text:
Lyn Pemberton
School of Information Management
University of Brighton
Current tools for packaging interaction design knowledge, in addition to the examples furnished by the software programs themselves, include textbooks, monographs, edited collections, journals, conference proceedings, advice delivered via Web sites, sets of principles, collections of guidelines, standards documents and style guides
There are several respected and comprehensive HCI text books on the market, aimed at an undergraduate readership. Shneiderman's highly respected Designing the User Interface [Shneiderman, 1998] is a well known and internationally acclaimed example, though the predominantly UK-based teams headed by Dix and Preece have both produced successful competitors, both under the title Human Computer Interaction [Dix et al., 1998; Preece et al. 1994]. Other text books renounce the quest for comprehensiveness and concentrate on a particular aspect such as screen layout, usability engineering, designing for certain user groups or genres and so on. While these texts, both general and more specialised, are extremely successful in a formal academic setting in promoting awareness and conveying methods and principles, they can be difficult to navigate and physically unwieldy, making them unsuitable for day-to-day use in helping find solutions to specific concrete problems.
Other books
Many practitioners would agree that cultivating a "user-centred" attitude is as important as the mixture of high and low level factual knowledge usually conveyed by text books. Inspirational texts, often in the form of stories from the field, can be very powerful formers of attitudes, with writers such as Don Norman [Norman, 1988], Alan Cooper [Cooper, 1996], Terry Winograd [Winograd, 1996] and Brenda Laurel [Laurel, 1991] presenting themselves as obvious candidates. Clearly, though, while these volumes easily pass the "attractive to read" test, they are by no means the practical handbooks a designer might call on in time on need, nor is authoring a book of the calibre of those mentioned above a goal that a typical software designer in a commercial organisation could sensibly aspire to as a way of capturing his/her team's knowledge.
Other print media information and advice is found in edited collections of themed articles, academic journals and conference proceedings. The practical designer's lament here is the reasonable one that the volume of HCI research output contained in the totality of these publications is so overwhelming that the individual designer cannot possibly be expected to find his/her way through it to unearth the relevant nugget that might just be buried within it. These sources probably best seen as primary sources, to be re-represented by textbook authors before reaching individual designers.
On-line information
An interesting development in the area of interaction design advice is the turn to the Internet. This takes two main forms. The more established of these is the existence of special interest mail groups via which interaction designers (as other professionals) offer mutual support and advice. The Usability Professionals' Association discussion group is a good example of such a facility. However, the goodwill of individual designers is finite, and members are careful to put their problem to the group only once other avenues have been explored, so as not to be accused of various offences against Internet etiquette.
In a more recent development, well known practitioners such as Jakob Nielsen, David Siegel and others have set up Web sites where designers can read both general attitudinal advice together with more targeted prescriptions. These sites are nowhere near to filling their potential yet, existing at the moment mainly as repositories for the authors' articles and advice columns. As they expand, as they surely will, they will need to rationalise their structures and add better information retrieval facilities, but they are a promising development, holding out the promise of context-specific on-line design support.
Rather than expecting a designer to remember a whole textbook full of advice, why not try to boil some of the most widely applicable heuristics down for delivery in a more manageable set of general principles? Several of the major textbook authors have used this approach. For instance, Shneiderman (1998) sets out his eight golden rules:
Principles shade into a further type of design guidance vehicle, the interaction design guideline collection. These collections of tried and tested wisdom, distilled from research and experience, are to be found published both in textbooks and in guideline collections, the best known being Smith and Mosier's [1986] collection of 944 guidelines, available in print or digital format, ranging from the very high level, e.g. use short, simple sentences, to the highly specific, e.g. when using blink coding, make the blink rate 2 to 5 Hz, with a minimum duty cycle of 50 per cent. Collections like this are clearly the result of an enormous re-representation exercise, as advice from a range of sources is filtered and standardized into digestible prescriptions, and they are a rich source of practical advice. Moreover, unlike the daunting task of writing a text book or best-selling monograph, the task of reformulating a design teams' knowledge into prescriptive guidelines similar to these is a feasible prospect. With guidelines we are leaving the "read-only" world and moving towards a genre which invites participation from working designers. However, guidelines as currently conceived do not fulfil all our requirements, and have well-known drawbacks, resulting mainly from their form as short prescriptions, delivered out of context. For instance, guidelines can give conflicting advice, with no accompanying means of resolving the conflict. A detailed and comprehensive collection tends to be overwhelming in numbers for the average practitioner and advice on specific points is often difficult to retrieve. The relative degree of importance of individual guidelines is rarely indicated, nor the degree of confidence of the writer, and there is no deep learning for the designer who consults guidelines, as the underlying knowledge which generated them is, reasonably enough, not available.
Style guides
The popular user interface systems are the subject of especially produced sets of guidelines known as style guides, which aim to help those designing applications for a specific context to achieve a consistent appearance and behaviour. Style guides usually give descriptions of specific interface elements, detailing both look (appearance) and feel (behaviour), with guidance on how and when to use them. Interface design guidelines will normally include a window hierarchy diagram and standards for menus and buttons, use of keyboard keys, mapping of data types to window controls and so on. While commercial style guides are widely used, individual organisations and even projects regularly develop their own style guide probably developed on the basis of general guidelines, commercial guidelines and possible house style/previous projects.
Style guides are excellent tools for encouraging consistency amongst commercial designers developing software for a particular platform. On an organisational/project scale, they can be invaluable tools for encouraging a team to work in harmony throughout a project, working to agreed principles, terminology and the like. Style guides, like guidelines, pass the "write it yourself" test. However, they are not particularly engaging to read or easy to retrieve information from, and they share with guidelines a lack of explanatory context. Most importantly, they tend to help only with appearance and behaviour of screen objects, while having nothing to say to the designer about the "bigger" decisions she must make before questions such as mapping data to controls or icon design occur.
A promising addition to this range of approaches comes in the form of Design Patterns and Pattern Languages. Pattern Language was originally introduced by architect Christopher Alexander and colleagues, in two books, A Timeless Way of Building (Alexander, 1979) and A Pattern Language (Alexander et al, 1977). Patterns grew out of Alexanders disaffection with the quality of architecture in the 1960s, which he attributed in part to the misapplication of formal methods in architectural design. This had resulted in buildings which failed to fulfil the real needs of the people who lived and worked in them, which failed to adapt to local social and physical environments and which people simply did not like (Lea, 1997). Alexander contrasts these modern failed building with the many successful, "living" buildings, created in other societies, buildings which for Alexander embodied "the quality without a name", a recognisable but indefinable quality which floats in the semantic space bordered by terms such as "alive", "whole", "comfortable", "free", "exact", "egoless" and "eternal". Patterns are conceptual tools for helping people design buildings which might themselves have that quality.
A pattern is the solution to a problem in a context. In a particular context or a set of situations, a problem or clash of constraints will occur, which is amenable to resolution by a canonical design form or solution. The pattern encompasses all three elements: the situation, the problem of clashing constraints or forces, and the canonical solution. An example problem in a context, from Alexander, would occur where parents and children live in a house together (context), in which the parents would like their own space away from the children, but still want to be able to go easily to the children if, for instance, they are ill or anxious at night (problem). A standard solution would be to create a separate space for the parents, still within easy reach of the childrens room. This is the pattern "Couples Realm," number 136 among the 253 patterns presented in A Pattern Language. Like all the patterns, it is connected both to larger-scale patterns, which it completes, including, in this case, "house for a couple" and "intimacy gradient", and to smaller-scale patterns which in turn complete it, in this case "low doors", "sitting circle", "light on two sides" and "marriage bed" among others.
At the highest level we find patterns such as "Independent regions", "Country towns" and "The distribution of towns", while at the other end of the scale are detailed patterns covering the need for a bench by a front door and for different sorts of chairs to be provided in a room. Together the 253 linked patterns form a Pattern Language, a kind of informal grammar for buildings and spaces. The fact that individual patterns are integrated into pattern languages is not merely for convenience of retrieval. It enables the collection of patterns to operate generatively, each pattern showing the sub-patterns required to resolve more detailed design issues, in the context of the larger design
The solutions are not simply pre-formed parts of a building kit. A pattern is an abstraction from any specific examples: this is what gives patterns their creative power. They do not supply ready-made answers, as people need to exercise their own creativity to implement a pattern. In addition, because they involve abstracting away from individual cases, patterns are difficult to discover and may take a long time to describe adequately. Alexander and colleagues spent over ten years refining A Pattern Language and Alexander commented that finding patterns was a hard as theoretical Nuclear Physics.
Alexanders patterns are structured and formatted as follows (Alexander et al, 1977):
Asterisks: To mark the significance of the pattern, two asterisks marking a "true invariant", one marking a pattern which has made progress towards identifying such an invariant, but which needs further work, and no asterisks indicating confidence that an invariant has not been established yet.
Picture: "... which shows an archetypal example of that pattern." This may be literal or impressionistic.
Introduction: Setting the context and linking to higher level patterns.
???To mark the beginning of the problem.
Headline:(In bold type) summarising the essence of the problem.
Body:Describing the empirical background of the pattern, the evidence for its validity, range of variation of manifestation.
Solution:(In bold type) Describing the "... field of physical and social relationships which are required to solve the stated problem in the stated context." as a statement, in imperative form.
Diagram:Of the solution (For Alexander the solution should always be capable of a diagrammatic representation.)
???To mark the end of the main body of the pattern.
Connections To lower level patterns which are required to complete this pattern.
In addition, the idea of "liveness" in buildings, the quest for the quality without a name, has much in common with the intuition that the systems which genuinely enable users to work as they want are want are those which we can call "engaging" or "convivial" systems. These are terms, like Kay's (1990) and Tognazzini's (1993) remarks on the place of magic in the interface, which seem to bound a similar semantic space to the quality without a name in the sphere of software. Systems with this quality, like Goldilocks' porridge, are "just right".
HCI Pattern Language
Since 1997, when a CHI workshop discussed the application of Alexander's ideas to interactive software, interest has been growing in developing design patterns and languages for interaction design. A number of workshops have been held at international HCI conferences (see Resources section, below), which have explored the relationship between architecture and interaction design and seen some steps taking towards the goal of creating HCI pattern languages. The 1999 Interact Workshop expressed the goals as follows:
Some indicative examples of the kinds
of HCI patterns created so far are given in Figures 1 to 3, which show
abbreviated versions of patterns from the Brighton Usability Group's Interaction
Design Pattern Language.
|Title & number & rating
|20 Interaction Feedback **
|Problem & heading
|. . . . users
working at data processing tasks on conventional workstations ? DESKTOP
METAPHOR (23), GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (67) ? will need to be aware of
the current mode of the system ?ALWAYS INDICATE CURRENT MODE (42) ? and
must have an indication that their input has been accepted by the system.
People need to know that the system has registered an interaction event, such as mouse click, mouse movement, arrow movement, keyboard press, etc.
|Where an
interaction event is only part of a sequence of commands to a system, or
where no explicit user perceptible effect is achieved, people can become
anxious that they have not been "heard" by the system, and may repeat the
click or movement.
This anxiety can be relieved by giving some feedback ? proportionate to the scale of the interaction event and its significance ? to confirm to the user that the system has registered the event. Possibilities include, indenting a button, back-lighting a word, changing the shape of the cursor, making an audible click or beep.
For instance, the satisfying "zip when a window is rolled up or down in the Mac System 7.1a interface, the simple clicking of the mouse button, the movement of the key when hit by the finger, the "ghost" of the folder as it is closed and "replaced" in its parent folder.
In some work environments, an audible feedback may cause annoyance, so it must be possible for the user to silence it.
|Give feedback for every interaction event.
The highlighting of the waste bin reassures me that the document I dragged there hit its target
|If the computer action that has been initiated by the interaction event is going to take a significant amount of time to complete, then an indication if this should be given ? SHOW COMPUTER IS THINKING (34).
Figure 1: Interaction Feedback
This is a pattern with a high level
of generality, setting out the need for feedback on interaction events.
It is, of course, equivalent at some level to the advice given much more
succinctly in the principles quoted above, but to a bald prescription it
adds a rationale, an example and a pointer to a more specific case (the
reference to Pattern 34).
|Title & number & rating
|"Show me first" 36 *
|Problem & heading
|In a Graphical User Interface (5), when selecting an item from a list (Show Whats Available 24) or via a file title (Desktop Metaphor 8), the user may be uncertain what lies beneath the surface and therefore what they are committing themselves to.
|Theres usually a straightforward way of letting the user see what theyre getting, without forcing them to open up a new application or file, or commit themselves prematurely. This saves the user time.
|Give the user as much distinguishing information as possible before they commit themselves
font menu shows the user the effect of their choices before they make them.
|Specific situations have their own solutions, e.g. "Show preview" (48) for graphics/audio/video and "First few words" (79) for text files.
Figure 2: Show Me First
This pattern is more inventive and
less closely allied with current guidelines. It suggests a general solution
to a premature commitment problem, again with pointers to more specific
solutions for particular versions of the problem (text, music, graphics
files and so on). The pattern illustrates to some extent the creative power
of patterns. If the object the designer is dealing with is not one which
has previously had a "take a peek" capability, this pattern might push
him to create one. What would a "take a peek" facility for a floppy disk,
an application program or a remote server look like, for instance?
|Title & number & rating
|"Dont fence me in" 70
|Problem & heading
|There are some situations where the use may want to view or select from many items in a list, where it will not be possible for the designer to predict the top limit of items.
|Users dont want to scroll though a list, especially if they have to do it many times over, e.g. when transferring files one by one to a different machine. However, designers often use non-sizeable windows to display the users list sometimes this is big enough but often its not.
|Give the user as big a window as possible dont make assumptions
|Main windows in Mac and Windows O.S. are sizeable.
|Don't assume (55)
Figure 3: Don't fence me in
This is a relatively specific pattern, related to a higher level, more general pattern concerned with making assumptions about data to be displayed in an interface control.
How do patterns compare with other design knowledge tools?
Patterns of this sort, organised into languages, whether these be general or genre-specific, have the potential to fulfill most the criteria we identified above as necessary in a design knowledge transfer tool.
Some of the reasons for this are implicit in the form and structure of design patterns and languages. Their conventional format means that they contain both prescription, rationale and a variety of other information elements, such as illustrations, examples, provisos, warnings and so on. Patterns explicitly set the context in a hierarchical structure of patterns, drawing attention to the problem that the pattern solves, conceiving of the solution to the problem as resolving conflicts in a field of interacting social and physical relationships, and considering and stating degrees of confidence in the invariance of the pattern. This makes patterns an altogether richer resource for the designer than lists of guidelines, more akin to the resources to be found in "craft wisdom" books of Cooper, Laurel and other writers, but expressed in a canonical form.
Patterns, particularly if delivered via a digital hypertext medium such as the Web or some other flexible format, are usable in context, by the designer confronted with a pressing practical problem. The "memorable" title is designed to ease recall and pattern languages, via their interrelated organisation, give a way of navigating a large collection of individual patterns with confidence.
Some advantages arise from the social context of pattern making. HCI patterns, at least as the pattern writing and dissemination process is currently conceived, are not "read-only". Designers can identify and describe their own patterns, disseminate them and publish them via the Web, where they can be critiqued and taken up by other designers. The rise in interest in using HCI patterns has coincided with the rise of their ideal publishing and development medium.
Patterns themselves are very satisfying to create and refine, particularly in the context of an informal pattern writers' workshop (see Lea, 1999). They are inherently much more motivating as a goal for a design team than an end of project review which they suspect nobody will ever read. Moreover patterns themselves are engaging and lively in a way that guidelines are not, both in form and in the process of development. This can make for continued evolution and collaborative development of patterns.
The style of patterns also holds out the possibility of involving the users of software interfaces in the design and modification of these artefacts. By its non-jargon like nature, pattern language can serve as a way of communicating between a number of parties to the design. This is a particularly interesting area for development, though it must be admitted that some pattern writers have their doubts about its practicality or even advisability. Certainly some very early work on using patterns in interaction design explicitly involved users, and more recent work has involved patterns as a communication medium between HCI designer, software engineers and musicians [Borchers et al, 1998].
Patterns therefore hold out the promise of becoming effective tools for the communication of interaction design knowledge in a wide range of contexts by:
There are a number of important issues about the development of interaction patterns which we have not yet touched on but which are crucial to its future.
One of these issues is validity. When searching to identify design patterns in interfaces, it is probably as well to remind ourselves that whereas the buildings which Alexander considered were the result of many hundreds of years of development, interfaces are at a relatively early stage. There are few universally acclaimed solutions and this may mean that it will be easier to identify problems than to describe the solutions which address them. The clear implication is that patterns need to provide empirical evidence of
their validity. One suggestion to head in this direction, promulgated at the CHI2000 Patterns Workshop, was for pattern writers who display their patterns on the Web to update them with evidence of their successful use, this information to be contributed by designers who have put the patterns into practice in a real-life context.
Another issue is structure. The structuring principle behind the Alexandrian patterns is scale, a principle that to some extent suggests itself. High level patterns deal with states, towns and cities, while lower level patterns describe chairs, picture rails and window panes. However, the "natural" structuring principle for interaction design patterns is not obvious. Borchers (1999) for instance, argues that time rather than scale would make a more natural structuring principle, while other would argue for a system using a scale from general to specific. One of the advantages of the digital format, of course, is that we are not tied to a single structure, and patterns could feasibly be marked up as multi-use hypertext fragments to produce whichever of a number of structures best suited the reader.
A third issue could be called coverage. At the moment in the HCI domain, several "sub-languages" for specific domains are being developed, for instance for Web applications, visualisation software, robot control systems, music applications and control room software. However, they are like pieces of a large, ambitious but rather anarchic patchwork quilt that at the moment has no overall structure to it: small patches are filled in but large areas remain blank. Individual sub-languages do not draw on others, which leads inevitably to redundancy as each pattern writer creates a different pattern for more or less the same phenomenon. Perhaps more importantly, there is no sense of the scope of the general pattern language writing project and therefore no public agenda for future efforts in pattern writing, as the impetus to produce pattern languages arises from either personal or organisational interest in a specific corner of a larger domain.
Much energy has been spent over the last four years exploring the theory of design patterns in HCI and in creating example mini-languages to illustrate the possibilities. One could argue that now the challenge is to move out - into applying patterns on real-life projects -and to scale up - from dozens of patterns to perhaps several hundred, integrated into a language. The answers to the issues discussed above will only emerge as designers put pattern languages to serious and sustained use in practice.
Alexander, C., S. Ishikawa and M. Silverstein. 1977. A Pattern Language. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C. 1979 . The Timeless Way of Building. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Apple Computer, Inc. 1992. Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.
Borchers, J. 1999. Position paper for HCI Design Patterns Workshop, Interact, Edinburgh. Available at www.it.bton.ac.uk/cil/usability/patterns/
Borchers, Jan & Mühlhäuser, Max. Musical Design Patterns: An Example of a Human-Centred Model of Interactive Multimedia, in Proceedings of the IEEE ICMCS97 International Conference on Multimedia Computing and Systems, 1997
Carlow International, Inc. 1992 . Human-Computer Interface Guidelines, NASA, Goddard Space Flight Centre, http://groucho.gsfc.nasa.gov:80/ Code_520/Code_522/Documents/HCI_Guidelines/ viewed Dec 18 1997.
Cooper, Alan 1995 About Face: The Essentials of User Interface Design. IDG Books.
Cooper, A. 1996. About Face. Addison-Wesley.
Cross, N. 1984 . Developments in Design Methodology. Chichester, John Wiley.
Cross, N., Christiaans, H and K. Dorst, Ed. 1996 . Analysing Design Activity. Chichester, John Wiley.
Dix, A., J. Finlay, G. Abowd & R. Beale. 1998. Human Computer Interaction. 2nd edition. Prentice Hall.
Faulkner, X. 2000. Usability Engineering. Macmillan.
Gamma, E. R. Helm, R. Johnson and J. Vlissides. 1995. Design Patterns. Addison-Wesley.
Hix, D. & H.R.Hartson. 1995. Developing User Interfaces: Ensuring Usability Through Product and Process. Wiley.
Jones, J.C. 1992. Design Methods. Van Nostrand Reinhold
Laurel, B. 1991. Computers as Theatre. Addison-Wesley.
Laurel, B. (ed), The Art of Human Computer Interface Design, pp. 191 - 207. Addison Wesley.
Lakoff G. and M. Johnson. 1980. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago University Press.
Lawson, B. 1980 . How Designers Think. London, Architectural Press.
Lea, Doug. Christopher Alexander: An Introduction for Object-Oriented Designers. http://g.oswego.edu/dl/ca/ca/ca.html, viewed Nov 6 1997
Microsoft Corporation 1987 . The Windows Interface: An Application Design Guide, Microsoft Corporation
Newman, W.M. & M.G. Lamming. 1995. Interactive System Design. Addison Wesley.
Nielsen, J. 1992. Usability Engineering. Academic Press.
Norman, D.A. 1988 . The Psychology of Everyday Things. Basic Books.
Preece, J., Y. Rogers, H. Sharp, D. Benyon, S. Holland & T. Carey. 1994. Human Computer Interaction. Addison Wesley.
Shneiderman, B. 1998. Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human Computer Interaction. 3rd edition. Addison Wesley.
Tognazzini, Bruce. 1993 . Principles, Techniques and Ethics of Stage Magic and their Application to Human Interface Design. Proceedings of CHI '93, pp. 335-362.
Usability Pattern Language: creating a community (at Interact 99, Edinburgh)
Winograd, T. (ed.) 1996. Bringing
Design to Software, Addison Wesley.
Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S. & Silverstein, M. (1977) A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C. (1979) The Timeless Way of Building. Oxford University Press.
The classic sources of the pattern language idea.
Gabriel, Richard P. 1996. Patterns of Software: Tales from the Software Community. Oxford University Press.
Includes an interesting and readable account of the application of Alexanders ideas to software design.
History of Patterns
Richly hypertextualised account of the history of patterns for software, beginning, ironically, with a Smalltalk interaction pattern language.
The Interaction Design Pattern Page
Tom Erickson has been active in promoting interaction design patterns for several years. Probably the best set of resources at the moment.
Lingua Francas for Design: Sacred Places and Pattern Languages
Tom Erickson
Accessible from his Patterns Page, this is an interesting insight into patterns for community use, with lessons transferred to UI applications.
Pemberton, L. & Griffiths, R. (1998) The Timeless Way: Making living co-operative buildings with design patterns In Co-operative Buildings: Integrating information, organization, and architecture, Darmstadt, Germany, February 1998, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer.
An exploration of the idea of "patterns all the way down", from building to interface objects.
Rheinfrank, J. and S. Evenson. (1996) Design Languages. In Winograd (ed.) Bringing Design to Software, Addison Wesley, pp. 63-80.
Amsterdam Collection of Patterns in User Interface Design
Beautifully presented collection of UI patterns by Martijn van Welie, including a virtual pattern writers workshop where you can expose your patterns to critique by the community. Needs XML-enabled browser for best effect.
The Brighton Usability Pattern Collection
The Usability Group at the University of Brighton
Small collection of HCI patterns and resources
Common Ground
Jenifer Tidwell
UI pattern language from MIT. Relatively extensive.
Experiences -- A Pattern Language for User Interface Design
Todd Coram and Jim Lee
Article based on PLOP96 presentation, detailing several patterns for interface design, concentrating on Explorable Interface pattern.
An HTML 2.0 Pattern Language
Robert Orenstein
Perhaps better seen as a partial Pattern Language for usable Web site design.
Website patterns
Dave Orme
A collection of patterns and antipatterns for Web site design
Pattern Writers Workshop Patterns
Jim Coplien
A set of patterns on running workshop for pattern writing.
Workshops and Conference notes
Usability Pattern Language: creating a community (at Interact 99, Edinburgh)
Pattern Languages for Interaction Design: Building Momentum (at CHI2000,The Hague)
Patterns Home Page
A fairly extensive set of resources on software patterns, with downloadable papers & tutorials.
Bookmarks for Design Patterns
Very comprehensive site, frequently updated
Software Pattern Links
Brad Appleton
Comprehensive set of links to pattern resources of many kinds


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What isn't nearly as clever as I was hoping, unfortunately, is James Lileks' new book Interior Desecrations: Hideous Homes From the Horrible '70s. Basically following on in the same style as the much funnier The Gallery of Regrettable Food, Lileks seems to be far more interested in saying "Man, the '70s sure sucked" in as many ways as possible, rather than, you know, actually being funny. (In fact, you know what? I dare say that James Lileks hasn't been funny since September 11th, when he put aside his sense of irony and devoted himself full-time to fellating the War on Terror.)
No special plans for me this weekend, aside from getting the apartment cleaned up for apis_mellifera's visit the week after next. Anyone want to chip in to help get me a housecleaning robot? You know, the kind that they said we'd all have by the year 2000? ...anyone?

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Oh how the rain sounds light as a lover's word
and now and again she's afraid when the sun returns
- Iron & Wine
Above: the fruits of a very long 5 hours of printing yesterday: my first bookplate. Completely exhausted now of course and rueing the bygone time as I attempt to write a rather troublesome paper. But so in love with letterpress. Watch this & have a restful end to the weekend...


text:
Feinstein, who also serves as Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, cited the need for 'vigorous oversight' regarding the "legal underpinnings" of clandestine activity and has previously urged the Administration to be more forthcoming. Feinstein told Holder that she believed the Administration 'had good solid legal rational for the use of drones" with 'very sound' legal opinions and, referring to Sen. Rand Paul's filibuster underway on the Senate floor, did not believe it was 'true or correct' that an American citizen "walking down the street or eating in a café in this country can be targeted for elimination." Paul's filibuster was prompted by a loosely-worded March 4th letter from Holder attempting to outline Administration policy regarding the use of drones domestically on American citizens.
Holder, who was not sworn in prior to his testimony (usually providing an essential legal framework for any Congressional witness), further agreed that there is a 'greater need for transparency' and "appropriately sharing information". Assuring the Committee that "I have heard you, the President has heard you," Holder stated that the President "feels strongly" and, within the next few months, will be 'speaking about this'.
It is not every day that Republicans in the Senate give a good reason to applaud their legislative behavior but Holder's Committee appearance provided an opportunity for the newly-elected, already-controversial Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to question the Attorney General on the Administration's drone policy:
Cruz: "I'd like to start with the topic of drones. In your response to Sen. Paul yesterday, you suggested there may well be ' circumstances in which it is permissible to use drones to target a US citizen on US soil. I'd like to explore those circumstances; in particular you pointed to two, Pearl Harbor and 911 – both of which were extreme military attacks on the homeland. I want to ask a more specific question. If an individual is sitting quietly at a cafe in the United States, in your legal judgment, does the Constitution allow a US citizen on US soil to be killed by a drone?"
Holder: …" for sitting in a café and having a cup of coffee?"
Cruz: "If that individual is not posing an imminent and immediate threat of death or bodily harm, does the Constitution allow a drone to kill that individual?"
Holder: "On the basis of what you said, I don't think you can arrest that person."
Cruz: "The person is suspected to be a terrorist, you have abundant evidence he is a terrorist, he is involved in terrorist plots but at moment he's not pointing a bazooka at Pentagon. He's sitting in a café; overseas the United States government uses drones to take out individuals when they are walking down a path, sitting in a café. If a US citizen on US soil is not posing an immediate threat to life or bodily harm, does the Constitution allow a drone to kill that citizen?"
Holder: "I would not think that would be appropriate use of any kind of legal force. We would deal with that in the way that we typically deal with a situation like that …."
Cruz: "With respect General Holder, my question wasn't about appropriateness or prosecutorial discretion. It was a simple legal question. Does the Constitution allow a US citizen on US soil who doesn't pose an imminent threat to be killed by the us government?"
Holder: "I do not believe, again, you have to look at all the facts but on the facts that you've given me, this is a hypothetical. I would not think that in that situation, the use of drone or legal force would be appropriate because…."
Cruz: "General Holder, I have to tell you I find it remarkable that in that hypothetical, which is deliberately very simple, you are unable to give a simple one word, one syllable answer - no. I think it is unequivocal that if the US government were to use a drone to take the life of a US citizen on US soil and that individual did not pose an imminent threat that that would be deprivation of life without due process…"
Holder: "Maybe I'm not being clear. I said the use of legal force; ….use of drones, guns or whatever else would not be appropriate in that circumstance."
Cruz: "You keep saying appropriate. My question isn't about propriety. My question is about whether something is constitutional or not. As Attorney General, you are chief legal officer of United State. Do you have a legal judgment on whether it would be constitutional to kill a US citizen on US soil in those circumstances?"
Holder: "A person who is not engaged as you describe, this is the problem with hypotheticals; the way in which you have described it, this person sitting at a café not doing anything imminently, the use of legal force would not be appropriate, would not be …".
Cruz: "I find it remarkable you will still not give an opinion on the constitutionality. Let me move on to the next topic."
Holder: "Let me be clear. Translate my 'appropriate' to 'no', I thought I was saying no, all right?"
Cruz: "I am glad that, after much gymnastics, I am very glad to hear that it is the opinion of the Department of Justice it would be unconstitutional to kill a US citizen on US soil if that individual did not pose an imminent threat. That statement has not been easily forthcoming. I wish you had given that statement in response to Sen. Paul's letter asking you it. I would point out that I will be introducing legislation in the Senate to make clear that US government cannot kill a US citizen on US soil absent an imminent threat and I hope, based on that representation the Department will support that legislation."
Holder: "Well, that's totally consistent with the letter I sent to Sen. Paul. I talked about 911 and Pearl Harbor - those are the instances where I said it might possibly be considered but other than that, we would use our normal law enforcement authorities along those lines…..."
Inexplicably, the Attorney General appeared unable to grasp the distinction between his use of what is 'appropriate' and what is Constitutional.


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Centrica CEO Iain Conn was in Brussels yesterday to talk policy and field questions.
I asked him if he was interested to increase his company's 20% stake in the UK's eight remaining nuclear power plants, co-owned with EDF since 2009.
Since last year, the EDF Group has sought to raise cash from asset disposals in several locations including e.g. the UK by selling a further share of its main generation unit.
Essentially, Conn rejected the idea. He said he sees his company's present 20% holding as being like an "annuity" in assets that were coming to their "end of life, closing in the next 10 to 20 years or so" adding "if anything we're probably a seller … if the price is right."
Responding to a seperate question on the Hinkley Point C nuclear new-build project, Conn said Centrica had spent "£321 million on its 20% share of project's early development costs" before quitting in 2013, the year before the former BP executive joined the company.
In his speech Conn had said that Centrica was open to nuclear being part of the future energy mix in locations where there is government support. ❧


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In April 2017, Friends Fiduciary and other investors with assets under management of over $190 billion filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission, expressing investor support for current rules that ensure an open internet. Recently proposed rules would change the legal classification of Internet service providers, removing provisions known as "Title II" that ensure that providers cannot block, reduce speeds, or make deals for faster speeds with certain sites.
Allowing the small group of companies who dominate the internet services sector to provide different levels of service to different entities will stifle innovation which has been so crucial to expanding the United States' economy. There has been an increase in investment broadband Internet networks since Title II's adoption in 2015, and changes to this rule would likely discourage initial public offerings by tech companies. Without Title II status, internet service providers (ISPs) could essentially make the internet "pay-to-play", erecting a price barrier for smaller, innovative, emergent companies.
As an investor, Friends Fiduciary believes that an open, neutral internet is essential to harness the continued growth of and innovation in the tech industry. Read our comment letter here and the press release here.


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Hashtag Basketball / Portland Trail Blazers
This article examine what the Blazers have already done in the trade market and then, take a look at what players the Blazers could move before the February 23rd deadline and what is a realistic return for the Blazers in those deals.
The Portland Trail Blazers are an interesting team as the trade deadline approaches. They have committed a ton of money this offseason to their players and now they must make difficult decisions to contend and spend wisely. Ultimately, the Blazers will probably need to move a high-paid player to get this team back into contention.
A few weeks back, my colleague Russell Smith wrote a great piece about the Portland Trail Blazers trade targets and rumors found here. He nailed the trade the Blazers did make and outlined a few others, so please give his excellent work a read.
Today, we will examine what the Blazers have already done in the trade market and then, take a look at what players the Blazers could move before the February 23rd deadline and what is a realistic return for the Blazers in those deals. Let us get cracking.
On February 12th, the Portland Trail Blazers traded away starting center Mason Plumlee. He was sent to the Denver Nugget along with a 2018 2nd round pick for a 2017 1st round pick and Jusuf Nurkic. Grabbing a first round pick for a player in Plumlee the team had no money to resign was a shrewd move by the Blazers.
I am interested to see Jusuf Nurkic on the Blazers the rest of the season. Nurkic is still just 22 years old and he has been a per-minute stud in limited minutes for his career. I am interested to see if he can earn more minutes on Portland and to see if he blossoms. Keep an eye on Nurkic the rest of the season.
I think the Portland Trail Blazers would love to move Allen Crabbe if they could. I wrote a lengthy article here about how the Blazers messed up that in matching that contract and I stand by it. Crabbe is paid like a franchise player but produces at the level of an average NBA player.
The Blazers are reportedly listening to offers on Allen Crabbe, so let us dive into his value a little more.
Allen Crabbe's best skill is his three-point shooting. Crabbe is a career 40.1% shooter from downtown on 584 attempts. Clearly, he has proven to be a well above average three-point shooter.
He does not provide a ton of surplus value anywhere else on the court, unfortunately. I wish there were more great things to say about Mister Crabbe, but it is just not the reality.
The Blazers would love to be free of his hefty contract (4 years for $74.8 million) and I think they could take almost no return if they could put someone else on the hook for the years and dollars.
I do not expect Allen Crabbe to be traded as the contract will keep Crabbe in Portland for awhile longer.
Festus Ezeli signed with the Blazers this offseason after a four-year run with the Golden State Warriors. Ezeli was an instrumental part in their championship run, but his troublesome knees caused him to only receive a two year and $15.1 million contract from Portland.
Fast forward to today and Ezeli has yet to log a minute on the court for the Blazers. Knee injuries have kept him out all season and it is possible he is not healthy enough to suit up at all this year.
At age 27, this is a very valuable player. Judging by the advanced metric win shares per 48, Ezeli was an above league average player each of the last two seasons with Golden State. He is a good defensive center who will not try to do too much and is content in any role.
The contract only has $1 million guaranteed for next season if he is cut by June 30, 2017, so the acquiring team could have a valuable center on their hands at an affordable price for next season or use him to meet the salary floor this year and cut him with a minimal cost for next season.
The Blazers want to move Festus Ezeli for financial relief and if they are desperate enough they will get the job done.
The Dallas Mavericks have been linked to acquiring Festus Ezeli.
Other teams that are below the salary floor and could have an interest in acquiring Ezeli at a minimal cost are the Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, Phoenix Suns, and Minnesota Timberwolves.
More than likely, the Blazers hold onto Ezeli through the deadline and as I mentioned when they signed him, it is not a bad idea. He is a valuable player on a great contract, so if he is healthy enough to play this season or next, the Blazers have a bargain on their hands.
Ed Davis has seen his minutes and production slip in his second year in Portland. Davis is averaging just 17.2 minutes a game and producing just 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 points a night. Davis is underutilized on this Portland team flush with options.
Ed Davis is a valuable reserve big man on a team friendly deal for next season. Davis is due to make $6.35 million next season and should provide great value given the opportunity to play.
He is the prototypical reserve power forward or center who can rebound the ball and play good defense without commanding touches.
I could see a contending team making a play for Ed Davis. The team would have to be short a big man and have a role open for Ed Davis. Potential landing spots include the Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, LA Clippers, and Oklahoma City Thunder. Davis could fill a role on each team and they would probably be willing to part with a pick or cheap asset to get the deal done.
The Portland Trail Blazers committed 4 years and $70 million to Evan Turner this offseason. Most people believed the Blazers would regret the contract and low and behold just eight months in and already the Blazers are hoping to move Turner.
Unfortunately for Portland, this is a player I do not believe they can move. I do not see a team taking on Evan Turner's contract given his production this season or in his career. Evan Turner is not a piece that will put a contender over the top and most contending teams could not afford to acquire him unless they gave away a high paid asset. Why give up an equally high paid player who is probably producing better? And the Blazers are hoping to save money, anyways. It appears to be black, red, and white for Mister Turner through this trade deadline.
The most likely deal for the Portland Trail Blazers lies in moving Al-Farouq Aminu. Aminu is probably the most valuable asset they are willing to move given his contract and production. Let us look a little closer at his value.
Al-Farouq Aminu can play both forward positions and is a good defender. That versatility allows him to guard one through five in small ball lineups. Aminu has produced positive defensive box score plus/minus and defensive win shares in each of his seven NBA seasons. A versatile wing always has value in the NBA.
Add in that Aminu is under team control for the next two seasons after this year at just $14.28 million combined and teams should be biting. That gives the acquiring team a cost controlled versatile wing who can defend multiple positions, just show them where to sign.
I think the Blazers will ramp up their efforts to move Aminu and he will be wearing a new uniform come Thursday night. There are numerous teams that would be interested in his services, but two teams I could see pulling the trigger are the Indiana Pacers and the Washington Wizards. Stay tuned to see who grabs Al-Farouq Aminu before the deadline.
There you have it, my look at the Portland Trail Blazers trade rumors. This is a team in need of shedding some payroll after some poor offseason decisions. They are not contending and have the third highest salary cap in the NBA meaning some changes need to be made. Expect to see some deals before Thursday's deadline, but do not expect to see the Blazers getting huge returns. If the team can get a few picks and save some cap space, they will have had a successful deadline.
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Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow... Red, Green and Blue Bars
As I mentioned in a previous post, the Birkman Method® Data at the heart of your hoozyu™ package underwent a major upgrade at the beginning of this year. If you took the Questionnaire before January 9th, 2012, you won't have seen your Areas of Interest or Grid change, but you might see big changes in Org Focus and Career Families.
Not a Short Yellow Bar
The big change is that your Career data is now worked out in a much more fine-grained way. The way you answered the Questionnaire (really: question by question) is now compared with people from each of 207 specific career roles, who have previously had at least 3 years in those specific roles AND who have indicated that they enjoyed high levels of job satisfaction while in those roles. So your scores in this area are highly indicative of the likelihood that you would succeed in, and enjoy, these roles. (But, as ever, they are NOT telling you what to do. That is a decision for you to make; these scores give you things to think about!)
Here, however, is one by-product of this change: some people now get Org Focus bars that are very short. I mean… very, very , very short. Take a pencil. Sharpen it. Pressing lightly, draw a short line segment. Yes, that narrow.
So what does this mean? If you have these super invisible Organizational Focus Bars, are you a person with no discernible strengths and giftings? Should you prepare for a life of unemployability? Is all hope lost? Are paragraphs comprising nothing but questions annoying?
ABSOLUTELY NOT. (Except for the last one. Yes, paragraphs comprising nothing but questions are extremely annoying. Sorry…)
The new Org Focus scores are a measure of how strongly typical you are of ALL the different career titles which are classified under a particular colour. So if you have a long Blue Bar, we know we can drop you into just about any creative or idea-oriented environment and you will have a (blue) whale of a time. If you have a long Red Bar, then ditto just about any operational or technical environment. Long Green, yes to just about any sales or comms environment and Long Yellow, ditoo just about any admin or systems environment.
So what does a super duper short bar mean? It DOESN'T mean that there are NO Blue (or Red or whatever colour) type environments that will suit you. It means you might have one or two high individual matches within that colour family, but cancelled out by other very low matches.
Now you will have to take this next bit on trust, unless you want half an hour of explanation of data structures: "All short Org Focus Bars" almost certainly means that you can't tell from your report what your highest individual career title matches are. That is the bad news; if it is any comfort, this may well be true for many of those who have reasonably long bars too. It is simply because in the pdf Job Families Report, your results are sorted by Job Family first, then Career Title. Your highest individual matches will be listed, but they could be surprisingly far down the list of Families. My digging through the data suggests this happens all the time if you have very short bars.
This seems quite an important deficit to me; I have suggested to Birkman some ways this could be addressed. However, I am currently working on a simple online report that will allow you to see your highest scores in context. So for example, my highest score is not from my highest Job Family. I have a maximum 99 on a Job Title which comes from a Family for which I only have a 48. I never would have guessed that Chef / Head Cook was my strongest job match from my report, because the FoodService Job Family is way down my listing (I might have guessed from all the times I wished I could just open a restaurant, or the fact that I cook to relax). My next two highest Job Titles are from even lower-ranking Job Families
Does this matter, especially if – as I keep saying – these scores aren't telling you what to do? Well, yes, for the simple reason that especially if you have all short Org Focus Bars, you aren't likely to slip easily from one role to another; there are probably some very specific areas in which you might shine and it therefore makes sense to at least know what those look like.
So watch this space, and if you would like to be one of the first to get this data, contact me at firstname.lastname@example.com, along with your name and Birkman ID (usually G followed by 5 other characters).


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Project Description
Travelkatz will put together an Arkansas Vacation Package custom tailored just for you. We handle all aspects of your trip so you can sit back, relax and enjoy. We provide three options for every state in the USA. If you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate in contacting us.
Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Eureka Springs – the town: Victorian homes, historic hotels, spas, springs, outdoor fun, world-class restaurants, stunning architecture, unforgettable Bed n' Breakfast's, unique wedding locales, over 100 locally owned shops. Top 10 Small Market Arts Destination (American Style.) One of America's Dozen Distinctive Destinations (National Trust for Historic Preservation.); On National Register of Historic Places.
Eureka Springs Historic District Tram Tours: See and learn about Eureka Springs, up close and personal on the open-air, trolley style trams. Each tour is fully narrated by a fun, knowledgeable local guide. The tour makes 2 stops. First stop is the 1886 Crescent Hotel, where there will be ample time to look around inside and outside the hotel, as well as enjoying the view of the beautiful Ozark mountains and the Christ of the Ozarks Statue. The second stop is at one of the historic cold-water springs. The tram is "covered" but open on the sides. This makes it great for being able to see the beautiful homes, buildings, limestone walls and sidewalks and the tree covered hillsides throughout this amazing historic district. Find out, too, why Robert Ripley, of Ripley's Believe It or Not, called Eureka Springs one of the 10 Most Unusual Towns he ever visited in the United States. Find out the history of the town. Visit the most haunted hotel in America, see the first neon sign west of the Mississippi, find out about the 60+ springs, see what shops you want to visit… This is a great way to start your Eureka Springs trip! Friendly knowledgeable tour guide.
Eureka Springs was officially founded in 1879, but the area was very active due to its locations and well known for its dozens of "healing" springs. Native Americans used them, as well as Civil War soldiers recovering from injuries. Built on rocky limestone ledges, the city became known as "Little Switzerland" and is well known for its many Victorian era homes. Tim guided us past some of the springs, told about rare winter sledding as a kid, pointed out key homes and businesses of the area such as the Flat Iron Building and the beautiful Crescent Hotel (with its ghosts). It was fun and fact-filled tour with plenty of personality.
We found that the city has over 100 restaurants, many cute little shops and B&B's, and many nearby attractions, making Eureka Springs a destination location for visitors to the Ozarks. Well worth the time! Highly recommended!
Thorncrown Chapel: Beautiful chapel with lots of windows to let the beauty of the surroundings inside. We also had the opportunity to hear a little history while we were there. Very interesting. Very peaceful and serene. A beautiful place for a wedding.
Crescent Hotel Ghost Tour: The tour starts in the Teacher's Lounge on the 4th floor. One of the most interesting and creepy aspects of the building is that it was used as a scan cancer "cure" center in the early 1920's. The tour ends in the basement in the room that used to be the receiving room for bodies that where being moved to a funeral home. The autopsy room and body cooler are also included in the tour. It is definitely a unique and intriguing place.
Zarks-A Fine Design Gallery: a fine design gallery. Represents over 120 local, regional and national artists. Featured work includes ceramics from the Spring Street Pottery Studio, fine jewelry, painting and the region's largest collection of contemporary American art glass.
Harmon Park: Harmon Park is located at 532 Spring Street, Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Harmon Park is home for the Eureka Springs Parks and Recreation Commission main office which is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The park has 6.45 acres and contains a playground, skate-park, restrooms, Dog Park and recently constructed Opera of the Ozarks platform for performances. This is just one of the many parks in and around Eureka Springs.
Great Passion Play: And just outside the city limits is the Great Passion Play venue where you can watch the life of Christ from birth to death. The actors are residents of Eureka Springs and surrounding areas. Then tour the grounds where you will find other areas of interest, a gift shop and the Ozarks statue of Christ looking over the valley. Awesome!
There are flights from Tampa to Fayetteville Regional Airport which services Eureka Springs which is a short drive away. Just give Travelkatz a call at 352-277-7300 and we will see that you have a special time in Eureka Springs.
State Capital of Arkansas: Little Rock
Little Rock was named by French explorer Jean Baptist Bénard de La Harpe, who discovered two rocky outcroppings on the Arkansas River in 1722. The larger he called Le Rocher Francais ("The French Rock," later called Big Rock) and the smaller he named La Petit Rocher ("The Little Rock"). The city was built near, and named after, the smaller of the outcroppings.
Little Rock is the capital of Arkansas. It was incorporated on November 7, 1831, on the south bank of the Arkansas River close to the geographic center of the state. The city derives its name from a rock formation along the river, named by the French in the 1720s. The capital was moved to Little Rock in 1821. The city is the largest in the state.
Little Rock is a cultural, economic, government and transportation center within Arkansas and the South. Several cultural institutions are in Little Rock, such as the Arts Center, the Repertory Theatre; the largest non-profit professional theatre company, and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. In addition, there is hiking, boating, and other outdoor recreational opportunities. Little Rock's history is available through history museums, historic districts or neighborhoods and historic sites such as Little Rock Central High School.
Things to see:
William J. Clinton Presidential Library: The library is full of interesting bits of President Clinton's life and time as a governor and as President. A must see for history and political buffs.
Little Rock Central High School: An opportunity to delve into the history behind the 1957 immigration "crisis" in Little Rock. An excellent museum cater-corner to Central High itself has displays and lots of video that cover the entire event. The Little Rock Nine and other events of the Civil Rights movement are memorialized. The Visitor Center was very informative. The school itself is amazing and the Education Center is the Mobile station.
Big Dam Bridge: Walk up the walkway to get to the top of the dam…interesting view at the top…you can see barges & recycling ships…Many flags on top. Watching the water flow is awesome. Great place to run, bike, and hike all the way to Little Rock. The trail leads down to the Clinton Library in the River Market; which is a gem in the city where you can eat in some of the best restaurants in the nation. The Pubs are great too after a long bike or hike from the Big Dam Bridge!
Pinnacle Mountain State Park: This park has tons of options for hiking, walking, running, biking, or floating. There are lots of trails and something for all levels of abilities.
Little Rock Zoo: You'll be happy to see good-sized enclosures and friendly zookeepers. Some exhibits were the elephants, rhino and large cats. The primates are cool too. They do live feedings for primates and watch how the silverback gorilla acts during feeding time. They also have a baby chimp, which is so cute and fun to watch.
Zookeepers offer educational talks from which you can learn quite a bit about these amazing animals.
Little Rock's River Market Area: Situated on the banks of the mighty Arkansas River, is a great place for visitors of all ages and persuasions. Outdoors, the River Walk offers a beautiful sculpture garden and varied art works along the beginning of a 17-mile hiking/biking/walking trail, plus historic markers and descriptions and children's play areas and a fountain in summer.
How to get there: there are direct flights from Tampa to Little Rock, lots of choices for food and places to stay.
Another option for our Arkansas Vacation Package is the Natural Wonder. See our selection of choice below to see if it fancies your style. Please don't hesitate in contacting us with any questions or concerns.
ARKANSAS: Ozark Region
TravelKatz will handle all aspects of your dream Arkansas Vacation Package.
Give us a call today and see why we are a top rated Travel Agency!
Enjoy your Arkansas Vacation Package.
Relax on your Arkansas Vacation Package.
Indulge on your Arkansas Vacation Package.


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Dubai's first licensed cinema is now open
Attention all film buffs, the UAE's first ever licensed cinema has officially opened!
The joyous 180 seater cinema located in Dubai's Jebel Ali Recreation Club is the brainchild of Reel Cinemas and American celebrity chef Guy Fieri.
The movie theatre is split across four Reel Cinema screens and is complimented by a 100-seater restaurant that offers both indoor and outdoor seating.
A fully licensed bar services both the restaurant and cinema. Aside from drinks, film goers can also get their hands on some breakfast, moreish burgers and brunch. That's right, they can have their feast of choice delivered to their seat while they enjoy Hollywood's latest offering.
Some of the dine-in menu items include fully-loaded nachos that are served with smoked brisket, brown sugar BBQ sauce and cheese. Other items include Fieri's signature beef bacon, mac 'n' cheese burger as well as the crispy chicken ranch sandwich and the equally tasty southwest lobster roll.


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JUNE 19-21, 2015 in Kitchener-Waterloo
"Sly and his Family Stone exhorted us to "dance to the music" as if it were possible not to, but our bodies know better. Intrinsically linked, sound and dance are waves moving through space and time and occasionally bumping into things.
Between the Ears 2015 is about these travels - we'll float our sounds on canoes through the lake at Victoria Park and origami boats in the Civic Square fountain and hear them in a dreamworld collage of coincident busking, and we'll see sound traced in wondrous choreographies from our most creative minds, performed by our amazing artists..."


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The funding of Eastern Pike Regional Police Department has been a hot topic for Westfall Township supervisors for almost a year.
The funding of Eastern Pike Regional Police Department has been a hot topic for Westfall Township supervisors for almost a year.
The department was formed in 2008 through the consolidation of the former Westfall and Matamoras police departments. Some Westfall supervisors balked at the proposed 2013 budget that included a modest increase.
When the municipalities can't agree on the budget, it reverts back to the previous year. The department is following the 2012 budget as the current 2013 budget.
In November, through a split vote, Westfall supervisors gave Matamoras a year's notice that the township would pull out of the Eastern Pike Regional Police Department unless the municipalities can agree on the budget. Months later, the notice to leave was rescinded.
Westfall supervisors said they wanted to be more involved in the police budget process to assure the costs stay affordable, and asked that the budget process start earlier in the year.
Police Chief Chad Stewart writes the department budget and it is approved by the police commission, which is made up of representatives from the Westfall board of supervisors and some members of the Matamoras Borough Council.
Matamoras called for a budget workshop with Westfall and the police commission, held Monday.
Westfall Supervisors Ray Banach, Larry Flansburg and Bob Ewbank have been vocal opponents of the cost of the department. Banach and Flansburg did not attend the meeting. Ewbank attended but said he was there as a citizen, not a supervisor.
Stewart presented the same bottom line for the 2014 budget as 2012, that is, $825,000, with no increase.
Of that the municipalities will pay the same portions as the previous years. Westfall's contribution is $385,655 and the Matamoras contribution is $341,996. The rest of the budget is made up of contracted services and grants.
No one at the meeting argued with the budget.
Stewart explained that overall expenses went up, but the department found some additional revenue that made up for the cost. The cost per household for police coverage averages 85 cents a day, according to Stewart.


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Non-consensual image-sharing criminalised
new legislation coming into effect today
which makes the non-consensual sharing
of intimate images and videos (or threatening to share these) a criminal
Finding that someone has publicly shared images they believed were private within the context of a trusting relationship can be devastating and can leave people struggling with feelings of shame, embarrassment, fearing a variety of consequences and not knowing where to turn for support and justice.
Abusive partners or ex-partners can use this behaviour as a lever to manipulate those they seek to control or to hurt and degrade them. This legislation now sets out clearly that a gross violation of this nature is a criminal act for which perpetrators can and will be held accountable.
Sandy Brindley of Rape Crisis Scotland said: "Sharing or threatening to share intimate images is a serious violation and can be devastating to individuals targeted. This behaviour has emerged increasingly in recent years as a factor in sexually abusive behaviour. Highlighting it as a serious criminal offence with a substantial penalty is an important and necessary development."
The new law, part of the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm Act, makes the sharing or threat of sharing private, intimate images and videos an offence punishable with up to 5 years imprisonment. The Scottish Government has also launched a new campaign to highlight the new legislation. You can read more here https://news.gov.scot/news/penalties-for-sharing-intimate-images as well as on the Rape Crisis Scotland blog. Full details of the legislation are at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2016/22/enacted


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You are here
Fall is the perfect time for planting and the Monticello nursery will have a wide range of trees, shrubs, perennials, and bulbs for sale; overstock items will be discounted. Enjoy guided garden tours and ask our knowledgeable nursery staff your gardening questions. Download the 2018 Fall Open House Program »
Plant Sale!
- Perennials, roses, trees, shrubs, and bulbs - ALL plants 20% off. Plus $1 and $5 plants.
- Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards' Fall Tree Sale - $5 and $10 trees and shrubs
Learn about "Bulbs as Companion Plants" from renowned bulb expert Brent Heath. Whether you are planning to plant bulbs in a fresh, newly prepared empty garden, or whether you are adding them to an already existing one, this talk will have the answers for you! With exquisite slides illustrating the talk, you will be introduced to the best of the best...the right bulbs for the right spots. You'll learn how to combine bulbs with perennials, annuals, ground covers, flowering shrubs, and even vegetables to create just the feeling you want to generate for four seasons in your garden. After seeing and experiencing this talk, you'll leave with information and inspiration to produce a garden that you, your neighbors and friends will enjoy all year.
Brent will also be on-hand to demonstrate the best techniques for planting bulbs in containers for beautiful living flower arrangements.
Related Event
Brent Heath is a naturalist, an author, a photographer, a speaker, a daffodil hybridizer and a gardener and because of achievements in all of these areas of expertise, has won many gold medal awards from various organizations in the horticultural industry. One of Brent's greatest joys is sharing his love of all things natural in the world and inspiring people of all ages and experiences to look at the world around them in a different, eye-opening way. He has helped them understand how to take care of the earth for the next crop and/or for future generations. He has given lectures and shared knowledge with gardeners in every state except North Dakota and Hawaii. His plans for the future are to continue to play in his garden and care for the earth while encouraging others to do the same! https://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/


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Individual Author Record
General Information
Name: Simone MuenchPen Name: None Genre: Poetry Audience: Adult; Born: in Benson, Louisiana
-- Website -- http://simonemuench.com
-- Simone Muench on WorldCat -- http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=simone++muench
Illinois ConnectionSimone Muench was born in Louisiana but attended the University of Illinois at Chicago and stayed in Illinois to pursue her career.
Biographical and Professional InformationMuench received her Ph.D from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and is director of the Writing Program and Assistant Professor of English at Lewis University where she teaches creative writing and film studies.
Published Works
- Lampblack & Ash, Sarabande, 2003
- Notebook, Knife, Mentholatum, New Michigan Press, 2005
- Orange Crush , Sarabande, 2010
- The Air Lost in Breathing, Helicon Nine, 2000
Titles At Your Library
The Air Lost in Breathing: Poems
ISBN: 1884235301 Helicon Nine Editions. 2000 Overall, though, hers is a marvelous collection--and poetry such as this deserves to be read carfully but also heard aloud... (Kansas City Star, Sunday, October 8, 2000 by John Mark Eberhart)
Notebook. Knife. Mentholatum
ISBN: 0972509550 New Michigan Press. 2003
Lampblack & Ash: Poems
ISBN: 193251127X Sarabande Books. 2005
There is something utterly in thrall here, honey-slow and fixated. Driven by obsessionin particular, obsession with the legendary French poet, Robert DesnosMuench's identification with a true self beyond the self's known truth is startling.
from the introduction by Carol Muske-Dukes
Simone's poems have a confidence and sophistication of what I like to call intentionality. Also wit, grace, poise, and a relationship to writing beyond self-referential feeling."
Anne Waldman
Lush, sprouting, sensuous images line-by-line, adopting myth freely, Muench's poems are volatile explosives, circling beauty."James Tate
Orange Crush: Poems
ISBN: 1932511792 Sarabande Books. 2010
"Muench's lush figures give great pleasure to both ear and eye, and her imaginative leaps can feel both mysterious and inevitable, in a way that recalls not only Desnos, but also Neruda."—The New York Times Book Review
"Her language is refreshing, musical, attenuated."—Anne Waldman
Simone Muench lives in Chicago.


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We still have some pullets left for sale but supples are running out. The current price is $20/Pullet unless you purchase over 20 then we offer discounts. Remember to bring a box or something to transport them in. Pick-up is the 20th or 27th of October.Supplies are limited - Please place your order below!!
Our Brown Egg Layers area healthy cross between a White Rock egg-layer type female and a Rhode Island Red male. Sustained production peaks of months over 90% are the norm, producing 270-300 eggs by 72 weeks of age on 4.0 -4.3 lbs. of feed per dozen eggs produced. The mature layer weighs 4.75-5.0 lbs and is very docile, making it the ideal layer for small backyard family farms, as well as larger local farms.
- Vegetarian & Grain Diet
- No Animal By-Products
- No Preservatives
- No Artificial Hormones
Please submit an order to reserve your pullets below. Thanks


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The forward has been the centre of attention this season both for good and bad reasons. Having scored 23 league goals for Liverpool, he finished second behind Robin Van Persie in the league's top goal scorers, the most a striker has scored for Liverpool in a season since Fernando Torres hit 24 Premier League goals in 2007/08. Suarez was making the news for the right reasons, and his performances were overshadowing the side of Suarez we have all come to know and dislike.
But it was too good to be true, and in the home game against Chelsea, Suarez inexplicably bit defender Branislav Ivanovic's arm which was punished with a ten match ban. The incident made sure that Suarez's season would be remembered for all the wrong reasons, putting all his hard work and excellent performances to waste.
|Suarez wants to leave Liverpool in the summer
To have the support Suarez has received from both the club and fans, after what he has done, is a credit to the club who could have easily got rid of the player. To now have him questioning his future at the club, and mentioning Real Madrid as a possible option shows a complete lack of respect from Suarez. Liverpool don't deserve to be treated the way they have been this week, and instead, Suarez should have kept quiet and made a decision about his future behind closed doors.
However nothing is ever simple in football, and it was the English press who Suarez blames for the reason he wants out of English football. To most of us, using the press is a poor excuse and one that has been heavily frowned upon. Had Suarez acted in the correct manner on the football pitch, then perhaps he would have been treated a lot differently by the media. Suarez has no-one but himself to blame for the treatment he has received. The whole of Liverpool have backed the forward and during the hard times, they have supported him through thick and thin so he can't claim no-one has supported him.
It will be a real shame to see Suarez leave the Premier League if he is to go. On a footballing level, he is amongst one of the best players to take to a football pitch. The skill he brings to the game is a joy to watch and there are not many players out there like him. It will be a massive summer for both Liverpool and Suarez who need to resolve this saga as quick as possible.


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Milwaukee Youth Servant Retreat: A Life Experiencing God
Location: Milwaukee
Four main intentions of this incredible trip--experiencing other religious traditions, urban service work, challenging faith discussions and having fun in Milwaukee--all to connect us closer together and closer to God. Service-Learning hours ...
Faith Alive! Session 5 (class 2016-2018)
See our dedicated web page for complete details and contact information!
AGO Pedals, Pipes and Pizza (Green Bay)
08:30am - 12:30pm
Location: First United Methodist Church, 501 Howe Street, Green Bay
First Methodist (Green Bay)
Pedals Pipes & Pizza! The Northeastern Wisconsin Chapter of The American Guild of Organists will present "Pedals Pipes and Pizza": an exciting introduction to the pipe organ - "The ...
Church Statistics & Finance Training (Neenah)
09:00am - 12:00pm
Location: Faith UMC, 1025 Tullar Rd, Neenah
Church Finance Training with an emphasis on statistical reporting. This training is for Church Treasurers, Finance Committee Members and Pastors on handling local church finances. The training will be lead by Conference ...
SPRC Training (NW District) - Glenwood City UMC
Location: Glenwood City UMC, 240 Oak St., Glenwood City, WI 54013
All clergy and a SPRC member from each church are expected to attend and learn about their responsibilities.
Please contact Susan Olson at 715-835-5181 or email@example.com with any questions. No registration needed.
© 2018 Wisconsin Conference UMC


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We are pleased to announce that Alexandra Palace and William Perkin Church of England High School have both won New London Awards.
The annual lunch took place today at the Guildhall in London where the winners were revealed. The New London Awards recognise the very best new and proposed architecture, planning and development in the capital.
Alexandra Palace received an award in the Public Buildings category and William Perkin won in the Education category.


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The second of two new Disney cruise ships will set sail on April 7, 2012, the company announced Monday.
Disney will begin accepting bookings on Wednesday for the 4,000-passenger Disney Fantasy, which will offer seven-night Caribbean voyages from Port Canaveral.
The Fantasy will join the Disney Dream, which is scheduled to arrive at Port Canaveral this January and begin sailing three-, four- and five-night Caribbean itineraries.


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The Inn at Port Ludlow is excited to announce the arrival of Columbia Sportswear to its retail selection. This time of year brings a beautiful change to the outdoors, and the cooler temperatures bring a need for warm, cozy layers.
Known for their commitment to quality, and a passion for the great outdoors, Columbia Sportswear is guided by the principle of "It's Perfect, Now Make It Better". The new outerwear features the Port Ludlow logo embroidered on a selection of hard-working, stylish pieces.
The Women's Might Lite Vest is sleek and warm. The thin Omni-Heat thermal lining keeps you insulated without adding bulk, and the Omni-Shield exterior provides advanced stain and water repellency. The Women's Give and Go vest is also a great option, providing a tailored fit in soft microfleece. Perfect for the Pacific Northwest!
The sun is no match for the baseball-style hats featuring Omni-Shade Sun UPF-50 protection. Harborside Fleece Pullover Jackets are available for men and women. The colorful, heathered fleece is ideal for layering on chilly autumn hikes, or breezy sailing trips.
We invite you to come in and experience the collection. Then get outside. No matter the weather – we've got you covered.
Written by: Jennifer Kavanagh


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Development Services
BEAM Ltd is a specialist systems
and software
development company aiming at the
areas of real-time, parallel, DSP and embedded systems, instrumentation
systems and Network appliances using the
Linux operating system. We are based near Bristol in the UK.
Development FocusSome of the main areas we have detailed experience in are:
Example Projects
Systems and Software DevelopmentWe are able to undertake all levels of system development from R&D through to production packaged systems, including hardware specification and implementation. We have detailed experience of the Linux operating system allowing us to design and implement real-time 24/7 systems within this environment. Our engineers also have hardware design and development experience. This knowledge provides us with the ability to develop software systems with close hardware interaction and to develop specialist hardware interface components.
Normally the source code for the software we develop is supplied to the client so that they can continue development themselves if they wish although we also are happy to provide flexible and cost effective support contracts. We are also happy to produce software under the GNU GPL or LGPL licenses if required.
Its is normal for us to quote a fixed price for a development contract based on a formally agreed specification, although for smaller items of work, man day pricing can be applied.
Network Appliances and Embedded SystemsBEAM has a good deal of experience with designing and implementing Network Appliances and Embedded systems. A Network appliance is a device dedicated to perform a simple task that is connected to a computer network either using Ethernet or WiFi wireless connections. A Network appliance has simple configuration options and is designed to operate 24/7. They are usually controlled from other systems connected to the network. Quite often these systems are based on low power single board computers, although we have experience in designing systems using standard Intel PC architecture. We have ported Linux to run on a variety of platforms including those based on the ARM and PPC architectures.
Typical Network Appliances include:
Network routers, Network Camera's, Digital TV servers, Network file servers, Data I/O devices.
FPGA Systems DevelopmentIn recent years BEAM has been involved in the development of systems that utilise reconfigurable hardware. Specifically field programmable gate arrays (FPGA's). The FPGA solution is suited to many high performance, real-time tasks. They are most suited to tasks where a high level of parallelism at a low level is present.
BEAM has been at the forefront of using these devices within standard Linux based PC systems for real-time data processing applications.
Consultancy ServicesTypically, our consultancy service is used by research/development organisations. The customer usually has expert domain knowledge in their application area but lack system expertise, integration expertise, or are short of manpower.
'Kick starting' customer development
A popular option is the development of code in a generic manner that the customer can then take and apply the final tweaks for their final requirements,in a manner of speaking the creation of a template. We sort out the 'nitty gritty' leaving the client the flexibility for the final polish.
Device Drivers
Device drivers bridge the important gulf between hardware and software, where the hardware functionality is mapped onto a standard operating system interface. The hardware background of all our staff is an important factor in producing clean and not unduly complex device drivers. Our goals are reliability, simplicity and maintainability.
Product developmentBEAM can provide assistance in the full product development cycle. From client concept to product reality.
We have in-depth knowledge of the working of systems and can produce systems software that can perform for the most demanding applications.
Main Skill Areas
|Operating Systems
|Linux, Unix, Lynx, Microsoft
|Software Languages
|C++, C, Python, PHP, Java, Perl,
|Web Languages
|HTML, Javascript, Java, PHP,
|Processor Architectures
|I386, PPC, ARM, Alpha, I860,
68000, Transputer, 8 bit controllers etc
|FPGA Languages
|Verilog, VHDL
|Xilinx Sparten, Xilinx Virtex,
Xilinx Virtex-II, Virtex-II-Pro


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Musa McKim: painter and poet
The poem wants to tell you about Philip and Musa Guston in their bed
foreheads locked like magnets
how he's charging overnight
on her battery her poetry
warmly whirring.
--from "Erasures" a film-poem, which I promise to upload to my other film-poem site very soon
Many painters I know love Philip Guston's work, and if they don't all love his work, most love the story of his creative life. I won't go into the ins and outs (ups and downs, more to the point; Dore Ashton's book on him is comprehensive), but what endures in the larger contours of his story is how, in the end, he embraced contradictory creative impulses (in his case "pure" paintings and "thing" paintings), and the jet fuel that ignited when he fully embraced those opposing poles brought his late work into being. The painting here, Couple in Bed (1977, 206 x 240 cm oil on canvas in Chicago at the Art Institute) is from that late flowering.
Philip's wife was Musa McKim. She was a poet. A quiet poet. A reluctant poet. A woman of, perhaps, contradictory impulses herself: toward being the "artist's wife and muse" (Jesus, her name!), "mother" and "poet". She'd been a painter as well at the outset of her creative life. In an afterword to a book of McKim's writings, William Corbett writes about his attempts to get Musa to give him some work to publish in a magazine he edited called Fire Exit. He says he liked the McKim's writings for their "fresh unliterariness. They seemed to come direct from her imagination without having been mediated by art."
The book is called Alone With The Moon: selected writings of Musa McKim (The Figures: Boston 1994) I don't know if it's still in print. I bought it in the art gallery at Boston University (Guston taught there in the late seventies until his death.) The writing is uneven; some of it veers toward the overly whimsical. Other poems are perfectly pitched, showing us a writer of talent and singular taste, one who probably didn't spend enough time at the craft.
Some Music
Maybe this time you have gone so far
been away so long, that you take lacunae
for the mocassins
of your new princess.
Or maybe, by now, the princess is real.
Maybe what is real
is that you have a new princess.
I have looked for you everywhere.
In watering places, in dry places.
Where were you during the sirocco?
Should I have looked for you in the speedboat?
Did the flags get my message twisted?
Were you there, but was I asleep
and therefore invisible in the crowd?
I look for you in Woodstock,
East Hampton, the Cape and New York.
Should I have looked in Europe,
or the Orient?
I look for you in fancy restaurants.
And at Wah kee's--even at Sing Wu's.
And in the old stamping grounds.
There, all is quiet
as earth from the air.
I look for you in the air,
stopping and questioning every jet.
The air hostesses smile and say
"Thanks for stopping PAN AN," Or Eastern,
or American.
I look for you in sky-writing
thinking, sooner or later,
you will send a message that way.
When last we met you said,
"Should I ever want to be looked for
by anyone, it would be by you."
Soon the birds will be perching on my eyes.
Although it is not only with my eyes
that I look.
The neighbors, one of whom is a sculptor,
have built a fence around me
they are so disgusted.
I ease the pain by trying to evolve
into something else.
What could that be, though,
since I am fitted only
for looking for you?
Why instead of distress
signals, don't I broadcast
the news, the weather report,
some music?


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Death Valley iphone x case by Kurt Van Wagner. Protect your iPhone X with an impact-resistant, slim-profile, hard-shell case. The image is printed directly onto the case and wrapped around the edges for a beautiful presentation. Simply snap the case onto your iPhone X for instant protection and direct access to all of the phone's features!
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Protect your iPhone X with an impact-resistant, slim-profile, hard-shell case. The image is printed directly onto the case and wrapped around the edges for a beautiful presentation. Simply snap the case onto your iPhone X for instant protection and direct access to all of the phone's features!
Average Rating (5 Stars):
Keisha Jones
December 17th, 2018
Love my phone case! And honestly, this team was great to me as well. There were issues with the delivery and the support team were totally there to assist. I've already received so many compliments on the cover and given several people the website as well! Thank you all for doing a great job and for helping your customers out when they were in need! Top Notch!!
Nancy Quiaoit
December 14th, 2018
Photo based digital painting.
Kurt Van Wagner's roots in art go back to when he was a youngster living in Southern California. He was a very craft and hobby oriented child. Together he and his father would make mosaics made from glass tiles, shells, and rocks which they collected from the local beach. During this same period in his life he also discovered the hobby of stamp collecting. This opened so many doors for his hunger to learn about the world, it's many different peoples, cultures and it's beauty. Kurt studied photography in high school. After graduation, he spent the next two summers hitchhiking and traveling by bus and train throughout Europe and North Africa on a student's budget. He captured his experiences with his coveted Yashika camera. Starting in...
Our return policy is very simple:
If you're not happy with a purchase that you made on Pixels.com, for any reason, you can return it to us within 30 days of the order date. As soon as it arrives, we'll issue a full refund for the entire purchase price. Please note - Pixels does not reimburse the outgoing or return shipping charges unless the return is due to a defect in quality.
Pixels sells thousands of pieces of artwork each month - all with a 100% money-back guarantee. We take great pride in the fact that hundreds of thousands of artists have chosen Pixels to fulfill their orders, and we look forward to helping you select your next piece!
Customer Service: 877-807-5901
(Call Any Time - 24 Hours Per Day)
All iphone x cases ship from our production facility within 1 - 2 business days of your order.


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2018 Toronto Auto Show in Photos
2018 Toronto Auto Show in Photos
We got a little bored again at work, so we decided to go content hunting! #ContentHunting
Something shiny caught our eyes on Front St, we ended up at the Canadian International Autoshow!
60 In The 6ix – Highlights of the Canadian International Auto Show in 60 seconds! #cias2018 #autoshowcanada2018 @cdnintlautoshow #carshow #supercars #sportscars #highlights #trucks #60inthe6ix #torontoevents #torontoactivities #6ixlifestyle #60seconds #60seconddocs #torontotourism @torontoforyou @torontolife @blogto @toronto @curiocitytoronto @6ix.grams @seetorontonow
Turns out the Autoshow is full of cars! $100 million worth of cars to be exact spread out over three floors. The Canadian International Autoshow has been around since the 70's and it's the largest car show in Canada. Formerly held in the Automotive building at the CNE grounds, the show now takes up three floors and 640k SF of floor space. We put together a collection of some of our best shots from the show. Thanks to the cars for looking super car-sexy.


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It's about to be a magazine girl fight to the finish up in here y'all.First Jennifer makes history by being the first Black singer to make the cover of Vogue magazine. Beyonce then counter attacked by making a little history of her own and landing on the cover of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue.Not to be outdone- J. Hudson has once again gone on the offensive and landed on the cover of Life Magazine. What will Beyonce do next you ask? I have no idea- but it sure is going to be ridiculously fun waiting to find out. LOL.
Okay, now before anyone gets their panties in a bunch- please know that we are just having a little fun with these sistas.We love Jen and Bey both and wish them the best.That however doesn't mean we are above making fun of them and this whole competition thing the public seems to be obsessed with. ((Beyonce has already been on the cover of Life Magazine.))
Anyway, you can check out a few of Jennifer's pics from the issue below and head on over to Life to read the article.


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The toilet is flushed more times during the super bowl halftime than at any other time of the year. Soooo…we're thinking that all the beer and chips must be getting to you about then:)
New Office Hours
Water Softeners
Hardness in your water?
If you have 5 grains of hardness in your water, it's equivalent to 5 dissolved aspirin in a gallon of water. In Greenville, WI municipal water there is approximately 30 grains of hardness.
In Kaukauna, WI there is approximately 50 Grains of hardness.
To bring your water hardness down to ZERO grains and eliminates spotting and stains on your plumbing fixtures.
Call Jeff's Water Conditioning and Greenville Plumbing today for a free estimate!
Jeffs Water Conditioning & Greenville Plumbing News
Welcome to Jeffs Water Conditioning & Greenville Plumbing new blogging page.
We will be sharing news about water heaters, water softeners and more!


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For all new International/EU students whose first language is NOT English to evaluate their individual levels of written English and whether or not they require additional English support whilst studying.
Please pre-book an appointment online. You only need to attend one session. For further information on English support please contact:
Hildegard Norton-Uhl (firstname.lastname@example.com) MH008


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- A Gone Novel
- Hardcover: 576 pages
- Publisher: Electric Monkey (2 April 2012)
- Language: English
- "The fifth heart-stopping installment of the bestselling GONE series. Night is falling in the FAYZ. Even though it's been nearly a year since everyone over the age of fifteen disappeared, the sun has continued to shine on the kids of Perdido Beach. Now, though, the gaiaphage has blotted out the sun and plunged the FAYZ into perpetual gloom. Divided and dispirited, the survivors face their greatest enemy yet - the darkness of their own minds ..."-Amazon
Fear was an excellent book. Plain and simple. How Michael Grant manages to come up with a unique dilemma each and every time, I'll never know.
As you've probably been informed, Fear is about the dark.
The large bubble around Perdio beach is going black; and a dark inky substance is scaling the dome walls- threatening to cut off the only sunlight in the Fayz forever.
Oh- and one more thing. Diana's pregnant with a three bar child. Oopsies! The mother drama, the suspense, the darkness, and yes- the Gaiaphage; all wrapped up into one amazing book.
Although my favorite parts, were the outer dome snippets. The tiny chapters of Fear where we got a glimpse of the outside world. What's the government doing to fix the big dome? How are the parents coping? And what of those odd hints Connie temple's been dropping? All those gnawing questions get answered in Fear.
The level of grittiness and realism transmitted to the reader was feat by itself, but Michael Grant manages to crank it up a gear; and re-create the very world we've come to know as The Fayz.
Rating 4.8/5
What to expect?
- Crazy Penny!
- Darkness!
- The "you didn't see that coming" ending.
- Outside world glimpses!
______________________________________________Below is the UK trailer for Fear by Michael Grant. Its quite well done; so take a peek.