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McADAM firstname.lastname@example.com_county.london.london_free_press 2007-01-05 published
KENNEDY, Archie William
Peacefully at Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital on Thursday, January 4th, 2007, Archie William KENNEDY of Ailsa Craig, Ontario in his 90th year. Beloved husband of the late Viola May (EEDY) KENNEDY (2001.) Dear father of Elaine and Don STEBBINS of Hensall, Jean and Allen AMOS, Shirley and Lorne MacGREGOR and Audrey McADAM all of Ailsa Craig. Dearly loved grandfather of Bill and Diane STEBBINS, Kim APPS (Mike), Jeff AMOS (Jody), Cathy TALBOT (Brian), Angela AMOS (Brandon), Amanda AMOS (Adrian), Tim MacGREGOR (Trina), Ian MacGREGOR (Susan), Pam KACZMARCZYK (Kevin) and Tammy GREGORY (Scott) and 15 great-grandchildren. Dear brother of Elaine SANDERSON of London. Predeceased by brothers Ferg, Colin and Dave. Resting at the T. Stephenson and son Funeral Home, Ailsa Craig, where the funeral service will be held on Sunday, January 7th, at 3 p.m. with Rev. Kate BALLAGH- STEEPER officiating. Interment Nairn Cemetery. Visitation 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Saturday. A Masonic Service under the auspices of Craig Lodge #574 will be held on Saturday evening at 6: 30 p.m. Donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario or the charity of choice would be appreciated. A tree will be planted in memory of Mr. Archie KENNEDY.
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McADAM firstname.lastname@example.com_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-10-18 published
MacADAM, Hugh Gerald
Husband, father, lawyer, Cape Bretoner, decorated solder. Born February 3, 1922, in Margaree Harbour, Nova Scotia Died August 2 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, of heart failure, aged 85.
By Margaret MacADAM, Page L12
In the last years of his life, Gerald MacADAM puzzled about the meaning of his existence and the ways in which luck and opportunity shaped his life.
Born in 1922, the 12th (and youngest child) of Colin Francis and Annie (CHISHOLM) MacADAM, Gerald spent his childhood in the town of Margaree Harbour in Cape Breton.
In his life, there was his education (and high jinks) at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and yet he graduated summa cum laude; fighting (and high jinks) in Europe during the Second World War as a lieutenant in the army; law school (and high jinks) at Dalhousie University.
Gerald was also with the legal department at Algoma Steel Inc., and did years of volunteer work for organizations in Sault Ste. Marie. He was married to Amelda MacKINNON for 52 years and was a devoted father to his son, Donald.
Gerald was first and foremost a Cape Bretoner. To him that meant a man fortunate to have been born on the Island and not on the mainland (the disparaging term for the rest of Nova Scotia).
Second, Gerald was a scholar in the tradition of many of his highland forebears. For him, the centre of his home was his library he read extensively about history, politics, philosophy and religion.
He loved nothing better than having a "discussion" with a visitor about his experiences at university, in the army, working with Sir James Dunn at Algoma Steel Inc., or his volunteer work with the Grey Sisters.
Over a glass of scotch, the visitor would be regaled with funny stories.
One of his best was about trying to move an unauthorized horse during a military convoy, having the horse trailer break down on a bridge, which held up the entire operation, being berated by the commanding officer, and giving his name as Donald MacDonald, knowing that there were so many Donald MacDonalds in the army that no one would be held responsible.
Perhaps inevitably, Gerald was a seeker. He marvelled that he survived a war when so many didn't and he struggled with the difficulties that shape all our lives. He had an inquiring mind and sought meaning in Buddhism.
It was his wish that his friend, Rev. Francis Reid, who had been an altar boy at his wedding, officiate at his funeral. Those who knew him understood that his journey was well done.
Margaret MacADAM is Gerald's niece.
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McADAM firstname.lastname@example.com_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-12-21 published
Famous for his Canadian Football League 'sleeper play,' he became Ottawa's local hero
In November, 1960, he executed an unusual and dangerous manoeuvre that put the Rough Riders on the road to the Grey Cup. He turned down two National Football League teams and later entered politics
By Ron CSILLAG, Special to The Globe and Mail, Page S6
November 20, 1960, Toronto's Exhibition Stadium. The Canadian Football League's Eastern Conference final was being played, with the Argonauts pitted against the Ottawa Rough Riders. It was a two-game affair, with the point total to decide the outcome. Ottawa had won the first game, 33-21, but in the second, they were trailing 20-14 in the fourth quarter. One more Toronto touchdown would send the Argos to the Grey Cup.
Then came a manoeuvre so outrageous, it was actually banned: the famous "sleeper play," in which Ottawa quarterback Ron Lancaster spotted tight end Bob SIMPSON during a player exchange that no one else noticed, least of all the Toronto defence.
Only Mr. Lancaster, who went on to become a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation sports announcer and Canadian Football League head coach, can call it: "It was kind of crazy," he recalled in a telephone interview from Hamilton. "We were in our own end. Toronto was winning. If they score again, they're gonna beat us, so we need to move the football.
"We ran a play, and getting up off the field, heading back to the huddle, I ain't got nothing to do. So I'm just kind of looking around, and Bobby's walking to the sidelines. He just sort of walked. He wasn't drawing attention to himself. It was a spontaneous thing. He just kind of had his head down, his hands on his hips, just kind of walking to the sidelines - and he stopped. Didn't do anything elaborate. Just kind of blended in.
"And I look at him and he gives me this sign. He just stands there. So I hurry up and tell 'em to snap the ball. I throw it to him and he runs [from] somewhere around our 25 down to their 25. Next play, we run it down to the 1, put it in the end zone and scored, beat 'em 21-20, won the East and went to the Grey Cup and won it."
It was a jaw-dropping play for the fans, the most famous sleeper play ever executed in the Canadian Football League - and also the last. The league outlawed it immediately. But it was typical of the kind of guy Mr. SIMPSON was: brash, bold, cheeky, fun.
A swift runner with huge, glue-like hands and impressive playing numbers, he "was as great an all-around athlete as you're going to find," Mr. Lancaster said. But he was always remembered for that play.
"Over the years, there must have been a quarter of a million fans who came up to me and said they were in Lansdowne Park [in Ottawa] and saw the sleeper play," Mr. SIMPSON once told his friend Pat MacADAM, a sports columnist for the Ottawa Sun. "I didn't have the heart to tell them the game was played in Toronto."
A native of Windsor, Ontario, Mr. SIMPSON was a year old when his father walked out on his mother. At Patterson Collegiate and later Assumption College, now federated with the University of Windsor, he excelled at basketball, football and track, running the 100-yard dash in 10 seconds flat. He played on two provincial championship basketball teams in high school before joining the famed Tillsonburg Livingstons.
He was tearing up the field for the Windsor Rockets of the Ontario Rugby Football Union when the Rough Riders snapped him up in 1950. But he was granted leave to play for Canada's basketball team at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. He played five games but Canada was eliminated.
In his 12-year Canadian Football League career, he caught 274 passes, including a single-season career-high 47 in 1956, for a total of 6,034 yards. He scored 65 touchdowns - 12 of them defensive. The record stood until Terry Evanshan broke it in 1975. He set another record for most yards receiving in a game (258) in a 1956 contest against Toronto.
He was an Eastern division all-star eight times at four different positions - end, flying wing, running back and defensive back - and was a three-time nominee for the Schenley Award given to the league's most outstanding Canadian. He was runner-up in 1956, the year he was also nominated as the Canadian Football League's most outstanding player.
Mr. SIMPSON was inducted into the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame in 1976, the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Windsor-Essex Sports Hall of Fame the same year.
With his skills on both sides of the line and his leadership as co-captain (with Kaye Vaughan), Ottawa won Grey Cups in 1951 and "He had these great big hands," remembered George Brancato, who played with Mr. SIMPSON in Ottawa and against him in Montreal. "He could catch the ball. He had a real soft touch. He knew the game so well. And he loved life. He enjoyed himself all the time."
He also famously turned down two offers from National Football League teams in the United States. The first came from the New York Giants, who noticed Mr. SIMPSON after they became the first National Football League team to play outside the U.S. on August 12, 1950, when they met Ottawa in a preseason exhibition game at Lansdowne Park. New York won 27-6 and wined and dined Mr. SIMPSON - unheard of for a Canadian player at the time.
The story, according to Mr. MacADAM, is that he listened to his mother, who said to him: "Do you want to be a little fish in a big pond?" and turned down the Giants. Besides, the money wasn't nearly as good as he was making in the Canadian Football League. At his peak, Mr. SIMPSON probably earned $10,000 a year.
Around the same time, he turned down an offer from the Baltimore Colts. Ottawa sportswriter Earl McRAE waxed, "Imagine: Johnny Unitas passing to Bob SIMPSON."
Mr. SIMPSON's career ended in 1962 after a car accident with a tractor that dislocated his already bashed-up hip. After retirement, he was elected to Ottawa City Council, representing Wellington Ward for two terms. "It was right after the Grey Cup in 1960 and he was the hero," retired sportswriter Gerry Redmond told The Windsor Star. "He could have been elected prime minister."
He went on to a variety of occupations. He owned a cleaning company for a time, coached a local high-school football team and worked in the Rough Riders head office as a public relations man. He bought the Locanda restaurant on Laurier Avenue from Paul Anka's family. "It was a great watering hole and restaurant but Bobby overestimated Ottawa nightlife," Mr. MacAdam wrote in the Ottawa Sun. He also "tore up one too many of his Friends' bar tabs." He opened a night spot, Club 70, his Ottawa jersey number, but it stayed empty.
Still, he never lost his outsized zest for life. "Any time Bobby SIMPSON was around, you heard him," Mr. Lancaster said. "He was just naturally loud. He was really a fun person to be around. If you were around him, I guarantee you're going to have a good time."
Mr. MacADAM had similar memories: "You could hear him coming a block away. Make that two blocks. You knew you were not going to receive a handshake. His standard greeting was a slap across the back that threatened to separate your shoulder blades. A crushing bear hug was an automatic. Bobby SIMPSON didn't just fill a room he lit it up with his infectious good humour."
He and a group of rambunctious beer-drinking buddies were institutions at the Belle Claire Hotel's bar and, when it closed, the Churchill Arms on Carling Avenue.
"Good-natured insults flew fast and furious and Bobby was the butt of a few memorable ones," Mr. MacADAM wrote. "But he had a good sense of humour and gave as good as he received."
As with many former athletes his weight ballooned, to 270 pounds. When a doctor advised that he drop to 180, Mr. Brancato exclaimed: "His bones weigh 180 pounds!"
One day, Mr. SIMPSON walked into the Arms, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
As Mr. MacADAM related, "he told us the greatest honour he had ever received" was bestowed on him at the annual Easter Seals "Timmy" event for disabled children at Maple Leaf Gardens. Traditionally, "Timmy" was carried from the back of the hall to a platform by wrestler (Whipper) Billy Watson. But Mr. Watson was recovering from surgery and the honour fell to Mr. SIMPSON.
"I never felt so proud or so humble," Mr. SIMPSON said.
For 14 years, he worked as a clerk at various liquor stores in Ottawa. In 2000, Ottawa sports fans celebrated an event billed as "No. 70 turns 70."
Did he miss playing? "Every day," said his wife, Mary. "He would have paid them to play. I don't think he ever found anything really to replace that. He just loved it."
That his glory days were long past never seemed to get him down, though. In fact, there was a Dixieland band at his funeral, playing You Gotta Be a Football Hero.
Robert Lee SIMPSON was born April 20, 1930, in Windsor, Ontario He died of cancer on November 27, 2007, in Ottawa. He was 77. He leaves his wife, Mary, daughters Lynn and Mary Leigh, sons Rob, Gary and Mark, and seven grandchildren.
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McADAMS firstname.lastname@example.com_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-09-19 published
McADAMS, William Francis Henderson " Bill"
Peacefully, at The Guelph General Hospital, in his 81st year on Sunday, September 16, 2007. Bill was the beloved husband of the late Nancy (2001.) Dear father of Sandra PARNELL (Terry,) Linda BYMA (Sid), Ian (Darlene) and Bruce (Nancy). Proud Papa of Laura, Mike, Rob, Jeff, Steve, Lindsay, Jackie, Michelle, Benjamin and Wyatt and Great Papa of Mikaela, Brianna and Carly. Bill was a loyal member of Fleetair Arm 143 Squad, 13 E.F.T.S. Saint_John's, Qu�bec, as well as the Col. John McCrae Branch 234 Royal Canadian Legion and former Guelph City Councillor. Friends may call at the Gilchrist Chapel - McIntyre and Wilkie Funeral Home, One Delhi Street, Guelph (from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday). Legion Service at 4: 00 p.m. Friday. Funeral Service at the Gilchrist Chapel on Saturday, September 22, 2007 at 1: 00 p.m. with Pastor John VANDERSTOEP officiating. Cremation Woodlawn Memorial Park. Memorial contributions to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario would be appreciated. A reception will follow in the Trillium Room of the Funeral Home. We invite you to leave your memories and donations online at: www.gilchristchapel.com
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text: In article <kulykw-2009951401070001 at anat36120.usask.ca>, kulykw at duke.usask.ca (William Kulyk) wrote: > I will be attending the 1995 American Society for Cell Biology Meeting > in Washington D.C. from December 8-14, 1995 and am looking for a roommate to split the accomodation costs. - Thanks for your responses. I've found a roommate! - W. Kulyk

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Chris Davies offers a first-class repair service for all kinds of domestic appliances and covers a large area of territory in Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire.
washing machineIt's the norm these days that every household will have at least one but more probably a number of electrical appliances such as a washing machine, cooker, tumble dryer, dishwasher etc. Very often these devices will provide an excellent problem-free service throughout their working lives until they finally have to be replaced.
However, as many people will know to their irritation, that is not always the way things turn out, especially in the case of modern complex appliances that are programmable. Think of the number of different permutations for a wash cycle, for example. The electronics behind the selection knob can be quite intricate, and if they begin to act irregularly or pack up altogether, that's obviously something that calls for a response from an expert in the field.
Chris Davies has over 25 years' experience in the business and has worked for many different manufacturers of white goods (eg Hoover, Siemens, Neff and Comet), learning all there is to know about each type of machine and its particular foibles. This training stood him in very good stead when he decided to set up the business more than a decade ago. The business is run with the support of my wife and is a family run business.
"After leaving school I spent over 12 years as a electrician in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, (Army) when I left I spent 5 years with Hoover working on all house hold appliances, then I worked for Comet and the last job I worked at before going on my own was as a service engineer with BOSCH, NEFF & SIEMENS. I have over 20 years experience in the trade."
"I am a family man and have sponsored a local football team over the years."
"I was very fortunate in the early days of my career because the training I had was second to none," explains Chris, "and that includes a stint in the army, serving with the REME.
"Over time, I accrued a wealth of knowledge and got to know all the tricks of the trade from the old hands in the business. By the time I was free to work independently I was able to quickly diagnose the root cause of a problem, often with only a brief investigative inspection. I put that ability down to excellent training and long experience, two attributes for which there is no substitute.
"I am fully insured and all repairs I carry out are guaranteed for 12 months."
Before Chris branched out on his own, he was working for Bosch six days a week, often driving more than 200 miles in a single day, so he's certainly no stranger to hard work, travelling far and coping with pressure. That's why he's the ideal man to contact if you live anywhere that's particularly remote. And that's not all. Chris can be called out for rapid repairs from 7.00am until 10.00pm – seven days a week! Plus, all work is charged at a flat rate – that's right, there's no extra charge for evenings, weekends or bank holidays! There can't be many repair men around these days who can boast of a service to match that.
As Chris says: "I know only too well from my time in the business that a washing machine that's flooded a kitchen floor on a Friday evening can be extremely annoying. So someone already fuming with frustration will not want to listen to an answering machine telling them to call back on Monday morning! That kind of service falls well short of my standards."
So if you are in need of repairs to a domestic appliance and you want to engage a real professional who delivers a quality service at a value-for-money price (up to 50% cheaper that manufacturers' standard charges), you can do no better that get in touch with Chris Davies right away.
01295 273245
01869 876017
01327 898459
01280 845085
07901 774221
Calls available from 7.00am to 10.00pm 7 days a week.
No extra charge for bank holidays, evenings and weekends.
Cash, Cheques, Debit Cards, Credit Cards & Bank Transfers.


text:
THE PLAYERS Championship annually combines the best field in golf with the world-class venue that is THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. Grant Thorton LLP, Optum and Morgan Stanley are the exclusive Proud Partners of THE PLAYERS. Proceeds from THE PLAYERS benefit Northeast Florida charities. In April 2011, THE PLAYERS announced a new charitable focus, committing to generate $50 million for youth-related charities over 10 years.
Tickets for THE PLAYERS can be purchased by clicking on the event website link as well as at 56 Publix stores throughout Northeast Florida and the surrounding areas, including two locations in Georgia.
THE PLAYERS "Four for Free" Policy — Fans with four or more guests in a vehicle can park for FREE Thursday through Sunday with the "Four for Free" parking voucher. Fans can go online to THEPLAYERS.com/parking (click on the "Tickets" tab) to download the voucher, which allows free parking in the general lot off of CR210. A new voucher must be downloaded and printed for each day (or saved on an electronic device); there is no limit to the number of days guests can park for free but there is a limited number of vouchers per day. Parking must be purchased in advance.
For all additional information, please click on the event website link.


text:
MILWAUKEE — The Phillies will choose familiarity for their backup catcher.
The team is finalizing a one-year agreement with Brian Schneider, the Northampton native who has spent the previous two seasons behind Carlos Ruiz. One baseball source said the deal was close, but probably would not be completed until Thursday.
Schneider had the worst offensive season of his 12-year career in 2011, but the Phillies value his defensive capabilities. The pitching staff praises Ruiz for his knowledge and devotion to calling games, but most found there was little drop off when Schneider caught.
His work with Vance Worley was especially noteworthy. Schneider became the rookie's personal catcher. Worley cited a strong relationship with Schneider as a major part in his success.
Schneider, who turns 35 later this month, made $1.625 million in 2011. He could sign for less in 2012.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.


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A visit to the Musée du quai Branly
On a whim, we dropped by the Musée Branly, and ended up buying African artifacts and trinckets at their well-stocked shop, full of books on Asian, Chinese, Oriental books. Also bought an incredibly beautiful CD by the renowned African musicians Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté, called "In the Heart of the Moon".
It conjures up visions of the rolling, golden sands of the desert, with the magnificent Touareg tribe, travelling slowly on their camels, which was beautifully depicted in the movie, "Le Dernier Vol", directed by Karim Dridi, with Marion Cotillard and Guillaume Canet. Magnificent!
The desert has always fascinated.


text:
< Previous Map
Map No. 194
Open PDF poster
Next Map >
This map shows the price of the housing stock of a territory, in purchasing power parity. This means that prices shown take into account the variation in what can be bought for US$1 in different territories. The most expensive housing per person in the world is in Europe, where a home is now usually no longer just somewhere to live, but is also an investment.
The cheapest housing stock is found in the African regions and Southern Asia, despite taking into account that money goes further in these territories.
Even with the higher costs of housing in richer territories, the average household is smaller in these places.
"Another reason to buy a house in Fez is because its one of the few cities in the world where its possible to own a magnificent traditional house for the price of a modest car." David Amster, 2006
Territory size shows the proportion of the worldwide price of housing stock that is found there.
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Lives can change in an instant, and for one female engagement team in Iraq, it did on June 23, 2005.
That day, 14 female Marines were riding in a seven-ton truck, part of a three-vehicle convoy escorting them back to their barracks at Camp Fallujah, when a car with an Iraqi man, woman and child neared the convoy.
Instead of letting the car proceed first, as was the protocol, the convoy continued past the car. The car suddenly accelerated, ramming straight into the women's truck. The car exploded upon impact. The truck flipped in the air a few times, enveloped in flames.
Some of the women were knocked unconscious, their faces, hands, and exposed flesh burned. Two were killed instantly -- Regina Clark, and Ramona Valdez. Then the convoy came under fire -- a second ambush after the first. A Marine who ran to assist was hit by a bullet and killed.
Dazed and in shock, the women caught glimpses of each other's bloodied red and charred black faces. One woman's sunglasses had melted to her face. "Do I look like her?" they began asking one another. A third woman, Holly Charette, died a few hours later.
It was a planned suicide attack, targeting the women tasked with searching Iraqi women for bombs or weapons. The Iraqi insurgents wanted to strike the U.S. where it would hurt -- killing the female Marines would be a huge victory.
While three of the women's lives were taken that day, ABC News recently spoke to six of the women, whose lives have recovered, some of them directly shaped by that life-altering moment.
Oyoana Allende, now 28, is graduating this December with a degree in recreational therapy from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and plans to get her Master's degree in occupational therapy.
Her interest in physical therapy stems directly from the attack. She suffered burns on 14 percent of her body surface, including her face, hands, and knees.
"I didn't even know what recreational therapy was until I got injured, so that's definitely why I want to do it," Allende said.
Allende remembers the car ramming into their truck, and seeing the fire coming towards her. She felt the heat, and remembers her body flying through the air, but doesn't remember hitting the ground. She remembers waking up when she was being transferred from one truck to another one going back to Camp Fallujah.
She remembers the moment she noticed her face was burned. One of the other women was trying to reassure Allende she was going to be OK, but Allende caught her reflection in the woman's sunglasses.
"I had blood and dirt on my face...it looked like my skin hanging in certain parts of my face. I was just freaking out," she remembers. Allende spent nearly two years at the Brooke Army Medical Center in Austin, Texas.
At first, she said, she was upset with everybody -- herself, everyone who might have been able to prevent the attack, the world -- but she's learned to forgive, and help others.
Allende also volunteers at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Hospital's burn unit. She encourages burn patients during recovery.
"It helps you more when a person who went through what you're going through goes and tells you, you will get better," Allende said.
Still, Allende says sometimes she wishes she didn't have the scars that graze her nose and upper lip. Some people stare, she says. "But I've been trying to accept myself, and love myself now."
Right now, she lives with her husband, Marine Jonathan Sanabria in North Carolina. She and Sanabria were in the same unit in Iraq at the time of the attack. They met in Iraq, but put their feelings aside at the time for professional reasons. After the attack, he visited Allende at the Brooke Army Medical Center. They were married in 2006.
Another good thing that came out of the attack was Allende becoming friends with her father -- a man she didn't grow up with, but spent four years with in Chicago before she joined the Marines. When Allende was injured, he spent three weeks at the hospital with her.
"Because this happened to me, we became friends," she said. Ever since then, they talk everyday on the phone.
She's happy the war has ended, but isn't sure it was worth it.
"I don't know if what happened to us was worth it. If the people who died -- not just in that attack, but in other attacks -- if what happened to us was worth, it don't know, I really don't know."
Now 26 years old, Lynn Beasley graduated in June with a B.A. in Culinary Arts. She lives in Wilmington, North Carolina with her husband, an active duty Marine. They are expecting their first child this April.
"It's kind of a nice experience that I get to witness this," she said about the war's end. But, for the lives they lost, she said, "It will never be worth it."
She remembers her friend Corporal Carlos Pineda that day, who was worried that the convoy would leave without him. He wanted to go back to Camp Fallujah that evening so he could talk to his family back home. On another truck at the time of the attack, he dismounted and ran to assist, getting hit by sniper fire.
Beasley was in the hospital when she learned he was killed. She tried to remain composed, but quietly asked for a chaplain on her way back to her room.
"I was destroyed inside. Knowing how badly he needed to go back to call his family. How adamant he was that he not get left," she remembers. "Why was it Carlos? Why did it have to be him?"
She remembers that something didn't feel right that day. She recalls the truck armor only came up to about chest-high, creating a "dog target" -- or an upward silhouette of a head and shoulders used on a rifle range. She remembers thinking about sitting on the floor, instead of the truck's benches. It was before curfew, so it was still light out, with plenty of Iraqis on the streets. They were also leaving the same predictable time they did every day. All of which made her uncomfortable.
"I don't remember seeing a car. The next thing you know, it felt like we were driving over a tree," she remembers thinking. "It felt like we were standing too close to a fire, a bonfire, where you feel the heat on your face."
"And then I remember hitting the floor of the truck....my rifle's gone. The next thing I remember, I was getting up, and it's kind of like in a dream when you think you're running, but you're actually moving slower than you think you are. So I could have been stumbling and walking, but I felt like I was running. But in between that time frame, I don't remember what happened."
"I could see blood dripping down from my face onto my flak jacket, so I knew there was something on my face causing me to bleed," she remembers. She remembers everyone asking each other, "Is my face OK, is my face OK? Do I look like her?" She remembers hearing the sniper fire, and thinking, "This is not good news."
She remembers being in shock, and having no pain, even though her legs were torn up. Beasley suffered first and second degree burns on her face, legs, some spots on her hands and elbows, minor shrapnel, and an ear membrane injury. She remembers being scrubbed down at Brooke Army Medical Center -- screaming, cursing, and spitting from the excruciating pain.
She said everything was burned on her face, except for along her jawline. Her eyebrows were nearly singed off, and her eyelashes burned into clumps.
Today, over video conference, her face and positive demeanor belie the trauma of that day. However, there is still a shrapnel fragment in her cheek -- which hurts every time it moves. And like Allende, she thinks of those that were lost.
"The people that we have lost -- it's a tragedy. I'm relieved to see it end. And to know there will be less in harm's way," she said.
"But at the same time it makes me wonder if we're just going to ship them to Afghanistan."
Castaneda's husband will likely deploy again to Afghanistan. But right now, the couple is focusing on their expected arrival -- whose sex they will find out Christmas Day.
Now 26, Kodie Misiura lives in Northern California, and also graduated from culinary school earlier this year.
She thinks about the attack every single day of her life, and about those whose lives were lost that day. "Everyday my heart goes out to the families."
Misiura is in touch with only a few of the women still, but thinks about them every day and hopes they're all OK. She considers the details of that attack sacred, and did not want to talk about them, lest they be misconstrued.
"That's something that we all experienced together," she told ABC. "There's no point to talk about it. It was bad enough as it was."
Although she won't talk about the details of what happened, that day, she says she considers herself lucky, surviving the attack with only minor injuries. Misiura stayed in Iraq until her tour was over, but wasn't able to physically drive a truck for awhile. Misiura left the Marine Corps in 2008 with a positive attitude about what she went through.
"Just having been in the Marine Corps in general has given me a great appreciation of life. My worst day in civilian life does not compare to my worst days in the Marine Corps while I was in Iraq," she said.
Asked if she was happy troops were going home, she said, "without a doubt, that goes without saying." But she had one caveat.
"People need to keep in mind, it's not just Afghanistan, there are troops all over the world, without their families, and they're spending the holidays there."
Misiura said for those who have given their lives in Iraq, "I am forever grateful."
Another of the women, Angelica Jimenez, spoke to ABC earlier this year.
Christina Humphrey is currently attending Georgetown University, studying Arabic. She completed a congressional internship earlier this summer.
Alexandra Bringas currently lives in Arizona, is also studying physical therapy.
The rest of the women -- Sally Saalman, Erin Liberty, Alisha Harding, Diane Cardile, Teresa Fernandez, could not be reached by ABC.


text: Description Reviews Graduated Sterling silver Horseshoe Pendant. Swarovski Crystal set, on chain. Specification: Pendant Size: Length: 14.6mm Width: 11.7mm Necklace Length: 16" (406.44mm) adjustable to 18" (457.2mm) Delivery: Free delivery for all orders in the UK Charges apply for delivery to other European countries and the US Gift Box: This item comes with a complimentary gift box. Superior design & quality: Individually designed by Falabella in 925 sterling silver with a brilliant no tarnish rhodium finish. This item carries the Falabella ® logo Hypoallergenic Jewellery: We decided to make all our jewellery hypoallergenic by removing nickel and other metals that may cause allergic reactions. Be assured that our jewellery is safe for you.


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As much as the new Scarlet Spider deserves his own, unique rogues gallery, it's not going to help his popularity any if he's completely cut off from the rest of the Marvel Universe while down in Houston. Chris Yost seems to have found the answer, as he pits Kaine against Belladonna and the Assassins Guild in issue #4. What follows is a brutal and engrossing battle that promises to be only a taste of what's still to come.
The fight scenes in this issue have a dynamic, almost manga-like quality to them. Ryan Stegman seems to be settling into the new series more and more with each month. The art is incredibly expressive and would almost seem lighthearted if not for the severed limbs, spraying blood, and other grotesque occurrences that define Kaine's costumed escapades.
That's not to say this issue is all flash and no substance, either. Yost does a fine job of exploring the history between Kaine and the shadowy organization most commonly associated with a certain Cajun mutant. Yost uses the villains as another method of showing how Kaine's past continues to haunt him even in his new life. If it weren't clear already, Yost shows us how fundamentally damaged Kaine remains beneath his newly repaired body. Yost also continues to build up the new supporting cast, particularly with some interesting new developments involving the Aracely character.
In short, there's an awful lot to like about this newest Spider-Man book. Who needs Peter Parker anyway?
Jesse has been a writer for IGN Comics since House of M was the big craze in the comic community. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.


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Chiropractic Care for everyone, from infancy to the elderly
Over the years of working at a holistic health centre in Mississauga, I have witnessed the benefits of Chiropractic care for everyone from infancy to the elderly. I have experienced the benefits first hand for the treatment of my migraines, and since having my son he is now experiencing those benefits as well from one of our four Chiropractors who are all trained in pediatrics.
I have witnessed the benefits of Chiropractic care for everyone from infancy to the elderly.
Pregnancy and giving birth is a different experience for every Mom. I was lucky enough to know about Chiropractic care and its benefits. Once I found out I was expecting, it was a smooth transition to continue care throughout my pregnancy. Continuing care helped to reduce back pain and keep my body in optimal health. This allowed me to have the 100% natural delivery with my son that I had hoped for. After my son was delivered, it seemed only fitting to have him checked out, in Mississauga by one of our pediatric Chiropractors.
My husband and I took our son, at four days of age, to be examined by Dr. Ken Peever. Dr. Peever did a full and gentle examination of our son, as pregnancy and delivery can be stressful on not just the mother but the baby as well. Upon examination Dr. Peever noticed that one of my son's hips had less mobility than the other. After a small adjustment my son was kicking both of his legs and the mobility had been corrected.
After settling into our new routine as parents my husband and I noticed that our son seemed to be crying frequently and spitting up more often after his feedings. We returned to the Chiropractic clinic and had our son adjusted by the pediatric chiropractors once more. Almost immediately we noticed that the crying decreased and his digestion improved. Our son is now two and a half months old and we have discussed routine care and spinal maintenance, and we will be returning for adjustments to Erin Mills Optimum Health at our son's developmental milestones.
Yvonne, New Mom and part of the Front Desk Staff


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People are sporting camera-inspired designs around their necks, on tees and also on their phones. Some of these camera-resembling phone cases are even considered deceptive. But aside from fashionable accessories, the look of cameras have also been an inspiration to some random categories. For instance, the camera-shaped chocolate sculpture is an intricately carved chunk of cocoa. There are also camera-inspired offices, like the GO Portable Office—this structure is built to resemble the old field camera. The structure even has a window where the 'lens' of the camera would be.
It's cool to see an overlap between technological design and other industries, like fashion or architecture. It isn't a surprise, because cameras have always carried a positive connotation, being the classic icon for capturing sweet memories.
22 Deceptive Camera-Like Designs
More Stats +/-
Picture-Perfect Mobile Covers
Deceptive Phone Protectors
Lumberific iPhone Cases
Edible Chocolate Cameras
Adorable Timber Toys


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The Engage 2 Act Board
Our board is here to energise and empower the passionate collective of practitioners and people who are interested in community engagement. It also enables Engage 2 Act to be an officially recognised not-for-profit organisation which opens-up opportunities such as research projects, funding, grants and more.
The role of our Board is to provide overall governance and strategic direction of Engage 2 Act as an organisation, and assist local champions (that's you!) to organise local events and make Engage 2 Act happen around the world.
Board members:
Becky Hirst
PRESIDENT & Co-FOUNDER
With almost two decades worth of experience in working with communities across two continents, Becky knows that whilst engaging communities in decision making can be incredibly rewarding, it can at times be both personally and professionally challenging. Becky is passionate about supporting others in the profession, as well as advocating for best practice engagement and pushing boundaries within the sector, hence she's the captain of our ship. For more info on Becky, connect with her via LinkedIn.
Desley Renton
Desley Renton is a multi award winning community engagement strategist with over 20 years experience both in government and the not for profit sectors. Desley's experience includes leading the design and implementation of the City of Melbourne Community Engagement Framework and managing a team of specialists that pushed the boundaries of innovation and organisational excellence. Des has a particular interest in organisational change and capacity building. Previous IAP2 International and Australasian President roles has provided her with a unique insights into CE practice at a global level. She currently runs a CE consultancy based in Melbourne, Victoria. Connect with Desley on LinkedIn.
Andrew Coulson
He tweets, pins and blogs about it. Never one to say no, since moving to Australia, Andrew is always looking for opportunities to learn and build on his experience of #communityengagement. Developed in the valleys of Wales, the farming towns of Derbyshire and the diverse housing estates of North London Andrew is trained to be person centred and be visual in communication. Interested in how online can be used to complement tools and techniques that have been adapted and developed for many years face to face, Andrew is now ready for the next step in ensuring engagement is meaningful, timely and co-produced. Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn.
Amy Hubbard
Amy is the CEO of Capire, a specialist community engagement consultancy based in Melbourne. Amy is passionate about the intersection between community engagement and community development. The meeting point where people are empowered and they have clarity about the future. Read more about Amy here.
Eleanor Howe
Eleanor has been passionately working in the community engagement space for the past eight years. She is skilled in collaboratively preparing tailored strategies to undertake inclusive community engagement and likes to challenge clients and peers to think outside their usual toolbox. Bringing a warm and genuine approach to any relationship, Eleanor believes in great and honest communication. She enjoys listening to people's stories and likes to weave the opportunity for sharing stories and experiences into her practice. Having recently moved to Wellington, Eleanor is working at Just Add Lime and is excited about furthering her community engagement knowledge and networks. Connect with Eleanor for a chat or to find out more.
Anthony Aisenberg
Anthony is an established urban planner and Founder of CrowdSpot, a map-based community engagement organisation leading the way at the intersection of urban planning, citizen engagement and technology. His passion for community engagement stems from a drive to ensure that important planning decisions reflect the views and priorities of citizens. Connect with Anthony.
Megan Girdler
Fascinated by futurism, the human condition and science fiction, Megan is the wildcard in our midst. She's created digital tools and strategies, to engage diverse communities: from coal miners in North Queensland and Australian scientists, to PR professionals in New York and business executives in Brazil. Currently, she's freelancing with organisations to harness online engagement for better business decisions and outcomes. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
Sandra Jerkovic
Sandra has been working to improve project outcomes for people and places around Australia, the UK and Pacific for over 14 years. She looks for ways to encourage communities to be part of the planning and decisions that affect them– no project is too small or too controversial, but all are better when ideas and opinions are shared. Sandra is Technical Executive, Stakeholder Engagement for the global consultancy WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff. Connect with Sandra.
Clare Murrell
A passion for local democracy started when Clare was a graduate at the Victorian Local Governance Association in it's early years. Believing that the best action comes from collaboration, Clare has spent the past 15 years working with local governments and community groups including facilitating a range of networks. She relishes in the discussion, ideas and creativity that comes from getting a group of like-minds together. Curious about what motivates social movements and public participation, she is also determined to understand and create strategies to reduce barriers that prevent people getting involved in government decision making. Now, Clare is working collaboratively at Yarra City Council to improve the way community engagement is planned and implemented, with an emphasis on inclusive practice. Connect with Clare on LinkedIn.


text: It's hard to believe that Alessandro Michele was once Gucci's behind-the-scenes studio guy – now everything the brand produces is stamped with his recognizable flourish. This mini version of the 'Sylvie' bag is made from ivory and gold leather embellished with a coordinating chain on top of the house's archival canvas webbing. It also comes with two different shoulder straps so you can switch up styling.


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Shortly after Unlimited Magazine published my article, "Changing My Religion," I received a request from Christian Week magazine to publish a shortened version of the piece, which is in the latest issue. You can read the online version here.
"Sweat runs down my face. Drops sting my eyes, which are half-blinded by the glare of stage lights. I strain to see people I know in the shadows of this dimly-lit bar, applauding in waves whenever we finish a song. Our own volume is a tsunami by comparison, a roar so loud my ears will ring until I drift off to sleep around 4 a.m. after the final song has been sung, last call announced and the gear safely stowed in our practice space. Tomorrow night we'll haul it out again. I'll set up my amp and plug in my guitar in a very different venue.
Tonight wine is one of many spirits imbibed—probably the least popular in the type of places my band, Seven Devil Fix, plays. Tomorrow, if wine is present, it will be a sacrament of the spirit. Tonight I sing for the pleasure of these patrons; tomorrow I will sing for the applause of heaven. In less than 24 hours my feet will touch down in two worlds. While I'm learning to live with the tension between the secular and the sacred, it hasn't always been easy."
The rest of the article can be found HERE.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Josh and Caleb...coming around to the end
I can't access my website. Go figure, but somewhere in the midst of all the OS switching and wrangling with my computer this past year I lost the password, and my Dreamweaver isn't working properly to boot. So thank goodness for the blog. I've been working at finishing up the color art for the line drawings I did 3 years ago. What a hiatus. But I vowed I'd finish what I started with Josh and Caleb, so here's the next image, until I can get my web woes sorted out. For those who've never had the chance to peruse it before...here's the link to the webcomic that started my online presence.
Posted by Mike Perschon at 10:17 PM 3 comments:
Labels: Christianity
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The Galway Races July 29, 2011
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Unfortunately Galway didn't make it through to the Hurling Semi-Finals as they were beaten by Waterford Sunday. They played a great game but Waterford were the better team on the day and deserved the win. Thankfully though there was a win the day before for my adopted county Kildare and they've now made it through to the Football Quarter-Finals following their victory over Derry. Hopefully they'll beat Donegal this Saturday and make it through to the Semi-Finals!
Although Galway lost on Sunday there was plenty of celebrating going on in the city on Monday as the famous Galway Racing Festival kicked off. As with last year, I travelled over to the Ballybrit Racecourse on Monday with some of my colleagues to watch the feature race which is sponsored by the Carlton Hotel Group. There was a great crowd at the race including the current Rose of Tralee, Clare Kambamettu, Ronnie Whelan, some of the Connacht rugby team and of course a few members of the team from the Carlton Group! I got a few good tips throughout the evening but I didn't part with much money on any of them so I had no big wins. Although I did come home with a few bob which is always a good sign!
In other sporting news, Swim Ireland successfully held the National Swim Champs at the National Aquatic Centre last week. Through Swim Ireland and as their preferred hotel partner we had teams from Egypt, France, The Netherlands, Kuwait and Croatia as well as many local swim clubs staying at the Carlton Hotel Blanchardstown.
It would be great if we got at least one good day of weather over the weekend but either way I hope you enjoy whatever you get up to!


text: Nutrition Infographic: Cleaning Up the Myths About Common Cleanses By UPMC, March 12, 2016 This time of year, cleanses are a hot topic. We talked to our experts about some of the most popular ones and you may be surprised to hear the results! Master Cleanse During a master cleanse, weight loss can be expected, but it's mostly water weight. It is likely that the weight will be gained back since it's water, not fat. Risks and side effects of the master cleanse include: Dehydration Cravings Fatigue Irritability Aches Pains Nausea and vomiting These are often described as detox symptoms, but there is no scientific evidence that shows that these cleanses actually help rid the body of toxins. The metabolism can slow down because calories consumed are inadequate, which can actually cause a person to gain even more weight post-cleanse. Colon Cleanse Avoid colon cleanses. The digestive system does this on its own. Risks and side effects of colon cleanses include: Dehydration Cramping Bloating Nausea and vomiting Bowel perforation Risk of infection Loss of electrolytes Kidney or liver failure and death (in some extreme cases) Pill or Drink-based Detox Cleanses These cleanses have the same risks and side effects as above and the metabolism can slow down if adequate calories are not consumed. Juice Cleanse It's sometimes nice to get a jump start on a healthy eating style. This type of cleanse is not as risky, as long as it's only done for a few days. Our experts recommend blending vs. juicing some of the fruits and vegetables in order to keep fiber in the diet and to stay hydrated. Replace one or two meals with juice blends, which should include ingredients such as nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, and avocado. It's important to eat 1-2 balanced meals as well as snacks. By doing this, your metabolism should not be altered and weight loss can often be maintained. But beware – just juicing alone can rid the body of fiber and adequate calories resulting in weight loss that will not be maintained. For all cleanses There is no scientific evidence proving that cleanses help rid the body of toxins. Cleanses also run the risk of disturbing the good bacteria in our gut, allowing bad bacteria to move in and cause disease. Research also shows that the body does not need help detoxing itself. As long as our livers and kidneys are healthy and functioning, they do that job for the body. Cleanses and detoxes do not help the body eliminate toxins any faster or more effectively. A better alternative is to eat a healthy, balanced diet of whole foods and drink an adequate amount of water. Make sure to consume adequate calories from a variety of food sources. Do not eliminate food groups unless you have a medical reason to do so. Avoid processed foods as much as possible and buy organic when you can. Cleaning your produce with white vinegar and water will help to limit exposure to pesticides.


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Thank you. Your inquiry has been received.
This 6.87 Acre Parcel is located near the entrance to the estate homes in the Oak Hills gated community and near, what will be an additional entrance to the JP Ranch. The area is rural and beautiful, with gently rolling hills. There is an expired tentative map, with conditions of approval on this property, from 2004, for 11 half acre lots. This is a fabulous area with developments closing in. A sewer line runs along the north property line. Expired tentative map is under the listing supplements link.


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This strange film is a made-up documentary, detailing the future history of Denmark in four related but discrete storylines. In one, the refusal by a group of shipyard workers to work on ships carrying atomic warheads leads to sympathetic strikes around the country, and a general strike threatens. In another, the future relationship of the Common Market nations to various defense pacts such as NATO is discussed by a group of high-ranking national representatives. The third and fourth stories are closely...more
All Aftenlandet cast + crew photos
Movies.com, the ultimate source for everything movies, is your destination for new movie trailers, reviews, photos, times, tickets + more! Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at Movies.com.
Copyright © 2018 FANDANGO MOVIES.


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What Sold at Art Basel in Hong Kong
Artsy Editorial
Signature: Signed with printed manufacturer's mark to top and artist's facsimile thumbprint on plastic bag, No. 67
Publisher: Piero Manzoni
Conceptual artist Piero Manzoni, an enfant terrible of Italian art in the 1950s and early 1960s, is best known for Artist's Shit (Merda d'artista) (1961), 90 sealed cans priced by their weight in gold, one of many works that question the nature of the art object. Other stunts included balloons filled with "artist's breath" and "Living Sculptures," human subjects signed by Manzoni. His "Achromes" paintings (from 1957 onward), canvases covered in materials like gesso, kaolin, fabric, and bread that undergo sagging, creasing, and other temporal changes, suggest the influence of Yves Klein and Robert Rauschenberg.
Italian, 1933-1963, Soncino, Cremona
What Sold at Art Basel in Hong Kong
Artsy Editorial
A Brief History of Gold in Art, from Ancient Egyptian Burial Masks to Jeff Koons
Artsy Editorial
My Highlights from The Armory Show 2014
Ivanka Trump


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I drove an hour this morning from Geelong to Melbourne to get a photo of the Cathay Pacific A350 coming in to land, and I almost missed it because it was 45 minuts early.
Here are some of the photos I got today.
The third A350-900 to be delivered to Cathay Pacific (B-LRC) coming in to land on RWY27 after completing flight CX105 from Hong Kong. This aircraft will celebrate it's first birthday next month.
The red tail of Australia's flag carrier on a Boeing 737-800 (VH-VYA) comes in from Canberra under the guise of QF811.
A Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800 (VH-YFT) comes into land from Sydney on VA824.
This beast of the Air New Zealand fleet, a Boeing 777-319ER (ZK-OKO) comes in a short hop over the river from Auckland.
The bigger brother of Qantas' domestic fleet, an Airbus A330-202 (VH-EBK) comes in from Sydney.
The airline at the centre of News Limited's tirade comes in to land from the Gold Coast. This Airbus A321-231 (VH-VWN) is not even six months old.
In between an Airbus and a Boeing, this little beauty came out of the clouds. A QantasLink Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 (VH-QOB) roars in from Launceston.
It has always been my goal to photograph both Retro Roo jets in the Qantas fleet and today I hit that goal. I think I actually said "oh, yes!" out loud when I saw this beauty come in. Qantas' Retro Roo One, a Boeing 737-800 (VH-XZP) comes in from Sydney.
It was awesome to get this photo. Not only did I photography one beastly 777, but I also managed to get two huge ones in the same photo. Here we see the flagship 777 of the Virgin Australia fleet, bearing the registration VH-VOZ takes off on the newly commissioned Melbourne to LAX direct route. And in the background is Virgin's codeshare partner to Europe, an Etihad 777.
And finally, the beast of the skies comes in to land from Abu Dhabi. This Etihad Airbus A380 (A6-APD) completing it's final decent onto RWY16.
As always: comments, questions and criticisms are always welcome.


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fishyskiff wrote:JoeM wrote:Looking real good!
Where did you get your wood and what did you use? I'm an hour or two north of you and am beginning to source.
I also second the question on your paint choice as it is looking great!
Forest Plywood in La Mirada
Thanks! I've got a quote email on the way to them as we speak.


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Jennifer Witkoski, Manager of Executive Administration, Jupiter, Florida
Jennifer started with G4S in 1990 as an Administrative Assistant to a group of different Vice Presidents. About a year later, she was promoted to assist the President of Nuclear Services and then became the Administrative Assistant for the President of Security Services Division.
Jennifer continued her career path to become the Administrative Assistant to the President and Chief Executive Officer for about three years. Ultimately, she became the Manager of Executive Administration to the Group Chief Operating Officer and the Regional Chief Executive Officer for the Americas Region, where she has been for the last five years.
In her current role, Jennifer assists the Group COO and CEO for the Americas Region with travel arrangements, calendar issues and other administrative functions. At the same time, she assists the legal department with company leases and provides administrative support for the regional team and other Administrative Assistants.
"It's a fast pace environment, but at the same time it's healthy, friendly and professional … I have always been treated with respect," she said
The best advice Jennifer could offer for anyone trying to start a career with G4S is to "Understand your work, and be comprehensive, pay attention to details and be efficient … a good attitude always help."


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Did I ever tell you about Ruth? She was a checker at the grocery store my father ran. One of my earliest childhood memories was Ruth seeing my toddler self, on the arm of my mother, pick up a Tootsie Roll to put in my pocket. She whispered something into my Mother's ear. After my first "talkin'-to" in business ethics, Mom told me to produce the candy from my pocket and to give it to Ruth with the words, "I'm sorry."
Ruth was always at the grocery store, five days, forty hours a week, at minimum wage, year after year. She needed the job. It was a small Kansas town, with few opportunities for the unskilled labor of a woman. Ruth lived on the south side of the railroad tracks, the wrong side, in a house that even then struck me as barely habitable.
My mother said that Ruth's husband, whom everyone called Mutt, was a handy man. I had to ask the meaning of the term. My father called him a bum.
I knew what that meant. One hot summer day, my father was on vacation from the store, and, instead of painting the house, he and I had gone fishing, down on the Arkansas River. I don't remember if we caught any fish, but I do remember coming across Mutt's distinctive jalopy pick-up, parked in brush near the river. I asked if Mutt was at the river being a "handy-man." My father muttered something about Mutt only being handy at sleeping off whiskey.
Ruth was as much a constant of my childhood as any other adult. Each day to work she wore a black skirt and a white blouse, one made of soft broadcloth cotton that had seen countless weekly washes and ironings. I remember Ruth's slow gait, and her complaining about how standing all day hurt her feet. She and Liz, who worked in the meat market, would have a Diet Pepsi—then, quite an unusual beverage—each afternoon during their fifteen minute coffee break, behind the counter of the meat market.
In addition to working a cash register, Ruth ordered the tobacco products. She would grunt each time that she bent her large frame down to inventory the bottom row, where the packets of fresh tobacco were kept.
When I was old enough, I became Ruth's co-worker during the summers that I worked at the store. One day Jim Thorson and I discovered that it was possible to call the front of the store from back in the meat market and to ask for Ruth. We laughed, watching down the aisle, at how eagerly she went to the phone at my father's desk.
"Do you have Prince Albert in a can?"
"We sure do."
"Then let him out!"
I pulled the same prank, weekly, for an entire summer. Remembering it at a distance of many years, and knowing that an unexpected phone call engenders undue hope, or worry, in the mind of an adult, I'm ashamed to recall how kindly Ruth took the joke — "Oh, Terry Wayne. You're such a rascal!" Of course, what was she supposed to say to the boss' son?
Before we celebrate the coming of Christ at Christmas, the Church asks us to begin this liturgical year were we left the one before it, with longing for a future that redeems the sorrows of the present. The Prophet Isaiah produced some of the most beautiful words our scriptures contain. "Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins" (40:1) Sometimes it takes most of a lifetime to comprehend what you have always known. Hearing those words this Advent, I remember Ruth.
Those same words would have been proclaimed and preached in the Lutheran Church that she frequented. I wonder. Did Ruth take comfort in them? Did she see them as addressing the hard life that she lived? Or did she even view her life as particularly difficult? It may not sound like much, but God does grant most of us the grace to remember those who "have it harder" than we do.
And then there is the Baptist, the one who comes before us each Second Sunday of Advent. We call him the forerunner of the Christ, the prince of prophets, but, wasting away in Herod's cell, he must have questioned what he had made of his life, what fate had handed him. He had preached the great promises of the God of Israel. Where were those pledges at the end? John would have died the same way Ruth did—the way most of us do—hoping that God had found him faithful, perhaps relieved to know that the struggle was over, and pondering in fretful faith the meaning of it all.
Does modern society refuses to celebrate Advent—we rush toward Christmas the moment Halloween ends—because we can't take the longing of the season, can't suffer its open wound? The Church Fathers preached the future coming of the Christ, because they realized that, while so much had been given in Bethlehem, so much more had yet to be bestowed. Salvation hasn't yet sunk into the foundations of this old world.
If you don't stop to think about life, if you don't ask if the universe really cares about Ruth—if it cares about you—how can you help but to rush toward Christmas, rather desperately hoping that this one will be merry and bright, the one where all your dreams come true. But there is no birth of a redeemer—there's only tinsel—if you can't see that your life needs redemption, that you yourself desperately need Isaiah's words to be true.
One of the great joys of my first years of priesthood was being able to come home to attend Ruth's funeral. It was at a Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, and there was no question of my doing anything at the event, save sitting quietly in the pew. That seemed fine, even fitting. I had always been "Terry" with Ruth, not "Father Klein." But at the cemetery, also on the south side of the railroad tracks, the pastor did invite me to read a psalm.The Twenty-third. Ruth had come to join Mutt, who, true to form, was already asleep. "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." More promises from the God of Israel. But of course for Ruth, I firmly believe, they were no longer promises. They were bright fulfillment. For me, and for the small crowd at the grave, they were words of great comfort.
Terrance W. Klein
What a great story. You have a great gift for holding the reader and leading with a gentle hand.
Have a blessed Christmas.
John Grant


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Extreme Skeeball
In the game, you could have a chance to play the skeeball by using the arrow keys or the WASD keys and you have to try to beat your high score! Each exciting environment features are unique challenges and playful game elements. Boost zones help rocket your skeeball into the air for amazing jumps! Keep in mind, you can also use your mini-map to help you aim for the goals. It is a quite addictive game that I played a lot recently.
You can play Extreme Skeeball free online shooting games at fogames. It has tags: Ball,Bounce,unity3d,. It has 2214 total plays and has been rated 81.7% (1 like and 0 dislike), find the fun and happy day. If you want to play more shooting games, we find some of the game: BMX Extreme, Extreme Trucks 2, Extreme Dirt Bike and Extreme Trucks I. To play other games, go to the ball games page, the bounce games page, or just check out the new games or best games page.


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Four people were hurt in a two-vehicle crash on the West Side this morning, police said.
At about 1:40 a.m., police responded to a call that two vehicles collided near the intersection of Jackson Boulevard and Keeler Avenue, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer David Banks.
The victims were taken to John Stroger Hospital and Mt. Sinai Hospital, Banks said.
No further information was available.
Denise Turner and Deanese Williams-Harris


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Cally Phillips @ 2015
Can you 'retire' as a writer? Well, I've made a career of 'retiring' from various aspects of the 'industry' – usually when the 'business' takes precedence over the 'creativity' aspect. Professionally (by which I mean I earned my living this way) I started out as a screenwriter in 1993. I 'retired' in 2005 (no one has noticed yet!) I shifted to being a playwright but 'retired' from that in 2012 or was it 2011 or 2013? (again, no one noticed – well that's not true, I was asked to do a workshop in 2014 and declined, pointing out I'd not written a 'traditional' play since 2005 ) I shifted focus from drama to fiction (though I've NEVER been 'professional' in the respect of earning a living from prose fiction in all the years I've done it as a 'background' activity) but I've decided to 'retire' from that as well. It's all just too much about 'success' in terms of money and sales and I'm tired of that view of life.
That doesn't mean I'm not writing any more. It just means I'm not making (or trying) to make money from it. My 'identity' is not tied up with that professional aspect.
I had already segued from screenwriter to producer of short films, from playwright to director to running a theatre company to advocacy drama facilitator and then from fiction writer to publisher… so the path has never really be career in the standard sense, more in sense of running wildly out of control into the distance… and now I've taken another step.
In 2014 I set up a literary society. Which is where most of my writing is done these days and where I essentially 'hang out.' And I've finally realised that actually this role is less about writing or publishing and more about cultural conservation and restoration. About which I'm sure I have plenty to write.
But the main thing is – this site is really now an archive one. My past, not my present and certainly not my future. So if you want to connect with me in the here and now I suggest you need to look for me at
www.gallowayraiders.co.uk which is where you'll find me most active.
For those interested in my past – it's here across a load of pages and posts. Nosey around at will. Here's a quick thumbnail:
The writer formerly known as Cally Phillips wrote novels for HoAmPresst Publications, limited edition paperback and ebooks. She had over 20 years experience as a screenwriter and playwright.
She also also worked as a professional actor, a sales rep, theatre/cinema front of house, an English/Drama teacher, a private tutor, a script reader for Channel 4, Artistic Director for Bamboo Grove Theatre Company, Artistic Director/Facilitator for ABC Drama Group, Dramatist in residence for Dumfries and Galloway Arts Association, Playwright in Residence for West Lothian Youth Theatre, and a stint as Scottish Secretary for the Writers Guild of Great Britain.
Educationally she has an MA (Hons) e in Moral Philosophy with International Relations from St.Andrews University and an MSc in Applied Psychology of Intellectual Disability (Portsmouth) as well as a PG qualification in drama from Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, a PG Dip in Multimedia Design from Napier and an Open University Diploma in Health and Social Welfare.
Now retired from the hurly burly of the 'creative industries' Cally lives happily with her husband and dogs in North East Scotland – and also lives (less happily) with a chronic condition, Ulcerative Colitis which puts something of a limit on her ability to travel and engage fully with everyday society. Marry that with her other condition, self-imposed Hermititis and with an ever deepening cynicism about the perceived relationship between success and creativity in terms of profit and sales and you'll see why she's finally listened to the words of Paul Weller and 'gone underground. '


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世界華人工商婦女企管協會Global Federation of Chinese Business Women
Chairwoman-Li, Shu Ying
Video of Chairwoman
Association intro
2018 New Chapter
HuaKung Award Collage
2017 Houston Annual Conference
Ex Chairwoman
美國聯合旅館投資管理公司 副總裁
世界華人工商婦女企管協會總會 總會長
中華民國僑務委員會 僑務委員
第三屆世界十大傑出華商婦女華冠獎 得主
[世華] 一個凝聚全球華商姊妹在一起的美麗園地,姐妹們謙卑,學習,感恩,奉獻!
Vice President of Allied Hospitality Inc., U.S.A.
Global Federation of Chinese Business Woman - Vice Chairwoman
Commissioner of Overseas Community Affairs Council, ROC (Taiwan)
Top Ten Global Outstanding Chinese Business Woman by GFCBW
Consultant of International Leadership Foundation, Houston Chapter
[GFCBW] is a wonderful place to gather all of Chinese business women together and all sisters are humble, grateful and learning and dedicating themselves here. [GFCBW] is an international and excellent Chinese business women federation and all sisters conduct economic and trade exchanges and expand their perspectives.
[GLOBAL FEDERATION OF CHINESE BUSINESS WOMEN] has been set up for 23years and has 53 chapters worldwide. It is by no means easy. We thank to Mrs. Ko Tu Jui-Chin who wisely established this excellent women group and thank for several honorary presidents' efforts, including Lin Liao-Yu, Huang Shu-Hue, Shih Kuo Feng- Chu, Chen Shan-Chung, earnestly leading all sisters to continue the purpose of GFCBW, which is to cherish the world, grasp the pulse, set up the communication, develop the trade, so that GFCBW can flourish.
Thank you for all excellent sisters in the world who combine the global resources and help our government to enter the mainstream society and improve the visibility. The recipient in every conscientious election of the "Hua Kuang Award" for ten successful business women, the "Exemplary Couple Award" every year and fellow sisters' favorite "Hua Kuan Academy", have shown the excellent strength of our group and the traditional virtue, so that we have become one of the international groups which our government attaches great importance to.
After I have won the prize of the 3rd Hua Kuan Award in 2007, I joined this big familyand have served for two consecutive terms of the vice chairwoman. I have visited every chapter around the world with previous chairwomen and learned the management of the group's affairs and relationship between the sisters, and also have held the economic forum leading by the winner of the Hua Kuan Award many times. And this year, I am prepared to take over the position of 9th president.
Thank you for all sisters' recognition and support. I will uphold the spirit of previous chairwomen in enhancing the connection with global chapters, strengthening the relationship of all fellow sisters, caring for charity activities, expanding the groups overseas, improving the visibility, gathering the most excellent business resources, entering the mainstream society and advancing the status of Chinese people.
Because I have lived in the America for many years, I am honored to be the first chairwoman that was elected overseas. There will be some adjustment for many group operation and work assignment. I would like to thank for the staff of 9th year to give me the greatest assistance and cooperation. Thank to sisters' supports and encouragement around the world. Your supports make me move forward. Let us get united and work harder to reach another peak for GFCBW. [I love GFCBW and GFCBW loves me.]


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News of the launch of Microsoft Surface Mobile Phone
Leaks confirm that the company appeared Microsoft is working on a new flagship phone codenamed Juggernaut Alpha, which is supposed to be a stronger company phones, which is expected to be called the Surface Mobile name.
And preparing Microsoft's big event in October will be the launch of a range of devices, the Lumia 950 and codenamed Talkman, and Lumia 950 XL and codenamed Cityman, and bracelet fitness Band 2 and a copy mini Xbox One device, in addition to Hasabha Tablet Surface Pro 4.
Information indicates that the Lumia 950 phone will come 5.2 measurement screen inch and accurately 1440 × 2560 pixels, and processor Snapdragon 808 hexagonal nuclei, and 3 GB of RAM, and 32 GB of internal storage space expandable via MicroSD, and camera background precisely 20 megapixel Pure View, and battery capacity 3.000 mA.
While 950 XL Lumia phone comes screen measuring 5.7 inches and accurately 1440 × 2560 pixels, and processor Snapdragon 810, and 3 GB of RAM, and 32 GB of internal storage space expandable via MicroSD, and camera accurately 20 background megapixel Pure View, and Battery 3,300 mAh capacity.
Sources say that Microsoft will launch Surface Mobile phone end of this year or the beginning of 2016, will be supplied by the phone, such as phone Note 5 of Samsung, in addition to the presence of USB Type C port, will also support wireless phone shipping.
The sources confirmed that the phone will come AMOLED screen of 5.5 inch type measured accurately and 1440 × 2560 pixels protected with a layer of glass Gorilla Glass 4, and Intel Atom x3 mesh 64-bit, 4 GB of RAM.
There will come a phone with two options in terms of internal storage is either 64 or 128 GB space with support for the installation of microSD cards in sizes up to 256 GB, and the rear camera accurately 21 megapixel technology Pure View with a number 6 layers of lenses Zeiss, front camera accurately 8 megapixel lens Zeiss wide-angle.
The phone will work Surface Mobile system Windows 10, and will be used in the phone manufacturing aluminum and magnesium, were not confirm the possibility of the phone to run Win32 applications after.Viewing:-232
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– The prices in the pigs was fixed.
– Waterplane now in pond at the freight station
– train yard bugs. – Some signs corrected
– built AGRICULTURAL plane from Maru. (Ps it is not fertilized, the whole field)
– gefixed chickens feeding.
– Few things here and there …
Kapt.Kruse, Lt.. D.Kruse OldGrey
DOWNLOAD ShareMods


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Discussion in 'White Hat SEO' started by darkman, Jan 13, 2012.
anyone knows of any wordpress plugin for adsense that is easy to use?
Adsense Manager - available on wordpress org. Or you just need to post the adsense code into the desired area of your theme.
Separate names with a comma.


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Ted D. Rosen was quoted in the Law360 article "Six Moves That Tip Jos. A. Bank, Men's Wearhouse Toward Merger." While the full text can be found in the March 4, 2014, issue of Law360, a synopsis is noted below.
After a series of developments over the past week that reframed relations between Men's Wearhouse Inc. and Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc., the menswear powerhouses appear closer than ever to finalizing a buzzed-about merger deal worth around $2 billion. Reaching this point, however, has not been easy.
"Men's Wearhouse is being very aggressive in litigation to try to stop the transaction or delay the transaction. Jos. A. Bank is being extremely proactive," said Rosen. "This battle is being played out at a very high level on both sides."
Jos. A. Bank Chairman, Robert Wildrick, sent a letter to Men's Wearhouse CEO, Douglas Ewert, saying that Jos. A. Bank would open itself to negotiations – but on its own terms. Wildrick laid out a point-by-point agenda for the companies' discussions, including restrictions imposed on due diligence and the makeup of the consideration, recalling Men's Wearhouse statements that indicate the proposal could include a stock piece.
"The latest missive is a very astute move," Rosen said. "It's aggressive but it leaves the door open. It says, 'We're going to negotiate, but we're going to negotiate the way we want to do it.'"
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.


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Come in for a tour and see for yourself why Advocate Sherman West Court is different. Our facility has recently been renovated and features a warm and welcoming environment to help facilitate the healing process. In addition to a healing environment, our patient-centered nursing staff is focused on providing you or your loved one with exceptional care and services.
Feel free to stop in, or call (847) 742-7070 to schedule a tour.


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The Acoma Room, located through a private entrance from the inner courtyard just outside our historic chapel, is a quiet and cozy space where you can relax, think about days gone by, and unwind. Dedicated to the people of the Acoma Pueblo, this peaceful retreat features two-foot-thick authentic adobe walls and original brick floors provide comfort and serenity to those who sleep here.
The massive kiva fireplace is non-functional today, but stocked with candles, while the traditional niche is home to local pottery. The Acoma's private bathroom has a miniature, antique soaking tub as well as a walk-in shower. The Acoma offers a double bed and a sitting area with table and chairs, as well as wood beam ceilings, soothing southwest colors and an antique Singer sewing machine complete with working treadles.


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27, Man, Single
Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Nigerian dating site member
Looking for:
18 - 31 years
Within 100 kms
Long-term dating, Short-term dating, Friendship
My self-introduction
I'm harrick,gentle and easy going young man full of confident,am caring,loving,understanding,honest.my hobbies are soccer,music and nature.
What I am doing with my life
Life is not a pot full of gold, so I always except worst ,why I hope for the best.
Things I like about myself
I'm a young man full of love .just want a lady I can love in a million ways.
My favourite outdoor activities are
My favourite indoor activities are
Soccer,music and food
These topics are interesting for me
Life is interesting
I might look for you if
A lady who is really ready to be loved by one man,she must be caring,understanding,honest.and I will cherish her with the rest of my life.I hoping on meeting a lady I can love in a million ways.


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By now, you've likely heard of the "manycore shift." Hardware manufacturers that previously enabled performance improvements through increases in clock speed have hit against laws of physics that prevent such scaling from continuing. Instead, the silicon that otherwise would have been used for such endeavors has been applied to increasing the number of cores and processors available in commodity hardware. It's now uncommon in the United States to find single-core desktop machines for sale, with the norm being dual-core and quad-core machines, and with that norm increasing to eight-core, sixteen-core, and higher in the not too distant future.
Back in 2005, Herb Sutter wrote about this phenomenon in his now-classic essay, "The Free Lunch Is Over". Herb's thesis is simple: Developers need to start coding their applications to take advantage of parallelism and therefore enable these programs to automatically scale as more and more logical processors are introduced into mainstream hardware. Historically, this has been a difficult task, and the increased concept count, boilerplate code, and complexity necessary to develop parallel implementations has relegated the art to only a select few people specialized in the practice. To truly enable the manycore shift, new support is necessary to make developing for manycore easier.
The Microsoft .NET Framework 4 and Visual Studio 2010 strive to do just that. In the core of the .NET Framework 4 and built in to Visual Studio 2010 are new features that help developers express, efficiently execute, debug, and tune parallelism in their applications. This article provides an overview of that support, starting with work done in the depths of the CLR and moving up the stack into programming models and tooling capabilities.
Minimizing the Overhead of Parallelism
The improvements to support parallel computing within the .NET Framework 4 begin within the bowels of the Framework. To parallelize a single operation, you must partition that operation into multiple pieces, each of which may then be executed asynchronously so that you can execute the pieces concurrently with one another. The more logical processors in a machine, the more partitions are necessary because if there are fewer partitions than there are processors, at least one processor will remain unused in the operation. Of course, executing a piece of work asynchronously has some overhead, even if it's as small as putting a delegate into a data structure that enables background threads to find and execute that work.
Typically, the overhead associated with executing work asynchronously is not related to the amount of real work associated with that work item. As such, the more processors you need to be able to target, the more partitions you'll need to break a piece of work into, the greater the ratio of the overhead for each partition will be to the work associated with that partition, and the more time you'll spend in overhead instead of in processing real work. Thus to efficiently support parallelism, you need to minimize the overhead associated with executing a work item. Toward this end, the ThreadPool in .NET 4 has been modified from earlier versions in several key ways.
The first improvement has to do with that data structure referred to earlier for handing off work to background processing threads. In .NET 3.5, that data structure (referred to as the ThreadPool's "global queue") is a linked list-based queue protected by a Monitor. The Monitor ensures that the queue remains consistent even when multiple threads attempt to mutate it (add and remove work items) concurrently. In .NET 4, that data structure has been replaced with a thread-safe queue implemented in a "lock-free" manner. This data structure has less overhead and scales better than its .NET 3.5 counterpart. Also, the general design and algorithms used for this data structure have been encapsulated into the new, public ConcurrentQueue
A second improvement relates to the cost of operations involved in synchronizing between multiple threads and in accessing isolated data. Multiple such operations, including methods on the Interlocked class and on the Thread class, have been turned into just-in-time (JIT) intrinsics, which means the JIT compiler in the CLR knows about these operations and can output optimized machine code for them, rather than requiring the application to call the relevant methods and take a slow path through the CLR. Other implementations, such as the one used for ThreadStaticAttribute, have been overhauled as well. As an example of the benefits these improvements yield, on the machine on which I'm writing this article, the Interlocked.Exchange method is approximately 50 percent faster with .NET 4 than it is with .NET 3.5. On the same machine, reading from a ThreadStatic variable is more than 10 times faster. These kinds of operations are used frequently in the implementation of the ThreadPool, as well as in other parallelized code. Thus their improvements indirectly result in significantly decreased overheads.
A third and vital improvement also has to do with the data structures used for handing off work from threads queuing work items to threads consuming and processing those work items. Unlike in .NET 3.5, where the global queue was the only queue, in .NET 4 the ThreadPool potentially has many queues. The global queue is still used for work items that are queued from non-ThreadPool threads (such as the main thread of your application) and for work items that arrive through older APIs, such as ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem. However, the .NET 4 ThreadPool also maintains a special work-stealing queue for each of its threads. These data structures enable very low-overhead pushing and popping of work items from the thread's local queue, while enabling other threads in the pool to "steal," or dequeue, work items from other threads' local queues. This design is critical to enabling the ThreadPool to scale to higher core counts, providing several benefits including improved locality of data access and decreased contention (for more information, see the video "Erika Parsons and Eric Eilebrecht: CLR 4 - Inside the Thread Pool").
These special queues are available only to code that uses the new System.Threading.Tasks.Task type in the .NET Framework 4. Any tasks scheduled from another task or code running on one of the ThreadPool's threads will, by default, take advantage of the performance of these local queues. Although the new Task type is engineered for high-performance parallel computing, its design also breaks new ground in providing a rich set of APIs for constructing parallel, highly concurrent, and asynchronous applications.
Task Is "the New Black"
Since .NET Framework 1.0, ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem has been the preeminent way for creating work items to run in the ThreadPool:
public static bool QueueUserWorkItem(WaitCallback callBack)
' Visual Basic
Public Shared Function QueueUserWorkItem(
ByVal callBack As WaitCallback) As Boolean
Unfortunately, although QueueUserWorkItem is great for fire-and-forget operations (ones where you have no need to refer to a created work item after it's been queued), any additional functionality must be custom coded. The new System.Threading.Tasks.Task type addresses this deficiency in a serious way.
Tasks provide built-in support for waiting, for continuations with dataflow, for cooperative cancelation, for exception handling, for representation of arbitrary asynchronous I/O, for custom scheduling, and much more. They've also been elevated to a first-class citizen in Visual Studio 2010, with two new debugger windows, Parallel Tasks and Parallel Stacks, which provide deep insight into Tasks' state and execution, as Figure 1 shows.
Figure 1: Parallel tasks in Visual Studio 2010
As an example of how Tasks can be useful for coordinating parallel activities, consider the scenario of a build tool operating on a solution that contains eight projects, some of which reference each other in the following manner:
• Project 4 references project 1.
• Project 5 references both projects 2 and 3.
• Project 6 references both projects 3 and 4.
• Project 7 references both projects 5 and 6.
• Project 8 references project 5.
These references are strict dependencies, such that a project can't be built until all of its referenced projects have been built. We could just build each project sequentially, starting with project 1, but that doesn't afford efficiencies to be gained by building projects in parallel. To handle the parallelism, you can use a Task to represent building each of the projects, and you can use continuations to express the dependencies. For example, you create a Task to build project 4 as a continuation from the Task to build project 1; as soon as the project 1 build completes, you can start building project 4. Prior to Task's existence, expressing such a graph of processing to be done with as much parallelism as possible would be a complicated endeavor. With Task, your requirements can be translated into code with almost one-to-one line correspondence.
Loopy for Parallelism
Task is not only usable directly for coordinating multiple asynchronous activities, it's also a fundamental building block on top of which higher-level libraries can be built. One such component is the new System.Threading.Tasks.Parallel class, which provides iteration constructs for enabling loop parallelism and which is built using Task as its underlying unit of parallelism.
The Parallel class in .NET 4 provides three static methods, each with a multitude of overloads: For, ForEach, and Invoke. These methods provide parallelized alternatives to serial for loops, for each loops, and sets of statements. These constructs support partitioning the input data source (to spread the processing across the machine's logical processors), generating tasks to do parallel processing, breaking out of loops early, task-local state, and more. Although the developer still needs to understand and code for the fact that multiple threads are being used to process the iteration constructs, these methods eliminate a significant amount of boilerplate code that would otherwise be necessary to parallelize typical loops.
For example, let's say you have an application to which you've added the code in Figure 2, which is meant to calculate all driving routes from a multitude of source locations to a single destination.
Figure 2: A serial calculation with a for loop
All iterations of this loop are independent, operating on distinct locations and routes and storing the results back into distinct slots in the output array. As such, and given that route calculation is a computationally intensive process, you can easily handle this processing in parallel by using the Parallel.For method, which Figure 3 shows.
Figure 3: Parallelizing a for loop
Just as Visual Studio enables Tasks as first-class citizens in the debugger, Visual Studio also provides performance-tuning functionality that recognizes parallel loops as first-class citizens. The new Concurrency Visualizer built into the Visual Studio profiler enables developers to visualize the behavior of their multithreaded applications. The visualizer provides three views: one to understand CPU utilization over the lifetime of the application, one to understand what all the application's threads were doing, and one to understand how threads were mapped to logical processors for execution. In the latter two views, constructs such as Parallel.For are rendered as overlay regions on the timeline so that the developer can understand the impact of this parallelization on their application. Figure 4 shows the visualizer displaying markers for a Parallel.For region.
Figure 4: Concurrency Visualizer in Visual Studio 2010
Querying in Parallel
Consider our route calculation example from earlier. After designing this routine for your application, you realize that the source locations provided to the method might contain duplicates and might even contain sources that are the same as the destination. You don't want to have to calculate the same route twice, nor do you want to try to calculate the distance from a location to itself. Hence you want to filter out duplicates and any sources that match the destination. Sequentially, this could be done very simply with Language Integrated Query (LINQ), as Figure 5 shows.
Figure 5: Using LINQ to Objects
Given the expressiveness of the LINQ query, which lets you specify what you want done rather than how you want it done, it would be unfortunate if you then had to stop using LINQ to parallelize this same operation. One of the benefits of expressing semantics in this manner, however, is that you leave it up to the Framework how to implement the various data operations specified in the query. To this end, the .NET Framework 4 includes a parallelized implementation of this LINQ to Objects support known as Parallel LINQ (PLINQ). As with the Parallel class, PLINQ is built on top of Tasks and is also highlighted in the Concurrency Visualizer. To enable PLINQ, one simply opts into its usage by calling the new AsParallel operator with the query's data source, as Figure 6 shows.
Figure 6: Enabling parallel processing of LINQ queries
The parallel query processor will partition the source dataset, process it in parallel, and merge the results, yielding them back to the consumer. PLINQ's power lies in its simplicity, however it does provide optional knobs that give developers additional control over how the query is parallelized.
Coordination and Synchronization Primitives
When discussing the ThreadPool earlier in this article, I mentioned the new ConcurrentQueue
Collections. Whereas ConcurrentQueue
Work Exchange. The new BlockingCollection
Locks. .NET 3.5 SP1 includes multiple synchronization primitives for synchronizing between threads. .NET 4 adds several more in the form of ManualResetEventSlim, SemaphoreSlim, and SpinLock. It also provides the new SpinWait value type, which is used by low-level lock-free algorithms to provide correct and efficient spinning behavior.
Initialization. Lazy initialization is a common pattern in both serial and parallel applications. The new Lazy
Cancellation. When dealing with large amounts of parallel and asynchronous work, your ability to cancel all outstanding operations is crucial. .NET 4 provides the new CancellationToken and CancellationTokenSource types, which serve as a unified mechanism for canceling large swaths of asynchronous operations. The Parallel class, Parallel LINQ, Tasks, and many of the new coordination and synchronization primitives all support cancellation using CancellationToken.
For More Information
I've given you a fast tour through new support for parallel computing in the .NET Framework 4 and Visual Studio 2010. For more information, check out the Parallel Computing developer center on MSDN at msdn.com/concurrency. There you'll find articles, videos, podcasts, and more to help you get up to speed on this new technology. You can also check out the parallel computing forums at social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/parallelcomputing to provide feedback and ask questions. In addition, the team that developed this support in .NET 4 blogs about it regularly at blogs.msdn.com/pfxteam and welcomes any feedback. Finally, if you use this support in your application, please let us know. We'd love to hear about your experiences. Happy parallelizing!
Stephen Toub ([email protected]) is a program manager lead on the Parallel Computing Platform team at Microsoft.