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May 2016

From Popcorn to Pinot Noir:

The Evolution of Movie Theatre Concessions

Entertainment / Megaplex Theatres /

From Popcorn to Pinot: The Evolution of Movie Theatre Concessions

Today’s theatre operators understand that people go to the movies for more than just the content of a film. Going to the movies has become an experience, and that experience has come to include an ever-growing variety of food and beverage options. It’s therefore surprising that concessions, while now an established and vital component of the health of the industry and the guest experience, were once an afterthought at best.

In this timeline, we take a look at the evolution of concessions at the movies, from the industry’s initial rejection of concessions altogether to today’s revenue-generating mainstay of the moviegoing experience.

theater concessions timeline

“Moving pictures” grew in popularity and availability in the early 1900s and theatres began to pop up around the country to capitalize on this growing industry. Nickelodeons were the first generation of theatre–a small auditorium used to host both films and live vaudeville shows. The “nickelodeon” moniker comes from a combination of the “nickel” attendance cost and the “Odeon,” a smaller, acoustically-designed theatre for musical and literary performances in ancient Greece.

Studios developed and the short films became feature films. This fueled a shift from small nickelodeons into movie palaces during the 1910s. Management at both nickelodeons and movie palaces avoided food and drink because of the mess created. Vendors would attempt to sell popcorn and peanuts in the aisles, similar to what we experience at sporting events today. There were also many candy shops located in close proximity to the theatres so the food and drink still easily found its way into the theaters.

Theatre operators eventually realized the demand for food and drink as part of the customer experience. As a way to monetize this demand during the Great Depression, many theatres would lease space in their lobby to vendors. Eventually, the concession stand became integrated into the design of newly built theatres in the 1930s.

The growth in popularity of candy stalled a bit during the sugar rationing of World War II, but this opened the door for a growth in the popularity of popcorn, now considered a staple of the movie industry. Today, popcorn is such an essential part of the moviegoing experience that it has come to symbolize the movie industry itself.
When concessions were recognized as not only integral to the customer experience but also the most profitable area of operations, theatre operators focused on promoting concession sales. From 1948 to 1956, concession sales were forty times higher, even with theatre attendance declining during this period.

The intermission was created in part to provide the audience a chance to go to the concession stand to refill popcorn and drinks. In addition, ads during intermissions were geared at reminding viewers of the snacks available.
Today, we see a wide variety of ways in which food and drink are offered at the movie theatre. Some operators have implemented self-serve environments similar to browsing the aisles of a convenience store, while others offer in-theatre dining service in which your food is brought to your seat, ensuring you don’t miss any of your movie.

In perhaps one of the most significant shifts in theatre food and beverage is the introduction of alcoholic beverages, with many theatres now serving alcohol both at traditional concession stands and at bar lounges in their lobbies. Considering that many theatre patrons dine out immediately before or after attending a film, theatre operators are giving guests an incentive to choose their theatre as a one-stop location for these social activities.

The results have been impressive, with leading operators reporting record-setting revenue growth in concessions. AMC reported a record $4.62 in concessions revenue per patron for 2015, and Regal reported record concession per cap in each of 2015’s quarters, with the highest quarterly concession growth rate in their history from Q3 to Q4 2015.

The shift toward enhancing the customer experience through food and beverage options has been established, and will continue to evolve as more theatres interpret the lucrative progression in distinctive ways that suit the demands of the modern audience.

In our next Insight Center article on this topic, we’ll take a look at the variety of concession designs and expanded food and beverage offerings that are driving this industry transformation, including inspired menus, craft cocktails, and streamlined wait service.

AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (2016). AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. Announces Record Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2015 Results [Press Release]. Retrieved from 71292

Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (2016). Cinemark Holdings, Inc. Reports Record Revenues of $707.2 Million and Adjusted EBITDA of $168.4 Million for Q4 2015 [Press Release]. Retrieved from

Pellettieri, Jill. (2007, June 26). Make It a Large for a Quarter More? Slate. Retrieved from

Regal Entertainment Group. (2016). Form 10-K (2015 Annual Report). Retrieved from

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Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Retiring Products (Items Added)

Last week, I was able to see and hold new Close to My Heart product in my own two hands!  I got to craft away with some of it and have new product bundles ordered and on their way to my home as I type! (One of many benefits of being a consultant!  You get to order new product one month ahead of time AND if you go to Convention you get to see and order it even sooner!)  I'm excited to be able to share the new with you but first.... out with the old to make room for the new!

There are several soon-to-be oldies but goodies on the Retiring List.  You are going to want to snag them while they are still available as they are on a first come first served basis!  This retire list came out a few weeks ago but since Convention and the announcement of new product more has been added to the Retiring List!

The additions to the Retiring List include: current Base & Bling chains and pendants, select cardstock and inks, and our four current Cricut Collections

Base & Bling: The current colors will not be available in the new Annual Idea Book.  If antiqued silver or antiqued gold is some of your favorite you want to swing over to my Online Site and get yours now!

Cardstock & Inks: We are getting 7 NEW colors!! Wow! That means there are 7 colors retiring.  All of the colors that are retiring are part of the Enchantment color palette.  You can order cardstock as the enchantment pack or color specific.  Also, if one or more of these happen to be your favorite ink color you want to be sure to get the ink pack and the reinker for future use!

Colors that are retiring are:
Smokey Plum
Outdoor Denim
Indian Corn Blue
Ponderosa Pine
Autumn Terracotta
Barn Red

Cricut Collections: WHAT?! Gone??? No. Not exactly. :)  These collections are being revamped to include colored card stock in place of the dimensional elements, which requires a change in item number.  Through August 31st you can choose to order the "older version" of the Cricut Collections that would include the dimensional elements.  Beginning on September 1st the "new version" of the Cricut Collections will include cardstock sets in place of the dimensional elements.  Same Cricut Cartridges!  Same coordinating stamp sets (3 of them!)!  These collections are truly unique they are packed full of images and fonts!

CTMH Cricut Collections: Artfully Sent (Top Left), Artbooking (Top Right)
Artiste (Bottom Left), Art Philosophy (Bottom Right)

This is exciting... Did you hear yet??? There is a NEW Cricut Cartridge available in the New Annual Idea Book?? True story! AND even better it is going to release early! The Aristry Collection will be available August 1st from me!!

Act quickly friends all these goodies will be scooped up quickly!  My Online Site ( is always open! Contact me if you have any questions or are looking for something and cannot find it!

Happy Crafting!

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Tuesday, November 29, 2016

6 months already?!

How can the girls be 6 months?! It feels like they were just born a few weeks ago. They didn't get the memo that since they are my last babies they are supposed to stay babies. Tabitha is sitting up on her own and is so full of smiles. Phoebe is rolling everywhere and wants to touch and pick up anything she can get her hands on. They are adored by their brothers and the feeling is mutual.

Friday, November 11, 2016

A Few New Things

I have fallen really, really behind on blogging. It's a shame because it was an easy way to keep track of the boys' milestones. I'll try to be better but no promises because I am still unpacking and these two and their 3 brothers keep me very busy.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Start of the school year

This year was the first year all three boys went to school. Jonah started the first grade and Simon and Elliott started preschool. They originally started 3 full-time days/week but it was way too much for them and it felt silly to be paying that much when I was sitting at home without them. Now they go to a much smaller preschool 2 days/week for 2 1/2 hours. They are learning and bring home a lot of projects.

Jonah school year is...going. We knew it would be a little bit of a transition leaving the school we loved in Cincinnati. We moved to the town we did because the school district is ranked as one of the top in the state. I am not impressed. Jonah is bored. Everything they are doing he did in kindergarten. At the beginning of the year he tested at a 2nd grade reading level and the one thing I am happy about is that the books they send home are more appropriate for him than books other 1st graders would be reading. However it is hard to get him to read things that don't interest him. One book was about Westminster and was so dry and a very weird choice for a 7 year old. He loves library time and usually chooses books about animals (mostly birds). Last year he always checked out a Curious George book for Simon. Recess is 15 minutes. Ridiculous. He goes to before and after school care on Mondays and Fridays because I usually work Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. He really likes the activities there excluding the sports. His interest in art continues to grow and he has the neatest handwriting.

Simon loves preschool which is not surprising because he begged to go all last year. His coloring and even drawing amaze me. Maybe because I still think of him as so little but I'm in awe of how well he draws for a 3 year old. His favorite color is blue and I probably hear 10 times a day "Blue is my color!" from him. He doesn't realize it but blue has always been his color. When the boys were born we assigned them colors to keep track of what belonged to which boy. Simon is blue, Elliott is green and Jonah is red.

Elliott doesn't usually want to go to preschool but has a good time when he is there. He is a challenging 3 year old and his favorite word is no. I think his teacher made up the sad face, happy face discipline system just for him. He has taken an interest in letters and their sounds and both he and Simon like to point out letters they know on signs. Their favorites are the letters in their names. He likes to color, mostly on the walls, floor and furniture.

 Here are some pictures of the boys and their first day of school signs. They uploaded out of order but you know who is who. I realized later that Elliott's name was spelled incorrectly. Oh and Simon made sure to tell me he wanted to be a nice nurse and not a mean nurse. I am not sure where that came from. Jonah still wavers daily between engineer and artist. He likes to construct (and plan) but he also likes to draw. I suggested architecture but he hasn't come around yet.

Friday, September 4, 2015

First trip to the beach in Texas

The last 2 months have just flown by but at the same time we also feel like we've been here forever. We had a week and half to unpack the house when we arrived before we started work. Since then I have been working 4 or 5 days every week and Matt has been working 5 days a week. Going from being home everyday with the kids to being gone 14 hours a day was very hard. I loved my new job and it was very exciting and fulfilling but arranging childcare was stressful and the kids were spending more time with the nanny than either of us. I found a part time nights position that I started 2 weeks ago but have been doing orientation full time until this week. I don't like working nights and weekends but it means I get to be home with the kids more.

That's a quick update. I am going to try to get caught up on the last 2 months. Here are some pictures from our first trip to the beach. We're about 45 minutes from the Gulf of Mexico. The boys loved it especially Jonah. We haven't had a chance to get back since that day but hope to soon.

Monday, June 22, 2015

We're back!

Back on the blog that is. Since we're headed away from family once again I need to get serious about reviving the blog. We left for Texas this morning and are spending the night about 5 hours from our new home in Houston. The kids did amazing on the drive although we'll see how the night goes since they sat in the car most of they day. Here are some pictures of the boys from about a month ago and yesterday.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Matt had Christmas Eve off work through that Monday so we had a 4 day weekend which made it possible to spread out our Christmas celebrations. It was a relaxing few days which was so nice after being away for so long. The boys were spoiled and there are still gifts we haven't opened. I'm drawing a blank on anything noteworthy about our holiday. We were able to meet up with Laura and Matt at a children's museum in Illinois which was unplanned bonus. Here are a few recent pictures.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

The next step

Two posts in one day?! I desperately need to get caught up. We're skipping forward a bit and will go back and cover Christmas but in case everyone had not heard, we'll be moving in June for Matt to do a pediatric interventional radiology fellowship. He had three interviews (Little Rock, Pittsburgh and Houston) and three offers. It was a tough decision because everyone at Little Rock was so, so nice and it would have been a great place to live. Ultimately we decided on Houston because they have a much larger volume and Matt would get to see so much more. Here is our picture announcing the move. This was as good as I could get before Elliott melted down. That is what Jonah does when I tell him to look at the camera.


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Tuesday, January 12, 2010

trying something new....and living through it.

I do not make bread.
I have tried. I have failed.
I have made rolls flatter than pancakes.
Loaves of bread hard as rocks.
But I love bread.
I wouldn't give up.
I always love to try new things, and decided that this year, 2010, I would conquer bread.

And I think, I finally did.

Garlic and Rosemary Artisan Bread

  • 1 cup evaporated milk
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
  • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

I cheated, and mixed the dough in a bread maker, let it rise once. Punched it down (don't I sound professional!) and then shaped it and let it raise again. Brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with coarse salt, and then baked at 375° for about 45 min.

It's gone.

banananutmeg said...

i will be making this.

the crew said...

Looks and sounds fantastic!

Hillary N said...

me and yeast have battled in the past, but I did manage to make a mouth-watering cinnamon roll from scratch this holiday season, so I won over yeast this time...I would love to challenge my frothy opponent in this recipe, sounds delish!..

Angie said...

Sounds good. I have been yeast challenged my whole life. I have decided it's a gift one is born with, however, I have found a sourdough recipe that even I can't mess up and that's saying a lot.... It's from the Better Homes and Garden red and white cookbook. Love bread!

lisset said...

had my fair share of fear towards bread making for a long while, too. but my mom is a pro, she taught me some skills. love me some fresh baked bread.

Carin said...

Brandon and Kassidi Bridge said...

Oo yum, that looks amazing!

Claire said...

was talking to someone today about bread over lunch.

might just need to keep kneading myself.

Chocolate Shavings said...

That bread sounds delicious!

gram said...

looks good!..that's the kind of bread your uncle Dale makes... nothing smells better than baking bread... unless it's chocolate cake... p.s. keep your yeast in the fridge..

Mountain Light Photography said...

try this recipe for an EASY, NO FAIL bread...

Maureen said...

check out my post on French Bread, I have now made it twice, I too am not a bread maker but this was the easiest and best one I have found..Im going to try yours too..good luck.

Shannon said...

Mmm bread. I'm so impressed! I too cannot seem to bake bread. I am a wizard (if I do say so myself) with sweets and even sweet breads, but bread and rolls just don't like me. This looks and sounds delicious though. Perhaps I'll give yeast another try. :)

katrina said...

great work -- the break looks delicious!

Rachel said...

I found your website through TasteSpotting and I'm so glad I did! It's beautiful and fills me with love and warm feelings. Thank you!

dave, catie, and baby "b" said...

i will most definitely
try this.

love your new blog.

saw a cute
magnet of
a little red house,
totally reminded me
of your sweet little bloggy.

catie p.

thislovelycity said...

What a beautiful blog! I've followed your photography, but I just found The Little Red House!

I MUST try this. Funny because I was telling my husband last night how much I love rosemary bread + how I want to make it soon. Now I can! XO!

Brittany said...

I think today you have changed my life. I woke up this morning looked at your blog and said to myself, "Today is the day I make bread". It is AMAZING! I love it. I did it! and it was amazing with dinner! Thank you!

P.S. I know that we have never met, but I do feel like we are friends since you are friends with my 2 besties. I feel a little left out not being apart of your other blog. Can I be invited? You don't have to invite me if you would rather not.

Thanks again for the bread recipe. I feel like a new woman!

Cooking Rookie said...

mmmm....this bread looks delish!

Caper Away said...

My bread making skills are laughable but I've promised myself that I won't give up. I would love to try this recipe. Can you share the name/brand/type of yeast you used? Did you use bread machine yeast?


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Thursday, 17 March 2016

Hi Pinkies...

We had an amazing number of fabulous entrants for our 'For a Special Lady' challenge...  it seems we all have very special ladies in our lives!  Thank you to all that entered - we do love seeing your wonderful work, but then we have to choose our Perfect Pinkies...  so here's what we decided on this time... (in no particular order of course)

#19 Christine Craig

#28 Amanda A

#38 LalkyGirl

Here's your Perfect Pinkie Badge ladies...

And now for the randomly picked winner of the fabulous £10 voucher from our generous sponsor - Dies To Die For.... and it's......

(could you please contact us by emailing inthepink.challenge@googlemail.com or use the email button on our sidebar so we can arrange to get your prize to you)

If you haven't already seen Dies to Die For - you're in for a treat if you click on the logo above - such a tremendous stock of wonderful dies and stamps - you're sure to come away with something you like!

We'll be back later with another fabbie challenge - so watch this space!

Big hugs
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  1. Thank you so much for choosing my card as one of the perfect pinkies :)

  2. Many thanks for the honor of a top pick..
    gorgeous Pink DT inspirations ladies..congrats to the all winners..

    smiles Christine x

  3. Thank you for naming me as a Perfect Pinkie! Congratulations to all the winners. You have a very talented DT and I always find a lot of inspiration here. Cathy x

  4. Thanks so much for choosing me as the winner I am so happy
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We'd love you to say hello when you enter.. we can't wait to see your fabulous creations!

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Wednesday, 31 December 2008

Christmas spirit

In the hinterland between Christmas and New Year, I went, today, for a walk in the Howgills (the Lake District itself is as busy now as it is for August bank holiday and thus best avoided). On easy ground and with no navigational issues I found myself wondering what the best way is to approach the Christmas holiday period. As a child, I recall, it had a very particular resonance, independent of either religious or secular mysticism. There was a specific and exciting ambience and, even if the prospect of being given presents was part of the cause of this mood, it certainly wasn’t its object. The odd thing is that I cannot now recall what the mood was, what it took the time to be ‘about’ (not, of course, that it was literally about anything).

(2008 having been such a lamentable year for me for reading fiction I’ve resolved – a little crassly – simply to read a Dance to the Music of Time in 2009. Surely such a simple project will work! Already one feature of the book series is striking. It is realist but it starts in 1921 and continues to the 1970s with the same degree of access to the details of the time. Aspects of the narrator’s school-life, for example, are portrayed – unbelievably – with infinite and unproblematic access to their mood. Does anyone have such memory?)

One possible clue as to how to approach the season is something I’ve been struck by increasingly this year: the false ring of being wished a good Christmas on, say, Christmas Eve by people one might well see within a few days. Such wishing seems to compress a weight of expectation onto a single day and a single perspective: such as a solitary attempt on the summit of Everest or one’s necessarily personal interview with Death (pictured). No-one would compress wishes for a summer onto the fate of Midsummer’s Eve, for example. A good summer is both temporally extended and (potentially, at least) shared.

Perhaps the best that one can hope for is a kind of collective Humean projectivist illusion. What’s right within the false sounding wishing is something like the idea of taking the season to have a kind of meaning (again, though, not really/literally). It’s that which is collectively supported by the disproportionate enjoyable round of mulled wine parties, dinners, evenings out etc. But the problem with that as an idea is that it still leaves the content of projected attitude to be explained: the ‘meaning’ or atmosphere. (In a more serious vein, that is the problem for projectivism in general, mentioned before.) That remains – to me – as opaque as Jaspers’ idea of delusional atmosphere. What could it be?

I return to delusional atmosphere and its content here.

Sunday, 21 December 2008

The skull beneath the skin

The bad news is that the Christmas number one in the UK is a cover version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah by the winner of the X Factor (a factory pop reality show; I can’t help feeling that that’s so much less good sounding than a Factory pop reality show might have been). In previous posts (here, here, and here), I’ve - possibly tediously - worked through my intuitions to decide that whilst there may, in extreme circumstances (and nearly everything about Rolf Harris spells danger), be some kind of risk of blasphemy (no doubt why as a typical teenager fundamentalist I had no time for them), cover versions set up a dialogue with originals which is often fascinating. And I had an excuse to mention Wittgenstein’s discussion of children playing trains, which is always useful. So why is it such bad news about Hallelujah?

One of the other things Wittgenstein says in this area is that one form of aesthetic judgement is a) a form of comparison in which one b) sees or hears something as something. Now hear this as the conclusion, one is told, for example. That prompts the kind of worry that motivates moral particularism, however. Why, if one’s focus is, or should be, on this case (moral or aesthetic), should one look away at the key moment to other examples? Why isn’t that the wrong direction of gaze? Further, if aesthetic judgements were to work by such comparisons then the comparisons would either have to be with other aesthetic or with other non-aesthetic aspects (or past judgements). This leads to two bad choices. It seems unlikely that present aesthetic judgements could merely turn on non-aesthetic features. But if they depend on past aesthetic judgements, then that threatens vicious regress. How did those judgements get off the ground? But let me put that worry aside for the moment and return to the case at hand.

Let me declare my view that the best version of the Cohen song is the one by John Cale on I’m Your Fan (a cd I insisted on playing having retired to spin the – generally mellow – discs at the end of London dinner parties in 1992). The Buckley version is horribly over the top. (The chart topping version isn’t worth comment.) But with the judgement-as-comparison thought in play, then surely having exposure to these versions will simply provide me with indirect access to the fine Cale version, in memory at least? Surely it’s no bad thing? In fact, however, I’m going to avoid music radio for a couple of weeks because of another comparison.

The Arts Centre at the University of Warwick used to serve only one real ale: Charles Wells Bombardier. It served this in such lamentably poor quality that rejecting pints became second nature. That, however, was a comparatively good result. One had at least tried to buy a decent real beer, failed, and thus bought a hugely expensive bottle of, say, Old Hooky but one could meet one’s bank manager in good faith. The problem was with the penumbra of doubtful pints that were not so screamingly awful that they violated the Sale of Goods Act but would still bring no pleasure. Repeated exposure to these taught one to taste every stage of the degradation of a beer (like the scenes of speeded-up decay in the Peter Greenaway film A Zed and Two Noughts). Thus, in a merely poor beer, one could anticipate its final vile state, two days later. And then eventually, one could taste in even a good pint of Bombardier those flavours that in its death throws would carry the final reek of oxidation.

Did that comparison reveal the essential structural weakness of Bombardier? Or was it a distortion that should have had nothing to do with its flavour for those with a luckier choice of pub? I’m not sure. And I’m not sure what the result of listening to a dreadful rendition of Hallelujah for the next two weeks. (Revellation or distortion?) But I’m not prepared to take the risk.

Monday, 15 December 2008

Mere habit?

I am used to thinking about habit as the underpinnings of normatively or conceptually structured action and thought. As an ex-Wittgensteinian, I think of habit as a surrogate for a Platonic foundation for our concepts. Against the idea that habitual action might be a middle ground between conceptually structured activity and mindless doing, I see conceptual structure in the habits. And, of course, this invocation of custom and habit to underpin concepts has familiar Humean echoes. Mere habit escalates into something normatively richer.

Two things brought this to mind this weekend. The first was the need to stack the winter’s load of firewood for the stove. Delivered as a loose pile on the garage floor, I needed to stack it more tightly and higher against a wall. I thus spent an hour or so mindlessly stacking. But not in fact mindless. After only a few minutes a pattern began to appear: unconsciously I found myself slotting the differently shaped bits of wood into a more rather than a less appropriate gap, a particular way up and round, so as to keep the wood stable. Norms simply appeared, loosely fossilised in the final pattern of wood.

The second was taking part in a 10km organised run in Langdale, the first such event I’ve taken part in. I half wondered whether some further structure of thought – some sort of implicit plan – would simply appear during the course of running. I’m sure it does for fitter people in the way that in, eg., learning to ski one learns to individuate ones actions as ‘going to that tree’ rather than turning one’s skis. But I found I lacked the extra capacity necessary to do anything other than mindlessly stagger to the end. There was no further room for doing it right or wrong. Mere habit, it turned out.

Saturday, 13 December 2008

Jack Bauer against the Principlists!

This week, quite uncharacteristically, I let Gloria drag me both to a trendy bar (well, as close as Preston comes) rather than my usual old man’s pub and also into a conversation about moral philosophy. (My one short article in JME is all I’ll ever write about moral philosophy.) But the issue was an curious one.

Suppose one holds both to a form of moral principlism and, more specifically, to the principle that torture is always wrong. Suppose, also, that that one’s interlocutor objects by citing what G called a ‘ticking time bomb’ case familiar to fans of Jack Bauer (pictured). The torture of a suspect is putatively justified because of the threat of a ticking time bomb that will kill averagely virtuous people. Suppose, fourthly, that it is at least open to question whether the anti-torture-principlist can contest the account of the case first advanced with further details. Perhaps, for example, torture produces unreliable results. Even in urgent cases there are more trusting alternatives. Training torturers to be able to act in such cases has too many unpleasant other consequences. And so forth.

But what, G wondered (amongst other perhaps more interesting issues we might have got to if I hadn’t been so dim about this one), have the particular details of the case even got to do with the original principle? If principles discipline moral judgement (ie. they determine their truth or correctness, whether or not we actually appeal to them for guidance) then bandying about rival accounts of the details of particular cases seems to be missing the point. A principlist should firmly stand aloof and say that, through whatever act of divination one arrives at underlying principles, once one has arrived at the principles, the particular cases can (as a maths teacher of mine often used to say) take care of themselves. They cannot conflict with the underlying principle that, eg., torture must be wrong.

Over a San Miguel (not at all appropriate brain food it seems to me), my instinct was to think this. There would be something pretty heroic about a principlist who took that – self-consistent – line. But there are two reasons for them to condescend to contest details. Firstly, cases might stand to principles as cases stand to putative empirical laws in a hypothetico deductive account of theory testing. If so, then contesting the details would be part of an alternative account of how one arrives at or justifies principles to replace one of mere divination.

Secondly, even principlists must think that their principles ‘touch the ground’ in real cases. A principlism of principles only would be a kind of abstract moral platonism, useful only in the next life, perhaps. So rival principlists, contesting the status the torture, must aim to make the interplay of favoured principles realised in every case of torture work out their way.

I suspect that, in practice, this tends to stretch cases into attenuated principles. They become the standard cases of moral education (like the ladder of mass m leaning at angle θ against a wall on a ground with a frictional coefficient of μ; or, rather, like a Jehovah’s Witness debating surgery).

In this last feature, principlists accounts of cases seem quite different from particularists for whom the ‘valence’ of any feature might be transformed by the presence of another feature. Ironically, whilst it is particularists who have the greatest reason to stress the importance of particular cases when discussing moral judgements, it is almost impossible to discuss interesting cases with them since in the real conversational situation of pub of trendy bar there is never enough shared knowledge of the details of the real cases they trade in.

PS: (a few weeks later): As reported here, sitting in the Forum, Gloria suggested that we take a 24 style scene to think about principlism. On last week’s gripping episode of 24, the man himself was challenged by a moral principlist who asserted against Bauer-ian actions: “But it’s the rules that make us better.” As a good particularist, Bauer had no intellectual cramp in replying: “Not today”.

Thursday, 11 December 2008

Knowing how

Last night I read Stanley and Williamson’s (pictured) ‘Knowing how’ (Stanley, J. and Williamson, T. (2001) ‘Knowing how’ Journal of Philosophy, 98: 411-444). On the face of it, it is a troubling read for someone writing a book on tacit knowledge. On the assumption that, whatever it is exactly, there is a strong connection between tacit knowledge and know-how, it seems reasonable to hope that know-how, or knowledge-how, is importantly distinct from knowledge-that even whilst it retains the rights to the title ‘knowledge’. Stanley and Williamson argue that this is not so. Knowledge-how is not distinct from but merely a form of knowledge-that.

The paper divides into three sections with four main areas of argument.

In the first, Stanley and Williamson take issue with the modern father of the distinction between knowledge-how and knowledge-that: Gilbert Ryle. They argue both that Ryle’s regress argument for the priority of knowledge-how over knowledge-that does not work. They also argue against Ryle’s positive claim that knowledge-how is an ability (on the basis that one can retain know how even if one has, for practical reasons, lost an ability actually to perform an act).

In the second section they present a detailed summary of syntactic and semantic analyses of statements ascribing a variety of forms of knowledge including both knowledge-how and knowledge-that. Although the analysis they offer is way beyond my competence in the field, the gist of the argument seems to be that neither relevant syntactic nor semantic work draws any important distinction between these two forms of knowledge.

The third argument area grows from this. Statements ascribing knowledge-how to subjects can take the broader form of a knowledge-that ascription.

Suppose that Hannah does not know how to ride a bicycle. Susan points to John, who is riding a bicycle, and says, ‘That is a way for you to ride a bicycle’. Suppose that the way in which John is riding his bicycle is in fact a way for Hannah to ride a bicycle. So, where the demonstrative ‘that way’ denotes John’s way of riding a bicycle, (28) seems true:
(28) Hannah knows that that way is a way for her to ride a bicycle.
Relative to this context, however:
(29) Hannah, knows [how PRO, to ride a bicycle].
seems false… Where the demonstrated way is the only contextually salient way of riding a bicycle, (28) and (29) ascribe knowledge of the same proposition to Hannah. But this proposition is ascribed under different guises. In (28), knowledge of the proposition is ascribed to Hannah under a demonstrative mode of presentation. In (29), Knowledge of that proposition is ascribed to Hannah under a different mode of presentation, what we call a practical mode of presentation.
[ibid: 428-9]

This gives rise to the following account of know-how.

So, here is our complete account of knowing-how. Suppose modes of presentation are semantically relevant. Then (29) is true relative to a context if and only if there is some contextually relevant way ώ such that Hannah stands in the knowledge-that relation to the Russellian proposition that ώ is a way for Hannah to ride a bicycle, and Hannah entertains this proposition under a practical mode of presentation. [ibid: 430]

Finally, they anticipate a number of plausible objections to their proposal, closing with this comment.

All knowing-how is knowing-that. Neglect of this fact impoverishes our understanding of human action, by obscuring the way in which it is informed by intelligence. [ibid: 444]

I’m going to have to think rather more carefully about the argument against Ryle’s regress. Given that I have always thought of Ryle as expressing an argument akin to Wittgenstein’s rejection of what McDowell calls the master thesis, I’ve never thought carefully about how exactly Ryle’s version of that broad consideration works. So there are two things for me to do about this section: to rethink Ryle in the light of Stanley and Williamson and to see whether their argument counts against Wittgenstein.

The second and third points, however, do not seem to be too worrying on this first encounter, however. Firstly, there is something reassuring about the idea that know-how can be expressed given a sufficiently broad construal of language. The suggestion is like McDowell’s expansion of the space of concepts outside antecedently prepared bits of language to embrace, eg, colour patches. This in turn recalls Wittgenstein’s comment.

What about the colour samples that A shews to B: are they part of language? Well, it is as you please. They do not belong among the words; yet when I say to someone: “Pronounce the word ‘the’ “, you will count the second “the” as part of the language-game; that is, it is a sample of what the other is meant to say. It is most natural, and causes least confusion, to reckon the samples among the instruments of the language. [Wittgenstein 1953 §16]

So the idea that one can say what way things should be done demonstratively – and thus say what a subject understands – is not too unfamiliar. Better, surely, to embrace this idea than either Adrian Moore’s mysterious ineffable understanding or Harry Collins’ scepticism about such tacit knowledge. (Collins calls such knowledge capricious and says that one cannot reliably determine whether it has been passed on. This surely relies on a false contrast with knowing-that.)

But on the other hand, to encode knowledge-how as knowledge-that requires not only this use of a demonstrative to pick out the way, eg., a piece of music should be played, it also involves distinct modes of presentation for a non-violinist conductor and the leader of the orchestra. In an obvious sense, one of them does not know how to play the piece that way, even whilst she knows that that is the way to play it. But characterising this ‘practical mode of presentation’ is surely what was of interest about the putative distinction between knowledge-how and knowledge-that.

My hunch is that this might leave things like this. Broadly Rylean and Wittgensteinian arguments against a Cartesian and cognitive account of intentionality still imply that knowledge-that depends on knowledge-how. (This point, I suspect, survives in the account yet to be given of a practical mode of presentation.) But once language or intentionality is taken for granted (being lazy: once we can take for granted that we are in the space of reasons), then know-how can be expressed linguistically, providing one has a sufficiently broad conception of language in play.

PS. Having now looked at papers replying to Stanley and Williamson by Alva Noë, Ted Poston, John Bengson and Mark Moffett, and Elia Zardini, I plan to return to this issue in late January.

Thursday, 4 December 2008

Tacit knowledge

In a taxi ride across Cairo in 2005 with Bill Fulford, I rashly announced that I was writing a book on tacit knowledge. The sense of ‘writing’ was that in saying one is thinking about writing, or actively pursuing the possibility of writing, not necessarily at the glad stage of typing actual chapters. Nevertheless, this idea, retrospectively and prospectively, justified my being introduced as someone working on tacit knowledge (an idea which has had a bit of a hold on some colleagues, much as one’s relatives may recall with perfect clarity a rash statement from one’s teens). Wearing my applied philosophy hat, tacit knowledge promises practical utility and that has been a helpful impression when, eg, being introduced to clinicians in a medical school.

In the meantime, however, I’ve been distracted into other projects. Fortunately, the same (introductory) purpose has been served by the central role of judgement in much of what I’ve written about and which more quickly connects Wittgenstein, and possibly Kant, with aspects of clinical judgement. (For an attempted justification see here.) But finally I’m writing (in the sense explained above!) the book on TK with my good friend Neil Gascoigne (pictured). (In my case, at least, it may be an occasional weekend project rather than blocked out time during the working week.)

Two initial problems have to be faced. One is that Neil sees all ground level philosophical issues through the lens of metaphilosophy. (By contrast, I’m merely troubled by how philosophy is possible. It’s a condition of adequacy of an account that it must be possible in its own terms and philosophical dogmatism should be avoided.) Further, his metaphilosophical stance takes the reaction to scepticism as its starting point. Especially in a book on tacit knowledge, this is bound to produce differences in how we want to frame the issues. (Is tacit knowledge really best thought of in the context of a response to Gettier problems?)

The other is that I realise that the question of what makes TK tacit is one for which none of the plausible answers completely attracts me. If ‘tacit’ equals unreflective (as, eg Erik Rietveld’s work implies), that looks to be merely a contingent phenomenological distinction. If it is taken to be darkly ineffable (as Adrian Moore’s tantalising book suggests), then it is hard to avoid a sense of implausible mystery clinging to it (one does not standardly say that the tacit knowledge of white sauce making is ineffable). If, as I’m inclined to say, one presses the idea that it is not (finally?) linguistically codifiable, then some apparently explicit judgements will count as tacit.

It seems odd to have decided on so much else about the book but not, perhaps, the central issue.


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Saturday, February 16, 2008

Coastal Kamikaze

I had promised this post some time back. Here goes nothing.

It seems like quite a while back eh? December. Before the elections and all that nonsense afterwards. Kinda get the urge to head back there soon.

Samborera decides he has to take a bus ride somewhere. South sounds about ok for him so off he trudges. Trudges. Ha! Gets there on a Tuesday I think. Or did he leave on a Tuesday? Anyways, he's there probably two or three days before aJamaa and myself wend our way there. Who knows what kind of mischief the man was up to. Thursday night, aJamaa and I board a bus and make tracks. Some Richot helps us find our way to coast. We are met by Mr. S, hire a car and get to touring.

Coastal Kamikaze was basically a very relaxed guy. Walking around in shorts and open shoes, sweating freely, no need to wipe anything off like in Nai. Easy. We did the beach thing, just walking about or staring at this massive water formation. Endless. Surreal. Gets me every time. The days were spent doing much of the same thing. Driving around with aJamaa always going in the wrong direction. Didn't mind really. Not like we were late for something. But this guy has it down to an art. I bet he doesn't which side his heart is. That's the left side boss! YOUR left.
Anyways, Friday saw us laze about in south coast, have 600.00 bob chicken (bandits), stick your feet in the sand and think about nothing really. Just relax.
Friday night. When you spend the whole day sitting and constantly pinting, the evening can only hold certain appeal for you. And its not the prospect of getting high. Working women! Sorry, working Femmes! Yeah boss. I think we did Casablanca. The ka small joint with air con and very undressed Femmes. Friday I just watched. Headed to my room early. Something about an ulcer and drinking and smoking. How do I stop smoking?! Anyways, I left the boys to their own devices and went to sleep.
Next day - breakfast, headed to Mr. S's hotel, grabbed the guy and made for Malindi. Talk about lazy. After walking on some pier, we headed into the town - wonderful scenery on the way to Malindi by the way. Palm trees always get me. As do Baobab trees. So, we are in Malindi, we do the pier walk, head back into tao to look for a joint to watch some soccer. No one knows where they have GTV. Plus, most joints are just opening. Its like guys wake up at 4. Next time, a guy just has to go stay in Malindi, not try and visit during the day. So anyways, no place to watch soccer. We head back to Mombasa. Looking for some food. Biriani to be precise. We got the food. And some weird juice. Can't remember where we went next. Bob's? But it was more of the same.

Coastal Kamikaze wasn't really out to snag them Femmes. More to relax. And get a massage! I remember seeing a lot of signs that advertised massages. I was looking for the "Happy Ending" kind but never tried to actually go to those joints. So Saturday night was still relaxed. I think I got a lousy massage either that Saturday or on Sunday. Got two massages in total. Both lousy. All part of the experience though. All this time either I was hanging out with aJamaa and Sam or some other two dudes from the hood. Now those guys had a plan when they checked in to coast. Shag their balls off. Prolific guys those. Lets call them Adebayor and Cristiano. Salute!

I'll skip forward to check out day. Monday. We did the wild waters thing. Had a blast! Got to go back there. This is another thing that I find very weird when you talk about it to other guys. You tell them you went water sliding and they talk like you are too old for that stuff. Please! Who are you kidding?! Trying to sound "Mature". We all had a blast. A thrill. Exhilarating. Had to leave early though. Plane to catch. Back in Nai within an hour of coast. That flight was too fast.

I miss Coastal Kamikaze. Hope to see him soon though. For now its Sagana Kamikaze. I'm off.

Blogger Samborera said...

Left on a Tuesday. Got there on the same Tuesday. I'm glad you guys joined in. Took me one night to realise how crazy the thought was to just get on a bus and go. Two nights to realise how hard it is to stay [remain] alone in Mombasa.

aJamaa's ability to take wrong turns is now legendary. Hehehe.

I was also thinking of going back sooner rather than later. Apparently KQ have some offer and Easter is before end of March.

Saturday, February 16, 2008 11:33:00 PM
Blogger Kamikaze said...

That Easter getaway is feeling more and more appealing. Maybe you can call someone and book one of those nice rooms early, before they adjust their prices for Easter.

Friday, February 22, 2008 3:49:00 PM

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February 6, 2017

FTD® Partners with Best-Selling Book, The 5 Love Languages®, with an Exclusive Valentine's Day Bouquet Celebrating Its 25th Anniversary

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Feb. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Premier floral gifting company FTD Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTD) announces a partnership with Northfield Publishing and author of the bestselling book, The 5 Love Languages®, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. For over two decades, the book has been strengthening millions of relationships one language at a time. As the official floral partner, FTD has designed an exclusive bouquet, picked fresh from the farm to bring the love and beauty of Valentine's Day to a loved-one's door.

The relationship-transforming book, written by Dr. Gary Chapman, has sold over 11 million copies worldwide and has been on The New York Times best-sellers list for 495 weeks running.
The book describes five love languages: words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch.

Couples can discover their own love language and that of their partner by visiting  www.FTD.com/FiveLove and taking a quick quiz, which will give them their results instantly.

For those who find they communicate best via acts of service or receiving gifts, The 5 Love Languages® Bouquet is the perfect way to say "I love you" this Valentine's Day. Featuring an impressive array of blushing pink and red blooms that are picked to create a rush of romance, the bouquet includes pink Asiatic Lilies, red roses, pink and red Peruvian Lilies, fuchsia carnations, pink mini carnations, lush greens and a classic clear glass vase.

"For over 100 years, FTD has been creating artistic and innovative floral arrangements that let the receiver know how loved they are, especially on Valentine's Day," said FTD.com Senior Vice President and General Manager Lincoln Roman. "Through our partnership with The 5 Love Languages® book, two long-time relationship icons are coming together in the name of love and romance this holiday. Our 5 Love Languages® bouquet is sure to speak to your loved one, no matter what language they use to communicate."

"My wife and I have been married for 55 years, and we have flowers on our table every day of the year," said author Dr. Chapman. "I buy flowers from my local FTD florist and if I don't give them to her, she goes out and buys them. Most wives love flowers for Valentine's Day, and we're delighted to partner with FTD to celebrate the book's 25th anniversary with this special bouquet."

For more information about The 5 Love Languages® Bouquet, visit www.FTD.com/FiveLove.

About FTD Companies, Inc.
FTD Companies, Inc. is a premier floral and gifting company. Through our diversified family of brands, we provide floral, specialty foods, gifts and related products to consumers primarily in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. We also provide floral products and services to retail florists and other retail locations throughout these same geographies. FTD has been delivering flowers since 1910 and the highly-recognized FTD® and Interflora® brands are supported by the iconic Mercury Man logo®, which is displayed in approximately 40,000 floral shops in nearly 150 countries. In addition to FTD and Interflora, our diversified portfolio of brands includes the following trademarks: ProFlowers®, ProPlants®, Shari's Berries®, Personal Creations®, RedEnvelope®, Flying Flowers®, Flowers Direct™, Ink Cards™, Postagram™ and Gifts.com™. FTD Companies, Inc. is headquartered in Downers Grove, Ill. For more information, please visit www.ftdcompanies.com.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ftd-partners-with-best-selling-book-the-5-love-languages-with-an-exclusive-valentines-day-bouquet-celebrating-its-25th-anniversary-300402187.html

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09/03/08   Is Consumer Discretionary Strength Real?

Editor’s Corner

Is Consumer Discretionary Strength Real?

Ron Rowland

Gustav left oil and gas facilities with little damage for the most part, but the hurricane season appears to be just getting started. Hanna, Ike, and Josephine are still on their way. Storm-related interruptions to energy production in the Gulf of Mexico remains a possibility before the season ends. Crude oil and natural gas prices are therefore likely to remain highly volatile. Crude oil plunged more than six dollars yesterday and fell again today. It is now trading below $110, its lowest price since April. It is hard to believe that it was only five months ago that oil prices were this “low” before the run to nearly $150 got started.

The post-Labor Day trading session got off to a good start, but then equities reversed to the downside. Those who thought lower oil prices would boost the stock market were disappointed. As anticipated, volume picked up somewhat, yet it is still rather lackluster. Economic reports have not been as bad as expected, and exports have actually been a bright spot. However, the continuing onslaught of bad news from the financial sector tends to curtail any meaningful rally attempts.

The bond market is performing well. Investor nervousness about equities and diminishing inflation fears pushed the 10-Year Treasury yield down to 3.7%. Corporate and high-yield bonds are not enjoying the same investor enthusiasm. International debt is suffering from the currency translations of a strengthening U.S. dollar.

Consumer Discretionary has taken the top spot in our sector rankings, leaving many analysts bewildered. With difficult credit access, recession fears, and higher gasoline prices taking a larger portion of consumer spending, how can the Consumer Discretionary sector be performing well? Retailing is the industry within the Consumer Discretionary sector that is leading the charge. Remember those government stimulus checks? Many found their way into the coffers of discount retailers.

This sector experienced a -33% decline from its 2007 high, so it isn’t much of a stretch to think that worse economic conditions were already priced in. We are not yet prepared to issue an “all clear” on the Consumer Discretionary sector. SPDR Select Sector Consumer Discretionary (XLY) is at its 200-day moving average, where it met resistance in May and August. Additionally, skeptics believe the stimulus check boost was a flash-in-the-pan and assume that dismal back-to-school sales will justify their negative view.

The market still favors Small Caps over Large Caps. However, the Growth versus Value story is starting to change course. For most of the year, Growth has had the advantage over Value. Today, our rankings show that Value is performing better than Growth at all capitalization levels. The difference is most noticeable for Mid Caps. For now, the shift is not enough to warrant drastic action, but it is a trend that requires ongoing monitoring.

Commodity-oriented regions like Canada and Latin America had a brief rally toward the end of August and then collapsed the past two days, along with the retreat in oil prices. The U.S. dollar has been in a negative trend for most of the past six plus years. One exception was 2005, where it gained more than +12% against other currencies. Another exception is now, where it has gained more than +7% in the past two months. Like most trends, this one will not last forever. It is too early to proclaim that the six-year decline is over, as this could be just another one-year countertrend move like 2005.

The charts above depict both the relative strength and absolute strength of various market sectors, styles, and geographic locations on an intermediate-term basis. Each grouping is sorted (top to bottom) by relative strength. The magnitude of the displayed RSM value is a measure of absolute strength, which is our proprietary method of measuring and reporting the intermediate-term strength as an annualized value.

“The secret to business is to know something that nobody else knows.”

Aristotle Onassis (b 1978) (1906-1975) Billionaire Shipping Magnate

As Deflation Takes Hold, Short Gold: DZZ

Brandon Clay

Pick of the Week: JNJ

If you read economic reports, the events they recorded have already happened. Whether its CPI or another monthly jobs report, you’re looking at a snapshot of the previous month’s activity in a collection of numbers. Our Picks of the Week are different. They’re designed to distill some of the latest market activity into a solid pick for your portfolio. We often find new information that allows you to profit with the ‘edge’: hence the name: Invest With An Edge.

Deflation: The Real Threat

For months the Fed and financial pundits have been talking up inflation. Until recently, they were right. Commodities like crude oil, gold, and agriculture took a trip to the moon. However, things have changed in recent weeks. Our research suggests an often-ignored force is now at work in the market. It’s ignored, because it’s rare. However, it can be devastating to our economy. What would cause such havoc to the financial markets? The dreaded culprit is deflation.

The financial markets work off banks lending to corporations and consumers. However, when banks stop lending, the system grinds to a halt. Consumers who can’t pay their mortgages default on their home loans. Banks then tighten their wallets to protect themselves from further losses. Companies that are dependent on credit from banks can’t expand and are forced into bankruptcy. Non-lending banks can’t make money, so they fold too.

Commodities Suffer During Deflationary Periods

If the process continues, then asset prices may be forced to fall. Commodities like oil, corn, and precious metals will decline. What once was a raging bull market suddenly becomes a roaring bear market for commodities. This appears to be what is happening in crude oil right now. NYMEX Light Crude Oil traded near $150/barrel in July. Today, oil closed at $109.35 – a substantial drop in less than 2 months.

We think deflation is a strong possibility in today’s market. Precious metals like gold and silver stand to lose in a deflationary environment with the U.S. dollar rising. In recent weeks, the greenback has risen against the rest of the world’s currencies. Since gold acts like a currency, we expect it to continue falling as the U.S. dollar strengthens. Like it or not, this is deflationary activity.

Short Gold Can Pay Big

One way to take advantage of Gold’s fall is with PowerShares Deutsche Bank Gold Double Short ETN (DZZ). If you were to buy DZZ, you would gain as gold loses. In addition, your returns (and losses) are magnified 2X as gold moves up and down. For instance, if the spot price of gold goes down $20 tomorrow, that would be a -2.5% loss for gold owners. However, with DZZ, that same loss would be a +5% gain if you owned DZZ at today’s close. See how that works?

Because of this unique situation, we offer a little more explanation on this pick. This is the first time we’ve recommended a short position. Short position investments are rare, because the market is upwardly biased. However, gold is different because it’s a commodity. Shorting is common in the commodities markets, hence less risky.

This is also the first time we’ve recommended a leveraged ETP (Exchange Traded Product). As you probably know, leveraged instruments are more volatile. Still, Leveraged ETPs are reset every day to prevent you from losing more than your investment. Such things can happen when using traditional methods of shorting and margin. Despite the increased risk of DZZ, we think it has the potential to pay out big. To profit from a deflationary trend, go with DZZ.

Keep in mind, the Pick of the Week is usually intended for aggressive investors. Don’t risk money you can’t afford to lose. You will need to decide when (and if) it is time to sell.

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Everybody obviously had a blast making the latest episode of Doctor Who, with its endless swirly flashbacks and parade of 1920s stereotypes. It reminded me of Clue more than Agatha Christie, with its almost epileptic non-stop winking. It works pretty well, despite a more-nonsense-than-usual storyline, because of an amazing cast of Brit-TV stalwarts. Spoilers and maybe a little snark, below the fold.

This was basically the latest in a line of historical-writer episodes, including the Dickens episode and the Shakespeare episode. (The show even winked at the fact that we'd been here before, with Donna joking about meeting Dickens at Christmas time, with ghosts, not realizing that had actually happened.) The latest iteration, the Agatha Christie episode, worked about as well as the Dickens episode and the Shakespeare episode, except that the concept is a little less fresh now.

The main thing that's slightly annoying about all three of those famous-writer episodes, actually, is the way they try to pay homage to the writer's work by building the plot around it. I was able to forgive a lot in the Dickens episode because the plot about the "ghosts" actually sort of made sense, and I liked the fact that Dickens came up with the way to destroy the ghosts, using science. That was a really nice bit. The Shakespeare episode was more silly, but at least there was a reason the "witches" wanted to put their jargon into the manuscript of Shakespeare's lost play "Love's Labors Won." (They wanted to use Shakespeare's hold over his audience to open a rift in blah-dy-blah, whatever.)

Actually, thinking about it, the Dickens episode had one other thing the Dickens and Christie episodes didn't — there's a moment where the Doctor and Rose are trapped in the cage in the basement with the Gelth, and they realize they're going to die. And the Doctor apologizes to Rose for getting her killed. The moment drags out a little too long, but it's still something Doctor Who made an effort to do back in its first season, and no longer bothers with.

Anyway, back to the Christie episode. Here's the plot, and why it was nonsensical. So there's this alien wasp creature, which comes to Earth in human form. And it meets a lovely young Earth woman and falls in love with her. They get together and make a half-wasp, half-human baby. The woman gives the baby away, but keeps a jewel that is some kind of psychic activator for it. And then one night, she's reading an Agatha Christie novel just as the half-wasp half-human chimera gets "activated." So the creature is psychically bonded with Agatha Christie. And it decides to kill the people who learn the truth about it, in the manner of a Christie novel.

Why wouldn't the creature be bonded with its mother? You know, the person it shares genetic material with? And the one who was actually wearing the psychic jewel thingy when it was activated? I know, it's just a way to have an episode with a monster and an Agatha Christie-style set of murders.

But I'll stop picking nits now. In general, this was a fun bit of fluff, and it really worked because of the cast. I pretty much suspend my critical faculties any time Felicity Kendall is on screen, and Fenella Woolgar was great as Christie as well. Christopher Hugh has been in so many great British shows in the past, including Who once or twice, that it's fun to watch him do anything, and his bizarre metatextual flashback involving remembering sitting in a chair remembering the can-can girls was just so demented it fell into wonderful.

Oh, and I just remembered: I loved the starchy reverend starting to become upset and saying "zzz" more and more, until he turned into a giant wasp. Best moment ever. No idea why I loved it so much, I just did.

Sadly, Catherine Tate annoyed me a bit more than usual this time — the constant "Copyright Donna Noble," the rudeness to the poor servants, and the gratuitous kiss were all way too grating. She's starting to have the same problem that Rose did in season two — because she's got this amazing privilege of traveling with the Doctor, she's all detached from events and can laugh at everyone and everything around her. It makes her not very sympathetic, and also makes me hate the Doctor a little bit. They're like obnoxious tourists.

Oh, and I just remembered one other thing that bugged me slightly: we're told at the start that Agatha Christie vanished for 10 days and then reappeared with amnesia. And then the Doctor is instrumental in making that verison of events happen. Even though at one point he throws in a pro-forma thing about how things may happen differently this time. Which is it? Is the Doctor just making things happen the way they're "supposed" to? It feels like another example of the show trying to have things both ways.

Bottom line: I liked this episode quite a bit despite the nonsense plot and the feeling that I'd seen it all before. It works quite well as fun fluff, and the cast totally carries it. I probably would have liked it a lot better if it hadn't been the latest fluff episode in a season full of fluff, but that's not the fault of this episode.


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High FSH / Low Ovarian Reserve

If you’ve been told that you have high FSH, diminished ovarian reserve, and that conception is not possible with your own eggs, don’t panic!  It doesn’t mean you’re “out of eggs.”  Our treatments can help to stimulate the ovaries to lower the FSH level and help to maximize your reserve.

Here is the technical tidbit.  FSH is one of the many hormones needed to produce healthy eggs. The FSH level measures the responsiveness of the ovaries when they are stimulated (either by medications or by naturally-produced hormones). The more receptive the ovaries are, the lower the FSH number. So, a high FSH level often indicates that the ovaries are not responding to the signals coming from the brain.

Elevated FSH is a result of hormone fluctuation caused by the lack of communication between the brain, the pituitary gland, and the ovaries. Many factors interfere with the balance of the HPO (Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Ovarian) Axis, including diet, lifestyle, stress and age.

Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can successfully increase blood flow to the entire pelvic region, including the ovaries. Better circulation improves the functions of any organ, and the same is true for the ovaries. Egg quality can improve, even in women with low ovarian reserve, and we frequently see a decrease in FSH levels with consistent treatments.

Environmental factors have been shown to dramatically influence the egg quality regardless of age.  So, diet and lifestyle counseling is part of our treatment protocol in addition to acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine.

It typically takes three months to see results (whether pregnancy or lowered FSH and higher AMH levels.) We know you feel like you’re running out of time.  But, trust us, it’s worth the effort to work on the seemingly little things because they collectively make a huge impact to boost your fertility.

If you have been diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve, elevated FSH, or if you have had to cancel an IVF cycle due to poor response to stimulation, we would love help you!  Please contact us and find out how acupuncture can make a difference for you.


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Heated table Electrolux MSR1407

  • Sku
  • Type
    Heated table
  • length
    1400 mm
  • depth
    700 mm
  • height
    850 mm
  • maximum temperature
    70 °C
  • work surface skirting
  • doors type
  • doors quantity
  • case material
    stainless steel
  • control system
  • voltage
    230 V
  • current frequency
    50/60 Hz
  • power
    2.4 kW
  • net weight
    60 kg

About product «Heated table Electrolux MSR1407»

This represented Heated table MSR1407 made by ELECTROLUX can be used for heating plates before serving, and also for short-term storage maintaining the temperature of ready meals.

For the represented model of Heated table maximum temperature features 70 °C. Announced dimensions of the Heated table MSR1407 from iPelican catalog are: length – 1400 mm, depth – 700 mm, height – 850 mm. And, what is also very important, this represented Heated table is quite simple to use, control system – electronic. The design of this Heated table satisfies all quality standards. And, in this performed model case material – stainless steel.

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iPhone App with 3D Animated Balloon Animal Twisting Instructions

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LEARN2MAKE Balloon Animals offers 10 balloon animal instructions including a dog, a monkey, a motorcycle and a flower.
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For more information click here


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Monday, March 4, 2013

Feeling Sentimental

Today I'm sharing a card made with the Feeling Sentimental clear stamp set (Item #129630).  This set is one of the free items you can get during Stampin'Up's Sale A Bration (SAB) event which will end on March 22, 2013.  I didn't think I'd like this set but it was actually very versatile and easy to work with.

I started with a Pool Party card stock for the base card.  I matted a piece of First Edition Specialty DSP on a piece of vanilla card stock.  The Ferris wheel was stamped in Early Espresso ink and sponged with Pool Party and Soft Suede inks and then framed with an oval scallop die cut from Crumb Cake card stock. The sentiment is from the Perfectly Penned clear stamp set  (Item #122892) and was stamped with Pool Party ink.  The button is from the Sycamore Street Ribbon and Button Pack (Item #130812), another free item from SAB.

Thanks for stopping by today.

NOTE:  All item numbers referred to are current Stampin'Up products as of this posting.

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#SaleBlitz “Don’t Wake Me Up” by M.E. Rhines ~~ @merhines @StarAnge13 #dontwakemeupsale

  Title: Don’t Wake Me Up
By: M.E. Rhines
Publication Date: November 03, 2016
Genre: YA PNR

When the chaos of school, her over-reactive mother, and her abusive boyfriend gets to be too much, sixteen-year-old Colleen turns to astral projection to escape it all. In the sanctuary of the astral plane, she mingles with the lost souls of the departed. They all need help to move on to the Summerland, and Colleen never turns down a spirit in need. Until she meets Daemon.

With just a glance, Daemon makes her forget all the turmoil back home. The calm is welcome and addictive, but Colleen knows the peace he offers will leave with him once he crosses over, forcing her to make a desperate decision: sever her ties to her physical body, or sabotage his salvation.

Amazon UK – https://goo.gl/AGHOZw
Amazon CA – https://goo.gl/O4zSmk

ME Rhines a southwest Florida native currently living in North Port with her two beautiful children and a third, much larger child whom she affectionately calls husband.
She writes young adult paranormal romance to feed her belief that fairy tales are real and nonsense is necessary.

She also writes adult romances under her edgier alter-ego, Mary Bernsen

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Sunday, March 31, 2013

Leitrim Roots Festival

Sun, March 31, 2013 10:35:28 AM

Roots Logo

Happy Easter from Leitrim

Have you ever thought about tracing your ancestors? Have you always planned to do it 'one' day.  Well this is your opportunity.  In Leitrim we are running a Leitrim Roots Festival from 20th to 28th September.  If you are part of a group or are travelling on your own, all roads lead to Leitrim where like minded people can share with others their lifelong interest in genealogy and all things Leitrim.  We have something for everyone and there is lots of time to enjoy all that Leitrim has to offer.

'What a lovely way to travel!  I had always wanted to visit Leitrim so when I saw this trip I booked.  It exceeded my expectations and most of all I made friends for life.  It was great having so much company throughout my vacation and to be escorted throughout my stay.  The guide was exceptional and shared his vast knowledge of my ancestral county with the group.  Other members of the group shared their fascinating stories of Leitrim - It was a great trip'                                                                                Marie Louise - Wisconsin

Details of the Festival can be found on where you will also find a booking form and you can follow the festival onwww.facebook/leitrimrootsfestival2013

We look forward to seeing you in Leitrim .  Have a great Easter!

Leitrim Roots Committee

The Leitrim Roots Festival Office, The Old Barrel Store, Carrick on Shannon,    Co. Leitrim, Ireland

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Saturday, April 13, 2013

Zoeva, Tarte, Coastal Scents - My Big Haul!

Hi my lovelies!!!

I placed a few orders 2 weeks ago and got them all this week. So I thought of doing a little haul post for you. It's about 3 great brands you might know or not yet. 2 of them are also new to me and one I love since last year. Here is

I felt like I need more brushes for the face, especially for powder, foundation and the cheeks. And since I gave almost my whole Zoeva set I already owned away (to a friend who had none at all) I wanted to order new Zoeva brushes and decided to go for the face brush set which looks like this:

Plus there is a little brush cleanser that comes with it too. Only used them once so far. I'm not at all disappointed about them but I guess I need more time with them to really give a honest opinion about them.

I also order this beautiful blush palette with it. It's the Zoeva Sun Power palette, which I can't wait to use as soon as it's sunnier outside:

Really good pigmentation so far. There is even a color that reminds me a lot of Nars Orgasmn. Also can't wait to use this in a tutorial.

Tarte cosmetics is a brand that is more and more growing in the makeup world. It's available in the US Sephora stores but not yet here in Europe, I hope this will soon be over and that tarte products will found their place in the local stores.The wonderfull wonderfull Lina from Lina'sBeautyDiary (<<< FOLLOW HER) brought me two palettes of this amazing brand from her New York City trip last week. One of these palettes I wanted to get for sure, the other she chosed for me since the Lorac palette (I also wanted) wasn't available. A HUGE THANKS AGAIN to her <3

Tarte Amazonian clay eye and cheek palette:

What an amazing design!!!!!! I fell immediately in love with this palette when I saw it for the very first time in a Youtube video. It looks like a purse. Like a beautiful purse. And is perfect for travel.

It includes two blushes and 6 eyeshadows all different from each other:

I swatched the blushes for you and the upper eyeshadow row:

Two example looks that you can create with this palette, given by tarte.

Tarte natural eyes volume II palette:

Another tarte palette that is very beautiful, handy and in purse style. I don't know if all their palette are supposed to look like a purse, I'm not that familiar with this brand yet.

This palette includes 10 natural eyeshadows, the upper row has only matte colors while the lower row only has shimmery colors. Also it contains a little eyeshadow brush and a eye pencil in brown.

The pigmentation of the tarte shadows look good to me. I haven't been wearing any of the tarte colors yet so I can't tell anything more about them yet but I sure will in the futur. (or maybe edit this post)

This is probably the Us counterpart to the german brand Zoeva. I ordered two fo the GO palettes, 3x the pro blending fluff brush and the 22 brush set!

Coastal Scents Beijing & London GO palettes:

Each palette includes 12 mini colors and each palette is representing an international city. There are some more like Paris, Cairo, Sydney, Moscow,... . I looked at some reviews before buying them and was aware of the fact that not all of the 12 colors are the same pigmented but I'm looking forward to try them and well see what I think of them.

Pro blending Fluff brush:

I'll guess you can never have enough blending brushes. Wayne Goss was introducing me to this brush. He said it like the MAC 217 just in the cheap version. One costs 4,95$ while the 217 cost about 25$ if not more. I might do a comparison post with other 217 dupes.

Coastal Scents 22 Brush Set:

So this is the brush set I ordered along with the other stuff. It has a nice synthetic leather case with the big Coastal Scents letters on it. What I didn't like about this set is the smell that came with it when I outpacked it but after a few hours it was gone, nows it slighty smelling like synthetic.

There is a big fan brush on the left side when you open it and a zipper next to it with a bit of storage place for other stuff you might wanna carry with this set.

And this is what the whole thing looks like :)

From L to R: 1. Large Fan, 2. Powder Buffer, 3. Round Powder, 4. Flat Buffer, 5. Angle Blush, 6. Foundation, 7. Concealer, 8. Large Shadow, 9. Blender, 10. Doe Foot Blender, 11. Dome Shadow, 12. Dome Blender, 13. Medium Shadow, 14. Detail Shadow, 15. Lip, 16. Detail Concealer, 17. Pointed Blender, 18. Brow, 19. Smudger Sponge, 20. Large Liner/Brow, 21. Medium Liner/Brow, 22. Small Liner/Brow:

LIKE: the price of 35$, certainly a good set for beginners
DISLIKE: The brush are not numbered neither is written on them what they are from, you have to trust the description of the page and kind of learn it by heart.

Brush guards:

I decided to get and try brush guards. They are supposed to help the brushes stay in their form once they are cleaned and not used.

My little gift from Coastal Scents:

I got this little palette of 4 eyeshadow colors as a gift with my order. ^^ Very nice and cute! yay

So as a few times mentioned above, all these products are new and I haven't used them not that much or at all to do already reviews about them but I will and the respective reviews will come. ;)

Keep it reading ^^

  1. You bought a lot of nice thing..Enjoy them

  2. So many amazing products *-*
    I asked a friend from Germany to get me a eye set from Zoeva (because if I get it directly I would pay more shipping than send her the money and ask her to get them)
    I would love if the Tarte sold their products in Europe. We will probably be able to get them when we don't expect. Just like The Balm products started to get sold into European Shops with fair prices and without custom problems. (their blushes and eyeshadow's are really pretty btw!)

    I would to see your review on these brushes if possible :3

  3. Beautiful products and awesome review!!! Great pictures as well!
    Have a fabulous time!

    Best wishes, Alexandra

Feel free to leave a comment ^^


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Friday, May 6, 2011

What Have I Been Doing???

It has been a LONG time since my last blog post:/ I do have good reasons. The biggest one is my family, it is really hard to find time to blog or to do the computer stuff. A mom of 5 keeps me busy and well they also take over the computer. I Sew Lucky keeps me busy which is a good thing:) Annnd, I have been on a few little house kicks lately.I have rearranged these items 85 times. Ok, maybe not 85 times, but close. If I had it my way I would paint this breakfast hutch white. I do love it, this was the biggest reason I fell in love with this house. The mantel has been rearranged a million times as well. The think is, it is just not right. I know what I want to do with it now, but we will see when I get around to that.

Another thing I have been up to is making pillows for the house. Do you see them in the back there? Some on the bench and some on couch.These two are my favorite. I would love to make a quilt with the brown fabric.
The quilt I did make is this one. I also made like 5 pillows to match and realized way too much of these colors in one place. Oh well, they are comfy.
This is the biggest quilt I have made. It is ALOT of fabric to work with. I bought the fabric on a Monday and finished on Saturday. I was in the zone with this project.
Here is the back fabric. After all that cutting and sewing the squares together I like the this side the best. Annnd I realized it doesn't match the living room very well. At least it covers the ugly brown couch. I would really LOVE a white slip cover. Probably not a good idea with 5 kids. Darn:/

Believe it or not I have made some NEW owls for the shop and have filled orders. It has been awhile since I had these bigger hoots in the shop that have a lot of details. Buttercream the Owl
Raspberry the Owl
Chaz the Owl

Hopefully I will have time to add some bookends to the shop today. I may end up just enjoying this nice sunny day because it looks like we are not going to see the sun for awhile after today:((

Have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all you mama's!

1 comment:

  1. I wish I had the woodwork that you have in your house, it's gorgeous! We have been been trying to finish a quilt for me since Jan, I'm impressed with how fast you did yours, I love it!


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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Hot, Gay Friendly, and Just Plain Nice...What's Not To Love? Did I Mention The Hot Part?

This story comes to us from Round The Way Gay, Gladys Kravitz Sr, and ISBL Correspondent, Neal!

I make no secret and no apologies of my love-lust-love for Colin Farrell, and now comes the story of his continuous Christmas Day generosity to sick children in Dublin.

It seems as though Hottie O'Hotness--that's Irish for Colin Farrell--paid a secret visit to Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin, Ireland, on Christmas Day in order to surprise some of the youngest patients there with gifts. Farrell played and chatted with the kids for several hours on Christmas Day, and this apparently wasn't his first holiday visit to the hospital. He has carried out similarly unheralded visits to Crumlin for the past few years.

"He keeps a low profile when he comes in. He doesn't want photographers or anything," a well-placed source told the Herald about the actor's visits. "He comes in every Christmas Day and spends a lot of time with the children. He has bought Nintendo DS and Wiis for them and plays with them for a couple of hours. He's really popular with the staff and really genuine, and the kids really love and appreciate his visit."

Back in Aught-Three, Colin--and I'll call him by his first name because he's hot like that--helped support the Special Olympics which was hosted that year in Ireland. Since then, he has been a tireless campaigner for the cause, regularly giving up any free time he has to help the organisation with their activities and further raise their profile.

See? Hot and nice....and with an accent to boot. There's something about a dark-eyed man with an accent that gets me going. Lucky for me I have one of those at home!

Howard said...

God, he is gorgeous. And after seeing the 'home video' I was impressed. Sorry, gotta go wipe up the drool...

Bucko (a.k.a., Ken) said...

Wow, that is cool when they do things because it is right and touches them deeply, and without the publicity.

Mark in DE said...

Its nice to learn of celebrities who use their powers for good instead of evil. ;-)

Michael Rivers said...

He is such a great guy! Sexy, talented and a does good deeds!