text:
My last few columns about Hollywood, such as, "The Death of Adult Movies" and "Hollywood: Sharia-Compliant," tackled the politically correct mindset that has produced movies not targeted to adults but to undeveloped and/or brainwashed minds (many of them adult), or are bloviating leftist propaganda vehicles in the "entertainment" media. This is particularly true when it comes to the subjects of Islam (never deprecate Islam, or show a Muslim in a bad light), capitalism (capitalists are snarky bad guys who smoke and leer at photogenic women), and environmentalist propaganda and how to dramatize the effects of "global warming" or nuclear war or man as an unnatural and destructive occupant of earth.
What are reviewed this turn around the block are some post-apocalyptic stories.
There is only one non-apocalyptic movie discussed here, Radio Free Albemuth, and I include it because it is too bizarre to pass up. The others are very post-apocalyptic, with a vengeance. Oddly, only one conforms to the "man-caused global warming" party line, Terra Nova. The others beat their CGI-mesmerized audiences over the head, not with hockey sticks, but with snowshoes.
Someone might object: But we already know that Hollywood is in the Left's pocket, and has been for decades. Why beat a dead horse?
Well, the horse isn't quite dead; it can still bite if you look too closely in its mouth. You have no idea of the sheer volume of rubbish that's produced by the Left and finds its way to Netflix or Amazon Video from mainstream television and the theater chains without a peep of publicity, or any ballyhoo or promotional push in the New York Times or Washington Post, Variety, or Hollywood Reporter.
Take a look at the volume produced just by the Weinstein brothers, Bob and Harvey. They've got their own production empire through The Weinstein Company. They've produced, financed, or had some key association with literally hundreds of films.
First up for a post-apocalyptic examination is The 100 (season one aired in 2014, a second season is scheduled for 2015) in which one hundred teenagers, in the 24th century, are sent back to earth in a lander to determine whether or not the planet is habitable after a nuclear war about a hundred years earlier. They're dispatched from "The Ark," a gigantic space station orbiting the earth. Until now, the Ark has sustained thousands of inhabitants. The pettiest of crimes earns an adult a "float," that is, being vacuum-sucked into space without a suit. Juvenile offenders are simply locked up. But, the Ark's life-support systems are failing. So, off go the kids.
Now, the Ark as depicted in the TV series, looks pretty sophisticated, certainly more roomy, habitable and comfortable than the current International Space Station. It features artificial gravity and so no one floats from point to point. And there's technology at work in it that beats what exists now. And you'd have thought that by simply infrared-imaging the earth's surface, the adults could have determined the livability of earth without having to send the kids to the surface (the kids land in a forest rich in flora and fauna). But, no mention is made of that option at all. Not resorting to the infrared stratagem gives the writers and producers and directors a chance to throw the kids into a maelstrom of adventures, from battling "grounders," the bow-and-arrow and battle axe armed primitive descendents of survivors of the war, running from lethal sulfuric fogs which don't seem to affect the flora and fauna, surviving an attack by what looks like a puma, marveling over iridescent butterflies, chewing on hallucinatory berries, and forming testosterone-driven liaisons. And the kids handle all these matters as you would expect teenagers to handle them.
Meanwhile, back on the Ark, there's a power struggle going on about whether or not to "float" two or three hundred adults who are eating up resources. After some agonizing about it, they are first herded into a chamber and suffocated via engineered oxygen-deprivation, then "discharged" into space. Also, someone shoots the "president" or chancellor of the Ark, a black fellow named Thelonious Jaha. That melodrama alternates with what's going on with the kids down below. Details of either venue are formulaic, mundane, and predictable.
At the end of the series, after some brainier kids (or pseudo-adults) hard-wire the damaged lander to give an overflow army of Orcs from The Lord of the Rings an incinerating blast from the lander's thrusters, the kids are all gassed and in comes an what looks like a CDC SWAT team. The kids wake up in some very clean and habitable hospital rooms. Stay tuned for Season Two. If you wish.
Next up is a Canadian entry from 2013, The Colony. This is a twofer. An Ice Age has followed the global warming because the global warming control machinery broke down. IMDB writes: "In the future, after global warming, Earth is covered by ice and snow in an Ice Age. The survivors live in facilities underground named Colonies." I'm not sure Al Gore would approve of that. Colony 7 also has the practice of ridding itself of undesirables who show signs of the common cold by banishing them to freeze to death in the snowy wastes. If they somehow survive and stumble back to bang on the door to be let back in, they get shot.
Again, the premise and plot of this film could not be to Al Gore's liking. He'd have probably preferred a film in which all the characters walked about in their skivvies, sweating buckets, and being eaten alive by vengeful polar bears.
Colony 7 gets a distress signal from Colony 5, just down the glacier from it. A team plods through the wastes to investigate. And here comes a "three-fer." The place is swarming with…cannibals. Real flesh-eating cannibals. Apparently some virus is to blame. The team beats back the army of cannibals and retreats. The cannibals, presumably having reached the end of their food chain, follow. They invade Colony 7. Two or three survivors escape and make their way through the wastes to find a place their satellite photos show has thawed.
Terra Nova was an American a TV series which debuted and died in 2011. True to form, the series opens in 2149 Chicago, when over-population and air pollution have caused global warming. People have to wear oxygen masks when going outside. Fresh fruit is as dear as diamonds. Political pull and connections get one a residence in a fresh-air bubble part of town. But, scientists have discovered a way to send people back 85 million years to the Cretaceous period – or at least to a parallel earth's Cretaceous period – to begin anew. Of course, the government controls the "pilgrimages" to Terra Nova and selects who goes back and who stays to enjoy the food rationing and population control laws and the yellowish air. The series focuses on the adventures and misadventures of the Shannon family, which include encounters with dinosaurs and renegade "sixers."
However, there's no going back to "old" Chicago. It's a one-way trip because the "temporal rift" in time to the parallel universe won't permit a return to 2149.
But then the Phoenix Group – a cabal of nasty, smirking capitalists, wouldn't you know it? – discovers a way to send people and things back to 2149. They invade Terra Nova with a private army, intent on strip-mining the whole planet and sending the ore and other commodities "back to the future." The Terra Novans fight back and manage to destroy the machine that makes time travel possible. The Terra Novan "campsite" depends on "imports" from the future. Housing is up to date, plastic and other artificial materials are abundant, as are iPods and the like, the place is protected by some mean-looking armored vehicles and advanced weaponry, and there's even a kind of farmers' market where the inhabitants bartered goods. But, the destruction of the time rift machine in the last episode ended all that. Now the inhabitants must really, really rough it.
Fox cancelled the second season because of cost overruns producing the first season. It wasn't willing to risk more overruns on a series that garnered only a so-so audience and mixed critical acclaim.
Finally, there's Snowpiercer, a 2013 South Korean science fiction film that focuses on a train. In this one, an experiment decades earlier to control global warming failed and precipitated a new ice age, that is, a non-stop precipitation of snow. The last of humanity boards a mile-long train which somehow traverses the whole globe at near Mach speed, powered by a perpetual motion engine. Passengers eventually form social "classes": the really, really smart people occupy the front cars and live in luxury. The "lower" classes occupy the end of the train and live in unrelieved poverty, subsisting on what look like black "power bars" made of reprocessed maggots.
Naturally, there are "class" conflicts. The film is about a revolution of the tail-end passengers to take control of the engine. They accomplish that after fights with the elite's guards, but manage to destroy the train when explosions trigger avalanches along the train's tracks. The train is lovingly buffeted by the avalanches, is derailed, and falls apart. Nobody but a woman and a child survive. They leave the ruins of the train and see a polar bear on a distant hill.
The polar bear stares back at the figures, probably thinking,"Lunch time." Al Gore has his moment.
Actors John Hurt and Ed Harris have pivotal roles in the story. They must have been hard up to sign onto this disaster.
On to the non-apocalypse film. The wackiest movie I encountered this time around was Radio Free Albemuth, a 2014 science fiction film set in an alternate but contemporary America. It contains science fiction elements that are increasingly overlaid by mystical ones. I watched the whole thing, and still, at the end, wasn't quite sure what the message was, although it had something to do with an alien interference in human history, over thousands of years. This interference is enabled by an alien satellite that looks like a blue Rubik's Cube orbiting the earth. It shoots blue rays at specific human targets, and lays "silver eggs" of pacifism in the minds of Christ, Confucius, Moses and other religious or messianic figures, to preach peace and brotherly love and revolution against authoritarian regimes. Some entity called "Valis" acts as a proxy God or deity directing man's destiny. Shades of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The America depicted in the film – and in the 1985 Philip K. Dick science fiction/alternate history novel – is recognizable, except that there's a fascist President, Fremont (played by Scott Wilson, who played pacifist/vegetarian Hershel Greene in the zombie series "The Walking Dead" until he was beheaded in Season Four) who may or may not be a Communist in thrall to the mysterious Valis. He's in his fifth consecutive term of office. He's busy exposing a post-Soviet Union conspiracy to destroy democracy by an outfit called "Aramchek," while it is suggested that he is an Aramchek agent himself dispensing disinformation during his regular addresses to the nation.
Philip Dick, who also published alternative history fiction, was a troubled writer and much of his writing reflects his mental problems. He harbored a Gnostic version of Christian altruism.
In the film (and novel) Dick poses a conspiracy theory which is countered by another conspiracy theory, and then by a counter-counter-conspiracy theory, much of it appearing in the psychedelic dreams of an impressionable record store clerk, Nick Brady, who later becomes a record company executive, on the direction of Valis. Brady, the protagonist (so-called, because he's taking directions from Valis), becomes a Christ-like figure who in the end sacrifices himself to the fascist authorities in order to release a song performed by a third-rate rock group. The lyrics contain a subliminal call to arms to the "next generation" to overthrow President Fremont.
Albemuth is a kind of "rapture" story which however leaves virtually everyone "behind." It left me behind. I had to resort to reading Wikipedia's two synopses of the novel and the film to grasp the story's sequence of events and its "message."
Watching the film left me as woozy as the plot itself. The only thing I could credit all the films with is their passable CGI effects. But, as I've noted in past columns, CGI does not a story make. You may as well have loaded a theater stage with all the props for a production of Henry V and have the cast appear in street clothes mumbling their lines from play scripts.
And now that I've got all that off my chest, I can turn back to remarking on the absurdist dramas playing out in real life. Those have to do with Mohammad's Islamic scimitars and Obama's campaign to destroy America.


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This beautiful vase was made during the 1880's at the height of production of opalescent glass in England and the United States. This translucent glass has the tones of the opal gemstone, thus the terms "opaline" and "opalescent". Often times it was hand painted, and in this particular piece it was also decorated with coralene, many small glass beads fired on the outside of the glassware. Adding to the charm of this vase is the ruffled crown. Also note that it has a rough pontil on the bottom (no photo) indicative of hand blown glassware. It measures 8" in height and 3
1/2" in diameter. A very special piece!
12 other shoppers are interested in this item
An eclectic collection of antiques and collectibles from around the world!
Every item in the shop is reduced or on sale to make room for new inventory!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
How the IoT Will Disrupt Healthcare
As the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to establish as a forefront issue along the tech frontier, it has demonstrated elements of specialization and proliferation across a variety of industries. The sustained, rapid increase of connected and connectable devices is especially causing shifts in how organizations choose to spend budgets on technology. With developing technologies


text:
So it goes like this: Andy Comer, who's our boy at GQ, is asking for David Chang to blog about what goes down on our tour to promote the book we've written. Dave agrees. No budget, no contract, just, "We want to be on Jim Nelson's good side—we're doing it."
The book tour kicks off with a party last week. Now we're on a plane to San Francisco (I feel like a grandpa because I'm totally going to be telling people, "Hey, did you know they've got the INTERNET on planes now?") and after a couple beers (Dave drinks Bud Light, me, Bud) and a couple shots of tequila and a little ribbing from Comer, we're (finally) getting it under way.
Because I'm his linguistic wet nurse, the "I" here is gonna be me, Peter Meehan, most of the time, because I will be attempting to string together the staccato blasts from Chang's laptop in a way that makes these horribly self-serving posts readable.
Here's how it's gone so far, just to bring you up to speed:
October 27: Momofuku came out. It is not a horrible flop out of the gate, which makes Dave and me feel better.
October 29: Book madness officially begins. I can't even read it on account of the two spelling errors that have been included in all 68,000 printed copies. (Find them and mock us in the comments!) We both love the pictures. Gabriele Stabile is the best.
The brunt of the promotional weight is on Dave; lots of radio and phone interviews. I will turn the reins over for him to a moment now:
Chang: It's weird to have finished something a long time ago and look at it again. Most of the phone interviews deal with comments about San Francisco and food in general… Looking forward to the left coast, should be fun.
That "San Francisco" thing is what is being called "Fig-Gate" in certain corners of the universe where, obviously, there's little news and less of import to care about than the out-of-context commentary of some drunken jackass chef from New York. It will probably come back as a recurring theme this week, so consider this "foreshadowing." But before that, the kickoff book party:
Chang: Book party at 88 Palace, dim sum house, I couldn't even find the place. Pete and I finally celebrated what felt like a bar mitzvah or a wedding. Lots of hand shaking and slaps on the shoulder. Meehan pulls the most amazing trick out of his ass, getting > Julian Van Winkle to pour his bourbon at the event. Fucking living legend. Meehan's second trick was to get > Endless Boogie to play at a dim sum house. Amazing. People really showed up for the booze and to dance to the band, so that's another reason why it felt like a wedding. After-party at Apotheke. Many shots of bourbon with Momofuku crew, hooked up with Quino Baca and the Brooklyn Star team. Lots of drinking and cookies that had magical properties. I knew it was time to leave when people wanted me to dance. Finished last shot with Ty and Irish from Noodle Bar...the good old "gin rummy on the nothing." Warm-rail gin and rum mid into a big shot. Tastes and smells like rubbing alcohol, always a good thing when you need to remind yourself to stop drinking, and a bad sign when you find yourself drinking 10 gin rummies.
I'll say for my part that I had no idea Julian Van Winkle would be there but it was FUCKING AMAZING that he was, plus we had a bar set up where there was Elijah Craig and Rittenhouse Rye in both straight and cocktail form. If you're ever looking to get a room full of people seriously bent, having a all-brown-booze open bar and 1,000 bottles of beer on hand is a good way to do it.
The Endless-Boogie-at-a-Dim-Sum-palace thing was always Dave and my way of saying "We won't have a book party unless…" And then the ladies of Momofuku (pictured here) made it happen.
The band killed. You should really see them live. If you must, buy their CD, but the double LP comes with an extra track and sounds that much better.
So that was the party.
October 30: The next day I went back to being a decent citizen of the republic. Not Chang:
Chang: Stumble home from the bar at 4:00 a.m. to pack bags. I am supposed to head to Oord, Mississippi, right away—I'm taking part in the Southern Foodway Alliance's conference down there. Needless to say, I passed out. Christina Tosi, Momofuku's pastry chef/defacto adult, calls at least 8 times. On the ninth time I got up and found the phone, which was in my closet under a pile of clothes and I was pissed… WHY was somebody calling me? Didn't they know I was still DRUNK from the night before? It was 5:00 a.m. Tosi explained to me what was going on. I had to get to Ssam Bar to pick up her and Gabe, a cook who'd be coming down to help us, and head to LGA. I was fucked up. Tosi wanted to kill me. I was literally falling over in a drunken stupor like Dudley Moore in > Arthur. My life had > two-day hangover written all over it.
Arrive at airport at 5:50 for a 6:30 am flight and magically got on. For some reason, the flight got delayed for four hours... but it was all news to me: I pilled myself out, so I came to on the runway in Memphis. Who knew that Memphis was so close to Mississippi? The two coolers of food we prepped out and checked in? Disappeared. Fuckers.
Memphis was raining like I'd never seen it, hard, driving rain—who knew it rained like that in Memphis?—and after a couple hours we got out to Oord. We were eager to meet John Currance, chef of > City Grocery. He took one look at us—he probably smelled my hangover—and took us to eat food asap. I get biscuit with sausage and grits, but Tosi crushed it with a way better order: the "pylon," a waffle with chili, jalapeño peppers, potato chips, sour cream, hot dogs, and a few other things. I hate when I get out-ordered.
I call Pete in New York who says he feels fresh as a daisy. I pray to Krishna for a bus to hit him.
The event was a daze and a blast:
Square Books is the cutest bookstore on the planet. Why don't we have more places like that in NYC? I have to sign books, which is a fucking surreal experience. I find it weird that people are buying books. And the pressure involved> _..."To John and Linda"...._and then what...something witty? My brain was too fried to perform well.
- John T. Edge and his crew who run the event are the best. Southern hospitality makes me feel terrible as it makes me realize what a massive asshole I am. Currance and his team help us get our lunch ready. Even they are nice about us showing up with no prep. Jesus.
- The very sight of the cool BBQ rigs that the > Cochon guys own send me into a covetous, jealous spiral. They are the coolest smokers and rotisseries I've ever seen. They've got Caja Chinas rockin', another big-ass smoker for turkeys and goats. Fuck. They make me want to move to New Orleans.
- I hear that you can't buy cold beer in any supermarket or store in Oord. It's true, and weird. When I got there I promised myself and any Gods that were listening that I wouldn't drink, but who can say no to Allen Benton? He offers me an elixir that is dangerously tasty. I have to go to sleep but it rarely happens. At 8pm on day two we were hanging around with Team Cochon and bottles of booze were being passed around like baseball cards, everyone taking big swigs of this label and that label...rum, bourbon, whatever. What was I supposed to do, say no to someone who offers me a friendly bottle of booze? I mean I have no idea how people drink as much as they do in the South, places like Savannah and Charleston, etc. Don't those people get hangovers?
After a sick goat feast we head to Currance's restaurant City Grocery and have dinner. I have two Manhattans. I need to stop drinking. We have to get home and catch a 9am flight back to NYC. BTW, I vomit in the morning, which makes me feel great. We search the airport at Memphis for chicken biscuits for Gabe. Daylight savings buys me an extra hour of sleep, thank God. No more booze for a week, I tell myself.
And with David Chang lying to himself let's wrap up this post. We'll keep it shorter going forward, I promise.
Wait, now we've ended with two lies. This is going nowhere good and fast.
—David Chang & Peter Meehan


text:
Wednesday, Jan. 16
8:30 a.m., April 28)
Former Béatrice-Desloges
Bulldog signs professional soccer contract
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online
At present,
former Orléans resident Erik Lefebvre is the second most successful athlete
to ever graduate from Béatrice-Desloges high school. The first is another
Erik, that being Erik Bédard, who is currently making $7.75 million as a
starting pitcher with the Seattle Mariners.
now, Lefebvre can only dream of making one-tenth the money his fellow alumni
is making. However, they do have one thing in common. They're both now professional
athletes after Lefebrve was recently signed by the Charlotte Eagles of the
United Soccer League, which is one rung below the more well known Major
Soccer League.
As a keeper,
Lefebrve helped lead the Bulldogs to three straight senior boys Tier 2 soccer
championships and was the youngest member of the Ottawa Royals team that
made it all the way to the finals of Canadian senior men's soccer championship.
In his final
year at Béatrice-Desloges, he signed a scholarship to play at Houghton College
in upstate New York. he earned the starting position in net during his freshman
year and eventually became a two-time NAIA All-American.
During his first
year at Houghton, he earned a spot on the All-American Mideast Conference
First All-Star team and never relinquished it. During his sophomore year
he led the Highlanders to the NAIA Region IX tournament where he was selected
to the All-NAIA Region IX first team and was named to the NAIA All-American
second team.
As a junior,
Lefebvre was again an All-NAIA Region IX first team member, and was named
NAIA All-American Honorable Mention.
Saving his best
for last, Lefebvre enjoyed a stellar senior season in which he picked up
his fourth selection to the All-AMC first team, and was runner up in the
voting for the most valuable player in the conference. His final campaign
with the purple and gold also landed him back on the NAIA All-American second
Coach Matthew
Webb says Lefebvres off-season work ethic was a big part of his consistent
performance in net and still is.
His experience
at Houghton as well as his time spent working with ParmarSportstraining
will enable Erik to succeed at the next level, says Webb.
Lefebvre was
able to use his time with ParmarSportstraining to pick up tips from former
Highlander Sanjeev Parmar, who also got his professional start with the
I am extremely
proud of Erik as he takes this next step in his soccer career, says
Coach Webb. I couldnt be happier for him. Erik has been a stalwart
in the net for our program for the last four years. I know I am biased,
but Erik would have to rate as one of the top (goal keepers) to have ever
played at Houghton, if not the best to have ever played the position here.
On top of his
personal accomplishments, Lefebvres leadership on the field helped
the Highlanders win the conference Fair-Play award in three out of his four
Lefebvre will
join an Eagles organization with strong ties to Missionary Athletes International,
a company which was co-founded by Brian Davidson another former Highlander
net-minder. The Eagles made it to the USL-2 championship game last season,
and are looking to build on that strong campaign.
Away from the
pitch, Lefebvre has had an equally positive effect on the Houghton community.
From making house calls for person training sessions with future players
to assisting with the community gymnastics program, he has become a familiar
face to many Highlander fans.
Erik has
made a significant impact with the young people in the Houghton community.
Erik has a knack for working with kids and the young people have been blessed
to have Erik around these past four years, says Webb.
For Erik, signing
a contract with the Eagles is just the next step in what he hopes will one
day lead him to either the MSL or professional soccer in Europe.
"This is
a great opportunity for me, for sure. It will give me a chance to get a
taste of what playing professionel soccer is like and it will give me a
heightened level of exposure," says Erik, whose ultimate dream is to
one day follow in the footsteps of former great Canadian keepers like Pat
Dolan and Craig Forrest and one day play on the Canadian men's team.
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local
business partners.)
www.orleansonline.ca's main page


text:
With Outshyne being on a recent roll lately, it became even better when the major market retailed magazine "Country Weekly" did an interview in its November edition. The band had a whole page with picture and the interview from writer Jon Freeman in its "Who's New" segment. Country Superstar Chris Young appears on the cover of the month's edition.
"Man it's great to appear in a major magazine like Country Weekly. Be sure to go out and get a copy soon and bring it to shows for us to sign. That would be awesome." said Waylon Owings.
Playing with an Idol: Outshyne recently signed on to play with an idol of the group… Dwight Yoakam. Outshyne will be opening the show for Dwight on Dec. 10th in Durham, NC. "We love some Dwight Yoakam. We are very excited to get to play with a legend like him" said Outshyne's Jason Paxton
Booking Outshyne: Buddy Lee Attractions of Nashville is currently booking dates for Outshyne for 2015 from nightclubs to Fairs & Festivals. "The staff at BLA is putting Outshyne in new places across the US but still rebooking them in some of our hot areas. If the venues wanting to put the guys in it's place, contact BLA soon." quoted MILLSTAR's VP Jimmy Milliken.
Studio Time: Outshyne will be heading back to the studio in the next month to lay down some new tracks for the new CD. " We are very excited about the new songs we have for Outshyne to record. This next batch of songs are taking the guys back to their roots..country." said MILLSTAR President Tommy Jones.
Be sure to go get our singles "Night With Your Name On It" & "Whiskey Whispers" from iTunes, Amazon or any other digital market.


text: The highly anticipated spring/summer 2010 issue of Refueled magazine will be released May 31st. To celebrate, I'm throwing a bash - with special musical guest, the indie Ohio-based Black Owls. As with the new issue, the party is taking on an organic, late 60's - early 70's Americana road trip / hippie vibe. Not open to the public and being held in a private venue space. Email email@example.com for official invitation and information.


text:
Spend hours in the sun and the surf with one of these magnificent bodyboards from Anaconda. With body boards in a range of sizes, you can find the perfect board for every member of the family here, regardless of their size, age or level of experience. Keep your bodyboard from floating away with a handy coil wrist leash, also included in the range, and for those who want to take it a little easier, enjoy a gentle ride on the waves with the inflatable surf mat
9 items found.
Can I purchase bodyboards at Anaconda?
Yes, Anaconda offers a wide range of bodyboards in various sizes suitable for youngsters and adults. Bodyboards on offer include brands like Comeocean and Body Glove and feature different designs, construction and accessories to choose from.
What are bodyboards?
Just like surfboards, bodyboards are used to ride the waves, but the main difference is that they are much shorter, and are normally ridden either lying down or kneeling, not standing up. A Boogie Board is a specific brand of bodyboard, but many people, even many stores, simply use "bodyboard" and "boogie board" interchangeably.
There are two basic ways to ride a bodyboard: "prone," meaning lying on the board on your stomach, or "drop-knee," meaning kneeling on the board with one knee, while the other foot trails in the water to provide additional control.
What are bodyboards made of?
Bodyboards are made out of one or more types of plastic, or, in some cheaper versions, out of lightweight plastic foam. Higher quality bodyboards may still have a foam core but also have a harder plastic bottom, called a slick, plus a deck, and rails made of softer foam. The deck is the top of the board, and the rails are the sides. The front of the board is the nose, and the back is called the tail. In many boards, one, two, or three carbon or graphite rods will run inside the board, down its length. These rods, called stringers, provide strength and spring to the board.
There are several different styles of bodyboard. The nose of the bodyboard can be narrow or broad. The tail can be crescent-shaped or batwing-shaped. The board can be flat, or it can have a rocker, which means that one or both ends bend upward slightly. Unlike surfboards, which typically have fins (also sometimes called skegs) attached to the bottom for stability, bodyboards are more manoeuvrable, which makes them ideal for tricks. Bodyboarders typically wear swim fins on their feet while riding the board, and use their feet to replace the fins.
What else should I know about bodyboards?
Some people prefer to have to have a leash attached to their bodyboard. Without a leash, it is easier to lose the board after falling off, especially if you are some distance out to sea or the waves and/or current are strong. Leashes can either attach to the rider's wrist or upper arm. Some boards come with a leash already attached, but they can also be bought separately as an accessory.
Does Anaconda sell other boards apart from bodyboards?
Yes, at Anaconda you can find a wide range of water sports equipment, and this includes surfboards and paddle boards as well as bodyboards, in many different types and sizes suitable for beginners as well as experienced riders.


text:
As a creative person in business it's easy to lose yourself in the work —especially if you enjoy doing it. For me that's writing.
I can slip into a sense of timelessness while working on something that I'm passionate about. But what about the rest of it: the money management, the team management, and particularly the marketing.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), our products, and that includes books and services, won't sell themselves. And in order for you to sell them effectively, you have to get your mind right.
Everything you do begins with a thought and the series of decisions that follow. To help you get your marketing mind on track, consider the three decisions below.
1) Decide that marketing is as important as the product itself.
For the baker that means the muffins have to taste great AND the marketing has to be effective. If your passion is in your pastry, then you'll naturally create the best product that you can.
Your marketing, however, will only have impact when you decide to give it weight. I've seen this often, writers, artists, or creative small business owners who say they believe in their product but fail to create a smart marketing strategy.
You have to remember that your business, your art is your baby. To the rest of us it doesn't mean much without a litte help. Effective marketing brings attention to your product. Once you decide that it's important, you'll make room for the work.
2) Decide to implement your marketing strategy before the product is finished.
Developing your strategy after you complete the product is kinda like decorating the nursery after the baby is born — you can do it that way, but it's much smoother if you plan ahead.
Every product needs some type of marketing outline before you can move forward effectively. That outline will become your map reminding you of next steps. It will prompt you to:
- research other products like the one you plan to create,
- research the target market to find out who wants what you intend to sell,
- research what it takes to distribute your finished product,
- brainstorm names for your product,
- brainstorm taglines for your product so that you can describe it quickly,
- hire a virtual assistant to help with some of your online tasks,
and so on.
Once that outline is in place, you don't have to think so much on what to do next, you can check the list and take action. Plus, weaving marketing into your product design helps you develop an organic message. And the more natural the marketing message, the easier the sharing.
3) Decide to launch twice.
Start with soft marketing and then follow up with a big bang after you get your bearings. Here's a typical small business example.
When you start a new company, you need business cards, but you don't need 5000. Shortly after getting those cards in hand, you'll probably discover a change or two that you need to make. When you have 50 or 100 cards, you can pass those out — or toss'em if you really hate it — and update on the next batch. That's a better option than wading through — or wasting — 5000 cards that you no longer like. In reflecting on the launch of the OWN Network, Oprah Winfrey says she learned this valuable lesson.
Winfrey launched big and it attracted attention that they weren't quite ready for. The network was a complete new venture with a steep learning curve. A soft launch, however, gives you a chance to excel at the small things and grow at the pace you choose without all eyes scrutinizing as you perfect your business.
Here's one soft marketing action that you can take right now:
Create a landing page. You may not be ready for a full blown website, but a single page that gives
- the name of the company, the product or the book;
- the description;
- a relevant picture; and
- a chance to sign up for updates or notification when it's ready for the world,
gives you a digital face, even as you develop your product.


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Jumping Castle For Hire
cheap rates
contact 0481 860271
The Tigers defence of the 2012 Premiership is underway with a solid start to the season. We welcome a number of new players and the return of a few players who started the club. In the coming weeks we will detail a summary of each match and highlight activities around the club.
Watch this space
Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.


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Strengthen ecumenical movement: Catholicos Aram I
The Hindu Staff Reporter
KOTTAYAM: Aram I, Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia, of the Armenian Apostolic Church, has stressed the importance of the ecumenical movement in the 21st Century.
Delivering his keynote address at the ecumenical meet held at the Orthodox Theological Seminary here on Thursday, the Catholicos reiterated his admiration for the multi-cultural and multi-religious society in India which has championed the cause of unity in diversity.
The Catholicos also recalled the contributions made by eminent scholars including the late Bishop Paulos Mar Gregorios and M.M. Thomas to the world ecumenical movement.
Catholicos-designate Paulos Mar Milithios of the Orthodox Church presided. Bishop Zacharias Mar Theophilos, Suffragan Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Church inaugurated the function. CSI Bishop Thomas Samuel delivered the benedictory address.
Catholicos Aram I and Catholicos Baselius Mar Thoma Didymos I of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church will jointly offer prayers on Friday at Devalokam .
Source: The Hindu Friday, Feb 26, 2010
Photo: Malankara Orthodox Church.in
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Help our Trustee Nikki Campbell in her quest to win the 2017 Dancing with the Gloucester County Stars.
Click here to donate: https://www.gofundme.com/dwts-4-gc-hero-scholarship-fund
Finale will be held Thursday, September 28 at 6 pm at Auletto Caterers. Tickets can be purchased for $50 through us or by contacting the Greater Woodbury Chamber of Commerce.


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Exploring Butler Island
[ Butler Island. January, 1839]
Dear E[lizabeth],
Minuteness of detail, and fidelity in the account of my daily doings, will hardly, I fear, render my letters very interesting to you now; but, cut off as I am here from all the usual resources and amusements of civilized existence, I shall find but little to communicate to you that is not furnished by my observations on the novel appearance of external nature, and the moral and physical condition of Mr. [ Butler]'s people. The latter subject is, I know, one sufficiently interesting in itself to you, and I shall not scruple to impart all the reflections which may occur to me relative to their state during my stay here, where inquiry into their mode of existence will form my chief occupation, and, necessarily also, the staple commodity of my letters. I purpose, while I reside here, keeping a sort of journal, such as Monk Lewis1 wrote during his visit to his West India plantations. I wish I had any prospect of rendering my diary as interesting and amusing to you as his was to me.
In taking my first walk on the island, I directed my steps toward


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GING'S BIRTHDAY PARTY, 5 November, World-wide (Duesseldorf)
5 November
Dear IN Dusseldorf (my first community),
I don't normally celebrate my birthday. In fact, I sometimes forget it. However, I'm not getting younger so this year, I've decided, it's going to be different. I'm inviting you to my party!
I'm always busy and most of the time, I'm not able to do the things that I'd like to do. On my birthday, I'll make sure I'll have a "ME" time. Still very loose but so far, the plan is, to have a spa treatment, have a lovely quiet dinner and sleep early for a change! I'd like to lie-in the following day; something I love doing but haven't done for ages.
I hope you're able to join my party by having a "YOU" time; be it short or long, it doesn't really matter. You could either do something that you haven't done before and been wanting to do for ages; something that you would like to do more often; or something that you normally do and love doing it everytime. A smile on your face would be a perfect birthday gift to me, thanks.
Feel free to invite your friends to my party. The more smiles there would be on my birthday, the more special my day would be to me.
If you can, please RSVP. It would also be lovely to hear what you actually did. Thanks.
Have fun on my day!


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TDSAT asks Star India to not disconnect signals to Siti Cable for Mumbai
NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal (TDSAT) has directed broadcaster Star India to cancel its disconnection notice to Siti Cable Network after the multi-system operator (MSO) handed over a cheque of Rs 10 crore for settlement of the payment dispute pending mutual negotiations.
TDSAT chairman Aftab Alam said, "We hope and trust that the two sides will be able to resolve their disputes through negotiations; in case any issues survive, those will be adjudicated by the Tribunal."
The matter, if not resolved, will be listed for 5 February. Star India has been given two weeks to reply to the petition.
Star India had claimed that Siti Cable was in arrears of Rs 26 crore, which was disputed by the MSO. However, the MSO did admit there were some arrears.
Counsel Meet Malhotra for Siti Cable said his client would submit within two days the information required by Star India on its indicating "on an email to the petitioner, the materials, including the SMS reports that it wishes from the petitioner."
Star India counsel Salman Khurshid had also alleged that Siti Cable was indulging in piracy in as much as it is taking its signals outside the area covered by the interconnect agreement. Malhotra did not deny the fact that his client was retransmitting the signals to certain suburbs of Mumbai, which fall outside the area of the agreement but submitted that the petitioner had duly informed the respondent on the very day it started retransmitting the signals outside Mumbai and in any event, all the subscribers viewing the respondent's channels whether within the area of the agreement or outside the area of agreement, will be recorded in its SMS and will be duly reflected in the SMS reports.


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If you're a CEO or hold a key leadership role in your company, you'd probably never think of not retaining a CPA firm to handle your financial, taxation, technological, and/or mergers and acquisition activities. You probably routinely consult with your corporate law firm with regard to any legal matter that's complex, or involves a strategic imperative for your company. You do this because you know what you don't know. You also recognize that anything that involves opportunities or risks merits consultation with these professionals.
So why don't some leaders take the same approach when it comes to marketing, branding, and/or marketing communications?
Is the capacity to differentiate your products and services from your competitors', to lower your costs of sales, to successfully launch that new product, or to quickly align your work force behind a common strategic vision for your future less important than footnotes to financial statements or employment agreements for a new plant manager?
If these marketing outcomes are important, then change the nature of your relationship with your agency.
- Stop thinking of your agency as your advertising or public relations firm. Start including them in the design and development of your strategic revenue-producing plans.
- Re-characterize your annual disbursements in marketing and sales support as investments rather than expenses.
- Get explicit about the return you expect on these investments, and hold people accountable for delivering.
The obvious counter-point here is that "we already have smart, talented people in our organization focused exclusively on marketing." Well, part of the value of working with outside help—whether it's a CPA, an attorney or the like—is their ability to bring fresh eyes to a situation. As we like to say in our firm, "sometimes it's hard to see the house from inside the house."
That's why so many firms that already have in-house legal counsel maintain relationships with law firms. By complementing their own expertise with the fresh perspective and market knowledge of experts from outside the business, they develop strategies and tactics that are better-grounded and more effective.
If you're not already doing so, your company would be wise to take the same tack when it comes to your branding, marketing and marketing communications.
Now, what did my CPA say about the new rules regarding the valuation of goodwill?


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Actress Angelina Jolie says she has had her pick of men across the world - but only as co-stars.
The stunning Lara Croft legend named a string of Hollywood's leading men she has worked with while filming her blockbuster movies including Kylie Minogue's French lover Olivier Martinez, who is reportedly at the centre of a love-triangle with the two beauties.
Jolie, 28, has worked with Ewan McGregor, Jude Law and her ex-husband Jonny Lee Miller in the past.
She said: "I've done a film, Talking Lives, with Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland is in it as well, and Olivier Martinez.
"Yup, me and all the boys."
The pouting screen-siren, who has adopted her son, Maddox, from a Cambodian orphanage, says she has had a "great year" despite breaking up with and getting a divorce from Billy Bob Thornton.
"It was a very difficult year, but it was also one of the happiest years of my life.
"Our split happened because people change and have to grow.
"So I am really happy, and actually it's been a great year."


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The church is at its best when we are in community. I was reminded of that as I spoke to a member of my congregation. He's twenty-three years younger than me and is very close to being a "digital native." The kinds of electronic devices he grew up with were much different than the ones I grew up using. When soul singer Celo Green croons the line, "She's an X-box, but I'm more Atari," I realize just how old I'm getting. I was actually living before the Atari video game was available.
I called this younger member on the phone. Most of the time, though, we keep up with each other on Face Book. I told this younger member I want to reach out to him and start trying to build community with he and his peers. I let him know that I would leave the church grounds to make a meeting time happen.
I am interested in knowing more about what the term "community" even means to another generation of adults. I saw a definition by Dr. Ruth Tucker that interested me even though she's at least twenty years older than I am now. She wrote that when she thinks of "community"......
It relates to my childhood memories and to my adult life, especially in relation to the church and workplace. Whatever the word means, I know I have rarely experienced it in adult life with the exception of my marriage to John, which is a wonderful combination of community and intimacy.I still remember discovering the world of blogging and bloggers and the virtual community we all share. I dropped out of this community for awhile but now I want to get back in. I have begun to study answers about how to write and maintain a great blog but I find myself coming back to this writing task with more questions than answers. (I understand that blogs that give 'tips' are especially popular) I'm trying to find that elusive balance between the virtual world and the kind of "community" I can share with other people face to face. Seeing the joy of those penguins was just the start of coming back to blogging for me. I'm hoping that we'll share our tips, our reflections, our hopes and dreams as we reach out to each other in this awesome task known as blogging. In the meantime, I'd love to know whether you feel anywhere near as satisfied in the virtual world of Face Book, Twitter, etc versus places like the church, or in a relationship where your community requires you to show up and spend some "face time" with other folks.


text: Sir Sandford Fleming's claims fame for inventing standard time. Not as famous, William Frederick King achieved accomplishments of sufficient importance for his plaque to share the same wall as Sanford Fleming's. The plaques occupy a wall on the east side of the front of the Dominion Observatory on Maple Drive south of Carling Avenue.


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GroupSC: An Intimate View of Southern California
The Lucie Foundation Presents
Gala Opening Night
GroupSC 2009:
An Intimate View of Southern California
Premiere Digital Installation
Saturday, April 3rd 2010
6:00 pm – 10:00pm
Bergamot Station
MINARC / Gallery SKART
2324 Michigan Ave,
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Santa Monica – GROUPSC 2009, a consortium of fifty regional documentary artist-photographers, directed by Helen K. Garber, will showcase An Intimate View of Southern California at MOPLA's opening reception at Bergamot Station as a featured installation. The exhibit will then travel to a downtown site, hosted by L.A. Center for Digital Art for the April 8 Downtown Art Walk. This is the third in a series of site-specific pop-up digital installations designed in collaboration with award –winning architectural design firm MINARC/Gallery SKART who will host an exhibition of GroupSC 2009 Artist Works on Paper at their Bergamot adjacent Gallery SKART through May.
Each of GROUPSC's photographers has embedded their signature style into the documentation of the region's unique neighborhoods where they reside, work or play, resulting in a gestalt of fifty, up-to-the-minute perspectives tinged with current affairs. Central to this year's theme is a defunct trailer rescued and reclaimed by Project Director Garber, who, with the expert repair skills of Banning Discount RV of Beaumont, CA and Digital Director Chris Quilisch; Artist/Designer Duce; and the Minarc team, has recycled salvage parts from within the trailer and trailer yard, transforming it from a decaying piece of trash, into a mobile digital projection vehicle for GROUPSC2009's forthcoming photo tours.
Garber is committed to "uniting the energy field" of LA and environs' creative community by engaging local artists who are struggling to survive in tandem with the community-at-large. According to Nancy Louise Jones, Project Editor, Garber has brought talent together for a different type of showcase; one that makes a significant statement about our society, and about how we communicate with each other, to surmount the challenges in our personal careers as photo professionals. Jones: "What many people will never see is that Helen has managed through sheer persistence, love of life, love of art, caring for her peers and impeccable timing to coordinate an amazing group of professional and amateur photographers who would normally be disengaged from each other. She is making a statement with the power and strength of creative numbers."
By taking the show on the road, Garber believes that geographically isolated neighborhoods and insular ethnic enclaves will be exposed to the breadth of our humanity with all of its beauty, variety and recessionary pain depicted.
Grown from last year's GroupLA 2008, the expanded circumscribed territory is bounded by Santa Ynez/Northwest, San Diego/Southwest, Anza Borrego/Southeast, and Apple Valley/Northeast. Jones opines that "there is a trend in photography now to romanticize the landscape," but "we live in a large city where there is a lot of loneliness and this year there is an abundance of shots void of humans, but you can still feel presence." In portraying that loneliness, the images also convey "a sense of trying to connect to survive; when we're looking through the trash for clothing or food, this project makes the statement, 'you are not alone'."
In the process of reviewing what has become a contemporary image archive, Jones has reveled in the artistic rendering that illuminates Redlands' old Americana; sugarcoats the aftermath of the Santa Barbara fires; and turns an Eastside mired in ugly poverty into surreal beauty, in spite of "an undercurrent of people…out of touch with themselves because they are just trying to find food for their next meal…and boredom, sheer boredom…people walking through life with no more curiosity…" But the curiosity of the artists includes witnessing life through a hotel peephole; trying to comprehend a pathology that banishes sofas to street corners; and questioning why what was at one time dubbed trailer trash has become the new middle-class, living from parking space to parking space. All the while, Eagle Rock churches provide free sermons to us on surviving the economy vis-à-vis signage on their facades and front lawns.
In editing the show' narrative into digestible viewing nuggets, Jones selections include pictures that reveal last year's ongoing desolation along the rural and urban landscape: amid the eclectic blend of wealth and poverty from Santa Monica to Marina del Rey; the desert's hot, dried-out establishments under brilliant blue skies animated by Joshua Tree's military outpost populated with "short stud-cuts," Oxnard day-laborers, the underworld of South-central, foragers for food around the Midnight Mission, and the grit of alleyways in Boyle Heights.
But hope is not lost, evidenced by renewable desert and sea flora and fauna, life goes on for Isla Vista hippies, multi-tasking Burbank-to-Brentwood freeway commuters, the manicured lawns in suburbs of Lakewood, the Laguna Woods retirement community, and the mid-century architecture of Palm Springs. The celebratory mood moves from the daily zaniness that transits on and off Santa Monica's pier and crowded beaches, toward gorgeous neon and gay life in West Hollywood, to the perennial Chinatown parade, and further east to Idyllwild's crafty woods.
According to Rex Bruce, Director of LACDA, "This is an exhibit that has been needing to happen and is finally being realized. To put cogent documentation of the L.A. 'City State' on wheels and readied to make the great American road trip makes sense for a place that has more cars than people. Each area is represented by photographer artists that really know the experience there, so the flavor of the differing regions are captured in their stories told in an unusual and compelling manner for those who view the installation."
Garber likens the mobile concept to a travelogue that travels. "People used to go on adventures and bring back the photos… We are reversing the experience…taking the photos on the adventure…taking our home on the journey."
Duce, graffiti writer who partnered with Helen K. Garber on A Night View Collaboration [2007-2010], will again participate by using the trailer as a surface to create a narrative of his relationship to Southern California.
William Cates: Santa Ynez, Attasalina Dews: Ojai, Kyoshi Becker Mckizzie: Palmdale, Colleen Caamaño/Joe Keppler: Shadow Hills, Judith Ann Warren: Eagle Rock/Glendale, Titano Cruz: Balboa Park Humming Birds/Encino, Donald Loze: Santa Monica Mountains, Lillian Elaine Wilson: Commuting – Burbank to Brentwood, Rae Threat: North Hollywood, Rose-Lynn Fisher: Abandoned Couches/ Hollywood, First Shots Fired: Hollywood, Meg Madison: Hancock Park/Westlake
Jonas Jungblut: Isla Vista, Jane Gottlieb: Santa Barbara, Vinit Satyavrata: Oxnard, Joe McDougall: Malibu, Cindy Bendat: Santa Monica Pier, Helen K. Garber: Ocean Park/Santa Monica, Nancy Louise Jones: Venice, Chris Quilisch: Venice Alleyways, Sara Jane Boyers: Santa Monica Airport, Aline Smithson: West Los Angeles/Westwood/ Cheviot Hills, Nick Martinez: West Hollywood
Andrew Ty Lee: Koreatown, Kiet Thai: Chinatown, First Shots Fired: Downtown Los Angeles, Stuart Rapeport: North Figueroa Street/Highland Park, Leslie Rosenthal: Rose Parade/Pasadena, Don Davidson: Redlands, Elizabeth Walker: Apple Valley/Victorville, Rex Bruce: Twenty-Nine Palms, Nancy Baron: Palm Springs, JN/HKG: Idyllwild
Dingo: Tattoo Parlors, NLJ/HKG: Trailers, Shelley A. Gazin: Marina del Rey, Tom Paiva: Culver City/LAX, Ronnie Clark: Vermont Knolls/South Central, Tom M. Johnson: Lakewood, Nick Capaci: Santa Ana, Jonde Northcutt: Santa Ana, Gina Genis: Laguna Woods Retirement Community, Lisa Folino: Newport, Steven Churchill: San Diego Nights, Thomas Antel: Anza Borrego
by Gina Genis
Evelyn Hofer exhibition at RoseGallery until May 1, 2010
E V E L Y N H O F E R: 1922-2009 will be on view from March 20, 2010 through May 1, 2010.
To honor her life's work, selections of nearly forty vibrant dye transfer color prints are on view at ROSEGALLERY. This exhibition anticipates a perspective into the late photographer Evelyn Hofer's observing approach in her portrait, cityscape, and still life photographs. In reverence to her masterful technique for color, Hofer's work is elevated here to disclose an individual and pure observation contained by the dye transfer process, a color-printing technique now considered rare since the skills and materials needed for production have been out of mainstream entities since the mid-nineties.
Evelyn Hofer's illustrious career photographing began in literary circles after arriving in New York in the forties. Early in her adulthood, her aptitude for taking photographs was considerable after apprenticing under two commercial photographers in Switzerland thus making her arrival to New York refined with the skills in which to explore architecture, city life, and portraiture in the fifties and sixties. Her worldly output holds the exacting subtlety of a concert pianist with original compositions keenly performed through her lens leaving her viewers in a wake of a simple generosity where each object, remnant of clothing, and furniture imparts an active human habitation.
ROSEGALLERY has been collaborating with Evelyn Hofer and her printers, Guy Stricherz and Irene Malli for the past five years focusing on the production of her discriminating dye-transfer prints selected from her prolific city work spanning from the sixties through the nineties and her self-chosen studio still-life's she created near the end of her lifetime.
The artist's monograph published in 2004 with Gerhard Steidl showcases a distinctive insight into her truly remarkable contributions to black and white and color photography in twentieth century Europe, America, and Mexico. She was a well traveled, working artist whose classic composition, brilliant saturated color use outshine the fleeting snapshots of her contemporaries. The comprehensive publication features her most notable work from New York, London, Dublin, Paris, Spain and Italy. The harmonized presentation of her work on view highlights her lifetime commitment. Evelyn Hofer has quietly left behind an eye for interior and elegant stillness at a moment in history that pleads a reminder of the concentration and discipline this class of seeing necessitates.
Evelyn Hofer has work housed in museum collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Houston Museum of Fine Art, Texas, the Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico, numerous university art collections, and private and corporate collections worldwide.
ROSEGALLERY is located in the Bergamot Station Arts Center at 2525 Michigan Avenue, Gallery G-5, Santa Monica, CA 90404.
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10am to 6pm. For more information, please contact us at 310.264.8440 or firstname.lastname@example.com. www.rosegallery.net
By Jim McKinniss
Photo Exchange member Janos Lanyi in show at Long Beach Arts
Janos Lanyi will have a photograph in the upcoming exhibition titled "Abstractions" at Long Beach Arts. The exhibition runs from April 17 through May 14, 2010.
There will be an artists reception on April 18 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm.
The juror for the exhibition is Diana Lo Schiavo. http://www.long-beach-arts.org/loschiavo.htm
Long Beach Arts is located at 5372 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90805.
Tel: (562) 423-9689 · Email: Contact Us!
Gallery Hours: Wednesdays through Sundays, Noon to 4 p.m. (Closed between exhibitions.)
By Jim McKinniss
30th Annual Spring Photography Contest
The Photographer's Forum Magazine is calling for entries to their 30th Annual Spring Photo Contest.
For more information and entry forms visit their website at http://pfmagazine.com/
By Jim McKinniss
Changing the Focus: Latin American Photography 1990 – 2005
Changing the Focus: Latin American Photography 1990-2005 is the first survey exhibition of Latin American photography and photo-based art from 1990 to 2005 to be presented in the Los Angeles area. With more than 80 works of art by 37 artists such as Gabriel Orozco, Vik Muniz and Alfredo Jaar, the exhibition profiles the diversity and innovation of contemporary Latin American photography through an array of media; from traditional photography to manipulated digital photography, installations, light-boxes and photo-based art. Richard Townsend, the Museum's President and CEO said, "We are pleased to bring to the public's attention this important aspect of the history of photography, and in particular its very vital practice in Latin America and by Latin American artists throughout the world."
By the end of the 20th century, photography in Latin America had distanced itself from the traditional documentation of the political and social nature of the region to embrace other forms of experimental photography which communicated social commentary through more artificial representations. Changing the Focus: Latin American Photography 1990-2005, explores the shift from the predominant documentary based photography of the 1980s to a more conceptual use of the medium and a more critical interpretation of reality. Exhibition curator Idurre Alonso stated, "The 1990s is a breakthrough decade for Latin American photography. It is during this time that Latin American photographers became part of the international art scene and generated works of art that showed innovative themes and techniques while some of them moved in a more conceptual direction."
The exhibition opens by questioning the traditional documentary value of photography by exploring the photo-based interpretations of historic landscapes and objects. Photographs presented in this section deal with architectural elements and objects which depict the complex social and political realities experienced in Latin America through metaphorical references. For instance, the Venezuelan artist Luis Molina Pantin (Switzerland, b.1969) takes a critical look at the hybrid architectural forms in the urban landscape of Cali, Colombia, and the criminal ostentation of what he calls narco-arquitectura, the extravagant mansions of the Colombian drug traffickers. On the other hand, Milagros de la Torre (Peru, b. 1965) approaches photography with the eyes of an investigator by utilizing violently charged items of clothing, weapons and other objects from crime scenes to develop a collection of silent and haunting narratives of criminal activity.
Changing the Focus transitions to the internalization of the document and artists such as Tatiana Parcero (Mexico, b. 1967) and Daniela Rossell (Mexico, b. 1973) use the body as the stage or the setting for the photograph and focus on subjects such as group or individual identity and social classes and roles. A photographic series by Parcero called Cartografías intimately displays a series of anatomical diagrams and ancient Mexican codices projected onto her nude body, serving as maps that chart territories beyond the physical. Rossell created a polemical and ironic body of work that delves into the world of the ultrarich classes of Mexico's oligarchic elite.
Lastly, the exhibition moves to focus on images and staged situations from an entirely artificial and satirical setting, causing the viewer to question the reality of the subjects presented. These works by artists like Marcos López (Argentina, b. 1958) are theatrical and kitschy in their composition and aim to discuss both the advantages and the disparities of the various political, social and economic agendas in Latin America.
Changing the Focus: Latin American Photography1990-2005 is organized by the Museum of Latin American Art and curated by Idurre Alonso. A fully illustrated color catalog accompanies the exhibition.
The exhibition is presented by the Audrey and Sydney Irmas Charitable Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Robert Gumbiner Foundation, Verizon Wireless, Arts Council for Long Beach, City of Long Beach, Los Angeles County Arts Commission and the Annual Exhibition Fund. Media support is provided by ABC7, KCRW 89.9 FM, La Opinion, LA Weekly and Telemundo.
MOLAA Hours: Sun., Wed., Fri. and Sat. 11:00am – 5:00pm, Thurs. 11:00am – 9:00pm
Closed Monday and Tuesday
Admission: $9.00 General/ $6.00 Students (w/ID) and Seniors (65+)
Members and children under 12 FREE
Contact Martha Guzman: 562.216.4112
By Jim McKinniss
Charlie Moore dies at age 79
The following obituary is taken from the March 17, 2010 Los Angeles Times and was written by Valerie J. Nelson.
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
Charles Moore, a photojournalist who both chronicled and helped alter the course of history through extraordinary photographs that reflected the brutal reality of the civil rights movement in the South, has died. He was 79.
Moore died Thursday of natural causes at a nursing home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., said his daughter Michelle Moore Peel.
From 1958 to 1965, he trained his lens on the unfolding drama of civil rights as a news photographer for the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser and Life magazine.
His shockingly graphic images — of police dogs attacking protesters or marchers being assaulted by powerful water hoses — helped propel what had been a regional dispute onto the national stage.
As his photographs created national outrage, they quickened the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to John Kaplan, a University of Florida journalism professor who wrote his master's thesis on Moore.
"He had the courage to stand up in the face of danger and let Americans know what was really happening, through his work," Kaplan told The Times. "That is why he is an unsung hero."
As Moore followed the struggle, he was known for his fearlessness and uncanny knack for capturing the most distressing images possible.
"To people who were really bigoted, I was the worst enemy, a Southern boy working for Life," Moore told USA Today in 1991.
"I knew the South. . . . I also knew how to talk back to racists."
The son of a Baptist minister, Moore was drawn to photographing the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., then a Baptist clergyman in Montgomery. After witnessing King's charisma firsthand in 1958, Moore sought to cover him whenever possible.
"I knew that this was a man who was going to make a difference," Moore said of King in the 2005 documentary "Charles Moore: I Fight With My Camera." Moore had yet to realize that his pictures would also make a difference.
A photograph he took in 1958 of King being manhandled during a police booking ran in Life and became "one of the most significant photographs of the civil rights movement," Kaplan wrote in his thesis.
Through the magazine, Moore's work gained a huge national audience. Life had him cover the rioting over the enrollment of James Meredith as the first black student at the University of Mississippi in 1962 and later published his photos of Ku Klux Klan gatherings.
His photographs in Life "electrified and horrified the country," CBS News reported in 1991.
Moore's most influential pictures were taken over five days in 1963 during the campaign to desegregate Birmingham, Ala., Kaplan said. One famous photo — Moore crawled across pavement, positioning himself between protesters and firemen to get the shot — showed three students being thrust against a building by high-pressure water from a fire hose.
Covering civil rights "was difficult, exhausting and oftentimes very dangerous," Moore said in the documentary. "Plus troubling and emotional . . . because I'm a Southerner too."
By 1965, he had grown weary of the violence and booked a round-the-world airplane ticket. He came home eight months later.
Charles Lee Moore was born March 9, 1931, in the Alabama farming town of Hackleburg and grew up in nearby Tuscumbia.
As a teenager, he took up boxing and owned his first camera, a Brownie.
After a stint as a Marine Corps photographer, he studied fashion photography at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara.
Returning to Alabama in 1957, he briefly worked in a portrait studio before joining the Montgomery Advertiser newspaper staff.
He moved to New York in 1962 to pursue a freelance career but the Black Star photo agency, which still represents him, gave him a stipend and persuaded him to continue covering civil rights. Moore went on to photograph political unrest in Haiti and Venezuela and document the Vietnam War.
In later years, he took travel photographs, corporate portraits and the occasional hard-news photograph. He also amassed about 100 magazine covers.
His work was gathered in two books, "Powerful Days: The Civil Rights Photography of Charles Moore" (1991) and "The Mother Lode," a 1983 pictorial guide to the California gold rush country he came to know as a longtime resident of Columbia, Calif.
Moore, who was divorced, also had lived in Massachusetts and North Carolina. He moved to Florida last year to be near family.
The genteel Moore could seem embarrassed by the attention he received for his most famous body of work.
"I know the importance isn't me, but the photographs," he told the Birmingham News in 2002.
"It's proof that the world learned a lot from them. Honestly, if those pictures made my native South, which I love, a better place . . . then I am darn proud of that."
In addition to his daughter Michelle of West Palm Beach, Fla., Moore is survived by three other children, Michael Moore and April Marshall of Dothan, Ala., and Gary Moore of Lewisville, Texas; his brother, Jim, of Conway, Mass.; seven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
By Jim McKinniss
Photo Exchange's annual print exchange
West Lake, China 2008 copyright Douglas Stockdale
One meeting per year, the Photographers Exchange has the annual print exchange, which will be this Thursday, March 18th, 2010, starting at 6pm in the Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA. The overall process is straight forward, you bring a print, you leave with a different print. But then Larry Vogel figures out some ingenious way to make this complicated and yet still a lot of fun. The bottom line is that you might not always leave with the print you want!
But that does not preclude making some side deals and private print swaps later.
Some food is available, as is plenty of coffee and maybe some wonderful cookies and other treats. If you can make it, do so, but best if you can bring a print;- )
BTW, the photograph above is the approximate 11 x 14″ matted print that I am bringing, with more information about the print available if you follow the link above.
Best regards, Douglas
PDN Open Call for Portrait Competition
There is a call for entries out from Photo District News for its Faces competition. If you have a spectacular portrait you think can blow the jurors away, go for it. Deadline is March 15th. See details here.
by Gina Genis
Hiroshi Sugimoto's "Nature of Light" catalog has been released
RAM Publications is excited to announce the release of Hiroshi Sugimoto's Nature of Light. This catalog, produced in conjunction with Sugimoto's upcoming exhibition at the Izu Photo Museum in Japan, documents this important artist's recent investigations on the science and the presentation of photography. Documenting in detail Sugimoto's architectural and landscape design of the new Izu Photo Museum, the book is at once a reinvention of the artist as architect, as it is an insightful guide to Sugimoto's interest in the earliest beginnings of photography. Instigated by the urging of his friend, Pop art icon Richard Hamilton, Sugimoto went to England to visit the museum of William Henry Fox Talbot, the inventor of the negative/positive photographic process. Finding common ground with Talbots' polymathic interests in art and science, this book details images from Sugimoto's Photogenic Drawing – Talbot pieces, where Sugimoto reinterprets 15 unprinted negatives from Talbot's early studies, as well as 15 images from the artist's Lightning Field series. Includes text by critic Minoru Shimizu. For further information, please visit RAM's website here <http://cp20.com/Tracking/t.c?9p4u-7uN7-INrYH8> .
Theresa Luisotti
Gallery Luisotti
2525 Michigan Ave., Bldg. A2
Santa Monica California 90404
United States
Lexar Pro 8 gig CF Cards on Sale
Hey Photogs, if you are in need of flash cards, B&H has a great price on the Lexar Pro 8 gig Compact Flash card for 47.95 + free shipping in the US. Limited time only. I'm stocking up. Check it out at:


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UPDATE: The Chase Sapphire Preferred no longer earns 3X points on the 1st Friday of the month.
Today you earn 3X points on dining with your Chase Sapphire Preferred card.
You usually get 2X points with your Chase Sapphire Preferred card for dining. But on the 1st Friday of every month, you get 1 extra Chase Ultimate Rewards point per dollar.
However, you can get a better deal if you have the Chase Freedom card. That's because this quarter you earn 5X points at restaurants (and Lowe's).
How Can You Make This Deal Even Better?
Double Dip! Double Dipping is when you combine 2 promotions to earn more points.
In this case you can earn 3X points for 1st Friday AND you can register your Chase Sapphire Preferred card (and any other cards you use) with Rewards Network to earn even more points.
Rewards Network registration is free and you will get
up to 5X points when dining at 1 of ~10,000 participating restaurants. So you will earn up to 8X points for eating at Rewards Network restaurants on t he 1st Friday of the month.
You can earn points with many airlines & hotels including:
- American Airlines
- Delta Airlines
- Hilton Hotels
- IHG Rewards
- Southwest Airlines
- United Airlines
If you don't earn or use points (within a certain time), some airline & hotel programs will delete the points you have! So getting points for dining with Chase Sapphire Preferred and Rewards Network can keep your airline and hotel points from expiring.
Hilton points expire if you don't use or earn points for 12 months. So getting even a few points for an inexpensive meal will save your Hilton points.
An Example of How Many Points You Can Earn
Let's say you want to accumulate United Airlines miles. So you spend $50 on your Chase Sapphire Preferred card at a Rewards Network restaurant.
Here's how many points you could earn:
- 150 Chase Ultimate Rewards points (3X points for using the Chase Sapphire Preferred card x $50 restaurant bill)
- 150 United miles (3X points for using Rewards Network x $50 restaurant bill) Ultimate Rewards Points
You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United at a 1:1 ratio. This means you will earn a total of:
- 300 United miles (150 points transferred from Chase + 150 miles from Rewards Network).
No Coupon Needed
You don't have feel awkward in front of your date because you hand the waiter a coupon. Just pay with your Chase Sapphire Preferred card and get the points!
Emily doesn't mind when I save money on dates. But some folks are concerned about appearing too thrifty. With this method, no one has to know!
Save at More Than Just Restaurants
Chase has the final say on what counts as a "restaurant" purchase. However, many bars, pubs, and nightclubs also serve food and are counted as dining establishments. In my experience, many of these also earn the 3X dining points, even if you only order drinks.
If it's a late night be sure to pay before midnight! Only payments made on Friday will earn 3X points.
Do You Get 3X Points When Dining Abroad?
Yes. Use your Chase Sapphire Preferred overseas to get 2X points on dining every day and 3X points on the 1st Friday of the month. The Chase Sapphire Preferred does NOT charge foreign transaction fees.
Get More Bonus Points With Chase Freedom
From April 1, 2014, to June 30, 2014, you get 5X points at restaurants (and Lowe's) when you use the Chase Freedom card. So if you have the Chase Freedom card, use it instead of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.
Keep in mind that you only get 5X points on up to $1,500 in all bonus categories. Which means the maximum points you can earn is 7,500 Chase points ($1,500 maximum spending x 5 points per dollar). You can use these points for $75 cash back.
Chase Freedom points don't transfer to airlines and hotels. But there is a way around that. You can transfer your Chase Freedom points to your Chase Sapphire Preferred card, Chase Ink Bold or Chase Ink Plus and from there transfer to a partner airline or hotel.
Only Ultimate Rewards Points earned on the Chase Ink Bold, Chase Ink Plus, and Chase Sapphire Preferred transfer directly to partner airlines and hotels.
If you use the Chase Freedom card
at a Rewards Network restaurant for a $50 meal, here's how many United points you will earn:
- 250 Ultimate Rewards points (5X points with the Chase Freedom card x $50 restaurant bill)
- 150 United miles (3X points with Rewards Network x $50 restaurant bill)
So you get a total of:
- 400 United miles (250 points from Chase Freedom + 150 miles from Rewards Network)
If you have a Chase checking account you will also get a 10% bonus on points earned with the Chase Freedom card at the end of the year. So you earn an additional 25 Ultimate Rewards points (250 points x 10% bonus).
Bottom Line
It's the 1st Friday of the month. So you will earn 3X points per dollar spent on dining with the Chase Sapphire Preferred. This is a nice little bonus if you are already planning on eating out tonight.
But if you have the Chase Freedom card, you can more points on dining. That's because you get 5X points on dining through June 30, 2014.
Sign-up for free at Rewards Network to earn an additional 3X points (and up to 5X points) when you dine at a participating
restaurant, bar, or nightclub.


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To our surprise this morning, after watching the Jawa cycles come riding into the Farmer's Market, as we headed to the Main Square for cafe macchiatos what should be parked all the way around the square but hundreds of various VW bugs! This was the local Ceske Budejovice VW Bug club rallying there....hundreds of them! One was even from 1936 that Mark recognized. Eventually they all got into their cars and drove around the town square with horns blaring in celebration. Neil thought he could even hear his VW bug in Judy's garage joining in the refrain!
Other VWs also joined in....aka this VW Love van (shades of the 1960s, eh?).
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Join the CB VW Bug Club!
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Craig Kluever's dream was born as he found himself awestruck in front of a grainy black-and-white television screen watching Apollo 11 land on the moon. He was in kindergarten. As he puts it, "that just made a big impact on me. Of course, the first thing I wanted to be was an astronaut." Those early dreams of becoming an astronaut turned instead into a pursuit of the science behind the rockets. Today, the MU Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering works behind the scenes to solve the kind of problems involved in designing space travel—such as how to take off, how to reach a target, and, more importantly, how to return safely to Earth.
Asked how he was drawn to aerospace engineering, Kluever responds: "Well, really it's from the Apollo days. When I was in kindergarten, I remember watching the Apollo 11 landing—the first lunar landing—on a grainy black-and-white TV. That just made a big impact on me, and of course the first thing I wanted to be was an astronaut, and when that didn't work out I found out that engineers are really what's needed to design these missions, so aerospace engineering just seemed like a logical thing for me."
In the most basic definition of his field, Kluever explains that engineers apply math and science knowledge to real problems, taking existing knowledge from mathematics and the physical sciences to construct some real device or to make some system better. "What do engineers do at work?" he laughs irreverently, "they go to a lot of meetings, they work on projects, and they try to stay on budget!"
The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering has recently developed an emphasis area in aerospace engineering. Kluever teaches such required courses in the general areas of dynamics (how bodies move and how forces produce certain velocities and accelerations) and controls (how to design a control system to do a particular task), and he teaches such elective courses as Space Flight Mechanics and Aircraft Flight Mechanics (how to design a space mission or determine such performance characteristics as take-off, landing, range, endurance, and stability with an airplane).


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Denver Botanic Garden Hires Research Manager
Denver Botanic Gardens announced today it has hired Dr. Jennifer Marie Ramp Neale as Research Program Manager. Dr. Neale will be responsible for coordinating the growth of the Gardens' research efforts, focusing on the study of the demography and ecology of rare plants species and the development of a native plant collection strategy. She will also supervise the research, mycology and vascular herbarium at the Gardens.
"Dr. Neale has a remarkable record of accomplishments in plant conservation and research," said Dr. Anna Sher, director of Research, Herbaria and Research at Denver Botanic Gardens.
"Her experience will provide an excellent foundation for new and exciting opportunities at the Gardens, and her vast knowledge will ensure effective leadership for staff and volunteers in restoring native plant ecosystems."
Neale has ten years of extensive experience in conservation and research programs. She joins the Gardens after serving as a conservation genetic consultant at the University of Colorado Museum, where she worked on the Solano habitat conservation plan/Natural community conservation plan with LSA Associates, Inc., and serving as the interim curator of the University of Colorado Herbarium. She also conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Colorado Museum on the examination of plant community-level genetic diversity across a chronosequence in the Hawaiian Islands.
Neale has a bachelor's degree in biology from Rhodes College. She received her doctorate from the University of Colorado, working on the conservation genetics of a rare sunflower. Neale is a member of the Society for Ecological Restoration, the Society for Conservation Biology and the Botanical Society of America. She is the recipient of many research grants and awards, including a National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement grant. She has also written numerous publications, and is the primary author of the recent Conservation Genetics article "Restoration genetics of the vernal pool endemic Lasthenia conjugens".
About Denver Botanic Gardens:
Rooted a mile high, Denver Botanic Gardens has been a favorite Denver destination for over 55 years, and is considered to be one of the top ten botanic gardens in the American West. Art and science unite in the Gardens'
spectacular urban oasis, offering an unforgettable artistic garden experience for the whole family, as well as a living laboratory for education and plant conservation programs. Additional sites at Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield, a 750-acre wildlife and native plant refuge in Littleton; Mount Goliath, a high altitude trail and interpretive site on the Mount Evans Scenic Byway; and Centennial Gardens, a five-acre formal garden with a Colorado native plant palette in downtown Denver, extend this experience throughout the Front Range.