text:
Magpies have a nest in a tree outside my parents' balcony (not the plastic bag tree, another one - a laburnum).
One for sorrow...
If I see a magpie, and it flies away and comes back, I have no way of knowing it's the same one, have I? No I haven't. And so I can say, with honesty and confidence, that I've seen two. Yes I can. And now, I'm going back to bed, because I'm still not well.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Magpies have a nest in a tree outside my parents' balcony (not the plastic bag tree, another one - a laburnum).
Labels: weird thoughts
16 comments:
- Reading the Signs said...
Doesn't matter if it's the same magpie or not: two sightings = joy. Just as well, really. Sorry to hear you are not well. Have thought of trying to play a few word games to take your mind of it? I am not being flippant, just very, very clever.
- Wednesday, 12 September 2007 at 18:53:00 EEST
- Reading the Signs said...
oh - and Mwah! xxx
(silly me)
sineehn - a beautiful Irish girl born out of wedlock.
- Wednesday, 12 September 2007 at 18:56:00 EEST
- NMJ said...
god, the magpie dilemma! i stand at the window and shout at them to duplicate so i don't get back luck.
- Wednesday, 12 September 2007 at 19:52:00 EEST
- Anna MR said...
Ah, Signs, a few word games would be just the ticket. They just never seem as much fun on one's own, do they? Although I am finding myself increasingly a loner, not to say "people-hater" (see post above).
How do you pronounce sineehn, I wonder - I have always found Irish fascinating, but all guesses are off, my best approximations are laughable, in spite of my considerable (ahem) skills in Welsh.
Mwah right backatcha, sweet Signs...
- Wednesday, 12 September 2007 at 19:56:00 EEST
- Anna MR said...
Hei Ms Legs the Cyberfriend, you snuck in there as I was writing! Yes, after I'd posted this I started to think I may have actually read more or less exactly the same post over at your house not long ago. A subliminal synchro thingy, honey - I remember telling you in my first comment, I think, how much I liked your stuff but that I wouldn't steal it, do you remember? And don't mean to start now. It just was what I thought this morn...
Hope you are ok, though, honey. Plenty of even-numbered magpies into your garden.
- Wednesday, 12 September 2007 at 19:59:00 EEST
- Anna MR said...
(Oh and Signs - thank you for reading my magpie(s) to mean joy. Appreciate it. Mwah x)
- Wednesday, 12 September 2007 at 20:00:00 EEST
- Reading the Signs said...
Psychic Finn - have just spotted the other comment from you over at mine but thought I'd just come here for a change of scenery. I remember now about your grandma from Lapland and I like to think it is this that gives you ethereal insight rather than things that go bleep.
I am not clever enough for wordgames - used to play dotto, noughts and crosses and, oh, something called Hangman :)
mfucw - nope, can't think of a single thing.
- Thursday, 13 September 2007 at 02:19:00 EEST
- But Why? said...
Awwww... hab doo god duh sniffoos? I'll stick the kettle on for you... though by the time you get over to sunny Surrey, the tea/coffee/hot honey and lemon stuff might have gone cold.
dielavmi "David loves me", said the girl from the valleys...
Mutta xx
- Thursday, 13 September 2007 at 08:19:00 EEST
- Anna MR said...
Signskins - I am sorry but that word ver, to me, suggests just muffled rudities, no two ways about that (I am whispering this, so My Sami Gran doesn't hear - I bet she'd never have thought me capable of thinking a rude thought. Then again, with her psychic powers, she may have seen right through me and into my future, whilst in my past. Or worse, she could be listening in on me now. Oh dear).
Hangman's the game, though, sweet Signs, is it not? Here's one for you:
mwah and mwah
- Thursday, 13 September 2007 at 11:29:00 EEST
- Anna MR said...
Mutta - thank you, cold honey and lemon in sunny Surrey sounds just the ticket. Expect me at any point between now and then. (It's really only a fever I've got, though, not so much the muffled consonants all rolled into a d or a b. Which is nice, in its hot clammy way, because my writing would be pretty difficult to decipher otherwise.)
It took me a moment to grasp the full depth of your word ver - it is the Welsh valley girl speaking, of her one true love, Dai the Pie, the baker's young son...
- Thursday, 13 September 2007 at 11:34:00 EEST
- Reading the Signs said...
Muffled up rudities - I knew that of course but my two grannies "on the other side" are definitely listening in so I just pretend to be stupid.
Apropos of which, there is no such word as biblaholic - just biblioholic. So Mwaaaaahahaha!
- Friday, 14 September 2007 at 01:32:00 EEST
- Anna MR said...
Signs - mound.
Mwahaha right backatcha.
- Friday, 14 September 2007 at 01:35:00 EEST
- Reading the Signs said...
mound? mound? woddat?
and mwahaha right backatcha
(and hope you are feeling better, ms Penguin)
- Friday, 14 September 2007 at 14:34:00 EEST
- Anna MR said...
Mound, sweet Signs, is the first thing you get when you guess wrong in the hangman. Word.
(Flapping around gracelessly, gathering speed to plunge into the sea of translation, where my graceless waddle turns into flight-like swimming, thank you for asking me dear)
- Friday, 14 September 2007 at 14:40:00 EEST
- Amanda said...
Can I tell you one of my deep dark secrets? Hopefully no-one else will spot it here but you.
You see, I have a horrible habit when it comes to magpies - I won't call it a superstition because I don't really think anything bad will happen if I don't do it, but I definitely don't like not performing my little routine. I remember reading as quite a young child that if you said hello to magpies it deflected any of this "one for.." trouble, so if I saw one on its own I'd say "hello magpie". Then I read that you should salute them (honestly, people must just write this stuff to get giggles out of poor people like me). So now I salute magpies and say "hello magpie" to them. It's a little embarrassing on crowded trains, or if you're walking and talking to someone, but luckily no-one seems to notice. I think it's probably a combination of me mumbling and other people filtering out the mad woman. I've even had people not notice when I've done it half way through a conversation with them... but maybe that's because no-one listens to what I'm saying.
Anyway, that is my guilty secret, that I've only told before to one other person. I feel silly doing it, but on the other hand it seems so polite it would almost be rude to stop now. And I don't want to be rude, even (especially?) to magpies.
But please don't tell on me, will you?
Hope you feel better soon.
- Friday, 14 September 2007 at 16:25:00 EEST
- Anna MR said...
Hei Amanda - sweetie, what a charming story and a brilliant way of deflecting the sorrow brought on by single magpies. Your secret will be safe with me, but only relatively speaking - you see, my dear girl, I really won't need to be telling on you, because at the very least the very nutty Signs (hello, darling) will be here within hours and read all about it. On the other hand, you really mustn't worry about her, as not only does she do far odder things herself (I feel sure of this), but she really is a good sort and part of my inner-circle-beloved-blogpals-triumvirate (I am D'Artagnan).
Please also consider yourself now formally introduced, dear ladies... and Amanda, please don't mind if I steal this habit of yours, because, as I said, it really sounds better than some of the other tricks I've had to employ to sort out the single magpie issue.
On the mend here, slowly but surely, thank you...at least in the body, if not in the maddy mind.
- Friday, 14 September 2007 at 17:32:00 EEST


text:
Ok maybe I should elaborate....... If you dont close till 8pm and people show up at 1/4till I dont think it's unreasonable to expect to get a hot dog not just be told all we have left is ice cream. Furthernore in a place where a large percentage doesnt pull the typical 9 - 5 I would think that closing at 8pm is kinda stupid (yes its there right) but its stupid..... who does that? How many places in Charleston that are open for dinner close at 8? Either way your losing a good percentage of customers. On a side note though the Cosmic dog is kick ass! and so are the hand cut fries!
Too bad it closes at 8pm What A Sham! Who does that Must think pretty highly of yourself........ No thanks!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Left: "The murder of a lady near Torquay". Headline news – 6 December 1884 (click image to see full page in PDF).
|'Format' feature
|Westward Television
|Was John Lee Guilty ?
|Herald & Express – 16 March 1936
|Remember that John Lee?
Mr. Pike wants to know
|The Herald Express – 12 August 1959
|New light on murder mystery
Was Lee read the guilty person?
|The Herald Express – 15 November 1962
|John Lee may not have been a killer
|The Herald Express – 23 August 1966
'Format', Westward Television Programme
Transmitted in the Westward Television region: 08 February 1972
"Westward Television was the ITV franchise holder for the South West of England from April 1961 until December 1981. A mainly rural region of the country, the South West had no ITV broadcaster before 1961. Based at purpose-built studios at Derry's Cross in Plymouth, Westward was one of the smallest ITV operators and produced very little output for the UK commercial television network, choosing instead to concentrate on regional programmes of particular interest to the South West's rural and agricultural communities, as well as regular regional news bulletins. Westward's flagship news programme was Westward Diary, which went out at 6pm every weekday for the entire duration of the franchise. Westward ceased broadcasting on 31 December 1981, being replaced the following day by TSW (Television South West), which took over the Derry's Cross studios and retained most of Westward's staff".
The following transcript and three images appears courtesy of the South West Film & Television Archive to whom I recommend as a good source of historic material relating to the South West of England. I am grateful for their support and assistance over the years in relation to this project.
'Format', Westward Television Programme originally transmitted on Independent Television in the Westward Television region: 08 February 1972Feature Transcript:TONY ADAMS (Westward Television Reporter):The murder happened in a house that faced one of the prettiest beaches in Devon, Babbacombe, or Babbicombe as it was known in those days. The house belonged to Miss Emma Keyse and was called 'The Glen' and it stands on what is now the site of this car park.
Miss Keyse lived here with four servants, two maids, a cook and footman John Lee, a young man of rather doubtful character. When Lee entered Miss Keyse service he had already lost several jobs and spent six months in jail for theft. A few days before the murder he had stolen a guitar belonging to Miss Keyse and sold it at a shop in Torquay. The guitar was traced but Miss Keyse did not discharge him perhaps because he was the half brother of the cook, Elizabeth Harris. Instead she reduced his wages from half a crown to two shillings a week.
Towards midnight on Friday November the 14th 1884 the doors of 'The Glen' were bolted and the servants went to bed. Lee slept on a bed in the pantry. At about half past three in the morning Elizabeth Harris was awakened by the smell of burning. She ran out of the bedroom and found Lee standing there covered with blood stains. She woke up the other two servants and rushed down stairs. In the dining room she found the body of Miss Keyse. Her throat had been cut, her head battered and she'd been set on fire with paraffin. Someone had started fires with paraffin in three different places. One of the servants, Jane Neck, ran out on the lawn and screamed for help. For some odd reason John Lee smashed one of the windows from outside. He claimed later it was to let out the smoke. He also explained that his blood stained condition was due to cutting his arm on the window. Several men came on the scene including the landlord of the 'Cary Arms' next door and helped put out the fire. It was the landlord who asked Lee for a hatchet to cut through a burnt rafter. And Lee produced one that was stained with blood. Later this hatchet was found to fit the wounds in Miss Keyse's head. It was usually kept outside in the wood shed.
The evidence against Lee looked pretty black. A very sharp blood stained knife was found in a drawer in the pantry where he slept. A paraffin can in a cupboard near his bed was found to be empty and stained with blood. It had been full the day before. Lee claimed that he had been fast asleep and that the women had to wake him up, which was a lie. The next day Lee was arrested on suspicion of murder.
He was tried on February the 2nd in Exeter and there seemed to be no doubt of his guilt. Several people testified that he had uttered threats against Miss Keyse and talked about burning the house down.
TONY ADAMS (Westward Television Reporter):
Bill Shepherd, I believe your Grandmother, who died at the age of eighty nine, knew Lee.
Can you tell me about it?
She knew him quite well actually, her name was Eliza Maile(?) she was the daughter of a Teignmouth or Shaldon horse trader. And she was in service in a house adjoining Miss Keyse house. She described Lee a being a man of quite striking appearance. They used to meet quite frequently on one of the seats on the road up from the beach to the downs. On one of the occasions that she met him he actually said that "I'll do for the old so and so". Or words to that effect. He said that he was fed up with being told to do this and do that and he hated the sight of her. She told him not to be so silly and we all know what happened from then on, of course.
TONY ADAMS (Westward Television Reporter):
Do you know how long this was before the murder?
I wouldn't know exactly but he must have made his mind up to it and I wouldn't think it was more than a day or so before the murder.
TONY ADAMS (Westward Television Reporter):
Did she see him after the murder?
She saw him once after the murder. Incidentally I think he was character of ill repute. Prior to that because the postman used (used to see?) my grandmother when he saw her on a seat waiting for him. Her mother wouldn't like her to be mixed up with a character of that sort. She actually saw him, in fact, on the day of the preliminary hearing at St. Marychurch Court House. She went up and stood outside and appeared at the window. He must have been a sort of nervous character because he took the window cord and wound around his neck and gave it a tug and laughter at her. After that she was quickly whisked away and she was sent up to London for three weeks. Presumably by her employers. She certainly didn't give evidence any way.
The jury returned a verdict of guilty and the judge sentenced him to death. Before he left the dock Lee told the judge "The reason I am so calm and collected is because I trust in the lord and he knows I am innocent."
TONY ADAMS (Westward Television Reporter):
On February the 23rd a gallows had been built in the yard of Exeter gaol and a hangman called Berry came down from Bradford. Lee was led out, a bag was put over his head, the burial services was read and the hangman pulled the lever. Nothing happened. They moved Lee off the trap, tried it and it opened. They stood him back on again, put the bag over his head again and pulled the lever. Nothing happened. So this time they moved Lee off the trap and took him back into the gaol. The carpenters got to work on the trap door with a saw and plane, tested it with a bag (filled with concrete or something) — this time it worked. So they took Lee back put him on the trap door again, pulled the lever – again nothing happened. So this time they took Lee back into the gaol and the carpenters settled down to work again. It was quite late in the day when the Prison governor suddenly decided that Lee had probably had enough and contact the Home Secretary.
The Home Secretary commuted the sentence to life imprisomnent. Lee spent the next twenty two years in gaol. He said that he was kept there so long because he talked about murdering the prosecuting counsel and his half sister when he came out. But he did nothing of the sort.
He returned to Babbacombe in 1907 and later became a publican for a short time. Later he went to America where he died in about 1930. To the end of his life he maintained he was innocent of the murder of Miss Keyse. And there were very few people who can study the evidence and still believe that he was innocent. But there is a student of local history who believes Lee was innocent, Mr. Pike the Head Librarian of Torquay.
The evidence is circumstantial and there is some doubt in my mind whether in fact a modern, court of law would of convicted him on that evidence.
TONY ADAMS (Westward Television Reporter):
But assuming that he was innocent, who could of committed the murder?
There is one story, and it was repeated here that there was a mad party in 'The Glen' in the early hours of the morning and that while Lee was involved and his half sister that in fact he did not strike the fatal blow.
TONY ADAMS (Westward Television Reporter):
As far as I can see, an interesting point to this story is, first of all, that the servants were in the house the whole evening. So how could there have been a mad party in the house? Second, the doors were locked and the doors were not open until after the murder when Jane Neck went out on to the lawn. It seems to me, that surely, if someone in the house did do the murder, apart from Lee, the only other person could have been, for example, Elizabeth Harris, his half sister.
Well, now this is another version of the story. It first appears, as far as I can find out, as early as 1887 in a Midlands newspaper, which I am afraid I cannot identify any further. It says "It is reported that lately that one of the other servants died and before her death confessed to having her guilt." That appeared there and then it appeared again in Lloyds Weekly News just after the turn of the century. The story there runs as follows. "Convicts advance the fact that Lee's exceptionally good conduct in prison. His sister confessing the crime on her death bed as circumstances in favour of an early release."
But it is what is more interesting is a letter, which I have a photostat here, so there is no doubt at all of it's authenticity, sent from his address in Abbotskerswell which Lee, in his own handwriting says "I am going to London trying to find out about the confession of the cook, I do hope I can trace it back."
TONY ADAMS (Westward Television Reporter):
Of course Lee did always claim to the very end that he was innocent. In fact he also claimed of course that the reason that the trap did not work was that he was innocent. Why do you think that the trap didn't work?
Well, there's a story that the prison carpenters made the mechanism is the prison work shop and they cunningly devised a little flange which, when the normal tests were made (they used sacks), then it worked normally. But as soon as a man's weight was placed on it, it conveniently locked. This is one story.
TONY ADAMS (Westward Television Reporter):
What Berry actually says is in his account of it is: "The trap doors were placed in the coach house which is flagged with stones. On inspecting these doors I found that they were only about an inch thick. But to have been constructed properly should have been three or four inches thick. The iron work of the doors was of a frail kind and much to weak for the purpose". And he ends by saying "It had rained heavily during the nights of Saturday and Sunday." Implying the wood could have swollen. What do you think of that?
If you read his own life story, which he too wrote later, in fact he admitted that he didn't inspect the mechanism again on Monday before the actual execution took place.
But perhaps the most fascinating story of all is the story that Berry was got at. This had considerable circulation in St. Marychurch before the execution day. And there was so much money changing hands that in fact there was enough in hand to buy off anybody. Now, this sounds sensational. It sounds far fetched. But in fact my source was an absolutely impeccable one, a gentleman of the legal profession, who in fact set up in practice only a few years after the murder took place.
The Following Courtesy of Herald Express Publications Ltd, Torquay
Herald & Express – 16 March 1936
The Man They Could Not Hang
Was John Lee Guilty ?
"For over half a century the world has thought that John Lee committed the Babbacombe Murder, although he declared to the court: "I am innocent". To-night, for the first time, the Herald & Express is able to reveal John Lee's own story of what happened on that terrible night. He had served over twenty years in prison, and as his crime was expiated in the eyes of the law, he stood to gain nothing by lying."
"With the death of the late to Mr. Isidore James Carter, the well-known solicitor, of Torquay, who passed away at the advanced age of 87, there disappeared the last personal link with the notorious Babbacombe murder. Mr Carter was the prosecuting solicitor, and it was largely due to his own investigations on the spot that John Lee was arrested and accused of the murder. It was largely to Mr Carter that his conviction was due.
We reveal the story — which will prove that in truth fact is stranger than fiction — on the authority of a man whose name is respected by every citizen of Torquay, but who, for obvious reasons, cannot be identified. Nor, for equally obvious reasons, can any other names would be mentioned, for although none of the principal characters now survives, there may be descendants to whom pain might be caused.
Everybody has heard of John Lee, the man they could not hang, and some inhabitants of the district may have remembered seeing him after his release from prison. A lot of people in Torquay can point out the spot at Babbacombe where the Glen — the house where the murder was committed — stood, but the details of the murder are not well-known to the present generation and must be recited to allow of a proper understanding of the new revelations that we are to make.
John Henry George Lee, whose mother lived at Abbotskerswell, was a young man aged 20 years when, in 1884, he became the centre of worldwide interest. He had been a wild young man. Miss Keyse, a kindly lady whose home was at the Glen, Babbacombe, took a friendly interest in him. He was first employed by her as a page. Even then he was constantly in trouble, but she continued to take an interest in him and got him into the Navy, but after two years they were glad to be rid of him. He seemed unable to stay in any employment. Once he was a porter at Torre station that proved unsatisfactory. After that he entered of the service of Col. Brownlow, but stole his plate and went to prison.
Knowing all this, Miss Keyse, like the devout Christian lady she was, took him back again, all the while looking for better posts for him. His nominal position in the household was that of Butler. The other members of staff were two elderly maids and a young woman named Elizabeth Harris — a half sister of John Lee — who was cook.
On the morning of November 15th, 1884, one of the elderly maids smelled something burning. This was about four o'clock in the morning. She was at once called out and John Lee immediately asked her what was the matter. He then at once appeared, wearing his socks and trousers. At that time the whole place was full of smoke and she could not get down the stairs. He went to her assistance. He held her with his right hand. Later, bloodstains were found on her nightdress where he had touched her in giving assistance.
The maid urged Lee to run to the Cary Arms, just across the road, for help. The Glen stood on the corner of the present Babbacombe Court pleasure ground, facing the beach. But Lee was in no hurry to go. He first walked around the house and when the maid went into the dining-room she found the windows had been broken.
Lee told her he had broken them to let out the smoke. The prosecution alleged that he had deliberately put his fist through the windows to cut his hand so as to be able to account for the bloodstains. But although it was his left hand and arm which had been cut it was from his right hand and arm that the blood came which found its way to the nightdress of the maid who aroused the household.
Finally Lee went across to the Cary arms and summoned help, and coastguards and fishermen came at once to put out the flames. It was then the found that no fewer than five fires had been started in different places, and the whole place was reeking with the smell of paraffin. Later it was proved that nearly a gallon of paraffin had been used to help the fire, in spite of which it did not burned furiously.
In the dining-room was found the body of Miss Keyse. There were wounds on her head, evidently caused by a chopper, her throat was cut. Newspapers had been piled on her body and the whole had been set alight.
It was Lee who went to Torquay to report the matter to the police.
In a drawer they found a bloodstained towel. In another drawer a bloodstained knife. It was obvious that whoever had committed to crime must have been inside the house when the fire was discovered, because all the doors were locked and all the windows were fastened. In the circumstances is not surprising that suspicion fell on the Lee.
At the trial a police witness swore that Lee declared to him, referring to Miss Keyse: "now she is dead they won't know how it occurred." His half sister testified against him. She told the court that Lee had told her he intended to set fire to the house and sit on the hill and watch it burn.
The evidence called went to show that Lee went to bed at 11 o'clock PM and the cook and the elderly maids also retired before Miss Keyse, who was writing after midnight in the dining-room, where she was served a couple of cocoa. That cocoa was only half consumed. She was the night attire when found.
Lee was not permitted to give evidence on his own behalf and had no witnesses. He told police that he heard nothing after he retired until he was awakened by the maid shouting "fire." The oil was kept in a cupboard behind his bed and whoever took the tin must have reached over his bed and disturbed him. But he declared that he heard nobody fetching the oil. And he was wide awake and dressed when the alarm was raised.
The position may be summed up as under:
Points against Lee
- He was obviously lying about the window and the oil.
- The blood from his right hand made a stain before he broke the window.
- The window was broken with his left hand.
- The blow which struck Miss Keyse was struck by a man.
- Lee was the only man in the house.
- Nobody had broken into the house.
Points in Favour of Lee
- Lee stood to gain nothing by the death of Miss Keyse.
- On the contrary, she was then giving him employment when nobody else would take him and he stood to lose very heavily by her death.
- There was nothing of considerable value in the house.
- Nothing had been stolen from the house.
At the trial Lee's the counsel, Mr. St. Aubyn, addressing the jury, said that at first blush the case was one of the gravest and strongest suspicion against the prisoner, but it was purely one of circumstantial character. Proceeding, he pointed out that the cook was expecting to become a mother, and must have had a lover. He suggested there was nothing to show that is another might not have been the murderer, and although the cook herself might know nothing of the actual deed she would have the greatest inducement to screen her lover, supposing he was the murderer. It will be remembered that the cook was the half sister of Lee who gave evidence against him.
When the jury returned a verdict of "guilty" Lee merely protested that he was innocent. Then the judge proceeded to deliver the sentence. He entirely agreed with the jury. He commented on the calm demeanour of the prisoner throughout the trial and he continued: "he is calm at this moment."
After sentence Lee put his hands on the rail of the dock, and in a perfectly level voice said: "I am calm, my lord, because of my trust in the lord and because I am innocent."
On February 11th, 1885, 12 days before the date fixed for his execution, Lee wrote to his sister. In the course of a long letter he said:
"There is no doubt that the truth will come out after I am dead. It must be some very hard hearted persons to let me die for nothing … they have not told six words of truth, that is the servants, and that lovely stepsister, who carries her character with her."
A few days before the date of the execution he was visited in prison by the Reverend V. Hine, Vicar of Abbotskerswell, and to him Lee stated that he desired to make a statement implicating at least two other people. The Vicar advised him to make his statement in writing and Lee told his sister, who visited him, that he intended to do so. He told her the names he intended to mention. It is believed he did send a statement to the Home Secretary, but a petition for a reprieve was rejected.
It was stated after the death sentence had been commuted to one of penal servitude for life, that before he went to the scaffold he left a written statement, covering two pages, mentioning the name of a woman and some other person. The statement made by the executioner Berry and reported later in this article proves that no such declaration was made by Lee.
The particulars of the three attempts to hang Lee at Exeter prison are generally known. It is not so well known, however, that the horrible proceedings occupied half an hour and that while warders stamped on the trap Lee stood unflinchingly waiting for death, or that he stood on one side while they made the trap work before making another attempt. At the end of half an hour he showed signs of fainting and was taken back to his cell. The under-sheriff went by train to London to report the circumstances to the Home Secretary, who ordered that the sentence be altered to one of penal servitude for life. This sentence was, normally, 20 years. Lee served 22.
While in prison Lee said he had a vision on the night before the date fixed for the execution. An angel, he said, told him he need have no fear and that he would not be executed as he was innocent. He protested his innocence throughout. As he went to the scaffold he said he was not responsible for the death of Miss Keyse.
When he was released, on December 18th, 1907, he returned to Abbotskerswell, where his mother lived, and he was a very good to her. Two years later he married a mental nurse at Newton Abbot. He died in the United States.
These are the facts which the world knows. We are now about to reveal facts which the world does not yet know.
About the year 1890 there stood at the side of an open grave, in a South Devon town, a well-known and local resident and his two sons. The man who had been buried was a public man of the town who had been very well-known, highly respected and very popular throughout South Devon. The young men were, also, in their turn, to become public men in the area. As they were moving away from the grave and the mourners were disbursing their father turned to them and said "we have buried this afternoon the secret of the Babbacombe murder."
At the time they did not realise the significance of their father's remark. It was nearly 20 years before they did, but long before that they were aware that their father knew a good many of the secrets of the dead man.
By an amazing coincidence John Lee himself gave them the explanation when he was released from prison.
Lee knew nothing of that funeral when the two young men stood at the open grave. He did not know that the brothers, to whom he went on his release, knew of the existence of a man who had been buried. All he knew was that he felt he had been suffering under the grave injustice for 22 years, he wanted to obtain the redress, and he had decided to talk the matter over with the two men — to have their advice as to what to do to get satisfaction.
The story he told them explained their father's remark about the secret of the Babbacombe murder and their surprise as the facts were unfolded can be better imagined then described.
He started by declaring that he was not the Babbacombe murderer but that he knew who was, and that he had shielded him for over 20 years, only to discover, on his release from prison, that the murderer was dead.
The name of the murderer he gave. It was the name of the man at whose graveside the men on the opposite side of the table had stood.
Lee went on to explain what happened. The man in question was, he said, well-known to everybody for his public activities. He was much respected. Everybody knew him. What everybody did not know was that he was "carrying on" with a young woman who was known to Lee, and who had access to the servants quarters at the Glen. Thus it was that, with the assistance of Lee, the man in question had arranged a supper party for himself and the woman, and for Lee and another girl, in the kitchen of the Glen on the night of November 15, 1884.
Everything went well. The household was in bed and the party "below stairs" was proving a great success. Apparently they must have made more noise than they bargained for, because some time after midnight, without any warning, the door was thrown open and there stood Miss Keyse in her dressing gown. It was a dramatic moment as described by Lee. He declared that Miss Keyse was livid with the rage. She ordered them out of the house and told Lee to fetch the police.
High words followed. If the police came on the scene the public career of the man who had arranged the party was at an end. Lee at did not know what to do. His own future was anything but bright. Miss Keyse, in a rage, smacked the face of the man. There was a scuffle and a struggle. The man picked up a chopper and the next thing Lee knew was that Miss Keyse was lying dead on the floor.
Naturally everybody was very panic stricken, but according to his own account, Lee kept his head. His idea was that they should make it appear that there had been an attempt to burgle the house and that they should set the place on fire. He argued that, with a thatched roof and the house in such an isolated position, fire would wipe out all traces of what had happened before the flames could be extinguished.
Lee had a very carefully prepared the story that was to be told, and as he was to be the only individual who was to tell any story he did not imagine there would be very much difficulty about it.
So the stage was set. The body was removed to the dining-room, where it was found, the midnight visitors went away, Lee soaked the place with paraffin and in due course set it alight and retired to the bedroom he put his hand through the dining-room window after he was aroused by the cries of the maid who had smelled the fire, and, in so doing cut his arm.
Lee explained how he went to give the alarm at the Cary Arms and afterwards to tell the police about the discovery of Miss Keyse body. He carefully told the story he had prepared and, having told it, never budged from a detail. Even when it was shown that the window was broken from the outside and not the inside he did not tried to explain it. He protested from beginning to end that he did not kill Miss Keyse and even now, after he had completed his sentence, he was here again declaring his innocence through confessing that part he played in the proceedings.
He did not explain who cut Miss Keyse throat.
It was the sole survivor of all the people referred to in this article who told these facts to a Herald and Express reporter and he gave some further particulars.
The man concerned, and who was declared by Lee to be the murderer of Miss Keyse, was known, says our informant, to have been critically ill for a long time after the murder, although nobody at the time — or ever — associated him with the crime. As a matter of fact, he never really recovered, and gradually became demented. He died in a mentally unbalanced condition.
The few people had the slightest idea that he even knew Lee, or Miss Keyse, or the Glen.
But there were a few who knew something, and when, in his madness, he shouted things which the doctors put down in to his state of mind, there were one or two people — our informant's father was one — who knew what he was referring to, and what had driven him insane.
It was also, said our informant, afterwards discovered that the money for the defence of Lee was provided by the man in question.
Over 20 years ago the writer of this article had occasion to interview James Berry, the executioner, and asked him whether Lee made any statement to him. This is what Berry replied:
"When I went into the cell to pinion him I said: "Well, Lee, do you want to say anything?" Lee shook his head. Then he tapped his breast over his heart and went on: "what I know about this business will remain there. I am innocent.""
Obviously, if even after this lapse of time, names cannot be mentioned, but there is no question whatever that the statements referred to in this article were made by Lee and the other persons mentioned and if Lee spoke the truth — and the other events seem to prove that there was more than "something" in what he said — it looks as though after all this time the world has come to know what really happened at the Glen that night in November over 50 years ago."
Courtesy of Herald Express Publications Ltd, Torquay
The Herald Express -12th August 1959
Remember that John Lee?
Mr. Pike wants to know
What happened to John Lee, "the man that they could not hang" after he left Britain more than 50 years ago?
One person who is particularly anxious to find out this, and to make contact with anyone who has personal memories of Lee, is Mr. John Pike, the deputy librarian at Torquay. He has long been interested in Lee as a man, and in his trial, and is continuing extensive research.
There has never been a comprehensive biography of Lee, who was convicted of the murder at Babbacombe, Torquay, although there has been a booklet about him.
On February 4th, 1885, Lee was convicted of the murder of his employer, Miss Keyse, at the Glen, Babbacombe, and was sentenced to die in 19 days later, at Exeter prison. But he went to the gallows three times, and three times the trap failed to work.
Lee's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and he was released on December 18, 1907. He married Jessie Bulled, a mental nurse at Newton Abbot Workhouse, and went to Durham, and then America.
"To all intents, he then disappeared," said Mr Pike. "From then on no one seems to know anything else about him."
Lee was invalided out of the Navy and worked with the railway — being for a time at Torre station — before entering domestic service, first in the Warberries and then at Babbacombe.
Mr Pike has already contacted two people in Torquay who could reminisce, to some extent, about Lee, but feels there must be others, and would like them to get in touch with him.
The Glen no longer stands, but its site is still in use as a car park, and the garden room is now part of the Babbacombe Beach cafe.
Courtesy of Herald Express Publications Ltd, Torquay
The Herald Express – 15 November 1962
New light on murder mystery
Was Lee read the guilty person?
Seventy-eight years ago today a murder was committed at Babbacombe.
Later the murder, and the man held responsible, became world-famous when the condemned man escaped his sentence.
The man was John Lee, and ever since February 23rd, 1885 (the date of fixed for his execution), Lee has been known as "the man they could not hang".
Three times Lee was led to the scaffold for the murder of Miss Emma Keyse, and on each occasion the trap failed to work.
After a fire
Lee, then aged 22 was a footman to Miss Keyse, who lived at the Glen, Babbacombe.
One morning the house was found to be on fire and Lee gave the alarm. The blaze was put out by coastguards and fishermen. Inside the house the body off Miss Keyse was found. Her skull had been fractured and her throat cut.
Lee was arrested, tried, and condemned. Throughout his trial he protested his innocence, and when the scaffold "drop" would not work after three attempts, his sentence was commuted to one of penal servitude for life.
Because it was alleged that Lee had issued threats against people while imprisoned, he was not released after the customary 20 years. Finally, he was freed on December 18, 1907, after nearly 23 years.
Went to America
He returned to South Devon, and married a mental nurse at Newton Abbot. They went to Durham and then went to America, where it is believed, the died in the 1933.
Few people at the time of the trial and after subsequent happenings doubted that Lee was guilty. In the eyes of many people he had somehow cheated justice.
The Torquay Borough Librarian (Mr J.Pike) has been trying to solve the mystery of what happened to Lee after he left this country.
In 1959 the Herald Express published an article about Mr Pike's research, which was taken up by newspapers in other parts of the country.
As a result Mr. Pike and received information from people all over Britain. All of it appeared to be speculation.
"Got at"
But a local man came forward with information, not about Lee's whereabouts after his release, but about the abortive hanging.
The name of Mr. Pike's informant cannot be revealed, but this man was fully convinced that the hangman was "got out at".
This was thought to be impossible, as Lee's parents were yeoman farmers at Abbotskerswell.
Gradually Mr. Pike obtained more information. It seems that on the night of the murder three or four men, including Lee, were entertaining women at the Glen when Miss Keyse interrupted them.
Apparently one of the party was a "dealer" in silver and in a position to pay in the hang man.
Mr. Pike said he did not think that Lee was totally innocent of the crime, but he thought that someone else could have struck the blow and paid Lee to "carry the can", assuring him that he would not hang. This could have been the dealer.
Before trial
Mr. Pike said that his research had shown that Lee was publicly condemned even before his trial.
Newspapers at the time blackened his character, and on the jury were people from Torquay, who were fully aware of the facts and the biased opinions of the town.
In their own minds Lee was guilty before the trial was over, and the rest of the jury was swayed by their knowledge of the facts.
According to Mr Pike, there is little doubt that Lee was at the house, but it was highly possible that he did not commit the crime.
The belief that the hang man, James Berry, was "influenced" is perhaps borne out by the fact that nothing was found to be wrong with the mechanism of the scaffold, and that it worked perfectly immediately before and after the attempts to hang Lee.
Courtesy of Herald Express Publications Ltd, Torquay
Media index
The Herald Express – 23rd August 1966
John Lee may not have been a killer
John Lee, "the man they could not hang," may not have been guilty of the murder of Miss Emma Keyse at Babbacombe 80 years ago. This is one of the points brought out by the Torquay Borough librarian (Mr J. R. Pike) in a talk to Torquay rotary club at the YMCA yesterday.
Lee was convicted of the November 1884 murder at a Babbacombe house (now demolished) called the Glen, but although he was taken to the scaffold at Exeter prison three times, the trap would not work although it operated perfectly when he was not standing on it. He served 22 years in gaol and on his release married a nurse from Newton Abbot workhouse and went to America.
Fresh light
Mr Pike read from a Herald Express article of 30 years ago which carried the revelations putting a fresh light of the case. Lee, he said, had maintained his innocence and after his release had named as the murderer, a man who had been buried in a local churchyard about ten years after the crime.
"Although I can never mentioned the name I have been told by two different people of the name of the person who could have committed the murder," said Mr Pike yesterday.
Emphasising the different attitude towards accused people in the 19th century Mr Pike, who has made a special study of the John Lee case, said the man was convicted even before he was tried. The then vicar of St Marychurch had referred in the pulpit to him as a heartless cold-blooded, stealthy murderer. That vicar was also a member of the coroner's jury for the inquest on Miss Keyse.
"The local paper went to town in the 19th century manner." added Mr Pike, "describing him as he stood before the magistrates it said, "his lower jaw protruding and drops, he has thick lips and a half open mouth. There is a peculiarity about the eyes. They lack lustre and expression and are such as may be met with being in a lunatic asylum.""
Actually, said Mr Pike, photographs of Lee taken after his release showed a small, lean, clean shaven man.
His trial was not all it should have been and Mr Pike did not think the judge was justified in saying that the jury had reached their verdict "of evidence so conclusive" that he could not entertain any doubts about its correctness.
Media index


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Last Sunday we drove to the Drents Museum in Assen to visit the Vikings exhibition. We were with a group of 9 people, all interested in Vikings and the Norse pantheon & history. Some are astruar.
The traveling exhibition "We Call Them Vikings" can be seen as an extension and development of the permanent exhibition on "The Vikings" in the National Historical Museum in Stockholm, one of the world's largest exhibitions of objects from the Viking era. The exhibition has been produced to go on tour in cultural historical museums in Europe. Assen is the first venue, after which the rest of Europe (Edinburgh, Moskou, München among others) and the United States (Davenport) will follow.
video about the exhibition (English)
video about the exhibition in the Drents Museum (Dutch)
First we attended a 45 min. general introduction by an art historian. The exhibition itself was very interesting and I'd definitely recommend it. There is a lot to see and do, also for children.
We had lunch and drinks in the museum restaurant. Later on we visited the other (permanent) departments of the museum. Ron and I especially liked the archaeology section a lot. The old part of the museum is very beautiful on its own too. We had a great day!
Here are our pics (just click the image below):
Friday, July 27, 2012
Vikings exhibition
Labels: art, history, miscellaneous
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Sweet Jesus
Novem. CHI town.ya
Should b preetty sweet. Sick designs 2.
@ 23, Im feeling like I should eat healthy. What better way to start than this
The nutrients in watermelon can "deliver Viagra-like effects to the body's blood vessels and may even increase libido," according to Science Daily.
With the new Apple iphone out, it makes me wonder if this rotten fruit is worth checkin. With less than 6 weeks away from a new phone contract, possibilities have arisen.


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Academic Writing
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It's quite simple - I'll give you a topic, and then you'll follow an easy step-by-step process to find out what is trending in terms of that topic and what the latest research is about it.
The goal will be to find twenty people who are writing about the topic, identify a sub-topic, and then find 30 data points for the sub-topic. It should take around 20 hours maximum, less if you are really good at it!
If you are good at it, then we do one or two of these projects a month.
If you are interested, put the word Facts as the first word of your response.
All bids over $100 will be deleted.
Looking forward to working with you!
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FBI agent and profiler Brandon Fisher and his team are called to Savannah, Georgia, when body parts belonging to three separate victims are recovered from the Little Ogeechee River. As the case takes one dark turn after another, Brandon finds himself embroiled in a creepy psychological nightmare.
Add to Goodreads | BookLikes
He got out of bed and opened the curtains, letting the sun spill in and blanket him in its warm glow. Closing his eyes, he bathed in its splendor. His breath was calm and deep as he got down onto his knees and spread his arms heavenward, giving thanks for not just another day but for the blessing of life. Not his, but what would be the beginning of another offering.
He remained there in a meditative state, letting his consciousness drift to the other realm, a place far too few visited or were even aware of. But it was in this stillness that he found his true self, his identity, and his purpose, where he became centered and focused on the seriousness of his mission.
He wrapped himself in a black robe and shuffled downstairs and out the back door. He stood on the patio facing the riverbank with his eyes closed.
As the sun warmed his eyelids, he imagined himself being carried up toward the sky, merging with the flames, the source of life, and shedding his human form. He knew that he belonged somewhere else—a different plane of existence—but the physical required roots. So for now, he was grounded.
He remained standing there until the sun ducked behind a cloud, the shadows casting over him. He opened his eyes and knew. It was time.
His stride was full of purpose as he returned inside to where he kept the man in a dimly lit room. He closed the door behind him and headed for the preparation room.
Amazon UK | Amazon US | B&N | Kobo | Smashwords
5 out of 5 (exceptional)
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
WOW!! And again wow. I thoroughly enjoyed this gritty, psychological, twisted thriller. I hadn't read this author before but I really must read more!!
Quite often the blurb builds a book but carrying it off throughout a novel it is more difficult and some lose their direction. This one? No way. It stayed on track and hauled you along for all the gore of the ride. If you think this means a horror, it's not but it's dark, and takes you inside the minds of some very twisted people. I couldn't have enjoyed this more.
I love the characters and how they gel together. Particularly Brandon and how he decides to deal with things around him, while trying to retain his own humanity.
Love it and must read more!!
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found HERE
Carolyn Arnold will be awarding a paperback copy of Violated by Carolyn Arnold to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
If you have purchased Remnants before midnight on 14th April, click HERE to enter a major giveaway!
CAROLYN ARNOLD is an international best-selling and award-winning author, as well as a speaker, teacher, and inspirational mentor. She has four continuing fiction series—Detective Madison Knight, Brandon Fisher FBI, McKinley Mysteries, and Matthew Connor Adventures—and has written nearly thirty books. Her genre diversity offers her readers everything from cozy to hard-boiled mysteries, and thrillers to action adventures.
Both her female detective and FBI profiler series have been praised by those in law enforcement as being accurate and entertaining, leading her to adopt the trademark: POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT™.
Carolyn was born in a small town and enjoys spending time outdoors, but she also loves the lights of a big city. Grounded by her roots and lifted by her dreams, her overactive imagination insists that she tell her stories. Her intention is to touch the hearts of millions with her books, to entertain, inspire, and empower.
She currently lives just west of Toronto with her husband and beagle and is a member of Crime Writers of Canada.
Connect with CAROLYN ARNOLD Online:
Website - http://carolynarnold.net/
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And don't forget to sign up for her newsletter for up-to-date information on release and special offers at http://carolynarnold.net/newsletters.


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This item is not currently sold in our web store, please check with your local grocery store to see if it is available in your area or contact customer service for more information.
Made from a blend of Italian white wine vinegar and the musts of white grapes, this white balsamic vinegar has been infused with the flavor of pears. Refreshing in marinades and salad dressings, it is perhaps the best kept secret ingredient to the famous "Caesar's Wife's Salad" dressing recipe. See our recipe.
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At the risk of sounding like a broken record and a Debbie Downer, I want to point out the costs to taxpayers of having Amazing Spider-Man 2 film in Rochester and New York State.
The Democrat and Chronicle reported the movie production, in town for the next week and a half to film car chase scenes on Main Street, will boost the local economy:
Columbia Pictures is sending 200 crew members to Rochester over the period of the shoot. Filmmakers also have hired 250 local crew members and 150 local extras, Empire State Development's film office said Sunday.
Over the course of the filming, including advanced scouting, filmmakers estimated they would need 3,000 hotel nights and spend an additional $400,000 on local vendors, $120,000 on craft service and $120,000 on restaurant meals, the film office said.
The city of Rochester said Friday the filmmakers will pay overtime hours for three to nine firefighters each day of the shoot and up to 100 police officers during the course of the week. They will also reimburse other city expenses.
This is wonderful for the individuals and businesses who will make money from the production. But it's not so wonderful for the rest of us. The problem is the state will cut the movie a big check. Tax credits shave as much as 30 percent of of production costs. The Tax Foundation looked at these programs in other states and found taxpayers get back less than 30 cents for every tax dollar refunded to the film. What's more, New York has never done its own study to see if there's any economic benefit.
We will slog through a downtown police state over the next 10 days, so we can pay $10 to see Rochester's name in very small type in the credits. Maybe we'll get to see a storefront we recognize or an extra we sat next to in high school. After it's all over, the state will hand over wads of cash to the rich movie producers. Will it have been worth it?
Links of the Day:
– Kodak is handing over its camera film business to U.K. retirees to settle debt.
– Feeling ignored, the Utica Observer-Dispatch begs Cuomo to come visit and discuss jobs and the economy.
– This is why cities should be very wary of Cuomo's advisory board to "help" them.
– Cuomo will bow out if Clinton runs.
– West side Rochester bars top the list of places selling the most Quick Draw in Monroe County.
– There are two bidders left for Carestream Health. They are Bain Capital and THL.


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Genre - Heavy Metal
1. Hadrian Carrying Stones
2. They That Walk the Night
3. Frozen Goddess
4. Gone Astray
5. The Hour of Dying
6. The Kraken
7. Cimmeria
8. Earendil (Gone Are the Days)
One thing that can be said about Cruz Del Sur is while they don't release a huge quantity of stuff, what they do is generally always release quality material, and German heavy metal act Lunar Shadow are no exception. Upon first glance of their album cover, you almost expect it to be some sort of polished, sterile black metal, certainly the logo could certainly throw a unsuspecting few people off, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Far From Light, the debut album from these guys is nothing but pure gallant heavy metal with it's roots planted firmly in the classic style, and drawing from the same vein as acts such as Twisted Tower Dire, Slough Feg and Atlantean Kodex.
Comparisons to label contemporaries Atlantean Kodex are going to be unavoidable, they both share that similar starry eyed, cavalier style of heavy metal which is filled with fantasy and imagination, weaving epic songs pushing ten minutes in length absolutely awash with atmosphere. But while they are similar in design, Lunar Shadow have a bit more 'oomph' and kick to their sound, with a nice variety of tempo changes throughout the album.
If you've heard their impressive debut EP released two years prior, it's along the same sort of theme, except this time round they've tightened the reins and backed by a decent production job, sound a lot more mature and focused.
The first thing that struck me was was how much at times on this album vocalist Alex Vornam sounds like Paul Mccartney, call it a lazy comparison or whatever but listening to the some of the slower songs especially or the opening to 'Hadrian Carrying Stones' and you'll see what I mean, I just can't get it out of my head. Vocally the album might put some off, but I think they suit the mood of the album well, though they could still potentially benefit more from something a bit more Tony Taylor like which would propel them into the same realm as classics such as 'The Isle of Hydra' and 'Traveller'. Regardless, 'Far from Light' is not too far off from this at all. Instrumentally is where the album really comes into a league of it's own though, the guitar work delivered by Max and Kay is absolutely sublime, awash with Maiden-esque twin guitar harmonies, ripping solos and acoustics passages which show some more traditional Wishbone Ash influences too.
Tracks like the opener with its interweaving guitar melodies, sustained by an absolutely pounding rhythm are the perfect examples of what I'm talking about, it's the type of metal that marches right up to you and kicks you square in the balls yet still leaves you wanting more. There's also a huge array of diversity as well, no passage ever feels like it's been rehashed, and it's technical without ever straying into prog territory. 'The Kraken' and 'Cimmeria' are similarly epic, long double bass driven narratives, the former a baroque journey with arguably the finest guitar work here, dynamic and crunching riffs, driving rhythm tied up with that sleek, Murray/Smith lead work; the latter while having a bit of a slow start, being a more aggressive and moody number.
'Gone Astray' and 'Earendil' take the foot off the throttle and break up the pace a bit and are pure acoustic ballads almost Blind Guardian like in their delivery, not too dissimilar to 'The Bard's Song' or 'Lord of the Rings'. The former is a tad cheesy though and does drag a bit, but is by no means terrible.
'They That Walk the night' is by far the standout track here though, one of those tracks that will become a live staple for years to come, a headlong sing along assault with a blistering intro not unlike something early Slough Feg might have come up with, with a tempo and chorus that absolutely grips you by the neck and holds on for dear life.
So, safe to say this is a fucking fantastic album and one that's sure to remain near the top until the end of the year. It seems traditional heavy metal is making somewhat of a small revival again, what with bands such as Summerlands, Eternal Champion and Ravensire all releasing stellar albums in the past year, and this is certainly an album that can go toe to toe with those, if not even better. If fist clenching, fantasy driven heavy metal that leaves nothing but a trail of burnt rubber and steel in it's wake is your thing, then this is a must buy, since this dropped through my post box I haven't stopped playing it. Now when's that next Atlantean Kodex release due?
If you like - Twisted Tower Dire, Solstice, Atlantean Kodex


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AONE hotel Jakarta is a new four star hotel was build up on April 2016 with urban modern, luxury & elegant designed concept, The hotel features 150 beautifully appointed guest rooms have been design for your personal comfort to enhance you experience. Conveniently located at Jl Wahid Hasyim the financial and diplomatic district of Jakarta.
With stunning rooms, fantastic facilities and five-star service, there is nowhere better to stay. An ideal place for business, fun and leisure, This newly modern hotel is in the vicinity of popular city attractions such as Monumen Nasional (Monas) Grand Indonesia, Plaza Indonesia, Sarinah Shoping Mall, and Tanah Abang texitile Market.
~ 1 Night stay in Panoramic suite room
~ 2 Junior Suite Rooms for one night stay inclusive breakfast for two person
~ 200 wedding buffet with choice of international buffet
~ 4 selected food stalls at 100pax/stall
~ 1 glass of soft drink or flavored ice tea per person
~ Champagne Tower
~ 1 function room for ceremonies (blessing and tea ceremony) on the day
~ And many more benefits
his rate includes:
VAT and service
Welcome drink at the restaurant ``Piron de oro``
VAT and service
Welcome drink at the restaurant ``Piron de oro``
Magic Night
The magic in air the night before new year
Let's Celebrate your new year eve
at AONE HOTEL JAKARTA
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on 31 December 2017
Entertainment : Live Music
At Sunda Kelapa Restaurant
and count down at rooftop
Dress Code: Magician Outfit
Stay Voucher for Best custom


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Question: I want to lose weight but nothing seems to be working, what can I do to lose weight?
Answer: There are just a few key concepts that are really necessary to know for weight loss. The rest is just so much extra fluff.
For the purpose of this article, we are going to focus on just one single concept. This is one that a lot of people need to know in my opinion.
I think if someone does understand this concept it will be immensely useful.
The liver and fat storage. (this is a rough analogy – not a science class)
The liver is like a sandbox. Instead of sand, let's say it is a carbohydrate box.
A box is only so big. That means only so many carbohydrates can fit inside the box.
Once the box is full, if you add anymore, it will overflow.
When the box overflows, the body will make fat out of the overflowed carbs.
Now, conversely, you can get rid of fat this way too. How?
When the box is empty, there is no short-term supply of energy and the body must access fat stores to get energy. Hence fat is used up.
See, there are two ways to use this information.
1. Be sure that your carb box doesn't overflow.
2. Cardio until your carb box is depleted and you begin to burn fat.
Sign up for more on weight loss
Weight Loss – Keep up-to- date with FREE articles, information and resources
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* see your doctor before changing your diet or level of exercise.


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Last Saturday, Janet and I took Finnegan and Keira, along with Auntie Margie, Darren and Sophia, to see "A Prairie Life" which was an amazingly fun puppet show put on by Wide Open at the Refinery. We have been to many of the Wide Open performances over the past couple years and they have always been great fun for the kids. Wide Open also very generously donated to the CF raffle that I coordinated last year by contributing a season family pass!
This most recent performance was an all new puppet show based on the bestselling books by Jo Bannatyne-Cugnet, illustrated by Yvette Moore (A Prairie Year, Heartland, a Prairie sampler and A Prairie Alphabet). For the adults too it was a totally funny and entertaining show! We all can't wait for the upcoming "Marvelous Munsch!" which will be playing at Easter time.
It was especially fun last weekend because on Sunday while the kids were out at Irish dance with Tim, I received a phone call from Jacklyn Green, Artistic Director of Wide Open, saying that Finnegan had won the draw for the sock puppet prize! Finnegan answered the door to receive his gift and was pretty surprised indeed! Since there are four puppets in the craft kit, Finnegan has thought it best that we all get to make a puppet. One of these weekends when the activities slow down and we all manage to be home together, we plan to have a craft day and put them together.
Thanks to Wide Open! We look forward to more smiles and laughter with their puppets at the Refinery!


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Morgan Creek Capital Management chief Mark Yusko said Monday he's on the same page with Carl Icahn when the billionaire investor says there's danger ahead in credit markets.
Yusko, who last year correctly forecast crude oil would fall to $30 a barrel by the end of 2015, said trouble in the energy industry, which accounts for roughly 15 to 20 percent of high-yield debt, will seriously impact credit markets.
"We haven't even seen the beginning of bankruptcies in the oil patch," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box."
"I think capex is going to drop off quite dramatically later this year, drilling activity is going to slow, a lot of companies are going to go [bankrupt], and I think that's going to lead to some really bad numbers economically," he added.


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-- Senator John McCain, Senate floor speech, all-night debate, July 18, 2007
Campaigning down in Tyler, Texas early today (02/27/08), Republican Presidential candidate, Senator John McCain, delivered a direct ripost to a comment made by Democrat hopeful, Senator Barack Obama during the final Democrat presidential debate last night. Senator Obama said, in response to a question, that if al-Qaeda came back to Iraq and established a base after he, as President withdrew the troops, then he would send military troops back to Iraq.
But as John carefully and pointedly explained today, al-Qaeda is already in Iraq. "It's called al-Qaeda in Iraq!" he said. And he further noted that al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) does not want a base; they want to take the country. McCain said, "I will not surrender to al-Qaeda."
Here is the video*:
Uploaded by luvnews
The words in the title quote (above) of our post today, were taken from a early morning speech delivered by McCain during the debate over a Democrat proposal to force the Administration into a timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq, way back on July 18, 2007.
It was, in my opinion, one of the great speeches in American history, coming as it did at a pivotal moment in our nation's contentious internal debate and, at that moment, institutional confrontation over the future of our commitment to the struggle in Iraq. Yet, his stirring remarks went utterly unreported by any in our national media, save for a few bloggers who picked up the significance of his speech and shared them.
Most notably, Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters quickly turned around a transcription of McCain's remarks, which the Senator actually finished delivering at about 4:10 am, and Ed astonishingly was able to have them posted them on his blog, along with commentary, by 10:46 a.m. that morning!
Ed properly entitled that post, employing John's own words, ones embodying his determination that whatever the ultimate verdict of history, or the shorter term judgment of the people, that "I will stand where I stand." Ed introduced the Senator's remarks thusly:
Harry Reid wanted a debate, and he got one, especially from John McCain, during last night's stunt -- which Reid himself mostly skipped. It didn't change a single vote, and more importantly, Reid didn't get what he wanted -- a Republican refusal to engage. Instead, Republicans made it clear that they had no intention of allowing Congress to usurp the role of the executive, and McCain made it clear why. Here's his entire statement from the debate early this morning:
. . . .
The AP reported on the debate back then in a story that began:
"WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Republicans scuttled a Democratic proposal ordering troop withdrawals from Iraq in a showdown Wednesday that capped an all-night debate on the war.Had the Democrats succeeded in forcing a withdraw back then, our nation would now be humiliated and retreating, having opted to abandon an ally whose people we freed, and having, in our cravenness, emboldened al-Qaeda to become a major force, not only in Iraq, but throughout the Middle East, freely recruiting future terrorists. And, we would have also clearly signaled our other allies, both there in the region, and throughout the world that we can no longer be relied upon.
The 52-47 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to cut off debate under Senate rules."
. . . .
One wonders how long would it have been before al-Qaeda operatives and other terrorists would have been back on our shores, and at our throats? But because of the surge, which the Democrats opposed -- AQI is quickly becoming a discredited and defeated force, with recruitment down, prospects dimmed and increasingly, a Sunni populace that has rejected their approach.
During that all night debate, at a little after 4 am, John McCain, his campaign for the Presidency on the brink of collapse, nevertheless stood and delivered one of the great speeches in all of American history. Yet no one but a few bloggers such as Ed Morrissey reported his stirring words at that moment.
Senator McCain concluded his speech as follows:
"I am privileged, as we all are, to be subject to the judgment of the American people and history. But, my friends, they are not always the same judgment. The verdict of the people will arrive long before history's. I am unlikely to ever know how history has judged us in this hour. The public's judgment of me I will know soon enough. I will accept it, as I must. But whether it is favorable or unforgiving, I will stand where I stand, and take comfort from my confidence that I took my responsibilities to my country seriously, and despite the mistakes I have made as a public servant and the flaws I have as an advocate, I tried as best I could to help the country we all love remain as safe as she could be in an hour of serious peril."
"I will stand where I stand . . ." should, and one can only hope will likely become words embodying courage and steadfastness of purpose at a moment of real peril. That, it seems to me, is the very mark of good leadership. Please, go to the post and read the Senator's full remarks.
Finally, as we noted in a comment on that post at Captains Quarters, McCain's remarks were immediately followed by those of Hillary Clinton. Imagine, if you will, being in her position that day. She no doubt figured that, as the putative Democrat candidate, she had been given the advantage of the final word, by being scheduled to speak after him. But as she listened to his remarks, surely it had to cross her mind that something quite extraordinary had just been said. I wonder if, for even one brief second, a thought crossed her mind that she was indeed on the wrong side of history. We'll never know; she would likely never admit to it. And, neither will many likely know or care what she had to say that early morning. The moment had passed her by.
Thank you President Bush and John McCain, and General Petraeus, and thank you to all those brave troops who have put their lives on the line for our nation, and so effectively taken on an implacable enemy of this nation. We must not abandon them.
*A news report, from Brietbart, embedding the video of the Senators remarks today can be found located here. Reader comments are also linked to that post. (No comments were permitted with the original Dailymotion video, posted above.)
** The McCain campaign website indicates that he began speaking at about 3:45 a.m., which may only be slightly inconsistent with the AP report published the 18th that indicated he finished at 4:10 a.m -- it was not a 25 minute speech.
Labels: al-Qaeda in Iraq, Barack Obama, Captain's Quarters, Commander in Chief, cutting off funding, debates, Democrats, Ed Morrissey, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, Iraq, John McCain, leadership


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A 49-year-old Harford County woman was flown to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore Friday evening after a single-car accident on Route 543 in Dublin.
Dawn Christian Hoerr, of the 500 block of Chestnut Hill Road in Forest Hill, was driving a Kia station wagon south on Route 543 (Ady Road) near Heaps School Road around 6:20 p.m., according to Cpl. John Krysiak of the Maryland State Police Bel Air Barrack.
Witnesses said the car was swerving "all over the road," according to Krysiak.
The car went off the right shoulder, overturned and went down into a creek that was at least 30 feet off the road, Krysiak said.
"We don't know exactly what happened," he said.
Hoerr was flown by Medevac to shock trauma. She was released from the hospital prior to Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson said.
Route 543 in the Heaps School Road area was closed for nearly three hours, State Police said.


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The Lord Nelson is a pirvately owned hotel offering first class accommodation at reasonable prices. A completely refurbished Grade II listed building with a wealth of national charm, it affords a pleasant atmosphere in informal surroundings. Open to both residents and non-residents, our tastefully decorated restaurant with its archways and separate lounge provides for a relaxing area where you can enjoy a choice meal from our traditional yet extensive menu.
Whether its a single, double or family room, all our bedrooms have private en-suite shower rooms and are fully equipped with colour television, radio, tea and coffee making facilities and trouser press. Laundry services are available and ironsironing boards and hair driers may be obtained upon request.
From: £38.00
Average customer rating: out of 6
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Heritage Rated from 1- 5 (low-exceptional) on historic interest
Sunnycroft - 0.6 miles (Historic Building)
Stirchley, St James Church - 4.4 miles (Historic Church)
Buildwas Abbey - 4.7 miles (Abbey)
Iron Bridge - 5.5 miles (Historic Building)
Lilleshall Abbey - 5.5 miles (Abbey)
Benthall Hall - 5.8 miles (Historic House)
Wroxeter Roman City - 5.9 miles (Roman Site)
Wroxeter, St Andrew's Church - 5.9 miles (Historic Church)
Talbot Chapel - 6.2 miles (Historic Church)
Attingham Park - 6.4 miles (Historic House)
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Enhance your course and enthrall your audience using captivating multimedia
About This Video
Create rich summary sections as well as activities for your Moodle courses using Moodle activities and external resources
Learn how to create comprehensive surveys, depict statistical data in captivating charts, and use different resources to compile data as well as interactive documents
Integrate several file types designed using different types of software into your Moodle courses - learn how to create and embed documents or upload them to your Moodle courses using e-portfolios
Use recordings available on the Web or record your own clips using convenient online resources and convert your content such as MIDI files to the universally compatible mp3 format
Embed videos from different websites, or create and edit your own using tools from the cloud and add them to your Moodle courses
In Detail
Moodle 2.3 Multimedia provides plenty of recipes that will guide you through how to add, embed, and link several multimedia resources into your Moodle courses. Learn to deal with surveys, charts, and files, as well as e-portfolios, and enhance your Moodle courses
Moodle 2.3 Multimedia will help you design and create interactive Moodle courses using a combination of technologies (free and open source) as well as services available on the Web, making your courses more appealing and captivating to students.
This course also includes working with e-portfolios and social networks — a powerful element to take into account when designing your Moodle activities and course summaries.
Moodle 2.3 Multimedia begins with an overview of designing rich course activities and summaries, then moves on to creating surveys and embedding charts within a course. Later on, you will create and embed your own videos in the Moodle course.
Then, we take it one step further as we add (and edit) sounds to our activities. Learn how to design, edit, and embed 3D videos in your course using the online software Alice. We'll also cover how to create live screencasts, which can be converted into videos and embedded in your course.
This course will show you how to augment the effectiveness of your Moodle course through creating and embedding interactive and eye-catching multimedia elements such as images, charts, interactive documents, audio, screencasts, video, e-portfolios, and social networks that will enthrall your audience.


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John Wyer (1909 - 1989) - The Specialist Race Manager
Word has it that, at the peak of his career, John Wyer wore dark glasses not to protect his eyes, but to protect his mechanics from the 'Deathray' - a title that would soon become his unofficial title. Wyer was no ordinary racing manager, but a specialist who became legendary in long-distance sports-car racing, where the disciplines and the difficulties demanded a more organised and rational approach than in any other kind of racing.
The Sunbeam Motor Company
Wyer enjoyed sccesses elsewhere, but it was always with Le Mans that race fans associated him; the association was even longer than his career as a racing manager, going back to 1949 and lasting through to his victory with the Gulf team in 1975. Wyer was born in 1909 in Worcestershire, and in 1927 he entered the motor industry as an apprentice with the
Sunbeam Motor Company
Well-spoken, Wyer was nothing like the brash bosses who jumped up from the factory floor in other sectors of the auto industry, however; he was the product of an age when the industrial revolution had persuaded many familys to send their sons into practical rather than academic engineering, and his own industry then stood him in good stead.
Solex carburetors and Monaco Motors
In 1933 he joined the Solex carburetor firm, leaving in 1947 to become general manager of Monaco Motors & Engineering Company. This was a little firm in Watford, UK, with a big reputation for the first-class preparation of competition cars, and under Wyer it earned new acclaim. At this time he was known to pop out and serve a couple of gallons of petrol to a passing motorist, while the next minute he would be immersed in the preparation of cars for Shelsley Walsh, Goodwood or Le Mans.
Already his standards were strict and the work done by or under him had to be impeccable. One of the customers who came to Watford for his help was another firm of small size and great repute, HRG, who were keen to crown an already good competition record (and perhaps to boost flagging sales, as they had sold only 36 cars in 1948) with a class win at Le Mans, something they had last achieved in 1939. Three 1
liter HRG chassis (one of them a customer's) were stripped, modified and rebodied by Monaco, gaining a good deal in speed and losing 225 lb in the course of the work that Wyer directed.
Wyer joins Aston Martin
One of them won its class at Le Mans, and the HRG team completely dominated the 1
liter class in the 24 hours race at Spa, in 1949. In 1950, Wyer joined Aston Martin as racing director. The ensuing decade was one in which his fame spread rapidly. The Aston Martin team, campaigning from Monza to Buenos Aires, made rapid progress under his shrewd direction. The campaigning was not that of an army, but something shrewder and more economical: Wyer said that the ideal team should function more like a Commando. He insisted that it should be completely integrated, and not depend on the temperament or brilliance of any individual - despite which his choice of personnel was endorsed by Uhlenhaut of Mercedes-Benz, who commented, 'In England they have a quintet of the finest drivers in the world, and Aston Martin have three of them'.
The programme started with DB2 coupes in 1950, finishing fifth and sixth at Le Mans; but despite the good showing of these cars (they scored the first two places in their class in the
Mille Miglia
as late as 1952) Wyer maintained that it was hopeless to succeed in top-flight competition with what were basically production cars. Therefore, 1952 saw the introduction of the DB3 sports-racer which had a chequered season, failing at Le Mans but winning the Goodwood 9 Hours after a spectacular fire in the pits eliminated the rest of the team and put Wyer into hospital.
Much better results were achieved in 1953, especially after the introduction of the elegant 2.9-liter DB3S. Curiously it seemed that the odd-numbered years were better than the even-numbered (though Wyer was to break that pattern in 1968) and 1955 and 1957 were good. Success at Le Mans continued to evade the team, whose cars simply lacked the sheer speed necessary for that event; but they were formidable elsewhere, especially with Moss and Brooks driving. At last they did it in 1959, netting first and second places there and continuing to do so well in the other long-distance races that they won the Sports Car Constructors' Championship.
With a sigh of relief, Aston Martin withdrew from racing; but this did not put Wyer out of work, as by then he had risen to be technical director and general manager of the company. His appointment coincided with the dropping of the series of cars that grew out of the original DB2, and the introduction of the new DB4. Years later the firm's managing director commented, at the introduction of the DBS model, that the DB4 was the real Aston Martin; and this surprising observation may have been based on the fact that under Wyer the DB4 and DB5 earned a fine reputation. Not only were they fast they were particularly elegant as well.
Ford's Advanced Vehicles Operation and the GT 40
A closer insight into the world of the American motor industry came in 1963, when Wyer was approached by Ford to take over their new Advanced Vehicles operation. This was created to build the GT 40 sports-racing car in England which Ford pinned their hopes of heating the world-and their salesmen's drums. It was a tremendous undertaking, but the organisation was not to his taste - in his 1956 book '
Motor Racing Management
' he had insisted that a racing manager must have complete command, and that divided responsibility could only end in disaster.
Wyer was proved right, as the clumsy giant stumbled over one detail after another, and not until 1966 did a Mk 2 derivative of the Ford win at Le Mans, allowing Wyer to look back on another two championships (for prototypes with the Mk 2, for sports cars with the GT 40) and to look forward to the probability that Ford would give up as soon as they had scored another win at the French event. Things turned out exactly thus and, by the time the 1967 victory was being celebrated, the Ford Advanced Vehicle Operation at Slough was already taken over by a company called JW Automotive Engineering, the initials being shared by John Wyer and John Willment.
JW Automotive Engineering Mirage
They continued the production of the GT 40, maintaining it for customers and racing it when appropriate; new designs would carry the name Mirage. Considerable success with both names (the Mirage was a 3-liter prototype) was earned in 1967 in a new alliance with the Gulf oil company, for whom Wyer ran the team to success at Spa, Karlskoga, Myalami, Stockholm and Paris. Changes in the rules made Group 4 a better proposition than Group 6, and for 1968 Wyer's Gulf team concentrated on their new and most handsome development of the GT 40 with a 5-liter engine. It was a great season, in which the World Championship of makes fell to them for successes at Daytona, Brands Hatch, Monza, Spa, Watkins Glen and Le Mans-where the GT 40, with Wyer in proper command, was at last a winner.
It won there again in the following year, during which talks began between JW and Porsche. Their outcome was the Gulf-Porsche team of 917 projectiles launched and monitored by Wyer to strike home in most of the Championship 1000 km races and win the series. The same happened again in 1971 against strengthening opposition from Alfa Romeo and Ferrari, but it was the last year of the 5-liter cars: the rules were changing yet again, and 3-liter racers were to be the order of the day. The confidence inspired by Wyer prompted Gulf to appoint him their competitions director, with a seat in a new Gulf Research Racing Company and a brief to run a Cosworth-engined Mirage in the World Championship of Makes.
In 1972, 5 liter sportscars like the 917s were banned, and the 3000cc Porsche 908 prototypes were also dropped by the factory as the new weight limit was too high, removing the 908's advantage that balanced their lack of power. Wyer adopted the new 3.0 liter regulations and started building Gulf-Mirage prototypes once more, using a Formula One Cosworth DFV engine. The successful F1-engine was considered unsuited for endurance racing as vibrations took their toll after several hours, so modifications had to be made. After three years of trying, Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell finally achieved Wyer's last win at Le Mans, in 1975. The following year, John Wyer retired from automotive competition and sold his team to Harley Cluxton's Grand Touring Cars operation.
The Mirage M6
Managing director was John Horsman, who had been working with Wyer since he came down from Cambridge in 1958 and went for an interview at Aston Martin. The car was the Mirage M6, not terribly successful although very fast-as it showed by winning the Spa 1000 km race in 1973. After that the cars were called simply by the Gulf name, coming second in the 1974 championship and - after a revised brief which was limited to the one most important event of the season - taking first and third places at Le Mans in 1975. By this time Wyer, close to retiring age, had passed the responsibility for running the programme to Horsman.
Anthony Hutton in action in his Mirage coupe at Silverstone. The Mirage was built by Mohn Wyer's team and based on the Ford GT40.
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Another character element in gentleness is outlook. As our character begins to change it has an incredible affect on our outlook, on how we see other people. How we see other people will determine two things: our attitudes toward them and our actions toward them. Our actions are largely influenced by our attitudes.
The Brothers Grimm put this truth in a rather stinging fairy tale. Once there was a little old man, of trembling hands and feeble eyes, whose uncertain table habits became increasingly offensive to the daughter-in-law with whom he lived, until one day she objected vigorously to her husband, the old man's son. She and her husband took the fumbling old man to a corner of the kitchen, set him on a stool, and gave him his food in an earthenware bowl. Now he was no longer troubling them by his dribbled food; now the tablecloth was no longer soiled by his trembling behavior.
One day, in his trembling, he dropped the bowl and broke it. Now the daughter-in-law ceased even her moderate civility. "If you are a pig," she said, "you must eat from a trough." And they made a little wooden trough, and he ate from it.
The pride of their lives was their own four-year-old son. One evening they noticed the boy playing with blocks of wood in the serious fashion which children so often invest in their play. When the father asked what he was doing, the boy said with an engaging smile, "I'm making a trough to feed you and Mamma out of when I get big."
For a while the man and woman just looked at each other, not saying anything. Then they cried; and then they went to the corner and led the little old man back to his place at the table. They gave him a comfortable chair, and put his food on a plate. And never again were they really, deeply troubled by the food he spilled or by the dishes he occasionally broke. They had learned that, in honoring a parent, they possessed their own future.
Just a thought from the front porch…


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The Seminole Torchbearers is an organization comprised of Florida State University students and alumni who are exceptional leaders. A Seminole Torchbearer carries on the Legacy of Leadership – the sum total of the difference that a leader makes in people's lives – that was acquired while attending The Florida State University. It is this leadership legacy that is the foundation upon which our great university was built and is exemplified by a Seminole Torchbearer.
The Seminole Torchbearers in 1986 began formally recognizing those alumni who were student leaders during their time on campus. Since then, over 5,500 alums have been inducted into this prestigious group. Today, under the direction of Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. Amy Hecht, that group has expanded to recognize current students. Each year approximately 200 junior and senior student leaders are invited to join this elite group.
The Seminole Torchbearers is governed by a Board of Directors, made entirely of Torchbearer members from across the country. Board members continue this Legacy of Leadership by being prestigious leaders in their communities. In addition to recognizing student leaders, the Board of Directors serves as the primary fundraising board for the Vice President for Student Affairs.
Seminole Torchbearer Nominations are now open until December 11, 2018.Nominate Today!


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Blog Post
New Zealand: DOWNHILLLLLLLLLLL
Finally the day arrived.
Within a day of our putting the tent up near Queenstown, Sean had found a shop from which to hire a proper mountain bike rig, together with the necessary downhill helmet. Julia was quick to point out that the man who served him evidently had brain damage. The entire one side of his face had dropped and was sagging below his chin.
"I'm just saying" Julia insisted. "That that was PROBABLY a mountain bike injury."
"No" Sean argued back. "You don't know that. He could be a stroke victim."
"I'm just saying…." Julia went on. And she nodded at Oak and Oak – still recovering from his Abel Tasman trampoline induced concussion incident – nodded back sagely.
"Be careful out there, Dad."
And so off Sean cycled. Mostly oblivious to the potential danger of the sport, and happy to be riding again at last. First stop was to the cable car at the base of the run, where all the other rad dudes were hanging ready to risk life and limb just for the thrill of it.
Downhill getting the lift up
Of course, whether you are cycling or not it is still possible to get the cable car to the top of the mountain run – and hundreds of other tourists do. So Oak and Julia at least had a chance to enjoy the view from the top too, even if they didn't have to earn it so hard this time. Perhaps one of the most incredible views of the trip awaited them – and that had to be saying something. The height was literally dizzying – and Julia and Oak were very lucky to get a pristine, cloudless day for their ascent.
Queenstown View
Soon Sean on the other hand was hurtling downhill. It was actually his first time in a downhill MTB park, and as such he made the mistake of thinking that this park grading would be the same as his MTB encounters in the UK. Thinking he was well used to a black run, Sean threw himself down the black here with confidence – only to discover it was more like hurtling off the edge of a cliff.
The MTB park grading in Queenstown was a completely different world to cross country and general trails. Incredibly steep, full of big jumps that were impossible to avoid, rocky, fast and technical. This route demanded his 100% commitment. In fact when he finally reached the bottom and spoke to some of the cable car cyclists going back up, they told him that they'd all taken a couple of years of constant riding to work their way up to the black.
At least his bike was up to the task though – properly tooled up with his downhill Mondraker and full face helmet, Sean ended up having an absolute blast.
The Mondraker has what's called "World Cup Forward Geometry". This has two meanings – forward geometry means it has an incredibly long wheel base as per the current trend. But this also means you have to completely change your riding style in terms of weight distribution. Specifically, weighting the front wheel to stop it washing out. These dynamics only added to the black run entertainment value.
The "World Cup Geometry" means the bike is designed to handle well at speed – 30 mph plus. If you ride below this the bike's handling will be a hindrance to you rather than a benefit – so this is also a bike for the fully committed MTB rider.
But if you are – this is a truly sublime ride.
Sean and his Mondraker DH
Not content with just the biking either, Sean also got to indulge his childish side and sneaked a turn on the luge too before heading home.
Oak was distraught to be honest – to come all this way and to miss the damn go kart. But since his mum was more than a little paranoid that he might fall off again and that even more time would be spent receiving care from the New Zealand national health service – he had to make do with more cakes. With edible flowers naturally.
This leaves us unfortunately very near to the end of our NZ blog series. Sadly, and partly due to his lingering concussion, our son had yet another playground accident – he fell off a high swing and actually broke two ribs. Which, as well as causing him immense pain, actually pulled all future cycling plans in this trip to a grinding halt.
It was also starting to snow. Oak was camping with broken bones. Really it was time to go in search of some creature comforts. So we end this series the one more blog where we shall cover in a photo series some of the remaining adventures.
Expect waterfalls, dolphins swimming alongside the boats, lush deep forests, long and momentous drives back up through Canterbury, earthquake decimated cities, volcanoes, natural hot pools, swimming in ancient Lake Taupo, Auckland in the blazing sun…. And the Northlands. Maori street dancers. Mud baths healing our weary bodies. The grandfather tree of Tane Mahute. Empty beachscapes. Ah forever we shall leave our heart in the Northlands.
Until the next time……


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World Thought II During Medieval times vast land area seemed hard to maintain a stable government. In addition people were spread apart. Because they were largely uneducated, for this fact they stayed close to home. Everything they needed had to be provided by themselves or by Lords. Because of these facts a feudal society came to pass. Feudalism was the government by warlords, passed fief out to surfs that would fight for them. The values of the people that existed, was loyalty to the lords and nobles. They had a respect for themselves, which showed in their lives.
In the early medieval times, Kings and church leaders supported each other's goals while using each other's reputation and strength. The King supported preaching along with church doctrines, to the people. Likewise, the church desired people to have loyalty to royal authority.
The change of society during the high Middle Ages started with Black Death, entire population depleted to almost nothing.
There started out with too much land and not enough people to work the land. The surfs started getting paid for working the land, for the simple fact there was too much land to be worked. The craftsmen started making money, which was unheard of during these times. Skilled labor shortages started circulation of money, and then overtime Gil system falls apart.
The Roman Church system starts to look dreadful. For the fact the Pope claimed that God appointed him, and the King appointed the bishops. In addition to the circumstances the Italians become very upset when they leave Rome. However, the people start to move around and become more knowledgeable about their surroundings and life outside of there home.
The Black Death changed society using, Boccaccio's, Decameron the arrival of the tragic and unfathomable Plague without end altered the way...