text:
By Ulrika Olsson.
Why is one supposed to learn all this? After all, it is a hobby, not a profession!
In order to be able to breed in a good way one needs to know some genetics. And yes, cat breeding is "only a hobby", but that doesn't change the fact that genetic knowledge is needed, hobby or not. The breeds and with that the cats can be harmed, both in short and long term, if breeding is done in an inappropriate way. It is of course not ethically justifiable to harm cats just because of lack of knowledge. So if one doesn't have the time or interest in learning this, then one shouldn't breed cats. You can always show cats, and have fun with your cats in other ways!
Here you will get some basic knowledge on the subject. But we do recommend you to learn more on your own, by reading the recommended literature and other books related to the subject, or by going to lectures when an opportunity arises.
Basic Genetics
The cell
All organisms consist of cells. They live either as singular cells or as larger or smaller aggregations. Bacteria and microscopic creatures consist of one single cell, but higher plants and animals consist of many thousands, millions or billions of cells. In such complicated organisms the cells have different tasks and are gathered in organs with different functions. Examples of such organs are for instance brain, kidneys, and lungs or in plants leaves and pistils.
Form and size of a cell can vary very much. All of them can be seen though as a mixture of biological molecules inside a bag. The "wrapping" is called cell membrane and the "soup" within, the cytoplasm, contains a large amount of easily recognized structures, which all have a specific function. The largest structure is the cell core, called "nucleus", which contains the chromosomes.
The chromosomes
The chromosomes are paired, so that if for example a gene for eye colour is on one chromosome in a pair then there is also a gene for eye colour on the same location, same "locus", on the other chromosome. It is not necessary the same predisposition for a certain eye color on both chromosomes, but it might be. Genes with similar functions are called homologous.
When a cell divides itself a doubling of the number of chromosomes takes place in that each and every of the chromosomes splits itself in half along the middle into a group of two. The pair is kept together in a certain place called the centromere. Since each cell has two copies of each chromosome to start with, this means that every cell, just before division, has 4 copies of each chromosome. The two original chromosomes of the pair are similar, but the two copies of each chromosome that are held together at the centromere, are identical! After this doubling, the centromeres line up in the center of the cell, where the centromeres split: the two chromosomes of the identical pair, now finally released from each other, moves to opposite sides of the cell. Since all chromosomes do this, the chromosomes are divided into two identical groups, each group moving to opposite sides of the cell to form the nucleus of the daughter cell. The cell wall is constructed between the two daughter cells and the process can start all over again. This type of cell division is called mitosis. Thus, during the mitosis the mother cell is divides into two identical daughter cells, which both have exactly the same set of chromosome as the mother cell.
There is also another type of cell division: reduction division or meiosis. During meiosis the numbers of chromosomes are reduced so that the daughter cells only contain half as many chromosomes as the mother cell, one chromosome from each pair. These cells with a single set of chromosomes are said to be haploid (Greek: haploos=single). Cells which have sets of double chromosomes, that is all chromosomes in pairs, are called diploid (Greek: diploos=double). In higher organisms only gametes, reproductive cells like eggs and sperms, are haploid. If the gametes were not haploid the number of chromosomes would double itself in each generation.
In several organisms, including mammals, there are two of the male chromosomes that do not form a homologous pair. They are called the x- and y-chromosomes. During the meiosis, two types of sperm are always formed, one with an x-chromosome and one with a y-chromosome. The female cells contain two x-chromosomes and each egg contains one of these. When an egg and sperms melt together during conception the chromosomes are mixed together and the diploid order is restored. One chromosome of each pair of chromosomes is hence from the mother and the other one from the father. The fertilized egg starts growing by mitosis. The sex of the new organism depends on whether the egg has been fertilized by a sperm with an x-chromosome, which gives a female, or a y-chromosome, which gives a male. Among certain species, birds for example, it is the other way around in that it is the egg cell that has two different gender deciding chromosomes.
The word gene, first introduced in 1910, was used as an abstract hereditary unit controlling a specific hereditary characteristic within a specific species. The existence of the genes was predicted in studying hereditary characteristic, like for instance the color of flowers, from known "parents" for many generations. The most famous studies were done by Mendel, an Austrian monk, on various characteristics of pea plants. The factor found deciding the color of flowers was present in different versions. In one case it gave white flowers, in another red. The same thing applied to the structure of the seed surface: some are wrinkled, others are smooth. These different varieties of one specific gene are called alleles. Each organism has two alleles for each characteristic, one from each parent. In every generation they are split up when the gametes are created during the reduction division (meiosis): each haploid germ cell has only one allele of the original pair. At conception a new combination is created. Both the alleles in the pair can be identical, and the individual is then said to be homozygotic (Greek: homos=same, zygon=pair) for that pair of alleles. If we call the alleles deciding the color of the pea flower for fr (red color) and fw (white color), an individual can have the following combinations: frfr = homozygote, fwfw = homozygote, frfw = heterozygote. The germ cell will have either the allele fr or fw.
The alleles for different hereditary characteristics is often transmitted to the gametes independently of each other, since the different genes often are placed on different chromosomes or far from each other on the same chromosome. A pea plant can for instance have the alleles frfw color of the flower and slsk for long respectively short stem. The gametes can then contain either of the following combinations: frsl, frss, fwsl or fwss. When the gametes are formed the alleles are transmitted for color, fr and fw, independently of the alleles for the length of the stem, sl and ss.
Sometimes the genes for two different characteristics are placed on the same chromosome. If the gene for flower color and the gene for stem length would be on the same chromosome, one might not expect to get both red flowering and white flowering pea plants with both long and short stems. Instead, one would expect the allele for long stem to follow the allele for red flowers, so that one would only be able to get red flowering high plants or white flowering small plants. Well, now this is not the case, for during the reduction division the two paired homolog chromosomes cross over each other and exchange parts. This is called crossover or recombination. As a result, the chromosome that an individual gets from its mother contains parts of the chromosome from the mothers mother, and parts of the same chromosome of the mothers father. Though, still it is so that alleles placed on the same chromosome tend to follow each other. The closer they are the less is the likelihood that a crossover will take place in between them, and the greater the chance that the alleles will follow each other. The genes are said to be linked.
A chromosome is a very, very long DNA molecule. Each genes consist of a little piece of such a DNA-molecule. Sometimes something goes wrong during the duplication of the chromosomes so that a part of the DNA-molecule, maybe part of a gene, is different from the original molecule. The cell with this incorrect DNA-molecule then divides, and the fault is spread further. Even gametes can have an altered DNA-molecule and then all cells in the offspring, or new organism, will have the same defect. This alteration is called a mutation. Some of such mutations don't affect the individual at all. Others may have such a drastic consequence that the individual will not be able to survive, but some mutations will give altered but healthy individuals. Example of such mutations could be the gene for non-agouti and dilution in cats. Some mutations even have a positive influence in the survival of the individual compared to other. Then this new predisposition will spread and animal and plant species have been improved through mutation. This is the basis of the theory of evolution. The natural selection will take care that only animals who are fit will survive, while unhealthy mutations will be weeded out.
Different types of inheritence
Dominant - recessive
Gregor Johann Mendel, the father of genetics, experimented with pea plants. As we mentioned before, one of the things he looked at (that he studied) was the colour of the flowers. He started with two pea species which in cultivating had shown to be stable with regards to the colour of the flower. One strain gave always red flowers and the other strain only white flowers. Mendel crossed these strains by transferring pollen from one kind to the pistil of the other. The result was plants which had only red flowers. These plants then were allowed to reproduce by themselves. This time the offspring was not homogenous. About three quarters had red flowers and one quarter of the plants had white flowers. One calls this a splitting between two different types with a splitting ratio of 3:1, which shows the number plants with red flowers and those with white flowers (see below). Mendel assumed that all plants, which resulted from that crossing between the two types, contained the predispositions for both read and white. He assumed also that the red color had a stronger influence than the white. He hence called the stronger influential predisposition for dominant. The weaker capacity he called recessive. He declared that the dominant gene for red flowers completely hid the recessive gene for white flowers in the heterozygotic plants.
There can be two different types of gametes present in each of the parents:
_______________________________________ | | | | | | fr | fw | |____|______________|_________________| | | | | | fr | frfr | frfw | | | Red flower | Red flower | |____|______________|_________________| | | | | | fw | frfw | fwfw | | | Red flower | White flower | |____|______________|_________________|
Splitting ratio 3 red : 1 white
Incomplete dominance
The dominance of one allele over an other is not always complete. Sometimes one can distinguish a homozygotic individual from a heterozygotic one. One clear example of this one can find in the Four O-Clock flower, Mirabilis. Here the red color is incomplete dominant over the white. Heterozygotic flowers get at color in between red and white - they become pink. This is called incomplete dominance.
If one crosses a red and a white Mirabilis all the offspring will have pink flowers. If one crosses two pink flowers we get the following breeding chart:
_______________________________________ | | | | | | fr | fw | |____|______________|_________________| | | | | | fr | frfr | frfw | | | red | pink | |____|______________|_________________| | | | | | fw | frfw | fwfw | | | pink | white | |____|______________|_________________|
We then get the splitting ratio 1 red : 2 pink : 1 white - 1:2:1.
Sometimes the phenotype for the heterozygotic individual is more extreme than both the homozygotic varieties. That is, if pp gives a light pink flower and PP gives a dark pink flower, then Pp gives a dark red flower! And that feels a little unexpected. This phenomenon is called over-dominance and occurs among other things in the immune system: individuals that are heterozygotes for genes of the immune system, are often healthier and have a better chance of survival than individuals that are homozygotic (with whatever allele) for these genes.
Sometimes two or more genes can contribute to one specific characteristic. This has been studied for example on wheat. Wheat seed has as a rule a red hue, but even pure white seed exist. When crossing between a stable red seed variety and a white one, one only gets red seed. In the next generation the white seeds surface again. This depends on that wheat have two different genes for the color of the seeds, which are placed in one chromosome each (inherited hence independently of each other). The first crossing can be written as R1R1 R2R2 (red) x r1r1 r2r2 (white), which the gives R1r1 R2r2 (red). The dominance by R1 and R2 is incomplete, and due to this the effect of the genes can be added. This results in that the red colored wheat seeds can have different hues of red. Crossing between two of the genotype R1r1 R2r2 will give the following crossing table and colors:
________________________________________________________________________________ | | | | | | | | R1R2 | R1r2 | r1R2 | r1r2 | |______|_________________|_________________|_________________|_________________| | | | | | | | R1R2 | R1R1 R2R2 | R1R1 R2r2 | R1r1 R2R2 | R1r1 R2r2 | | | dark red | medium-dark red | medium-dark red | medium red | |______|_________________|_________________|_________________|_________________| | | | | | | | R1r2 | R1R1 R2r2 | R1R1 r2r2 | R1r1 R2r2 | R1r1 r2r2 | | | medium-dark red | medium red | medium red | light red | |______|_________________|_________________|_________________|_________________| | | | | | | | r1R2 | R1r1 R2R2 | R1r1 R2r2 | r1r1 R2R2 | r1r1 R2r2 | | | medium-dark red | medium red | medium red | light red | |______|_________________|_________________|_________________|_________________| | | | | | | | r1r2 | R1r1 R2r2 | R1r1 r2r2 | r1r1 R2r2 | r1r1 r2r2 | | | medium red | light red | light red | white | |______|_________________|_________________|_________________|_________________|
We then get a scale of five different nuances while only having two pair of genes involved. When it comes to for example the size of a cat, length of fur or the amount of undercoat, there certainly are many more genes involved. The result will be a continuous scale between two extremes.
Sex-linked heredity
Color blindness in humans is an example of a predisposition that is a sex linked inheritance. The predisposition is recessive and placed on the x-chromosomes. To mark this we can call it Xf, and the dominant gene for normal color viewing we can call XF. It is commonly known that there are a significant amount of men who are color blind than there are color blind women. The reason for this is that a color blind woman needs to have the defect on both her x-chromosomes, otherwise the dominant gene for normal color vision would override so that she didn't show the defect. A man on the other hand only has one x-chromosome and if the gene for color blindness is situated on it then he is color blind. There is no gene for color vision on the y-chromosome that could correct the defect.
The consequence of this will then that for a woman to be color blind she must have inherited the defective gene from both her father and from her mother. The father is then color blind, since the gene cannot be hidden with men. The mother on the other hand doesn't have to be color blind; she can carry it as a hidden gene.
A color blind man must have inherited the disposition from his mother, since he has have inherited the y-chromosome from his father and hence the x-chromosome must come from his mother, and with the x-chromosome comes the defective gene.
For example: we make a mating scheme between a color blind man and a woman who carries a hidden predisposition:
____________________________________ | | | | | | Xf | Y | |____|______________|______________| | | | | | XF | XFXf | XFY | | | girl, normal | boy, normal | | | color vision | color vision | |____|______________|______________| | | | | | Xf | XfXf | XfY | | | girl, | boy, | | | color blind | color blind | |____|______________|______________|
Some alleles are not only dominant over other alleles belonging to the same locus but they also obscure the effects of other genes. Or maybe it is recessive towards another allele on the some locus, but still obscuring the effects of any allele in another locus. This is called epistasis. One example of this is the gene for white in cats, W. This gene is epistatic to all other genes for coat color - whether the cat carries genes for black, blue, red, agouti or spotted, it will only be the white color that is showing.
The color genetics of cats
When starting as a breeder one should learn how colors are inherited in cats. First of all one need to know what the different colors and patterns look like. At least one should know the colors of the breed one plans to breed. Different colors can be studied at shows - ask the cat owners if you are unsure what the color of a cat is, or to see if you had it right. Maybe your cat club can arrange a seminar in color classification?
When you have learned the different colors it is time to learn about color genetics.
The original domesticated cat is a shorthaired brown agouti cat. All other colors and varieties that exist have arisen later as mutations from this.
Red or black pigment
Cats as you know have many different colors, but there are only two different types of pigments: eumelanin, black, and phaeomelanin, red. A male cat can only have one type of pigment, while a female cat can have both (tortoiseshell and tortie). This is because the gene for pigment type is situated on the x-chromosome. The inheritance is thus sex-linked. A male has one x-chromosome and one y-chromosome, and hence, can only have EITHER the allele for black pigment or the allele for red pigment. Females on the other hand have two x-chromosomes and the can have BOTH an allele for black and an allele for red. None of the alleles dominates over the other so the cat will be both red and black - tortie. A female can of course have the allele for black on both x-chromosomes. She will then be black. She can also have the allele for red pigment on both chromosomes, and then she will be red.
Denomination: Xr = x-chromosome with an allele for phaeomelanin, red pigment Xb = x-chromosome with an allele for eumelanin, black pigment Y = y-chromosome, no gene for pigment
Alternatively: O = red (orange) o = black
Remember that a male always must inherit the y-chromosome from his father and thus his x-chromosome will come from his mother. A male cat's pigment will always come from his mother, while his father's pigment is not inherited. A female cat on the other hand gets her x-chromosome from her father. She inherits thus her father's pigment. And she also gets one of her mother's x-chromosomes. She thus inherits pigments from both her mother and her father. Notice that this is only true for genes on the x-chromosomes, so for the colors of the cat it is only true for red versus black. Silver, agouti/non-agouti, dilution and other is inherited regardless of sex.
For example: A tortie female is mated to a black male. The female can either give Xb or Xr to the kittens. The male can give Xb or Y.
___________________________________ | | | | | | Xb | Y | |____|_______________|____________| | | | | | Xb | XbXb | XbY | | | Black female | Black male | |____|_______________|____________| | | | | | Xr | XbXr | XrY | | | Tortie female | Red male | |____|_______________|____________|
The chance of getting a black female is one to four, 25 %. The chance of getting a black male is also one to four, 25%, exactly as the chance in getting a tortie female and a red male.
Agouti or non-agouti
In an agouti cat some of the hairs are striped, while others are fully colored. In a brown agouti cat, for example, the hairs in the black part are black, while the brown areas are mostly black- and brownish striped hairs.
The non-agouti variety corresponding to brown agouti is black. The allele for non-agouti is recessive. Both parents must thus carry the non-agouti allele for an offspring to become non-agouti.
The non-agouti gene doesn't work that well on red cats. Non-agouti red cats show the same tabby markings that they would show if they did have the agouti-allele. One usually can decide whether a red cat is agouti or non-agouti by looking at the area between the nose and the mouth. An agouti cat is white or very light colored in that area, while a non-agouti cat has approximately the same color there as in the rest of the face. The same thing applies to cream colored cats. If the cat is red-white or cream-white and has a white spot over the nose it will of course be impossible to decide whether the cat is agouti or non-agouti by using this method. One can look at the rim of the ears - they are lighter on an agouti than on a non-agouti.
Denomination: A = agouti a = non-agouti
Agouti cats can be blotched (or classic) tabby, mackerel tabby, spotted, or ticked (Abyssinian).
A mackerel tabby is, like the name suggests, a cat with vertical relatively small stripes on the body. A classic or blotched tabby has broader bands and the pattern is more marbled. Spotted means that the cat has dots and a ticked cat has a dark stripe along it's back continuing out on the tail tip while the rest of the cat is pure agouti without any markings. Abyssinians and Somali are example o breeds that have ticking, and this pattern is often called Abyssinian.
The three patterns blotched tabby, mackerel and ticked, are the result of three different alleles on the same locus. The gene for ticking is dominant over the other two, and the gene for mackerel is dominant over the gene for classic tabby.
Denominations: Ta = Aby pattern, ticked tabby T = mackerel tabby t (alt. tb ) = classic/blotched tabby
One doesn't know the exact genetics behind a cat becoming spotted. There might be one or more genes breaking up the bands on a tabby or the stripes of a mackerel into spots. It is generally considered that the spotted cats that have tabby as a foundation will have the sharpest dots. It is not unusual for cats to have both stripes and dots, so it might be hard to decide whether a cat is mackerel or spotted.
News! A new theory about the inheritence of the different tabby patterns has been suggested. Read about it here, in Dr. Lorimer's website! http://cc.ysu.edu/%7Ehelorime/TabPat.html
The gene for dilution
The dilution gene causes a modification so that the color becomes lighter. This is because the pigment granules are forming clumps. To the eye the coat looks lighter, in the same way as a mixture of black and white grains of sand look grey. The allele for dilution is recessive. It makes a black cat blue and a red cat cream. A brown tabby cat becomes a blue tabby.
Denominations: D = non-dilution, black/red d = dilution, blue/cream
The genes for chocolate and cinnamon/sorrel
The allele for chocolate is causing the hairs to become lighter for other reasons than the allele for dilution. In chocolate cats the black pigment granules, which normally are round, are a bit flattened. This enables more light to be reflected - the coat looks paler. This allele is also recessive. A cat which otherwise would have been black becomes, as the name implies, chocolate colored. A blue cat becomes lilac. The chocolate allele doesn't work on the red pigment, so red stays red and cream will be cream. The chocolate allele first came from the Siamese and can therefore be seen in all breeds that have the Siamese pointed colors recognized. This is also present in the Oriental Shorthairs, which are very closely related to the Siamese.
The cinnamon/sorrel allele flattens the pigment granules even more than the gene for chocolate which makes the coats seem even lighter. This allele is recessive to both the allele for chocolate and the allele for normal pigmentation. An oriental with this color is said to be cinnamon colored and it describes the color perfectly. The sorrel color of the Abyssinian is genetically identical to the cinnamon of the Oriental, but since the Abyssinian is ticked while the Oriental is non-agouti they don't look that similar. Earlier the sorrel colored Abyssinians were called red, but the breeders back then realized rather quickly that they couldn't be genetically red since there were never born any tortoiseshell colored Abyssinians.
A diluted cat with cinnamon/ sorrel genes in homozygotic alleles is called fawn. This cat can be said to be more beige or ivory colored. This gene does not work on red and cream.
Denominations: B = normal pigment, black b = chocolate (brown) bl = cinnamon/sorrel (light brown)
The albino series
|(1/2)^n x (1+F)
|(1/2)³ x (1+1/4) = 1/8 x 5/4 = 5/32
|= 0.15625
|(1/2)^5 x (1+0) = 1/32
|= 0.03125
|(1/2)^5 x (1+0) = 1/32
|= 0.03125
|(1/2)^4 x (1+0) = 1/16
|= 0.0625
|(1/2)^4 x (1+0) = 1/16
|= 0.0625
|(1/2)³ x (1+0) = 1/8
|= 0.125
The inbreeding = the sum of all contributions = 0.46875 = 46.875%
One thing that happens is that the inbreeding coefficient increases for every generation. Actually, this happens for ALL populations that are not of unlimited size, but then the natural selection is probably working against more inbred individuals, so that reasonably small increases of the inbreeding are adjusted and status quo is kept. It is also known that a larger number of eggcells get fertilized than the number of offsprings that finally are born in the litters, and one theory is that these early featuses have to "fight" for their place in the uterus, and that the more homozygous featuses are less likely to survive. This theory however not been proven to be true.
What will happen, when the inbreeding coefficient is increased generation by generation? In the beginning, not much at all. It isn't until the degree of homozygosity reaches a certain critical level that the real problems show up, and then it is usually much more difficult to take corrective action. It is much better to start working against these problems before the symptoms show up. The pedagogic problem then of course is that those who begin to breed with too few individuals won't immediately see the problems that it will cause. They think "I have bred in this way for many years, and I have not had any problems". But as we can see, "trial and error" is not a very good approach here! When "error" appears it is a bit late to adjust in an easy way.
Why then is inbreeding so dangerous? One thing - that every educated breeder knows about - is that it means an increased risk of doubling up on harmful or lethal recessive genes. The double set of chromosomes otherwise protects us from this risk, to a great extent in a population that is not too inbred. All individuals carry a few harmful recessive genes. Some people think that the inbreeding clears out the harmful recessives and leads to a healthier breed for the future. But first, the inbreeding doesn't clear out anything in itself, it has to be combined with a strong selection in order to clear out any undesirable genes. Second, you have to inbreed incredibly strongly in order to get all or almost all loci homozygous, so that you can see what the cats are carrying and weed out all the undesirable genes. Mate a female with her full brother, and 25% of all loci are homozygous. Then mate two of these offsprings with eachother, and 37.5% of their loci are homozygous. And then we take two of THOSE offsprings and mate them with each other! Now the inbreeding is so strong that most breeders would back away. But still "only" 50% of the loci are homozygous. So in spite of this drastic inbreeding, we will miss out on exposing other recessive, potentially harmful genes.
But let us assume that we go all the way with this! We breed a line towards 100% homozygosity, selecting strongly against harmful genes all the way. All individuals will then have exactly the same genotype, except for the fact that the males must have a Y chromosome where the females have a second X chromosome.
OK, it took a lot of effort and money to make this so called isogene line, and many cats died on the way. But if we now finally have reached to this point, then we have a line that is 100% healthy from a genetic point of view! Yippeeee!!!
It is possible, this can be done, if you are careful not to let the level of homozygosity increase more quickly than you manage to weed out the bad genes. This has been done with mice that are to be used for scientific tests. It works very well! But... they only manage to get about one line out of twenty to survive. The other 19 lines are dying in the process. Maybe better not to take that chance?
Also, the immune system is not very good in homozygous individuals. The immune system works much better if the loci involved are heterozygous, since this gives the individual the possibility to develop more DIFFERENT kinds of antibodies, not just lots of antibodies of the SAME kind. This is not a major problem in laboratory mice, since their environment is quite protected from (undesired) contagious diseases, and since it isn't exactly considered to be a tragedy, unfortunately, if a laboratory mouse dies. If on the other hand a much loved pet cat and family member dies it is indeed very sad. Hmmm... Perhaps not such a good idea after all?!
On top of that mutations happen spontaniously and would with time destroy our fine genotype. You have to count on one or two new mutations in every individual.
I think we had better change our strategy!
If a breed or a population is already so inbred that clear signs of inbreeding depression have shown up, for instance a high rate of early cancer or infections, what to do then?
If there are unrelated lines in other countries, of course the best solution would be to increase the exchange of cats between those countries. If such unrelated lines are not available, we will have to outcross to another breed or unregistered cats that fit the standard reasonably well. If enough new genes are mixed into the population, the inbreeding problem will be solved.
A not uncommon objection against these kinds of solutions is that we don't know which new harmful recessives might be introduced into our breed through these outcrosses. That is true, we don't know. What we do know though is that most individuals carry some harmful recessive genes. Many breeders also think that it is better to have a more inbred population less different kinds of genetic diseases, in order to more easily keep them under control. Maybe there are even tests available for those deseases. But, as we will see below, it is better to have lower frequencies of several different harmful recessives than to have a higher frequency of one single recessive.
Assume that we have a population A with a gene frequency of 50% for some kind of recessive defect. We will compare it to a population B with gene frequencies of 10% for five different recessive defects. Both populations will then have the same frequency of harmful genes, but population A has defect genes of only one kind (easy to keep under control) while population B has its defect genes divided in five different kinds.
The risk for a kitten in population A to show the genetic disease is then 0.50 x 0.50 = 0.25 = 25%.
The risk for a kitten to show a genetic disease in population B is 5 x (0.10 x 0.10) = 0.05 = 5%.
This shows that we get considerably less defective kittens in a population which has lower frequencies for several different kinds of diseases. The most effective way to keep a breed healthy is not to try to eliminate the harmful recessives, but to get the frequency down to a such a low level that two harmful recessives of the same kind almost never meet.
Some breeders will hesitate to outcross because they are afraid that the type will be gone for ever. Some breeders are of the opinion that inbreeding (linebreeding) is the only way to get excellent and uniform type. It is true that by using inbreeding you can achieve quicker results in this area. The problem is that you risk the long term health of the cats. It is possible to achieve the same result without inbreeding, although it takes more time. Unfortunately inbreeding is a very tempting shortcut for breeders that are interested in showing their cats. But one should keep in mind that most of the genes that are doubled up by inbreeding have absolutely nothing to do with type. For instance, a human has approximately 30 000 genes, and 98,5% of those are identical with those of a chimpanzee! And still, aren't we rather different from a chimpanzee? How large a part of the genes could different between a Siamese and a Persian? Or a Norwegian Forestcat and a Maine Coon? Or between a Burmese of good type and a Burmese look alike moggie with reasonably good type? Not more than what we can fix with some generations of selective breeding, I'm quite sure about that!
Yes, that is also due to a too small effective population! Unless it is due to a breeding without regard to the anatomic functions of the animal. Breeding for extremely long bodies might cause problems with the back, and breeding for very short faces might give problems with the teeth, breeding for extremely triangular, square, round, etc. heads might cause problems with jaws, eyes, brain, or whatever. A cat must be allowed to first and foremost be a CAT. It is not a piece of clay that we can shape after our own estetic ideals. A cat doesn't consist of circles, triangles, squares, or other geometric figures, we have to remember that. Maybe we should breed all cats with the coats of a poodle, so that we could CUT out the geometric shapes and odd angles that we find attractive. Then the cats could have their anatomy in peace. No, even if the standard says that a head should be triangular or square, we as breeders must resist to go to extremes. It should be the head of a cat - not a geometric figure.
Except for this breeding for extremes, it is the too small effective populations that cause the high frequencies of many genetic diseases to show up in breeds. Many breeders seem to be a bit confused about this. They might think that if we have for instance 10% of the cats in a breed affected by PRA, meaning a gene frequency of approximately 32% for the recessive PRA gene, and if we don't test and work to reduce this frequency, then the frequency will automaticly increase with time. This is of course not correct. If it were, then also the frequency of diluted (blue, cream, etc.) cats would increase all the time unless we selected against the dilution gene. If the effective population is big enough, and no selection for or against PRA is made, then the gene frequency will stay at 32%.
On the other hand if we select ever so weakly against PRA, for instance let the cats who themselves have PRA (homozygots) have no more than one litter, then the gene frequency will decrease. Slowly with a weak selection, more quickly with a strong selection.
But then what happens if the effective population is too small? What will then happen with the gene frequency? It will be the same effect as if you toss up a coin 10 times. Your chance for heads is 50% every time. And if you had tossed up this coin 1000 times, you would have got quite close to 50% heads and 50% tails. But now you only toss it 10 times. Then it is not very surprising if you by chance got 70% heads and 30% tails, or 30% heads and 70% tails, or something like that.
In the analogous scenario in a small cat population, it means that the gene frequency of around 30% in the next generation might have increased to 35%, because of this random effect. Or else it might have decreased to 25%, because of the same random effect, which in the PRA case would of course be a lot nicer. But let's be pessimistic and assume that the frequency increased to 35%. Then the EXPECTED value of the gene frequency for the next generation is also 35%. But by chance it might end up at 29%, 34%, 38%, 42%, or whatever. The smaller the effective population is the larger the risk is of getting a large deviation from the expected value of the gene frequency. Then this frequency, that we got randomly, will be the expected value for the next generation. This phenomenon is called random drift. If the impact of this random drift gets stronger than the impact of the selection - natural or artificial - then the changes of the gene frequency could very well be the opposite to what we wanted. DESPITE the selection. Then the eyes might get paler in our Siameses, or the lynx tufts might get smaller in our Norwegian Forestcats, or PKD might get more common in our Persians. That would of course be anything but funny!
If we now look into why PKD became a far too common problem in the Persians, it could hardly be caused by some mysterious selection in favour of lumpy kidneys. It must have another cause.
It must of course have started with a mutation in a cat long ago. It was a dominant gene, so the cat developed cycts on its kidneys. Let us assume that it was a male that died from the PKD at 5 years of age. Or perhaps at 7-8 years of age. Either way, we have a certain selection against the gene. If the population is then large enough, the frequency will then decrease and eventually go down to 0%. And even if there were no selection against the gene what so ever, there would be a good chance for the gene to disappear within a few generations, since the frequency could by chance be slightly larger or slightly smaller. And since the frequency was initially very small (one mutated gene in a large population), it is rather likely that the frequency by chance happened to decrease to 0%, and then the gene is gone.
So, the effective population for the Persians apparently was not large enough. Random drift resulted, and by chance this unfortunately caused an increase of the frequency of the PKD gene. In spite of a certain amount of selection against the gene, the result was that the frequency ended up at approximately 25-30% before more breeders became aware of the problem and a stronger selection was introduced.
What does all this tell us? That if we don't have large enough effective populations, then high frequencies of unpleasant genetic problems will continue to pop up. If we are unlucky we might also have difficulties attempting to reduce these problems with selection.
If we instead make sure that we have large enough effective populations in our breeds, genetic diseases will not pop up as a common problem in the entire population. And as a bonus we avoid inbreeding depressions and bad immune systems.
To breed with too small effective populations, and at the same time start projects to fight against genetic diseases within a breed, is just like being treated for lung cancer and continue smoking. Or to scoop out and wipe away the water that have poured over the rim of the bath-tub, while we still haven't remembered to close the tap, so the water is still pouring INTO the tub.
To work for large enough genepools is a kind of preventive medicine measures for the breeds. It doesn't seem clever just to treat the ailments, without bothering about the preventive measures that could prevent the ailments to arise in the first place.
We should also keep this need for reasonably large effective populations in mind when we create and accept one spotted shorthaired cat breed after the other, and one large furry semilonghair breed of medium head-type after the other, etc. Unless the number of breeders willing to work with spotted shorthaired breeds is increased at the same rate as the increase of the number of breeds, the reqruitment of for instance Bengal breeders - just an example - will be at the expense of the Ocicats', Spotted Oriental Shorthairs', Egyptian Maus', etc. possibilities to keep a constant and large enough number of animals for breeding in their breeding programs. Can these breeds afford this? Will the new breed be able to create a place for itself among all these other breeds? Or perhaps they will all get too small populations, so that we in the end have destroyed all the spotted shorthair breeds? These are important things for us in the cat organisations to think about. These threats are real, not just "in theory", and we have already begun to see the first effects, although not yet as badly as in the dog breeds. However, now we have the chance to avoid getting into as bad problems as the dog breeders! We can learn from their mistakes and change into a healthier way of breeding, or we can continue as before and end up in problems.
So this is something that we have to start working with. It must not be forgotten among all the specific projects against specific diseases. It is about the actual basis for the health of the cats and breeds.
If a cat is diagnosed with a defect or a disease, which might be hereditary or not, how do one act? One basic rule is to not breed on that cat, but to continue with its relatives as usual. If the same problem pops up again it can be wise to take further action.
If it is a disease KNOWN to be inherited, the actions might look a little bit different depending on how it is inherited. Here are some suggestions in how to handle the problem in some different ways. Please note that this is general recommendations. In specific cases there might be a reason to adjust the actions somewhat.
If it is a serious disease, that will affect quite a lot of cats among the breed, it might be useful to make a special health program in order to cope with the problem. How one organizes the health program depends somewhat on the answers to the above mentioned questions. The most important part in all health programs is to spread information. One has to spread information of the symptoms of the disease, development, inheritance, and possible tests available. This can be done through club magazines, brochures, web sites, meetings in breed associations and seminars. Quite often there is resentment among breeders to deal with, or even admit, health problems existing within the breed. This is not often because the breeders don't care if the cats get sick or not, but is often due to fear of the unknown and lack of knowledge. If one doesn't know how to deal with the problems it feels awkward to talk about them. Many are afraid of other breeders' panic reactions, that others will demand whole breeding lines to be neutered if a case of the disease is known. Unfortunately such a fear is not always irrelevant. Due to the same lack of knowledge there are incidents when breeders want to take drastic actions in order to quickly solve the problem within the breed. It is as crazy as putting your head in the sand and pretending there are no problems. There are only two types of panic reaction. And none of them will benefit the cats, of course. The measures taken must be reasonable and in proportion to the difficulty of the problem. Under no circumstances should one select so hard that more than 1/3 of the cats in the population are taken out of breeding due to one and the same health problem. If one takes too drastic measurements the whole breeding population might be too small, and this might cause problems with MORE genetic diseases in the population just because of the diminished breeding population. And this was exactly what we did not want to bring about!
Hence, the foundation of a health program is information, information and yet again information!
Then it might be also be cause for registering cases of disease and possible test results. If one decides to do this, one should also consider the register to be open for all people to take part of the results. This has been a conclusive factor in order for a health program to give good results. Lack of openness will only cause gossip and speculations, while facts will effectively end all discussions of that type. And then all the energy might be put into doing something useful about the problem.


text:
It's not difficult to explore Myanmar on a budget, but cash management will need to be savvy. With the country's infrastructure in early phases of development, supplier options can be limited and pricing structures are all over the place!
Street food stalls and local restaurants will be priced considerably lower than any western meal. A plate of Shan noodles or green-tea-leaf salad will cost just US $1 in a small town, and only US $2-$3 in bigger cities, where a western dinner might be US $10-$15.
Accommodation can seem pricey, with a dormitory bed costing up to US $20/night. Sharing private rooms is usually better value at US $30-$40 for a twin share.
"Luxury" establishments are not widely available, and it will likely set you back over US $100/night.
Tourist buses offer a range of classifications from standard to VIP, which will determine the comfort on-board.
A one-way bus ticket for a six to eight hour journey – such as Mandalay to Bagan, or Yangon to Nyaungshwe – will cost US $15-$20.
Train prices are comparable, making up for what they lack in comfort with adventure.
Buddhist culture makes Myanmar anything but a scammers' hotbed. By comparison to neighboring nations, lower tourist numbers have helped keep scams at bay, and you shouldn't be troubled, although standard precautions are recommended.
ATMs are readily available in major cities and tourist towns, although functionality cannot be relied upon 100%. It's always a good idea to carry back-up funds and attempt withdrawals in advance.
US Dollars are widely accepted for exchange, but bills should be pristine, post-2006 issue.
These beaches aren't easily or cheaply accessible compared to other beaches in Southeast Asia – which makes the journey all the more special.
From hostels and guesthouses to camping and free accommodation, what type of accommodation is right for you and your budget in Myanmar?
we just changed money in Thailand and the bnk told us the US dollars bills need to be at best series 2013 for Myanmar.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Friday night will feature performance from 79.5, Luke Elliot, Mail The Horse and Landlady, while Saturday features Breanna Barbara, RIPS, Cassandra Jenkins, Maybird, Super Yamba Band and Space Captain. It's an exciting and eclectic line-up of new talent to keep an eye out for. The fact that it's a free show for two days, is the cherry on top.
For more on the festival head to the event page and drop on in to Bryant Park this weekend if you're in the area.


text:
Back in the good ol' days of DOS, I used to (and still do) like playing adventure games. Specifically, I thought those made by Lucasarts were the best, as they often had simple yet funny plots, and you could pretty much get around them easily. They all had (more or less) consistent interfaces – from Maniac Mansion to The Secret of Money Island, you could tell it was a Lucasart's adventure game and that it was going to essentially work the same as the last Lucasart's adventure game you played.
The consistency in part came from the game engine which they all shared in common: SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion). Each game implemented its own set of scripts and resources which could be run in any version of SCUMM, provided that they were targeted for the version(s) of SCUMM that particular runtime of the engine supported. In a way, it was like the equivalent of Java for adventure games.
Anyhow, part of the reason I got interested in software development in the first place was that I always wondered how these games were made. I thought it was great how it all fitted together – the characters, the animation, the scripting, the lot. Eventually I found various projects on the 'net which were aiming to create development system's for other adventure game engines (such as those made by Sierra), but nobody seemed interested in SCUMM.
Thankfully in 2004 Alban Bedel made his first release of ScummC – a tool to compile SCUMM scripts (using a C-like language) and assets, and link them together so you could play them in any SCUMM runtime that supported version 6 scripts. Although it wasn't until late last year that I was confident to download it and try it out. Still, it brought great a great new insight into how these SCUMM games were made.
By the time I tried ScummC out, Alban had already made a standalone demo SCUMM game which consisted of a single room and a player character. Surprisingly, it was all presented in a top-down view, which wasn't quite what I expected from a SCUMM adventure. Still, I played around with it and was greatly impressed.
When I digged down into the demo code though, I was amazed at how much of the interface was powered by script. The action's, the inventory, the hover text – you name it, it was powered by script. Considering almost every Lucasart's adventure game I played had that same look and feel, I was really thinking a lot of it was going to be explicitly supported in the engine.
In any case, soon after I showed interest in the ScummC project, Alban updated his standalone demo with a second room. It was interesting to note that whilst it was incredibly easy to add room's to script, it was difficult to create the graphics for the rooms as you had to leave space in the room palette for any actor's which might be present in the scene. Nowadays you rarely see modern image editors with support for tailoring palettes in this way, so I was compelled to modify the palcat tool included with ScummC to support pre-appending palettes to images (which for some reason I forget, I needed).
Another thing which I tasked myself with was how to make a conversation. For this, I had to grab a copy of ScummVM and use the debugger to see which SCUMM functions were being called during a typical conversation in Day of the Tentacle. In the end, I concluded that once a conversation is entered, the following things happen:
- saveVerbs() is called to hide all the interface elements (normally known as "verbs")
- All dialogue items are initialised
- setVerbOff() is called on all dialogue items so they don't appear
- Exit conditions for the dialogue are checked
- Each option of dialogue is loaded to a corresponding dialog item (setVerbName()) and turned on (setVerbOn())
- The conversation script waits till a dialogue option is selected. If it is, the relevant action corresponding to the dialogue gets executed. If the conversation hasn't ended, it loops back to 3. Otherwise it goes on to 7.
- All dialogue items are hidden / deleted
- restoreVerbs() is called to restore all the interface elements
Which safe to say wasn't quite what I expected, which was some specific support in the engine for conversations. Which goes to show that SCUMM can be quite flexible.
Sadly there doesn't seem to be a lot of people using ScummC. Though then again, its much more programmer oriented as there is no fancy graphical IDE to build games as there is in other adventure game engine's such as Adventure Game Studio. Its more of a DIY toolset, which doesn't quite work well in this age of easy to use graphical interfaces. I can't quite see the typical user of one of those interfaces having to blindly type in the following (taken from the ScummC example) in order to define a room and some resources.
#include <scummVars6.s>
#include "common.sch"
bit welcomed,lost,santaHello,santaPlace,santaReal;
actor santa;
#define SANTA_COLOR 14
// our room
room Road {
// first we define the room parameters
// the background picture
image = "road.bmp";
// the zplanes
zplane = { "road_mask1.bmp", "road_mask2.bmp" };
boxd = "road.box";
trans = 0;
//cycle testCycl = { 60, 0, 103, 111 };
cost santaCost = "santa.cost";
voice letsgothere = { "letsgothere.voc", 500 };
voice welcome = { "welcome.voc" };
voice tv = { "file.voc" };
object axe;
Still, I think it would be interesting to see where ScummC goes, as there is still a lot to be done with it. I would encourage anyone with some free time and who feels comfortable using lots of commandline tools to check it out.


text:
Design and layout of bound publications
Looking for print services for your publications?
Quick updating of your contents is a challenge?
Need help with the design and layout of your documents?
Seeking to better manage your print projects and create digital versions?
You want to increase impact on your sales and reach your full potential in e-commerce?
Our 30 graphic producers and designers are equipped with the best software on the market. They will help lowering your costs and making your life easier!
Here are a few layout, design and graphic production examples
- Agendas
- Calendars
- Catalogues
- Collective agreements
- Magazines
- Manuals
- Premium publications
- Annual reports
- Souvenir albums
Visit Marquis Interscript to find out more about our graphic production services.


text:
A Helpful Primer For Las Vegas Visitors
If you are in Las Vegas and you find yourself in need of massage therapy, we have got you covered. There are no shortage of styles for you to enjoy. No matter what you may be looking for, we have got the perfect woman for you. All of your needs are going to met and you will never feel such a level of relaxation. When you meet with the women from our agency, you receive the first class service that you truly deserve!
There are also a wide range of massage styles available:
- Las Vegas Asian massage
- Las Vegas Oriental massage
- Las Vegas Thai massage
- Chinese massage
- Las Vegas Japanese massage
- Korean massage
- Las Vegas Nuru massage
- Tantra massage
- Tantric massage
- Exotic massage
- What Is Asian Massage?
This is a massage that relies on the principles that have been used in Asian medicine for centuries now. This touch based therapy allows the client to focus on their specific purposes and receive the physical assistance that they require. There are different styles of Asian massage that may vary from therapist to therapist but they are all designed to produce the same sort of effect.
The mental and physical relief that Asian massage has to offer is top notch. Clients often report feeling a sense of rejuvenation that they simply cannot obtain anywhere else. The body's energy flow is used to create positive feelings. The Chinese have been relying on these massages for thousands of years and it is easy to see why.
- Why Is Asian Massage So Popular?
Asian massage is growing in popularity for a number of reasons. The benefits that are associated with Asian massage are numerous. Clients often report a lower stress level after they have received an massage from one of our Asian girls. Those who suffer from anxiety also enjoy the advantages that these massages have to offer. Clients who suffer from chronic headaches also utilize these massages as a form of relief.
Circulation is stimulated and the client experiences a much greater range of motion. The mental and physical benefits that are associated with this process are simply too great to ignore. It is safe to say that this is a trend that will not be going anywhere anytime soon!
- How Do I Find The Best Asian Massage Near Me?
This is where the assistance of the professionals is always going to come in handy. We are more than happy to provide you with the necessary guidance, so that you can find the very best Asian massage that Las Vegas has to offer. We know that the process can be taxing and that you may only have a limited amount of time at your disposal. Let us be the ones to make sure that your next Las Vegas stay is one to remember!
- How Do I Get The Most From My Asian Massage Experience?
An open line of communication is available to any client who is looking to receive Asian massage in Las Vegas. We implore all clients to take the time to ask the questions that are most important to them. This is how miscommunication is avoided, allowing the client to sit back and relax. This is an experience that should always be maximized.
After all, you are not always going to have the chance to receive a top notch Asian massage in Las Vegas. In order to make sure that this experience is truly memorable, you are going to need to ask the necessary questions once you have had the chance to meet your masseuse. She will always be happy to answer any additional queries that you may have.
- Will My Information Be Safe When I Book With Your Massage Service?
Yes. We are able to safeguard all of your most personal information and keep you from experiencing unwanted identity theft. The information that is provided by our clients is given all of the protection you deserve, so that you can enjoy your Asian massage without worry or fear. We are the service provider that you can trust and there is no reason to fear a loss of personal information.
- What Other Services Are Available?
Maybe you're looking for something a bit different. Perhaps you are tired of the same old same. If so, we have a number of excellent services to offer to all of our visitors. Oriental massage, Thai message and Chinese massage give you a plethora of different options to select from.
Japanese massage and Korean massage are also available. All you need to do is let us know more about the services that you seek. From there, we are able to match you with the masseuse that is ready to cater to all of your desires. Las Vegas Nuru massage, Tantra massage, Tantric massage and exotic massage are also available to any Las Vegas residents or visitors who are in search of different services.


text:
You are here
Deliverable 13. Methodology to assess the impacts of climate and global change in the LIFE MEDACC case study basins: Generation of scenarios, vulnerability maps and modelling
This deliverable explains the methodologies followed in the project LIFE MEDACC to assess the impacts of climate and global change in the three case-study basins: Muga, Ter and Segre.
The first section makes a general introduction to the deliverable objectives. The second section delves into the climate scenarios by giving a general background, explaining existent scenario data and going into detail about the downscaling methodology of the RCP4.5 scenario proposed for this project. The third section carries out specific socioeconomic scenarios drawn ad hoc for project purposes. We have developed three land cover scenarios for the headwaters (afforestation, fire and forest management scenarios) and two water use scenarios for the medium and low basin courses (rational use of water resources and increased demand scenarios). The fourth section presents the hydrological modelling needed to assess the impacts of the scenarios in the water cycle. We have calibrated and validated two hydrological models (RHESSys and SWAT) and, then, introduce the climate and socioeconomic scenarios into the models to evaluate future impacts. The fifth section shows the methodology of the agriculture modelling. This project assesses agriculture suitability using net irrigation needs (NIR) of major crops and uses a set of agroclimatic parameters capable of indicating the consequences of climate change for crop production and growing cycle. Finally, the sixth section goes in depth into an analysis of climate change impacts on forests. We have applied a forest growth process-based model (GOTILWA+) and an index of forest fire risk (Drought Code of the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index) for this analysis.
This deliverable delves into the methodologies followed by the project and the input data used in the modelling. The results, analysis of the results and conclusions of the application of these methodologies can be consulted at the Deliverable 14 Impacts of climate and global change on the ecological, hydrological and agriculture systems in the LIFE MEDACC case study basins.
Document available only in english.


text: Peter Pan is a 2003 Australian-American-British fantasy film released by Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures and Revolution Studios. It was the first authorized and faithful film or TV adaptation of J.M. Barrie's play in half a century, after Disney's version in 1953. P. J. Hogan directed a screenplay co-written with Michael Goldenberg which is based on the classic play and novel by J. M. Barrie. Jason Isaacs plays the roles of Captain Hook and George Darling, Olivia Williams plays Mrs. ... more on Wikipedia


text:
August 20, 2016
We're back with a mid-month swap for Game of the Month! For the next few weeks, we will be highlighting our first mobile GotM, Teeny Titans! Erik (aka Wolfie) has a crazy streaming rig with a mobile adapter. You know what that means - more streaming goodness on Truth a...
Please reload
Featured Posts
Please reload
Recent Posts
Please reload


text:
10:00 - 11:00
Projekta "Robust" sapulce
14:00 - 15:00
Precību spēļu darba grupa
Tukuma Novada Pašvaldība
We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential for the operation of the site, while others help us to improve this site and the user experience (tracking cookies). You can decide for yourself whether you want to allow cookies or not. Please note that if you reject them, you may not be able to use all the functionalities of the site.


text:
Note: To read The Wishing Map from the beginning, click here.
The Wishing Map
Chapter Seven: B'frona (Continued)
Previously: Gina repaired the pixie's temple and–accidentally–adopted a dragon.
⇔ ⇔ ⇔
The little dragon bleated with increasing urgency. It was fiery-eyed Princess Feyrdú, the King's ward, who suggested, "The dragon whelp must eat, your majesty. He must have shrennel or—"
"Yes! By Uol, you are right!" The king turned to B'frona: "We trust, Friend of Pÿthziés, that you will lead the Dragonmeer of Rennou and her precious charge to the fields?"
"Yes, your majesty," said B'frona, his respect for the king forming a thin veneer over his loathing for… "What are you called?"
"What? Oh, you mean…my name is Gina."
There was a brief silence, and then a hearty laugh shook the gathering, as if Gina had just delivered a terrific punch line.
"What's so funny?"
"Your joke about your name."
"But it wasn't a joke. That's my name."
"It can't be. J'nah' is a man's name, a warrior's name."
"No, it's not, and it's not 'Jeh-NAH,' it's 'JEE-nuh'. Hear the diff?"
Apparently they didn't.
"Pay attention, Dragonmeer." B'frona explained slowly, using the tone one employs when addressing a very young or very stupid person, "'J'nah' is a man's name because it ends with an 'ah,' and all names that end with 'ah' are man's names. Like mine. Besides, 'J'nah' means 'he who fights.' It is a warrior's name, and you are just a girl, so it can't—"
"Well, it is! It's Italian, and it means 'queen!' I was named after my Aunt Gina."
The crowd's eyes grew larger.
"She is destined to be a queen?" said Feyrdú, her nose wrinkling in disgust. The pixie queen traded appalled glances with her.
"It is also a warrior's name!" added one of Jenblevó's cronies.
"Because she is willing to fight any man to prove she is worthy to be queen!" said another, with a look of lusty admiration.
"Only a misunderstanding," said the pixie king. "We enjoin the Dragonmeer J'nah to attend to the Dragon of Rennou!" The crowd applauded.
"Wait!" Gina interjected. "Has anybody seen a boy about his size?" She pointed at B'frona. "My brother fell out of a map, I mean a tree, yesterday, or last night, and…"
Blank stares.
The little king offered his regrets. No human boy but B'frona had been seen in the Light Forest for months, he told her.
B'frona left the clearing without another word.
Realizing she had no choice but to follow, Gina stumbled after him into the thicket. There was no trail (none for humans, anyway), but B'frona knew the way. Gina la-la'd the Oh-So-Soft Toilet Paper song and the little dragon scrambled after her.
As they disappeared from the hallowed space, Jenblevó proclaimed, "She is magnificent!"
And Feyrdú staggered back as though she'd been pierced by a sword.
After half an hour of silence, Gina said, "Look, I'm sorry I have what you think is a boy's name."
"Man's name."
"Well, anyway, I'm not from around here, and I didn't know that—"
"You stole my dragon!"
"I didn't 'steal' him, I just kind of fell on him. I didn't know that—"
"You sang to him! Everyone knows that when you sing to a dragon hatchling, it—"
"Well, I didn't know! Anyway, how come you think he's your dragon? I'm the one who found him in the—"
"Because I put him there!"
"I found the egg at the edge of the forest and put him in the Sacred Circle, which no human has ever seen but me!"
"Oh." Gina was beginning to get some sense of why B'frona was so angry.
"Frengan dragons always abandon their eggs; that is the way it is. Then humans find them and become dragonfaers. Or dragonmeers," he added with a note of disgust. "Rennou has not had a dragon in almost fifty years! It would have been a great blessing, and I would have been the one who…and now I suppose you will cozen him away to your own village where—"
"Oh, definitely not! I don't think Middleton is ready for its own dragon yet."
"M'dell tóne? Where is this place?"
"Look, I promise I'll let Puff stay in Rennou." For the first time Gina said aloud the name she'd unconsciously given the dragon.
"Boof?" B'frona queried in his South Frengan accent.
"Yeah, you know, like in the song?"
The millboy glared at her as they crossed over a stone bridge.
"OK, so I'm guessing they don't sing that one in Frenga. Anyway, he can stay here, OK?"
"You will stay too, then?"
"No! I've been trying to tell you, I have to find my brother!"
⇔ ⇔ ⇔
Thoughts: Have you ever discovered that, while you weren't looking, the things that mattered most to you had changed?
To read The Wishing Map 27, click here!


text: This Sexy Mobster Minx Costume , is perfect for bossy babes! Chicago has never seen anything like this-a sexy zip front halter dress in white with black pinstripes and matching cropped jacket. The other boys will be in big trouble with this sexy gangster costume's tie choker and toy gun. Hat and shoes not included. Availability: This Sexy Gangster Costume takes approximately 1-2 business days to leave the warehouse plus transit time. Please allow additional time during peak holiday periods.


text:
If you can stand the heat, there's a single dad in the kitchen.
At not-quite forty and with his son in his last year of high school, Bert's going to be dining alone.
His restaurant's wine rep has a few ideas on how he might sate all of his appetites.
He hasn't been buying what she's been selling, but she's only in Memphis for a few months before moving back home to California.
Besides, it's not like he's going to fall in love for the first time in his life or anything crazy like that, right?
Plus One is a steamy standalone novel.
This is my first book by Mae Wood and it was enjoyable.
Plus One is a story about Bert, a restaurateur and Drennan, a wine rep who have undeniable chemistry.
Bert is a very successful businessman who is a divorced father of a teenage boy. He is living his life to the fullest and enjoying every moment.
Drennan is from a well-known family and is trying to make it on her own. She is very sassy and has noticed the hot restaurateur who has woman falling at his feet.
With quite a few years age difference between the two of them, Drennan and Bert fall into a beautiful relationship.
This was an enjoyable hot single dad steamy romance!
Garcia | Uplifting Designs
can stand the heat, there's a hot single dad in the kitchen.
forty and with his son in his last year of high school, Bert's going to be
dining alone.
His restaurant's wine rep has a few ideas on how he might sate all of his
He hasn't been buying what she's been selling, but she's only in Memphis for a
few months before moving back home to California.
Besides, it's not like he's going to fall in love for the first time in his
life or anything crazy like that, right?
Plus One is a steamy standalone novel.
and all the food and wine references just made me want to hop on a plane and go
taste some good southern food." — After
Dark Book Lovers
fitness coupled with stellar writing and extremely well-developed characters,
then PLUS ONE IS THE BOOK FOR YOU. So, go ahead, one click
it and enjoy." — Y'all
This Book
bitters," he said over his shoulder. "There was a shortage a few years a back,
so I started making my own bitters." I trailed him around the
restaurant's kitchen, a puppy in pursuit of a treat.
I was here on a sales call, making my rounds at the downtown Memphis
restaurants. Selling wine, taking orders, and moving on to the next restaurant
or bar. But when Pig and Barley popped up on my iPad for today's call list,
I couldn't help myself. Couldn't help but dig around in my closet. No
company-logo'ed polo shirt today.
hint of lace.
knew what he'd order.
knew I'd take it.
his tall frame over a chopping board, another vintage concert T-shirt thin with
age stretched across his powerful shoulders, he crushed a star anise with the
flat blade of a knife. The meat of his left palm quickly smacking the heavy
blade he held still with his right hand. And I jumped. He'd never spanked me,
and I'd never wanted it. Never wanted to play that way until now.
you like Absinthe? Or Sambuca?" he asked, the smell of soft black licorice
wafting from the crushed pod. "Because I'm going for a stripped-down version
with this infusion and will then play around with it to make a bitter I can use
in cocktails."
the knife over in his palm, he used the back to scrape the crushed pod into a
glass jar filled with a clear liquid.
Everclear?" I guessed.
"No. Good ol' Tennessee moonshine. Don't ask where I got it."
many, many good things in Tennessee."
wiped his hands and knife on a neatly folded white towel and placed the knife
to the side of the cutting board, parallel and just so. His deliberate
moves were instinctual when he sought out pleasure, whether from his food, his
cocktails, or from me.
this is a sales call?" he asked.
he said with a smile while he folded his arms across his chest, drawing out my
name like I was a naughty child. The three birds on his forearm fluttered from
the muscle movement, and my hand ached to touch his inked flesh. "Who else are
you calling on today?"
and a few other places."
schedule?" he asked.
toward him and walking my fingertips along the top of the shiny steel work
surface, trying to be cool while the heat built inside of me. Fighting to
keep my itchy fingers to myself.
you'll make room."
I whispered, looking into his chocolate and caramel eyes. Even though it
was the two of us in the kitchen, the restaurant's general manager was working
in the broom closet of an office just a few feet away.
did I not hear you say hi to Patti on your way back here? And she's
interviewing a couple potential new servers," he said, quickly flicking his
wrist to glance at his heavy silver dive watch, "about now, I think."
ran through options, scenarios, my brain fizzing from the thought of sliding my
skin against his. "Just how big is the back seat in your monster of an SUV?"
still got my bike in in from yesterday. But hold on," he said.
pulled the phone out of his back pocket and tapped on the screen. I stepped
closer to him, sliding my hands to my waist and then up, pressing my breasts
together. His eyes fell on my cleavage, and his Adam's apple worked in
appreciation, his lips softening with want while his jaw tightened with need.
don't ask any questions. Just say that I can borrow a conference room. I'll be
there in three minutes." One hand shoved the phone back into his jeans
and the other grabbed one of mine, lacing our fingers together, and he pulled
me through the kitchen and the restaurant and onto the street.
room?" I asked, my legs spinning to match his long stride and quick pace as he
tugged me down the bustling sidewalk.
be cool, okay?"
few blocks later he blew through a glass door into a simple lobby. The
Brannon Company shone in bold brass letters behind the receptionist desk.
Forsythe?" asked a thin brunette from behind her big bangs.
right? Trip said—"
sir. We've got a conference room ready. Will anyone else be joining you?"
taking me to his friend's office to fuck? At ten a.m. on a Monday?
us," he said, not loosening his grip on my hand.
eyes moved to me. Taking me in from head to the tips of my nude heels and
I felt my boldness begin to slip. I turned to Bert, to gauge his
reaction. Yeah. No shame. His eyes fixed on the elevator bank ahead
of us. The temperature of our frantic walk over pressed beneath this cool
a nod at me, Jenny led the way to the conference room. Keeping up the
charade that we were here on some sort of business, I sank into an overstuffed
chair at the large oak table, my back to the wall of windows. I grabbed a
notepad and pen from the table and began doodling.
you need anything, Mr. Forsythe, please call reception and ask for me."
Jenny," he said.
course. Have a good meeting," she replied. When the heavy door to the
conference room clicked shut behind her, my laughter burst to the surface.
cool with this?" he asked, one eyebrow lifting in amusement, as he tugged his
shirt over his head, exposing his lean body with Ganesh inked in black wrapping
around his right side.
I answered, not looking up from my notes. "What did you have in mind?"
did you have in mind when you decided to wear that to my restaurant?"
what?" I said, tilting my head and slowly blinking my big blue eyes at him.
on, Dren," he begged, the exasperation at my little game eating away at his
I said, using the pen to point to the hard ridge in his jeans. "I was
planning on coming on that."
you now?" he said, the irritation vanished.
in fact, here's the agenda," I said, tossing the notepad toward him where it
landed on the table.
you serious?" He blinked at me and I again looked away, enjoying playing
coy for once.
got like ten minutes tops before Trip breaks this up."
I suggest we move right to the action items, then," I said, pointing at the
eyes rolled to the ceiling before he snatched up the notepad. "This is a
drawing of a dick."
I know. The agenda's really meaty," I said, examining the pen I twirled between
my fingers.
Minutes," he repeated, a solid tap on the notepad punctuating each word.
I hear a motion from the floor? I bet they says things like that in here,
don't they?" I said, finally turning my attention to him.
only motion I want from you is your ass out of that chair."
in favor?" I asked, scanning the empty room for a response.
he said, scrubbing a hand over his face and rounding the table toward me. "I'm
in favor. Let's get down to business."
chair spun and he leaned down in front of me, his hands dipping into my hair to
bracket my head. "You want my dick?" he whispered in my ear, the scruff on his
face abrading my cheek.
I nodded as best I could in response, my teeth tugging on my lip as I let loose
a soft whimper of need.
hands explored the muscles of his shoulders. My fingernails dug in,
biting flesh, and my answer to his question escaping me in a slow hiss of
desire. His belt and fly open, I leaned forward to shove his jeans and
boxers over his hips, so I could get my hands on his bare ass. I loved
the way the heels of my hands fit into the indentations at his hips while my
fingers grasped firm muscle.
hands shoved up my skirt, running his hands along the tops of my thighs with a
friction that made me melt. Thumbs stroked in tandem at the hinge of my hips
and I went to open for him, but was bound by the chair's arms.
pressed my hips into the chair. "Patience, patience."
minutes," I bit out.
not going to open the door," he replied, his warm hands sliding between my
exposed ass and the chair to scoop me up and place me on the cool tabletop. "No
one is. We could have this room all day. But I want you now."
hands returned to reach underneath my skirt, and my panties were yanked down. I
could feel soft pops as his impatient fingers shredded the lace. "Sorry," he
muttered into my neck.
apologize if you stop," I replied.
pause okay? Not a stop." He backed up, fished a condom out of his wallet and
returned to me suited up. Strong and hard and proud. I pulled my feet to
rest on the table and dropped my knees open for him. Opened for all of the city
of Memphis beyond the wall of windows that was behind him.
for him.
for him.
for him.
reached for him and, with a push, he found me. His hands once again
gripping my ass and lifting me, holding me close, as he continued to thrust
from below. "Drennan, Drennan, Drennan." I knew this chant, mumbled
against my lips and neck. The simple incantation of my name so filled
with need and promise. The words that reduced the world to me and him. To
this moment.
the length of my back snapped me out of the trance. "The window?"
want that?" he asked, nuzzling his scruff along my jaw. "I'll put it on the
agenda for our next meeting. But I don't trust any glass for how hard I'm going
to pound into you."
I heard it—a door, banging on its hinges. "You're not going to get invited
back," I said.
I give a fuck. Come back to me. Here. Now." My fingers tugged at his
hair, fusing his mouth with mine.
deep dive and rock against my clit and I was gone again. So gone for this man.
A while ago Mae decided that she needed to give up the fear
that she couldn't write "great literature" and write what she wants
to read.
And she wants romance. And laughter.
She wants heroines who are brave. Brave enough to be
themselves and brave enough to fall in love.
She wants men who are strong and kind.
Mae lives in the Southeastern United States.


text:
NEW: Student Work & Habit Tracker!
Help your homeschool students build excellent work and personal habits with the Student Work & Habit Tracker.
This simple and flexible tool will help them:
- Manage their time
- Stay on task
- Set meaningful goals
- Build important habits
- Keep focused on God's Word
Featured collection - Sound Words for Kids: Lessons in Theology
Customer Favorites
As a very busy mama to 7 young children, I needed a curriculum that offered structure and guidance, creativity and ideas to make it engaging, but that also was flexible, not too time consuming, not full of crafts I would never have time for, and could be used with our Bible version of choice. I have found that Sound Words fits our needs nicely.
This planner has completely changed the way I look at my homeschool. I was stuck in a public school mindset and trying to make every lesson fit into a neat little box. By working through Tauna's course, I've discovered that I CAN teach my child in a way that is relaxed, fun, and still cover the content.
This is great!!! Im so glad i purchased this [Rhythms & Routines Homeschool Planning System] a few years ago! Over time I have seen SUCH FRUIT from this vision casting, goal setting, and organizing for the first time in my life. It has helped me to cultivate consistency and focus!


text:
The state board of pharmacy may license an individual as a pharmacist without examination if the individual:
(A) Holds a license in good standing to practice pharmacy under the laws of another state, has successfully completed an examination for licensure in the other state, and in the opinion of the board, the examination was at least as thorough as that required by the board at the time the individual took the examination;
(B) Is of good moral character , as defined in rules adopted by the board under section 4729.26 of the Revised Code;
(C) Has filed with the licensing body of the other state at least the credentials or the equivalent that were required by this state at the time the other state licensed the individual as a pharmacist.
The board shall not issue a license to practice pharmacy to an individual licensed in another state if the state in which the individual is licensed does not reciprocate by granting licenses to practice pharmacy to individuals holding valid licenses received through examination by the state board of pharmacy.
Amended by 132nd General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 49, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2017.
Effective Date: 07-22-1998 .


text:
We use cookies to collect information about how you use GOV.UK. We use this information to make the website work as well as possible and improve government services.
You've accepted all cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.
Many local councils let you renew library items like books and DVDs online.
Find a postcode on Royal Mail's postcode finder
Don't include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details.
To help us improve GOV.UK, we'd like to know more about your visit today. We'll send you a link to a feedback form. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. Don't worry we won't send you spam or share your email address with anyone.


text:
Reincarnation is an ancient belief. It is part of many religions (Hinduism and Buddhism, for example) and was even one of the original Christian tenets, until condemned by the Second Council of Constantinople in 553. It is believed that the human spirit, or soul, is a fragment of the divine and eventually it will return to its divine source. But, for its own evolution, it is
necessary that the soul experience all things in life.
It seems the most sensible, most logical, explanation of much that is found in life. Why should one person be born into a rich family and another into poverty? Why should one be born crippled, another fit and strong?…if not because we must all eventually experience all things. Reincarnation seems the most logical explanation of child prodigies. A musical genius, composing concertos at the age of five (as did Mozart), is obviously carrying-over knowledge from one lifetime into the next. This does not usually happen, but it can. In the same way, homosexuality might well be explained through reincarnation: a person male in one lifetime and then female in the next (or vice versa) might have carried over feelings and preferences from one life to the next.
For someone who does not believe in reincarnation, it is difficult to understand the death of a child. What was the point of the child living at all, if only for a few short years? For the reincarnationist it is obvious that the child had learned all that had been set to be learned
in that particular lifetime and so was moving on. A very good simile for this is the grades of a school. You enter school in a low grade and learn the basics. When you have mastered these you graduate, take a short vacation, then come back into a higher grade to learn and
experience more things. So it is in life. In each life you have a certain amount to learn and to experience. When you have done that, you graduate (i.e. you die). To come back into a higher grade you are reborn in a new body. Occasionally remembrance of previous lives, or parts of them, is experienced but more generally you do not remember (it is possible, of course, through such procedures as hypno-regression, to go back to previous lives and bring them once more to the surface). Perhaps one of the most common of occult experiences is that
of deja-vu—the feeling that something has happened before—so often attributed to reincarnation (though by no means is reincarnation the only possible explanation of all cases of deja-vu); the feeling being a brief flash of memory of something that happened in a previous life.
In what form do we return to the earth? Some believe (the Hindus, for example) that it is not necessarily in human form each time. Certain Hindu sects teach that the soul may be reborn as a plant or an animal. However, such beliefs are not generally held in Western civilization. Some say there is a progression from the lowest life-forms to the highest— putting humans at the top. But then who is to say the order? Is a dog higher than a cat, or a cat higher than a dog? Is a centipede higher or lower than an earwig? Does this mean, when every soul has finally passed up the scale and graduated, that in the afterlife there will be no plant, animal or insect life? It seems unlikely. In Witchcraft the belief is that all things have souls. In Saxon Witchcraft, for example, it is believed that a dog will go through many incarnations, but always as a dog; a cat always as a cat; a human always as a human. There is reason for all things to be here … what we term the "balance of Nature". It seems we certainly have a choice, within our species, of being either male or female, in order to experience and appreciate the different aspects.
One argument often put forward by non-rein-carnationists is "If what you say is true, how
do you explain the fact that the world population is continuously growing?" Of course it is! So is the population of souls/spirits. There are not simply x number of souls who all started their development together. New souls are being introduced all the times. So we have so-called "new souls"—those on their first incarnations—and "old souls"—those who have been through a large number of lives. It is possible that eventually, when the gods decide enough souls
have been introduced, there will be a stabilizing of the population followed later by a decline, as old souls in their final incarnations make their graduations. There is yet another thought that might be considered here … where do these souls originally come from and where do they go after that final graduation? One possibility, of course, is that we not only experience lives here on Earth, but also on other planets and in other reality systems. Who knows? …
perhaps we go through the cycle here having already been through it a dozen times or more on other worlds. There is obviously much food for thought, very little (if any) proof of preferences and great scope for new tenets.
Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft


text: Hey guys! Hope you are all staying healthy and safe! I just recently started my YouTube vid. And this is one of my first vids, you can check it out, and if you have any feedback about the the video or channel design, I'd be very happy to hear it


text:
Producers of High Probability Outcome Content
A kid's dream. A retired legend. The adventure of a lifetime.
A Family-Friendly Film
LOGLINE: Scheming to meet their favorite martial artists, four country tweenagers rope a retired martial arts champion into coaching them to compete in the celebrity tournament.
(310) 752-6595
Created by award-winning Writer/Director, Scott Seargeant
LOGLINE: A young psychiatrist must let her employees go or face bankruptcy. She gets an idea to hire her patients to work for her in exchange for free therapy. The result is pure comedic chaos.
For more information Contact: Scott Seargeant (310) 752-6595
Scott Seargeant is an award-winning writer, director, and producer.
Scott is the originator, creator, mastermind, and founder of Revolier Films. Scott started Revolier Films in 2014 and immediately received awards and recognition for his short films, The Fallen and The Thank You. Scott is an eclectic and an electrifying storyteller. His mind converges life situations and current, timely events into full-blown TV shows, books, plays, features and enchanting and compelling scripts. A few of his works include screenplays, Flashlight, Subconscious, Z Survive, and Well-Being and the acclaimed multi-media, multi-language webisode, The Alien which garnered millions of followers internationally right out of the gate. His latest endeavor, the crisp, clever, and hilarious sitcom Temporary Insanity, already has a huge fan base following.
Scott is a renowned author, and the first person to publish a book (Allergy-Free Living) on allergies caused by plants and plants that are allergy free. This book is now the "go to" book and the "global guide" to Allergy-Free Living.
Scott developed a humanistic, grassroots approach to marketing his book. His human-interest marketing strategy went viral and made it in over 100 newspapers across the U.S. and Canada, (including the San Francisco Chronical). Scott appeared on countless radio talk shows and interviews. He was featured in 12 major magazines, including The Family Circle and the medical journal, Allergy & Immunology.
His book was an international hit and is used in conferences in England and Pakistan. Amazingly the entire PR campaign cost less than $200. "I realize how important the message is when selling a product or informing an audience," Scott said.
Scott Seargeant is also an International Arborist. His work has led him across the US, Canada, and Mexico solving complex outdoor environmental issues. He graduated from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Ca. with a B.S. degree.
Scott is also an accomplished songwriter having written songs for several independent movies.
The book fame and his background, skill, and talent brought his expertise forward as he hosted Central Valley Gardening. A 30-minute show on gardening tips presenting new, interesting, unknown and viable tricks to make your landscaping shine while saving time and money. The show ran for five consecutive years.
At the young age of 24, Julian became a network executive when he co-founded MCB Network 55.4 KTBU, a broadcast television network based in Houston, Texas. MCB Network was a groundbreaking business venture as it was one of the earliest television networks created for Latinos in English in the United States. This opportunity was made possible by Texas billionaire and telecom trailblazer, Mr. Lee Cook. During that time, Julian produced hundreds of hours of television content, created and managed the network's 24hr program scheduling, sent out contracts & acquired shows, and essentially learned to run a television network from the ground up.
After leaving MCB Network, Julian ended up at one of Houston's leading Hispanic advertising agencies, Concepts in Advertising founded in 1989. After a year, Julian became Production Manager and oversaw all of the agency's commercial work, having written copy, producing and editing hundreds of television and radio spots in a Top 10 Market. Additionally, Julian developed working relationships with media buyers, station contacts, and clients with budgets upwards of $1M+ per year.
At the present time, Julian is a Los Angeles based feature film and scripted series editor, and naturally, he has now jumped headfirst into producing as well with several projects at various stages of development.
As Video on Demand and streaming services have taken a swing at traditional television networks, producing scripted content such as feature films and television shows has become Julian's new mission.
Combined with his love for the creative, Julian has the "go-get it" business attitude of creating the films and shows that he would love to work on and fervently makes them happen.
Melanie Warner has served in the film and TV industry for nearly 30 years in production, legal and administration. After attending UCLA Film School, she started out as a casting assistant, then an executive assistant for an agent at ICM to understand how to broker talent. Then, she had a stint at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) to learn about compliance and contracts. She went on to work for Barbour Langley and worked on Cops, plus launched the world's first 2 transactional TV shows. She was an executive assistant to Brannon Braga at Star Trek. She also worked for Ridley Scott at RSA and worked on hundreds of commercials.
Next, she spent years at Disney studios and worked for Michael Eisner, Joe Roth, Donald DeLine, David Hoberman, Jerry Bruckheimer and many other key film executives and also in the music legal department.
Warner was one of the first employees hired at Dreamworks SKG and worked on many projects there. She owned Warner-Kennedy productions, producing hundreds of commercials, music videos, and short films that competed in the Cannes Film Festival, Deauville Film Festival and many others.
Warner has owned a media company for 25 years that publishes magazines and newspapers. She is a Partner and Producer on Karate Quest and will help with negotiations, financing, leveraging industry relationships, problem-solving during production, marketing and distribution of the film.
As an actor, Melanie worked on Double Dragon over 20 years ago with Imperial Entertainment. Worked with Don "The Dragon" Wilson on that film.
Melanie was JR's secretary on Dallas for 2 seasons and has played many small parts as an actor plus 2 films with Oliver Stone. She has a very diverse career and has been seen "behind the curtain" from every angle.
CD began in the film industry on the set of Con Air and Volcano as the Executive Protection Agent for Nicolas Cage and Tommy Lee Jones.
In 2008, CD landed a lead role in a docu-reality pilot. He Later collaborated with producers associated with that show developing several new film and TV projects. After three years CD started his own production company, Two11 Productions.
Currently, CD is following his passion to inspire others in various realms of film. He is involved in the film industry as a producer, director, creator, and writer. Under his Two 11 production company, CD has over 20 film and TV projects in development including a Spy Novel. He is currently a Producer on Temporary Insanity.
Every Bright Light Casts a Dark Shadow
Genre: Sci-fi/Action
Rating: Est. R (Expected)
Type: Feature film, estimated time 1:40
Script only.
A driven psychiatrist tests her powerful hypnotic invention on an unsuspecting subject. But when her investors plot to steal it, she finds her only ally in the man she tried to hypnotize.
A Kids Who Done It
Genre: Children/Family
Rating: G
Type: Feature film, estimated time 1:30
Script only.
A gang of quirky kids form an after-school detective agency. But when an unsolved
Jewelry heist gets reopened their meddling mischief gets them in real danger.
It's Your Advantage When Nobody
Knows Your Name.
Genre: Action/Drama 1 hour Spanish Novella made in America
Rating: PG-13 Viewer discretion is advised.
Type: Originally a bilingual (English/Spanish) web series, converting to a TV series or a movie trilogy.
Add-ons: Bilingual & Subtitled (English and Spanish) The characters speak in their native
Language. Subtitles were added in English and Spanish.
Audience: English and Spanish speaking M/F 13-17; 18-24. US and Spanish speaking countries.
Three scripts completed.
A Mexican girl's family is killed by a drug lord as the cartel prepares to
leave Mexico, so she follows them to California; bringing nothing with her but revenge
The System Lied
Genre: Drama (based on true events)
Rating: Est. PG-13
Type: Feature film, estimated time 1:30
Script only.
A young couple desperately tries to adopt a child. But the system preys on their naivety and promises are broken, until the birth mother emotionally decides the fate of her own child.
SUBCONSCIOUS (working title)
Never underestimate the power of a conman
Genre: Action/Drama
Setting: The original screenplay is set in New York, 1940, early summer. This may change to modern day, depending on the budget.
Rating: Est. PG-13
Type: Feature film, estimated time 1:30
Script only.
A young lad cons money from a brutal crime boss which leads to a deadly game of cat and mouse as they plot to kill each other.
PUNCH-LINE (working title)
When life's a joke, start laughing
Genre: Coming of age comedy
Setting: The original screenplay is set in New York, 1940, early summer.
Rating: Est. PG-13
Type: Feature film, estimated time 1:30
Script only.
A young lad cons money from a brutal crime boss which leads to a deadly game of cat and mouse as they plot to kill each other.
Revolier Films
P.O. Box 1849 Visalia, CA 93279 US
Copyright © 2020 Revolier Films - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy Website Builder


text:
FOSTORIA,OH- The Chamber is will host Kid's Makers Market in conjunction with the July 20 Fostoria Farmers' Market, Christmas in July.
Christmas in July Kid's Makers Market is open to youth under the age of 18 who would like to set up and sell handmade items at booths set up in the Farmers' Market on the corner of Tiffin and Main Streets in Downtown Fostoria.
For youth to participate in the Christmas in July Kid's Makers Market they must submit an application to the Chamber by May 15. All kid maker items to be sold must be handmade, only two like sellers will be accepted and kid makers must provide their own table, chairs and tent if desired. Kid makers will be asked to abide by all Farmers' Market vendor rules and the cost to participate is $5. The Christmas in July market will run from will run 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., on Saturday, July 20.
The Chamber hosted a Kid's Makers Market Christmas Edition on December 1 in conjunction with the Rotary Holiday Parade and found it to be very successful. According to Sarah Stephens Krupp, Chamber/Small Business Director, "Our goal with the Christmas Market was to capture and increase holiday parade traffic and support kid makers while bringing people into our Downtown. We were blown away at the support and the number of people who ventured out in spite of the horrible weather that day. Most of the participants sold out and had a wonderful experience and we knew we wanted to host other Kid Maker events."
The Chamber plans to once again host the Christmas Market again in the hours leading up the Rotary Holiday Parade but saw an opportunity to partner with the Farmers' Market and give Kid Makers another opportunity to showcase their talents and entrepreneurial skills. Kid Maker applications are available at www.fostoriaohio.org/kidsmakersmarket . The deadline to apply is May 15 and all selected makers will be notified by June 5.
For more information go to www.fostoriaohio.org/kidsmakersmarket
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Sarah Stephens Krupp, at 419-435-0486 or via email at email@example.com.


text:
Alumni Involvement
Pictured (L-R) David Bernardez,'10, Samuel Mantilla P.D. (Guest), Michael Conigliaro,'92 (seated), Roger Mischel,'03, Barry Pulchin,'66, Lissa Benton,'88 and Michael Kalkin,'62.
Seated (L-R) David Bernardez, Mona Balkaran, Michael Conigliaro - QCC Alumni Association President and Ricky Panayoty - QCC Student Government Association President.
The Student Government Association pictured here with the QCC Alumni Association.
Dr. Young Kim, Chairperson/Associate Professor of the Health, Physical Education and Dance Department, Coach Roger Mischel, '03, Michael Conigliaro, '92 and Assistant Professor Daniel Armstrong, '04.
The Chairman of the QCC Fund, Inc. Board, Mr. Mark Kupferberg and QCC Alumni Association Former President Mr. Michael S. Conigliaro, '92.
Former QCC Alumni Association President Michael Conigliaro, '92 attends Queensborough Performing Arts Center (QPAC).
QCC Alumni Association attends the annual Partners for Progress Gala. Alumni Cabinet Member Mr. Barry L. Pulchin, CPA, CFE, '66 (Red Tie) received the distinguished QCC "Alumni Partner of the Year Award".