text:
One night when travelling sheep, all my mates they were asleep
The stars and moon illumined the summer sky
My eyes they'd hardly closed, in fact I must have dozed
When a very strange procession passed me by
First there came a kangaroo, with his swag of blankets blue
A dingo likewise followed for a mate
While a possum and a crow said, "Come on, we'd better go,
And hurry up before it gets too late."
The goanna and the snake and the adder wide awake
Struck up "The Old Log Cabin in the Dell"
Then a parrot green and blue sang, "A Doodle, Doodle, Doo"
And a platypus clattered with the bells
A fox he came along and he sang a comic song
And the audience gave a hearty cheer
Then a big white cockatoo and a brolga dressed in blue
Sang some songs we hadn't heard for many a year.
A pretty young galah played upon a steel guitar
With twenty magpies dancing all the while
Some plovers flew around to investigate the sound
And a frill-necked lizard listened with a smile.
A little bower bird said he'd like to have a word
And whistled off "When Coming Through the Rye"
Then a great big eagle hawk let out an awful squawk,
As he swooped down from his place up in the sky.
Three frogs from out the swamp, where the atmosphere is damp
Came creeping up and sat upon some stones
They unrolled their little swags and took from out their bags
The violin, the banjo and the bones
The sweet young bandicoot played a tune upon his flute
Three native bears came in and formed a ring
The pelican and the crane, they came in from off the plain
And amused the audience with the Highland Fling
A porcupine came along and he sang a comic song
And a wombat played upon a mandolin
While an emu standing near with his claw up to his ear
Said it was the finest thing he'd ever seen.
Then there came an awful crash as if creation had gone smash
And waking found that I had been asleep
For the Boss behind the cart awoke me with a start
Shouting, "Murphy, where the dickens are the sheep?"
A popular song across Australia in it's day. This version collected by Ron Edwards from Mick Dolan (b. 1895). The tune is a variation of Killaloe, which is also the regimental quick march of the Royal Irish Regiment. (Follow this link for a fairly startling rendition.)
The illustration for this post is by Deborah Niland from her 1979 book, The Drover's Dream


text:
Edmunds Says
Value-oriented shoppers in search of a compact SUV will find the 2007 Hyundai Tucson a solid choice. It offers a long list of safety features and an outstanding warranty.
What's New
For 2007, the Hyundai Tucson sees a drop in its base price of almost $1,000. SE and Limited models get standard dual-mode trip computers, and an updated audio system with improved controls and an enhanced CD changer with MP3 capability. All are subject to late availability.Read more
Generous warranty, ample standard safety features, spacious cabin, pleasant interior design.
Initially, the Hyundai brand was the Tara Reid of the automotive world, known more for overall shoddiness than anything else. In recent years, though, the manufacturer has undergone a metamorphosis, reinventing itself as a marque that delivers competent products at value prices. That tradition continues with the 2007 Hyundai Tucson. Since its introduction in the 2005 model year, the Tucson has shone as a solid choice for bargain shoppers in search of a compact SUV.
The Tucson comes with a generous10-year/100,000-mile drivetrain warranty designed to placate those with vivid memories of the Hyundai of old. Another cornerstone of this hauler's appeal is its generous standard features list. Base models come equipped with full power features, air-conditioning, a CD stereo, a 10-way adjustable driver seat and heated mirrors. The Tucson also offers an easy-to-operate split-folding rear seat that folds flat to create a level cargo floor. Most impressive is the list of standard safety features that includes antilock disc brakes, stability control and a full complement of airbags.
Two engines are available: a 140-horsepower four-cylinder and a 173-hp V6. Power is not the Tucson's strong suit. Its four-cylinder is too wimpy to adequately motivate the hauler, and acceleration is tepid even with the more muscular V6. Handling is carlike, however, which isn't surprising, given that the Tucson shares the same platform as the previous-generation Elantra sedan.
Budget-minded shoppers in search of a compact SUV have many fine choices to consider. Both the Ford Escape and Suzuki Grand Vitara best the Tucson with regard to performance, but these vehicles are both more than two grand more expensive. The new Jeep Compass undercuts the Tucson's price, but it lags behind the Hyundai when it comes to cabin refinement and cargo room. If value is your primary concern, you can't go wrong with the 2007 Hyundai Tucson (or its twin, the Kia Sportage), which offers a low price tag and remarkably few compromises.
Body Styles, Trim Levels, and Options
The four-door 2007 Hyundai Tucson is a compact SUV available in three trim levels -- entry-level GLS, midlevel SE and top-of-the-line Limited. Standard features on the GLS include air-conditioning, full power accessories, a CD stereo system, heated outside mirrors, roof rack side rails and a rear intermittent wiper. The SE adds body-side cladding, foglamps, wider tires, a tire-pressure monitoring system, a CD/cassette/MP3 stereo and cruise control. The Limited adds automatic climate control, a front wiper de-icer and leather seating.
Powertrains and Performance
The base GLS comes with a 2.0-liter, inline four-cylinder engine that generates 140 hp and 136 pound-feet of torque. It's mated to a five-speed manual transmission or a four-speed automatic with manual shift control. The SE and Limited provide a larger, more powerful 2.7-liter V6 engine that produces 173 hp and 178 lb-ft of torque. The automatic transmission is standard with the V6. Buyers can get front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive with either engine.
The 2007 Hyundai Tucson comes standard with front seat side-impact airbags and side curtain airbags for both front- and rear-seat occupants. Antilock disc brakes are also standard on all Tucsons, along with a traction- and stability-control system. The Hyundai SUV achieved a five-star sweep in all NHTSA crash tests, earning perfect marks for its front- and side-impact protection.
Interior Design and Special Features
The Hyundai Tucson features a clean, modern interior with simple controls and tight build quality. Materials quality is hit or miss, with a few more hard plastics than we'd like and an odd pattern on the standard cloth upholstery. Legroom up front should be more than ample for most adults, though taller passengers may find it a tad tight in back. The Tucson offers 22.7 cubic feet of cargo capacity behind the 60/40 second-row seat, though a non-retractable cargo cover tends to get in the way while loading up groceries. The rear seat is designed to fold completely flat in one step, opening up 65.5 cubic feet of total capacity.
Driving Impressions
The 2007 Hyundai Tucson offers a smooth ride quality and generally handles more like a sedan than an SUV. The standard four-cylinder is quite weak, so the decent-performing V6 is a must. Shifts from the automatic transmission can be a bit lazy, but the Shiftronic manual mode allows drivers to work through the gears themselves when they desire.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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text:
Everything's more fun to eat when you serve it on a stick!!! + FREEBIE
Cake Balls are my new favorite thing to bake, they are so fast and easy to make and the kids love them!!
Bake your favorite (any flavor) cake mix.
When cool, crumble cake in a large bowl.
Add 1/2 can of vanilla frosting.
Use your hands to mix. Add more frosting if it seems dry.
Roll into golf size balls.
Put wax paper on cookie sheet.
Place ball and insert lollipop stick in each.
Mix together 2 cups powdered sugar and
4 Tbsp water until smooth (add water as needed).
Dip each ball in the icing and place on wax paper.
(Optional) Coat with sprinkles or add food coloring to icing.
Let set.
And how about a freebie after all that work?....Cluster frame from Down by the seashore! click here!


text:
Participants have the opportunity to have up to four ECTS credits for a one-week course or eight ECTS credits for a two-week course confirmed by CEU based on a total workload of 25-30 hours for one credit.
On successful completion of the required work as detailed below, and following receipt of your grades from the Instructor, CEU will send participants details of their credits.
In addition to ECTS credits, all participants who attend 80% of their course classes will receive a certificate of attendance, provided that they attend the sessions and sign the attendance sheets.
Please note, if participants wish to obtain credits they must inform their Instructor on the first day of the course when they sign the attendance sheet in class.
No ECTS credits are awarded for these courses (only a Certificate of Attendance).
ECTS credits are awarded for successful completion of the following:
If you are taking two one-week main courses you will receive separate credits for each course.
The task(s) to be assessed by the Instructor and required to acquire credits are listed below and must be graded (see below under tasks).
We ask Instructors to make available at least two of these four options to the students.
Below is the CEU Grading Scale. The Department uses a system of letter grades and grade points for evaluating participants' work, including the thesis, according to the grading scheme of the University. The various letter grades can be translated to a 100-point scale of grade points:
CEU Grading System
94.00 – 100.00%
87.00 – 93.99%
80.00 – 86.99%
73.00 – 79.99%
66.00 – 72.99%
Minimum Pass
59.00 – 65.99%
0 – 58.99%
Please note, if participants wish to obtain more than 2 credits they must inform their Instructor on the first day of the course when they sign the attendance sheet in class.
"History is past politics, and politics is past history" - E.A. Freeman


text:
Feb 14, 2008 (CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today reported evidence of a less-than-satisfactory match between all three components of this season's influenza vaccine and the flu strains currently making people sick.
Last week US health officials reported mismatches between the influenza A/H3N2 and influenza B components of this year's vaccine and the circulating H3N2 and B strains. Today the WHO reported that the majority of recent H1N1 virus isolates globally have not matched well with the H1N1 component of the vaccine.
As a result, the WHO today recommended replacing all three components in next year's flu vaccine for the northern hemisphere.
H1N1 is the flu subtype that has begun to show resistance to the antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu), one of the two neuraminidase inhibitors recommended for flu patients. In a separate update today, the WHO said H1N1 viruses with a resistance mutation have been found in 18 of 37 countries where the viruses have been analyzed. The mutation was observed in 14% of the isolates studied, including 8% of those in the United States.
Each February the WHO assesses the flu virus strains in circulation before picking the strains for the next northern hemisphere flu season. It takes about 6 months for vaccine manufacturers to grow the viruses in chicken eggs and formulate them into trivalent (three-strain) vaccines. Changing one or two strains is not unusual, but replacing all three is less common.
The WHO recommended the following for next season's vaccine:
- For the H1N1 component, a strain similar to A/Brisbane/59/2007, replacing A/Solomon Islands/3/2006
- For the H3N2 component, a strain similar to A/Brisbane/10/2007, replacing A/Wisconsin/67/2005
- For the B component, a strain similar to B/Florida/4/2006, replacing B/Malaysia 2506/2004
The Brisbane strains of H1N1 and H3N2 will be used in this year's vaccine for the southern hemisphere, where the flu season runs from May through October, according to the WHO.
The agency said H1N1 viruses were the predominant flu subtype in most parts of the northern hemisphere from September through January, though flu activity in that period was generally low in comparison with the same interval in recent years.
While some H1N1 viruses analyzed this season were similar to the Solomon Islands strain used in the vaccine, "the majority of recent isolates were distinguishable from the vaccine virus and antigenically similar to A/Brisbane/59/2007," the WHO report states.
The report says that in lab tests, serum samples from people immunized with this year's vaccine generated a lower antibody response to recent H1N1 isolates than to the Solomon Islands H1N1 strain used in the vaccine. For example, 93% of adult samples generated a significant antibody response (titre of 40 or higher) to the Solomon Islands strain, but only 59% of adult samples generated a similar response to recent isolates. However, the WHO offered no comment on the clinical significance of the findings.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported last week that 46 of 53 H3N2 viruses it had tested through Jan 26 were similar to A/Brisbane/10/2007, which evolved from the Wisconsin strain used in the vaccine. The CDC also said 40 of 43 influenza B viruses tested belonged to the Yamagata lineage, not the Victoria lineage represented by the Malaysia strain used in the vaccine. (A CDC update today, covering the period through Feb 2, did not list any new numbers for the circulating strains.)
The CDC has not cited a problem with the H1N1 component of the vaccine. The agency did not return a call today in time to comment on the WHO report, but it has scheduled a briefing tomorrow on the flu season.
As recently as Jan 31, the WHO, in reporting on the resistance of H1N1 viruses to oseltamivir, said the H1N1 strain used in this season's vaccine was well-matched to the circulating strains.
In today's update on the oseltamivir resistance problem, the WHO said 237 (14%) of 1,703 H1N1 viruses tested so far had the mutation conferring resistance. Resistance rates are highest in Norway (66% of isolates), France (40%), and Luxembourg (25%).
See also:
Full WHO report and recommendation for strains to be used in next season's vaccine
WHO vaccine-composition recommendation only
WHO summary table of H1N1 resistance to oseltamivir
CDC's weekly flu surveillance report


text:
Monitoring of glucose or glucose-related variables is of paramount importance in evaluating and adjusting glucose-lowering therapies. Self-monitoring of glood glucose (SMBG) and tests of glycated hemoglobin (A1C) levels allow measurement of fasting, timed or random glucose levels or estimates of mean glycemic exposure. There is however some evidence to suggest that control of glucose variability and post prandial glucose may be equally important in prevention of late complications, and there is therefore a need for additional tests to evaluate these aspects of glucose exposure.
1, 5 anhydroglucitol is a naturally occurring 1-deoxy form of glucose first identified in 1888 within the plant kingdom and in 1972 within humans. It circulates in the body mostly in its free form. When glucose levels surpass the renal threshold for glucosuria, 1,5 anhydroglucitol is excreted in the urine, thus lowering levels in serum or plasma. Poor glucose control is associated with low levels of 1, 5 anhydroglucitol (1, 5- AG).[1] It can also reflect transient elevation of glucose over the previous 2-3 weeks. [2] This reflects changes in glycemic control on a shorter time scale than either A1C or fructosamine levels.
Image 1: Chemical structure of 1, 5 Anhydroglucitol
An assay is available and marketed as GlycoMark. The test is applicable to both serum and plasma samples. General normal ranges are from 11-24 mcg/ml. The assay has some limitations with individuals who have renal failure, Fanconi syndrome, liver disease (cirrhosis), those using a high soy diet or certain herbal medicines.[3] However, it is unaffected by changes in hemoglobin, bilirubin or red blood cell life span which do affect the Hemoglobin A1C assay.
1,5 – AG has been considered potentially useful for monitoring glycemic excursions or glucose variability since it measures shorter-term changes in glycemic control than A1C or fructosamine. A1C measurement cannot differentiate between fasting and postprandial glucose levels.
Measurement of post-prandial glucose is considered important as a means of monitoring changes in diet and/or pharmacologic therapies. Since post-prandial glucose becomes an important contributor to glycemic control as A1C approaches 8%, and 1, 5-AG is a predictor of glycemic excursions, 1,5-AG could potentially offer an additional tool for assessing post-prandial glucose control. [1], [2]
Postprandial hyperglycemia is seen even in Type 1 patients with good glycemic control. A recent study among children with Type 1 DM indicated the utility of 1,5-AG in conjunction with A1C to evaluated therapy for DM and glucose control along with ability to target postprandial hyperglycemia.[3]
According to various studies conducted, 1, 5-AG could serve to assist in evaluating glycemic control over shorter intervals than the 3 month response time of A1C. It could therefore provide earlier warning of worsening glycemic control and guide earlier therapeutic intervention. It is however unlikely that 1, 5-AG could replace A1C and there are few data or studies to indicate that the test reflects risk of microvascular or macrovascular complications.[4]
A study undertaken in 2008 compared the relationship between changes in A1C and 1,5-AG excursions. The INITIATE Study comprised 233 patients with Type 2 DM who were randomized to BIAsp 30 or Insulin Glargine (IGlar). Patients were also taking Metformin between 1500-2550 mg per day. Assays were performed at baseline, week 12 and week 28. Irrespective of the treatment arm, serum levels of 1,5-AG were strongly related to A1C levels. 1,5-AG levels fell during hyperglycemia and increase when glycemic control is reestablished. The suggestion is that 1,5-AG may be useful as an independent marker of glycemic control. Since 1,5-AG may have utility as a measure of short term glycemic changes, this may enable physicians to select and adjust therapeutic treatments to minimize glycemic variability.[5]
Disparity in 1,5-AG levels
An additional concern with markers of glycemic control is disparities among ethnic groups.
The DURABLE trial conducted from 2005-2007 enrolled 2094 patients in 243 sites throughout the US, North America, Europe and Asia. It evaluated A1C and 1,5-AG among the various racial and ethnic groups. It was noted that non-Causcasian individuals has generally higher baseline A1C and more variability of 1,5-AG was seen in these groups, particularly Asian and African patients. Asian patients were noted to have higher 1,5-AG levels despite higher PPG (postprandial glucose) levels. Several etiologies have been proposed but none have been delineated at present. Possible de novo synthesis of 1,5-AG; differences in renal metabolism of 1,5-AG along with differences in diet all are being investigated.[6]
A recent study in the US investigated racial disparities in glycemic markers was conducted in participants of the ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities). A1C and 1,5-AG levels were measured in both white and black participants. The results indicate that black individuals has significantly higher A1C levels and lower 1,5-AG levels than white individuals. It was noted that fasting glucose concentrations were similar in both groups. Thus, the implication is that the disparities noted might be driven by the differences in nonfasting glycemia which is reflected in levels of 1,5-AG. Additional studies are needed for further delineate this disparity and its possible mitigating factors.[7]
Glycomark and SGLT-2 Inhibtors
There is a potential interference with SGLT-2 Inhibitor therapy. Glycomark levels can be falsely low and its use in individuals utilizing this therapy must be carefully considered. Further studies are continuing.
At present, 1, 5- AG is not widely utilized. However as more clinical data is forthcoming with regard to its utility in determining glucose control and variability, its use may broaden.
^ Dungan, K; Expert Rev. Mol. Diagn. 8(1): 9-19; 2008
^ Hirsch, Irl B., Amiel, Stephanie, Blumer, Ian, Bode, Bruce, Edelman, Steve, Seley, Jane, Verderese, Carol and Kilpatrick, Eric; Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics 14(11): 973-983;2012
^ Nguyen, T.M., Mason, L.M. and Heptulla, R.A.; Pediatric Diabetes 214-219; 2007
^ McGill, J., Cole, T., Nowatzke, W., Houghton, S., Ammirati, E., Gautille, T. and Sarano, M.; Diabetes Care 27(8): 1859-1865; 2004
^ Moses, A.C., Raskin, P. and Khutoryansky, N.; Diabetic Medicine 200-205; 2008
^ Herman, W., Dungan, K., Wolffenbuttel, B.H.R., Buse, J., Fahrback, J., Jiang, H. and Martin, S.; JCEM 94(5): 1689-1694; 2009
^ Selvin, E., Steffes, M., Ballantyne, C., Hoogeveen, R., Coresh, J. and Brancati, F.; Annals of Internal M154 (5): 303-310; 2011


text:
Adams fights back from the brink in bid for Rio
When — not if — Jonathan Adams throws again at the Paralympic Games his self-satisfaction will be sky high —knowing he fought back from the very brink, to do it his way.
The Great Cornard shotputter has had to draw on all his mental and physical strength, as well as utilising business acumen that would have impressed even Lord Sugar, to overcome a nightmare turn of events out of his control.
An injury stemming from a problem with the splint he used to walk with, as a result of issues arising from his cerebal palsy condition, worsened and eventually led to his governing body, British Athletics, withdrawing his funding.
But Adams, who competed in the 2012 Paralympic Games and started his 2015 season off so promisingly by capturing the British Universities title in his category, was not prepared to be beaten in his quest to secure his place back in the world spotlight.
"It is history as far as I am concerned," said the ex-Great Cornard Upper School pupil on his battles since the funding withdrawl news came to light only last Wednesday.
"If I am not successful I will not blame it on these problems. But if I am I know what it is down to.
"It has been a philosophical experience and one which has led me to know that I do not need the backing of 'the best of the best' to be successful.
"I understand now the sorts of things and support I believe I need to do well."
After the severe tendinitis in his right knee, which developed as a result of his splint delaminating that led to it being decomissioned, rendered him unable to barely walk, let alone continue to compete, the 23-year-old found himself having to anticipate what was to come.
Forseeing the rug may be pulled from under his feet in terms of finances for training and travelling, he struck a deal on a privately-funded splint — which utilises innovative technology — through a national company that he managed to get to back him after an impassioned pitch.
From there he raised the funds to assemble a highly-trusted support team around him, which included a physiotherapist, Brian Simpson, who was part of Ipswich Town's legendary manager Sir Bobby Robson's backroom team, who has been able to prevent surgery on his knee.
With the new throwing aide he is using, Adams now has to learn to throw again from scratch.
But while he will not be able to compete again until May, he is sure where he is heading — Rio's Paralympics.
"It is the European Championships in Italy next year (June) and I will be using that as a platform for Rio," he said.
n Any company or individual wishing to help Jonathan in funding his road to Rio can do so by contacting him via: social media (@Jonathanadamsgb on Twitter) or emailing firstname.lastname@example.com or calling the sports team on 01284 757842.


text:
Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for supporting me these 3 years. I am happy I started this journey with you, and I am grateful you decided to join me.
I think this page has served its purpose, and now I have moved on to another place to share the next chapter of my life.
You can now find me on http://www.benjaminadadzie.com.
I hope to see you there.


text:
Act IV, Scene 7 London. Smithfield.
Alarums. MATTHEW GOFFE is slain, and all the rest.
|So, sirs: now go some and pull down the Savoy;
others to the inns of court; down with them all.
|I have a suit unto your lordship.
|Be it a lordship, thou shalt have it for that word.
|Only that the laws of England may come out of your mouth.
|[Aside] Mass, 'twill be sore law, then; for he was
thrust in the mouth with a spear, and 'tis not whole
|[Aside] Nay, John, it will be stinking law for his
breath stinks with eating toasted cheese.
|I have thought upon it, it shall be so. Away, burn
all the records of the realm: my mouth shall be
the parliament of England.
|[Aside] Then we are like to have biting statutes,
unless his teeth be pulled out.
|And henceforward all things shall be in common.
|[Enter a Messenger]
|My lord, a prize, a prize! here's the Lord Say,
which sold the towns in France; he that made us pay
one and twenty fifteens, and one shilling to the
pound, the last subsidy.
|[Enter BEVIS, with Lord SAY]
|Well, he shall be beheaded for it ten times. Ah,
thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord! now
art thou within point-blank of our jurisdiction
regal. What canst thou answer to my majesty for
giving up of Normandy unto Mounsieur Basimecu, the
dauphin of France? Be it known unto thee by these
presence, even the presence of Lord Mortimer, that I
am the besom that must sweep the court clean of such
filth as thou art. Thou hast most traitorously
corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting a
grammar school; and whereas, before, our forefathers
had no other books but the score and the tally, thou
hast caused printing to be used, and, contrary to
the king, his crown and dignity, thou hast built a
paper-mill. It will be proved to thy face that thou
hast men about thee that usually talk of a noun and
a verb, and such abominable words as no Christian
ear can endure to hear. Thou hast appointed
justices of peace, to call poor men before them
about matters they were not able to answer.
Moreover, thou hast put them in prison; and because
they could not read, thou hast hanged them; when,
indeed, only for that cause they have been most
worthy to live. Thou dost ride in a foot-cloth, dost thou not?
|What of that?
|Marry, thou oughtest not to let thy horse wear a
cloak, when honester men than thou go in their hose
and doublets.
|And work in their shirt too; as myself, for example,
that am a butcher.
|You men of Kent,--
|What say you of Kent?
|Nothing but this; 'tis 'bona terra, mala gens.'
|Away with him, away with him! he speaks Latin.
|Hear me but speak, and bear me where you will.
Kent, in the Commentaries Caesar writ,
Is term'd the civil'st place of this isle:
Sweet is the country, because full of riches;
The people liberal, valiant, active, wealthy;
Which makes me hope you are not void of pity.
I sold not Maine, I lost not Normandy,
Yet, to recover them, would lose my life.
Justice with favour have I always done;
Prayers and tears have moved me, gifts could never.
When have I aught exacted at your hands,
But to maintain the king, the realm and you?
Large gifts have I bestow'd on learned clerks,
Because my book preferr'd me to the king,
And seeing ignorance is the curse of God,
Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven,
Unless you be possess'd with devilish spirits,
You cannot but forbear to murder me:
This tongue hath parley'd unto foreign kings
For your behoof,--
|Tut, when struck'st thou one blow in the field?
|Great men have reaching hands: oft have I struck
Those that I never saw and struck them dead.
|O monstrous coward! what, to come behind folks?
|These cheeks are pale for watching for your good.
|Give him a box o' the ear and that will make 'em red again.
|Long sitting to determine poor men's causes
Hath made me full of sickness and diseases.
|Ye shall have a hempen caudle, then, and the help of hatchet.
|Why dost thou quiver, man?
|The palsy, and not fear, provokes me.
|Nay, he nods at us, as who should say, I'll be even
with you: I'll see if his head will stand steadier
on a pole, or no. Take him away, and behead him.
|Tell me wherein have I offended most?
Have I affected wealth or honour? speak.
Are my chests fill'd up with extorted gold?
Is my apparel sumptuous to behold?
Whom have I injured, that ye seek my death?
These hands are free from guiltless bloodshedding,
This breast from harbouring foul deceitful thoughts.
O, let me live!
|[Aside] I feel remorse in myself with his words;
but I'll bridle it: he shall die, an it be but for
pleading so well for his life. Away with him! he
has a familiar under his tongue; he speaks not o'
God's name. Go, take him away, I say, and strike
off his head presently; and then break into his
son-in-law's house, Sir James Cromer, and strike off
his head, and bring them both upon two poles hither.
|It shall be done.
|Ah, countrymen! if when you make your prayers,
God should be so obdurate as yourselves,
How would it fare with your departed souls?
And therefore yet relent, and save my life.
|Away with him! and do as I command ye.
|[Exeunt some with Lord SAY]
|The proudest peer in the realm shall not wear a head
on his shoulders, unless he pay me tribute; there
shall not a maid be married, but she shall pay to me
her maidenhead ere they have it: men shall hold of
me in capite; and we charge and command that their
wives be as free as heart can wish or tongue can tell.
|My lord, when shall we go to Cheapside and take up
commodities upon our bills?
|Marry, presently.
|O, brave!
|[Re-enter one with the heads]
|But is not this braver? Let them kiss one another,
for they loved well when they were alive. Now part
them again, lest they consult about the giving up of
some more towns in France. Soldiers, defer the
spoil of the city until night: for with these borne
before us, instead of maces, will we ride through
the streets, and at every corner have them kiss. Away!
To see other scenes from the show:
|Full Text
|Act III, Scene 3 A bedchamber.
|Act I, Scene 1 London. The palace.
|Act IV, Scene 1 The coast of Kent.
|Act I, Scene 2 GLOUCESTER'S house.
|Act IV, Scene 2 Blackheath.
|Act I, Scene 3 The palace.
|Act IV, Scene 3 Another part of Blackheath./Act IV, Scene 4 London. The palace. /Act IV, Scene 5 London. The Tower./Act IV, Scene 6 London. Cannon Street.
|Act I, Scene 4 GLOUCESTER's garden.
|Act IV, Scene 7 London. Smithfield.
|Act II, Scene 1 Saint Alban's.
|Act IV, Scene 8 Southwark.
|Act II, Scene 2 London. YORK'S garden.
|Act IV, Scene 9 Kenilworth Castle./Act IV, Scene 10 Kent. IDEN's garden.
|Act II, Scene 3 A hall of justice.
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Hidden away in the trees high above the Dyfi Estuary, Caban Dyfi is the ideal place to get away from the hustle of modern life for a digital detox! . Cosy accomodation, a beautiful view over the estuary to the hills beyond and packed with all sorts of useful extra's - whether you're an outdoor enthusiast or a family wanting some quality family time together, you need to stay here.
Recently refurbished, Caban Dyfi is a cosy place to get away from the hustle of modern life. Catch the sun in the south facing conservatory or up on the patio, relax in the peaceful surroundings and explore the Dyfi Forest and surrounding area.
Pets are welcome, as are bikes, boots and outdoor gear in general. There are maps and guidebooks to help you explore. There is a lockable shed with ground anchor for chain locks which can be used for bike storage etc. We hope to install an outdoor tap for a bike and outdoor gear wash-off facility by spring 2018.With the growing trend for digital detox holidays, Caban Dyfi can offer you a relaxing self catering holiday without you having to pay the expensive retreat prices or go to the full extent of a complete off grid experience glamping in the wilds! (you could call us semi off grid - we do have mains electricity!)
There is a children's toy box, books, games and puzzles for all - or bring your own favorite book, put your feet up and relax. Better still, go out and enjoy the many varied attractions the area has to offer! If you think you really can't manage without modern entertainment for a few days there is always the option of bringing your own laptop and DVD's!!..
The accommodation comprises:
Open plan lounge with south facing picture window and views through the trees to the Dovey Estuary. Dining table, electric wall mounted fire and comfortable seating.
Kitchen area at the rear of the lounge, with electric cooker and sink
Conservatory, with additional seating, microwave, fridge freezer and washer dryer.
Double bedroom, with cot, Please bring your own cot bedding
Twin bedroom
Bathroom with walk in shower and washbasin
Heated throughout with wall mounted heaters
Garden area with bench at the front, and steps leading to a patio area at the back.
Ideal for exploring the Dyfi Forest with it's many mountain bike trails and the Cadair Idris area with it's lakes and spectacular routes to the summit! There are walks from the chalet door with footpaths leading into the hills behind the chalet, ideal for dog walkers and ramblers or if you prefer easier walking on the flat,there's miles of sandy beach between Aberdovey and Towyn. For bird watchers and wildlife lovers the chalet has many different birds living in the surrounding woodland who will come and feed close by if you put out bird food to attract them and there are rabbits,badgers, squirrels owls woodpeckers and other wildlife around and the Dyfi osprey project where ospreys are breeding on the Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve on the estuary where there is a new award winning viewing observatory. Aberdovey itself has plenty of unspoilt interest to families (a small dog free area of beach), donkey rides in the sand dunes, a seafront playground with it's 'lighthouse slide', crabbing on the jetty, a lifeboat station, icecream shop, information center, various good eating out places (some of which are dog friendly) and other village shops- and then there are the many water sports it has to offer.
Please note: The access road to the chalet is steep and uneven so please take care when driving. The water is supplied from a private source on the Plas Panteidal estate and due to the peat ground is often discoloured. We advise boiling your water before drinking it, or using bottled water. There is no wifi or television and the mobile signal can be patchy.


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Archive photo of HSK
Harry Stephen Keeler
Where to Start Reading Keeler?
(a Bob & Ray Konnection)
Never heard of Harry Stephen Keeler? Don't feel alone. He's America's most forgotten author, victim of a plot by publishers to weed out all writers who don't write swift, easy-to-read, dumbed-down prose for the masses. Harry wrote because he enjoyed it and early on developed a style all his own. He devised incredibly convoluted plots involving ethnic characters (who speak in outrageous dialect), pop culture of the 30s and 40s, and his favorite MacGuffin: skulls. Modern-day writers have their DNA evidence; Harry preferred skulls. Once you read a Keeler, you're never quite the same, and now -- thanks to Ramble House -- you can read all you want. And more!
Ramble House Keelers are handprinted, A6-sized paperbacks (4.125" x 5.75") with dust jackets by Gavin L. O'Keefe and cost $22.00. Not all titles are available in the RH editions. But all of the titles are available in a professional 6" x9" trade paperback edition with beautiful picture covers by Gavin O'Keefe and an easy-to-read, large type. Most trade paperbacks are $18.00. A few of the more gargantuan Keelers are more.
Series list compiled by Richard Polt and Francis M. Nevins
If it's underlined, it's available. Guess what? They're all available!
Non-Fiction by Harry
The Keeler Keyhole Collection
About Harry
A to Izzard: A Harry Stephen Keeler Companion
Wild About Harry: Reviews of HSK's Novels from Keeler News
Sort of About Harry
The Way Out
About Harry's Cats
Kats I Have Known
The Matilda Hunter Murder
The Case of the Barking Clock
The Trap (RH Original)
The Marceau Case
X. Jones—Of Scotland Yard
The Wonderful Scheme of Mr. Christopher Thorne
Y. Cheung, Business Detective
The Mysterious Mr. I
The Chameleon
I, Chameleon (combo of CHAMELEON and MR. I)
The Skull of the Waltzing Clown
The Defrauded Yeggman
10 Hours
When Thief Meets Thief
Finger! Finger!
Behind That Mask
The Man with the Magic Eardrums
The Man with the Crimson Box
The Man with the Wooden Spectacles
The Case of the Lavender Gripsack
The Skull in the Box (All four novels in one volume)
The Portrait of Jirjohn Cobb
Cleopatra's Tears
The Bottle with the Green Wax Seal
The Vanishing Gold Truck
The Ace of Spades Murder
The Case of the Jeweled Ragpicker
Stand By—London Calling!
The Case of the Crazy Corpse
The Circus Stealers (RH Original)
A Copy of Beowulf (RH Original)
Report on Vanessa Hewstone (RH Original)
The Six from Nowhere (RH Original)
The Case of the Two-Headed Idiot (RH Original)
The Peacock Fan
The Sharkskin Book
The Book with the Orange Leaves
The Case of the Two Strange Ladies
The Case of the 16 Beans
The Case of the Canny Killer
The Steeltown Strangler
The Crimson Cube (RH Original)
The Murdered Mathematician
The Case of the Flying Hands (RH Original)
The Strange Will
The Street of 1000 Eyes (RH Original)
The Six from Nowhere (RH Original)
The Riddle of the Wooden Parrakeet
The White Circle (RH Original)
I Killed Lincoln at 10:13! (RH Original)
Strange Journey (RH Original)
Adventure in Milwaukee (RH Original)
The Affair of the Bottled Deuce (RH Original)
The Amazing Web
The Blackmailer (RH Original)
The Box from Japan
The Case of the Ivory Arrow
The Case of the Mysterious Moll
The Case of the Transparent Nude
The Case of the Transposed Legs
The Face of the Man from Saturn
Find the Clock
The Five Silver Buddhas
The Flyer Hold-Up (RH Original)
The Fourth King
The Gallows Waits, My Lord (RH Original)
The Green Jade Hand
Hangman's Nights
The Iron Ring
The Man Who Changed His Skin (RH Original)
The Monocled Monster
The Murder of London Lew
The Mysterious Card (RH Original)
The Mysterious Ivory Ball of Wong Shing Li (RH Original)
The Mystery of the Fiddling Cracksman
The Photo of Lady X (RH Original)
Riddle of the Travelling Skull
The Scarlet Mummy (RH Original)
The Search for X-Y-Z
Sing Sing Nights
The Spectacles of Mr. Cagliostro
The Straw Hat Murders (RH Original)
The Stolen Gravestone (RH Original)
Thieves' Nights
Three Novellos
The Tiger Snake
The Voice of the Seven Sparrows
The Washington Square Enigma
Return to Ramble House Page


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It was just getting dark when I arrived, great timing if I had planned it that way. Venus had just become visible while we were setting up, but it's position just above the cabin wasn't going to give us much time for viewing. Saturn and Mars came out, and while we were viewing these I noticed Regulus to the lower left of Venus, very dim compared to our planetary neighbor. I tried to get pictures of the pair, but Regulus was too dim for my cheapie camera to pick up.
The brighter stars started to appear, but with some time to kill before the serious observing could begin, Patrick started playing around with Saturn, checking it out through different colored filters. I have to say my favorite was the orange "Great Pumpkin Saturn."
Patrick & Jordan after our early planetary observing.
I wish I had gotten some pictures of our surroundings in daylight, but we had some trees blocking out a good deal of the sky. The closest and tallest trees were to the north and east, so our observations were somewhat limited in that direction, but as the stars rotated into view, I found it best to systematically go through each constellation as it came into view.
I wanted to start to the deep sky observing with a galaxy, partly because I wanted to see M51 & M101, and they were going to rotate behind the trees rather early. I tried to star hop my way over to each of them several times, but that jump from last star to galaxy gets me more often than not. The sky wasn't yet fully dark anyway, and I don't think transparency was very good. I found no galaxies early in the night.
I skipped over to Lyra for M57, just to get any easy observation on the books, and let Jordan have look, both at 48x, and 120x. To me, the Ring just doesn't handle magnification well. Patrick was trying to get M57 as well, and called me over to have a look, and see if he was "in the right neighborhood." I looked, a bit skeptical about my ability to recognize the star field. It turned out I didn't need to. I gave it a look, and just left of dead center was the Ring. "Yeah, you're in the neighborhood alright! Look again, almost dead center." It was a nice low power view.
I wouldn't say we were competing with each other for observations as much as testing our skills against an unfamiliar sky (too many stars we don't normally see; a very good thing), but I think having Patrick around was forcing me to push my limits. So many times I was content to lay down on the deck and gaze up at constellations I had never seen before, and marvel at the wonder of the Milky Way running down the sky. Later on I decided that the Milky Way would count as my galaxy for the night.
After tracking down the Great Cluster in Hercules, M13, I would have sworn I saw ISS coming from the west, getting brighter for about 2 seconds before completely fading away just as suddenly. By the time I realized the thing had been moving, it was already gone, and I didn't have a chance to point it out. Patrick checked his phone, and said ISS was due shortly, and we had a false alarm by a bright satellite of some sort. As soon as that satellite disappeared, ISS made it's way into view. Patrick was checking it out with his binos, so I called Jordan over to get a look in my Dob. I tried my best to keep it centered in the finder scope while he looked through the eyepiece. Judging by Jordan's reaction, I'm guessing he had a pretty good view of Station. I'm not sure I waved before they disappeared in Earth's shadow. We saw a pair of satellites apparently orbiting together before the activity died down. With the darker sky, we were seeing many more naked eye spacecraft, and for about a 20 minute window, must have been in nice alignment with the Sun to light them up for us. We started noticing them again in our last hour, which wasn't too long before morning twilight began.
I got busy hunting down open clusters in Cygnus for awhile, and I vaguely heard Patrick and Jordan talking about M64, M27, and M7. I should have gone and checked them out, especially 64 & 7. I found M27, the Dumbbell Nebula later on my own. I was looking for it, but bumped my scope while star hopping, looked in the eyepiece just to see, and there it was. The Dumbbell by dumb luck. Anyway, I don't remember all the open clusters I found in Cygnus, but I know M29 was on the list.
I showed Jordan M4 not long after the Great Cluster, but Scorpius and Sagittarius were hit and miss, ducking behind trees, and in the one part of the sky where light pollution was a problem. I couldn't find it again later, nor M22. Jordan had gone to bed after seeing the globular clusters M3 and M5. Patrick read on his phone app that M3 was nearly 13 billion years old, making it the oldest thing I've ever seen, to my knowledge. That's nearly as old as the universe itself!
Kicking around for deep sky targets in the high summer constellations was proving fun, as I found things in my Peterson's Guide to the Night Sky that I'd never even heard of, and tracked them down with relative ease. Brocchi's cluster. Never heard of it, but it was a nice grouping, an asterism I'm guessing, and reminded me of the Pleiades, without the nebulosity. Another obscure object to me was M71, a small globular cluster nicely paired with a small open cluster, H20. Two-for-one. I like that.
It was around one AM by now, and I was itching to see Jupiter and the Double Cluster. The big planet was still an hour or so below the tree tops, but by moving to the opposite side of the yard I thought the Double would be an easy find. I kept thinking that the rest of the night, and saw it not a once. My one true disappointment of the night. I'm dying to know what it looks like in a sky that dark.
Meanwhile, Patrick had found far out Neptune, our fourth planet of the night. As I was looking for Jupiter as it cleared the trees, I accidently found Uranus, though we only viewed it through my go-to Newt, which is now badly out of collimation. I'd bet good money though that we were seeing the blue-green ice giant. Five planets, and the sixth, my favorite, was coming into view. Patrick woke Jordan up to experience 6 planets, something none of us had ever seen. How cool to be a part of that.
I lost a knob holding my Dob primary mirror in place while moving the scope to see Jupiter, so I didn't get my usual good look with it, but Patrick's 4.5" go-to Newt was more than up to the task, offering a splendid view for such a small aperture. Impressive. After playing around with the color filters again for Jupiter, Patrick was ready to call it a night… until I pointed out that Andromeda Galaxy should be just above the eastern trees. Oops. That kept him out of bed for another hour.
We still hadn't observed a galaxy, Milky Way not included, and it seemed like a good way to end the session. It was still hiding just behind the trees at first, but was worth the wait. For the first time I saw M31 with a suggestion of a disk, instead of just the galactic core, and this was with a 4.5" scope. I can only imagine what something big would have done for the image. Satisfied that our observations were complete, Patrick was once again ready to call it quits, and once again I pointed out something else. "Did you happen to notice the companion galaxies?"
"Oh, that's right!" And so began the search for M32 & M110. It wasn't as easy as I thought I'd be, but eventually we were certain that M32 had been found, and not so sure about 110.
We saw a heck of a lot in one night, and quite a bit of it I was seeing for the first time. We could have seen more if I hadn't been so enamored with the band of the Milky Way, but I don't regret one second I spent just lying there trying to guess it's secrets with only my naked eyes, as countless of our ancestors have no doubt done. I felt like a Galileo or a Messier out there, or any of the great early astronomers, looking up with only a modest telescope to guide me through the galaxy. I've known the importance of dark skies, but I'm not a nut about only observing in total darkness. Light pollution, bright Moon, scattered clouds, doesn't matter. I like to think I appreciate whatever the universe offers me, but last night made me realize just how much of our connection to the rest of the universe, and our own past, has been lost to our modern society. I could go on and on, but I think I'll just close by saying that I'll remember last night for a long time. Wow.


text:
Lovely flowers from my old work team and a lovely lunch out too.
I then had a nice long weekend before starting my new job on Tuesday. Over the weekend Jack and I had a trip to the Harry Potter Studios which was fantastic! It was really fascinating and there was plenty to see. We then popped in for dinner with my brother and his girlfriend. We bought Simon and Jenna some of the Bertie Botts' every flavour beans (you'll know what these are if you've read the books or watched the films) and it was good fun having to pick one at random to try; in the first round Jack, Jenna and I all managed to pick out nice flavours while Simon had managed to pick out the 'vomit' flavoured one! Good fun anyway and lovely to catch up with them both.
Which finally brings me onto starting my new job... It seems like a great company to work for and the staff are all so friendly and supportive. The company is very well organised too which is always a good thing when it comes to communicating with each other. The finance department I work in is bigger than any I've worked in before but still a nice small number and lovely people. I've got a lot to learn as it's quite a step up, but I think I'm capable and hopefully they think they've made the right decision too. My brain is certainly fried this week and I'm shattered, but after some sleep this weekend I think I'll get accustomed to this new job and routine. It's certainly nice finishing early a few days a week and means I can make time for me, for crafting and for my studying too. So though it's still early days I believe I've made the right decision; I've found a great company where staff are really valued, I've reduced my hours slightly for less stress and more happiness and I've also managed to make the next step career-wise too so more than what I had hoped for. Here's hoping I get on well here and I'm clever enough for the work I'll be doing! It certainly feels like a big weight has been lifted from me having left my old place. Though I miss the team I worked with there the job/company were just asking far too much and as previously mentioned in other posts, I needed to make the decision to think about me a bit more and being happy - you spend most of your life at work after all so being happy there is important! New Emma is going to be much happier I think!
Have you all got nice plans for the weekend? It's going to be bitterly cold down here, but mostly dry which is good. Barry and I had a lovely walkies this afternoon and are now snoozing while we wait for Jack to get home from work. Jack and I are off to Twickenham tomorrow afternoon to watch the England Vs Ireland Six Nations Rugby Game, which should be good fun. It's not often I get to go with Jack when he gets tickets for rugby games so I feel quite priviledged he's taking me! He's even bought us matching England Rugby wooly beanie hats so we'll look funny but have warm ears at least!
We've had some beautiful frosty sunrises here this week
Anyway, I'll stop babbling for now and go back to recovering from a busy but exciting week. Hope you all have a lovely weekend!
Em x


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Friday, July 22, 2011
Settings and Worldbuilding
Patricia C. Wrede wrote in her blog post, Big Three Redux, that most writers can easily pick out their strongest and weakest suit among the three biggies of character, plot, and setting. When I read that, I immediately thought, "She is so right! I bet I'll totally suck at setting." (I did not, however, think I had any strong suits to speak of — because I'm just super humble like that. :P)
When I think of settings, I think of those long descriptions I skim so I can get to the good parts — you know, action, dialogue, things happening. I only need a general gist of where the scene takes place, and my mind fills in the rest. I mean, cool settings are neat, but they don't make or break novels for me the way fascinating characters or mind-blowing plots do. So yeah, I don't pay much attention to settings. Which means I probably won't be good at conveying my mental image of a scene to readers. Definitely something I'll have to work on.
But there's more to setting than making sure scenes don't take place in a void, now that I think about it. After all, why else would I be so drawn to fantasy, if not for the secondary worlds full of magic or talking animals or unfamiliar cultures? Why am I so excited when aspects of a secondary world are not only fun and quirky but also clever and sensible? I might not be very enthusiastic about flowery descriptions of rooms and landscapes, but I find worldbuilding fascinating (probably why I adore Juliette Wade's blog).
And a little intimidating, too. I mean, have you seen this list of fantasy worldbuilding questions?? And readers expect everything to make sense and be internally consistent! (Well, I kind of do, at any rate.) Every plot point I think up results in tons of implications about how thing work in the world in which the story is set, and getting them all to form a cohesive whole, with plausible causes and effects, can be so overwhelming that the task seems impossible.
Still, that doesn't stop me from dreaming of crafting a fantasy secondary world with its own histories and cultures, and then having the world evolve over several books. I'm not a fan of trilogies or storylines that require multiple books for resolution, but you know what I think would be super exciting? A series of standalone companion novels that take place in the same world, though in different eras. I'd want to see how technology and magical knowledge advance, how fashions and speech patterns change, how borders and international relations shift. I want the characters' actions to affect not just themselves, but the characters that live in the world after them.
Of course, none of those things should take center stage; they'd be part of the worldbuilding, and only recognizable to those familiar with other books in the series (ideally, that is). Character and plot should still take center stage (since they matter more to me), but I'd love for there to be subtle references and connections. Like if one character's joke becomes the basis of a popular idiom generations later. Or if a decision made by a character in one installment effects the tense political climate in a book set years after the incident. Or if an innovation that defeated the villain in one book brings about drastic changes in the lifestyles and attitudes of the people who came after. You get the idea.
Doesn't that sound fun? But, alas, this will probably involve wayyyyy too much work. There are authors who have pulled it off, but when I think of the outlining and planning ahead and research and familiarity with the social sciences required... I think I'm crazy for wanting to make things so complicated. But hey, as long as I'm dreaming, might as well dream big, right? :)
Despite my grand plans, I'm going to start small. I've already decided the one non-negotiable thing about the world I'm going to create for my characters: it will be a world where people who look like me exist, and matter. And we'll see how things go from there, based on what I learn about the world from the plot and characters.
Hey, this might actually be fun! Well, until I hit a wall while trying to fit everything together and then want to pull out my hair. But I'll worry about that when I get there. :P
How about you? How much attention do you pay to settings when you read? Do you enjoy worldbuilding?
18 comments:
- D U OkonkwoJuly 22, 2011 at 10:05 PM
Worldbuilding is a must for anyone writing dystopian or fantasy, or both! It's wonderful to step into a new word, and that's why Harry Potter was so successful. If it's done well, it can be great, and add up to lots of new ideas.ReplyDelete
That's true, but it's definitely not easy! A lot of times I've read booksReplyDelete
where the world didn't make that much sense to me, and it kind of pulled me
out of the book. I understand the appeal of a great world, but I enjoyed
Harry Potter for the clever plotting more than for the incredible world
(though that was certainly a plus). I know, I'm kind of weird like that. :P
All those things do sound incredibly fun, but also take time, like you said. I'd love to be able to build a world like JKR did, but I think I'll have to stick with dropping occasional setting details, because I totally agree with you -- I skim over huge paragraphs of setting. :PReplyDelete
There's a giant struggle going on right now between my laziness and myReplyDelete
vision of an awesome world where everything is planned out and makes perfect
sense. :P
I agree with your strategy. It's important to be selective with details and
keep in mind what the viewpoint character would notice. Huge chunks of
description make my eyes glaze over!
- Lura SlowinskiJuly 23, 2011 at 12:15 AM
I like setting to reveal something about the character looking at the setting, or to illuminate aspects of the plot. Setting for setting's sake tends to produce boring chunks, like you said, unless the author is really really really good at evoking unique details.ReplyDelete
And yeah, that's a grand, unique dream! World building on such a huge level would be epic, but it also takes time. I really wonder how many years JKR spent building before HP & Sorcerer's Stone even came out. And JRR Tolkien spent decades creating his fantasy world even before LOTR. I don't know that I have the stamina for that kind of thing!
I just saw Alien for the first time last night (finally) and the setting knocked me out. From the amazing interiors of the space vessels to the surface of a strange planet to the android to the reproductive life cycle of the alien itself, a futuristic world revealed itself in tiny pieces throughout the film.ReplyDelete
Very cool example of atmospheric world-building that still kept the focus on the characters.
Great points about relating setting to plot and character! And yeah, it'sReplyDelete
crazy to think about how much work and time those authors put into creating
their work. Epic, for sure. Yeah, maybe I'm not cut out for that... but it's
fun to daydream! :P
Hm, never saw the movie (despite a friend's best efforts), but I did hear aReplyDelete
lot about how brilliant the setting of that movie is through Alexandra
Sokoloff's blog (
http://thedarksalon.blogspot.com/2011/05/visual-image-systems.html). Maybe I
do have to check it out after all! Though it does sound like a
creepy/scary/tense movie and I'm a huge pansy when it comes to things like
that, so I might have to think about it a bit more... hehe, we'll see.
Thanks for the comment! :)
So funny that you wrote a post about worldbuilding today. Last night, I finally figured out how to connect two plot-lines in this story that's been stewing in my head for months. I had this great world and premise, and then I just got too caught up in the worldbuilding. It was fun though and still is, but you're right. It takes so much work and thought.ReplyDelete
This is the first time I've done so much intentional worldbuilding for anything, and it's because like you, I want the internal logic to be there, for the rules to be set. I'm a pantser (not a plotter), and that extends to my worldbuilding too. So usually, I just take my vague idea of the world and start writing and build as I go, but that gets messy if you're trying to lay groundwork or have consistency. Haha.
But to answer your question, when I read, I do pay attention to worldbuilding. How much it matters depends on how integral it is to the plot. Like in the Hunger Games, some unnamed disaster results in the Capitol and the Districts, then they're own near civil war history results in the Hunger Games. The explanation is painted in broad strokes, but I can accept the logic of how Katniss' society was set up/came to be. However, the broad strokes of the worldbuilding in another YA dystopian, Divergent, didn't do it for me. While the society split into factions is an interesting concept, I found it hard to believe in the logic of how our society turned into that one (since it's set in a future-Chicago). I ended up really liking the book, but I still have reservations about the worldbuilding. I probably would have believed it more if the book had been a dystopian fantasy or something and not supposedly based in our society.
- Carrie ButlerJuly 23, 2011 at 7:56 AM
Congrats on winning that giveaway, Linda!ReplyDelete
"I want the characters' actions to affect not just themselves, but the characters that live in the world after them." Yes, yes, yes! Great post today. :)
Congrats on figuring out that plot-lines! :DReplyDelete
Wow, I'm amazed that you can be a pantser with both worldbuilding and plot!
I think if I did that I would get all my ideas mixed up. How do you keep
track of them?
That is SO TRUE about The Hunger Games and Divergent. A lot of book
reviewers pointed out the weak worldbuilding in Divergent, and I agree, but
I don't think it's the main reason for why I didn't like Divergent as much
as I like The Hunger Games. If I'd absolutely adored Tris or found the plot
mind-blowingly awesome, I think I could have forgiven the implausibility of
factions in Chicago. As it is, I did enjoy Divergent a lot though I can't
claim it as a favorite, but the worldbuilding isn't the main reason. I guess
that's what I meant when I said that setting doesn't really make-or-break a
book for me.
Thanks for the insightful comment! :)
Thank you, Carrie! Glad you enjoyed it. :)ReplyDelete
Thanks! Trust me, pantsing world-building results in having to change a lot of things or making things you've previously written no longer plausible or possible. So yeah, it's a mess and I don't really recommend it. Generally, I have a few things stay very consistent, but those are usually integral to the function of a character or plot-line. Everything else is in flux, and it's also why some of my world "rules" are super vague - like how long certain characters have lived or when certain things happened. It's fine for now, but I know I'll have to fix it all later. Haha.ReplyDelete
Basically, I don't recommend it.
As for HG and Divergent, I definitely liked HG more and think it was a better overall package. For me, the strength of Divergent was its themes on choice and morals and identity/individuality and the character development. I went from not really liking Tris to being really invested in her growth. She seemed real to me, and I liked a few of the side characters. But yeah, the plot was serviceable but not mind-blowingly awesome. I enjoyed reading Divergent and would be ok with recommending it, but I loved the Hunger Games. :)
LOL! I see. No worries. I like having things figured out ahead of time. :PReplyDelete
I totally agree with your last sentence. That's how I feel about those two books, too! And I love the way you analyzed the strengths of the Divergent. I hope I get to see more reviews from you! :D
Your link to fantasy worldbuilding questions was great - I clicked on just one of the topic headings and the first question had me discussing it all day with my boyfriend (the only one I'll talk to about a pre-beta draft.)ReplyDelete
I'm the opposite with trilogies/series - I hate stand-alones! I just can't let go! :D I get so attached to characters and worlds that I want it to go on indefinitely. I could read a 48-book series and be happy lol. (Definitely a Sweet Valley and Babysitter's Club fan here, but that's probably a decade before your time.)
Hehe yay for awesome discussions! Glad you enjoyed the link. :)ReplyDelete
LOL definitely not a decade. I did read quite a few BSC books when I was
younger but I wasn't obsessed or anything. I don't mind those sorts of
series since each book is kind of its own story. I mostly hate
cliffhanger/unresolved endings, haha. And my way of not letting go is to
reread my favorite books about five gazillion times. :P
This sounds really cool, linda! I hope you do try to write something like this some day. I think it would be a very interesting read. The Dragonriders of Pern series does tackle generations in one world, so it does do something similar. World building's not my biggest draw to stories, either, but I do love a well-built fantasy world :)ReplyDelete
Thanks, Kat! I hope so, too. :) I think I've only read one or two books in the Pern series (and it was quite a while ago), so I didn't notice the multi-generational aspect. Maybe I should check out the series again. Thanks for the heads-up! And yeah, I am soooo impressed by authors who build amazing fantasy worlds. There are so many aspects to juggle!ReplyDelete


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Each week we'll be featuring vintage and unique items here on our website. Most items are located at the Barn in Pine Plains (unless otherwise noted RB=Rhinebeck, GB=Gt. Barrington, PM=Place in Millerton). An incredible curated selection of Antiques…Vintage…and truly special One-of-a-Kind merchandise that you won't find anywhere else. Be sure to come back here every week to see what's been sold and what's been added. If you have questions about any of the pieces below, please email firstname.lastname@example.com or firstname.lastname@example.com
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The Foo Fighters will be back in the metro on May 23 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs. Tickets will go on sale March 19 at 10 a.m., are $49.50 and available at all Ticketmaster outlets and the MAC box office. Opening acts are Motorhead and Biffy Clyro.
Kung Foo at the MAC
Mid-America Center announces Foo Fighters concert for May 23


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Twin Cities Police Investigate Carjacking, Kidnapping
ST. PAUL (AP) - Police are investigating whether a carjacking in North St. Paul and a kidnapping in Maplewood are tied to the same suspect.
Authorities say a man jumped into a woman's car in North St. Paul Sunday about 8 p.m., held a gun to her head and told her to drive. She was able to escape from the car a short time later, but the man drove away with her vehicle.
About 15 minutes later, a man armed with a handgun jumped into a car driven by a woman leaving a Maplewood fitness club. Police say he told the woman he planned to rape her, but eventually got nervous and asked to be dropped off.
The Maplewood and North St. Paul police are coordinating an investigation.


text: The HAAN Steam Station II steams away wrinkles quickly and gently from most types of fabrics and is ready for up to 30 minutes of continuous use. The high velocity steam jets are powerful enough to remove odors and kill up to 99.9% of germs without the use of chemicals, but are far gentler than irons which crush clothing fibers! The garment steamer's easy to grip handle gives it portability for use in refreshing, sanitizing, and removing wrinkles from other fabrics in your home. A stylish, compact design makes for easy storage.


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2008 The Black Chook Shiraz Viognier
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- Cellar Drink Now - 3 years (2009-2012)
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Winemaker, Ben Riggs maintains that it's easy to over do Viognier when blending it with Shiraz. The variety is highly perfumed, very tannic, naturally low in acid and often reaches high alcohols (15% or more). Balancing a blend such as this is achieved by relying on the textural aspects of Viognier, rather than on the acidity alone which is the norm in white wine making. This wine has opened up significantly since our first tasting approximately six months ago shaking off the effects of some initial bottle shock.
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14.5% Alc


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A panel of media judges awarded the following "Best in Show" honors:
- Leg Best in Show: Gourmet Caterers, for its baked American Lamb kibbeh with tahini dressed chickpea salad, tatziki, pita and basil
- Loin Best in Show: Sel de la Terre, for its roasted American Lamb loin with tart of smoked lamb, baby leeks, crushed peas and Meredith Farms marinated feta with carrot
- Shank Best in Show: 606 Congress, for its crispy American Lamb shank with mustard, horseradish aïoli, upland cress and pickled radish
- Shoulder Best in Show: Pain D' Avignon, for "The Royale with Cheese"--ground American Lamb shoulder and lamb confit burger with Mayflower Ale mustard and crispy onions
Braised American Lamb Shank on Wampanoag Chickpea Porridge with Pomegranate Yogurt Cream
The Fireplace Restaurant, Brookline, Mass.;
wine pairing by Marlene Rossman
The Fireplace Restaurant, Brookline, Mass.;
wine pairing by Marlene Rossman
Yield: 5 servings
5 American Lamb shanks
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 c. green Sicilian olives, cracked or sliced
2 c. kalamata olives
1 1/2 c. capers
8 garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/2 c. shallots, sliced
3 sprigs fresh thyme, rough chop
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, rough chop
3 bay leaves
3 large onions, halved and sliced 1/2-in. thick
3 large carrots, cut into 1/4-in. round slices
3 celery ribs, cut into 1/4-inch round slices
2 c. crushed canned tomatoes
1 T. tomato paste
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
6 c. lamb stock (preferable), veal stock or low-sodium chicken broth
3 c. red wine
Wampanoag Chickpea Porridge (recipe follows)
Pomegranate Cream (recipe follows)
Method (1) Pat shanks dry with paper towel. Liberally sprinkle salt and pepper on one side of the ribs to evenly cover. (2) Heat a cast-iron skillet, Dutch oven or stainless-steel pan on high heat. Add oil; allow to heat until it just begins to smoke. Sear each side of the meat long enough to brown, approximately 10 minutes. Remove ribs; set aside (refrigerate). Pour off all but 2 T fat. (3) Return pan to the flame. Add reserved fat; heat until it lightly smokes. Reduce to medium-high heat; add green olives, kalamata olives and capers. Fry 5-10 minutes, stirring slightly every few minutes. Add garlic, shallots, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves; continue cooking, occasionally stirring until garlic becomes soft. Add onions, carrots and celery; slow cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables are well caramelized. Add tomatoes and tomato paste; cook for approximately 15 minutes or until the tomatoes become well caramelized. Add brown sugar, vinegar and wine; reduce until the liquid is mostly absorbed by the vegetables. Add stock; bring to a slow boil. Remove from heat. Return lamb to the pot, and cover. Place in oven, and cook at 300°F for approximately 2 1/2 hours. (4) Remove pot from oven; check for doneness. Remove meat from sauce; allow shanks to cool for 1 hour. Skim any excess fat from sauce, and discard. (5) To serve, spoon Wampanoag Chickpea Porridge onto the center of a plate. Place a whole shank or meat pulled from the bone on top of porridge. Spoon Pomegranate Yogurt Cream over lamb and porridge. Serve sauce beside in a gravy boat, or poured over shanks.
Wampanoag Chickpea Porridge
1 qt. heavy cream
4 qts. water
1 c. honey
8 T. salt
3 c. semolina
2 c. corn meal
2 1/2 c. chickpeas, cooked and puréed
2 c. Asiago cheese
8 oz. butter
Method (1) In a large saucepan, add cream and water; over medium-high heat, bring to a very low boil. Add honey and salt; whisk until fully absorbed. (2) While whisking, add semolina, cornmeal and chickpeas. Add cheese and butter; whisk until incorporated.
Pomegranate Yogurt Cream
1 qt. plain yogurt
1 c. pomegranate syrup
3 T. molasses
4 T. prepared horseradish
Salt and pepper, to taste
Method (1) In a bowl, whisk together yogurt, pomegranate syrup, molasses, horseradish, salt and pepper.
Wine pairing: Northstar Merlot "Columbia Valley" 2006 (Washington State)


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These lyrics are amazing and they are from the song Little 15. Depeche Mode has made music that has inspired and me and just took me happy place and sad place at times.
I used a font from the Swiss family that are just lines to make the words look better and made certain letters stick and just pop off the page.
Personal Jesus what can you say about this song! I think it was song to put them on the map. Fans may have already known about them, but this song put them over top.
I tried to be very letters to tell the story, and give meaning to the words without the use of pictures. The use of colors black and red help convey a message. Touch faith man!
Concert poster I made of the mode. I uses a font base on the city they were performing on. I used the circles to help enhance the world because it was a word tour.


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Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report Names Four Seasons Resort Hualalai among the Best Hotels in the World
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, the first and only AAA Five Diamond and Forbes Five Star hotel on Hawaii Island, has been named among the world's best resorts in the 2016 Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report Readers' Choice Awards.
The Resort was named the #3 Golf Resort in the world, #4 Family Resort in the world, the #5 Beach Resort in the world and the #15 Spa Resort in the world.
Each year, Andrew Harper asks readers of the Hideaway Report to vote for the best hotels, resorts, safari lodges and cruise ships around the world.
"We are honoured to again be recognised by Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report as one of the best hotels in the world," says Robert Whitfield, Regional Vice President and General Manager of Four Seasons Resort Hualalai. "We are focused on continually elevating the experience here, and helping our guests enjoy everything the Hualalai lifestyle has to offer."
The Resort is currently offering the Experience More package, providing guests with a USD 1,000 Resort credit that can be applied to incidental charges during their stay, including spa, golf, retail and dining. This package is valid for stays of five nights or more in one of the Resort's 51 magnificent suites. For reservations, contact your travel professional (chain code FS), call 888 340 5662 or book online.


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Rush hour in Big Sur, Calif., has taken on a whole new meaning.
Most mornings and afternoons, a newly built footpath that plunges through a grove of towering redwoods is clogged with workers and schoolchildren.
That hiking trail is a lifeline. It circumnavigates a bridge on the Pacific Coast Highway that has been closed since February, after it collapsed from rain and mudslides. Without that path, much of the village of Big Sur would be cut off from the outside world.
"It's kind of hard because you need to carry lots of food," said Juan Garcia, a fifth-grader who was hiking home from the school bus stop a mile below. "Your legs hurt."
His family has to hike in their groceries and supplies, at least three times a week. Backpacks full of milk cartons, toilet paper, even firewood — it's a common sight from dawn to dusk here on this thoroughfare. And it will be the reality for hundreds of folks living along this isolated coast for many months to come.
The bridge along the Pacific Coast Highway above the trail is only one concern. About 30 miles south, a mudslide a quarter of a mile wide — and growing — has shut down the highway for at least a year, maybe more, according to Cal Trans, the California Department of Transportation. Smaller mudslides have closed other portions of the road for months. Locals even have names for many of them. But at some point they became too numerous to count.
Big Sur — a 60-mile stretch of rugged, central California coastline between San Francisco and Los Angeles — was hammered by 100 inches of rain this past winter, falling on steep mountainsides ravaged by drought and fires.
The funky, scenic area has long been a haven for free spirits, artist types and tourists, all lured by its remoteness. But lately that remoteness is starting to test the patience of even some of the most hardy residents.
"They always say if Big Sur wants you, it'll keep you," said Jeanne Crowley. "If it doesn't, it'll spit you out."
Crowley manages a historic old hotel called Deetjen's Big Sur Inn. On a recent morning, she was hiking in to deliver some supplies to the few employees who are left. She also planned to hand-deliver their mail — the only post office in Big Sur is temporarily closed. Most people living beyond the closure, "the island," as locals call it, park one vehicle on each end of the trail and shuttle things back and forth. The one gas station that's open on the closed side has to ration. The pumps are open only two hours a day.
People have had practice being self-sustainable over the years. Mudslides and road closures are a fact of life here — Deetjen's has had to close temporarily in the past. But Crowley can't remember it lasting this long.
"But that's also the nature of living on the edge of the world," she said. "You drive on that road thinking, 'Wow, I'm right there.' "
A mudslide took out two historic cabins last winter at Deetjen's, which sits at a tight bend in the highway hundreds of feet above the Pacific. Several redwood trees also toppled. Guests staying there at the time were not hurt.
Deetjen's is now operating at a skeleton staff and won't reopen until the bridge is fixed, in September at the earliest. About 45 people have been laid off. It's just too hard to plan around the evacuations — and the off-and-on-again nature of road closures to the south.
All told, the prolonged closure could mean a $500 million economic hit to the region.
"Everybody's working to create consistency and stability, but Mother Nature has got different ideas," said Kirk Gafill, president of the Big Sur Chamber of Commerce.
Gafill, who also co-owns a famous Big Sur hangout called Nepenthe, says that initially businesses like his used the closure as a time to work on nagging maintenance projects and other issues. He recently decided to reopen to cater to locals, operating at about 1 percent of normal business.
All this drama has led to some soul searching. Is running a tourist-dependent business going to be sustainable in such a vulnerable area, especially with climate change predicted to bring even more dramatic swings in the weather along coasts? For Nepenthe, this past winter was a wake-up call. Managers realized they may need to have cash reserves on hand to stay in business for closures of up to a year, whereas they used to plan for having to go without opening for several months.
But many businesses in this area are also coming off record boom years, so they at least have some cushion. California's historic drought had the unintended effect of drawing more people to the coast — Big Sur wasn't hit by its usual storms, and the road was nearly always passable. Social media sites like Instagram have also helped put scenic areas like this on the map lately. In fact, more than a million cars had been driving through Big Sur each year, on an aging highway that was first planned and built in the 1930s.
The infrastructure and climate challenges facing tourist-dependent Big Sur have some locals wondering whether hitting the pause button on tourism isn't such a bad thing. One morning after the Memorial Day holiday, a woman who introduced herself as Coco Odyssey stopped on the PCH to admire the views at a vista that would normally be mobbed with tourists.
"I love it because this is what I came here for, to be with the land, to learn from it," she said.
Her Toyota 4Runner equipped with a "Make Tea Not War" sticker, Odyssey says she too was recently laid off from her job at the Esalen Institute, a local spiritual retreat center. She had been doing odd jobs to get by, including helping a friend garden.
"I think if we can all stay humble and listen to the land and take care of it, then I think we're on track," she said.
But not everyone can stay in Big Sur, especially those who have only one car and can't place one vehicle at one side of the closure and another at the other.
Farther north, where the PCH is still open, Juan Perez was finishing up his shift waiting tables at a diner at the Ripplewood Resort. He says the commuting back and forth got to be too much for his 8-year-old son especially — he had to hike the trail followed by a 30-minute walk along the road to their employee housing unit at a resort.
"It's difficult," said Perez, who didn't want to quit his other job of 11 years at the resort, especially since it came with housing.
But the limbo of waiting on the bridge to reopen is too much of a gamble financially.
"Time is money. I always work two jobs, always," Perez said.
They've decided to move up to the nearest city, Monterey — a 30-mile drive — in hopes of getting a new job there.
A 60-mile stretch of rugged California coast known as Big Sur is so remote that it's a haven for free spirits and artist types and tourists. But this past winter's brutal storms exposed the remoteness of Big Sur. Much of it was cut off for months due to landslides and road closures. NPR's Kirk Siegler sent this report from Big Sur.
KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE: It's rush hour on the Big Sur highway, a new hiking trail that plunges into a redwood forest and around a bridge that's been closed since February. It nearly collapsed from mudslides. Fifth-grader Juan Garcia is getting used to the three-mile round-trip hike every day to the school bus.
JUAN GARCIA: Well, it's kind of hard because you need to carry lots of food and uphill. And it's - then your legs hurt.
SIEGLER: He and his family also have to backpack in all of their groceries and supplies.
GARCIA: Like three times a week.
SIEGLER: Hauling in all of your food on your back, hiking to and from work and school, this is the reality for folks along this isolated coastline. The bridge won't open until at least September. And the main highway to the south, that was taken out by a massive landslide. It won't open for at least another year.
JEANNE CROWLEY: How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I'm good. How are you?
CROWLEY: Good - good seeing you.
SIEGLER: Mother Nature likes to deliver a gut check in Big Sur. People here are hardy, though.
CROWLEY: They always say if Big Sur wants you, it'll keep you. If it doesn't, spit you out.
SIEGLER: But even Jeanne Crowley considers this past year extraordinary. First, last summer's wildfire forced evacuations - then, this winter, 100 inches of rain. She's hiking in to check on a hotel she manages. Like most beyond the bridge closure, it's closed at least until September.
CROWLEY: But that's also the nature of living on the edge of the world. I mean, you drive on that road thinking, wow (Laughter). I'm right there.
SIEGLER: Soon the trail reaches the famous road, - the PCH. It's eerily void of traffic and tourists but full of construction crews working on the bridge.
SIEGLER: Pickups are parked in the weeds along the shoulder. Most people put one vehicle here and another back on the other side of the closure. Crowley has arranged us a ride. We pass a gas station. They're rationing - only open two hours a day. The post office is closed. And soon, there's a jaw-dropping view of the Pacific and, at a sharp bend, the hotel Crowley manages, Deetjen's Inn.
CROWLEY: This is a road that goes up to our employee housing. So that road has fallen away.
SIEGLER: You can still see where a mudslide took out two historic cabins. About 45 workers at Deetjen's were laid off. All told, the economic losses from the closures in Big Sur could approach half a billion dollars.
CROWLEY: What's been tricky is the constant delays. So people are like, oh, I can make it till May. But now it's September.
SIEGLER: All this drama has led to some soul-searching. Is a business sustainable in such a vulnerable area like this, especially with climate change? And then there's the highway itself. It's old - originally built in the 1930s. More than a million cars now drive over it every year. Right now, you don't hear the traffic. And the local woman I met on the highway, who calls herself Coco Odessey, told me it's nice to hang out at the vistas and waterfalls because they're not mobbed with tourists.
COCO ODESSEY: I mean, I love it because this is what I came here for - to be with the land, to learn from it.
SIEGLER: But not everyone can stay.
JUAN PEREZ: It's a little difficult. I mean...
SIEGLER: On the other side of the bridge closure, Juan Perez is stacking chairs finishing up his shift waiting tables at a diner. The commuting on foot back and forth started to wear on his 8-year-old son especially. So he quit his other job, with 11 years working at a resort.
PEREZ: You know, I think that's another five months or maybe six - depends - the bridge. And so that's like - so that's why it's - I can't do this. Long, long time, and time is money. So I always work two jobs - always.
SIEGLER: He's decided to move up to the nearest city, Monterey, reluctantly. But there's a better shot at getting a second job there. Kirk Siegler, NPR News, Big Sur, Calif. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.