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Backstage at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California, on May 23, 2015, J. was thrilled that her 19-year-old daughter's music career was going to make a major leap forward from recording demos and performing at talent shows to the chance of stardom — thanks to the help of an R&B superstar.
"When we got to go backstage with R. Kelly, we stayed there over two hours," said J. "One-on-one with just me and my daughter and him. We went back to talk about the music. He listened to her CD. He was going to help her with her CD, and I was really impressed with him at first, because I have always been an R. Kelly fan."
J. said that Robert "R." Kelly, who turned 50 in January, met her daughter backstage at a concert in Atlanta earlier that month. Soon enough, he'd invited her to fly out to the Indio concert on his dime. J. said she'd heard about past sexual misconduct accusations against Kelly, but wasn't overly worried. She is a fiercely devoted stage mom — she and her husband of 22 years, Tim, a car dealer, had moved from Memphis to Atlanta to help their eldest child's career — and was confident she could protect her daughter.
"In the back of our minds, we were thinking [my daughter] could be around him if I was with her," J. said. "It didn't really hit home. Even with the Aaliyah situation, now that I think about it, 'Age Ain't Nothing But a Number' ... but you don't think about that. You grew up with the song, and you like the song."
Two years later, J. and Tim are in a desperate fight to bring their daughter home. (BuzzFeed News verified their identities and full names in public records, but is withholding the alleged victim's full name and her parents' last name to protect her privacy.)"It was as if she was brainwashed."
As part of their efforts, the mother closed her businesses, became a relentless amateur detective, and shared her findings with the FBI and police in two states. But their daughter isn't a missing person — at least not in the eyes of the law. She still lives with Kelly and says she's doing fine, despite her parents telling the police that she is "being held against her will" in what they call a "cult."
Three former members of Kelly's inner circle — Cheryl Mack, Kitti Jones, and Asante McGee — provided details supporting the parents' worst fears. They said six women live in properties rented by Kelly in Chicago and the Atlanta suburbs, and he controls every aspect of their lives: dictating what they eat, how they dress, when they bathe, when they sleep, and how they engage in sexual encounters that he records.
The last time J. saw her daughter was Dec. 1, 2016.
"It was as if she was brainwashed. [She] looked like a prisoner — it was horrible," she said. "I hugged her and hugged her. But she just kept saying she's in love and [Kelly] is the one who cares for her. I don't know what to do. I hope that if I get her back, I can get her treatment for victims of cults. They can reprogram her. But I wish I could have stopped it from happening."
J. and Tim said they have only heard from their daughter twice since they last saw her. They got a one-sentence text from her on Christmas Day: "I hate Christmas has to be this way this year."
And J. received another text on May 14: "Happy Mother's Day from me and Rob."
Kelly has sold nearly 60 million albums during his 25-year career, and though his relevance is fading somewhat from the heyday of "I Believe I Can Fly" and "Trapped in the Closet," he remains a major star in high demand for concerts, endorsements, television and radio appearances, and glossy magazine profiles. When he's not performing, Kelly splits his time between his suburban Atlanta home and Trump Tower in Chicago. Extensive interviews with Mack, Jones, and McGee and a review of legal documents by BuzzFeed News paint a picture of what Kelly's life offstage is like today.
The women in Kelly's entourage initially think "This is R. Kelly, I'm going to live a lavish lifestyle," said Mack, who worked as Kelly's personal assistant for a year and a half starting in 2013 and has remained in touch with some members of his inner circle. "No. You have to ask for food. You have to ask to go use the bathroom. … [Kelly] is a master at mind control. ... He is a puppet master.""He is a puppet master."
Jones and McGee both said they lived with Kelly and had sexual relationships with the star at different times over the past five years before leaving. Their documentation of this time is limited, however, as they said Kelly controlled their phone and social media use while they were under his roof, and they were not allowed to take photos with Kelly or of the rooms where they were living.
According to Mack, Jones, and McGee, the women living in Kelly's Duluth, Georgia, "guest house" or his Chicago recording studio last summer included:
Mack, Jones, and McGee claim that women who live with Kelly, who he calls his "babies," are required to call him "Daddy" and must ask his permission to leave the Chicago recording studio or their assigned rooms in the "guest house" Kelly rents near his own rented mansion in suburban Atlanta. A black SUV with a burly driver behind the wheel is almost always parked outside both locations. Kelly confiscates the women's cell phones, they said, so they cannot contact their friends and family; he gives them new phones that they are only allowed to use to contact him or others with his permission. Kelly films his sexual activities, McGee and Jones said, and shows the videos to men in his circle.
Mack, the star's former personal assistant, said Kelly almost always tells the women to dress in jogging suits because "he doesn't want their figures to be exposed; he doesn't want them to look appealing." She said when other men are in the same room, Kelly "would make the girls turn around and face the wall in their jogging suits because he doesn't want them to be looked at by anyone else."
If the women break any of Kelly's "rules," Mack and Jones said, he punishes them physically and verbally. For example, Jones claimed that Kelly held her against a tree and slapped her outside of a Subway sandwich shop in spring 2013 because she had been too friendly with the male cashier there. McGee said she never saw Kelly hit anybody, but also said he was running a "cult" and manipulated her emotionally and sexually.
"R. Kelly is the sweetest person you will ever want to meet," McGee said. "But Robert is the devil."
Of course, the law says that consenting adults may take part in any relationship they want, no matter how nontraditional. Welfare checks by police in both Illinois and Georgia in the past year didn't lead to any charges; in January, the aspiring singer from Georgia told Cook County police she was "fine and did not want to be bothered."
And all of the women in Kelly's inner circle are of legal age — the age of consent is 17 in Illinois and 16 in Georgia — despite Kelly's history of allegations against him regarding his sexual conduct with women. He was last tried in 2008 in Illinois, where he was acquitted on 14 charges of making child pornography. The case, which took a record six and a half years to go to trial in Chicago, focused only on a single videotape that prosecutors alleged showed him having sex with a 14-year-old girl. (While he was a reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times, this reporter received the tape anonymously and turned it over to the police; called by Kelly's attorneys to testify, he took the Fifth Amendment rather than revealing sources.)
The trial, however, excluded claims made by girls or their parents that alleged Kelly regularly abused his position of fame and influence to pursue illegal sexual relationships with underage girls — which has also been the subject of a dozen or more civil lawsuits against Kelly that were settled out of court with cash payments from Kelly. The girls signed nondisclosure agreements when they accepted the payments. Also excluded was evidence of Kelly's marriage in 1994 to his then-15-year-old protégé, Aaliyah, for whom he wrote the album Age Ain't Nothing But a Number.
Chicago attorney Susan E. Loggans declined to say how many settlements she has negotiated with Kelly before lawsuits were ever filed, but she said they were "numerous," and recently included one for a 17-year-old aspiring singer from Chicago's West Side who is said to have been part of Kelly's inner circle. Loggans gave no other details, citing attorney-client privilege and the terms of the settlement.
Kelly also has been sued by other attorneys representing women over the age of consent in their respective states. In 2002, an Illinois lawsuit was filed by Montina Woods, a dancer who toured with Kelly's friend Ronald Isley, in which Woods claimed she was unknowingly recorded by Kelly during sex. (Kelly eventually settled the suit, paying Woods an undisclosed sum.) And on April 21, a Mississippi lawsuit was filed by Hinds County sheriff's deputy Kenny Bryant over an alleged affair between Kelly and Bryant's wife.
The music industry has a history of stars using their fame to gain the trust of young women — and their parents — who expect professional relationships but end up in sexual ones. But numerous sources, including women who left his inner circle, made on-the-record allegations suggesting ongoing mental and physical abuse of several women in Kelly's entourage far beyond that of the groupie culture. For two decades, Kelly has been accused of a similar pattern of mistreating women — some have called it "predation" — but because of his acquittal on the child-porn charges and the nondisclosure agreements in his numerous civil cases, the charges have remained in the realm of gossip instead of derailing his career. Major record companies, television shows, and other stars continue to work with Kelly. Lady Gaga recorded the duet "Do What U Want" with Kelly in 2013, Lil Wayne, Ty Dolla Sign, and Juicy J made cameos on Kelly's 2015 album The Buffet, and he performed on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon last December. He recently starred in a digital campaign for Alexander Wang.
"I got trapped," said former insider Jones. "I had people telling me I was an idiot. But it took me a long time to realize they were right, and I'm talking now because I hope I can help some of these other girls."
After her backstage visit with Kelly in Indio, California, the aspiring singer from Georgia began secretly talking with Kelly on her cell phone, her mother said.
"As far as I know, we weren't talking to [Kelly] anymore," J. said. "Or at least I wasn't talking to him anymore."
In June 2015, J. and Tim said, their daughter lied to them about taking a weekend trip to visit a Georgia university. Instead, Mack arranged for her to fly to Oklahoma City, where Kelly was performing.
After the show, she had sex with Kelly for the first time, she later told her parents and at least two friends, including a record producer who goes by the stage name TONE.
As the Georgia singer and Kelly became closer, TONE recalled her saying she was frustrated with Kelly. She thought every time she tried to bring up her music career Kelly changed the topic to sex — and she wanted proof. So TONE and the woman decided to secretly record a phone conversation between her and Kelly.
BuzzFeed News was later given a copy of the recording. On the tape, it's not just what Kelly said that shows his pattern of behavior with the women close to him. It's how he said it, which is immediately clear from listening to the audio.
"I miss my baby," Kelly told the woman, before asking her what she was wearing. After she replied, he told her: "I want you to get in the habit of telling me what color panties you got on every day," he instructed repeatedly, revealing in his own words the early stages of their power dynamic and the demands her parents say have become criminal.
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Agricultural innovations reach far beyond the immediate end-users that are primary targets for better varieties, more efficient irrigation systems and new technology that improves farm and ranch profitability.
Anything that allows farmers to produce more cotton, put more pounds on beef cattle or more bushels of grain in the bins also helps rural economies. Advantages travel far beyond the farm gate.
Consequently, folks inside and outside typical agricultural circles were eager to voice appreciation for the 100 years of contributions the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Lubbock have made to the Texas High Plains.
"Lubbock and the South Plains have reaped many benefits from the work done at the AgriLife Center here in Lubbock," says Randy Jordan, chairman of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce and executive vice president of Citizens Bank.
"Their partnerships with the business and agricultural sector have undoubtedly translated into economic success. We here at the Chamber are proud to associate with the talented researchers and specialists at the AgriLife Center and look forward to 100 more years of agricultural innovation."
"Contributions of the Research and Extension Center have been invaluable to cotton producers on the High Plains of Texas," says Steve Verett, executive vice president, Plains Cotton Growers, Inc.
"We can just look at the names of the people who have worked at the center and many are names people in the area recognize."
Verett cited cotton specialists James Supak and Randy Boman for their work in providing needed information to cotton growers. He also said entomologists Don Rummel and Jim Leser both worked with boll weevil control. "David Kerns is doing a fine job now."
He said cotton breeders like Lavon Ray and John Gannaway provided better varieties for High Plains cotton farmers. "Gannaway oversaw a breeding program with a lot of changes within the industry and made a lot of improvements."
He said at one time High Plains cotton "was considered junk. Now it's second only to California in both yield and quality."
Those efforts continue. "Jane Dever (current cotton breeder) is an outstanding cotton scientist with a lot of experience in industry."
He said a former irrigation specialist, Bill Liles, who was also a farmer and a neighbor, "was doing what I should have been doing long before I did. He took research and applied it in a practical way."
He says research at the center identified ways to irrigate more efficiently. "Jim Bordovsky is carrying on that work."
Verett says the spirit of cooperation that has been a key part of the center's focus for decades is instrumental in many of the innovations. He said Texas Tech, USDA, and the AgriLife Extension and Research teams all coordinate efforts to find solutions for High Plains challenges.
"Producers often are on the outside looking in and may not appreciate the difference between research and Extension. But center scientists all work together to solve problems for producers."
He says he's thankful for the efforts center scientists have made over 100 years. "They had ideas that made agriculture more productive and more profitable. Agriculture has benefitted significantly from those 100 years."
Shawn Holladay, who raises cotton with his father on 7,300 acres near Lamesa, says contributions the center has made "have been incredibly important to us. We don't have the ability, as producers, to look at the many things they do at one site.
"We use data they develop to help us make a living. We can hear things in the coffee shop, but we rely on research data to make decisions."
He said the center's work with disease control, rotation practices, and technology have all helped on their farm. "We also benefit from timely data on insect infestations and can learn which way they are heading."
Information from the Research and Extension Center "helps us manage risk."
Monte Christian, director, Global Cotton Marketing, Bayer CropScience, says when he flies in and out of Lubbock and sees the center and the fields spread below he thinks of the people, scientists and staff, who have accomplished significant achievements in crop production. "This Centennial Celebration is a testament to them," he says.
Cotton farmers have reaped enormous benefits from those efforts, he says. "We've seen improvements from one-row cotton pickers to the systems we have now. We've seen technology that has increased yield and that's all because of dedicated people working for the betterment of the cotton industry."
He says the center will continue to lead and find solutions to challenges. "Researchers here will be leaders in water research to help us manage and grow the industry."
Corn has been a research benefactor as well. "We're seeing a lot of work on heat and drought tolerance," says David Gibson, executive director, Texas Corn Producers Board.
"We have to learn to manage the Ogallala Aquifer and we have to have varieties that adapt to the region," he says.
He says research at the Helms farm, near Halfway, Texas, evaluates breeding lines and has just licensed some lines out to industry. Those new releases may help with drought management, he says.
He says work with irrigation, including subsurface drip systems, will benefit corn growers. "Farmers across the state will see benefits from these research efforts. Low Energy Precision Application (LEPA) has been the subject of ongoing research for years and has become the standard for most corn farmers. "We have very little irrigated corn acreage that's not grown under LEPA," Gibson says. "And others are converting as fast as they can."
Jerry Harris, cotton ginner and producer from Lamesa, says work at the Research and Extension Center "is the reason I'm able to be here and be a cotton producer. We operate in a world market and to compete we have to have technology and have to be able to use it quickly after it's developed."
He says the combination of research and Extension gets the information to growers in a timely manner.
'We can develop the best new technology but in five years the whole world will have it, so we must accelerate research efforts and utilize it quickly to stay competitive. The future of cotton in the United States depends on it."
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Unlike my two prior Tets in Ha Nam, this year we spent the holiday at the Nguyen's new house (where we had the wedding). Huyen's family doesn't live in this house so it required some preparation on our part. This involved a few things:
1. Getting drinkable water. Su and I went to a neighbor's house and got water from her well and placed it in this large clay pot:
(PICTURE: All of the water we cooked with during the week came from this pot.)
2. We had to clean the house. This involved sweeping, mopping, dusting...and eventually burning the trash and leaves in the front courtyard
(PICTURE: This is the garbage collector in the village.)
3. We had to bring the TV from the house they live in and set it up in this house. It's very important for Su and my father-in-law to watch TV during the New Year. Yup, sounds just like America.
(PICTURE: Su rigged the antenna to that bamboo pole on their roof.)
During the course of the week, we also had to transport the refrigerator from the old house to the new house. Then on the actual New Year, I had to clean everything again. I washed and scrubbed windows and also -- this was my least favorite job -- scrapped the sap off the front steps which had fallen off the sapodilla tree.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
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Edwin Arlington Robinson
Edwin Arlington Robinson (22 December 1869 – 6 April 1935 / Maine / United States)
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The Chorus Of Old Men In Aegus
Ye gods that have a home beyond the world,
Ye that have eyes for all man's agony,
Ye that have seen this woe that we have seen,—
Look with a just regard,
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Steep, intimidating but not too hard and with great one-person ledges, Zodiac is one of the best bigwall aid routes in the Valley. Stances or ledges at many belays, beautiful thin cam cracks, the insanely beautiful White Circle pitches make Zodiac a five star route. Zodiac is Intermediate the same way Lurking Fear is Beginner--both routes usually have fixed gear at the cruxes that makes them much faster/easier than they were initially(or if the fixed gear is gone).
*Plan: Most parties fix a couple pitches the first day and bivy at the base or low on the wall, and then spend 2-4 days on the wall. You will need a 50' lowerout line for your haulbag for pitch 4. Most of the pitches are 150' or less from belay to belay so if you have a 60m haulline it works fine to tie off your bag at 150' and use the rest of the rope for the lowerout.
*Ledge: The single-wide ledges at the Black Tower, Pearly Gates and Peanut Ledge are stellar.
*The Elements: Zodiac gets Sun about 9-5. If climbing the Zode in Winter or Spring when runoff can pour down pitch 2 and pitch 3, make sure to climb/fix to pitch 4 and haul from the ground to there and your bags will be dry(only two ropes to the ground from pitch 4(ropes have to be tied together) on two intermediate stations on Shortest Straw).
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It's no wonder I don't know how to express anger. The anger in my family of origin was shown to me as a dangerous weapon. My father raged and the entire family cowered. I was four when it started. In these times, the war times, as a four-year old kid, what you need is a comforting adult to pick you up and soothe you. "Everything is going to be all right." Except, in our family everyone was triggered and afraid. There were no adults in the room. And when my father drank in addition to raging, all hell would break loose inside our house. It was during these times that I escaped to my stick and stone fort up in the hills behind our house.
I was building forts and stocking them with stick guns and rocks. And I would take refuge in the hills whenever things got to hot in the house. And this happened often. And again, what a little kid needs at this point is a parent to come and find him, hold him, reassure him. What I got was relief from the roaring house and isolation. I was a lonely little boy. None of my friends could understand what was happening at my house. Sometimes I was afraid to have them over to play, because I didn't want them to experience the war zone.
As an adult this coping mechanism is still triggered. And honestly, most adults suffer from isolating behaviors, even if they weren't born into the anger zone. I think those of us with depression just find deeper and darker silences than most. So as an adult under major stress I head for my fort in the hills. I keep my mouth shut. And I huddle alone waiting for someone to rescue me. The rescue that never comes. The rescue that can't really come, because I have to rescue myself. No mom or sister is going to come and find me. And even if they did the relief would be temporary.
The fear and isolation are inside me. And in my childhood I learned to be a wonderful performer. I made straight A's, played all the sports, and even became a profession magician at 12. I was doing magic tricks all the time to keep the family happy. Of course, it didn't work. I was sad. My family was sad. My dad was rageful.
It is such a familiar feeling when I retreat back into my isolation. It doesn't feel good, but it feels familiar. My broken and alone self is one I identify with. I have been broken for a large part of my life. I was broken at the age of four and the trauma is still deeply hidden. Of course, the body does not lie, and that trauma comes out at shame and lack of self-love. I'm really horrible to myself. My internal voice often says things so mean I wouldn't say them to an enemy. I'm working on that one, big time.
Still, growing up in an unsafe and hostile family home trained me to be hyper-vigilant. I guard against anger and disappointment, by trying to be a better person. I've learned some of my weaknesses and I've learned to compensate for some of them. It's a long process of growth and recovery. Today, however, I'm happier than I've ever been. Even ending a 2.5 yo relationship, I find myself in a "sky's wide open" future mindset. Today I could go anywhere, do anything.
The path for me now is to be still. I often rush into things before I am certain of the answer. Today my higher power is in charge of the next steps. I'm going to live my life with joy and grace and see what opportunities step up to meet me.
image: anger, creative commons usage


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3 Ways to Keep Your Family Close
Use these 3 simple ideas to stay connected with your family — no matter the distance.
By: Lexi Walters Wright
Whether your grown children live in town or across the country, sharing moments together can be tricky. Hectic schedules can make visits, calls and even emails difficult. But proximity doesn't have to diminish your closeness. Use these simple ideas for staying connected — no matter the distance.
In person: Schedule monthly or bi-monthly themed brunches or dinners. Choose an international cuisine — Chinese or Mexican, for example — and host a meal complete with appropriate music and maybe even décor. Share the menu with family beforehand, in case they want to contribute a dish.
Across the miles: Compile tried-and-true family recipes in a printed recipe book. Include notes about its history in your family: "This is the cranberry relish Great Aunt Elsa made every Christmas." You can write the recipes by hand, format them in a word processing document and print, or create a bound recipe book using an online service.
In person: Host a family book club, including several generations of readers. Every other month, take turns choosing books and book club locations. Meet at the local zoo to discuss "Dr. Doolittle," a gorgeous garden to talk about "Alice in Wonderland," or a candy store to explore "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
Across the miles: Read bedtime stories to nieces, nephews or grandchildren via video-chat software. Arrange in advance with the parents so you both can check out the same book from the library. On your video call, you can read the book while the parent turns the pages for their child — tucked into bed on the other end.
In person: Get together regularly for family game nights. Board games, mini golf, bingo championships — switch up the game to keep these get-togethers interesting. Or, have different members of the family teach the group new games. Playing together can be relaxing enough to get everyone communicating freely, but competitive enough to keep the fun level high.
Across the miles: Keep a constant online game going, either on your computer or on your phone. Many sites and applications let you play assorted games against your family one move at a time, whenever it's convenient.
What's your favorite way to stay close to the ones you love? Log in or register for P&G everyday and let us know in the comments below.


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Encourage a love of reading and develop your preschooler's early learning through stories, rhymes, songs and movement activities. For ages 3 to 5.
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Rudd sworn in as Australian PM
Kevin Rudd has been sworn in as Australian prime minister, just over three years after he was ousted by the woman he took the job from.
Australian PM Gillard ousted as party leader
Australian prime minister Julia Gillard has been ousted as Labour Party leader by her predecessor Kevin Rudd by MPs hoping to avoid a huge defeat in upcoming elections.
Aussie PM asked if her boyfriend is gay
Julia Gillard has been asked in an interview if her hairdresser boyfriend is gay in the latest smear to be aimed at the Australian prime minister.
Gillard slams 'sexist' menu joke
Australian prime minister Julia Gillard has hit out at a sexist menu for a National Liberal Party fundraiser which said she had 'small breasts and huge thighs'
Australian PM Julia Gillard predicts end of the world
The end of the world is imminent, Australian prime minister Julia Gillard has announced. Flesh-eating zombies and demonic hell beasts could be unleashed on Doomsday, the Labor politician has predicted in a video message addressing her nation.


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Our Company
Meridian Planning Consultants was formed in 2001. The firm is led and managed by Nick McDonald (President), RPP who has 28 years of experience providing advice to numerous municipalities and landowners throughout Ontario. Nick is continuously seeking out projects that are challenging and require creativity, innovation and a clear and well articulated deliverable. Nick has an in-depth understanding of Provincial Policy and how it has been applied and is familiar and comfortable with the critical eye that is often given to our projects by interested landowners, developers and others who have a stake in the outcome of a process. He has also appeared as an Expert Witness at the OMB in the field of land use planning on numerous occasions dating back to 1992.
Our strength as a company is identifying problems and finding solutions. Our solutions are well articulated and developed in a transparent process.
This is why we are retained and involved with a number of high profile projects throughout Ontario. Our company manages all projects with detail and dedication to ensure all work is completed in a timely manner and meets the requirements of our clients. We take pride in having well managed projects and systems and this is evident in the quality of our work.
Working alongside Nick McDonald is an excellent team of professionals and a senior team of outside professionals with a wide range of experience and expertise in many disciplines. Given Nick's experience and contacts, we are quickly able to assemble a team to meet any project requirements.
Our offices are centrally located in Vaughan, Ontario which provides us with easy access to all parts of Ontario.


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The 2013 Chevy Volt
Voting for the Volt
I picked up a 2013 Chevrolet Volt to continue with my series of painted automobile portraits. This vehicle initiates a departure from previous artwork, which focused on classic cars from the 1950s to early '70s. While this series will continue, my new category will consist of current automotive offerings. The Volt is the perfect choice to commence this series because of its radical departure from previous technological offerings.
Driving the 2013 Volt offered comparisons to the very first vehicle I owned. In late summer of 1973 I decided to spend about 8 months in the Southern African country of Lesotho, a landlocked mountain kingdom surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. I was assisting as a volunteer in a development project in the village of Mohale's Hoek in south western Lesotho. To get around the country, which is slightly smaller in area than the state of Maryland, I decided to pick up a used car, a right-hand-drive white 1966 Vauxhall Victor Estate, or station wagon, with its 1.6 l engine and 4 on the floor stick. What was interesting about this wagon was that it had the original now 8 year old battery that had been installed when the car was new.
With Lesotho having a temperate climate, the battery was not strained the way it might be in Canada in the winter, but still, an 8 year old battery is still an 8 year old battery. Starting the car during the day was generally not too much of an issue. There wasn't much of an electrical load on this car: no radio, no rear window defroster, no air conditioning, no 8-track tape player, a rudimentary heater. Morning starts were another thing altogether. There just wasn't enough juice and my budget didn't have room for a new battery, especially since it actually started the car most times during the run of the day.
This is where my highly developed jump starting skills came in. Having previously owned a 1966 50 cc 2-stroke Ducati motorbike, I had jump starting down to a fine art. With Lesotho being essentially a mountain kingdom, it didn't take any great skill to position the Vauxhall on a downward slope for overnight parking. When I needed to head out in the morning, I would open the car door, slip the car into neutral, turn the ignition key, release the parking brake, give the car a slight push, hop in, engage the clutch and slip the transmission into second. In just a couple of seconds, I had enough momentum to release the clutch and be on my merry way, and good to go until the next morning chill.
In complete contrast, the Chevrolet Volt combines a pure electric drive with a range extending 1.4 l gas engine. Where the electricity seemed almost an afterthought on my Vauxhall mountain cruiser, electricity is the essence of the Volt. With the battery charged and the Volt driving in pure electric mode, I was reminded of the electric buses I used to frequent in my youth – silent, but with a lot of torque. In traffic, starts are sure and firm. It felt like a silent powerful vehicle, which it is.
My question concerning the Volt is whether it would allow a daily commute without dipping into my gas reserves. In the dead of winter. At -6 degrees celcius, my commute covers approximately 25 kilometres round trip, from door to door. Though not a huge distance, I had lots of battery to spare in the middle of February in a Canadian winter, which brings me to the point. I could do a daily commute, with a couple of errand sidetrips, and end up using no gas all week. Then on the weekend, I could drive to my heart's content, without the fear of running out of electrical juice.
One great new feature I discovered on the 2013 Volt is the HOLD mode, which I found useful to improve my fuel conservation on longer mixed driving journeys. By setting the HOLD mode during my highway driving and switching back to NORMAL mode while driving in city traffic, I allowed the Volt to optimize its capabilities. By following this procedure, I was able to use up the Volt's battery reserves in city traffic, where it is most efficient, as opposed to the highway, where my gas consumption is most frugal.
Finally, while setting the stage to illustrate the Chevrolet Volt, I had to factor in the fact that in this case, I'm painting an all black car. This means I have to play off the reflected light, to show off the body sculpting in the sheet metal. Black can be tricky, but of course, so can white! Also I felt compelled to throw in a sleek new office background – Halifax waterfront head office of Nova Scotia Power.
Prints of this painting are available at www.thedrawingroomgallery.com.


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The stunning kosheen azul heel features multi-coloured glitter with electric blue suede. Perfect for a touch of glamour and colour. Made in brazil.
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TCWK Women Canvas Backpack - Black Smile
- New item never used before
- High quality, fashion & trendy - Material - Canvas
A woman can never have too much handbags! Complete your handbag collection with a stunning and nice bag. This bag is made of quality material and has a durable handle for easy carrying. The compartment is spacious enough to store your wallet, cell phone, make up bag and other everyday essentials. With its simply stylish, chic design and colourful colours, there's always bag to complement with your style. Match a bag with the colour of your outfit.
This item is sold by TCWK and fulfilled by our delivery providers.
Have A Question?
We're here to help!Check out our FAQ here
|Care label
|-Do Not Bleach-Do Not Iron
Not 100% satisfied with your item? We offer 30 days free returns, no questions asked.
Pack your item (with its original packaging and tags intact) together with the returns slip (Seller only) into your ZALORA delivery package. Then simply nearest PosLaju or CollectCo centre (Malaysia) or arrange pick up with Abasjaya (Brunei).
For more information, check out our FAQ.
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This item is sold and fulfilled directly by merchant OR This item is sold by merchant and fulfilled by ZALORA.
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Estimated delivery time: 5 working days(6 days for East Malaysia).
Your order will arrive between Monday - Friday.
For more information, check out our FAQ on deliveries.


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Sosefo enters his second season with the Gallagher Chiefs. Sosefo is a former representative of the New Zealand u20 team.
The young prop was impressive for Waikato in the 2016 Mitre 10 Cup season and will be looking to push on and make a name for himself in Super Rugby. Full of potential, we are excited to see Sosefo grow.
Who is in your family?
Nine siblings, 4 brothers, 4 sisters and a dog named Rocko
What primary school (s) did you go to?
St Pius
What high school(s) did you go to?
Sacred Heart College
Favourite subject at school?
Carpentry & Sport Science
What representative teams have you played in? (rugby and other sports)
Auckland u14-18, Waikato u19s, Waikato, NZ u20
What rugby club are you affiliated with?
Hamilton Marist
Which sportsperson did you look up to as a kid?
Jonah Lomu
What is your favourite thing to do outside of rugby?
Hang out with my family
What is your favourite movie?
An interesting fact about you?
I survived a car crash
Best place you've been travelling?
If you could play one other sport professionally, what would it be?
What is the best piece of advice you've ever received?
To'o me'a oku sai, liaki me'a oku kovi. Gather in good, throw away the bad.
What advice would you give to your 10-year-old self?
Give because I don't have much, but because I know what it feels like to have nothing
Your favourite rugby memory?
Debut for NZ u20s
What is your nickname within the team?
What do you eat for breakfast on game day?
What does representing the Gallagher Chiefs mean to you?
A family and soldiers


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I have cable internet at the moment its connected to my desktop, i would like to share this internet connection with my laptop or wireless devices, for that I have Billion BiPAC 7404VGP-M Router but i cant figure it out what settings do i need to enter in my router.
If some one could help me please....
Take a look on this wireless network setup tutorial that covers wireless router configuration, think could provide you more ideas.
Hope this helps.
here's your manual
start at page 8
Answers are only as good as the information you provide.
How to properly post a question:
Sorry no tech support via PM's
Thanks Wanderer for that link
I am wandering that does my router support to share my CABLE internet connection.
As i was reading some other posts i find that ADSL router and Cable/DSL routers have different socket's at back, while Cable/DSL router has 4 Lan ports plus 1 extra LAN port which is connected to (WAN) where as ADSL router has 4 LAN ports plus one RJ11 port.
If you could clear out my confusion that would be great......
ADSL uses a phone line.
RJ-45 = standard network jack
RJ-11 = standard phone jack
If a router is a combination unit (ie: combination modem/router/wireless access point) then it will have an RJ-11 jack for the "internet" connection.
If your router is just a router and you have a separate modem, then the modem will have an RJ-11 jack for the "internet" connection and an RJ-45 jack for the "LAN" connection which you would connect to the "WAN" (internet, external....however it's labelled" jack on the router.
Cable uses a coaxial cable.
If your cable router is a combination unit, it will have the coaxial type connector for the "internet". If your router is just a router, you'll have a separate modem and as above for the ADSL, the router will have an RJ-45 for the "internet" connection and the modem will have a coaxial connector for it's "internet" connection.
Most, but not all routers have 4 LAN ports. Some only have one.
It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.
***William Henley***
The router you mention is not compatible with Cable Internet. It's ONLY for ADSL service. Take a look at this link, I highly recommend Linksys:
I also recommend Belkin:
If price is an issue, I have installed the N50 for several people and they are all very satisfied with it.
While I appreciate you're trying to help, considering this thread is 14 days old and the OP didn't respond to the last couple of posts, I suspect you're wasting your time reply.
Just as a favor, please don't dredge up any more old threads.
It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.
***William Henley***
Also belkin and linksys are the LAST routers I would ever recommend based on extensive experience with both.
Answers are only as good as the information you provide.
How to properly post a question:
Sorry no tech support via PM's


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UB has a new blogger! Meet Kim!
It's not always easy being green...but it certainly is getting easier! I live outside of the city and across the Hudson River with my boyfriend Mark in a cute little brownstone apartment. We have been in this part of Jersey for about 9 months now and have used this time and our location to better eco-fy our lives. You see, we actually both grew up in Morris County and never heard too much about Green living or Eco-friendly lifestyles while we were younger. I have to admit, for a long time all I thought there was to "doing your part" was to make sure that you recycle...but oh man, there is so very much more!
Transitioning yourself to make better, healthier and more eco-friendly choices is a constant learning process. Mark was definitely skeptical and hesitant at first...and sometimes he will still poke fun and tease me, but he's come a long way and has become incredibly open to making these changes in our lives as well. In fact, he recently added "reusable cups" to our grocery list, which prompted us to go out and purchase our own set of reusable stainless steel bottles. A little back story on our drinking water - previously to moving out here we were both use to drinking water straight from the tap. I never really drank filtered or bottled water. Once we moved, we heard from the landlord that many people filter or buy their own - so, as an effort to both avoid bottled water AND save money - we went with a filter for our tap. It has been great! I love not having to purchase water each time we shop and it feels great not to add to the world's never ending collection of plastic bottles. We also had a recent renovation to our bathroom that really made me smile. It's tough sometimes when you rent and some of these choices can not be your own because you do not own the property, but our landlord decided to replace the toilets in our building with ones that use about 2/3 gallons less water with each flush than the old toilets we had. There are 4 toilets in our building...that's quite a lot of water saved! I'm sure he did this in an effort to cut back on water bills - but what a smart way to do so...but, enough about water for now.
We are certainly still in the exciting phase of eco-fication - or let's be honest, I'm definitely the ring leader of this whole lifestyle makeover in our home - but it's something that I've become more and more passionate about, to the point where it just feels right. I witness acts of careless, thoughtless, wastefulness and it just hurts my heart...and I'm not completely innocent myself. If you went back a couple years and told me I'd be saying things like this I would probably laugh at you. But I think one of the huge attractions to me - was that not only can these changes that I make help to reduce my impact on the world around me, but they can actually benefit my own personal health and the health of my loved ones. These are things that you just can't help but feel good about. I'm sure you've all read Lindsay's blogs about produce and the horrible chemicals that can be found in our everyday food. Not to mention the intolerable treatment of factory animals. Because of everything I'm still learning, I started purchasing organic options whenever and wherever I can. Let's face it, this is not always the cheapest way to go, but personally, it's worth it to me. And call me crazy, but I swear I notice a difference in freshness, taste and even the overall health of my body. You just can't beat that. The best part of doing all of this right now is that organic options are more readily available everywhere you look. The closest Whole Foods to me is a good 20-30 minute car ride away, same with Trader Joes. But the selection I've lucked out with at my nearby Stop & Shop really makes grocery shopping that much more enjoyable. Just this week I noticed something new that reminds me again of why we shop there. They had a whole section of their produce department set up with local state produce, from local farms. Jersey Fresh - I snapped a picture really quick of the sign - I'm pretty sure that was the point in which my boyfriend walked away acting as if he didn't know me...
Everything we do is still just one step at a time, but each day they grow together in order to become a piece of the bigger picture... I look forward to sharing more of my adventures and steps along the way with all of you!
That's all for now,
xoxoxo - Kim
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"Rarely has a Westerner written so knowledgeably, or entertainingly, about the subject. … An expert's command."
—The New York Times
"Riveting. … Corson beautifully intersperses the drama with lessons about the history and science of each fish. … Foodies will find dozens of useful tips to enhance their appreciation of 'the fast food of old Tokyo.' … The combination of culinary insights and personal drama makes for one of the more compelling food-themed books in recent years."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A clever narrative strategy–the reader learns the practice and history of sushi alongside the students. … Authoritative, often amusing, chapters on sushi history, marine biology, and the physiognomy of taste. While the students hack away at mackerel, Corson serves up bite-sized explanations of the invention of soy sauce, the sex life of red algae, and the importance of umami, that mysterious fifth taste that underlies so much of Eastern cuisine. His chapter on rice, a subject that Americans take for granted, is itself worth the price of the book."
—The New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice)
"A meticulously reported account … chock-full of great tidbits, revelatory findings, amazing science. … What could have been a dry sushi treatise is instead turned into a compelling read by the writer's inventive narrative approach. … Corson proves a master at providing a non-stop banquet of tasty morsels sure to delight anyone who has taken a seat at a sushi bar."
—Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"An amicably told tale that takes a quirky, humanistic, and mostly nonlinear approach to the story of sushi. … [The reporting] technique creates an immediate, and lasting, respect for the author's narrative purity. … Corson also possesses a touch of the poetic, visible in beautiful sentiments."
—San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
"Filled with cultural history, science, gastronomical observations, Bourdain-like cooking tales and food facts, The Story of Sushi is ridiculously entertaining and interesting."
—Powells Books
"The Story of Sushi is a pleasure to read, entertaining and informative, with compelling characters and fascinating history, all told in an easy and natural voice. Excellent food journalism."
—Michael Ruhlman, author The Soul of a Chef
"Trevor Corson's reverence for all things from the sea is palpable. In The Story of Sushi he takes you on a fascinating journey into the world of sushi. The story he relates is rich in detail, thoroughly engaging, a pleasure to get lost in."
—Eric Ripert, executive chef and co-owner of Le Bernardin; author of A Return to Cooking and Le Bernardin Cookbook: Four-Star Simplicity
About the Book
Everything you never knew about sushi—its surprising origins, the colorful lives of its chefs, the bizarre behavior of the creatures that compose it—is revealed in this entertaining documentary account by Trevor Corson, the author of the highly acclaimed The Secret Life of Lobsters.
When a twenty-year-old woman arrives at America's first sushi-chef training academy in Los Angeles, she is unprepared for the challenges ahead: knives like swords, instructors like samurai, prejudice against female chefs, demanding Hollywood customers—and that's just the first two weeks.
In this richly reported story, Corson shadows several American sushi novices and a master Japanese chef, taking the reader behind the scenes as the students strive to master the elusive art of cooking without cooking. With the same eye for drama and humor that Corson brings to the exploits of the chefs, he delves into the biology and natural history of the creatures of the sea.
He illuminates sushi's beginnings as an Indo-Chinese meal akin to cheese, describes its reinvention in bustling 19th-century Tokyo as a cheap fast food, and tells the story of the pioneers who brought it to America. He shows this unlikely meal now exploding into the American heartland just as the long-term future of sushi may be unraveling.
The Story of Sushi is a compelling tale of human determination as well as a delectable smorgasbord of surprising food science, intrepid reporting, and provocative cultural history.
Published by HarperCollins


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Edition: Paperback
Language: English
Publisher: Quercus UK
Source: Won
Started: 5th of January, 2014
Finished: 5th of August, 2014
Pia is living the dream: fresh out of college and sharing a house in Brooklyn with her best friends. So why is everything so complicated?
A drunken indiscretion has led to the loss of her boring office job, while her love life is a dizzy mess of accidental hook-ups and heartbreak...
Her parents don't trust her and, if she doesn't sort her life out soon, they're going to make her move back in with them...
But all that's nothing compared to the kind of trouble she's about to face.
At least she can rely on her friends - Coco, Angie, Julia and Madeleine. But how much can she really expect them to put up with?
My ThoughtsI have taken a long time to read this one. I started on it, stopped it, and then started on it again. And then in the summer holidays I decided it was time to finally read it, because it had just taken too long. I had won this book back in January and I think even longer ago, and the story always looked fun to me, so I don't know why I haven't read it sooner. Because really, IT WAS AWESOME! It was such a fun story and I didn't know what exactly to expect of it, but this definitely wasn't it!
So I'm definitely looking forward to Angies story now that I've read Pia's. So basically, Pia fucked up. She lost her job and now her parents want to send her to Switzerland, and she definitely doesn't want to go there. So she comes up with a plan and tries to get that as successful as possible, so her parents would leave her in New York.
I had not expected to like this book as much as I liked it. I am usually not a big New Adult fan, but this one was written great and it wasn't an erotica in disguise either. I'm looking forward to read more that this author has written and that's why I can't wait to read Angie's story.
I highly recommend this one to people that enjoy New Adult books with a fun plot and a happy ending. If you have read this one already, then let know what you thought and whether you are looking forward to reading Angie's story.


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They might be rolling out their new concert film with all the pomp and circumstance of a full-fledged studio album, but that doesn't mean the surviving members of Led Zeppelin are making any plans for future projects.
Jimmy Page put down the reunion rumors in a new interview with Rolling Stone, saying that part of the impetus behind releasing "Celebration Day", the concert film commemorating the band's one-off reunion in 2007, was a desire to bring fans closer to their performance. "With Led Zeppelin, it has always been that mystique of how the music is done how it works, why it works," (...) "The closer you can get in on that and the more lingering it is, the better."
"It was a serious test, and we passed it, all of us. And we had an extraordinary communion on the stage. That's alive and well when you see it," Page told Rolling Stone, but he, Plant and Jones seem willing to let "Celebration Day" remain the final word on the band. "I think if there had been any more concerts to be done, we'd already be talking about them. So I don't see it," he shrugged, calling the film "a testament to what we did in 2007. There it is."


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JURNAL 19, one of the top programs by BINUS TV, presents a variety of information that exists around us. This news program includes a variety or series of events that occur within and outside the Bina Nusantara Group, so JURNAL 19 also brings news today that is happening in the neighborhood.
This program is not only using the Indonesian language, but also there are segments for English and Mandarin. While it brings the latest news about events that happened and still being discussed by the community, it also displays the weather forecast information obtained from the Climatology and Geophysics Agency. The program will always present informative, educational, current and reliable news that has always been important to the viewers.
Show Preview
Published at : Updated


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Hoodia Desert Lodge
This is an actual tour booked by Bianca Gellert-Jordaan. It is a variation of the Namib Desert Fly-in Safari. If you like the sound of it you can book this exact trip using the enquiry form below or use the itinerary as a starting point and make any changes you want.
My clients from the UK booked this quick 3 day Sossusvlei fly-in trip. They will stay at the luxurious Hoodia Desert Lodge and enjoy excursions into the desert with a guide.