confidence of the assignment of primary founders for individual clonal complexes by using the default (most stringent) group definition.
Assignment of subgroups and subgroup founders.Large clonal complexes typically contain subgroups and therefore have both primary and subgroup founders. For example, an SLV of the primary founder may have increased in frequency and diversified to generate a number of its own SLVs, thus becoming a subgroup founder. The promotion of an ST to a subgroup founder depends upon the number of previously unassigned SLVs that it defines (see below). This definition can be user defined, but the default setting is at least two previously unassigned STs (i.e., at least three links to other STs, including the link to its assumed progenitor).
A single ST may be an SLV of more than one founder. When an ST is an SLV of both primary and subgroup founders, the ST is preferentially assigned to the primary founder. When an ST is an SLV of two or more subgroup founders, eBURST initially assigns SLVs on the basis of the distance from the primary founder, but a local optimization procedure then reassigns SLVs preferentially to the largest subgroup. In this way, the same model of clonal expansion is used for both primary and subgroup founders while links between subgroups are retained (see the readme file at http://eburst.mlst.net for more details). Although any given ST may be an SLV of more than one founder, this procedure allows an ST to be assigned to only one founder. This means that the number of SLVs of each subgroup founder shown in the eBURST diagram often is smaller than the total number shown in the initial eBURST output table, as some SLVs will have been preferentially assigned to the primary founder or to other subgroup founders.
Text and graphical output from eBURST.eBURST has a variety of input options (including direct input from MLST databases; http://www.mlst.net ) and produces an output table defining the STs in each group, the number of isolates of each ST, and the number of SLVs, DLVs, and TLVs of each ST. The predicted primary founder is identified (where possible) along with the percent recovery of each ST as the primary founder of the clonal complex in the bootstrap resamplings.
The eBURST diagrams display the patterns of descent of all STs within each clonal complex from the primary founder. The earlier version of the algorithm (BURST) positioned SLVs and DLVs of the primary founder within concentric rings (11, 15), whereas eBURST shows a radial link from the primary founder to each of its SLVs by a solid line. A second difference is that only links to SLVs are shown; DLVs of the primary founder are linked only when the intermediate SLV on the path from the founder to the DLV is present in the input data. With the default group definition (six of seven shared alleles), all STs must be SLVs of at least one ST in the group, and the eBURST diagram will show a single cluster (a clonal complex) in which all STs are linked. With the less stringent group definition (five of seven shared alleles), more than one cluster of linked STs (each of which is a clonal complex) may be displayed along with a number of individual unlinked STs. The lack of linking between two clusters within a single group implies that no ST in one cluster is an SLV of any ST in the other cluster. Similarly, individual unlinked STs are not SLVs of any ST in the group. Thus, eBURST is very conservative and only shows links between STs that have diverged very recently, that differ at only a single locus, and that are considered to belong to the same clonal complex.
Each ST is represented as a circle; the number beside the circle is the ST (except in Fig. 1, the ST numbers have been removed for increased clarity). The frequency of each ST (i.e., the number of isolates of the ST in the input data) is indicated by the area of the circle. The primary founder is given in blue, while subgroup founders are given in yellow. The initial eBURST diagrams were edited, as required, to produce the final figures; details of the editing functions within eBURST are provided at http://eburst.mlst.net . Editing only changes the positions of the STs to improve the clarity of the diagram and does not change any of the links between the STs.
Input data.The complete current sets of isolates (as of July 2003), with their STs and allelic profiles, were extracted from public MLST databases at the following websites: S. pneumoniae (http://spneumoniae.mlst.net ; 1,638 isolates, 893 STs); S. aureus (http://saureus.mlst.net ; 1,072 isolates, 191 STs); C. jejuni (http://campylobacter.mlst.net ; 2,001 isolates, 796 STs); and N. meningitidis (http://neisseria.mlst.net ; 3,730 isolates, 2,609 STs). eBURST was applied to the entire database for each species with the group definitions specified to identify the groups, and eBURST diagrams were generated.
Construction of trees.UPGMA dendrograms were constructed from the matrix of pairwise differences in the allelic profiles of the isolates by using the Statistica package (Statsoft Inc., Tulsa, Okla.).
A multiply antibiotic-resistant clone of S. pneumoniae.As discussed above, eBURST is primarily an epidemiological tool designed for examining clonal diversification over short evolutionary timescales. Antibiotic-resistant strains therefore provide a simple test case, as these are unlikely to predate the introduction into medicine of the antibiotics to which they show resistance and should have diversified little from their primary founder within this very short period of time.
Strains of S. pneumoniae that are resistant to multiple classes of antibiotics were first reported from South Africa and Spain in the late 1980s; one of the first of these to be characterized is the Spanish multiply antibiotic-resistant serotype 23F clone (Spain23F-1) (24). The majority of isolates assigned as Spain23F-1 by molecular typing methods have been shown by MLST to have the same allelic profile (ST81) (35). All isolates with an allelic profile similar to that of ST81, sharing four or more of the seven MLST alleles, were extracted from the pneumococcal MLST database. In order to compare the results from eBURST with those from more traditional techniques, a UPGMA dendrogram was constructed from the matrix of pairwise differences in the allelic profiles of the extracted isolates. Figure 1 shows multiple isolates of ST81, a cluster of STs very closely related to ST81 (all SLVs of ST81), and one slightly more distantly related ST (a DLV of ST81); all of these isolates were multiply antibiotic resistant. None of the isolates on the dendrogram that were more distantly related to ST81 (linkage distance of greater than 0.4) were multiply antibiotic resistant, and they were very unlikely to have descended from ST81.
The entire pneumococcal MLST database was entered into eBURST, and groups were defined with the stringent (default) group definition (six or more shared alleles). The group containing ST81 was displayed as an eBURST diagram (Fig. 1, inset). Consistent with its high frequency, ST81 was assigned as the primary founder of the ST81 (Spain23F-1) clonal complex, with bootstrap support of 100%; all of the other isolates in this eBURST group were SLVs of ST81. The prevalence of ST81 in the input data set is reflected by the area of the circle in the eBURST diagram. The one DLV of ST81 was not included, as the linking SLV was not present in the MLST database, although it was included when the group definition was made less stringent (five of seven shared alleles). The structure of this clonal complex therefore is simple, with the founder radially linked to its 13 SLVs, reflecting the very short evolutionary timescale over which ST81 has diverged (less than 50 years).
Pneumococcal population snapshot.The ability of eBURST to provide an overview of the clonal complexes within an entire MLST database was demonstrated by an analysis of all 1,638 isolates in the pneumococcal MLST database, accounting for 893 STs. All isolates were analyzed as a single group by setting the group definition to zero of seven shared alleles; the eBURST diagram is shown in Fig. 2. The diagram shows the major clusters of linked STs (clonal complexes), the minor clusters, linked triplets and doublets, and individual unlinked STs. The ST81 clonal complex shown in Fig. 1 is labeled. Note that the spacing between unlinked STs and clonal complexes provides no information concerning the genetic distance between them.
Evolution of MRSA. S. aureus is an important gram-positive human pathogen and, since the early 1960s, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates have emerged. MRSA isolates are now particularly common in hospitals, although their prevalence is also increasing in the community. The gene conferring resistance to methicillin is transmitted horizontally through the S. aureus population, and MRSA clones are known to have emerged independently on multiple occasions (11, 27).
An extensive MLST data set is available for global collections of MRSA isolates, and the BURST algorithm was previously used to determine the origins of MRSA clones from their antibiotic-sensitive forebears (11). The MLST database for S. aureus as of July 2003 contains 1,072 isolates (191 STs) from global sources. These isolates are a mixture of MRSA and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) from disease cases and asymptomatic carriage. The eBURST diagram shown in Fig. 3 is the population snapshot of the entire S. aureus database showing the linked clusters of STs (clonal complexes), with the primary founders and subgroup founders identified. There were 12 clusters of four or more STs for which the primary founder could be assigned; many of these clonal complexes were previously described from a study of 334 isolates recovered from Oxfordshire, United Kingdom (9, 16). Interspersed among these clonal complexes were minor groups, typically doublets joined by an SLV link, and individual unlinked STs that were not SLVs of any other STs in the database.
Most of the clonal complexes of S. aureus are simple, with a primary founder surrounded by SLVs and, in some cases, DLVs. The ST30 and ST239 clonal complexes are more complicated (Fig. 3). The major ST30 clonal complex contains both MRSA and MSSA isolates (9, 11). ST30 is the predicted primary founder (99% bootstrap support) of this clonal complex. All of the MRSA isolates within this complex belong to ST36, with the exception of the one SLV of ST36 that has probably descended from it. ST36 is a well-characterized epidemic MRSA clone (EMRSA16) that appears to have emerged following the acquisition of methicillin resistance by an SLV of ST30 (11). One of the SLVs of ST30 appears to have diversified further to produce a DLV (ST39) that has become successful and that has formed a subgroup with its own SLVs.
The ST239 clonal complex includes the earliest known MRSA clone (ST250) (6, 11) and three other STs that represent MRSA clones commonly encountered within hospitals (ST8, ST239, and ST247) (6, 11). All three of these major STs have diversified to produce their own SLVs, but as ST239 has the largest number of SLVs, it has been assigned as the primary founder of the clonal complex. This assignment is based on a single SLV; ST239 has eight SLVs, whereas ST8 has seven (one of these SLVs is preferentially assigned to the primary founder, as discussed in Materials and Methods). However, additional evidence, discussed by Enright et al. (11), suggests that ST8 rather than ST239 is the true founder of this clonal complex. The ambiguity in the assignment of the primary founder is reflected in the bootstrap support values obtained when this clonal complex is analyzed separately by eBURST with the default group definition of six of seven shared alleles. The bootstrap support values for ST239 and ST8 are 70% and 66%, respectively, thus alerting the user to the fact that the assignment of ST239 as the primary founder is not robust.
C. jejuni ST21 clonal complex. C. jejuni is a gram-negative bacterial pathogen that causes gastroenteritis in humans and that is commonly isolated from chicken and cattle. An MLST scheme for this species was presented by Dingle et al. (7). The C. jejuni MLST database contains 2,001 isolates (796 STs). Recombination, which is believed to be frequent in this species (31), may lead to clones that diversify rapidly to produce complicated clonal complexes. The ST21 clonal complex is the largest within the C. jejuni database (7). The likely primary founder of this complex was identified by Dingle et al. (7) by using a combination of BURST and splits decomposition analysis. However, these authors did not use BURST to attempt to reconstruct the evolutionary pathways within this complex and instead used splits decomposition analysis for this purpose (7). Although this analysis confirmed ST21 as the most likely primary founder, the relationships between the STs were characterized by an extensive network, and recent patterns of descent could not be inferred.
Figure 4 shows a UPGMA clustering dendrogram containing one example of each ST that shares three or more alleles in common with ST21. This figure illustrates the size and complexity of the ST21 complex and the difficulties in inferring the most likely evolutionary pathways. The 2,001 isolates in the public C. jejuni MLST database were entered into eBURST and, with the stringent (default) group definition, the group including ST21 was identified. Figure 5 shows the eBURST diagram for the STs assigned to this clonal complex (688 isolates; 180 STs); many of these STs have been added to the public MLST database subsequent to the analysis by Dingle et al. (7). The analysis is consistent with that reported by Dingle et al. (7), in that ST21 remains the most likely primary founder (with 99% bootstrap support). This ST has 37 SLVs, whereas the two next most prevalent STs each have 24 SLVs. Several SLVs (and two TLVs) of ST21 (shown in yellow in Fig. 5) have emerged as successful subgroup founders, each with its own cluster of linked SLVs.
The primary and subgroup founders correspond to the STs that are the most prevalent within the ST21 complex. For example, ST21 is the most common ST within the group (123 isolates). Subgroup founders also are relatively common and, for the nine most common STs, there is a close relationship between the frequency of the ST and the number of SLVs of that genotype (data not shown).
N. meningitidis clonal complexes.High rates of recombination also are a feature of the meningococcal population, and clones diversify rapidly (13). The entire public meningococcal MLST database (3,730 isolates; 2609 STs) was analyzed by eBURST with the stringent (default) group definition of six of seven shared alleles. Groups corresponding to the ET37 (ST11), A4 (ST8), and ET5 (ST32) clonal complexes (3, 4, 20, 23) were displayed as eBURST diagrams. Figure 6 shows the eBURST diagram for the ST32 clonal complex (4), which has a primary founder (ST32; 100% bootstrap support) surrounded by a ring of SLVs, one of which (ST33) has diversified to become a large subgroup founder. In addition, there are numerous DLVs and TLVs of the primary founder and the major subgroup founder.
In both the ST8 and the ST11 clonal complexes, there was also a single strongly supported primary founder (100% bootstrap values) and a simple pattern of diversification from the founder to produce a large number of linked SLVs and DLVs. On a UPGMA dendrogram, isolates of the ST8 and ST11 complexes (4) appeared to be related (Fig. 7), and this finding was explored by relaxing the eBURST group definition to five of seven shared alleles. Under these conditions, isolates of both clonal complexes were placed within a single group, although they formed two separate clusters, since no ST within the ST8 complex was an SLV of any ST in the ST11 complex (Fig. 8).
A dendrogram separates STs assigned to lineage 3 of N. meningitidis (4, 23, 30) into two major clusters of lineages representing the ST41 and ST44 clonal complexes (Fig. 9). Isolates of both ST41 and ST44 complexes are assigned as a single clonal complex by eBURST (six of seven shared alleles), and this clonal complex is the largest so far observed by MLST for any species (411 isolates; 304 STs). ST41 was assigned as the primary founder of the lineage 3 clonal complex, with 69 SLVs (79% bootstrap support), and ST44 was identified as a large subgroup founder, with 64 SLVs (57%). The eBURST diagram (Fig. 10) confirms that the lineage 3 complex is divided into two major subgroups, the founders of which (ST44 and ST41) are connected through ST303. The ST41 subgroup is the largest, consistent with the status of ST41 as the primary founder. Curiously, ST303 is observed only three times in the database and yet has a total of 35 SLVs (25 of which are not apparent in Fig. 10, as they have been preferentially assigned to either ST44 or ST41, as these are larger subgroups; see Materials and Methods). ST41 and ST44 are both SLVs of ST303, and it is possible that ST303 is the real primary founder of this complicated (and presumably relatively old) clonal complex but now is rarely encountered among contemporary isolates.
The two major subgroups of the ST41-ST44 (lineage 3) clonal complex contain a number of subgroups, and the complexity of the diagram in Fig. 10 reflects the presumably rapid diversification of this highly successful complex. This example also further illustrates that eBURST is able to reveal possible evolutionary pathways even for the largest and most complicated clonal complexes.
The relationships among isolates of bacterial species typically are displayed with a clustering algorithm, which identifies closely related genotypes but, in the absence of a realistic model of clonal expansion, provides no information about the founding genotypes or the likely patterns of evolutionary descent within the clusters. We address this important problem by using a new implementation of an algorithm that extracts this information from MLST data (or, in principle, other multilocus data). A full description of the features of eBURST is available in the documentation provided at http://eburst.mlst.net . The BURST algorithm was also recently incorporated as a set of "priority rules" into the minimum-spanning-tree method within the latest BioNumerics cluster analysis module (Applied Maths, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium).
The S. pneumoniae example is a very simple one, because the selected clonal complex is less than 50 years old and all isolates (except for a single DLV) are SLVs of the phylogenetically central ST81, which is likely the founder (35). The example is also simple because no antibiotic-susceptible isolates with genotypes similar to ST81 have been identified, and resistance appears to have occurred within a rare genotype that subsequently has increased greatly in frequency under strong selection.
S. aureus clones diversify mainly by point mutation (16), and in most cases, the clonal complexes also have a simple structure, with a single founder and a number of linked SLVs (Fig. 3); the ST239 complex is more complicated and is discussed further below.
However, the clonal complexes containing the major MRSA clones are more complex than the pneumococcal example, because resistance to methicillin has emerged in successful MSSA clones within preexisting and presumably relatively old methicillin-susceptible clonal complexes (11). In contrast, the pneumococcal Spain23F-1 antibiotic-resistant ST81 clone has an allelic profile that has not been observed among antibiotic-susceptible isolates.
Clonal complexes of C. jejuni and N. meningitidis were selected for analysis because recombination rates are known to be high in these species (13, 31), resulting in rapid diversification of clones and thus providing a challenging test of the utility of the eBURST algorithm. In both species, the complex and somewhat arbitrary branching patterns among STs produced by a dendrogram were transformed by eBURST into patterns of evolutionary descent that are relatively easy to interpret. With the exception of lineage 3, which was more complicated, eBURST resolved the major meningococcal clonal complexes into a single primary founder surrounded by a large number of descendant SLVs and occasional subgroups (Fig. 6 and 8).
The advantages of the conservative approach used by eBURST, in which links are shown only between STs that differ at a single locus, are demonstrated by the analysis of the meningococcal clonal complexes. With the default group definition, eBURST shows that the great majority of isolates of both the ST8 and the ST11 clonal complexes are SLVs of their respective strongly supported primary founders. Relaxing the stringency of the group definition to five of seven shared alleles places both of these clonal complexes into a single group, although the ST8 and ST11 clusters themselves are not linked. A less conservative approach that would allow links to be drawn between DLVs would connect these two clusters, but the validity of the links would be doubtful, as links between DLVs are expected to be less robust than those between SLVs. These two clonal complexes clearly are related (5, 23) and probably emerged as two subgroups of the same clonal complex, although the precise evolutionary events that resulted in their divergence cannot be unambiguously reconstructed.
This conservative approach will result in the exclusion of some STs that should be connected to a primary founder by virtue of descent. For example, there is a single DLV of the S. pneumoniae Spain23F-1 clone (ST81) that is multiply antibiotic resistant and therefore almost certainly descended from ST81; however, in the absence of an intermediate SLV in the MLST database, it is not linked to the other STs in the cluster. However, the benefits of the conservative approach, which attempts to identify clusters of STs with the highest level of confidence in their common descent, are considered to outweigh the omission of the occasional DLV from the eBURST diagram.
An eBURST diagram clearly provides far more information about founding genotypes and patterns of evolutionary descent than a dendrogram. The analysis of the major C. jejuni ST21 clonal complex shows that eBURST also sheds more light on its diversification than could be achieved with splits decomposition (7). eBURST confirmed ST21 as the ancestor of the C. jejuni ST21 clonal complex and also revealed that several SLVs of ST21 appear to have diversified to form major subgroups. It may be illuminating to map to the eBURST diagram other information about these isolates, such as host preference, although such an analysis is outside the scope of this study.
It should be stressed that the eBURST program provides only a hypothesis about the origins and patterns of descent within clonal complexes. The assignments of primary founders are likely to be correct when only a single ST in a clonal complex has very strong bootstrap support, but care should be used in inferring patterns of descent when more than one ST has considerable bootstrap support or when no ST has strong bootstrap support (which is often the case for very small complexes). It must also be emphasized that the bootstrapping procedure is designed for use with the default group definition, in which all STs are part of a single clonal complex.
The presence of two (or more) STs with good bootstrap support occurs mainly within large clonal complexes and provides an alert that the assignment of the primary founder by eBURST is unlikely to be robust and that further exploration of the data is required. The ST239 complex of S. aureus was used to illustrate this type of situation. Three STs within this complex are very prevalent in the S. aureus MLST database, and two of them have high and approximately equal bootstrap values. One of them (ST239) is predicted to be the group ancestor, as it has one more SLV, but consideration of the presence of the mecA gene (which confers resistance to methicillin), the structure of the mec region, and the frequencies of variant alleles within SLVs suggest that this prediction is incorrect and that ST8 is the most likely primary founder (11). This latter reassignment is biologically plausible, as it makes the primary founder phylogenetically central; the other two major STs become the founders of major subgroups, which are derived from ST8 by a change at a single locus (Fig. 3).
A similar situation occurs with lineage 3 of N. meningitidis, in which two major STs, which are DLVs of each other, have substantial bootstrap support. Although one of these is assigned as the primary founder, by analogy with the S. aureus ST239 complex, it is equally possible that these two STs are the founders of large subgroups and that the primary founder is the phylogenetically central ST303 (Fig. 10). On the basis of this hypothesis, ST41 and ST44 are both successful SLVs of ST303 that have diversified to become the founders of large subgroups. This example demonstrates the power of this approach, as the rarity of ST303, combined with the relatively complicated structure of the lineage 3 clonal complex, makes it very unlikely that this possible pattern of descent would have been revealed by other clustering techniques.
Even in situations in which the primary founder of a large group cannot be assigned unambiguously, the relationships between STs are still likely to approximate the true patterns of descent, and it is only the direction of descent between the different subgroups (i.e., the assignment of primary as opposed to subgroup founders) that tends to be uncertain. The problem of assigning a clear primary founder in some groups may result from a shift in ST frequencies over time, so that for old clonal complexes, there may be few examples of the primary founder (and its SLVs) relative to subgroup founders in contemporary samples of the population. This problem also may be exacerbated by sampling bias. For the ST239 clonal complex, sampling bias could have arisen from an overrepresentation of antibiotic-resistant (MRSA) strains within the data set, as these strains are of particular clinical relevance, and many strains within the S. aureus MLST database originate from hospital collections (9, 11).
Alternatively, natural selection may impose a bias within the population owing to the emergence of strains with a strong adaptive advantage, such as antibiotic resistance. For example, in Spain about 40% of pneumococci from carriage and disease cases are antibiotic resistant (17). A well-sampled contemporary collection of isolates from this country will be very different from that obtained 50 years ago, due to the strong selective advantage of genotypes that have become resistant, and such a major shift in ST frequencies could have an impact on the assignment of primary founders. The selective advantage of resistant strains may have led to the increase in the frequency of MRSA clone ST239 in the population, with subsequent diversification resulting in a larger number of SLVs of ST239 than of its immediate ancestor, ST8. It is not clear how to solve these problems within the confines of an algorithm, although the bootstrapping procedure can help to identify cases in which assignments of founders are not secure. When bootstrapping indicates that there may be more than one candidate primary founder, sampling bias within the data set should be considered, and any additional phenotypic, genotypic, or epidemiological data that are available should be used to examine the relative plausibility of the alternative founders and patterns of descent.
A general feature of bacterial clonal complexes is that the primary founder predicted by eBURST usually corresponds to a prevalent ST. STs that become founders of major clonal complexes (or subgroups) must predate their descendants and will have increased in frequency in the population. Thus, in the absence of strong selection and with a reasonably unbiased sampling frame, they are likely to outnumber their descendants. Examination of the eBURST diagrams shows that the primary and subgroup founders typically are prevalent STs. The number of isolates of each ST is not used by eBURST for the assignment of founders, but the predominance of STs assigned as predicted founders provides additional independent support for the assignments.
Although the assignments of primary founders, the computation of the confidence of these assignments, and the patterns of descent are all designed for use with individual clonal complexes, eBURST also can be used to produce an overall view of a bacterial population (the population snapshot). Figures 2 and 3 show examples of this type of display, which allows the overall structure of a bacterial population to be visualized. eBURST also can help to describe the clonal structures of populations in a quantitative way. For example, the number of clonal complexes observed within a population and the numbers of founders and subgroup founders (i.e., the number of nodes within a complex) provide a means of describing and comparing the structures of different populations on a purely quantitative level. However, any comparisons between populations require similar sampling frames to produce meaningful results. Finally, the identification of well-supported founding genotypes and their respective SLVs allows an estimate of the relative contributions of recombination and point mutation toward clonal diversification, as discussed elsewhere (13, 15).
This work depended on the availability of the public MLST databases, which are kept in the laboratory of Brian Spratt at Imperial College London (S. aureus and S. pneumoniae, curated by Mark Enright and Angela Brueggemann) and the laboratory of Martin Maiden at the University of Oxford (C. jejuni and N. meningitidis, curated by Kate Dingle and Keith Jolley). We acknowledge all those who submit strains to these databases. We also thank Christophe Fraser for helpful discussions.
This research was supported by the Wellcome Trust. B.G.S. is a Wellcome Trust principal research fellow. E.J.F. is supported by an MRC career development award.
- Received 29 August 2003.
- Accepted 14 November 2003.
- Copyright © 2004 American Society for Microbiology


text: galzohar 28 Posted August 18, 2010 you seem to be forgetting things like suppressive fire.....I can assure you I have been in plenty contacts here in Iraq and when you have incoming rounds to be cool headed and take out an enemy using 1-3 rounds is Hollywood shit ....In a rolling 5km contact, with FP's between 200-600 m's I personally expended 500 rounds on a PKM, a further 60 on my M21 and between our call sign we expended close to 5000 rounds in less than 30 minutes ......hits claimed? 2!!!! That's only on one contact... Not all enemy combatants have been trained by CAG/DEVGRU in the art of marksmanship, the AK is not known for its accuracy over 300m's either, crap ammo causes stoppages etc as well..... A mate of mine took 5 AK rounds from a drive by and he lived, he's missing one bollock, but he lived ;) While most do realize that it shouldn't be possible, the problem is how to actually achieve it in the game. You don't want to jerk everyone's weapons like crazy every time a round flies by them, or blind them like in PR:BF2. I think a good starting position would be to make the AI more scary. Right now they miss too much in comparison to players. If their miss rate is realistic when compared to RL, at least player accuracy should be reduced to also match RL and vice-versa. If players and AI have same accuracy then it'll be much much scarier to go toe-to-toe with them, and if they're far enough to miss you then you'll be far enough to miss them as well, making it not a very good idea to stand up or lay down in the open and shoot back. While ACE increases weapon sway, it simply doesn't increase it enough. It's still way too easy to put your sights on targets at 300m when standing even with the heaviest weapons where it should obviously not even be possible IRL. Implementing more realistic weapon sway will probably also reduce the need for the (what seems to be) higher-than-RL dispersion on some weapons (mostly 5.56 weapons but not only), which I suppose is there to reduce accuracy to more realistic levels as well? In any case, more realistic aiming will result in more realistic firefights, naturally. If that's not enough is a different discussion, but it's a good place to start. Of course there are also game modes that simply don't focus too much about making you want to stay alive, but there's nothing ACE can do about that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites