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- Safe & Confidential - Call 24/7
- Most Insurances Accepted
- Get the Facts
Review 9 nearby Drug and Alcohol Addiction Recovery Centers and Resources in Dickinson, Texas
Devereux Advanced Behavioral HealthLeague City, TX
Alcoholics AnonymousSanta Fe, TX
Windmill Wellness Ranch26229 N. Cranes Mill Rd.Excellent - 34 Reviews
Canyon Lake, TX 78133
Need to talk to a treatment advisor now?
Call Now 1-888-319-2606 Who Answers?
Greenhouse Treatment Center1171 107th StreetGreat - 147 Reviews
Grand Prairie, TX 75050
Most insurance covers all or some treatment costs
Does your provider cover a stay at an AAC Facility?Let's check your insurance
Olachea- Ms. Paty- MA- LPCLeague City, TX
Brazzeel Randy MALeague City, TX
Casey Pat MALeague City, TX
Alcohol Awareness Associates - MIP ClassLeague City, TX
Alcoholics AnonymousLeague City, TX
Alcoholics Anonymous Clear Creak Easy Does It ClubSeabrook, TX
Clear Creek ClubSeabrook, TX
Cities Near Dickinson, TX
How to Choose the Best Addiction Rehab Dickinson, Offers
If you think you know what amenities you're looking for, you should be able to locate Dickinson residential abuse treatment programs that fit nearly any need. From executive treatment for businessmen and women to VIP recovery centers, your city offers many choices, both budget-conscious and top tier.
How Long Should Recovering from Drug and Alcohol Addiction Take?
Depending on the addiction type and intensity, you or someone you care about may require anything from a one month inpatient alcohol or drug recovery program all the way up to a 4-month or longer one. Certain drugs may allow for outpatient services while severe cases may require long-term treatment services. However, you can find a Dickinson treatment center to fit just about any personal requirement.
How Much Does a Rehab Treatment Center Cost and Is Insurance Accepted?
To estimate the cost of rehabilitation in Dickinson, , you first have to look at the amenities the facility delivers and its locale in comparison to your own preferences. You'll find quite a wide range in cost for rehab centers. Many will take private insurance, so either check with your provider to see if the costs are partially covered through your PPO or HMO, or dial our number, toll-free for a discreet insurance check.
Ready to Get Help and Change Your Life for Good?
Whether you need help getting rid of an addiction or live with a teenager who does, our phone line is ready to take your call, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is manned by friendly advisors, there to discuss the best-quality in-patient prescription and street drug recovery facilities Dickinson, Texas offers. You can review the specifics of thirty day addiction recovery clinics vs sixty or ninety day ones and make sure the treatment clinic you decide on is going to give you or your family member everything you need to triumph over addiction.


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Taco Bell is bringing a new super-size weapon to the fast-food battles
Taco Bell is launching a Triple Double Crunchwrap.
The new dish contains double layers of seasoned beef, nacho sauce, and tostada shell. In addition to the regular Triple Double Crunchwrap, the chain will also be selling a spicy version with fresh jalapeños and spicy ranch sauce.
Both versions of the Triple Double Crunchwrap will be priced at $3.49.
Excited Taco Bell fans are already buzzing about the new dish. Some Reddit users are plotting a potential overnight tailgate to get the Triple Double Crunchwrap at the earliest possible moment, and Taco Bell customers are taking to social media to discuss the item.
Customers who managed to sneak an early taste of the Triple Double Crunchwrap are saying that it's tasty — and huge.
Taco Bell launched the Crunchwrap Supreme in 2005, at which time it was Taco Bell's most successful product introduction.
Since then, the chain has debuted variations, including the A.M. Crunchwrap and, in Canada, a Cheetos Crunchwrap Slider.
RELATED: See images of the fast-food chain See Gallery
See Gallery
NOW WATCH: We tried Taco Bell's new Quesalupa
More from Business Insider:
- We went to Macy's and saw why the brand might be headed the way of Sears
- The beer industry is making a massive change to promote nutrition
- McDonald's is catching up to Chipotle, Shake Shack, and Panera
SEE ALSO: Domino's new burger-pizza hybrid is unlike anything we've ever seen

subset: commoncrawl


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Our Story
Learn why we exist
The Haymarket Foundation's board leads the organisation's strategic planning activities, oversees the credentialing of healthcare practitioners, and provides governance and oversight over our operations.
The Haymarket Foundation's constitution requires the appointment of between three and ten directors who bring with them a broad range of skills, experience and expertise. Our board volunteer their time to further the mission of the Haymarket Foundation, and receive no payment for fulfilling their duties as directors.
The role of our board is outlined in our constitution: The Haymarket Foundation- Constitution
|The Hon. Kevin R. Rozzoli (AM)
|Date appointed:
|25th May, 1976
|Qualifications and experience:
|The Hon Kevin Rozzoli (AM) is a founding Director of the Haymarket Foundation and has worked in the role of Chairman for the past 30 years. Mr Rozzoli holds a Diploma of Laws and was a member of the NSW Legislative assembly from 1973 to 2003, serving in the role of Speaker of the Parliament from 1988 to 1995. Kevin is a tireless advocate for socially and economically disadvantaged members of the community, and also sits as a board member of the NSW Law and Justice Foundation as well as the NSW Public Interest Advocacy Centre.
|Mr Richard Boyer
|Deputy Chairman
|Date appointed:
|17th October, 2011
|Qualifications and experience:
|Richard Boyer has been a Director of the Haymarket Foundation for the past six years. Mr Boyer holds a degree in Economics and Computer Sciences from the University of Canberra, and was a senior executive in the financial services sector specialising in strategy, technology and service management. Since retirement, Richard has committed his time to supporting community and environmental causes as well as managing farming enterprises in South Australia.
|Mr Peter Valpiani
|Company Secretary
|Date appointed:
|9th October 2017
|Qualifications and experience:
|Peter Valpiani was appointed as a Director and Company Secretary of the Haymarket Foundation in October 2017. Mr Valpiani is an MBA Candidate at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management, holds a degree in Communications from Griffith University, as well as professional qualifications in Project and Change Management. Peter is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Haymarket Foundation, and has spent his career working in the Homelessness and Not for Profit Sector.
|Mr Jeff Smith
|Date appointed:
|18th May 2016
|Qualifications and experience:
|Jeff Smith has been a Director of the Haymarket Foundation for the past two years. Mr Smith is a solicitor and holds a Master of Laws from Sydney University and a Bachelor of Arts/Law from Macquarie University. Jeff works as a senior consultant at Westwood Spice, a purpose based consultancy firm where he specialises in governance, sustainability, and environmental law. He is a passionate supporter of social justice, having sat on the boards of the Total Environment Centre, the Environmental Planning and Law Association and Community Legal Centres NSW.
|Ms Patricia Bramble
|Date appointed:
|15th September 2010
|Qualifications and experience:
|Trish Bramble has been a Director of the Haymarket Foundation for the past eight years. Ms Bramble holds degrees in management and adult education from the University of Technology Sydney, and has spent her career working in the Community Services Sector. Trish is an experienced NFP executive who has led multiple services and change initiatives, and currently sits as the Chairwoman of Homelessness NSW.
|Dr Stephen Wilson
|Date appointed:
|20th August 2008
|Qualifications and experience:
|Dr Stephen Wilson has been a Director of the Haymarket Foundation for the past ten years. Stephen is a rehabilitation physician with clinical experience in managing the health of people suffering homelessness. Dr Wilson is involved in teaching as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame, and has Clinical Appointments at the Mater Hospital and the Royal North Shore Hospital.
|Mr John Sheahan (QC)
|Date appointed:
|20th July 2011
|Qualifications and experience:
|John Sheahan QC has been a Director of the Haymarket Foundation for the past seven years. Mr Sheahan was admitted as a barrister in 1984, took silk in 1997, and has worked on many high profile cases including as Council Assisting the Special Commission of Inquiry into transactions involving James Hardie. John is also a member of the board of governors of the Law and Justice Foundation, and was appointed to the Takeovers Panel in 2014. John was granted a leave of absence from the Haymarket Board in May 2018 due to his commitments as part of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.


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Knife is Good!
These were made by SteelFlame for our Baliville project and they rock! We are launching Baliville Balisong Competition at the USN Gathering G-VI.
This is one of the ways we are generating funds to pay for it all.
Thanks for your support!
Note: Molles are sold individually. Additional schwag not included.


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I started getting constant disconnects from my Pixel 3XL several days ago on the latest Android 9 update. So made sure to install all updates which included Android 10. Now the Galaxy Wearable app hangs for 5-10 seconds and then crashes. And on top of that, all day long I get crash notifications on my phone about the app. So then I removed all of the Galaxy apps and plugins and re-installed them and that was an even bigger mistake because now my watch has reset to factory settings and I can't complete setup to restore it since the Android app hangs and crashes.
There is another thread stating that this will be fixed when Samsung devices are updated to Android 10. Really? How can this happen in this day at the end of 2019? Android 10 was in beta for some time and Samsung is only going to get around to making sure that their software and apps work on Android 10 when it is released on their own devices? This is the kind of thing that makes Samsung look like a bunch of incompetent monkeys, and deservedly so. You have to be complete imbeciles to be such a large corporation and not plan ahead for a major Android realease that was given to the world to play with over 6 months ago to make sure that it works with your flagship wearable the day it is releaased.
Solved! Go to Solution.
Try this out, I had to remove more than the Wearable App and Plugin to get my watch connecting and wokring again on Android 10 and to stop the app from crashing.
Try this out, I had to remove more than the Wearable App and Plugin to get my watch connecting and wokring again on Android 10 and to stop the app from crashing.
Nice work! This worked for me. I had to remove the Galaxy Wearable, Galaxy Watch Plugin, Samsung Accessory Service, and Samsung Health apps - all of them. Then re-install them all. Then reset and re-pair the watch.
It is working again on Android 10, but essentially had to spend all the time to set up the watch and apps all over again as if I had just bought them. Still a really poor reflection on Samsung and it will make me think twice buying their products if the fixes have to be "just delete everything and start over".


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A refurbished Mac desktop is an Apple Mac desktop computer that has been refurbished. Refurbished means that the Mac desktop was pre-owned or second-hand but has been tested, cleaned and repaired before going on sale again.
Several parts of the Mac desktop will be tested, such as its screen, its ports, and its processor, to make sure that you are buying a quality refurbished device.
A refurbished Mac desktop can be much more affordable than buying brand new. With RefurbMe, a price comparison site for refurbished Apple products, you can compare the price of devices such as refurbished iMacs, refurbished Mac Pros, refurbished Mac Minis and more so that you get the best deal.
A refurbished Apple Mac desktop purchased through RefurbMe and our partnered retailers will be in very good quality.
On RefurbMe, we only list products of good or excellent cosmetic quality, meaning that they will look like new or will have very few visible blemishes or marks. All devices listed on RefurbMe come with a warranty too.
The deals listed on RefurbMe are from reputable retailers, such as Apple, Mac of All Trades, and Gazelle, which have sparkling reputations in the refurbished industry. Each of these retailers also has a great refurbished testing program.
Refurbished iMac prices start at just $359 for a refurbished 2012 iMac with a 21.5 inch screen and 8GB of RAM. Refurbished iMac Pro prices start at $4,249 for a refurbished 2017 iMac Pro with a 27 inch screen and 32GB of RAM.
RefurbMe lists various refurbished iMac deals and you can use the slider on the left to help find something in your price range.
Refurbished Mac Mini prices start at just $249, for a refurbished 2012 Mac Mini with 4GB of RAM. Refurbished Mac Pro prices start at $2,999 for the refurbished 2013 Mac Pro with 64GB of RAM.
You can also save money with free shipping, which is offered on many Mac desktop deals found on RefurbMe.
On RefurbMe, me compare dozens of deals of refurbished iMacs and you can find more than 150 refurbished iMac and refurbished iMac Pro offers on the site.
These range from the 2012 iMac which has a 21.5 inch Glossy screen, to the 2019 version of the iMac which offers faster Intel processors and a 21.5 inch 4K Retina screen that makes it great for designers and movie fans.
There are refurbished iMacs with different amounts of RAM, from 8GB of RAM to 128GB of RAM and storage space, from 500GB of storage to 4TB of storage.
You can choose what cosmetic condition you'd like the computer to be in too. RefurbMe lists refurbished iMacs in good and excellent condition, or refurbished grade B and refurbished grade A, so all products will look brilliant and will display no or minimal blemishes. Refurbished devices in good condition are more affordable than those in excellent condition and on RefurbMe, you're able to use the search function to help you choose and compare prices.
The Apple Mac Pro is the most powerful computer that Apple has created. Designed for professionals and companies with large power demands, the Mac Pro is capable of outputting beautiful graphics to multiple screens and running multiple apps without slowing down. However, this also makes the Mac Pro incredibly expensive when buying brand new.
RefurbMe lists multiple refurbished Mac Pro deals, though, helping you to save money. You could buy a refurbished Mac Pro with 64GB or 512GB of storage and choose between 64GB or 32GB of RAM.
The refurbished Mac Mini is a brilliant and affordable way of getting a MacOS desktop computer. The Mac Mini is incredibly portable and is far cheaper than a MacBook or an iMac because it does not come with a screen or other accessories, such as a keyboard and mouse. With a Mac Mini, you can plug in other accessories you have, that you may have been using with your other desktop computer.
Several refurbished Mac Mini offers can be found on RefurbMe. Refurbished Mac Mini prices start at just $249, which is a saving of $350 or 58%, which makes it the most affordable Apple computer you can buy, laptop or desktop.
There are other deals too, and you can choose from 500GB of storage, different Intel quad-core processors, and 4GB of RAM to 16GB of RAM. The Mac Mini is available in two colors, silver and space gray.
A refurbished Mac desktop is a great choice for anyone who would like to use Apple's high quality MacOS and all of the software that comes with it, without paying such a high price. Apple desktop computers are famous for being expensive, but when you buy a refurbished Mac, you can pay a price that you can afford.
The refurbished Apple Mac computers found on RefurbMe are also tested by professionals and come with a minimum 30 day warranty. Buy your refurbished Mac desktop today.


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Weekend in Havana in 4 Days
Day 2- Walking Tour of Old Havana / Museum of the City / La Torre Restaurant / Cigar Factory & Store / Cannon Blast Ceremony
Day 3- Fine Arts Museum / La Bodegita del Medio / Visit Social Cultural Project Callejon Harmel / Visit Zorra & El Cuervo Jazz Club
Day 4- Farewell day / Departure
* Cuban Visa and Airport Departure Tax. (Included)
* Baggage Fees for the first bag that you check-in. (Included)
* This is your arrival day to Miami.
* Check in at your complimentary Miami Hotel no later than 4PM. Hotel details will be provided upon confirmation of your booking.
* We will be holding our orientation meeting at 7PM over cocktails by the lobby area.
* Dinner will be on your own.
DAY 1- MODERN HAVANA – Meals (B-L)
* After an early breakfast time permitting our group Leader will meet with you at the hotel Lobby and we will depart promptly to the Miami International Airport for check-in. Expect to wait for 2-3 hours prior departure.
* Our short flight to Havana will only take approximately 45 minutes.
"""WELCOME TO CUBA""!!!!. You have arrived and now the experience of a life-time will begin.
* Depending on your flight Schedule expect to wait 1 hour to get through Customs and claim your luggage.
* The day begins with a Driving tour of the modern City. Have a first look at many of the sites we will revisit on our trip. Including: The Malecon, the Hotel Nacional, the Havana Libre-Hilton Hotel, the University of Havana, The Cemetery of Christopher Columbus, the Revolution square and the American Embassy. This tour will provide you with a preview of many of the sites and sounds that Havana has to offer.
* Depending on your arrival time a welcome ( Lunch or Dinner will be at The Aljibe Restaurant ). This is a popular open-air restaurant in Havana.
* Visit Museum of the Revolution
* Check-into Hotel or Casa Particular
* Explore for the rest of the day on your own.
DAY 2- COLONIAL HAVANA -Meals (B-L-D)
* Stop en route for a snack and a drink and a panoramic view of the city
* People-to-People Interaction: Visit with a local Architect Expert on the Renovation of Old Havana for an informative interview.
* Visit ( The Museum of the City ) with its history on the colonial life.
* Lunch at ( La Torre restaurant )
* Visit a ( Cigar factory & Store).
* Return to the Hotel.
* Night out for ( Cannon Blast Ceremony ) with the explanation on its history.
* Dinner at local Paladar
DAY 3- CULTURAL HAVANA – Meals (B-L)
* Later enjoy An hour long drive along ( Tour of the city on American convertible vintage cars ).
* Lunch at world renowned ( La Bodeguita del Medio )
* People-to People Interaction: ( Visit a social cultural project Callejon de Hammel )
* Get in the action and Experience a Salsa lesson by locals.
* Return to the hotel
* Visit the Impressive Basement at ( The Zorra y el Cuervo Jazz Club )
* Dinner on their own
DAY 4- FAREWELL DAY- Meals (B)
* Transfer to the airport.


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Preface xi Acknowledgments xiii Introduction Realizing the Dream: From Nuisance to Necessity 1 Chapter 1 Human Capital Analytics 13 Human Capital Analytics Continuum 16 Summary 28 Notes 28 Chapter 2 Alignment 31 The Stakeholder Workshop: Creating the Right Climate for Alignment 33 Aligning Stakeholders 33 Who Are Your Stakeholders? 35 What Should You Accomplish in a Stakeholder Meeting? 37 Deciding What to Measure with Your Stakeholders 41 Leading Indicators 42 Business Impact 44 Assigning Financial Values to ?Intangibles? 44 Defining Your Participants 45 Summary 59 Notes 60 Chapter 3 The Measurement Plan 61 Defining the Intervention(s) 62 Measurement Map 63 Hypotheses or Business Questions 66 Defining the Metrics 67 Demographics 68 Data Sources and Requirements 70 Summary 77 Note 77 Chapter 4 It?s All about the Data 79 Types of Data 80 Tying Your Data Sets Together 86 Difficulties in Obtaining Data 89 Ethics of Measurement and Evaluation 90 Telling the Truth 92 Summary 97 Notes 98 Chapter 5 What Dashboards Are Telling You: Descriptive Statistics and Correlations 101 Descriptive Statistics 102 Going Graphic with the Data 103 Data over Time 104 Descriptive Statistics on Steroids 106 Correlation Does Not Imply Causation 108 Summary 115 Notes 116 Chapter 6 Causation: What Really Drives Performance 117 Can You Create Separate Test and Control Groups? 120 Are There Observable Differences? 121 Did You Consider Prior Performance? 121 Did You Consider Time-Related Changes? 122 Did You Look at the Descriptive Statistics? 123 Have You Considered the Relationship between the Metrics? 123 A Gentle Introduction to Statistics 123 Basic Ideas behind Regression 125 Model Fit and Statistical Significance 126 Summary 130 Notes 131 Chapter 7 Beyond ROI to Optimization 133 Optimization 134 Summary 143 Notes 144 Chapter 8 Share the Story 145 Presenting the Financials 147 Telling the Story and Adding Up the Numbers 148 Preparing for the Meetings 152 Summary 152 Notes 153 Chapter 9 Conclusion 155 Human Capital Analytics 156 Alignment 156 The Measurement Plan 157 It?s All about the Data 159 What Dashboards Are Telling You: Descriptive Statistics and Correlations 159 Causation: What Really Drives Performance 161 Beyond ROI to Optimization 162 The Ultimate Goal 164 What Others Think about the Future of Analytics 164 Final Thoughts 169 Notes 169 Appendix A: Different Levels to Describe Measurement 171 Appendix B: Getting Your Feet Wet in Data: Preparing and Cleaning the Data Set 181 Appendix C: Details of Basic Descriptive Statistics 193 Appendix D: Regression Modeling 199 Appendix E: Generating Soft Data from Employees 205 Glossary 209 About the Authors 225 Index 227
GENE PEASE is cofounder and CEO of Capital Analytics, a consultancy revolutionizing the way companies evaluate their investments in people. He has over 25 years' experience as a CEO managing mid-cap and early stage companies. Under his leadership, Capital Analytics has been recognized by Bersin and Associates, CLO Magazine , Gartner, and the ROI Institute. BOYCE BYERLY, PhD, is cofounder and chief scientist of Capital Analytics. He has more than fifteen years of experience designing and managing pure and applied research projects with high technology firms in the Research Triangle Area of North Carolina. He directed the Capital Analytics team that developed the methodology and the analytical tools that are the core intellectual assets of Capital Analytics. JAC FITZ-ENZ, PhD, is widely regarded as the father of human capital strategic analysis and measurement. He founded the famous Saratoga Institute and published the first HR metrics in 1978 and the first international HR benchmarks in 1985. HR World cited him as one of the top five "HR Management Gurus," IHRIM gave him its Chairman's Award for innovation, and SHRM chose him as one of the persons in the twentieth century who "significantly changed what HR does and how it does it." He has authored twelve books and trained 90,000 managers in forty-six countries on strategic management and measurement. His book, The New HR Analytics , introduced predictive analytics to HR.


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Book online or call +44 (0)1775 843417 at standard rates.
Formerly the home of the Pemberton family, Ramside Hall was transformed into a hotel in 1963. Whilst the tradition of friendly service, good value and a warm welcome remains, the structure is now vastly different, and Ramside is proud to be the North-East's largest privately-owned Hotel, with golf.
The central area of the Hotel - the Old Bar and the Pemberton Suite, both extremely popular with locals - remains as the focal point. This is surrounded by twelve Conference and Banqueting Rooms catering for 2 to 600 guests, and the eighty fine Bedrooms.
Two fine eating area's Pembertons Rotisserie & Carvery and the Newly Opened Rib Room Steakhouse and Grill.
Just across the car park stands our superb Golf Clubhouse, Driving Range and Golf Academy.
For staying, dining, wining, dancing, conferring, meeting, marrying, merrymaking or golfing, Ramside Hall is your natural choice.
Your comfort has been the priority in the planning of these rooms, and we're sure you will be impressed with the facilities we have on offer. All our bedrooms are individually decorated and furnished.
Everything you would expect in a quality room is there - remote control teletext television, free in-house movies, Sky channels, radio, direct-dial telephones, hairdryers, trouser presses, fresh fruit and tea and coffee making facilities. The quality furnishings have been chosen with "Country House" standards, and the bathrooms have the same opulence. En Suites are combined with both shower and baths.
You also have the choice of booking one of our Premier Rooms, which are larger, often with four poster beds, and have the added attraction of whirlpool baths, or - the height of luxury - our two Presidential Suites which are, quite simply, the ultimate. Bathrobes and luxury Gillchrest and Soames Toiletries are complimentary in our premier rooms.
television, free in-house movies, Sky channels, fresh fruit and much more. With two restaurants to choose from - The Restaurant and Buffet Carvery - you are spoilt for choice. A superb golf clubhouse, driving range and Golf Academy, complements the championship 27-hole golf course.
Ramside Hall can cater for a wide range of events, as the facilities are extensive and flexible. The Bishops Suite is multi-purpose and divides into 5 separate areas, 3 of which are separated by acoustic partitions which, when open, form one large room. The Suite is modern in style with high ceilings and state-of-the-art.
Our secure connection ensures your details are protected.
Your details are only used to guarantee your booking and nothing else.
You will pay absolutely no booking fees - You pay the hotel direct and
we won't charge you a single penny.
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Registered Office: Infotel Solutions Ltd, DFC House, Boston Road, Gosberton, Spalding, Lincs UK PE11 4NR For further information visit www.infotelsolutions.com
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Design garden-home garden designs
Whether you're starting from a blank canvas or remodeling an existing graden it's worth thinking about the overall design. Changing the composition rather than tinkering around the edges is always going to be the most effective way of making a low-maintenance garden - so you take control of how it works for you.
How to design garden
Create spaces, create rooms. Don't let the living spaces within the garden be tied to the overall shape of it. When i started learning about garden design my habit was something like this....I use to put into the garden the things i want and need, but not thinking about the design. Rooms which will be beautiful to sit in have been made. The same things are in the same places - but they've been organized into a coherent whole.
1) Making shapes on the ground- To make the rooms you put good strong shapess on the ground. I think this is the fun bit of design - thinking about which shapes, what types of rooms will work in your garden. If you have a blank canvas you'll have more choice, if you need to accommodate things that are already there, you may be more limited in which ones you could go with.
2) Square, triangle, rectagle- Don't let the shapes go too close to the edges of the garden - these spaces will probably be planted and you need room to put something there. Most of these designs have a patio at one end. You may need a patio right next to the house - but it doesn't have to be there. Squares are pretty nice shapes to be in anyway so you can just use the shape of the garden - but make sure the walls are given some unity, maybe with battens or trellis. Triangular gardens are great to design; they can be transformed beyond recognition just by demarcating different shapes within the boundaries.
Think outside the box: When you're dividing up the space, you don't have to decide immediately what each shape or area will be formed by. The circle in the middle might be lawn - but it could be something else like gravel or stone. It's worth remembering: the more hard landscaping you have - the fewer the plants - the lower the maintenance.
Design garden-measuring and planning
You don't have to do a plan on paper, walking around the garden and marking things out on the ground will work just as well; and, if you have a lot of stuff in the garden already and are just tinkering, it will be a lot easier to mark changes on the ground than trying to plot eveything onto paper. Line paint from a builders' merchant is ideal to draw things out on grass and soil, but if it goes on paving it's a pain to get off. Or you can just use string and stakes to demarcate areas.
But if you can do a scale plan of the garden and mark on it all the existing features that need to stay it will mean you can experiment more with different shapes and ways to divide the space up. Make lots of photocopies of the plan and have a play. Once you've worked out he shapes, the rooms, the next thing to decide is - what will make those shapes, how will the divides be created.
Sun or shades?
Quite apart from any maintenance issues, sun and shade are incredibly important in gardens and it's good to get to know where they fall during the day and at different times of the year. You may want to sit in the sun or in the shade; you may want childern's play equipment to be in the shade. If you can't decide whether you want a sitting area in the sun or shade, put it in the sun, you can always bring in shade.
Garden tip: The stronger the lines of the garden's design, the more you will get away with if you let the grass grow or don't quite remember to do the weeding.


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A Futile and Stupid Gesture
How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever
Hardcover, 402 pages, Independent Pub Group, List Price: $24.95 |purchase
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Book Summary
Uses 150 interviews to provide a behind-the-scenes look at humorist Doug Kenney and his role in the history of the revolutionary humor magazine "National Lampoon."
NPR stories about A Futile and Stupid Gesture
'Futile Gesture,' a Serious Bio of Funnyman Kenney
Note: Book excerpts are provided by the publisher and may contain language some find offensive.
Excerpt: A Futile And Stupid Gesture
A Futile And Stupid GestureHow Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever
CHICAGO REVIEW PRESSCopyright © 2006 Josh Karp
All right reserved.
Acknowledgments..........................................................viiIntroduction Midas at the Marmont.......................................xi1 Hayley Mills in Pleasantville.........................................12 The Most Perfect WASP.................................................183 Here Is New York......................................................414 You've Got a Weird Mind. You'll Fit in Well Here......................585 What Do Women Eat?....................................................916 Hitler Being Difficult................................................1187 Show Biz and Dead Dogs................................................1528 Guns and Sandwiches...................................................1989 The Pirates...........................................................23710 The Cultural Revolution..............................................26311 Fuck the Proposal....................................................28312 Round Up the Usual Jews..............................................30213 Pheasant Shake for Mr. Kenney........................................32714 A Year with No Spring................................................348Epilogue.................................................................371Bibliography.............................................................379Index....................................................................392
Chapter OneHayley Mills in Pleasantville "Doug was Doris Day, a Coke and a hamburger." -National Lampoon editor Brian McConnachie
In the 1950s, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, was the kind of place where Americans believed that Father Knows Best patriarch Jim Anderson could raise Kitten, Bud, and Princess in a big fine home with total comfort and domestic bliss on an insurance agent's salary.
Chagrin Falls was a town where groceries were purchased at Greenway's or the A&P. Each fall, moms took their kids to Brewster and Church for school clothes and Brondfield's for new shoes, followed by a trip to the marble soda fountain at Standard Drug, where they washed down ten-cent burgers with the best lemon soda in the world. All the stores were closed on Wednesdays and on special occasions everyone dressed in church clothes for dinner at Crane's Canary Cottage.
When the blizzard of 1963 crippled Chagrin, local officials roped off one neighborhood so children could sled down Grove Hill onto Bell Street. During less extreme weather, winter meant skating on the frozen Chagrin River where adults kept a bonfire burning on the banks to warm little hands.
On Saturday mornings in the fall, the Chagrin Falls High School Tigers marching band tromped up East Washington Street to the Fairgrounds stadium, spreading school spirit through town while yards were raked and the sweet, smoky smell of burning leaves filled the air. It really was that kind of place.
"It was like Pleasantville," says Chagrin native Ginna Bourisseau. "I was four years old, walking two blocks to buy penny candy by myself. Everybody watched out for everybody's kids. That's how safe it was."
Being an adolescent in Chagrin meant worshipping the football players and hoping that someday "Firelord" would be listed among your accomplishments in the high school's Zenith yearbook. This coveted title mysteriously signified that you were one of the pranksters who burned the Tigers' winning score on an opposing team's football field in the dark of night, or anonymously painted black stripes on the Orange High School mascot. None of this was lost on Doug Kenney, who lived in Chagrin Falls from 1958 to 1964. His story neither begins nor ends in this midwestern town. Yet it is the place that defined him and by which he defined himself.
"I'm Doug Kenney from Chagrin Falls, Ohio."
It was that place in the middle of the country whose social dynamics, customs, and dreams so influenced and informed his sense of humor, self, and place in the world. It was a community that he came to remember with both great affection and profound alienation.
Despite his normal physical appearance, Doug Kenney was an outsider in Chagrin Falls-in and from the place, but not of it. Rather, he was a quiet observer, cloaked as a normal American kid, soaking in the rituals of prom, homecoming, and lusting aimlessly after the head cheerleader.
"We remember everybody, even if they only lived here for six months," says Jim Vittek, another Chagrin native. "We remember the way they kicked a soccer ball or threw a football. We remember where they sat in class."
Yet in Chagrin Falls, few remember Doug Kenney. It is as if he moved through town invisibly, leaving no fingerprints. They remember The Carol Burnett Show's Tim Conway instead. He is Chagrin's favorite son.
* * *
Doug Kenney's story begins in Newport, Rhode Island, where in the 1920s and '30s his paternal grandfather, Daniel Kenney, was a tennis pro at the Newport Casino Club. Newport, as much as anyplace else, was home to this son of a vegetable cart operator whose parents emigrated from Ireland.
Daniel Kenney and his wife, Eleanor, had five children, the eldest being Doug's father, Daniel "Harry" Kenney, followed by Bill, Frank, Jack (who was killed in World War II), and a daughter, Margaretta. Harry was born in Massachusetts in 1915. The rest were born in Newport.
The Kenney family's existence was an itinerant one common to club pros of the time-the family usually left Newport the day after Thanksgiving for a winter of work in Palm Beach, Florida, and returned north on April 15 every year. Palm Beach was the winter home of Harold Vanderbilt, where Daniel and his sons taught tennis lessons for family and guests each day on specially built courts positioned to keep the noonday sun out of Mr. Vanderbilt's eyes, demonstrating for Harry precisely how the other half lived. In the fall, the Kenneys often found themselves at the Astor estate in Rhinebeck, New York, or Aiken, South Carolina-wherever the wealthy needed a pro to teach them the game. Arriving at either of these locations, Daniel bought the local paper, pulled out the home rental listings, and drove his family around looking for a place to live. They would never own a home.
In Newport, the Kenneys were regarded as the "first family of tennis," with each of Daniel's sons becoming pros and several uncles and cousins teaching professionally. One Kenney or another taught the game to Newport summer residents and wealthy vacationers like George Plimpton, Treasury Secretary C. D. Dillon, Jacqueline Bouvier, and her future husband, John F. Kennedy. Down in Palm Beach, it was more of the same, with Frank Kenney helping Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton learn to serve and volley at an exclusive club, where the pair would have drinks while music wafted from the trees on warm winter afternoons and the sound of members shooting skeet on the beach could be heard in the distance.
Frank and Bill Kenney loved teaching tennis and the life it provided them. Neither man minded lower social status in a gilded world. It was all they knew and they embraced it. Their oldest brother felt differently.
Barely out of his teens, Harry taught tennis in Dark Harbor, Maine; Palm Beach; Newport; Hartford; Cleveland; Philadelphia; and elsewhere, yet he always wanted a different life, one more like the members than their servants. Harry wasn't happy-go-lucky like Frank, who was satisfied with his station in life and amused by the social fissures that placed him in the lesser economic class. By contrast, Harry was serious, ambitious, and aggressive at everything he did-on and off the court. He badly wanted an education. Brooding and quiet, he kept personal matters private. Teaching tennis was an existence Harry desperately wanted to escape.
"One day," Harry told Margaretta, "I'll never go in the back door again. Only the front."
In 1935, during a stint at the Hartford Country Club, Harry met eighteen-year-old Estelle "Stephanie" Karch, the daughter of an Eastern European immigrant iron forger from Chicopee, Massachusetts. Harry quickly learned that she was a good cook and fun to be around, with an unpretentious attitude, a great sense of humor, and an earthy manner. The pair married in Hartford on July 28, 1936, without the presence or knowledge of Harry's family. Yet when the Kenney clan met Stephanie, they loved her. It was hard not to.
Around the same time, Harry's forty-five-year-old father contracted pneumonia and died three days later with no life insurance and little money. Harry and his brother Bill were already out on their own, leaving Eleanor Kenney with three children to feed in Newport. Frank taught tennis to support the family and Harry sent his mother fifty dollars a month.
On July 21, 1939, Stephanie gave birth to a son they named Daniel Vance Kenney, known as Dan. Otherwise healthy, Dan was born with spina bifida, which required surgery and some stressful infant care. This often debilitating birth defect, however, seemed to have little impact on their firstborn, who grew into a handsome, gregarious child.
While he taught tennis all over the country, Harry was always in search of other work that would remove him from the servant class. In Hartford he joined the Governor's Guard, an elite group that protected and traveled with Connecticut's top official. In Reno he became a sheriff's deputy, and he did some personnel management for a magnesium mine in Las Vegas. While teaching in Philadelphia, Harry attended college, probably at night, and got the education he so desired.
Harry and Stephanie's second child, Douglas Clark Francis Kenney, was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, on December 10, 1946, nearly five years to the day after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and America entered its defining war.
Born in a nation flush with patriotism from defeating evil, he was named for Douglas MacArthur, the legendary pipe-chomping five-star general who commanded the U.S. forces in Southeast Asia and received the formal Japanese surrender that effectively ended the war.
"I was a kind of monument to a general who brought us yellow imperialism," Doug told a reporter years later.
Doug was an uncommonly bright and sensitive child with atrocious eyesight. At the age of seven, Doug told a friend, Stephanie took him to an eye doctor for the first time. Fitted with his first pair of glasses, he recalled the drive home vividly, as every vein in every leaf seemed to be apparent from the backseat window of his mother's car; each blade of grass individual, distinct, and a rich, shimmering green. It was as if he were truly seeing the world for the first time-in Technicolor-in detail so intense that it gave him a headache.
"He was unique from birth," Victoria "Vicky" Kenney, Doug's younger sister by seven years, told Harvard Magazine.
In the early 1950s, the Kenneys settled in Mentor, Ohio, where Harry was a tennis pro at the Kirtland Country Club. Dan was a tall, charming boy at Riverside High School-admired by everyone who knew him. Harry and Stephanie, it seemed, couldn't get enough of their oldest child.
"Dan was really well liked by his parents," says family friend Bill Tienvieri. "I can see how Doug might have resented that a little."
If he did, however, it was hardly apparent, as Doug looked up to his all-American brother when he wasn't devouring books, radio, and comics. Filled with these images, Doug's overactive imagination kept him up late at night, unable to sleep for all the thoughts racing through his head.
Kid sister Vicky was a cute, pig-tailed blond, both very smart and very sweet. Doug adored her. The three children all filled familiar roles: Dan the family hero and golden boy; Doug the most sensitive, thoughtful, and eager-to-please child; and Vicky the mascot. They were, to all who knew them, a model midwestern, suburban family on an upward trajectory.
In the late 1950s, Harry moved the family to Chagrin Falls after a Kirtland member who sat on the board of Diamond Alkaloid in nearby Painesville recommended him for a job in the company's personnel department. Entering the corporate world, he finally left the servant class for good. Dan had just graduated from high school, Doug was twelve, and Vicky was five.
The Kenneys settled in a small ranch home on Bell Road in unincorporated South Russell (considered part of Chagrin Falls). Harry remained serious and quiet, and Stephanie was always charming, a quick-witted woman who loved a party. Their best friends in town were Don Martin, the new pro at Kirtland, and his wife, Ruth. By the time he was in high school, Doug would string rackets for Martin at Kirtland during the summer, soaking in, as Harry once had, the contrast between his life and that of the members.
In fall 1958, Dan headed to Kent State University where he became extremely popular, joined the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, and was known campus-wide as "Dan the Delt." Back in Chagrin Falls, Doug played the role of bookish, well-mannered little brother.
"Doug and I were friends during his brief stay in Chagrin Falls," says Tom Luckay. "We attended eighth grade together [at the Chagrin Falls junior high], and I remember him as a very intelligent and polite young man, which impressed my parents. I don't remember much about his sense of humor. I do remember that as suddenly as he emerged, he disappeared.... I may have been one of his only close friends during his stay in Chagrin Falls."
In junior high, Doug began to see that he possessed both an innate gift for humor and intellectual capabilities that exceeded those of his peers-and often his teachers. In the cafeteria, he rearranged the letters on the menu board to read "scrambled snails." In the classroom, he showed an aptitude for parroting the precise style, cadence, and expression of the writers he was asked to read. This took the form of papers about Huckleberry Finn, written in the manner of Twain, aping his voice and style. Teachers graded him up or down according to whether they thought he was a wiseass or a genius. Perhaps some of them didn't understand what he was doing. Nor, necessarily, did Doug, who may have simply channeled what he read into his writing without any preconceived plan.
During summer 1959, Dan Kenney's car overturned and he was rushed to the hospital, where doctors discovered serious problems with his bladder and kidneys, possibly stemming from his bout with spina bifida. Though he returned to Kent State that fall, joining the Phi Gamma Delta house and ROTC, Dan's diseased kidneys plagued him from that point forward, drawing even greater attention and affection from his parents.
Given Doug's facility with language and academic abilities, Harry and Stephanie concluded that they had "a winner" and offered him the choice for high school between the well-established and very preppy University School nearby or Gilmour Academy, a fifteen-year-old, all-boys, Catholic prep school in neighboring Gates Mill. Doug chose Gilmour.
"University School was full of WASPs and epitomized that culture," says Jim Schuerger, a Gilmour teacher who grew close to Doug and his family. "Doug would have pushed them beyond where he could indulge his wit."
Thus, on the 143-acre Gilmour campus, where the Holy Cross Brothers sought to create a disciplined environment for Catholic youth, Doug Kenney began to come out of his shell. Though neither loud nor boisterous, he was going through puberty and ready to discover his identity as a teenage boy-a smart, funny one.
* * *
Ivo Regan was known as "Mr. Gilmour." Given to wearing berets and leaning on a cane, he was the school's befrocked equivalent of Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society. Regan was an erudite, sophisticated, alcoholic, Holy Cross Brother from a shitty Nebraska cattle town, and likely a repressed homosexual. An extraordinary English teacher, Regan was tall, lean, intense, tortured, and explosive. Spencer Tracy's Father Flanagan he was not.
In fall 1960, Doug Kenney was a freshman assigned to Regan's English class, where the teacher frequently stood on the table to dramatically make a point and gave student assignments such as "five hundred words describing the inside of a ping-pong ball" that stopped most of them dead in their tracks.
On the first day of class, Regan asked students to write an essay from the perspective of an apple, describing life as a piece of fruit. Save Doug, it had the desired effect on the entire class, who returned with little more than some incoherent, fearful responses.
When the assignment came due, Regan went around the classroom asking each student to read his piece. Arriving at Doug, he was amazed to hear the skinny, bespectacled boy read a funny, insightful, and well-conceived essay from the perspective of a neurotic apple.
"I didn't even know what neurotic meant," recalls Doug's classmate John Mulligan.
Kenney and Regan became kindred spirits, a mentor and student who would walk across broken glass for each other. Admiring and identifying with the polite but rebellious fourteen-year-old, Regan sought to encourage, push, and protect Doug any way he could, all while exposing him to the wider world. Through Regan, Doug grew to love Graham Greene, Gerard Manley Hopkins, James Thurber, and particularly Evelyn Waugh, who would become his idol and against whose work he would one day measure his own. Moreover, Regan taught Doug how to use language economically and for maximum impact. Regan exposed Doug to the idea that the world was not as it appeared and that darkness coexisted with the light pervading the American landscape of Chagrin Falls. Though Doug had likely suspected this, it was not something that Harry or Stephanie was going to teach him. Yet it was squarely in keeping with the opposing forces that battled within his brain.
"There was a poem that Brother Ivo made a big deal out of when we were students at Gilmour," says Jerry Murphy, president of Doug's class. "It was 'Buffalo Bill's Defunct' [by e. e. cummings]. I recall the last line, 'how do you like your blueeyed boy Mister Death.'"


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I came across a blog the other day that was promoting a technical conference (in full disclosure, I'm involved in the conference). Normally I wouldn't pass this information along in this manner, but the subject matter is so critical I thought it would be a disservice to do nothing. The conference I'm referring to is MEDSec, and it cover the security of medical devices. Specifically, it focuses on security and privacy for the Internet of Medical Things.
The original blog that caught my eye was penned by David Kleidermacher, the Chief Security Officer at BlackBerry, who clearly knows a thing or two about security. I'll leave it at that and let you decide if this issue is as critical as I believe it is.


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Transdermal patch start-up and University of Warwick spin-off Medherant bags £3.8m
The new funding will support Medherant as it moves into clinical development and the commercialisation of its ibuprofen TEPI Patch
Medherant Limited, a University of Warwick-spinout start-up that develops a transdermal drug delivery patch, has raised £3.8m in its latest funding round.
Based in Coventry, the medtech business was primarily backed by Mercia Technologies, a venture capital firm that specalises in investing in high-growth regional start-ups, to the tune of £2.5m.
Just last week, Mercia Technologies announced that it had raised £45.1m to invest in ambitious regional businesses via a new fund called EV Growth II.
As a result of this latest raise, Mercia's direct equity shareholding in Medherant has now risen from 11.3% to 32.4% – while other backers included private investors and other current shareholders.
Medherant's TEPI Patch is a novel proprietary platform capable of delivering higher doses of drugs through the skin to act locally or systemically.
Its claimed transdermal delivery has many advantages, including fewer side effects, improved patient compliance and the potential to deliver drugs that are unsuitable for oral administration.
Since Mercia's first investment in June 2015 through its managed funds, Medherant has secured an exclusive licence agreement with Bostik SA, a leading adhesive specialist, to use its novel pressure sensitive adhesive material in the development of the company's TEPI Patch.
The fresh funds will help Medherant move into clinical development and the commercialisation of its ibuprofen TEPI Patch, as well as initiating development of its second product, a lidocaine TEPI Patch.
Nigel Davis, CEO of Medherant, said:
"We are grateful to have the continued financial support of Mercia and pleased to be working closely with the team as we move into the next exciting phase of Medherant's development.
"Our TEPI Patch technology is generating global interest and we are now working with several leading pharmaceutical companies as we develop our own product pipeline."
Mark Payton, chief executive officer at Mercia, said:
"Medherant's highly versatile platform is compatible with a wide range of drugs, enabling a transdermal route to market for drugs not currently suitable for formulation with existing delivery technologies.
"The company's first product, Ibuprofen TEPI Patch, will be manufactured at AdhexPharma in France for clinical trials in early 2018.
Led by Dr Nicola Broughton, investment director and head of universities at Mercia, we have been working with the founders since inception, initially through our managed funds and are now scaling the business with a further direct investment.
"This has increased our equity holding in what potentially may become a very valuable business."


text: Overview of the National Disaster Recovery Framework and the Economic Recovery Support Function Tags | Presentations January 11, 2013 On August 27, 2012, Josh Barnes of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) provided an overview of the new National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF), which describes and institutionalizes agencyâ€wide approaches to prepare for, plan for, and manage disaster recoveries. He also described the Economic Recovery Support Function (RSF) of the NDRF, which is one of six functions that integrates the expertise of the Federal government to assist local, state and tribal governments recovery efforts. The national disaster recovery framework seeks to provide a structure for all Federal agencies to participate in onâ€going disaster planning and recovery that would facilitate problem solving, improved access to resources, and foster coordination among state and Federal agencies and nongovernmental partners and stakeholders.


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This week on Showtime's Homeland, Abu Nazir "called" on Brody for one last favor, Estes put Saul in his place and Walden's run for the White House took a surprising turn.
So, the legendary black ops boss that Quinn rendezvoused with on the bus last week, Dar Adul? Saul knows him, and better yet knows where he likes to wolf down waffles. As such, he checks in on Dar Adul, asking why he's meeting with Quinn on the sly. "Peter Quinn is one of mine," Dar Adul explains. But why would Estes put a black ops guy on a straight-up intel op? "Maybe to keep his eye on you," Adul taunts his peer. "Maybe he doesn't trust you?"
At the Posh Safehouse 3000, Mike is all awkward "about last night," while Jess is totally, "I loved it — it was fun… I keep waiting to feel guilty." (And yet probably never will!) They convene a new session of necking but get interrupted by Brody, then blank-faced, homework-hating Chris and scowly, hand-wrenching Dana. Jess asks Brody when they can go home, saying that the kids are going "stir crazy… So am I." "I noticed," Brody responds, in a way that barely leaves off the words "…you're shtupping my bestie again." Just as Jess says she knows that Carrie is back in the mix, ol' blondie herself rings Brody, saying that he needs to resign from office and give Walden the bad word that he wont be his veep.
And then Carrie's car get broadsided, Michael Vaughn-style.
At Langley, Saul confronts Estes with what he has learned about Quinn, and suggests that the black ops vet was brought in to insure that when all is said and done with Operation Abu Nazir, Brody won't blab about the top-secret drone strike. "F–k you, Saul," Estes responds. Quinn then shows up to report on Carrie's accident… and subsequent vanishing.
Back at the Posh Safehouse 3000, Brody and Jess are managing a very intense "Finn wants to visit Dana, who's been dodging his texts" sitch when Brody gets a call from, no, not Carrie per se, but Abu Nazir, who has his estranged padawan's honey bound and gagged. His ransom: Fetch me the serial number for Walden's pacemaker. Rather than loop in the spooks on this communique — on the off chance they could, like, track it and such, and catch Earth's Most Wanted — Brody agrees to go rogue and poke around Walden's residence. Carrie meanwhile engages Nazir in a debate of ideologies, starting and ending with her labeling him a terrorist. "I'm a soldier," he contends. He and his people "carry God in our hearts, in our souls…. To die is to join him. It may take a century… or three, but we will exterminate you," he asserts.
Finn wants to start over with Dana, but she says the accident and cover-up "killed it" just as they killed that lady. (Is this storyline going anywhere?)
With the stealth of a twitchy meth addict hopped up on 5-Hour Energy, Brody snoops around Walden's office, finally locating the case for his pacemaker. He phones Nazir to say he has the serial number — but Carrie must first be set free. After Brody swears on Issa's "immortal soul" that he'll keep up his end of the trade, Nazir lets Carrie go. As Brody texts him the number (which in turn gets forwarded to Nazir's IT guy), Carrie flags down a trucker, liberates him of his cell and rings Saul & Co. They set out to swarm the place she was being held, but Saul gets detained downstairs after Estes makes a cryptic phone call — while Quinn forges on with the rest of the team. Carrie circles back to the warehouse, wielding a steel pipe, and is last seen wandering into a dark, scary room….
Walden walks in on Brody, who informs the VP that he can't be part of the ticket, citing "family reasons." "F–k your family," Walden coldly responds. "You don't walk away from [a VP bid]!" Witnessing that Nazir's peeps are starting to turn Walden's ticker against him, Brody drops every bit of veneer and vents his hatred for the politician who OK'd the drone strike. "It's for me" that he's bowing out. "To feel clean again." As Walden goes into the final throes of a heart attack — and as Brody pushes the phone out of his reach — the congressman-slash-terrorist snarls, "You still don't get it, do you? I'm killing you." (Hey, Arrow can do more flashbacks now!)
What did you think of this week's Homeland and its bit of "terrorism via artificial heart attack"? Could Brody have bellowed Nazir's name any louder just down the hall from the Secret Service detail at the Posh Safehouse 3000? How does Brody not get fingered for the VP's death? (Won't Carrie's story of escape have to incriminate him? And if there's a whiff of foul play, whose mitts were fumbling all over the pacemaker case?) Does Dana own a second pair of shoes?


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Applique Quilt Size: 20" W x 16' H
Cut your background fabric to approx. 21"x 17" first. This is the fabric you will put all of the other pieces on top of. Then cut and place the pumpkin and basket pieces on top of the background.
Once your applique pieces are fused to the background, stitch with a straight stitch around each piece with matching thread.
Trim to square, then add a 2" border.
Add batting and backing and quilt as desired.
Your local quilt shop is a great resource for fabrics and techniques.


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Germ cells –
Ova or spermatozoa cells or their developmental precursors
Gynecologic oncologist –
A doctor of obstetrics and gynecology who specializes in women's reproductive cancers
This link will take you to a website to which our Privacy Policy does not apply. OurWayForward.com does not control the content of this third-party site.
We're looking forward to sharing the latest news and information about ovarian cancer with you.


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Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Phenotype Revisited After 50 Years With Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance
Author + information
- Received February 13, 2009
- Revision received April 30, 2009
- Accepted May 5, 2009
- Published online July 14, 2009.
Author Information
- Martin S. Maron, MD⁎,⁎ (mmaron{at}tuftsmedialcenter.org),
- Barry J. Maron, MD†,
- Caitlin Harrigan, BA⁎,
- Jacki Buros, BA‡,
- C. Michael Gibson, MD, MS‡,§,
- Iacopo Olivotto, MD∥,
- Leah Biller, BA†,
- John R. Lesser, MD†,
- James E. Udelson, MD⁎,
- Warren J. Manning, MD‡,§ and
- Evan Appelbaum, MD‡,§
- ↵⁎Reprint requests and correspondence:
Dr. Martin S. Maron, Tufts Medical Center, #70, 800 Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02111
Objectives Our purpose was to characterize the pattern and distribution of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) to more precisely define phenotypic expression and its clinical implications in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).
Background Based on prior pathologic and 2-dimensional echocardiographic studies, HCM has been regarded as a disease characterized by substantial LV wall thickening.
Methods Cine and late gadolinium enhancement CMR were performed in 333 consecutive HCM patients (age 43 ± 17 years).
Results Basal anterior LV free wall and the contiguous anterior ventricular septum were the most commonly hypertrophied segments (n = 256; 77%). LV hypertrophy was focal (involving ≤2 segments [≤12% of LV]) in 41 patients (12%), intermediate (3 to 7 segments [13% to 49% of LV]) in 112 patients (34%), and diffuse (≥8 segments [≥50% of LV]) in 180 patients (54%); 42 patients (13%) showed hypertrophied segments separated by regions of normal thickness. The number of hypertrophied segments was greater in patients with LV outflow tract obstruction (≥30 mm Hg) than without (10 ± 4 vs. 8 ± 4 per patient; p = 0.0001) and was associated with an advanced New York Heart Association functional class (p = 0.007). LV wall thickness was greater in segments with late gadolinium enhancement than without (20 ± 6 mm vs. 16 ± 6 mm; p < 0.001). We also identified 40 (12%) of HCM patients with segmental LV hypertrophy largely confined to the anterolateral free wall, posterior septum, or apex, which was underestimated or undetected by echocardiography.
Conclusions Although diverse, patterns of LV hypertrophy are usually not extensive in HCM, involving ≤50% of the chamber in about one-half the patients, and are particularly limited in extent in an important minority. Contiguous portions of anterior free wall and septum constituted the predominant region of wall thickening, with implications for clinical diagnosis. These observations support an emerging role for CMR in the contemporary evaluation of patients with HCM.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) has historically been regarded as a disease characterized by hypertrophy involving particularly substantial portions of the left ventricular (LV) wall (1–13). These perceptions regarding the morphology of HCM were derived largely from nontomographic, 2-dimensional echocardiographic imaging, as well as post-mortem studies (5–12,14). Volumetric cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) offers advantages of high spatial resolution and 3-dimensional tomographic imaging thereby allowing for better characterization of the pattern and distribution of LV hypertrophy in HCM (15–21). Therefore, 50 years after the initial contemporary descriptions of HCM and its phenotypic expression, we have applied CMR to re-examine the morphologic and clinical expression of this complex disease in a large patient cohort.
Selection of patients
We prospectively studied 333 consecutive HCM patients with CMR who presented to Tufts Medical Center (Boston, Massachusetts) and the Minneapolis Heart Institute (Minneapolis, Minnesota), between 2002 and 2007. The diagnosis of HCM was based on the CMR demonstration of a hypertrophied LV (wall thickness ≥15 mm), associated with a nondilated cavity in the absence of another cardiac or systemic disease that could produce the magnitude of hypertrophy evident (1–3).
Echocardiographic examination was performed in all patients within 2 weeks of CMR examination. LV outflow tract obstruction was defined as a peak instantaneous gradient of ≥30 mm Hg by continuous-wave Doppler echocardiography under resting conditions (22). Due to the substantial LV remodeling associated with "end-stage" HCM (i.e., ejection fraction ≤50%), these patients were excluded from the present cohort, as well as those patients who had previously undergone alcohol septal ablation or surgical septal myectomy. Selected data from 210 study patients have been part of previous analyses (17,23,24).
All study patients signed a statement previously approved by the internal review boards of the respective participating institutions, agreeing to the use of their medical information for research purposes.
CMR imaging was performed (Philips Gyroscan ACS-NT 1.5-T, Best, the Netherlands, and Siemens Sonata 1.5-T, Erlangen, Germany) using steady-state, free precession breath-hold cines in 3 long-axis planes and sequential 10-mm short-axis slices from the atrioventricular ring to apex.
LV volumes, mass, and ejection fraction were measured using standard volumetric techniques (25), and analyzed with commercially available software (MASS, version 6.1.6, Medis, Inc., Leiden, the Netherlands). Volume and mass measurements were indexed to body surface area. Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) images were acquired 10 to 15 min after intravenous administration of 0.2 mmol/kg gadolinium-DTPA (Magnevist, Schering, Berlin, Germany) with breath-held segmented inversion-recovery sequence, and acquired in the same orientations as the cine images. Inversion times were adjusted to null normal myocardium (typically 240 to 300 ms). All tomographic short-axis LV slices from base to apex were inspected visually to identify an area of completely nulled myocardium. Mean signal intensity (and SD) of normal myocardium was calculated, and a threshold ≥6 SD exceeding the mean was used to define areas of LGE. Areas of artifact (i.e., blood pool, incomplete nulling of fat, and pericardial fluid) were excluded from the analysis by manually adjusting the individual contours. Total volume of LGE (expressed in grams [g]) was calculated by summing the planimetered areas of LGE in all short-axis slices and was expressed as a proportion of total LV myocardium (% LGE).
The short-axis LV stack was divided into 3 approximately equal levels (basal, mid, and apical) in the longitudinal plane. Each of these 3 levels was comprised of 3 to 4 contiguous short-axis slices, with the total number of these slices usually 9 to 12 per patient.
In the short-axis plane, at the basal and mid-LV levels, each slice was divided automatically by the MASS software into 6 equal segments, while the apical level slices were divided into 4 segments. Therefore, in each patient a total of 16 LV segments were assessed according to the standard American Heart Association segmentation model (26).
For each short-axis slice, the insertion point of right ventricular wall defined the intersection of ventricular septum and anterior free wall. In the basal and mid-LV levels, the ventricular septum was divided equally into anterior septum and posterior septum (i.e., inferior septum) while the LV free wall was divided equally into anterior, anterolateral, inferolateral, and posterior (inferior) segments. The apical level was divided equally into septum, anterior, lateral, and inferior.
Maximum LV wall thickness measurements in each of the 16 segments were automatically calculated by commercially available software. In the 3 LV levels (i.e., basal, mid, apical), the greatest wall thickness measured in each of the 16 segments was recorded. The percent of the LV chamber hypertrophied was calculated by dividing the number of LV segments with increased wall thickness (≥15 mm) by the total number of LV segments.
Previous analyses have shown excellent interobserver and intraobserver agreement for similar CMR assessment of LV wall thicknesses (17,27). A patient was considered to have a pattern of noncontiguous LV hypertrophy if at least 1 LV myocardial segment of normal wall thickness was interposed between 2 or more adjacent segments of hypertrophied myocardium in either the circumferential (short-axis) or longitudinal (long-axis) cross-sectional plane.
Statistical analysis
Data are expressed as mean ± SD. Proportions and categorical data are compared across groups using the Fisher exact test. Confidence intervals for proportions are calculated using the binomial equation. Continuous data are compared across groups using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Analyses of per-segment correlations between maximal segmental wall thickness and segmental LGE are adjusted for shared, within-patient variance using mixed-effects models. Other analyses of the same per-segment measures are summarized per patient before analysis with no other adjustment for within-patient effects. Statistical analyses were performed using Stata (version 10, Stata Corp., College Station, Texas).
Patient characteristics
Clinical and demographic characteristics of the 333 study patients are summarized in Table 1.Mean age at evaluation was 43 ± 17 years (range 8 to 86 years); 240 patients (72%) were men. At the time of CMR study, 217 patients (65%) were asymptomatic in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class I, 75 (23%) had mild symptoms in NYHA functional class II, and 41 patients (12%) had severe heart failure symptoms in NYHA functional class III or IV. LV ejection fraction was 72 ± 7%. LV outflow obstruction ≥30 mm Hg under resting conditions was present in 77 patients (23%).
LV wall thickness
For the overall study cohort, the maximal LV wall thickness was 22 ± 5 mm (range 15 to 50 mm) with a total of 2,741 LV segments hypertrophied (average per patient 8 ± 4). Distribution and extent of LV hypertrophy was diverse (Fig. 1):focalinvolving ≤2 segments (≤12% of LV) in 41 (12%) patients, moderateinvolving 3 to 7 segments (13% to 49% of LV) in 112 (34%) patients, and diffuseinvolving ≥8 segments (≥50% of LV) in 180 (54%) patients (Table 1, Fig. 2).Therefore, in 153 patients (46%) hypertrophy was present in <50% of the overall LV chamber.
Among the 333 study patients, the basal anterior septum showed the highest average maximal LV wall thickness (20 ± 5 mm) followed by the basal anterior free wall (19 ± 5 mm) and midposterior septum (19 ± 5 mm) (Fig. 3).However, average wall thickness was ≤15 mm in 9 other LV segments (56%).
Maximal LV wall thickness was directly related to the number of hypertrophied segments: focal (17 ± 1 mm), intermediate (20 ± 4 mm), and diffuse (25 ± 5 mm; p = 0.0001). Total LV mass index was 68 ± 13 g/m2, 82 ± 17 g/m2, and 120 ± 32 g/m2in patients with focal, intermediate, and diffuse hypertrophy, respectively. A significant relationship was evident between the number of hypertrophied LV segments and LV mass index (r2= 0.83; p < 0.0001).
Location and distribution of LV hypertrophy
Increased LV wall thickness was most commonly located in the anterior free wall (n = 266; 80%) and contiguous basal anterior ventricular septum (n = 286; 86%) (Fig. 4).In 256 of the 333 study patients (77%), hypertrophy was present in both these segments (i.e., 1 o'clock position in the short-axis plane) (Fig. 5A).Hypertrophy was commonly present in the posterior portion of septum, usually at the mid-LV level (n = 253; 76%) (Fig. 4).
Finally, among 40 (12%) of the 333 HCM study patients, CMR identified hypertrophy completely (or predominately) limited to the anterolateral free wall, posterior portion of ventricular septum, or LV apex, in whom the echocardiogram markedly underestimated (or did not detect) hypertrophy in those same regions (Fig. 6).In 5 patients (1.5% of 333), LV hypertrophy was confinedto the anterior or anterolateral LV free wall (Fig. 5B).
Of the 333 patients, 42 (13%) showed a noncontiguous pattern of LV wall thickening involving ≥2 hypertrophied segments (Fig. 7).The most common locations for noncontiguous hypertrophy were combinations of basal anterior septum and apical lateral wall or basal anterior septum and mid-LV posterior septum. There were no significant differences evident between patients with a noncontiguous pattern of LV hypertrophy and other patients, with respect to age (p = 0.5), sex (male, p = 0.5), LV outflow obstruction at rest (p = 0.15), or NYHA functional class (p = 0.24).
Relation of LV hypertrophy to LGE
LV wall thickness was greater in segments with LGE compared with segments without LGE (20 ± 6 mm vs. 16 ± 6 mm; p < 0.001) (Fig. 8).In addition, maximum LV wall thickness and total LV mass index were greater in patients with LGE compared with those without LGE (24 ± 5 mm vs. 21 ± 4 mm; p < 0.0001 and 110 g/m2vs. 94 g/m2; p = 0.002, respectively). Also, LGE was more common in patients with diffuse hypertrophy (89 of 151; 59%), than with intermediate (31 of 95; 33%) or focal hypertrophy (7 of 31; 23%; p < 0.001).
The number of hypertrophied LV segments with LGE based on wall thickness tertiles was ≤15 mm, 23 of 207 (11%); 16 to 20 mm, 217 of 1,444 (15%); 21 to 25 mm, 291 of 1,615 (18%); 26 to 30 mm, 137 of 1,807 (17%); and ≥30 mm, 72 of 359 (20%) (p < 0.01). However, % LGE was unrelated to maximal LV wall thickness (r = −0.03; p = 0.7) or the number of hypertrophied segments (r = −0.03; p = 0.7) (Table 1).
Relation of LV hypertrophy to clinical and demographic variables
The number of hypertrophied LV segments was greater in patients with LV outflow tract obstruction (≥30 mm Hg at rest) compared with nonobstructed patients (10 ± 4 vs. 8 ± 4; p ≤ 0.001). In addition, patients with advanced NYHA functional class III/IV heart failure symptoms had a greater number of hypertrophied segments (n = 11) compared with class II minimally symptomatic (n = 9) or class I asymptomatic (n = 8) (p = 0.007) patients. However, the extent of hypertrophy was unrelated to age (p = 0.14), sex (p = 0.05), atrial fibrillation (p = 0.11), and ejection fraction (p = 0.26).
Since its initial description 50 years ago, the phenotypic expression of HCM has often been characterized as an example of extensive LV hypertrophy, albeit with a diversity of patterns (1–12). This perception emanates from earlier autopsy observations in which LV wall thickness measurements made in rigor mortis were equivalent to those in systole (8,14), and subsequently from studies with 2-dimensional echocardiography, an imaging technique that depends on nontomographic (and often oblique) cross-sectional planes, and consequently does not image the entire LV chamber.
CMR is an important addition to the imaging armamentarium for HCM (15,18,19,21,27,28). Indeed, as a comprehensive tomographic technique with high spatial resolution, CMR provides complete reconstruction of the LV chamber and a more precise definition of the distribution of hypertrophy (16–18,20,29,30). Therefore, to this purpose, we have assembled here a particularly large consecutive cohort of patients with HCM imaged with CMR to permit a detailed assessment of the diverse and complex phenotypic expression in this disease.
In this cohort analysis, we found that about one-half of our HCM patients had areas of hypertrophy that were confined to <50% of the overall LV chamber, including a substantial minority with particularly focal or regional areas of increased LV wall thickness. In fact, over 10% of the study patients showed only 1 or 2 hypertrophied LV segments, a phenotypic expression that would not be expected to result in an increased calculated LV mass (24). Therefore, these results are inconsistent with the still popular notion that extensive hypertrophy represents the characteristic phenotypic expression of HCM or is a requirement for clinical diagnosis (4,5,7–10,12,13,24). Finally, among this large cohort of HCM patients, over one-half of the 16 LV segments had an average maximal wall thickness of ≤15 mm. This finding also raises important considerations with regard to the relation between the HCM genetic substrate (and disease-causing mutations) and phenotypic expression. In this regard, the observation that sarcomere protein mutations responsible for HCM (31) are not associated with hypertrophy distributed throughout most or all of the LV wall suggests that other factors, such as modifier genes or environmental triggers, may be important contributors to modification of the HCM phenotype.
A related but unexpected finding with CMR was that the predominant area of LV wall thickening in HCM involved the basal anterior free wall in continuity with the anterior ventricular septum ("1 o'clock" in the short-axis plane), rather than more centrally in the "12 o'clock" position in the anterior septum, as traditionally regarded with 2-dimensional echocardiography (6,7). Indeed, the present observation that the anterior free wall is a particularly common, and frequently the predominant site of wall thickening within the LV, has not previously been appreciated with nontomographic imaging modalities. Furthermore, we identified an important minority of HCM patients in whom segmental LV hypertrophy was largely confined to the anterolateral wall, posterior septum, or apex and in whom the echocardiogram dramatically underestimated (or did not detect) hypertrophy in those same regions. Only CMR was capable of identifying the extent of hypertrophy and/or the diagnostic morphology (29,30).
Taken together, these observations imply that absolute LV wall thickness may have been previously underestimated in many HCM patients, as the true epicardial border of the LV free wall is often not visualized accurately with 2-dimensional echocardiography, ultimately supporting the role for CMR in providing more comprehensive and precise diagnostic imaging in HCM. Of note, these findings not only have important implications for noninvasive HCM diagnosis, but also for planning proper operative management strategies for surgical septal myectomy candidates by recognizing the need to adjust the muscular resection to target the most hypertrophied portion of the anterior LV, thereby assuring optimal reduction in LV outflow gradient while avoiding iatrogenic ventricular septal defect (32–35).
Another novel finding in assessing our HCM cohort with CMR was the noncontiguous distribution of segmental areas of LV wall thickening present in almost 15% of patients. This morphologic pattern consisted of hypertrophied segments separated by regions of nonhypertrophied myocardium, creating abrupt changes in wall thickness in adjacent portions of the wall and a "lumpy" hypertrophic pattern. This distribution of LV hypertrophy would seem most consistent with a genetically determined cardiomyopathic process (such as HCM) rather than forms of hypertrophy secondary to pressure overload (such as systemic hypertension), and in selected patients could possibly contribute to resolution of the differential diagnosis between primary (genetic) and secondary hypertrophy, when this distinction is otherwise ambiguous (36).
LGE imaging provides a novel, noninvasive method for in vivo identification and quantification of myocardial fibrosis, which we (17,23) and others (15,19–21,37) have previously applied to other HCM patient groups. Areas of LGE proved to be most common in those segments of the LV with the greatest magnitude of wall thickening (15,19). This observed relation between LV wall thickness and the presence of LGE was largely unanticipated. We would have expected that LGE, presumably representing the consequences of longstanding microvascular ischemia, and resulting in myocyte death and ultimately replacement fibrosis as a repair process, to be evident predominantly in thinner segments of LV and associated with abnormalities of wall motion. Whether our observations and those of others (15,19,21,38) in this regard suggest that some LGE evident in HCM patients does not truly represent myocardial scarring is unresolved, but does raise the importance of further studies in this disease correlating LGE (by CMR) with histopathology (38).
In this cross-sectional analysis, we identified a significant relation between extent of LV hypertrophy (i.e., the number of hypertrophied segments) and both the presence of LV outflow obstruction and more advanced heart failure functional class. This association between greater magnitude of LV hypertrophy and limiting symptoms is consistent with the report that marked CMR-calculated LV mass was associated with a less favorable clinical outcome over a relatively short follow-up period (24), although different from that reported previously with 2-dimensional echocardiography (6). In addition, the finding that LV outflow obstruction (at rest) is associated with more substantial LV hypertrophy is consistent with previous observations that HCM patients with outflow obstruction show greater LV mass than patients with the nonobstructive form, suggesting that longstanding exposure to increased LV systolic pressures may promote secondary hypertrophy due to pressure overload (6,24,28).
Contemporary CMR provides a measure of clarity to the morphology of HCM and specifically the distribution and patterns of LV hypertrophy, which characterize the disease phenotype. While diverse, it is notable that the structural expression of the cardiomyopathic process in HCM is often segmental and nondiffuse, and may also demonstrate noncontiguous patterns of wall thickness. Recognition that the anterior LV free wall is more commonly and often predominantly involved in the hypertrophic process than previously regarded (and can also be the sole area of wall thickening) represents an important principle for the noninvasive diagnosis of HCM. Taken together, these observations underscore an important role for CMR in the contemporary assessment of patients with HCM.
- Abbreviations and Acronyms
- cardiovascular magnetic resonance
- hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- late gadolinium enhancement
- left ventricle/ventricular
- New York Heart Association
- Received February 13, 2009.
- Revision received April 30, 2009.
- Accepted May 5, 2009.
- American College of Cardiology Foundation
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See free & cheap NYC events for tomorrow, Thursday, October 22nd (more added later today).
Today's Events
Wednesday, October 21st: Free Delorean Rides!
Wednesday, October 21st: See 'Back to the Future' Trilogy on the Big Screen
Wednesday, October 21st & Saturday, October 24th: 6 Actors Play Every Role in 'Great Scott!: Back to the Future 2'
Wednesday, October 21st: 'Back to the Future' Trilogy Screening on Heated Rooftop + Flux Capacitor Shots
Wednesday, October 21st:'Back To The Future The Ride' Comedy Show
Wednesday, October 21st: Preserving our Architectural History: The Business Case for Landmarks Preservation
Wednesday, October 21st: 'Small Batch: Pickles, Cheese, Chocolate, Spirits and the Return of Artisanal Food'
Wednesday, October 21st: Artist Networking & Cocktails
Wednesday, October 21st: Free Film: 'Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown' + Q&A with Producer
Wednesday, October 21st: Chip Kidd & Patrick McDonnell Celebrate Charles Schulz, Creator of 'Peanuts'
Wednesday, October 21st: Judah Friedlander & 'If the Raindrops United'
Wednesday, October 21st: Lit Crawl NYC 2015 Carnival
Wednesday, October 21st: Free Film: 'What Happened, Miss Simone?'
Through Sunday, November 1st: Big Apple Circus Tickets from $15
Through Sunday, October 25th: Laurie Anderson Shares Her Love for Terrier Lolabelle & Lou Reed at Screenings of 'Heart of a Dog'
Wednesday, October 21st: Oriana Leckert & 'Brooklyn Spaces: 50 Hubs of Culture & Creativity'
See more ongoing & upcoming NYC events
Through Sunday, November 1st: 'Making Music Modern: Design for Ear and Eye'
Through Sunday, November 1st: See Pierre Huyghe's Installation on the Rooftop of the Met
Through Sunday, April 17th: Jeppe Hein's Interactive Art in Brooklyn Bridge Park
Through Winter: 'Fata Morgana' Canopy Sculpture in Madison Sq. Park
Through Sunday, November 29th: 'Folk City: New York and the Folk Music Revival'
Through Saturday, November 28th: Free Party Cruises Around Manhattan
Through Sunday, January 31st: Caturday, lolcats, Celeb Kitties and More at 'How Cats Took Over the Internet'
Free Admission to the Museum of the City of New York + Free Breakfast
Through Friday, November 13th: 'Made You Look: Documenting the Art, History, Power, and Politics of Hip-Hop Culture' Film Series
Through Sunday, January 10th: 'Ascenzi Square: Sons of Williamsburgh: The Family History of a Neighborhood Landmark'
Through Sunday, February 7th: Picasso Sculpture Exhibition at MoMA
Through Saturday, October 24th: 'Shepard Fairey: On Our Hands'
Through Saturday, October 24th: 'The City Beside You, The City Inside You' Exhibits Intimate B&W Works of Leo Rubinfien
Through Sunday, November 11th: United Solo Theatre Festival 2015
Through November: Fall Art Show at Secret Project Robot: 'The Video Life on Inanimate OB-jects'
Through Saturday, December 5th: 'Susanne Bartsch: Fashion Underground: The World of Susanne Bartsch'
Through Sunday, January 17th: History of Wooden Toys Exhibit
Through Saturday, October 24th: Brooklyn Cat Cafe is Open!
Through Saturday, October 31st: 2015 The Haunted Pumpkin Patch at NYBG
Through Saturday, November 14th: 'After Wearing: A History of Gestures, Actions, and Jewelry'
Through Sunday, November 1st: Halloween Harvest at Luna Park in Coney Island
Through Saturday, October 31st: Archtober 2015 with Free Architecture & Design Talks, Tours & Films
Through Sunday, October 25th: Spooky Japanese Film Series with Blood-Drinking Cats
Through Sunday, November 1st: 'Hotel Wars' at Flux Factory
Through Friday, November 13th: Broadway Bites 2015 Market Pops Up in Greely Sq. Park
Through Friday, October 23rd: BOO Halloween Short Play Festival 2015
Through Saturday, November 7th: 'Deep Cuts' Features Fantastical Women Warriors
Through Saturday, October 24th: 'Macbeth (of the Oppressed)'
Through Saturday, October 31st: 'Referencing the Muse: An Exploration of the Jewelry Artist's Inspiration'
Through Sunday, August 7th: 'Pixar: The Design of Story'
Through Saturday, November 7th: Frederick Wiseman's New York Film Series
Through Sunday, February 21st: 'Superheroes in Gotham'
Through Saturday, October 31st: 1/2 Off Admission to the Museum of Sex
Through Monday, March 7th: 'Greater New York' Exhibition at MoMA PS1
Through Saturday, November 14th: 'Bring Your Own Body: Transgender Between Archives and Aesthetics'
Through Sunday, December 13th: Isamu Noguchi Sculptures Adorn Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Through Saturday, November 7th: 'Paper Rad: The Zines of Paper Rad' at Printed Matter's New Location
Through Saturday, October 31st: Halloween Films at Nitehawk 2015
Through Saturday, December 19th: 'JB1.0: Jamming Bodies' Explores Relationships Between Human Bodies & Surrounding Matter
Through Saturday, November 21st: Help Clean Up a Park Near You During It's My Park! 2015
Through Saturday, October 24th: Imagine Science Film Festival New York 2015
Through Saturday, October 24th: Astoria Art Festival 2015
Through Friday, October 23rd: Free Tickets to Jimmy Kimmell in Brooklyn
Through Friday, October 23rd: Sunnyside Restaurant Week 2015
Through Saturday, October 24th: New York Television Festival 2015
Through Sunday, March 20th: 'Jacob A. Riis: Revealing New York's Other Half'
Through Sunday, October 25th: Wildlife Conservation Film Festival 2015
Through Friday, October 23rd: 3.1 Phillip Lim Sample Sale 2015
Through Friday, October 23rd: Card Reading Magic 2015—Free Online Tarot Reading Summit
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The Innovate Malaysia Design Competition promotes a culture and mindset of innovation among university graduates to enhance knowledge and skill sets in practical engineering. Model-Based Design and AI using MATLAB and Simulink enable students to efficiently design and build a real-world engineering creation.
Find more information on the MathWorks track for Innovate Malaysia.


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Think before you dump your trash
Garbage gets a wake-up call. This fellow spreads the message
An attractive giant puppet made from trash that had been collected from recycling centres adds life and local colour to a craft market. It is sad to think that all these items are usually tossed on waste dumps and landfills to choke up our planet. So many people in poorer areas like crowded African townships lose out on opportunities to turn trash into cash. You often see a lot of litter (potential raw materials) strewn around their living quarters. Worst of all, is that people from the City Council have to be paid to collect it and dump it. Now is the time to wake up and want not. Take a look at these gorgeous goodies. The raw materials are lying at your feet!
Get more mileage out of old car tyres
Our environment is often defaced by trash that ends up in rivers and streams or along the road. Car tyres especially, are unsightly. They are definitely out of place in a clean and green suburb and we often have to remove them during cleaning up campaigns. It is unfair to call car tyre that is no longer roadworthy a piece of garbage or trash. It is merely a huge lump of raw material, waiting to be transformed into loads of useful and attractive items. In Malaysia old tyres are ground up to make a soft paving material for children's play areas. In Africa the rubber is torn off in strips and used to make shoes and sandals. One of the most familiar items people make is a child's swing that is cut from an old car tyre.
We don't need to spend a lot of money on cushions and stools for your home when you can sit on old car tyres or their soft and bouncy inner tubes. They can be very attractive and are a good talking point. When you don't have any cash you become more resourceful. The shaggy rug is mad out of old t-shirts and a piece of garden mesh. Here are some bright ideas for seating and rugs that are easy and cheap to make. Some people have gone into business with their "retired" merchandise.
They sell chairs, swings, rebound trampolines and stools made from old tyres at craft markets. It sets a fine example for the local inhabitants of townships where litter is strewn around. Some of the children are now making their own items from trash to sell and earn some money. When t-shirts are too shabby to be worn then cut them into strips. Use double layers and cut a long slit on either side of each piece. Then tie them on the grid in the middle with a simple knot. Even old chicken wire can be used for the base. But be warned - these rugs use up a lot of t-shirts. (I hope my husband does not find the missing ones!)
To make a neat seat or a rebound trampoline all you need to do is find an old car tyre. Then make some sort of strapping to create a strong platform. This can be done with old plastic packaging straps or thin rope. Cargo straps are sturdy and can be found wherever cartons and boxes have been unpacked. They are easy enough to thread through holes that you make around the rim of the tyre. A very sharp-pointed knife makes the best holes but adult supervision is needed for children. An electric drill makes these holes in a jiffy, should you have power tools available.Rubber holes close over, so you will need to poke the string through with a hook or pair of thin pliers.
Have a look at these basic strapping ideas. You can thread across the straps to the opposite sides of you can make a circle and wind them around for a hollow centre. If you can't find any strapping then use an old wash line or pieces of string. Now you can thread bits of rag or twine in and out of the spokes you have created. It will make a good sturdy base for a small trampoline. Or you can cover it with fabric or drape a blanket over it. If you like needlework, then crochet a woollen cover, using a looped treble stitch. Choose bright colours and make attractive designs. One tyre can be strapped underneath the top one to give a bit more height.
If you are lucky enough to find some old inflatable inner tubes then all you need to do is place a disc of thick foam rubber inside the hole in the middle. This makes a soft and very comfortable seat and doubles up as a cosy parking spot for a small baby. They can lie in it and kick around without rolling out. This is important when changing diapers! We furnished our first home with a huge version of this basic tyre cushion. We made it from the inner tube of a tractor tyre and it took me ages to crochet the cover but it was worth all the effort. It was our couch, we watched TV in. The "tube" was our love nest and served as a play pen and jumping castle for the kids.
This is what our first furniture looked like - 35 years ago!
The stool on the left is a hard tubeless tyre with a matting made from cargo straps, then covered with old carpet underfelt. It is also used as a rebound trampoline and takes a lot of punishment. On the right we have an inflated inner tube with a foam disc in the centre for a cosy effect.
If you know how to thread the twine around the rim in loops like a dream weaver then do so. It is quick and efficient and does not even need to be covered. The tyre can be mounted onto legs made from pieces of wood or other recycled items. You can also add a solid round base to the tyre and attach some castors from an old office chair. This is fun to pull around with a rope for the kids.
In the garden you can bury old car tyres to help with water retention when you are planting out large shrubs and trees. Some villages line their streets with old tyres filled with soil and colourful plants. We also see old tyres buried upright in the sand to surround race tracks and play areas. A worm farm is an interesting and very functional way to put an old tyre to use. As you can see in this example, a healthy worm farm never "tires" of converting kitchen scraps and wet garbage into valuable organic soil nutrients!
Start them young with recycling trash
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Karla Talks 'On The Run' On 'The Marathon Show'
"The Marathon Show" is a great podcast for anyone who loves to run, especially folks who love to run marathons. It's a fantastic listen during a long run, car ride or any other time you have a few minutes to spare.
This week, I was a guest on "The Marathon Show!" I chatted with host Joe Taricani about "On The Run," the New York Road Runners' web show I started hosting this fall. We also talked about the upcoming ING New York City Marathon. So if you're running that race or will be watching it on TV, you'll definitely want to give a listen.
You can find The Marathon Show on BlogTalkRadio, download episodes on iTunes, or listen below.
The Marathon Show: A TV Show For Runners
Listen to internet radio with The Marathon Show on Blog Talk Radio


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I'm Here to Help You Navigate Your Business Journey
At WrightQuest, we help mission-minded business owners and non-profit leaders who feel lost to get back on the trail. We believe in living a purpose-filled life that influences your business and the world in positive ways.
Coaching or Consulting? What do I need? (And really, what's the difference?)
Ever wondered what the difference is between coaching, mentoring, consulting and just plain therapy? Fill out your info and I'll send you a handy chart showing the distinctions of each and which one will meet your current need. No strings attached.
See what others are saying:
Paul helped me develop strategies specific to my situation and leadership style in order to lead a more cohesive, effective, and Christ centered team.
One of Paul's greatest strengths is his ability to bring different strategies, innovative ideas, and best‐practices to a project.


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EE has a great app called Tap Wallet – Cash on Tap for its phones that lets you pay for things simply by tapping your phone on a card reader. And now its expanded the app so it works on the London Underground as well as all London Buses. No more fumbling for that Oyster card.
Just like the wireless payment on debit and credit cards, you can pay for clothes from Marks & Spencer, lunch at McDonalds and the bus ride home. As long as it's under £20, the Tap Wallet app lets you pay in over 300,000 locations.
Worried about security? Mastercard has partnered with EE and the Cash on Tap app, so everything's just as secure as wireless payments on its bank cards.
To use the app, you'll need to be with EE, Orange or T-Mobile, have a compatible phone (below), install the Tap Wallet – Cash on Tap app, available from the Google Play Store, and you'll need to load on some cash to the app. That's easily done with a debit or credit card. Then you're ready to go.
The app uses technology called NFC. So, while only a few phones support it right now, EE will be able to eventually roll it out to practically any phone that uses NFC! And that's quite a few phones. So, if your phone isn't compatible right now, don't worry. As long as it's got NFC, EE will be looking to bring it to your phone soon.
[Phones that work with EE Cash on tap]
Currently include; Samsung Galaxy S5, Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini,Sony Xperia M2, Sony Xperia Z2, Sony Xperia Z1, Sony Xperia Z1 Compact,Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Samsung Galaxy Note 2, Samsung Galaxy Ace 3,HTC One, Sony Xperia SP, Samsung Galaxy S III LTE, HTC One, HTC One M8, HTC One mini 2.