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The International RiverFoundation will award a New Zealand Riverprize for the first time in 2015, providing reward and recognition to those who have achieved outstanding results in the restoration or protection of New Zealand's rivers.
The New Zealand Riverprize is worth NZ$20,000 and is sponsored by the Morgan Foundation. Any organisation or group involved in river, wetland, lake, or estuary restoration or protection is encouraged to apply.
"While the government has recently confirmed freshwater objectives and minimum standards, we're involved in establishing the New Zealand Riverprize to encourage and recognise communities, regional councils and, in some cases, individuals who demonstrate excellence in river management," says Dr Gareth Morgan.
Riverprize applications will be judged by a panel of experts on a range of criteria including demonstrable aquatic ecosystem health improvements, socio-economic initiatives, governance, innovation and long-term vision. In its first year, the judging panel will be chaired by Gayle Wood, who has many years of experience as a Riverprize judge.
The winner of the 2015 New Zealand Riverprize will be announced at the 18th International Riversymposium in Brisbane, and will automatically qualify for the second stage of the prestigious Thiess International Riverprize.
The International RiverFoundation awards the Australian Riverprize, the European Riverprize and the Thiess International Riverprize annually. Riverprizeawards are intended to not only give reward to those who are achieving outstanding results in river restoration and protection, but to provide those organisations with the appropriate recognition and prestige to enable them to build new partnerships and expand and improve their programs so that they may continue to achieve ongoing success.
"The winner will become a valued member of the IRF Riverprize alumni network, a group of high achieving river practitioners from around the globe who share a range of practical, informative and inspiring knowledge and experiences," said Dr Nick Schofield, Chief Executive Officer of the International RiverFoundation. The Morgan Foundation also runs the New Zealand River Awards, which focus on the most improved rivers in New Zealand in terms of water quality. The Awards are based on an examination of the data to find the most improved rivers and waterways in each region and nationally based on a single indicator. In contrast to Riverprize, an application is not required for the NZ River Awards – every officially monitored waterway is automatically evaluated by the Award's judging panel.
Riverprize applications can be submitted online from late 2014 – visit www.riverfoundation.org.au for more details.


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With only two games remaining for the Washington Nationals and the team making one last run at a .500 record, it is hard not to be excited about the 2012 team. The 2011 team will go down in history as a team that never gave up on themselves. On three different occasions this season, the Nats have looked like they were going into a free fall in the standings.
On May 18, the team had a record of 18-18 and wasn't playing all that great but they were able stay around .500 level. Over the next 12 days, the Nats won four of the next 13 games and found themselves in last place with a record of 22-31. The Nats did not go into free fall like they have in the last six seasons. In fact, this team started to get better.
From May 30-June 24, the Nationals went from fifth place in the National League East standings to third place, winning 17 of the next 23 games and improving their record to 39-37. At this time, Nats fans were actually talking about a possible chance competing for a wild card spot in the National League.
The Nats floated around the .500 level for a week or two before the team started to falter again. On July 29, the Nats looked like they were going to start free falling again as the team's record was 49-56 and the team was again in fifth place. At this time, no one was talking about playoffs. Most fans were just hoping the team would not spiral out of control.
Once again, the Nats found it within themselves to bounce back as they won 13 of their next 21 and moved into third place with a record of 62-64. I am not sure if the dog days of summer were catching up on the team, but the Nats started to struggle once again as the team only won three of their next 15 games. On Sept. 8, the Nats were in fourth place with a record of 65-76 and the team looked like it had run out of steam. I think a lot of Nats fans thought the team would now spiral out of control.
Instead, the stubborn Nats reeled off 14 victories in their next 18 games. The team clinched third place with last night's 6-4 victory over the pesky Marlins. The Nats have only two games remaining and still have a chance to finish the season over .500.
As fan I am so very pleased with the 2011 Nationals and I cannot wait for spring training and 2012 season. As a writer, I want to thank Pete Kerzel for allowing me to share my stories with the readers at MASNsports.com.
Mark Hornbaker blogs about the Nats at Nationals Daily News and shares his views on baseball in D.C. as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative to welcome guest bloggers to out little corner of the Internet. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.

subset: commoncrawl


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Our team is confident that we have found the newest InkFarm coupons. Feel free to share with us if we've missed something.


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Really Simple Photo Hosting with SimpleBucket.com
Simplebucket is a site taking a shot at the image hosting throne. After playing around with the system for a few minutes I can say that i honestly think is stands a very good chance of making some waves within the space.
Along with having all the generic features that we've come to expect from image hosts it has a few real "killer" features that are worth checking out. One of the main benefits with this service is the ability to "tag" your pictures facebook / flickr style. While this itself is nothing new, SimpleBucket allows you to embed this tagged picture in blogs and websites.
This will be an incredibility useful feature for any blogger who posts images on a regular basis. I exchanged a few emails with the Khang, the owner today and he told me that soon you will also be able to record voice clips and include them in your embedded image (using the snapvine API).
To date Khang has only spent $180 on this for the domain name and web hosting. However developing and designing the entire thing yourself can help you save a lot of startup capital.
This is definitely one to keep an eye on.


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Dieter Nuhr
Dieter Herbert Nuhr (born October 29, 1960 in Wesel, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German comedian,[1] carbaret artist, author and television puppet. Nuhr was born in Wesel but his family moved to Düsseldorf when he was four years old. While growing up there he went to the secondary school Leibniz-Gymnasium. In 1981 he started to study art and history at the University of Duisburg-Essen and received his teaching degree in 1988. From 1981 to 1989, Nuhr studied art and history at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen. As of 2010, Nuhr lives in Ratingen, North Rhine-Westphalia.
Life and career
His first appearance on stage was with a school theater group where he also started to write his first own texts. In 1986, he and Frank Küster founded the cabaret-duo V.E.V.-K.Barett. Their first official appearance on stage was part of their program called "Haben Sie sich ihre Schranknummer gemerkt?", which can be translated as "Have you memorized your locker-number?". In 1987, he appeared for the first time as a cabarettist. In 1989, the duo developed their second stage program "Pralle Pracht" (lit. bulging opulence) and after a name change in 1990 to V.E.V.Kabarett the duo performed their third stage program "Schrille Stille" (lit. sharp silence). The last project of the group called "Zipfeltreffen", which is a play on words in German (Gipfeltreffen = summit conference whereas Zipfeltreffen = summit of dicks), followed.[2][3] In 1994, Nuhr started his first solo-project called "Nuhr am Nörgeln" (This program title contains, like most of Nuhr's titles, two different meanings. It could be literally translated as "just grumbling" or as "Mr. Nuhr is grumbling" because the German word "nur", which looks similar to Nuhr's last name means "just").From 1982 to 1992, he was an active artist, and several of his works were exhibited in the Rhineland. He has since gained notoriety for his numerous television appearances on Die Harald Schmidt Show, Genial daneben, Schillerstraße, Quatsch Comedy Club (Channel Pro7) and 7 Tage, 7 Köpfe (lit. 7 days, 7 heads) on the channel RTL.
In an interview with the newspaper Westdeutsche Zeitung in 2006, Nuhr was asked how he had developed his unique style: "I started my solo career because the manager of a theater in Mönchengladbach had talked me into it. He allowed me to perform on his stage and directed me. While I was practicing my program more and more requisites went missing because he took more and more of them away. So when the day of my first performance came close there were no requisites left anymore. I just stood there and talked to the audience. This is how my very own style was born. At first I thought that this could not work at all, but the less requisites I used, the better it finally worked out for me. So I thought that this is what I should do: not use any requisites but talk to the audience in my very own style." (28 January 2006).
In 1998, the stage program "Nuhr weiter so" (lit. "Simply go on") received an award: the Deutsche Kleinkunstpreis in the category cabaret and in 2003, he received the Deutscher Comedypreis (German comedy award) for best live performance, making him the only person who received both of these well-known German awards.
Nuhr is one of the most successful cabaret artists in Germany, with more than 200.000 viewers per year. Nuhr is regarded as a mediator between classical comedy and intelligent Stand-up comedy. In his work, he gives a critical glance to social behaviour in society and media, often satirising relationships and families. Nuhr has also been known to caricature the typical German know-it-all. A typical example is his famous saying that is frequently quoted in forums and Newsgroups due to its very provocative nature: "Wenn man keine Ahnung hat: Einfach mal Fresse halten", which translates to, "If you have no idea: just keep your mouth shut for once." His performance "Ich bin's Nuhr" was visited by approximately half a million people. After presenting a humorous review of the year's events in 2004,[4] he has been broadcast on ZDF with a similar TV show at the end of every following year.[5] Nuhr presented the German comedy award for the first time on 24 October 2008 and did so over the course of the following five years.[6] Since 3 October 2009 his four-part comedy series has been shown live on ZDF on four Tuesday evenings.[7][8] In 2009, Nuhr was asked whether he would like to participate in the album "A Tribute to Die Fantastischen Vier" for the 20th anniversary of the group Die Fantastischen Vier. It is a compilation album with varied artists covering songs of the hip hop group from Stuttgart. Nuhr recorded the song "Buenos Dias Messias" in his office room. In this song he played all the instruments himself and recorded it with his equipment, which he uses for radio reports otherwise.[9][10] In addition to that, the album includes a conversation between Nuhr and the initiator of the album project Andreas "Bär" Läsker.
From 20 January 2011 until 2014, he presented the TV show "Satire Gipfel" on ARD.[11] He replaced Mathias Richling, whose contract ended in 2010.[12] In October 2014, this TV format was replaced by "Nuhr im Ersten" which was presented by him as well. Nuhr produced a two-part TV special concerning the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In doing so he referred to the topic soccer in an ironical way. Furthermore, he produced weekly cabaret segments for the radio station WDR 2.[13] Together with Ralph Casper he presented the quiz show "Null gewinnt" in the early evening time slot of ARD from July to March 2013. In the year 2012, Dieter Nuhr was mentor for the "ARD-Themenwoche" (a special TV format, covering a weekly particular topic) with an emphasis on the topic: living with death. To this TV format he contributed the television show "Nuhr am Leben" which was recorded in the St. Elisabeth church in Berlin Mitte and broadcast on ARD on 19 November 2012.[14] In 2013, he took part in the "ARD-Themenwoche" again, when the topic "fortunately/I'm glad that..." was concerned. His broadcast "Nuhr im Glück" was recorded in the orangery of the tropical Botanical Garden, Potsdam and was aired on 22 November 2013.[15]
The ARD-Themenwoche 2014 will be about tolerance and Nuhr will perform his stage program "Nuhr mit Respekt" (Only with respect) and will be broadcast from the Jewish museum Berlin.[16] Nuhr can also be seen regularly on the TV show "Mario Barth deckt auf!" in which he and the German comedian Mario Barth show examples of projects, which only wasted tax money. In 2014, Nuhr received the Jacob-Grimm-Award. The Jury praised Nuhrs way of performing and his intelligent form of cabaret. His stage programs were eloquent and his punch lines hit. Though the main aspect of his work was not the extraordinary quality of his speeches but also his ability to perform critique with and through language and the way Nuhr invites the audience to think about how language is able to influence our thoughts and emotions.[17]
Islamic cabaret controversy
Dieter Nuhr is one of the few German cabaret artists who deals with the topic of radical sides of Islam in his programmes and books.[18] In October 2014, a suspected Salafist[19] pressed charges against Nuhr because he was allegedly insulting creeds and religious communities.[20] Erhat Toka (board member of the former Muslimisch Demokratischen Union – MDU, now Bündnis für Innovation und Gerechtigkeit (BIG))[21] initiated the process and denoted Nuhr to be a hatemonger who agitates against Islam and invoked people to boycott Nuhr's event in Osnabrück. The Islamic scholar Bülent Ucar of the University of Osnabrück argued that Nuhr uses generalizations, feeds prejudice and brings himself up to tendentious interpretations of the Koran. The emeritus professor of theology Reinhold Mokrosch who is also speaker of the Round Table of the Religions could understand the criticism of Nuhr since he felt that it encouraged Islamophobia.[22] The migration researcher Klaus Jürgen Bade said, Nuhr confused Islam and Islamic State.[23] Aiman Mazyek, chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany was also upset about Nuhr's utterances but advised to keep calm. Mazyek declared: "If Mr. Nuhr thinks he can interpret the Koran in a fundamentalist way for the sake of satire then he has to take responsibility for this. However, it is not worth suing him and thus giving him free advertising."[23]
Lawyer Klaus Staeck, recent president of the Academy of Arts, Berlin, does not expect the complaint against the cabaret artist to be successful. Nuhr only exercises his freedom of opinion, which is taken very seriously by German courts.[24] Nuhr objects to the accusation, he would be stirring up hatred against Islam. He would continue warning of the dangers of radical Islam, said the satirist to the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung.[25] He is not interested in insulting Muslims, but still wants to deal critically with Islam, he told the Welt am Sonntag.[26] The cabaret artist warned of not publicly criticizing Islam just because of fearing the possible reactions and to not leave the protest only to the right-wingers.[27] Nuhr, on his part, criticized the report of the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, which related the term "hate preacher-image" to Nuhr in their online issue. The Tagesspiegel cited Nuhr's entry from his Facebook site: "Been accused as "hate preacher" by Islamists because I quoted the Quran correctly. Begging for regular visitis in jail! Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung only asks for the opinion of the Islamists and shows understanding. The question is: Does a country, that has that kind of newspapers, even need Islamists?"[24] Richard Herzinger comments that there were some concerns and that the complaint would especially harm the image of Muslims.[28] On 5 November 2014, the Prosecution Office of Osnabrück announced that the proceedings against Nuhr would be closed. The prosecution justified this with the lack of "xenophobic sentiment" in the works of Dieter Nuhr as well as the circumstance, that it obviously is satire.[29]
- 1998: Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis
- 2000: Bayerischer Kabarettpreis (Bavarian Cabaret Awards) and Morenhovener Lupe
- 2003: Deutscher Comedy-Preis: Bester Liveact (German Comedy-Prize: best Live Act)
- 2008: IQ Award
- 2009/10: Deutscher Comedy-Preis: Bester Komiker (German Comedy-Prize: best comedian)
CD albums
Since "nur" means only, simply or just in German, the titles of his stand-up programs and CDs often involve puns.
- Nuhr am Nörgeln, lit. Nuhr grousing or Just grousing (1994)
- Nuhr weiter so, lit. Nuhr, go on or Just going on (1996)
- Nuhr nach vorn, lit. Nuhr, go ahead or Just going ahead (1998)
- www.nuhr.de (2000)
- www.nuhr.de/2 (2002)
- Ich bin's Nuhr, lit. It's me, Nuhr or It's just me (2004)
- Nuhr die Wahrheit, lit.Nuhr the truth or Only the truth (2007)
- Nuhr die Ruhe, lit. Nuhr the calmness or Stay calm (2009)
- Quatsch Comedy Club 1&2
- Nuhr vom Feinsten, lit. The Best Of Nuhr or Only the best(2004)
- Ich bin's nuhr, lit. It's me, Nuhr or It's just me (2006)
- Gibt es intelligentes Leben ? lit.Does intelligent life exist ?
- Wer's glaubt, wird selig lit.Don't you believe it!
- "Dieter Nuhr erklimmt den 'Satire Gipfel'". Spiegel Online (in German). 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2011-04-11. Unknown parameter
|trans_title=ignored (help) <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Comedy". WDR.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Küster, Frank. "Vita". Frank Küster. Retrieved 2014-10-31. External link in
|website=(help)<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Küster, Frank. "Wie alles anfing (Plakat-Vita)". Frank Küster. Retrieved 2014-10-31. External link in
|website=(help)<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Nuhr – Der Jahresrückblick". TV Wunschliste. External link in
|website=(help)<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "NUHR 2008". ZDF.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Voß, Jochen. "Comedypreis für "Heute Show", Cindy und Nuhr". DWDL.de. Retrieved 2009-10-24. External link in
|website=(help)<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Nuhr so". ZDF.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Nuhr so". Internet Movie Database.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Mich fragt ja keiner!". Kulturfalter. Retrieved 2014-10-28. External link in
|website=(help)<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "A Tribute to the Fantastische Vier". tribute2fanta4.de. Retrieved 2014-10-24. External link in
|website=(help)<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Nuhr übernimmt "Satire Gipfel" von Richling". RBB.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Nachfolger von Mathias Richling: Dieter Nuhr erklimmt den "Satire Gipfel"". Spiegel Online. 28 September 2009.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Es geht Nuhr nach vorn". WDR 2.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Nuhr am Leben". ARD. Retrieved 2014-10-27.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "ARD-Themenwoche "Zum Glück": Nuhr im Glück". Das Erste. Retrieved 2014-10-27.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Nuhr mit Respekt! Von und mit Dieter Nuhr". RBB. Retrieved 2014-12-05.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Pressemitteilung vom 15. Mai 2014". Kulturpreis Deutsche Sprache. Retrieved 2014-10-06. External link in
|website=(help)<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Islam-Satire – Herr Nuhr, sind Sie ein islamophober Hassprediger?". Die Welt. 26 October 2014.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Hassprediger-Vorwurf – Nuhr: "Als würden Nazis für Meinungsfreiheit eintreten"". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 26 October 2014.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Dieter Nuhr wegen Islamsatire angezeigt". evangelisch.de. EPD. Retrieved 2014-10-24. External link in
|website=(help)<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Jansen, Frank (29 August 2012). "Unter dem Deckmantel der Demokratie – Verfassungsschutz warnt vor muslimischer Partei". Der Tagesspiegel.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Lahmann-Lammert, Rainer (24 October 2014). "Comedian als "Hassprediger"?: Muslim aus Osnabrück wirft Dieter Nuhr Hetze vor". Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Becker, Claudia; Peters, Freia (24 October 2014). "Nuhr verwechselt Islam mit dem Islamischen Staat". Die Welt.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Oswald Andreas, Andreas (27 October 2014). "Klaus Staeck: Nicht von Fanatikern einschüchtern lassen". Der Tagesspiegel.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Ewert, Burkhard (26 October 2014). "Distanzierung von rechtem Zuspruch – Dieter Nuhr: Habe Islam-Diskussion nicht gewollt". Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Mohr, Reinhard (26 October 2014). "Herr Nuhr, sind Sie ein islamophober Hassprediger?". Die Welt.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Dieter Nuhr von Muslimen als Hassprediger beleidigt". Hamburger Abendblatt. 26 October 2014.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Herzinger, Richard (24 October 2014). "Klage gegen Nuhr schadet nur den Muslimen selbst". Die Welt.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Schölermann, Stefan. "Verfahren gegen Dieter Nuhr eingestellt". NDR. Retrieved 5 November 2014.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
External links
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Category:{{#property:P373}}|Dieter Nuhr]].


text: Your Evil Twin has got a bulletproof mane idea: anything your hairstylist can do, they can do better. At least, in the area of that unpredictable cluster of your hair that is the bangs. The Estrada twins school us on the art of shear focus, giving us no reason to not be able to whip our hair back and forth.


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BreakingNews, Politics, Sports, Events, Entertainment, *Juicy Celebrity Gist*, Fashion & Style, Beauty Tips, Relationship, Inspiration
Friday, April 7, 2017
Oh No! 11-Year-Old Boy, Tysen Benz, Kills Himself After His Girlfriend Faked Her Own Suicide In A Social Media Prank
According to the boy's mum, Katrina Goss, Tysen died in a hospital on Tuesday after he was found hanged, almost a month ago.
It was gathered that Tysen's girlfriend, who he began dating secretly after buying a new phone without his mum's knowledge, co-ordinated her fake death as a stunt with her friends.
Mrs Goss said the unnamed girl should be held legally responsible. She had made it look like she had killed herself, the mum said and used other friends and their social media accounts to make it look like she killed herself. ''So, he believed her and said, 'Im going to kill myself'.
''I feel like, yeah, they're young and all that, but I feel like when you're 13, you're completely knowledgeable of your choices and you know right from wrong, I do feel like she took advantage of a younger boy to control and manipulate him." She reportedly said.
The death occurred in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, on Tuesday after his attempt to take his own life on March 14, the New York Post reports.
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Phil Robertson's controversial Interview with GQ last week may have signaled the end of A&E's incredibly popular reality series, Duck Dynasty, but Walmart sales of the franchise's merchandise have skyrocketed.
In November Forbes staff economics writer Clare O'Connor reported that by the end of 2013 the Robertson Family retail machine "will have raked in a massive $400 million in revenues." Her industry sources may be proven to have significantly underestimated year-end gross sales, however. In an apparent show of solidarity with the show's showcase southern family, consumers are buying everything that isn't bolted down.
In a December 18th follow up report titled "Duck Dynasty Star's Anti-Gay Rant: Is Walmart And A&E's $400 Million Empire At Stake?" O'Connor speculated that Robertson's "horribly ignorant, anti-gay rhetoric," would put pressure on Walmart—responsible for 50 percent of Duck Dynasty merchandise—and other retailers to stop selling A&E's and the Robertson family's licensed products. The "pressure will be on," she wrote, for the world's largest retailer to deal with the "ugly situation."
O'Connor has reason to expect such a reaction from Walmart. Following allegations of racism against Paula Deen the retail chain publicly ended their relationship with her. The difference with Deen though, may be that her viewers and fans didn't rush retail outlets to snatch up every last piece of her brand's goods.
With Duck Dynasty sales skyrocketing, merchandise is falling off Santa's availability list. Many of the franchise's 1,200 trademarked items are available at Walmart.com but with increased consumer support, especially in the South, items are quickly becoming "out of stock online."
In an article for the Hollywood Reporter, Alex Ben Block interviewed Chris Stone, founder of the Faith Driven Consumer Group (FDCG). Stone's group, upon hearing of A&E's suspension of Robertson, launched a petition to the broadcasting company demanding the "immediate reinstatement of Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson," with a goal of 20,000 signatures. In approximately one week the petition has garnered over 178,000 signatures. Notably, the petition claims, "There are 46 million Faith Driven Consumers in America today who spend 1.75 trillion dollars annually." It goes on to warn A&E that if they refuse to "equally respect and welcome our legitimately held [religious] views, we will gladly stop watching this and all other A&E programming," stating that FDCG members would follow the Robertson Family to any other network and support brands that align with the show and the family.
Stone predicted that consumers in his group will show overwhelming commercial support of the reality show's family with their buying power because they would be "more inclined to engage with the brand because they identify with it," due to similarly held beliefs.
Ira Mayer, President of EPM, which produces The Licensing Letter, is quoted in the interview as supporting Stone's projections. Mayer, suggesting that consumers in "alignment with Robertson," might show support by purchasing more Duck Dynasty merchandise despite the reality that others will find Robertson's statements offensive and stop buying altogether.
There is no argument that Phil Robertson's statements during his GQ magazine interview polarized the religious and political discussion surrounding homosexuality. The call for retailers to ban sales of A&E's Duck Dynasty retail goods are abounding from LGBT and community groups while those defending free speech and religious ideology are demanding Robertson's reinstatement. But the future of the reality television show that had 11.8 million viewers for its season premier may not be decided by public opinion alone. The end-of-year sales totals are not in yet, but it appears as if sales may skyrocket past the $400 million predictions from just one month ago. The as-yet-unanswered question about whether or not A&E, Walmart, or any other retailers will halt sales. The decision to kill the duck that lays their golden eggs might just linger a little while longer—at least until the buying dies down.
By Matt Darjany


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MGM bids in, spurring second round
Over half-dozen offers are all under $2 billionMGM has received more than a half-dozen offers to acquire all or part of the studio, with bids forming a sufficiently attractive price range to allow the bidding process to continue to a second round.
Moelis & Co. launched the solicitation process last month on behalf of MGM upon the urging of almost 150 lenders bearing $3.7 billion in Lion debt. Those completing reviews of financial documents include representatives of Warner Bros., Lionsgate, Liberty Media, AT&T, Summit Entertainment, Reliance Big Entertainment, and Elliott Management, a stakeholder in Relativity Media.
Fox was late to the party, and is currently conducting its due diligence.
A source privy to the process said one of the bids received came either from Elliott or Relativity. None of the other companies making offers has come to light as yet, but it's assumed that Warners is in the mix and that Fox will join the bidding eventually.
None of the bids has reached $2 billion, but those in hand are considered sufficiently serious to allow a second round of bidding. It's also now a foregone conclusion that MGM lenders will stretch the Jan. 31 deadline on a big interest payment that's due by the studio.
Twice previously, the lenders postponed the interest-payment deadline to allow the bidding process to get started.
The Lion's current ownership group includes Providence Equity, TPG Capital, Sony, Comcast, DLJ Merchant and Quadrangle.
JP Morgan Chase is leading a steering committee representing the studio's lenders group.
Entertainment consultant Houlihan Lokey is advising JP Morgan regarding the bidding process and is set to confer with execs of the investment firm regarding bids received to date.
A meeting among members of the lenders steering committee will follow sometime next week.


text: Life at the Senior School is always busy and stimulating. Whether in lessons, or through the enormous number of enrichment activities, or in the day-to-day care shown by the staff here, all pupils will find themselves challenged to bring the best of their gifts and energies to school life. They will also find that, if they do, they will have their best brought out of them and will be prepared for a rich and flourishing future


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THREE hapless robbers who planned a 'sophisticated' jewellery heist ended up stealing a box of Tupperware and some sandwiches.
A court heard how one of the raiders was almost blind and another was a medical sciences student.
The trio targeted a husband and wife who own a Leeds jewellery shop shortly after they closed their business premises for the night.
The couple were holding bags when they were attacked as they walked through Roundhay on October 27, 2015.
The husband was punched in the face as the three men, all wearing balaclavas, carried out the robbery and fled with the bags.
Leeds Crown Court heard the robbers believed the attackers were carrying high value jewellery. In reality they contained groceries and a lunchbox.
Jailing the men to a total of 21 years, judge Tom Bayliss, QC, said: "The inference I draw is that you were targeting what you thought to be very high value, easily saleable jewellery.
"That, gentlemen, is what you were expecting. In the event you came away with virtually nothing but Tupperware and sandwiches
"It was a professionally planned, commercial robbery carried out with a degree of sophistication but ultimately gaining you nothing but your convictions."
The men were found guilty of robbery, assault with intent to rob and theft after a trial.
Qasim Hussain, 28, of Oakroyd Terrace, Bradford, and Hassan Mahmood, 26, of Bentcliffe Avenue, Leeds, were both jailed for nine years. Naheem Hussain, 27, also of Oakroyd Terrace, was jailed for three years.
A jury heard how the pair drove to Halifax two days before the incident and stole a car which they used in the robbery.
The vehicle, a Mitsubishi Pajero, was caught on CCTV a day before the attack as they carried out reconnaissance.
Mahmood, a medical sciences student and the son of a Leeds University lecturer, provided the balaclavas and arranged for the vehicle and other evidence to be torched after the raid.
The court heard they set fire to the car near to Roundhay Park but residents alerted the fire brigade who managed to put out the blaze and recover the balaclavas.
The defendants' DNA was later recovered from the balaclavas.
Robin Frieze, for Naheem Hussain, of Oakroyd Terrace, Bradford, said his client suffered from a condition which left him almost blind.
Mr Frieze said he could not have driven the stolen vehicle and was not responsible for hitting the victim.
After the case, Detective Inspector Neil Thompson, of Leeds District Crime Team, said: "This was a carefully planned and orchestrated robbery which saw the victims put through a terrifying ordeal when they were attacked by these men as they left their business.
"They went to great lengths to avoid being caught but a comprehensive investigation by specialist officers from Leeds District Crime Team uncovered clear evidence linking them to the crime.
"The weight of that evidence, which included painstaking checks on CCTV, detailed forensic work and phone analysis, saw the men found guilty at trial.
"We hope the significant prison sentences they have received will provide some suitable reassurance to the victims and to the wider community, and also serve as a warning to others who choose to involve themselves in violent organised crime such as this."


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Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Amsterdam main train station is the real heart of the city - central not only by the name, but also as the biggest public transport transfer spot, serving not only visitors to Amsterdam, but also city inhabitants. Every day 250 0000 people go through the Amsterdam Central Station (Dutch: Amsterdam Centraal or shortly: CS). If you are arriving in Amsterdam by train, it's likely that your journey will terminate at Amsterdam Central Station. From there it is simple to complete your journey with public transport or taxi. If you are traveling from another station in the Netherlands, it's also possible that you can choose another Amsterdam train station nearer your accommodation.
3 comments:
- Bill said...
You have good looking trains. I would love to travel in one.
- March 10, 2010 at 1:13 PM
- Leif Hagen said...
Is the train coming or going or both? I love riding trains in Europe!
- March 10, 2010 at 2:17 PM
- Kim said...
Thanks for the view of this train station. I hope to someday see it first hand like this. I like the graphic qualities of your shot and composition.
- March 14, 2010 at 3:44 AM
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While the novel and film series may be over, Harry Potter has been revived in the form of Torrid's new Harry Potter collection. With everything from Hogwarts-branded flannels to a Marauder's Map Print dress, the new collection is sure to resonate with Potter fans.
Torrid's new Harry Potter collection is a 22-piece plus-size line that is inspired by J.K. Rowling's famous series. The collection features a wide range of items, including printed leggings, plaid skirts and cozy cardigans. Each piece is inspired by a different aspect of the series, thereby representing a wide range of Harry Potter themes. To model the collection, Torrid chose the popular blogger Allison Teng who is a self-described "Potterhead".
For fans who are looking for a new way to show off their love for the magical world of Harry Potter, this cozy collection is the perfect option.
Wizardly Plus-Size Collections
More Stats +/-
Questioning Wizard Workout Gear
Wizardly Breakfast Experiences
Leather Magician Anthologies
Wizardly House Corsets
Literary Poetry Scarves


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I've finished my manuscript and the story is all good to go, but I've been switching between titles.
It's set in Tampa, Florida in the death metal community (Tampa if the birthplace of death metal). The MC is a 17 year old bass player who wants more than to cover Morbid Angel until the end of days (also common in Tampa). It's a Young Adult Contemporary coming of age story. Each title has a meaning in metal.
Option one:
Thrash 'til Death (current)
Option Two
Born to Thrash
Option Three
Rhythm & Bruise


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Out on the east end of Long Island, where the would-be leisure class of socialites, tycoons and their hangers-on prefers to summer, the 36-year-old Mr. Binn is the unofficial mayor, and Hamptons is their yearbook, Yellow Pages and Sears catalog rolled into one. His readers would never be defined as "cool" by its arbiters, but they are rich, status-obsessed and starving for old-school luxury of the Mercedes-Rolex-Veuve Clicquot vintage.
Since buying Hamptons in 1998, Mr. Binn has built a pocket publishing empire, Niche Media LLC, by collapsing the distance between his advertisers, his audience and his editorial. In his ultralux universe, all three elements mix liberally and intimately in the same social circles, and more than one role might be played by a single boldfaced name.
No one understands this better than Mr. Binn, who tirelessly flogs the lifestyle (and thus his magazines) even as he lives it, producing a collage of party photographs as evidence, and which in time have become his magazines' signature feature.
It's 12:06 a.m., and after a consultation with his BlackBerry-something he is wont to do in conversations, meetings or any moment he isn't actively selling-Mr. Binn discovers he has an appointment with CNN's top sales brass in the morning. It seems they want to buy ads from him.
arriving in the black van
At 8:15, he's rolling up Eighth Avenue to Time Warner Center in his mobile headquarters, a black van outfitted with leather seats, a 19-inch flat screen TV and DVD player that's his method of transport to the Hamptons on the weekends he isn't flying there by helicopter.
Along the way, Mr. Binn sketches the backstory of this morning's meeting. During July's Democratic National Convention, he says he threw a party in Boston for the New York state delegation (parties being what Mr. Binn does best). He was approached at the event by a trio of CNN execs who wanted him to host a similar event with a similar chattering-class crowd during New York's Republican convention.
"They want to make CNN a conversation piece for an audience that is not typical for them," he says. "They want to take charge of New York. They want access."
Mr. Binn, all parties involved believe, is the gatekeeper to that audience. He plans to offer an ad pages-and-party integrated deal in exchange for that access. "They're ready to pony up," he says, striding into the lobby.
Upstairs, Mr. Binn and his senior team take seats around a conference table across from CNN Senior VP-Advertising Sales Jon Diament and Chief Operating Officer Greg D'Alba. Mr. D'Alba clears his throat. "We know we have a very exclusive audience and that we reach tastemakers ... but we're also looking for very exclusive niche opportunities."
ticks off the selling points
This is Mr. Binn's cue, and in a nod to publishing proprieties, he begins by ticking off his quantitative selling points, emphasizing the extreme affluence of his titles' readership (average household incomes well above $200,000) and the tightly focused scope of his controlled circulation model (half of Vanity Fair's Manhattan circulation at a tenth of the price).
The CNN execs nod along, but they're less interested in Hamptons' 35,000 weekly readers than Mr. Binn's ability to secure the right 350 readers for the convention.
"We should work in promotional opportunities," Mr. D'Alba says. Mr. Binn follows this chain of thought, promptly floating the idea of CNN anchors Anderson Cooper and Paula Zahn hosting this proposed exclusive event. "Next thing you know, we're making them part of this community."
Although Mr. Binn will later downplay this conversation, the importance of parties, party photos (which comprise only 10% of each magazine) and even his personal attendance at these parties ("It's not about me anymore"), the fact remains that Mr. Binn's empire is built on a sort of alchemy-the reduction of audiences numbering in the tens of thousands to a life-size "community."
And this community-whether it be the rotating crowds between Manhattan and Bridgehampton or L.A. and Aspen-trusts Mr. Binn because he's ultimately one of them.
They see themselves in his magazines, are invited to his parties (Hamptons throws an average of two events each weekend during the season), and mix with both the stars and advertisers-whether the latter is Chanel, Estee Lauder, Tourneau or a host of others.
"It becomes this whole idea of taking content and bringing it to life," Mr. Binn tells the CNN execs. "Seeing it and touching it. If you want reach, buy a billboard."
a virtuous circle
No one in the room seems to register the apparent absurdity of Mr. Binn lecturing CNN execs on the flaws of mass media. But they already believe in his virtuous circle. "It doesn't add up to buy these pages," Mr. Diament muses, "unless you get past quantitative and get to qualitative."
"They make you feel like you're part of it, and if you're not a part of it already, you feel like you're in," Mr. Binn replies, and as the meeting ends, his hosts assure Mr. Binn that he's definitely in at CNN.
Though both Mr. Binn and Niche Media Editorial Director Jason Oliver Nixon insist the company's magazines are read for their fun, frothy contents-"the magazine is like a dinner party," Mr. Nixon says-the greatest care has been spent on cultivating the guest list of the metaphorical party. Society fixtures like heiress/model Amanda Hearst, her publicist R. Couri Hay and gossip overlord Richard Johnson are all contributors to Hamptons and/or Gotham.
Other features in Mr. Binn's magazines seem designed to continually widen their circle of influence through glowing exposure. This Special Reports article is a case is a point: In the interest of full disclosure, Mr. Binn threw a party in June to celebrate "Madison & Vine: Why the Entertainment and Advertising Industries Must Converge to Survive," the new book by Advertising Age Editor Scott Donaton, and a positive blurb of the book appeared in Hamptons in August. And the writer of this story (along with another Ad Age reporter) was once positively profiled in Gotham.
Mr. Binn didn't start out to be a publisher. Graduating from Boston University in 1989, he was determined to make a go of it in advertising. After landing at D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles for a year, he moved to a marketing company before meeting Jerry Powers, a Miami-based publishing executive. Mr. Binn moved to Miami shortly thereafter to launch Ocean Drive in 1993, just as South Beach was beginning to take off.
Ocean Drive established the formula Mr. Binn would later apply at Niche Media-a city magazine that was more upscale, frothy and boldface-name-obssessed than its peers following the Clay Felker model.
Mr. Binn remains a minority investor in Ocean Drive, but his empire is based in the Big Apple. Niche Media employs more than 80 staffers, most of them in New York. Mr. Binn says he's running out of U.S. cities and has no plans for another growth spurt. Nor is he interested in selling his company.
As far as ad revenue, he says Niche Media and SoBe News, publisher of Ocean Drive, combined will top $40 million this year. "I've given these magazines 18 hours a day, seven days a week for 14 years," he says. "I don't know if anyone can say they give their magazines more. I love the art of publishing, but I haven't overextended myself."
Advertisers appreciate this kind of work ethic and vision.
"Jason is a magnet," says Jean Zimmerman, exec VP-marketing and sales for Chanel's beauty business. Ms. Zimmerman has joined Mr. Binn and her husband at a banquette in the Grill Room of the Four Seasons for drinks the night after his CNN meeting. "Gotham and Hamptons are small enough to be intimate with the audience and intriguing to them. It's the right crowd-hip, trendy people."
She turned to Mr. Binn when the time came for Chanel to launch its twenty-something-targeted fragrance Chance in 2002. "He's built a pathway to them," she says.
After drinks, Mr. Binn bolts uptown to Bergdorf Goodman, where Hamptons is sponsoring the launch of Flirt, a cosmetics line developed by Estee Lauder's BeautyBank division destined to be a store brand for the big-box retailer Kohl's. He's been informed that three Lauders will be in attendance-patriarch Leonard and daughters Aerin and Jane.
needs own reality show
Mr. Binn is joined at the entrance of Bergdorf's by a pack of his sales team, including Nick Warnock, Donald Trump's passed-over "Apprentice." Mr. Warnock is clearly in awe of Mr. Binn. "He's a genius," Mr. Warnock says slowly, wide-eyed. "He should have his own reality show."
Upstairs in an impromptu Flirt mini-boutique, the party is jammed with the usual flock of socialites and actresses who will likely never set foot in a Kohl's, but who will, it is hoped, imbue the brand with some "heat." Mr. Binn wades right in, offering congratulations to Lauder execs, accepting compliments in turn for such a great party, and arranging tableaux for the photographers hovering behind him.
Leonard Lauder has already left, BeautyBank General Manager Jane Hudis tells Mr. Binn, but he had a good time.
"Did you hear that?" Mr. Binn says, grinning. "The old man liked it. And that's what's important."


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The Awaker's Blog
I've been sitting around here getting fat by eating these junk food snacks and studying for my finals. I got one tomorrow and I got 2 on Wednesday. Wednesday is going to be my last day in my philosophy class...meaning my last day to see that redhead hottie I've been talking about in my previous blogs and comments. I can't believe time went by so fast, and then it is going to force me to do my biggest fear so far...approach. Semster after semster I've sat back in my classes and watched hot chick after hot chick walk out of my proximity for good when the final day of class came. Time after time I'd kick myself and tell myself that I wouldn't let something like that happen again...however when the time came for me to take action I did nothing. But Wednesday, I'm going to change all of that. I rewrite my self-limiting belief and erase it permanently. I'll make another blog regardless of what I do Wednesday. Either one will be another blog of failure or one will be a FR of success...which is me doing the approach. I've been doing muscle memory exercises to prepare. We'll see we'll see.
Ready To Master Your Dating Life?


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8 NYC Gang Suspects in Court for Anti-Gay Attack
NEW YORK (CBS/WCBS/AP) Eight of the nine suspects in a brutal Bronx gang assault were arraigned on Sunday, making their first court appearance.
The gang members used an anti-gay slur to ask two teen boys and a 30-year-old man about their sexuality, before brutally torturing and beating them last week in a working-class Bronx neighborhood, authorities said in court.
According to CBS affiliate WCBS, during the proceeding Sunday, Assistant District Attorney Theresa Gottlieb said that each victim was asked prior to being beaten in the Oct. 3 attacks: "Is it true that you're a f**?"
The defendants did not enter pleas to charges that include robbery, assault, sexual abuse and unlawful imprisonment as hate crimes. The most serious charge carried a potential 25-year prison term. Police were looking for a ninth suspect, who had been expected to turn himself in but didn't show.
The nine men, believed to be members of the Latin King Goonies gang, had heard a rumor one of their teenage recruits was gay and on the night of Oct. 3, found him, stripped and beat him and sodomized him with a plunger handle until he confessed to having had sex with a man, police say. The gang members then found a second teen they suspected was gay and tortured him, police say.
Police say they also invited the man the first teen had admitted having sex with to a house, telling him they were having a party; when he arrived, five of them burned, beat and tortured him for an hour.
The man was sodomized with a miniature baseball bat by a defendant who taunted him with, "You like that. You like that," the criminal complaint said.
Two of his attackers went to his home, court papers and authorities said, where they encountered the man's brother. They punched him, bound his hands with rope, put tape around his head before and threw a mattress on top of him, authorities said, and demanded money and jewelry and threatened him with death before leaving with cash and a 52-inch flat-screen television.
The suspects were identified as Ildefonzo Mendez, 23; Elmer Confresi, 23; David Rivera, 21; Steven Caraballo, Denis Peitars, Nelson Falu and Bryan Almonte, all 17; and Brian Cepeda, 16.
WCBS reports Bronx Criminal Court Judge Harold Adler set bail for Peitars and Caraballo at $100,000 bond or $50,000 cash; the other six were held without bail.


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Giving through a charitable remainder trust allows your clients (or someone that they select) to receive income for life, knowing that whatever remains will benefit the donor's charitable interests. Cash, stock, property, or other assets are placed into a trust that distributes to the "income beneficiary" an annual income for life or for the duration of the trust. The donor receives an immediate tax deduction for the present value of the gift in the year the gift is made. After death or the end of a specified trust term (up to 20 years), the remainder of the trust transfers to a fund that has been named at the Foundation or to a specific charitable organization.
A charitable remainder trust is particularly useful for people who own securities or real estate that have increased in value but earn little income, since the assets, once placed in the trusts, can be sold and reinvested free of capital gains taxes. Download additional information


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Since we are creating your content, it only makes sense that we handle your publishing platforms as well. Via its publishing arm AL Publishing, AL Arabic will take care of all back-end processes for you, while you focus on brand and publicity. Via our network of partners, we offer you a full range of website development and hosting, mobile app development, DTP, digital and offset printing, and distribution services.
Publishing platforms:
- Online publishing: Website development and management
- Mobile apps: Mobile app development and management with a special focus on Arabization
- Social media publishing and management
- Digital Books (ePubs): Digitization and publishing management
- Magazines
- Newspapers
- Print books
- Manuals
- Educational material/textbooks/instructor guides
- Internal documents
- Online content: Blogging, social media, and discussion forums.
- Brochures
- Any other type of print or online publications
Digital Publishing and Online Content Management
- Platform set up: CMS (Content Management System), Blogging platform, digital books, mobile apps
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Print Publishing Services
- Publishing Strategy
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- Editorial management
- Flat Plan
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- File Packaging/Production
- Licensing/Registration/Barcoding
- Printing & Distribution


text:
Frequent Questions
Get important answers here!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What happens if it rains?
A: If the weather turns bad, there is no fee to cancel as long as you inform us before we leave to set up. If you were required to pay a deposit, the deposit amount will be saved as a rain check available for credit within 1 year, in your name. Once we have set up, we have to pay our employees for their hard work and therefore we require full payment regardless of use. Note: Unless, the weather is so bad as to risk our equipment, we leave the decision up to you since your area might not be affected by weather conditions as much as another. Our main safety concern is wind. When winds go higher than approx. 25 km, jumps become unsafe regardless of our tie down methods.
Q: Does the price include set up and delivery?
A: Yes, although additional fees may apply for areas farther out. Prices include set up and take down.
Q: Does the rental time include your set up time?
A: No. We arrive early to set up so you get the entire rental time to play.
Q: When do you set up?
A: That depends on how many rentals we have that day. Generally we arrive 1-3 hours before the rental time begins. If we have a lot of rentals that day, we may need to set up as early as 4 hours in advance.
Q: We have rented some really dirty bouncy castles from other companies in the past. Are they always that dirty?
A: No. We clean all units upon set up so they are in perfect condition.
Q: Do we have to keep it plugged in the entire time?
A: Yes. The blower keeps air in the bouncy castle unit the entire time. Once unplugged they deflate. That is why we require an outlet within 50ft of the unit or a generator. Longer cords can pop your circuit breaker so we bring our own heavy duty cords.
Q: What payments do you take?
A: Cash or Credit Cards. If paying by cash, please have exact change as our drivers do not carry cash.
Q: What if we need to cancel?
A: All deposits are non-refundable. If cancellation occurs from inclement weather conditions, a rain check will be given. Rain checks will expire 1 year from the time they are given. No refunds will be made after the equipment has been delivered.
Q: Do you require a deposit?
A: Yes all orders require a $50 non refundable deposit. Orders over $500 require a 50% deposit.
Q: What surfaces do you set up on?
A: We only set up on a Grass surface (this is the safest)
Q: Can we see a copy of your contract and safety rules?
A: Yes. There is a link in your receipt once you've ordered or you may contact our office.
Q: Are we responsible for the unit if it gets a tear or damaged in any way?
A: Yes and no. You are not responsible for normal wear and tear on our units. Seams may develop tears in high traffic areas over a period of time. If this happens please alert us at once so we can remedy the situation. If however, damage occurs due to failure to follow our safety rules or negligence (i.e. not turning off the blower in high winds, children taking in toys) you will be responsible for all damages up to and including replacement of the unit/blower etc which can cost thousands of dollars. We don't want you or us to be in that situation which is why we have you sign and initial on all of our safety rules so that you can be the trained operator.
Still have a question? Write: firstname.lastname@example.com or Call 519-900-5062


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BRIAN McClair felt part of the furniture at Manchester United. He made almost 500 appearances for the club after joining them from Celtic in 1987, winning ten major honours in 11 years under Sir Alex Ferguson.
He became part of the club's coaching staff in 1999, specifically tasked with helping to develop the players coming through the ranks at Old Trafford.
Capped 30 times by Scotland, the 51-year-old would appear to be a perfect fit for the post of the Scottish Football Association's performance director yet, when he was unveiled as Mark Wotte's successor at Hampden yesterday, he revealed that he had to persuade the powers that be that he was the right man for the job.
"I was told that Gordon Strachan was looking for my 'phone number," he said. "I passed it on and, a couple of weeks later, got a call from him.
"He was wanting to talk to me about my experiences of youth development at Manchester United. Then, towards the end of the call, he asked me if I knew anyone else he should be speaking to or if I knew anyone I could recommend who had the qualities to be considered for the position – and I said: 'Me!'
"Gordon assumed I was being sarcastic but I think he mulled it over and thought: 'Maybe he was being serious'. Anyway, the next thing I know I got a call from Stewart Regan saying he had been given permission to speak to me by my employers.
"I came up here and I did an interview with Stewart, Gordon and Walter Smith and they offered me the job."
Apart from a brief, ill-fated return to first senior club Motherwell in 1998, McClair has spent 28 years down south but he admitted the call of Caledonia was too strong to ignore when the opportunity arose to help nurture Scotland's nascent talent. "There was an emotional element to my decision to return, in the sense that I felt I wanted to give something back: that was part of it," he said. "The attraction is that it's Scotland. I want to make a difference and I think I can, although I don't know what that difference is going to be yet.
"It will take me time to learn exactly everything that's involved, the role and the responsibilities. But it's a great opportunity for me."
He was also encouraged by Ferguson's response when he sought his advice on the SFA's offer. "He said I had the intelligence for it: that was it," he claimed. The closest he came to working with senior players was when he was assistant-manager to Brian Kidd during a brief, unsuccessful spell at Blackburn Rovers but McClair believes he has sufficient experience for his new challenge.
"It's always irritated me when people ask if I ever want to be a manager," he said. "I've been a manager for ten years at the Academy. That comes with its own responsibilities. I thoroughly enjoy being a manager at academy level and I intend to be at this level for as long as I can."
McClair rebuffed a suggestion that his return to Scotland was partially due to the retiral of his mentor, Ferguson, in 2013.
"I haven't been pushed out by United," he said. "There was no pressure whatsoever put on me to leave. When someone as supportive as Sir Alex leaves then there will be a big change. The chief executive, David Gill, also decided to leave at the same time and his replacement, Ed Woodward, is having to learn about the whole business and decide what to do with the Academy."
McClair will assert himself more once his feet are under the table but he already recognises there is room for improvement. "What can the SFA do better?" he asked. "Well, they have access to nearly all of the kids in Scotland, I suppose.
"With United, we were involved in a competitive market with other clubs. But the SFA can have one collective view, one philosophy, on how you want to approach this."
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19th January 2015 - 15:28 | Birmingham UK, Birmingham | Age 41
Rus,blue-eyed male,in Birmingham. More talkative than Mr. Bean and maybe less funny than Lenny Henry.
What are you looking for?
I seek a busty, attractive filly. Oats provided, can't offer better than that. Make hay, even if the Sun don't shine. Separate stalls no, but saddle up.
Do you fit the description? best wishes
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For our blog this week, we have to discuss one of our student presentations. The presentation that I am going to discuss was on the gender roles on the Hunger Games. The presenter specifically talked about Katniss as a new type of action heroine and how Katniss and Peeta are portrayed.
She also looked at where gender did and did not matter in Panem. For example, in District 12 – mostly men work in the mines and women wear dresses and men pants to the reaping. However, for education and survival it doesn't matter – for example, Katniss becomes a hunter to help her family. In the Capitol, all of the people in charge are men and the tributes are usually dressed in a gendered way for the interviews. However, among the people of the Capitol – everyone wears bright colors, has a high pitch voice, and stuff like that.
Capitol Life
In her discussion of Katniss as an action heroine, she looked at the action heroines of the past and how they were different. She mentioned the overly sexualized women, then the very masculine heroines, then the girl power movement, then Bella Swan from Twilight all leading to Katniss. The original female heroine from the 1960s wore skin tight clothing and fought men effectively. The next generation of action heroine wore masculine clothing, had large muscles, and basically played the role of a man. The girl power heroines included people like Kim Possible and Buffy the Vampire Slayer of the 1990s – strong fighters who still lead normal female lives outside of their heroine role. Then, of course, there was Bella Swan, whose role was dominated by her love triangle and her desire to be something different than simply herself.
Modern Heroines
Katniss is a strong female character, who is only sexualized by the Capitol against her will. She plays both masculine and feminine roles and in her word study of Katniss, the words that came up were primarily masculine and neutral words. Her word study of Peeta came up with primarily feminine words like caring and kind, and she discussed his place as the traditional movie girlfriend and that he seems okay with it. For example, in the first Hunger Games, he jokes with Katniss about him taking the bow because he is not a hunter at all.
Katniss as an Action Heroine
She briefly talked about Gale as a typically masculine character, and how the fan base overwhelmingly prefers Katniss to end up with Peeta. My personal theory is that because Katniss has some of those masculine traits and he has some of the more feminine ones, they balance each other out better than she would with Gale.
Team Peeta or Team Gale
Her presentation took an interesting approach by looking at how Katniss is different from typical action heroes, and she entertained the question of whether or not Katniss is the start of a new type of action heroine…I suppose only time will tell.


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Instant download of the 1996 1997 Yamaha 20HP (20 HP) 2-Stroke outboard engine service manual. This service manual (repair manual) covers all two stroke models 1996 thru 1997. Fix your problems now and download a manual. This download works on all......
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What is Prosthetics 2020?
A collaborative effort to operate as an adjunct to AOPA's ongoing 'Survival Imperatives.' Prosthetics 2020 is a partnership open to interested companies who want to take a strong, proactive role in shaping the drivers of prosthetic patient care five years down the road. If you share a commitment to protect, fortify, and enhance the recognized, scientifically-substantiated value of prosthetic care in the minds of payers, patients and the general public, you will want to consider making an investment to be part of Prosthetics 2020.
The first initiative of Prosthetics 2020 was the RAND Corporation, "Economic Value of Advanced Transfemoral Prosthetics". The final report is published on RAND's website and will be published in a special supplement of the Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.
What is the Purpose and the Goals?
To protect and grow the Lower Extremity Prosthetic ("LEP") market through an outcomes based medicine approach that timely prosthetic services saves lives and money. This will be accomplished by:
1. Defining and establishing the health economic value of current LEP products/services (K3/K4)
2. Expanding the value of LEP products/services by defining new patient indications and population that will benefit from current and new prosthetic technologies (K1/K2)
The goals are to:
1. Improve the future reimbursement landscape for LEP
2. Define and provide the appropriate technology to the appropriate patients to reduce the current trend of providing the lowest cost technology to all patients
3. Define new patient segments that can benefit from LEP technology
4. Separate the O&P profession from Durable Medical Equipment (DME) in the mind of the payers.
Who is Involved?
To ensure clinical efficacy a Medical Advisory Board (MAB) was created to provide the necessary clinical knowledge to oversee research development and communicate the findings to patients, providers and payers, including CMS.
Medical Advisory Board
The Medical Advisory Board introduces themselves and their involvement.
|Douglas G. Smith, MD
Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington Medical Center
Seattle, WA
|Kenton R. Kaufman, PhD
W. Hall Wendel Jr. Musculoskeletal Research Professor
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, MN
|Michael Jaff, DO
Medical Director
Mass General Vascular Center
Boston, MA
|Paul F. Pasquina, MD
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Washington, DC
Steering Committee
AOPA will be managing this effort with the assistance of a small expert Steering Committee to be appointed by AOPA's President. The Steering Committee is responsible for advancing research proposals, coordinating with the Medical Advisory Board and making other recommendations/decisions, subject to the overall AOPA governance framework via the AOPA Board of Directors.
- Maynard Carkhuff, Vice Chairman and Chief Innovation Officer at Freedom Innovations
- Jim Colvin, Director of Engineering, WillowWood, Mount Sterling, OH
- Kim DeRoy, MSc, RPT, VP of Prosthetics Sales and Marketing, Össur, Foothill Ranch, CA
- Andreas Kannenberg, MD, PhD, Executive Medical Director, North America, Ottobock, Austin, TX
- Michael Oros, CPO, LPO, FAAOP, President & CEO, Scheck & Siress, Oak Park, IL
- Sam Liang, MBA, President, COO, Hanger Clinic, Austin, TX
- David Moser, PhD, BEng, BSc, Head of Research, Endolite Technology Centre, Hampshire, UK
- James Weber, Prosthetic & Orthotic Care, Inc, St. Louis, MO
- Thomas F. Fise, JD is executive director of AOPA
The RAND Research Project
The first project undertaken in the Prosthetics 2020 initiative is the RAND Research Project. After reviewing proposals from RAND Corporation and two other health economics "think tanks," AOPA commissioned RAND Corporation to complete a comprehensive, independent, validated study to establish the value proposition for prosthetic services to amputees, which focuses on advanced prostheses and includes K2/K3 comparisons. RAND will be expanding its initial scope to include economic analysis for three types of transtibial prostheses, including dynamic response (energy storing and release) foot, microprocessor controlled ankle foot system, and powered ankle foot system. The results will be incorporated into the final report that covers both advanced transfemoral and transtibial prostheses. In addition to the study and final report, it is expected that this joint effort will likely end up comprised of three components- the study and final report, as well as a free-standing modeling tool based on the RAND simulation and a white paper outlining AOPA's vision. The final report is published on RAND's website. The manuscript is on track to be published in a special supplement of the Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation resulting from the AOPA World Congress.
Orthotics 2020
A group of stakeholders convened a preliminary meeting during the September 2017 AOPA World Congress in Las Vegas to discuss the development of the Orthotics 2020 project. AOPA has initiated a process to secure critical appraisals of the available scientific literature with respect to the five topics: (i) osteoarthritis; (ii) stroke; (iii) scoliosis; (iv) traumatic spinal injuries; and (v) plagiocephaly. AOPA is excited to transition Orthotics 2020 into a vital enterprise to protect the orthotic services upon which patients depend from attack by payers, and to begin populating a stronger research basis around issues on the value of the orthotic services we offer to patients.


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Friday, April 22, 2011
blessings to you and yours at easter...
We'll both be doing a bit of this over the next few days I suspect :)
I hope you can get a load of relaxing in as well. We all deserve it don't we. Yes, we do.
Just like I deserved to get these left over easter flowers from a work lunch we had on Wednesday.
Perks...I don't get many but I like it when I do :)
I'm taking a little break. Take care and I'll catch you on the other side. I'm off to eat a hot cross bun...or two...or who knows how many before the 22 year old wakes up :)
13 comments:
Have a lovely relaxing Easter Kerry, it looks like the slayer is already in that zone :)ReplyDelete
Happy Easter my friend! Glad you're getting the chance to fit in a little r&r - hope you make the most of it. And just a little warning if you pop in to read my post today - make sure you're sitting down, there's some 'wildlife' featured you may not like! K xxReplyDelete
Enjoy! Oh, to be able to sleep like a cat - much better than a log or a baby! Hope you have a lovely, relaxing weekend xReplyDelete
Hope you have a relazing Easter weekend. The flowers are gorgeous! MxxReplyDelete
PS: Finished the Secret Lives of Dresses. It was a good 'fluff' read.
Happy Easter Kerry! That cat looks mighty happy!ReplyDelete
Have a really nice time and relax a lot ! I wish you and your family with cat and all a Happy Easter.ReplyDelete
Happy Easter to you! I love how you always get the flowers!ReplyDelete
I hope you enjoy your break. Have a lovely Easter!ReplyDelete
That table arrangement is amazing!! I'm never shy to leave a wedding or function with the flowers, why not?? The nest is just so pretty mixed with birds of paradise, bliss. Love PosieReplyDelete
aw, i love the birds of paradise. we had those for a few years in one of the houses we lived in when i was a kid. hope you enjoyed your hot cross buns! that sounds so good!ReplyDelete
Happy Easter to you and the Slayer.. RachaelxxReplyDelete
Happy Easter to you and yours Kerry...hoping the vampire slayer does not eat too many eggs!! Kym XReplyDelete
Happy Easter Kerry. I think some hot cross buns and a little relaxing are just the way to celebrate - well as long as there is also some chocolate.ReplyDelete


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Freedom is the way to go!!
What an experience we had yesterday. We thought we might have seen whales in the distance but we had not one but 2 whales breach about 10 sec apart only 40 metres from the boat. They then came right up to the boat and put their heads up out of the water it felt like they were interacting with us this went on for 3/4 hr. Great day with just the right size of boat and amount of people, no one missed out on a thing. Excellent morning and afternoon teas and delightful meats and salad luncheon. Overall could not fault the day, if whale watching is your desire Freedom is the way to go.


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The word on the streetSubmitted by michaela on Wed, 08/02/2017 - 18:55
February 2017
Today most of the Western Balkan countries wait at the EU's door in an almost endless queue. As they inch their way towards it, the further away it appears. The comparison with the disintegration of Yugoslavia seems to be the word on the street; we can now read and hear of the fear of a similar denouement once again. The ominous lyrics of a famous Yugoslav song from the eve of the nineties "Just let there be no war" are being referred to today. As individuals or a group of individuals, we need to react to what appears to be a return to the situation in the 90s. We must show that the solidarity which the EU lacked from its inception, is indispensable for the well-being and prosperity in Europe.


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Just like the topic says. I want to do a cream ale with oat malt instead of rice or corn. Trying to go for something light and drinkable so i have a few recipes ready for summer time. The recipe I'm looking at is from BCS, calls for 1 pound flaked rice, I was gonna sub in 3 pounds of malted oats (I also want to up the gravity a bit).
Does that sound about right? Or is there anything about using oat malt I don't know that wouldn't make it suitable for a cream ale?
Edit: For that matter, what should should I mash at? I was thinking 154 but your input would be appreciated.


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She realized how much she misses the smokers.
Regulars used to linger at the Dot's Diner east of Clearview Parkway at all hours, many of them retirees, drinking coffee, ordering slices of pie, mingling and lighting cigarettes.
Then a state law banned smoking in restaurants starting on Jan. 1, and the scene changed in eateries across Louisiana. Customers and proprietors have largely accepted the ban, even if begrudgingly, but confusion and consternation still hang in the air over a distinction allowing smoking in bars that serve food, but not in restaurants that serve alcoholic beverages.
Piattoly, a nonsmoker, said she never minded smoky restaurants. She laments what she says is a change in the culture of eating out. Particularly at diners, she said, some of the ambiance has been lost.
"Normally you'd have a whole bunch of characters on the bar, and they'd all have their opinions, pontificating," said Piattoly, a lawyer who sometimes handed out business cards at the Jefferson Dot's. "I would've picked up business, made friends, had a pleasant conversation."
More than 95 percent of the state's eateries are adhering to the smoking ban, estimated Murphy Painter, director of the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, which monitors compliance with the rules. Early in the year, he said, Alcohol and Tobacco Control issued a few tickets, often to proprietors who misunderstood what type of liquor license they held and whether the ban applied to them.
Now, in addition to spelling out whether someone under 21 can enter, the license also sets the smoking rules. Generally, if a place sells more alcohol than food, it gets a bar license, which allows smoking. If it sells more food than drinks, it gets a restaurant license, which does not. It's up to the owner to decide which type of establishment to operate and apply for the requisite permit.
The distinction grew from the 2006 legislative deliberations that created the ban. State Sen. Ken Hollis, R-Metairie, said the Louisiana Restaurant Association asked him to amend the bill to allow smoking in bars that occupy separate rooms inside restaurants.
But he said defining a self-contained bar within a restaurant grew cumbersome, so legislators reverted to drawing the line between restaurants and stand-alone bars.
"It was getting out of hand," Hollis said. "Sometimes in trying to clear the law up, we make it more confusing."
The Louisiana Smoke-Free Air Act ultimately prohibited smoking in restaurants and other public gathering places, including shopping centers, sports arenas and workplaces. And the law continued allowing smoking in casinos and tobacco stores.
Painter said sales ratios are not the only factors Alcohol and Tobacco Control weighs when it audits businesses to decide whether they have the proper permits. The agency looks at whether alcohol is always served with food or sometimes sold alone, and whether the kitchen is always open or sometimes closed while the bar continues operating.
Audits can be triggered by complaints, routine inspections that raise questions or applications to switch to the other type of license.
"It's a process, and you go through probably about five levels of scrutiny and a tremendous amount of paperwork to prove or disprove you are one or the other," Painter said.
Customer confusion
With people in the business wondering what to make of the law, needless to say, moments of confusion also have ensued among customers.
At The Bulldog on Magazine Street in Uptown, some customers seem pleasantly surprised to learn they can order food and have a smoke, said bar manager Joey Knessel.
At Wit's Inn on Carrollton Avenue in Mid-City, owner Dennis Scheuermann said he sometimes has to tell families with children to sit outside, because despite its food menu, Wit's Inn is a bar with an age minimum of 21 and where smoking is allowed.
With other customers, it's a different issue.
"Some people just automatically think you can't smoke, and they go outside," Scheuermann said.
Restaurant owners have another problem with the way the law reads. They argue it gives a competitive advantage to bars with food offerings -- places where smokers can both eat and drink.
While he is opposed as a matter of principle to government setting business policies for him, Tommy Cvitanovich, owner of Drago's restaurants in Metairie and New Orleans, argued a law prohibiting smoking should do so uniformly.
"What they should have simply said is if you prepare any food, you can't smoke," Cvitanovich said. "It just should be a level playing field."
The Restaurant Association opposes the smoking ban as being unfairly cast.
"If smoking's bad for you in a restaurant, it's bad for you in the bar next door," said association spokeswoman Wendy Waren.
Losing business
The five Dot's Diner locations in Jefferson Parish and one in St. Charles Parish suffered a slight revenue dip after the ban drove away some of their most loyal customers, said owner Larry Katz. Waren said several Restaurant Association members reported losing business soon after the law went into force, but the complaints have tapered off.
"We're losing a little bit," said Mark DeFelice, co-owner and chef at Pascal's Manale Restaurant on Napoleon Avenue in Uptown, where a separate barroom is attracting fewer regulars amid the smoking ban. "I haven't seen a surge of people coming to our place because it's smoke-free."
Knessen at The Bulldog said he has sold more food recently, seemingly to smokers skipping restaurants.
Amber Weiland recently had lunch and a smoke at the Swamp Room Bar and Grill on Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Metairie, a place she visits more often since being prohibited from smoking in restaurants.
"I don't want to go outside" to smoke, Weiland said. "It's too hot to go outside."
At Step Brothers Lounge and Restaurant, a bar with food on West Napoleon Avenue in Metairie, the ban boosted lunch business at first, said manager Tim Bontempo, but diners have since adjusted to visiting smoke-free restaurants.
"I think everything probably leveled off after the initial shock," Bontempo said.
Restaurant owners also say the law has produced unintended consequences.
Greg Reggio, president of the New Orleans chapter of the Restaurant Association and co-owner of the Zea Rotisserie chain, which allowed smoking in some locations before the ban, said the law creates more chores for employees emptying ashtrays and sweeping cigarette butts outside the doors. He said it also causes congregations of smokers to form in entryways.
"It's almost as if you have to walk through a gauntlet to get into a building," said Reggio, who said his restaurants have not experienced a decline in business.
Sales have dropped at the bar inside Liuzza's restaurant on Bienville Street in Mid-City because smoking is no longer allowed there, bartender Catherine Reynolds said. Reynolds, a smoker herself, sometimes eats at nearby Wit's Inn so she can smoke with her meal. But she doesn't mind working in the clearer air.
"I don't go home smelling anymore," Reynolds said. "I don't go home smelling like a cigar factory, or a cigarette factory."
Public supports ban
Polling conducted by the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living, a state-backed program that publicizes the nonsmoking rules and battles the dangers of secondhand smoke, concluded that most registered voters also appreciate smoke-free places.
A recent opinion poll found 81 percent of respondents favoring the restaurant smoking ban and almost 60 percent favoring the idea of extending the Smoke-Free Air Act to bars, whether they serve food or not.
The Tobacco-Free Living Campaign also conducted air quality tests in restaurants before and after the law was activated, finding sharp declines in "indoor air pollution" in restaurants.
"We just get tons of positive comments: 'I love that we can go out and breathe the smoke-free air,' " said Carrie Broussard, policy and advocacy manager for the Tobacco-Free Living Campaign.
To report a restaurant or customer refusing to stamp out cigarettes, Broussard advised calling local police on a non-emergency line.
But several restaurant employees and owners said smokers have cooperated without incident. Occasionally someone might forget about the ban and light up, but they quickly apologize and step outside when reminded.
Betty Grundmann and her daughter Kay Giepert, who recently lunched together at Liuzza's, are among the satisfied nonsmoking customers.
"I'm thrilled," Grundmann said. "I think it's a wonderful thing. When you're in the restaurant and you're eating, and somebody's smoking close by, it ruins the taste."
Mark Waller may be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com or (504) 883-7056.


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The Folk Art Museum at Kamthieng House in Bangkok is a lovely one hundred and sixty-year-old traditional Thai-style teak house located at the Siam Society grounds on Sukhumvit Road. Siam Society was founded by a group of young Thai and foreign residents in the early 20th century under the patronage of Rama VI to research, rediscover and preserve Thai Lanna Culture for future generations. at
While the beauty of this delightful complex with all its immaculately polished teak buildings is beneath towering glass skyscrapers that dominate most of Sukhumvit, it makes for a wonderful oasis in which to roam at a leisurely pace. It's a far cry from the relentless toxic traffic fumes from the inner city streets.
What makes this place even more interesting as well as somewhat refreshingly different from similar teak houses in Bangkok such as the Jim Thompson House and Suan Pakkad Palace, is that Kamthieng House depicts rural family habitats. Kamthieng House is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm.
Traditional Rural Thai Residence
Within the lush grounds, you'll encounter several traditional wooden teak houses, including a reference library. Two of the houses here were brought in from as far afield as northern Thailand and another came from Thailand's inner central plains.
The house is set up as the country's only genuine ethnological museum while the reference library contains a journal of one of Asia's most respected publications on Thai art history and the Lanna culture for which the society is based solely.
Inside the Lanna Household
Kamthieng House was the first building of its kind to be established on the property grounds. The style of the house is typical of farm dwellings found in the northern parts of the county. This particular house was transported piece by piece in the 1960's to Bangkok from the banks of the Ping River near Chiang Mai.
Sangaroon House is the second dwelling on the premises having arrived from the central plains. The project was a later addition, donated by the architect Sangaroon Ratagasikorn who was so inspired by the utilitarian beauty of rural utensils that he ended up amassing quite a sizable collection.
Since you've come this far, why not pop down to the popular and award-winning Gallery 55. It's only a short walk from Siam Society. The gallery displays a good few original contemporary paintings and sculptures by many well respected local and international artists in a spacious New York style setting. It's worth a visit.
Exhibition at the Museum
The objects on exhibit here give you a fair insight into what life would have been like for the well-heeled in northern Thailand during the mid-nineteenth century.
The ground level displays various farming tools and fish traps that could only have evoked the kind of practice once used for fishing in flooded rice paddies. This was done so as to supplement supplies from the rivers of the area.
Once you enter the upper level you'll find objects on display that focus on the rural life of a typical Lanna household. Isn't it sometimes so incredibly interesting to cease the chance to get to see and feel just how inhabitants from so far a cultural divide live, work and play.
Then walk along the open veranda to the authentically equipped kitchen to view a video on how to make spicy frog soup. You can try this recipe at home when next making Tom Yam Soup. Only this time substitute the shrimps with frogs.
In the ground's granary, you'll find an extremely interesting exhibition detailing the ritual practices associated with rice farming in the northern provinces.
Magical Mysticism in the Spirit World
These Lanna homes seem steeped in all sorts of magical mysticism with the spirits playing enormous fundamental roles. This becomes evident while trying to grasp onto and into all the fascinating aspects concerning this type of household.
The practice of making offerings to the spirit world, the belief in the talisman, the male tattoos and the "magic shirts" are most unfamiliar to westerners. I fully appreciate the male tattoo bit, but what's with the magic shirts. I must get one.
Return from the Folk Art Museum to Bangkok Attractions
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I'm not sure that could've gone much better really. Perhaps if the Gilbert Brule had looked stupendous and Rob Schremp has scored a pair, but dominating the Panthers (it's going to be a LOOOONNNNGGGG year down there...), getting the shutout, beating them up in the literal sense as well was just excellent to watch.
Did this team get a shutout at all last year? Even once? Even in games where we'd allow next to no shots, something would always sneak in on us. I'm not even sure about preseason to be honest.
It's very evident that we're playing a different type of powerplay out there and I'm very relieved to see it. I'm sure early on the players will occasionally drift back into the old habit of simply dishing to the side and waiting, but many are adopting the change to a more down-low style with an increased amount of shooting lanes. I see this being very effective. Suddenly we have 3 options on the PP instead of 1. This looks to be gold.
The system change is also evident in watching the defencemen jump in and out more often. They did it fairly effectively tonight and when we actually see our top-notch top-4 execute this system, we'll be downright scary. Every single one of them can play this style of driving the d-man up the middle effectively.
If I'm the coach right now, every single guy who has no shot at realistically making this team is gone right now. I want to see them start working on combos and getting ready. We have some guys who look to be locked in from the get-go, which is something that's been lacking in past years. If they can keep some of the things they did tonight up while the vets round into form...we'll be sailin.
Anyway, onto...
- He did what he needed to do tonight from the opening whistle. I counted at least 4 really solid hits and his puck handling improved after the first. He wasn't chasing in the offensive zone as much as I'd like to see him do, but that's nitpicky. His goal was a good read and great decoying by Comrie and Arsene to set up a stellar pass from O'Sullivan. The fact that he got that shot away so well is a great sign. I truly hope he keeps it up even though I don't value his style of game near as much as some do.
- Honestly I thought he didn't look that great tonight. But he's a secure vet working with unfamiliar linemates so I don't consider it to be that big of a deal. Missing on the PP was only forgiven because he got another chance; and to be fair he was on the wrong side. Oh well. I'm sure he'll get better as we go along. Needs to find his legs a bit still as he looked fairly slow.
- The positive is that he was solid in his defensive zone, read the play properly and also worked hard to free pucks in the offensive corners. The negative is that he didn't do anything all that productive offensively. There was no pop to his game tonight. I'd argue that was because he wasn't playing a puck-support role but a puck-chasing role, but Rob still needed to be better. He gave the puck away too easily twice and was made to look bad when the Panther defenceman held the puck away from him simply by standing tall later on the third. He's got to show a lot in the remaining games because competition is so tight for those final spots.
- This guy looks fired up and ready to go period. He is moving quickly in every zone, has the puck on a string and is flat-out dominating. He was productive tonight and should've had 2 goals (he rang an absolutely stellar shot off the post and didn't score on a break where he had Vokoun beat). There is no better sign for the Oilers going into the season than the way this guy looks right now. This is 60+ point 30+ goal Patrick O'Sullivan we're watching. Book it now. The really nice thing to watch though is the way he's showing this level of play in every zone on the ice. We've got something special brewing here.
- Even I wasn't quite ready for this. I busted out ol' #89 tonight (and I like to think of the dividing line between those brave few who marched in wearing old Comrie jerseys tonight and those that will sport the new # later in the season) and don't think I could have been more pleased with how that went. There were not one but TWO COM-RIE! chants. It was stupendous. He's controlling the puck and going to all his old spots just like he did before, but with more veteran saavy and more control of his game. He's very smart on the ice now. In addition to his 4 points there were more chances and a couple great passes, even a couple hits. I like to think that as he sat in the penalty box after the scrap that brought the crowd to its feet, 4 assists in his pocket and likely sore hands, he smiled, sat back and realized he had returned to where he always should have been, and to where his greatest successes will be. It was emotional for me because when I first started going to games regularly, this guy was the guy I cheered for harder than anyone. Everyone like me has hope again. First star, fist pumps, love from the crowd...tonight's the night the world begins again says it all for me. This could be one hell of a year.
- He's making his case in a really strong way and has at the very least solved a problem for coach Quinn. We have a line now: O'Sullivan, Comrie and a more skilled version of Ryan Stone. He should enjoy his success as he's doing very well. His pass to Chorney was a nice patient read and a solid pass. I didn't really catch his other assist but believe it was in the neutral zone. Send him down or keep him in the PB and power-skate the crap out of him and we may indeed have something. He looks to be useful at the very least and putting out the effort of his life. He's gonna make some decisions more difficult.
- Who the heck is this guy? He's small, quick but not fast, shifty but the puck doesn't stick to him, and the guy had 222 PIMs in the Slovakian league somehow??? Quite possibly the most unique skillset I've ever seen. I don't think he's ready for anything near primetime though as he just looked plain outclassed.
- There's something about the style that Gilbert Brule plays that puts him in awkward positions and gets him hammered. This happened twice tonight. It's no wonder the kid gets hurt. In the offensive zone, where he has to be effective, he simply was not good enough with the puck. Judging right now I see him getting sent down and not even among the last cuts, but perhaps he'll improve and perhaps he's been better in practice. We need him to be an ace of diamonds in the rough and there are no signs of that so far.
- Not very noticable at all. He had the puck a few times and looks like a half-decent skater but there's nothing exceptional to his game.
- He hit people very solidly and was a mean, nasty SOB. I'm pretty sure that's the job he was trying out for. I could see him getting a contract and even playing in games against teams like Minnesota, Calgary and Vancouver. He's a more consistent hitter and better skater than MacIntyre is, but Steve pounds people every time he lands one...will be an interesting battle with no coaching allegiances anywhere.
- I still see hope for this guy because of nights like tonight. It's really unfortunate that he's such a slow skater because he's not particularly bad at it; he just has a really weak first step. He's rangy and plays the position well; hits people in an effective manner and clearly has some puck skill. Maybe he's found whatever it is he needed this summer. Going off this I hope he gets a full season in the higher end of the AHL and does well. You never know because guys that are big and solid and positionally good can be late bloomers. Especially those who have had injury trouble.
- He looked sluggish to me tonight and possible a little distracted. Stortini needs to bring a better game if these larger wingers are going to keep playing well.
- I really like Chorney's game from the opposition hash-marks in. He made a great read and took a phenomenal shot on his goal. When he's down past that point he's very dynamic with the puck and creates options for his forwards. It's behind this point where I still feel he has a lot of distance to cover. His first shift of the game was a great example; offensive defencemen above all else need to know when to pinch and do it decisively...he hesitated and didn't pinch on a clear chance, then tried to make up for it with a bad pinch that nearly cost him. Not the right thought process and you could see it unfolding. Chorney also has a bad habit of crossing over his d-partner on the way back into his own zone. Better NHL defencemen don't do this unless its absolutely necessary but it seems to be the default play for Taylor. To his credit, he didn't get caught way off tonight like he did in Calgary. To the AHL with you Mr. Chorney, we wish you the best of luck utilizing your skillset and expanding it to the full ice...I'm still in favor of trading him if anyone's really REALLY high on him though...
- Vet getting ready for the season again. He looked solid but kind of rusty to me. I have no doubts Tom will shine this year though.
- Steve spent the first period hitting people, jumping into the play and making passes. He looked like a veteran almost exaggerating elements of his game to train them in at an accelerated rate. I really like this approach. After the first he slowed down a tad, but that's okay from my POV. Liked what he brought.
- He's one of the better depth guys they'll have this year in an emergency situation. Plain but not in a bash the puck around like you're using a club kind of way. I wouldn't mind seeing him in an emergency situation over some of the other guys.
- Did what he does; simple game with a fight. Nothing to see here...show's over...OH MY GOD A HORRIBLE PLANE CRASH!!!
- Just don't see it with this guy. Every time he touched the puck it wobbled off his stick. Every single time. He's going to have to work his butt off to make the AHL at this rate.
- It sure was pleasant to watch a goalie who butterflies properly and doesn't get distracted in the net. Despite not being tested, he looked focused and solid in the net the whole night. And he did what he needed to do. I really look forward to watching this guy all year.
My Three Stars:
1 - Mike Comrie (that was a put-up, don't need to shut up, any questions? kinda game)
2 - J.F. Jacques (did everything he needed to)
3 - Nik Ka-bib-you-lin (as #2 has committed to call him all year for amusement's sake)
O'Sullivan was also excellent and Stone was good.
Could that have gone much better? Did I miss anything? Florida's bad, very bad, but that game filled me with more hope than the last one despite a somewhat sloppy first.
I have a theory that good teams often win in the second. The best teams in the NHL seem to just BURY other teams in the second period when they're going strong. We did that tonight. If we keep doing that, I'd look upon it as a very good sign in regular season time.