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The *mainstream human physics* (MH physics) is now facing some unresolved questions. A short list is as below.
a. The derivation of Standard Model particle zoo (string unification)
b. The Planck data for dark mass and dark energy
c. The cryptic relationships between the experimentally measured Standard Model constants (the theoretical base for the free parameters {the Cabibbo and Weinberg angles, Alpha, mass-charges, etc.})
d. Superunification (Quantum / gravity unification)
e. The Baryongenesis
f. The rest mass rising mechanism
g. Many others (lives, numbers, etc.)
That is, there is a great divide between this MH physics and the Nature physics. Can the MH physics at its current *standing* ground jump over this great divide? Even if SUSY (with s-particles) were true, it would still not be able to resolve all issues above. The M-string theory with many hypes cannot even reproduce the Standard Model particle zoo but invented a copout (the other-universes) for its failure.
Those are failures. Repeating failures will not make them into successes. Yet, those unresolved issues can be discussed theoretically, though the steps of human physics development.
First, collecting data --- knowing the phenomena.
Second, finding the pattern (with equations to best fit the data) --- these equations have *variables* and *parameters*.
Third, finding the underlying causes (dynamics) for the equations (especially for the variables).
Fourth, finding the underlying framework for the *parameters*, deriving parameters from an axiomatic system.
Thus, any success in the step four (4), {The cryptic relationships between the experimentally measured Standard Model constants (the theoretical base for the free parameters [the Cabibbo and Weinberg angles, Alpha, mass-charges, etc.])}, it will be an indicator for a promising pathway to get over this great divide. Yet, the evolution of the Nature physics {from axioms (deriving parameters, step 4) to phenomena (step 1)} goes opposite from the steps of human physics development. And, such an indicator is available at http://prebabel.blogspot.com/2012/04/alpha-fine-structure-constant-mystery.html . In fact, from here, the entire known human physics can be reproduced. However, instead of showing only the reproductions, I would like to show the divide which is, in fact, the place that the bridge is needed. Yet, this great divide can be discussed as four sub-divides.
The great divide one: the issue of gravity.
In the MH physics, the gravity was understood as Newtonian gravity (an instantaneous force) and as General Relativity (space-time curvature or the graviton). Today, the Newtonian gravity is abandoned as a proper gravity theory although it is still a good tool for calculating the orbits of launching rockets. The instantaneity issue is beyond the rational understanding, and the General Relativity has provided a good description for the cosmos. Thus, the instantaneousness is no longer an issue, viewed as a nonsense issue now. In an analogy of Standard Model of particle physics, the *graviton* was invented as the gravitational force carrier. Of course, there must be *gravitational wave*, being predicted by the GR. With these two great inventions (graviton and gravitational wave), MH physics has gone nowhere for the past 80 years on this issue of gravity.
In the Nature physics, the gravity force is an instantaneous force. By abandoning the instantaneity, it will of course forever block the MH physics to deal with this gravity issue. Gravity is a *LONG* distance force, significantly different from the other three forces which are *Contacting* forces, that is, asserting the force by *shaking-hands* (force carriers as the hands). Electromagnetic force has a *long-hand* (the photon) which forms the *causal universe*. Yet, the gravity can assert its force beyond the causal horizon (that is, traveling fast then light speed if it is done with a particle carrier or a wave).
Nature starts with three steps (ready, get set, go). That is, it will not invent two *sets* of law. If the fast-than-light speed is not allowed for the other three forces, how can gravity get a special privilege? Of course, not. Thus, the graviton and the gravitational wave must be nonsense. There must be a different mechanism for the instantaneity. This is done by "The Real-Ghost symmetry mechanism (http://www.prequark.org/Mphy.htm#Real ).
That is, there is a *ghost POINT* (only a topological point) as the symmetry *partner* of this material universe. Every particle of this material universe is bouncing between the two (ghost point and the material universe) with light speed. For two particles A and B, B is beyond the causal horizon of A, that is, A and B can never shaking-hands directly. But, they are still connected via the ghost point. The force between A and B is (see http://prebabel.blogspot.com/2012/04/rise-of-gravitation-and-hierarchy.html ),
F (gravity force) = K ħ / (delta T * delta S) , K the coupling constant
The intrinsic (rest) mass is, in fact, arising from this real-ghost mechanism (see http://www.prequark.org/Gravity.htm ).
Thus, Nature has two types of force,
1. the contacting type by shaking hands with force carriers, limited by light speed
2. the non-contacting type via ghost point connection and is instantaneous
The coupling strength of each force is determined by the *pie* sharing. For the contacting type, the way of sharing is about the *particle types* in the particle zoo which gives rise to the Cabibbo, Weinberg angles (see "Theoretical calculation of Cabibbo and Weinberg angles, (http://prebabel.blogspot.com/2011/10/theoretical-calculation-of-cabibbo-and.html )") and Alpha. For the non-contacting type, the sharing is among *all* particles in the universe. With this understanding, those couplings can and were calculated (derived).
The Higgs mechanism is the reverse-engineering from the weak-process (mainly for the W and Z boson masses) which is by all means not dealing with the mass-giving in general. His idea came from the superconductor condensation phenomenon, that is, an asphalt lake-like *field*, slows down the massless particle and gives it an initial (apparent) mass. Two weeks ago, Peter Higgs received Nobel Prize in physics for this idea. He is, of course, deserve it, as many others who stood on his shoulder had received Nobel before him. Furthermore, for the past 40 years, the HEP of MP physics is driven by his idea, that is, in the human terms, Higgs deserves the Nobel 10 times more than anyone else. But, his idea is an analogy (or the shadow) of the Nature at best (see "Higgs Boson, a shadow of the Prequark field (http://prebabel.blogspot.com/2011/09/higgs-boson-not-best-idea.html )" and has nothing to do with the *gravity*.
Andrew (at http://dispatchesfromturtleisland.blogspot.com/2013/11/more-cosmic-accounting-and-some.html?showComment=1386086144012#c1902146350263304331 ) commented, "Your preon-string theory is interesting (I've explored the literature on them at some length and was an important contributor to several of the Wikipedia articles on preons) but this theory is too speculative to attract my attention unless it has testable phenomenological consequences."
By resolving the rest mass rising mechanism (see http://www.prequark.org/Gravity.htm ), all unresolved questions above are resolved automatically, as it can *predict* or *produce* (as the direct consequences) the followings.
a. The derivation of Standard Model particle zoo (string unification), see G-strings at http://tienzengong.wordpress.com/2013/08/24/g-string-and-dark-energy/
b. The Planck data for dark mass and dark energy, see http://tienzengong.wordpress.com/2013/09/25/dark-energy-mystery-no-more/
c. The cryptic relationships between the experimentally measured Standard Model constants (the theoretical base for the free parameters {the Cabibbo and Weinberg angles, Alpha, mass-charges, etc.}), see http://prebabel.blogspot.com/2012/04/alpha-fine-structure-constant-mystery.html
d. Superunification (Quantum / gravity unification), see http://prebabel.blogspot.com/2012/04/rise-of-gravitation-and-hierarchy.html
e. The Baryongenesis, see http://prebabel.blogspot.com/2013/12/baryongenesis-master-key-of-all.html
What kind of phenomenological consequences should be demanded in addition to the above?
The great divide two: the issue of lives.
Even the above divide is bridged, there are still more divides for the MH physics. Although all lives obey the laws of physics, the rock bottom MH physics laws cannot describe the life-rising mechanism. In the past, this failure was covered up by expelling it out of the scope of physics. Recently, a new idea (Multiverse) was invented, saying that this universe which we are living in is a special variety among zillions of other-universes. That is, the physics law, in general, does not demand the rising of life, and the life arises as a happenstance, not prohibited by the zillion possible universes. We can examine this multiverse idea in three ways.
The first way, reality vs theory --- for multiverse as a reality, it has produced one special variety which gives rise to lives. Yet, for multiverse as a theory, it has failed to pinpoint a pathway of finding the nature's way of generating this special variety *theoretically*, that is, without any physical restriction. That is, even if the multiverse ides were a good idea, the current multiverse idea is a failed theory.
The second way, there are three ways to produce different universes.
1. With different physics laws, P-multiverses
2. With different nature constants, NC-multiverses
3. With different boundary conditions
And, there are also three ways for the emerging of those different universes.
i. Emerging vertically, one after another.
ii. Emerging horizontally, zillions co-exist simultaneously.
iii. Emerging both vertically and horizontally.
For the Cycling Universes (http://www.prequark.org/Initial.htm , C-multiverse), their boundary conditions are different, and the zillion pre-big-bang universes can be described with the *Inflationary Model*. This C-multiverse needs not having different laws and different nature constants. On the other hand, the horizontal type of multiverse (H-multiverses) cannot be distinguished if they do not have different laws or different nature constants. Yet, if those H-multiverses were emerging from the same source, it has theoretical difficulty to construct a way of emerging out different laws from the different initial conditions (forming a different bubble, so to speak) while it might be reasonable for evolving out different nature constants. Thus, the nature constants of each universe should be bubble-depend. Then, if we can show that the nature constants of *this* universe is not bubble-depend, there is no reason for the nature constants of the other universes to be bubble-depend. And, these NC-multiverses should be all connected as one universe. This proof is available in the article "Multiverse bubbles are now all burst by the math of Nature", at (http://prebabel.blogspot.com/2013/10/multiverse-bubbles-are-now-all-burst-by.html ).
The third way, showing that the physics laws of *this* universe do give rise to lives, not a happenstance. Life has three special attributes.
1. It needs a computing device (an abacus, a counting straw or a Turing computer)
2. Its members have a special feature, the *individuality*, that is, it needs *four codes (or colors)*, such as, the (A, G, T, C) of the DNA codes.
3. It species wants to be immortal. Then, it needs *seven codes (colors)*, such as, (A, G, T, C, F, M, K). F is female, M – male and K- kids.
In the G-string representation, both proton and neutron are Turing computers, see (http://www.prequark.org/Biolife.htm ). And, there are 4-colors (red, yellow, blue, white) and 7-colors (red, yellow, blue, white, G1, G2, G3) in G-strings. These (4-, 7-) colors form a Ball-Donut transformation, see (http://www.prequark.org/Gravity.htm#Bal ). For more detail of these, they are available in the article "KEY MISSION OF LIFE", at (http://tienzengong.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/key-mission-of-life/ ).
That is, the physics laws of *this* universe carry the strong anthropic seeds. The lives in *this* universe do not arise with happenstance but is an expression of the anthropic seeds which are embedded in the physics laws (the G-strings) of *this* universe. Thus, regardless of the issue of the multiverse, there is a giant divide between the MH physics and the fact of *this* universe. More details are available in the article "Physics laws must give rise to biological lives directly", see (http://prebabel.blogspot.com/2011/11/physics-laws-must-give-rise-to.html ).
The great divide three: the numbers.
For the past 100 years, physics is very successful while *ignoring* some other obvious *facts*, the life and the math (using it only as tools). The exclusion of these two facts from the scope of physics was necessary tactically, as the laws of physics were, thus far, seemingly unable to encompass them two. But, by excluding them in *principle* (such as using Boltzmann Brain as a possible cause for the rising of life), physicists are then fooling themselves, as this Nature consists of, at least, three parts.
a. The physical universe (not including life),
b. Lives,
c. Numbers.
Then, there are two possibilities. There are three different sets of laws for these three parts. Or, those three are governed by a set of unified laws. For the current physics paradigm, it has chosen the former. On the other hand, I have selected the later (they are unified), as I already showed that the *seeds of life* are embedded in the laws of physics when it is described with the G-string representation. Yet, with this choice, both facts (lives and numbers) must be the *checkpoints* for forming the physics theory. That is, the laws of math must be isomorphic to the laws of physics.
Different from life's attributes (computing device, individuality, and immortality), the math universe (encompassing infinities) is seemingly intrinsically different from the *physical* universe (a finitude). Thus, the first task of this physics/math unification is about concretizing the infinities to finites. The two concretizing processes are described in detail in the article "The creation before the big bang and before the inflation (http://tienzen.livejournal.com/584.html )". These concretizing processes give rise to *space, time and mass*.
Then, from a *new* math, the Quantum Principle was *derived*. The detail is available in the article "The emerging of Quantum Principle (http://tienzen.livejournal.com/973.html )".
Then, we must reproduce the entire Standard Model particle zoo from math too, and this is done with the following articles, a) "Computability and the internal structure of zero (http://tienzen.blogspot.com/2012/05/computability-and-internal-structure-of.html )", b) "The source of the "Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking, part 3 (http://prebabel.blogspot.com/2011/05/source-of-spontaneous-symmetry-breaking_11.html )", c) "48, the exact number for the number of elementary particles (http://prebabel.blogspot.com/2012/04/48-exact-number-for-number-of.html )".
The following articles are also available for giving more analysis on this divide.
Unification of physics and mathematics (http://www.prequark.org/Mlaw.htm ).
The Philosophical Meanings of Fermat's Last Theorem (http://www.prequark.org/Fermat.htm ).
Law of creation (http://www.prequark.org/think03.htm#A08 ):
Law of Creation -- If B is created by "creating something from nothing process," B (the something) must remain to be "nothingness" in essence.
Law of Creation, part 2 (http://www.prequark.org/Create.htm ).
The great divide four: the MH physics itself
The three divides above are created by Nature. That is, even Martians will face those same divides in their Martian physics. However, the human has created another great divide by the human's own works and choosing, taking the wrong pathways. It will not be a big deal if both SUSY (with s-particles) and M/F-string theories are not supported by any test data while they can provide answers to the three nature-divides above. But, not only they did not, their arrogance has declared two strong anti-nature statements.
1. The nature is un-nature. Two articles, a) "Nonsense of the un-nature Nature (http://tienzengong.wordpress.com/2013/12/17/nonsense-of-the-un-nature-nature/ )" and b) "CAN NATURE BE UNNATURAL? (http://tienzengong.wordpress.com/2013/09/19/can-nature-be-unnatural/ )", have discussed this issue in detail.
2. The Nature (this universe) is only a small part of a big whole (the multiverse), that is, the observed physics laws in this universe is not universal (according to the M/F-string theories) but is an oddball with no significance in the universal physics laws. Of course, I have shown that this is not the case, as the lives, the numbers are all isomorphic to one another with the laws of physics of *this* universe.
In fact, there are three wrong pathways in this MH physics. The first wrong pathway is SUSY (with s-particles). After many deadly blows by the recent data, the SUSY devotees are becoming *religious*. They have turned SUSY into the religious hope of SUSY parousia {see "The hope of SUSY parousia (http://prebabel.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-hope-of-susy-parousia.html )", "NATURE'S MASTER-KEY CUTS OUT SUSY THE UNDEAD (http://tienzengong.wordpress.com/2013/09/08/natures-master-key-cuts-out-susy-the-undead/ )". With this great religious power, they even declared that Nature is un-nature.
The second wrong pathway is built by M/F-string theories. I have shown that their hideout haven (the Multiverse) is nonsense in the anthropic physics above ("Multiverse bubbles are now all burst by the math of Nature", at (http://prebabel.blogspot.com/2013/10/multiverse-bubbles-are-now-all-burst-by.html ) and in the argument of Newtonian methodology (Model building, paradigm, and Truth, http://prebabel.blogspot.com/2013/12/model-building-paradigm-and-truth.html ). Yet, M-theory is not all wrong and can be a TOE if it adds two points, see "M-theory, a TOE if and only if it adds two points (http://prebabel.blogspot.com/2011/11/m-theory-toe-if-and-only-if-it-adds-two.html )".
Two more articles below discuss more issues about M/F-string theories.
M-/F-STRING THEORIES, FAILED THEORIES (http://tienzengong.wordpress.com/2013/09/25/m-f-string-theories-failed-theories/ ).
BARKED UP THE WRONG TREES, M-THEORY AND SUSY (http://tienzengong.wordpress.com/2013/09/19/barked-up-the-wrong-trees-m-theory-and-susy/ ).
Although the two wrong pathways have done some great damages on the advancement of the MH physics, they are still labeled as *Speculative*. The worst wrong pathway (which will hinder the advancement of human physics for generations to come) is the Higgs idea which is now viewed as *verified* physics.
*After* the greatest discovery of mankind, the new 126 Gev boson, it is viewed as a useless burble if it is a Higgs, and this point was expressed by many prominent physicists after that new particle was *named* Higgs.
A. In the article "What *Should* We Be Worried About? (http://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress/?p=5465 ), the Higgs connotes a great crisis of physics.
B. Jester (Résonaances, http://resonaances.blogspot.com/2013/08/what-about-b-to-k-star-mu-mu.html ) showed his trademark pessimism and frustration in August 2013.
C. In the article "the crisis in modern physics, (http://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress/?p=6238 ), Turok (Director of Perimeter Institute) said, "Theoretical physics is at a crossroads [after the Higgs] right now…In a sense, we've entered a very deep crisis.
That is, the Higgs does not and will not make any help in resolving the unresolved issues. It is useless. The only chance for the MH physics to get out of its failure-cycle is that the new boson is *NOT* the Higgs, and this might take a generation or longer to conclude that. Fortunately, this newly discovered 126 Gev particle can be accounted for by many other models, see http://www.prequark.org/Q2.htm . If we cannot find out that the new 126 Gev particle is not a Higgs very soon, the MH physics will be stuck for another long while. The Higgs analogy of an asphalt lake-like vacuum is wrong and can be replaced by the G-string vacuum, and this is discussed in detail in the article "Higgs chicken, Higgs egg and Higgs hallucination (http://prebabel.blogspot.com/2013/06/higgs-chicken-higgs-egg-and-higgs.html )".
While those SUSY (with s-particles) and multiverse devotees are *religious* when they are talking about their babies, they uphold the Newtonian methodology for all other models, that is, observation or else. In fact, *all* observations are not correct per se, although they might not be totally wrong. Aristotle's observations were the greatest at his time but are mostly not accurate now. It is the same for Newton. The greatest observation effort of mankind produced the Standard Model. Yet, it is the *rationale* which rules that SM is not complete. It will take a while for observations to find out that the Higgs-vacuum is only a *shadow* of the G-string space-time, but we can rule out Higgs with two rationales.
a. Higgs is useless for any issue of these three Nature divides.
b. G-string has built bridges for all those three Nature divides.
That is, by all means, Higgs is not needed as it is simply useless.
Searching and discovering the secret of Nature is the dream of all physicists. Yet, most often, they will not accept other's answers even if they know that those are true, as they still try to find a different way to get those same answers in their own way. But, for these three great Nature divides, they sit here silently, blocking all detour attempts, cannot go over, go under and cannot go around it.
Furthermore, these are indeed the great divides in the literal sense, that is, I know all too well that this article will not move those SUSY and Multiverse devotees one bit. I simply just *MARK* my words here as the witness for the future of mankind.
Note (added on August 29, 2016):
The current (2016) mainstream physics status is this: #PostCheckmateTTF (Post Checkmate temper tantrum fit).
See https://tienzengong.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/vision-eulogy-the-post-checkmate-temper-tantrum-fit/
Copyright © December 2013 by Tienzen (Jeh-Tween) Gong


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Monday, January 30, 2012
still on hiatus
No comments: filed in: announcement
it's 2012 already!
just so you know, i'm still alive...
but i can't get around to do the usual beauty stuff i used to do.
my skin is still bad, and i need more time.
all these while, there are still new subscribers over at youtube..
i'm really glad that people appreciate what i did,
and i can't wait to get back to what i was doing!
say a prayer for me to recover soon!
: )
stay pretty, all the ladies out there!
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subset: commoncrawl


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We had a lot of crepes in Paris/ Switz earlier this month.
After the GI distress of my last 2 50s where I used a lot of protein shakes, I decide to try my hand at drunk crepe making Friday night.
Saturday I have to get up ridiculously early (3 am) to get to Capitol Peak state park in Olympia for a 55 km trail run. I saw a bunch of my MM colleagues, huddled in the cold/ dark, about to start the 50 Miler, several of whom were signed up for the double (Mt. Si the following day), and 2 of them were at Skagit last weekend. Addicts, all of us. We may as well be in a slum house with needles hanging out of our arms, no different.
I decide to wait until the regular start so I will not fall in the dark, and so only the fast 50 Milers will pass me on the single track rather than everyone, if I'd done the early start. What is the point of running in the dark when you miss the views anyway?
It was so peaceful, ran (or walked) alone nearly the whole day, nearly 9 hours.
2 hour drive home, then shower. More chafage than I expected. Will have to be more careful tomorrow….
Sunday I only had to get up at 3:30 for the Mt. Si 50M. I had planned to do the regular start (11 h limit) but was feeling a little trashed from Capitol Peak so decided to do the early start just in case. Saw Monte, LL, and tc who had all done 50M at Capitol Peak the day before. Slow start, I thought based on my lead legs, but it was mainly gravel roads, so I could turn my mind off.
Just before the top in North Bend, about 6 hours in, it started to rain. Then it started to hail. Then it started to downpour. Not good for the chafage. But at least it was downhill from here. At mile 40 I realized I would not make sub-10 today so slowed down. However, this did not decrease the pain one bit, just prolonged it. Was ready to be done, so sped up. Still got passed by a lot of relay runners. They all looked like they were in high school. 10:15, no falls, no puking. If only I didn't have a bizillion delinquent charts to do. Sigh.


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Today was busy. I have a new project for my boss. It's fun but time consuming. Mostly because this is the first I've done this one so I have to ask a lot of questions. That means trying to find my boss to ask.
I had my second update meeting. It was really short. They've run out of things to train me on and I'm Emily keeping with everything they've assigned.
I finished editing the images from the previous weekend and managed to deliver one set and set up a pick up appointment for the other. I'm excited to see the clients reactions. I really enjoy making them happy.


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The main reason I bought the Sony NEX 7 was to use with my Leica M kit, even though many reviews that said the NEX 7 sensor has a serious flaw that makes it unsuitable for use with wide angle rangefinder lenses. The NEX 7 sensor has a layer of micro-lenses, these micro-lenses focus the light hitting them from the lens onto the photo-receptor sites of the sensor. On the NEX 7 they're built with SLR type lenses in mind that sit much farther from the sensor than rangefinder lenses, the light coming from SLR type lenses striking the sensor at nearer to perpendicular angles. Rangefinder lenses, especially wide angle ones, have rear elements that extend much closer to the sensor, causing the light they focus to hit the sensor at much more oblique angles the further they strike from the center. The micro lenses of the NEX 7 sensor can't seem to handle light hitting them at such extreme angles which leads to color shifting and lowered sharpness at the edges and corners. I won't dispute this makes the NEX 7 less than optimal when paired with such lenses, the question is: "Is less than optimal still good enough to take good pictures?" The first lens I'll be taking a look at with this in mind is one of my favourites, the Voigtlander 15mm f4.5 Heliar.
I've been using this lens with great success on my Leica film cameras for years, later it became one of my most used lenses on the Sony NEX 3 as well. On the NEX 3 it performed very well, with very good corner sharpness and color fidelity. I was kind of worried when I heard it didn't fare so well on the NEX 7. After trying it out for a few weeks, I admit, the NEX 7 definitely had an issue with wide angle rangefinder lenses. I do notice some loss of sharpness and magenta color cast in the corners with the Voigtlander 15mm, especially wide open, by f8 it's much better.
If you're a landscape photographer who needs perfect sharpness edge to edge or just happen to like looking at pictures of brick walls at 100% magnification, this may not be the lens for you. On the other hand, if you already have one, it's definitely worth the price of an adapter to be able to use it on the NEX 7. It's still wonderfully sharp over the majority of the frame on the NEX and has very little barrel distortion. It's nice and small, making the camera nearly pocketable and is wonderful for street photography being roughly a 24mm lens on the NEX 7.


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La Nina is a 2012 Beneteau 34' Swift Trawler of attractive proportions, with a very sea-worthy hull, and plenty of living space. The Swift Trawler 34 is designed for the ocean and life at anchor. It is another way of experiencing the sea and voyaging. LaNina is Coast Guard Certified.
NOTE: This rental is for overnight accommodation at the dock only; the yacht does not leave the dock unless the guest arranges for a Captained Charter, for additional fees.
•Master stateroom, 2 bunk beds and pull out couch
•Kitchen with 2-cooktop range, blender, microwave, coffee maker and toaster
•Living room with TV, DVD, radio, sofa, table and 2 Director's chairs
•Toilet and shower
•Spacious exterior flybridge and bow sunpads
•Diesel, single Cummins 425 HP engine
•Dual helm
•State of the art electronics
•2 HVAC units
•Diesel generator
•Double station bow and stern thrusters
•Mosquito nets and screened doors
•Teak exterior flooring


text: Ride every corner of the world with the Mt. Fuji & friends Pack. Race and Trick your way down 6 unique event drops on the legendary Japanese mountain that owns the horizon in Tokyo – Mt. Fuji. Race through cherry blossoms, grind through Torii arches, and trick off ancient pagodas. Also included as playable characters are fan favorite SSX veteran Eddie Wachowski, and pro snowboarder Travis Rice – the first ever real-world rider to be a playable character in SSX franchise history. Top all the leaderboards with character specific Ultimate level snowboards with attribute perks for Eddie, Zoe, Mac, Kaori, and Elise, plus a bonus GeoTag! You get a Mountain of content in this Pack!


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Just posting my mandatory monthly blog post. I probably would have posted sooner, but I haven't had to much to go on about. This month has felt like the longest month ever. I don't know why, but I hope the year does not continue on like this. So im just going to list some thoughts and such for the hell of it, and try to make this post just a little bit interesting, if it is boring, I am sorry in advance, because quite frankly that has been my mood as of late.
- I started another blog, for another attempted at the 101 in 1001 project. 101 in 1001 Blog click it and see what we are up to. And Yes it needs to be updated a bit.
- Ive been reading my ass off this month, and it has not been Fan Fiction. That's right I've been reading Books! I am about to finish my 9th book of the year. My goal is 40. As long as I keep picking good books like I have been, at this rate I am going to crush my goal.
- I got a Southwest gift card for Christmas to fly out to Boston to visit my dear friends. Well don't you know I went to book a flight and Southwest will not have any flights from my airport to Boston. WTF is up with that? Southwest is merging with Air Tran, but what the eff am i supposed to do now. I haven't called them yet, but I best be able to use my gift card to Boston!
- This is crazy- usually i have a million things to say, but I am so lame that I cant even think of anything else to post, let along be clever. This is a shame, and so freaking boring.


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LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japan's industrial production dropped 3.1% in May, accelerating from a 0.2% decrease, data released Friday showed. The decrease was worse than a 2.8% fall expected in separate surveys by Dow Jones Newswires and Reuters. Compared to a year earlier, when Japan was still reeling from a nuclear crisis and the aftermath of a major earthquake, industrial output was 6.2% higher. Car production led the drop in May, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said, while non-pharmaceutical chemicals also drove the fall. On the brighter side, a survey included with the data showed manufacturers now expect a 2.7% gain in June output, up from a forecast rise of 2.4% in last month's survey.
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Venom in Her Veins by Tim Pratt
Posted by travizzt on August 1, 2012
To Zaltys Serrat, family is everything and finding out the truth about her's may not be what she expected or wanted.
Venom in Her Veins by Tim Pratt
Venom in Her Veins is a stand-alone novel set in the Forgotten Realms universe of Dungeons and Dragons tie-in novel line. Other books by Tim Pratt are The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl, The Nex, Briarpatch, and City of the Fallen Sky. He's written an ongoing series Marla Mason which includes; Blood Engines, Bone Sleep, Dead Reign, Spell Games, Broken Mirrors, Grim Tides, and a prequel Bone Shop. He has edited an anthology titled Sympathy for the Devil, as well as having a few collected works; Little Gods, If There Were Wolves, and Hart & Boot & Other Stories. Venom in Her Veins was released March 2012 and was published by Wizards of the Coast LLC.
Zaltys Serrat is the adoptive daughter of the powerful Serrat family of merchants and traders. Found as a young baby by a team of Serrat harvesters, she was soon brought up as a princess of the Serrat family's Travelers, the harvesters of the family's prize crop, terazul flowers. While the flower may have some undesired side-effects, it is what made the Serrat family rich and influential. After years of braving the jungle, Zaltys quickly became a talented ranger and bow-woman. But as the truth of her past is revealed, she sets off to find the family she believes to be captured and taken deep into the horrid Underdark. What Zaltys finds may not be what she expected.
1) Julen. While Julen isn't necessarily a bad character, he just felt too mundane. The mundane, average personality he has, makes him come off as uninteresting through most of the story. While it can be argued that Julen is the one character the reader is supposed to identify with, he never came off as that kind of person. He was the story's "every-man", the character you would see in every novel to help the reader feel as though they were apart of the story. But that is also Julen's problem. It felt like every other character that fits that mold. He was so generic and mundane that there wasn't anything to really latch on to early on in the story. In fact, it felt as though Zaltys filled the role slightly better, even though she was supposed to come across as this unidentifiable character who you want to learn more about. She wasn't supposed to feel like the reader's link to the story, that is what Julen was meant to be. Julen does slowly develop into this role late in the story, but he severely lacked that connection when it was needed early in the story. He is just a blank slate that makes it hard to connect with him.
2) Derro. For a society built on madness and insanity, the Derro are surprisingly efficient to the point of disbelief. The Derro society seemed relatively 'sane' for this insane race of creatures. They even seemed to be relatively sane in this regard, which doesn't feel quite right knowing that this race is full of lunatics. What makes it worse is that this problem of efficiency is noticeable. There is attention drawn to it which brings light to this problem. It wouldn't have been so distracting if the characters didn't point these things out or their insanity was highlighted. Those highlighted scenes felt forced in and made it seem like the Derro's madness is being forced unto the reader and not given a natural feel to it, or how natural insanity can get. There is a scene where a Derro is murdered and if the attention of the book didn't shift to this Derro being murdered by other Derro, it wouldn't have felt so awkward and forced in. Writing a whole society of insane, mad beings takes a lot of tact and effort. While there were times where Tim Pratt made them feel legitimately crazy, he seemed to want to enforce this madness a little too much, leading to that question of how did the Derro society last this long?
1) Zaltys. There is something familiar with Zaltys Serrat, and in that familiarity, you find an interesting character. On the surface, Zaltys is your typical main character. She shares most of the basic qualities that a lot of fantasy heroines and heroes share. This helps her feel like the reader knows her, before really knowing her. As the story progresses, your knowledge about her grows, as it should. However, Zaltys still has one thing that a lot of fantasy heroes seem to lack by story end, mystery. You don't know where Zaltys is going to go after Venom in Her Veins ends, and that's part of her strength. There seems to be so much more to uncover about this character. Basically, Tim Pratt whets the readers appetite to know more about her. However, that isn't all Zaltys brings to the table. She also has a set focus and morals that a lot of main characters talk about but is rarely seen. Family is important, beyond important, to her and that's not often seen, let alone a sole reason, for what Zaltys does. It's almost a breath of fresh air.
2) Yuan-ti. On a personal level, I have not read any Forgotten Realms novels, that has a strong influence of Yuan-ti in them. They may have appeared as 'villains of the week' here and there, but nothing definitive about them. Aside from Lisa Smedman's House of Serpents trilogy, which I haven't read as of yet, Yuan-ti seem to be mostly regaled to monster status from a novel standpoint. Venom in Her Veins spins Yuan-ti culture in a light that hasn't really been seen, as far as I know.
3) Story. Venom in Her Veins is a very basic story. Hero or heroine goes off to rescue someone or 'someones' in peril, it's very basic. However, what lies under the surface is what makes this basic, mundane story stand out. For one thing, it deals with something rarely seen in Forgotten Realms novels; drugs and the morals and reasoning behind those selling them. For another thing, the story has a strong sense of family and what family means. Then you have discovering oneself and how they see themselves fitting into the world. Granted, the latter is seen in almost all Forgotten Realms novels, but it's one of those small things that helps make Venom in Her Veins' story so great. It's your typical fantasy scenario, but with things that are not typically seen.
Side Notes:
1) Comparisons. While reading Venom in Her Veins I couldn't help but notice some slight similarities between Zaltys and the Forgotten Realms most famous character Drizzt Do'Urden. Now these similarities just feel circumstantial, but I do feel like they are noticeable. Both characters are outcasts of their races, both are rangers, and both have some sort of connection with an evil deity without any knowledge of it. Other comparisons between the two can be made, but these do stand out the most. These comparisons seem to be legitimately circumstantial, but it is rather interesting.
2) Far Realm. Is anyone else feeling a little tired of having to hear about the Far Realm over and over? Yes, it is a problem, but there are other things that can be focused on. It's starting to feel like the whole Far Realm problem is getting a little played out, and honestly I'm hoping this gets taken out soon.
3) Cover Art. Venom in Her Veins has basic, but good cover art. It's simple, just Zaltys on the front cover, looking both intimidating, yet sexy. The serpentine like pose really works in both looking good and giving you an idea of who and what she is. Honestly, this is how I pictured Zaltys. Also the green coloring may be a bit simple, but it really drives home the "Venom" in the title along with the whole jungle/snake-like feeling of the cover. It's a good, simple cover that really works.
Overall: 4/5
Final Thoughts:
Venom in Her Veins is both a typical Forgotten Realms novel and a breath of fresh air. With a basic story filled with relatively unseen concepts, it's both comforting in its familiarity but refreshing in its 'newer' ideas. The characters, for the most part are memorable. Zaltys and the tiefling Glory were the stand out characters. Saying anything about Glory, however will ruin the surprise. While Julen felt like he failed as an 'everyman', he still was interesting, towards the end. An odd issue with Venom in Her Veins is how a society based on insanity can function for so long. It felt almost surreal and quite a bit forced. Thankfully, there are plenty of things to like about Venom in Her Veins. Zaltys is a fantastic character. She has familiarity about her but at the same time she feels like something different. Also it was nice to see Yuan-ti being the main focus. There's not many novels that paint them as anything more than monsters, and here you see they are something entirely different. The story elements is something that stands out from normal Forgotten Realms, and even Dungeons and Dragons based novels. Some of these elements you'd never expect to find in this genre. Venom in Her Veins is really an enjoyable and fun novel that you may find it hard to put down. It should make new readers to the Realms feel welcome and entertain older readers. Venom in Her Veins is definitely worth checking out.


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The developer of a brand new apartment complex in El Paso's Lower Valley broke ground last week on the $15 million project that will provide more housing options to residents in the area.
This marks the start of construction on the North Loop Apartments which will bring 214 units to a vacant lot near the intersection of North Loop Drive and Loop 375/Americas Avenue.
Six apartments structures will be three stories each and surround a park area that includes a playground and picnic shelters. A clubhouse will be nearby and will include a party room, a business center, and a fitness center.
|The site plan for the North Loop Apartments, a 214-unit project under construction in El Paso. (Exigo Architecture)
The new complex will be located at 9522 North Loop Drive, near Del Valle High school and with easy access to the Loop 375 freeway.
Construction on the project should take about a year with a projected opening date of September 2017. Exigo of El Paso is the architect and general contractor on the project, with ZTEX Construction of El Paso serving as site work contractor.


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Finally I have the mad mane of my dreams.
Recently I caught up with Lucy of Polkadots and Spinning Tops. What a treat. Op Shop bloggers are a special breed; ingenious and creative in how they dress. It was encouraging to talk about sustainable dressing. We took a trip to Dunedin's decent second hand shops. Unlike George St, Princess St is not clogged by students looking for drinking costumes. Instead you are free to hunt, breathing in the musty smell of promise. Toffs $2 section did not disappoint. Perfect dress (apart from the holes. unimportant). Pastel, pleated and floral. Watershed Thrift Moment.
|You've met my babies. Everybody loves Dr Martens.
|All I know about perms is not to get them wet. Thank you Legally Blonde. Problem is, I really want to shower. The flat has non existent water pressure. I had planned to capitalise on the plumbing while I was home for mid-semester. Such a sacrifice.
|The day before.
|BOOM. Perm.
|So many selfies. Sorry not sorry.


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I've noticed that many folks are celebrating National Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October. One of my neighbors is pinning a pink ribbon ridiculously close to her bosom and my sister in-law (who is already quite a rebel) bought a shirt that says "Support your B**bs."
Now, I don't want to be insensitive here, but breast cancer has become one of those new excuses for women to perk up and for men to look up pictures of it. I'm talking about the immoral obsession with women's chests.
When I was younger, a lady never talked about having breast cancer. She kept it tucked inside under a very modest shirt and never told anyone about it. Why don't we just stick to that?
Wikipedia says that the month of October is also National Book Month. That's a wonderful holiday. Or National Bullying Prevention Month–let's stop those mean old bullies! Or LGBT History Month–I know I could go for a sub sandwich right now!
So many good causes. Let's keep things G-rated and stop focusing on the bosoms here, okay, ladies? Now go on home and make you and your husbands a delicious LGBT sandwich!


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Last year, I bought Lucy a little Santa outfit. She barely tolerated it and just lay there.
The other day, we were in a pet store and saw the most. adorable. outfit. ever. Happily, Teddy is a much better sport!
Something about this hat just cracks me up. It looks like a reindeer muppet with a big black mouth!
I wish I could have video'd Lucy's response to seeing Teddy with his antlers. She was not amused. But I do have this!


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Published Apr 29, 2009
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The 2009 KCRA 3 A-List Contest awards are based on more than 121,000 votes from local Sacramento-area experts.
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Lenny Nero from Kathryn Bigelow's Strange Days has to take a special place in any gallery of anti-heroes. This guy is the case-study of a wimp. Former LAPD vice squad cop he spends the last days of the 1999 in an almost apocalyptic version of LA peddling illicit SQUID - or Playback - disks to all those looking for the ultimate thrill.
Lenny has the best line in the business,
"I'm your priest, your shrink, your main connection to the switchboard of souls. I'm the Magic Man, the Santa Claus of the Subconscious."
He leans over and croons into a client's ear in a silky-smooth voice. You can see he is in his element.
He is the perfect pusher because he is not just out to make a buck, well, he is, but he is also a believer. He truly believes he has a ticket to heaven, and he is hustling his wary client to buy it.
Lenny Nero can be utterly selfish and exploitative. He will call his friend Mace, a struggling mother and a cabbie, at any time of day and night to drive him on his rounds.
She despises what he does but at the same time she is so hopelessly in love with him that she will put up with any crap he lays on her. She will take a beating, risk her job, her family and her life for Lenny.
Quiz: How Well Do You Know Anti-heroes?
Above all, Lenny is a junkie. He has his own collection of Playback disks with recorded memories of his ex, Faith.
At night he puts them on and indulges in the fragments of happier times. They go in-line skating, Faith teases him to catch her, he falls over...Lenny's face glows with bliss as he makes caressing motions in the air with his hand.
These are the moments when we see Lenny Nero at his most pathetic and yet we can't help sympathizing with him. His sadness, and his love for Faith, are the few real things about him, everything else, his brash clothes, his trade mark ties, his Rolex watches, his suitcase, it all comes with the territory.
Lenny got hustling down to a fine art. And yet for all the appearances, Lenny often comes across as a babe in the woods.
It is like we see two different persons, one is a professional hustler, slick and street-savvy, and the other a helpless washout so totally out of his depth while pursuing clues that will ultimately lead him to confrontation with his demons.
His greatest weakness is his love for Faith. His devotion to her, his unwillingness to let her go, is a study in self-abuse. He pleads with her, he begs her, he worships at her feet, believing, perhaps rightly, that she still loves him. But he can't see one simple thing - she is not worth it.
She is just as exploitative as him. Perhaps even more. He uses people for small favors, money, shelter, whereas she feds off other people's emotions, their adoration and desire. If he is a leech, she is a vampire.
Feckless as he is, Lenny has preserved a shred of human dignity. He will in the end overcome his weaker self. He will, with a help of Mace, do the right thing. But before that he will undergo a dreadful ordeal. He will perhaps for the first time in his life go all the way down the dark street - something he craves and shuns at once. All his vicarious chickens will come home to roost. And the man who pretends to be a disk jockey of souls will be taken for a heck of a ride.
The scene, one of the last in Strange Days, when the mirrors, real and imaginary, break to pieces around him remains one of the most compelling metaphors of Lenny Nero. The man whose namesake, the mad emperor, sang and danced, blind to all, while the world came crashing down around him.
How well do you know Anti-heroes?
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text:
Predominant occupation of the MHC class I MHC molecule H-2Kwm7 with a single self peptide suggest a mechanism for its diabetes-protective effect.
Brims, Daniel R. and Qian, Jie and Jarchum, Irene and Mikesh, Leann and Palmieri, Edith and Ramagopal, Udupi A. and Malashkevich, Vladimir N. and Chaparro, Rodolfo J. and Lund, Torben and Hattori, Masakazu and Shabanowitz, Jeffrey and Hunt, Donald F. and Nathenson, Stanley G. and Almo, Steven C. and DiLorenzo, Teresa P. (2010) Predominant occupation of the MHC class I MHC molecule H-2Kwm7 with a single self peptide suggest a mechanism for its diabetes-protective effect. International Immunology, 22 (3). pp. 191-203. ISSN 0953-8178
Full text is not in this repository.
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease characterized by T cell-mediated destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic β cells. In both humans and the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse model of T1D, class II MHC alleles are the primary determinant of disease susceptibility. However, class I MHC genes also influence risk. These findings are consistent with the requirement for both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the pathogenesis of T1D. Although a large body of work has permitted the identification of multiple mechanisms to explain the diabetes-protective effect of particular class II MHC alleles, studies examining the protective influence of class I alleles are lacking. Here, we explored this question by performing biochemical and structural analyses of the murine class I MHC molecule H-2Kwm7, which exerts a diabetes-protective effect in NOD mice. We have found that H-2Kwm7 molecules are predominantly occupied by the single self-peptide VNDIFERI, derived from the ubiquitous protein histone H2B. This unexpected finding suggests that the inability of H-2Kwm7 to support T1D development could be due, at least in part, to the failure of peptides from critical β-cell antigens to adequately compete for binding and be presented to T cells. Predominant presentation of a single peptide would also be expected to influence T-cell selection, potentially leading to a reduced ability to select a diabetogenic CD8+ T-cell repertoire. The report that one of the predominant peptides bound by T1D-protective HLA-A*31 is histone derived suggests the potential translation of our findings to human diabetes-protective class I MHC molecules.
|Item Type:
|Research Areas:
|A. > School of Science and Technology > Natural Sciences
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|Depositing User:
|Mrs Sue Black
|Date Deposited:
|09 Nov 2010 15:00
|Last Modified:
|13 Oct 2016 14:21
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Price: $265- $290 | Sleeps: 2 | Bedrooms: 1 | Bathrooms: 1
Premier Room in Depoe Bay
Fore Deck is a ground-floor corner room with views of the ocean and the inlet of the smallest harbor in Oregon. Like many rooms at Channel House, Fore Deck offers a Queen-sized TempurPedic bed, sitting area with gas fireplace, and mini fridge. The bathroom has a relaxing shower, premium Gilchrist & Soames bath products and luxurious bathrobes, perfect for lounging in the chairs or jetted tub on the outdoor deck. Fore Deck also features in-room Wi-Fi and an HDTV/DVD player to enjoy the comforts of home during your stay at Channel House.
Experience the best in oceanfront lodging in Depoe Bay with our fresh breakfast and waterfront views that await you each morning in the Channel House breakfast parlor.
- Continental Breakfast
- Private Bath
- Phone
- Cable Television
- WiFi
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Here are 31 budget-wise, super cheap student meals for those who are near to broke (or already there...)
Take advantage of cheap ingredients, simple recipes and leftovers to eat well on a super tight budget.
Broccoli, Sweetcorn and Tuna Pasta
This healthy Broccoli, Sweetcorn and Tuna pasta dish takes just 10 minutes and needs just the one pot. Get the recipe here.
Simple Avocado Toast
A super simple and cheap breakfast or snack that at its minimum just needs two ingredients. Avocado Toast recipe.
Tasty Turkey Hotpot
Turn leftover turkey into a warm, homely meal that's fool proof to put together: Try this healthy and filled Turkey hotpot recipe.
Chinese beef noodle stir fry
Use cheap minced beef for a super delicious Chinese style stir fry. > Minced beef stir fry recipe
Fish Finger Taco Boats
A slightly more posh rendition of the classic fish finger sandwich but still cheap. Fish Finger Taco Boats recipe.
One Dish Delicious Chicken Fajitas
This delicious chicken fajitas recipe makes for a super easy and quick dinner for everyone. > One Dish Delicious Chicken Fajitas Recipe
Tasty Halloumi Salad
Tasty Halloumi Salad: A quick healthy halloumi salad using simple ingredients, it can be made in no time! Halloumi Salad recipe
Hashbrown Casserole
A money saving student recipe favourite that's meat free and so Vegetarian friendly: Hashbrown Casserole. Hashbrown Casserole Recipe
One Pot Cheese and Tomato Pasta
A one pot cheese and tomato pasta dish that makes for a cheap vegetarian meal. Get the recipe here
Easy Peasy Mince
An idiot proof mince recipe with plenty of vegetables. Get the recipe here
Chilli con tuna
Use tuna in a chilli con carne dish for a cheap and super quick student meal.
Chicken and cheese quesadillas
A yummy, quick meal that will make use of leftover chicken - Chicken and cheese quesadillas recipe
Bread and butter pudding
A classic bread and butter pudding is a low-cost dessert and is a great use of stale bread and ever-lasting dry fruit.
Chicken and Veggies Bake
A homely and filling meal that can be made up of leftovers: A yummy chicken and veggie bake with a cheesy mashed potato topping. Chicken and Veggies Bake Recipe
Cream of chicken pasta bake
This is a super simple, fool proof three step cheesy pasta bake recipe made with Cream Of soup. Cream of chicken pasta bake how to
Veggie Chilli
A cheap and meat-free alternative for rice, tacos, pasta and more.
Pizza baguettes
Combine a baguettes with pasta sauce and cheese for an instant pizza. You can do the same with other types of bread, muffins and bagels too. > Pizza baguettes recipe
Marmite cheese toastie
Mix up the plain cheese toastie with marmite. *Insert obligatory love it or hate it reference here* > Marmite + cheese toastie
£10 Roast Chicken dinner
This £10 Chicken roast is great for Christmas or weekends and will feed up to six people for less than a tenner.
Tomato and mushroom sweet jacket potatoes
Spruce up your jacket potatoes with this cheap vegetarian filling that also goes great with pasta. > Veggie sweet jacket potatoes
Homemade apple crumble
A four ingredient apple crumble recipe that works out at just 20 pence a serving. > Cheap apple crumble recipe
Tuna melt
Tuna + Cheese = Cheap and tasty snack. > Tuna Melt recipe
The jacket potato
Rub a potato with a little oil or butter and prick with a fork. Either bake at about 200 degrees for 45 minutes or cook on the microwave for 10-15 minutes, turning over halfway inbetween.
You can add all sorts of toppings - see 12 jacket potato filling ideas here!
Sausage curry
Ditch the takeaway for this super easy curry on the cheap, using sausages. > Sausage curry recipe
End of the week bake
This End of the week bake is a zero cost meal made up of leftovers.
Boiled eggs / devilled eggs
Boil an egg. Cheap and simple. Make it more interesting by removing a hard boiled yolk and mixing it up with things like mayo, pepper and mustard and then returning. Top with bacon. YUM. > Devilled boiled eggs
Sausage lasagna
This lasagna recipe with sausages may make Italians faint but at 50p a portion it's a bargain. > Sausage lasagna recipe
Egg omelettes are trivial and take only minutes - try this basic omelette recipe, one packed with veggies or with a melting cheese and onion. filling.
Sweet and sour chicken dippers
These sweet and sour chicken dippers make for an incredibly cheap and easy meal. Yes, it's lazy as hell but so what?
French toast
French toast (aka eggy bread) is an easy two ingredient, two minute recipe. Also try the sweet cinnamon version.
Tomato ketchup pasta
Desperate times call for desperately cheap recipes. It beats plain pasta though. > Tomato ketchup pasta


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Vocal : Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath
Violin : Nalina Mohan
Mrudangam : Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma
Ghatam : S N Narayana Murthy
List :
01. viribOni (varNam) – bhairavi – Pachimiriyam Adiappa
02. tera tIyaga rAdA – gauLipant – Thyagaraja ( A,S )
03. vaNDADum shOlaitanilE – harikAmbOji – Kalki Krishnamurthy ( A,N,S )
neraval & swara @ mAdavan matHurai maindan maRaigaL paravum mAyan avanO
04. dEvi brOva samayamidE – chintAmaNi – Shyama Shasthri ( A,S )
05. bhOgindra shAyinam – kuntaLavarALi – Swathi Thirunal
06. RTP – bhairavi – khaNDa tripuTa , 1/2 eDuppu
pallavi line ' lakSmIm shubhasangItapriyAm smarAmi, shubhapradAm, shubha-'
rAgamAlika tAnam and swaras in Anandabhairavi,naTabhairavi & sALagabhairavi
07. bhAvayAmi raghurAmam – rAgamAlika – Swathi Thirunal
08. jagadhOdhAraNa – kApi – Purandara Dasa
09. maithrIm bhajata – rAgamAlika – Chandrashekhara Saraswathi
On the occasion of the 100th birth anniversary of the legend, Nadasurabhi appropriately named this months concert as a tribute to the everlasting voice and the universal face of carnatic music. Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath, whose childhood photo on the lap of the the musical icon is going round in the social media, lived up to the theme with a clever selection and specially constructed pallavi for the occasion.
The concert itself had its ups and downs. The good things first. She sang an outstanding harikamboji. Wonderful , very well conceived and presented alapana. A rare kriti, from the MSS staple , brilliant neraval at the last line of the charanam – the full line to my pleasure- and a befitting kalpana swaras. To me that harikamboji is the highlight of the concert, barring a short slip towards the end of the swaras.
Secondly, the gauipant too was of superbly done. A very short and crisp alapana. Fabulous rounds of swaras. One seldom see artist taking up gaulipant and try to do some justice to the raga. That rounds of swaras, were top class.
Her post main was again pretty good. Submitting to a listeners request to sing bhavayami ( I guess he was by then was submerged in the spirit of the theme) she did a commendable job. So was the request for maithreem bhajata.
She sang the bhairavi varnam at the beginning and as in the old times, decided to sing a specially composed pallavi in the same raga (it was a bhairavi-chintAmaNi-bhairavi affair, though). Pallavi line isn't great, but she did try something for the occasion which is admirable. Long bhairavi alapana was decent, nothing spectacular to talk about. Tanam was better, but the attempt with bhairavi-mala tanam was not appealing at all, was it the speed that was spoiling the fun for me, not sure. She did trikalam, but again the execution wasn't smooth and flawless. No impact with the kalpanaswaras too. I cant pin-point the trouble areas. It could be the issues with holding breath, as she had many breaks of sequences, or the tempo which was a notch high through out the concert, or the pitch itself. Pallavi was a bit of letdown.
Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma was very pleasing. Some of his left side play was awesome. He was rock solid, even when the other two artists were slipping at times. He and Narayana Murthy played a beautiful tani avartanam.
I would rather cherish those gaulipant and harikamboji moments from this concert. They were worth the time and effort.


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Baba Tunde Olateji, FrontPageAfrica Correspondent
|Doukoue', Ivory Coast-
|Ivory Coast
Unaware of what was afoot, they came face to face with their 'liberators'--- men who have been hired to free them from the clutches of the dictatorial regime of President Laurent Gbagbo and to give them a new life; a new beginning and democracy that will never be. For many relatives of the victims, it was a colourful dream—a colourful liberation warmly articulated and supported by the international community in the name of democracy that never was! It produced pains, agonies, and deaths of scores of innocent women, children and the elderly burned alive with the charred bodies strewn across Duoukoue'.
But hours after their 'liberation', scores lay dead in the pools of blood. Their untimely killing is a telling example of what liberation means in African politics.
The mass killing has drawn ire from Ouattara supporters.
'Liberated irony'
Sadie Toure, who sold pastries at a local store just before the post-election violence blames the international community for allowing the bloodshed to get this far.
Said Toure: ''These innocent victims were alive until Doukoue' was 'liberated' by forces allegedly sympathetic to Alassane Ouattara, one of the protagonists in the power struggle in La Cote' d'Ivoire. Now that their gruesome deaths have presented a rather chilling example of what is still in the offing, what other evidence does the international community want to stop defending Ouattara's ill-fated claims to the presidency and what hope is there for those Ivoirians that do not support brazen his alliance with rebel forces to take state power at all cost?''
Toure says the victims were slaughtered; butchered and hacked in their droves in cold blood and made to pay for whatever sins the regime in Abidjan headed by President Gbagbo has committed for continuously holding onto state power.
Although far removed from the epic-center of power, poor and diseased these victims, their massacre in Doukoue' presents a rather precarious picture of the scale of terror and brutality associated with those who armed struggle as a means of installing Alassane Ouattara as President of Cote' d'Ivoire. In truth, the Doukoue' massacre clearly unmasks a new look into the inner workings of international politics and the grand designs of licensing instability, mayhem and murder.
A Gbagbo supporter who was an eyewitness to the massacre at Doukoue' said Cote' d'Ivoire is bleeding not because Ouattara was declared as winner of the presidential polls but because those who made such declaration decided to ignore and sidestep article 98 of the Ivorian Constitution which gives exclusive and instructive powers to the constitutional council not only to certify elections results but to make its decision binding and conclusive as to the outcomes of all elections results.
Ethnic cleansing vs. casualties
Those who have been murdered in Doukoue' had hoped to see a new day; a new leadership but that hope has been dashed by those who 'liberated' them from this earth into the abysmal paths of gruesome death in the name of freedom. Truly, they are freed but murdered in cold blood for reasons other than ethic cleansing and as casualties they are the prize of what Ouattara's presidency means.
It is still not clear how and why many people were killed by those who went to liberate them. But one thing that is clear is that, their deaths have truly exposed the deep ethic divisions, mistrusts and suspicions between rival forces over the presidency.
A senior Ivorian official and Gbagbo supporter, speaking after seeing the scale of the mayhem said: ''See by yourself the behaviour of the people of the man that Sarkozy, Obama and Ban ki moon wants as president of Cote d ivoire, you can see how they are violent and the language spoken in the movie is from Burkina Faso. This is what the international community wants for our country, actually they are broken houses, stealing all the goods of people, killing those who resist, I don t know how they will rule this country. This is what Ivorians wanted to avoid for the country, the international community will come after as they did in RWANDA to apologize with compassion but all these poor men and women will not be there to hear the hypocrisies of the international community. What a world are we building for our children and the future? Is this the democracy they are building in Africa? May GOD help us! Indeed, his comments underline the traumatic expericen of the Ivorian people and reveal an awful ot of the motive of Ouattara and his supporters.
Just how long will the blood thirsty campaign, mayhem and murder last to justify Ouattara's claims to the presidency is a question that only those in the international community who have licensed this reign of terror to remove President Laurent Gbagbo from power at all cost, can answer. In the meantime, just who the next batch of victims will be, we cannot say for sure.''
UN eyeing greater role
Meanwhile, as the fighting intensifies, the U.N. special envoy to the country Y.J. Choi, on Monday said snipers loyal to incumbent Gbagbo were firing directly at peacekeepers in the country prompting the UN to take a greater role in the crisis. "We are planning action, we can no longer condone (Gbagbo's forces) reckless and mindless attack on civilians and the United Nations blue helmets with heavy weapons," he told the BBC.
The UN envoy added that the 9,000 peacekeepers stationed in Ivory Coast don't have a mandate to remove Gbagbo from power but they are permitted to respond to military aggression with force.
Gbagbo refuses to step down despite international recognition that his rival Outtara won a November election meant to unite a country divided by civil war.
Forces loyal to Ouattara are said to be on the verge of launching a major assault on Gbagbo forces in Abidjan, the commercial capital of Ivory Coast. French military forces took control of the main airport after Paris said it was considering evacuating its citizens from the country.
The International Committee for the Red Cross announced Monday that at least 800 people were killed in the Ivorian town of Duekoue last week.
Duekoue is a strategic area because of its proximity to the cocoa-producing areas of the country. Ivory Coast is the world's largest cocoa producer.
The International Crisis Group said recently the conflict in Ivory Coast bore the hallmarks of civil war.Front Page Africa


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Forex commentator Jack Crooks thinks it's a possibility that the run up in oil prices reflects oils new place as the de facto monetary standard in global trade. I've noted before that a large percentage of oil price increases seems to be due to dollar weakness and that the best short term energy policy is stable money. Crooks takes it one step further essentially arguing that dollars are flowing into oil instead of other things, so the dollar's current weakness against other currencies is deceptive and a much bigger portion of the crude runup is due to Fed monetary policy. Wow, that was a long sentence. My interpretation of what he writes is this.
- The Fed has pumped up the money supply with essentially free money at 1% rates.
- That money had to go somewhere
- A lot of it has gone to consumer goods, often imported.
- For reasons of their own the exporting countries don't want too weak a dollar. (Perhaps because as he notes that the Fed is "the world's de facto central bank.")
- But the money has to go somewhere.
- The (consumer goods) exporting countries are using more oil to produce those goods.
- Oil has a certain supply that is actually relatively stable while the dollar supply chasing that stable supply is increasing.
- Oil prices are rising further than inflation figures or apparent dollar weakness account for because it's ultimately oil that's absorbing the dollars.
So, oil is evolving a role as a check on inflationary monetary policies. As the dollar isn't a stable standard of value, oil is. The major difference with gold is that the biggest nonmonetary uses of gold in the past left the gold intact. It was always possible to pull of the pinkie ring and toss it in the pot at the poker game. A bit harder to do that with the tank of gas you burned yesterday, the polymer trash bag you sent to the dump filled with used polymer packaging or the synthetic rubber that burned off your tires in the normal course of driving down the road.
The questions, to which we have not an answer, are: To what degree is this move in crude a monetary phenomenon? Sure, the Fed move was a catalyst for real growth. But how much of this move in "stuff", and not just crude oil, was money sloshing around in the system that found a convenient home and led to a self-feeding price rally with rationales attached to justify said rally along the way?
Thanks to Kevin for pointing me to the column.
More on oil on my site Financial Options including The Secret Way to Play Oil.


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For product availability, please select your "Ship to" state above.Got it, I'll ship to California
Ficklin Tinta Port
Winemaker Notes
Critical AcclaimAll Vintages
Responsible for the vast majority of American wine production, if California were a country, it would be the world's fourth largest wine-producing nation. The state's diverse terrain and microclimates allow for an incredible range of wine styles, and unlike tradition-bound Europe, experimentation is more than welcome here. Wineries range from tiny, family-owned boutiques to massive corporations, and price and production are equally varied. Plenty of inexpensive bulk wine is made in the Central Valley area, while Napa Valley is responsible for some of the world's most prestigious and expensive "cult" wines.
Each American Viticultural Area (AVA) and sub-AVA of has its own distinct personality, allowing California to produce wine of every fashion: from bone dry to unctuously sweet, still to sparkling, light and fresh to rich and full-bodied. In the Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc dominate vineyard acreage. Sonoma County is best known for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. The Central Coast has carved out a niche with Rhône Blends blends based on Grenache and Syrah, while Mendocino has found success with cool climate varieties such as Pinot noir, Riesling and Gewürztraminer. With all the diversity that California has to offer, any wine lover will find something to get excited about here.
Blended from the most important red grapes of the Douro Valley, Port is the famous fortified wine from Portugal. It is based on the Touriga Nacional grape with over 80 other varieties approved for use in the blend. However, typically about four other varieties play a major role: Tinta Barroca, Tinta Cão, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo) and Touriga Francesa. Other wine regions of the world can produce fortified wine of a similar style from the same grapes or other grapes.
There are numerous styles of Port: Ruby, Tawny, Vintage, LBV, White, Colheita, and a few unusual others.
Ruby ports usually pack the most value and are ready to drink once bottled. Typical characteristics are ripe cherry and blackberry flavors with stewed plums, cocoa and dates.
Tawny ports are "tawny" in color and have flavors of toffee, caramel, toasted pecans, vanilla, dried apricot, citrus peel, green figs and roasted espresso. The age designation on a Tawny Port indicates the average vintage age of the grapes in the bottle. These are not intended to be aged once bottled.
When Port is made with high quality grapes selected from a single notable vintage, it is called Vintage Port. Some of the best recent vintages are 2016, 2011, 2007, 2003, 2000, 1997 and 1994. Vintage Ports are complex and full-bodied with many flavors possible: concentrated blackberry, black cherry, raspberry and spice, smoke, coffee and chocolate. Vintage ports tend to improve in the bottle up to approximately 30 years from the vintage.
LBV Port comes from a single-vintage Ruby Port and may spend six years in the barrel before being bottled. These are ready to drink upon release. Serve most Ports slightly chilled at around 55-65°F.


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New method for advanced aluminium welding
Aluminium is a lightweight material which is suitable for use in everything from cars to boats and planes. However, one of the problems of this material is that it is hard to join, as traditional welding, for example, does not work. Now researchers from the Departments of Automatic Control and Computer Science at LTH are taking part in the joint European project, FlexiFab, which is developing a system for friction welding with industrial robots.
The aim is to enable the system to join parts of complex structures with high precision and to facilitate the use of aluminium constructions in the European transport sector.
When two metal plates are fastened together, a conical friction tool is used to loosen material from one plate and mix it with material from the other, and vice versa. Thus the metal heats up, but not to the extent that it melts. The procedure can be compared with a mechanical mixing; this entails the seam between the plates being filled in, which in turn fastens the plates together.
Friction welding has so far required very strong processing power, but a new method developed by a project partner, TWI, the first to develop friction welding in the early 90s, has opened up new opportunities to use industrial robots instead of large and expensive specialised machinery.
Using relatively pliable robots does, however, make high demands on automatic control in order to achieve the precision required; it is mainly on this aspect that LTH will focus its efforts.
"The project will eventually enable even difficult aluminium alloys to be joined more effectively and cheaply than today. This facilitates the use of light constructions within the transport sector which in turn reduces fuel consumption. The project is also to enable welders to have a more favourable work environment", says Anders Robertsson, professor at the Department of Automatic Control at LTH.
The project consortium consists of eleven different agents and is coordinated by the European welding federation, EWF.
Anders Frick


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You are probably well aware that my template is a work-in-progress. I'm not responsible for where the links on the borders of this page may take you, so beware.
Now, to the conversation. Some college kids have college jobs that require them to go to communities to sell educational books and CD. One such student came to my back door last week. The conversation went something like this.
Him: Hi. I'm so-and-so. Do you have a few minutes?
Me: No.
Him: I only have 5 minutes and I get credit for showing this to you.
Me: Whatever. Go ahead. I'm not buying anything, though.
Him: (Explains how wonderful these books are. How could my child possibly be successful without the handiness of these books?)
Me: So...all the information is basically handed to him instead of him having to research for the answer himself?
Him: It will save your child so much time. Think of how much his grades will improve if he can spend less time searching for the answer!
Me: My son is a straight-A student. I'm not worried about his grades improving.
Him: Well, we have a CD version as well. It's only $99.00. (Explains how wonderful the CDs are.) Do you think your kids would like them?
Me: They're fine, but I'm not buying anything.
Him: Is the $99.00 price the problem?
Me: No, I can afford $99.00.
Him: We allow the payment the be broken down into three payments of $33.00, if that helps you out. Many families in this community have taken advantage of that because it allows them to spread the payments out to make it more affordable. What do you think of that?
Me: What do I think of THAT? I think if someone needs to put these on a payment plan in order to afford them, the last thing they need to be buying are your CDs.
Him: Heh. Ok, then. Thanks for your time.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
This Template and Conversation at my Back Door
You are probably well aware that my template is a work-in-progress. I'm not responsible for where the links on the borders of this page may take you, so beware.
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 9:53 PM
Friday, June 27, 2008
Working and Taxes
Too good not to share.
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 12:20 PM
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 1:01 PM
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Is there a bigger money waster out there than magazine subscriptions? Seriously, what can you find in that magazine that you can't find online somewhere for absolutely free? Share with us how many magazine subscriptions you have and how much money you spend a year on them. And which magazines they are. If you subscribe to the Nat'l Enq, feel free to comment anonymously. I would if I were you.
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 12:02 PM
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
I know it stinks. Don't worry, it's temporary...
There is a new quiz over there but you need to scroll down to see it. Don't leave without submitting your answer.
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 1:02 PM
Peter Griffin, Motley Crue, and Sue
Immediately after shutting down my laptop last night, I realized the problem with this blog. I need humor, and this blog had turned so…well…serious.
I'm still reading financial and personal development books and I'll share those tidbits with you now and then. I'll definitely keep you updated on our debt reduction plan and you'll be the third people to know when we become debt free. But this blog is going back to the REAL me. As in…
We'll be making fun of luvthebearcats' height.
We'll keep wandering over to momof4greatkids to see if she's ever going to post another entry.
We'll be pondoring deep thoughts of Peter Griffin.
We'll be posting pictures. (Here's a lesson, JG. Never accidentally email pictures of yourself to someone who has a blog.)
I'll tell you about things I'm TIVO-ing, like when Motley Crue was on Larry King Live the other night. In case you are not aware, Nikki Sixx is the most beautiful person in the music industry.
And stuff like that. So hang around. We're going to have flippin' fun time because it's my blog and I can do whatever I want to do! GOSH! (bonus points for you if you read that last sentence using the right tone of voice…)
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 12:07 PM
Monday, June 23, 2008
It's Different Now
I having trouble with the whole blog thing. Ever since Dad died, this blog has seemed so unimportant. Over the past three months, my priorities have been thrown up into the air and came down to land in a different place. I mean, you should see the exercising I'm doing, the whole grains I'm eating, and most importantly, the family time I'm doing. Life is a bit different. This blog is pretty far down on the list of "important things".
For awhile I was reading only books about death, grief, Heaven, near-death experiences, etc. I think it was necessary for me to do that, but now I'm done focusing on Dad's actual death and am celebrating his life and the values he taught me. I know I'm doing what he would want me to do - be happy and make sure my kids are happy.
I'm currently reading Pivot, by Dr. Alan Zimmerman. It's amazing, and could be life-changing for some readers. The book is all about how to change your attitude so that you can be happy and successful. Just a simple thing like having a positive attitude can totally change your life. If you voice negativity and listen to negativity, your attitude will also be negative. What kind of life do you think you'll have if you fill it up with negative thoughts?
I plan my next book to be back to finances, so hopefully those money-related posts will come back into my head and this blog can get back to normal. For now, it is what it is.
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 10:53 PM
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Happy 40th Birthday, Pool Boy!
Dear Pool Boy –
I failed to mention you on my Father's Day blog post. Thank you for knowing that I needed to dedicate that one to my own Dad this year.
Since June 20 is a big birthday for you, I'll dedicate this post to you and let you know how much you are appreciated as a father.
I think finding qualities you want for a spouse is just as important as finding qualities you want in a father for your kids. I always knew you would be excellent for both roles.
I love the fact that I'm married to a teacher. This has allowed you to be with the kids every summer since they've been born. I know there were rough years in there when you were dealing with a 9-month old baby and a 3-year-old boy. Yikes! That could not have been easy and there are many men who would not have done this. Our boys are so lucky that you took on this job with very little complaining. And now, even though there are days filled with television, no bathing and McDonalds, our boys are still lucky to be with you for the summer.
I appreciate the lessons the boys are learning from you. They have witnessed what a hard worker you are and have hopefully learned what it takes to be successful. Due to your desire to help people, they are seeing how important it is to volunteer your time and how rewarding it can be. You have volunteered for almost every sport they've been involved with and NOT because you are a helicoptor parent – you do it because you know how important it is to all the kids involved, not just your own.
You are teaching our boys how important family time is. You never balk at spending time with the boys and will always gladly give up "adult time" to hang out with the two of them.
Our boys are learning how to have fun thanks to you. They know it's ok to fart and burp even though it makes their Mom mad - they know Dad will still laugh with them. They know "naughty words" and giggle like crazy when they hear them, yet know very well that they are never allowed to say them. They have learned that it's ok to eat junk food, even right before a meal. They have learned to not be uptight and that it's ok to sometimes not follow the rules, much to my dismay…
You are loved. You are appreciated. We are very lucky to have you in our family.
Hugs –
Me, Three and Green
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 4:26 PM
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Time to Regroup!
Soooo, we have a problem. The green3 family is currently not "living like no one else so we can live like no one else."
We are eating out, going to Wal-Mart and Lowe's, and buying a lot of stuff we don't need. Our checkbook reflects this, as does our debt balance which has stood still for the past 6 weeks. I hate, HATE, not paying down the debt rapidly.
As I look at our calendar for the next few weeks, the things on there will all cost money. The good thing is, these things are not necessary. Some things may have to be cut because I refuse to spend every penny we make. We just don't live that way anymore (except for the past few weeks!).
Am I cheap? No. Am I determined to get to a point where money is no longer a concern? As fast as possible.
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 12:30 PM
Monday, June 16, 2008
Water, Water Everywhere
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 6:08 PM
What Happens in May, Stays in May
Or at least I hope so. Very little extra money, like only $150 or so, was sent toward our debt in May. When you throw a $1700 dog surgery in there it tends to put a dent in your budget. We were determined not to pull any money out of our savings account to pay for Buster's surgery so we used our "mattress money" instead. Luckily I had set some additional money aside to buy a new mattress set but hadn't purchased it yet. Mattresses can wait. Torn ACLs, from what the vet tells me, cannot.
Will June treat us any better? We went on vacation, but already had all of that money set aside so that doesn't affect this month's budget. But there's Father's Day. Then there is PB's birthday. And our town's celebration. Eh...keep those expenses low, Green3 family! Your mother/wife will go into convulsions if we skip sending big checks to debt two months in a row!
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 12:44 PM
Sunday, June 15, 2008
The First Father's Day
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 11:06 PM
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
There's Nothing Quite Like Opening A Suitcase Full of Ocean-y Swimsuits
We landed in Des Moines, jumped in the car, and headed straight for Green's baseball game. I'm finally able to sit down and start working on pictures. Here are a few...
Are these three people related?
And of course, the Yaris. Doesn't it resemble Mr. Incredible's vehicle? Our rental car provided MANY laughs throughout the trip!
If Flickr ever cooperates with me, I'll link you to the rest of the pics.
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 10:41 PM
Sunday, June 08, 2008
And Now This
I know I haven't been keeping you updated like I should have been. Tonight was the night I was going to download my camera and bring you up to date. I was going to tell you how awesome it was for all of us to be together and how much fun we were having. I was going to let you know that Luke and Emily were now here and we were all able to spend a few days not thinking about grief, horror, high blood pressure and heart attacks.
But then we got the phone call. Our friend, "MikeSam", died tonight of an apparent heart attack. He's around our age. OUR age. He has two little boys who aren't even in school yet. He has the sweetest wife. Mike was one of the friendliest guys I've ever met.
I can't imagine the horror. I know how hard it was for me to lose my Dad. That doesn't even compare to what L and the boys are facing. I can't imagine. I simply cannot imagine.
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 10:53 PM
Friday, June 06, 2008
Thursday Daytona
We had a full day on Thursday! The four of us went to Daytona Speedway. We went through Daytona USA and Pool Boy did a ride-along around the track at 185 mph!
Here are the boys patiently waiting for PB to get done. If it's too loud, it helps to hide behind the garbage can.
PB suited up and ready to go.
Isn't it required to play mini-golf on all vacations? Seems to be the case for us.
Tomorrow (Sat) we get up at the crack of dawn and head back to Orlando for a day at EPCOT. But the best part is that Luke and Emily will finally be joining us!
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 8:21 AM
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Day One...Day Tona
And then there's this. Pool Boy was in charge of lathering Three up with sunscreen for a full day at the beach. Unfortunately none of the sunscreen made it to his back...
I'll leave you with a good picture of Andy and the boys right before a wild shufflboard game.
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 9:59 PM
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
We Made It!
We arrived in Orlando tonight, with Andy following on a different flight shortly afterwards. I already have some humorous stories to share with you. But they HAVE to come with pictures, so it won't be happening tonight.
I leave you with one hint: The Incredibles.
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 11:11 PM
And......we're off!
Losing a family member can rock a family to its core. These past few months have been a struggle, to say the least. Today we are temporarily leaving it all behind and traveling to warm and sunny FLORIDA!
The whole family is going -us, my mom, my brothers, and my brother's girlfriend E. There will be a horrible void in the group, but we are determined to have fun. We will be in Daytona for three days, then Orlando for three days.
I imagine there will be many family members and friends who will be tracking our trip via this blog. I'm taking all of the necessary technology along to provide that to you, but I make no guarantees!
Posted by Heidi @ Trendy Dollar at 10:21 AM


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Oh boy. Just when I didn't think the saga of troubled Teen Mom star Amber Portwood could get crazier, it did. Boy did it ever! Her boyfriend, Gary Shirley, wants Amber sprung from her five-year jail sentence.
And who, pray tell, does Gary think should come in on his white steed to rescue his fair maiden? None other than President Barack Obama himself. Come on, you know you want to know more.
I'm not sure whether Gary was drunk or just being an idiot, but the father of Amber's young daughter Leah actually took to Twitter the other day with a request for the commander in chief:
Hey @BarackObama I voted for you. Can you get Amber out of prison? Please. Well have dinner with you.
Hey, now at least he'll buy him dinner. I mean, that really is the least you can do if the president lets your lazy, drug addict girlfriend out of jail four and a half years early, isn't it? Don't answer that ...
I feel bad for Gary. He's parenting all alone right now (rumor has it we'll even see Amber give up her legal rights to Leah in an upcoming episode of Teen Mom). And the reports that Amber is depressed in prison are both not terribly surprising (ahem, it's prison, not a spa) and probably weighing on him. The fact that he sent out her prison address, asking for other people to help him cheer her up is evidence enough of that.
But let's get real for a second here. Amber not only chose prison over finishing out her rehab, but she made a long, long line of mistakes that got her there. From beating up Gary himself (in front of Leah!) to abusing drugs to driving under the influence, she's made it clear she deserves to be there.
Instead of begging for ridiculous pardons from the president, maybe Gary should be making sure Amber sits in prison and thinks long and hard about what got her there.
What do you think of this plea for a presidential pardon?
Image via MTV


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Mein Kampf emerging from Germany's shadows
A review of the best commentary on and around the world...
Today's must-read
Adolf Hitler's manifesto, Mein Kampf (My Struggle), has not been published in Germany since the end of World War Two. This may change when the book's copyright - currently held by the state of Bavaria - expires at the end of 2015, however.
The prospect has led Germans to debate whether the book should become more readily available to the public or continue to exist only on the internet and the black market.
Last month interior ministers of 16 German states pledged to do all they could to prevent anyone from printing the work. They said they will ask the federal prosecutor general to investigate whether they could charge publishers with violating the nation's sedition laws.
According to Peter Ross Range, former diplomatic correspondent for US News & World Report, such a strategy is misguided.
"The inoculation of a younger generation against the Nazi bacillus is better served by open confrontation with Hitler's words than by keeping his reviled tract in the shadows of illegality," he writes in the New York Times.
While circulating copies of Hitler's work within Germany would be "sensational", he says, it would also remove the mystique created by the book's suppression.
"This publishing event will shape contemporary politics and feed Germany's deep-rooted postwar pacifism," he argues.
Fears in Germany that publication will be a boon to the nation's pseudo-Nazis are misguided, he says, as their party only polls around 1%, compared to nearly 25% in neighbouring France (where the work can be purchased).
The book should be available and studied in its historical context, he concludes, serving as a cautionary document for the German people.
President Obama writes op-ed for Haaretz - "Peace is possible", says US President Barack Obama in an opinion piece published by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. He writes that it will require "difficult choices" on the part of Israelis and Palestinians, however.
"The only solution is a democratic, Jewish state living side-by-side in peace and security with a viable, independent Palestinian state," he continues.
Without "a true and living peace that exists not just in the plans of leaders, but in the hearts of all Israelis and Palestinians", Israel will never be secure, he says. Throughout the negotiating process, he concludes, the US will continue to be Israel's first, oldest and strongest friend.
Obama's second chance - Thanks to Chinese President Xi Jingping's "ham-handed" efforts to project power in Asia, writes Bloomberg View's William Pesek, the US has another opportunity to complete its Asian pivot and strengthen its alliances in the region.
In Vietnam, the Philippines, South Korea, Japan and even Hong Kong, he writes, "Xi's overbearing ways are giving Obama a second wind".
The US must dedicate more resources to Asia to capitalise on this situation, he says. "What Asian nations really want to see from the US are signs of commitment to Asia's long-term growth and development," he writes.
An improving army - Recent successful operations by the Ukrainian military are a sign that the prospects for the nation's long-term stability could be improving, writes Walter Russell Mead in the American Interest.
"War is the mother of states, and the efforts required to create and sustain a winning army deepen the capabilities that Ukraine's authorities will need if they are serious about state-building," he writes.
He cautions that Ukraine is not out of danger yet, however. The country still relies heavily on privately sponsored militias, which could undermine centralised national authority.
Debt and Wall Street politics - The recent Argentine debt crisis didn't occur because the nation refused to heed the advice of the International Monetary Fund, writes Farid Kahhat in America Economia (translated by WorldCrunch).
The trouble, he says, is the result of a US judicial system that relies on "legal norms" that favour the country's finance and insurance industries. He implies that this is why the US Supreme Court ruled on 16 June that the Argentine government must pay $1.3b (£760,000) to US bondholders who had refused to agree to a debt restructuring plan.
US financial and insurance corporations have growing influence on US legislative policy thanks to their lobbying efforts, he contends, and "Argentina may be paying the price".
BBC Monitoring's quotes of the day
Afghanistan newspaper editors weigh in as tensions remain high after the Independent Election Commission announced the preliminary results of the presidential election second round.
"If the [election] commission fails to make the electoral process transparent and in the end declares the final results in favour of one of the candidates, there will be unpleasant situation in the country."- Editorial in Afghan daily Arman-e Melli.
"We have repeatedly said that the separation of clean votes from dirty votes can save democracy in the country." - Editorial in Hasht-e Sobh.
"The announcement of the election results has changed the situation and further complicated the electoral deadlock." - Editorial in Mandegar.
Have you found an interesting opinion piece about global issues that we missed? Share it with us via email at echochambers (at) bbc.co.uk.


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Thursday, December 30, 2010
On It
Apparently, my new numbered comments code is still reeking havoc on this blog. I'm removing it and trying a different way of numbering comments so hit up the comments section tonight or e-mail me to let me know if I'm fixing the problem or not. Until I find the resolution I'm postponing my next contests, but only for a bit. In the meantime, e-mail me your comments about Mello Velo bicycle seat covers and I'll proceed with randomly choosing the winners. Okay everybody, let's all cross our fingers as I tinker with this blog.
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