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Two months ago Hans von Spakovsky of the conservative Heritage Foundation, de facto apologist for a new wave of conservative-inspired voter ID laws, appeared on PBSNewsHour to defend the cause.

The laws, passed in eight states last year, are widely viewed as a Republican ploy to disenfranchise minorities and older voters who are less likely to have the photo identification the measures require at the polls.

But von Spakovsky, flashing a blue tie and tight smile, brushed aside criticism with what has become a standard talking point on the right. "While many Republican legislatures have passed these kind of requirements," he said, "we know that in Rhode Island, Democrats passed it."

Rhode Island is, indeed, the curious exception to the rule: the only state with a Democratic legislature and left-leaning governor to approve a voter ID law last year.

And with the measure set to face its first big test in this fall's elections, civil rights activists and Democratic operatives — local and national — are still scratching their heads: how is it that one of the bluest states in the nation enacted a law so red?

It is not an easy question to answer; Governor Lincoln Chafee turned down a request for an interview for this story and Speaker of the House Gordon Fox and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed's offices were no more forthcoming.

The silence isn't all that surprising.

While a Brown University poll conducted after the bill's passage found 85 percent of Rhode Islanders in favor of voter ID, elite opinion in Providence and Washington generally runs opposed. For those operating in leadership circles, this is an uncomfortable topic.

But after weeks of digging, the Phoenix has cobbled together a comprehensive account of Rhode Island's most compelling political whodunit in memory.

It is, in part, a political thriller: a tale of a quiet truce at a Providence restaurant, frantic phone calls from Washington, and intrigue in the governor's office. But the voter ID story also says something fundamental — and, at times, less than flattering — about how the people's business is conducted in Rhode Island.

Jon Brien

In July of 2010, Speaker Fox and State Representative Jon Brien met for dinner at Fleming's, a steakhouse and wine bar on the ground floor of the Westin Residence Tower in downtown Providence.

They were, in some respects, an unlikely pair: Fox the pragmatic, openly gay Providence Democrat who had ascended to the Speaker's office just five months previous and Brien the brash, deeply conservative Woonsocket Democrat with a penchant for controversy.

But the two had known each other for some time; Jon's wife Stella briefly served alongside Fox in the House from 2001 to 2002. And Brien had been in the chamber since 2007.

Over the years, Brien says, the pair had developed a brotherly kind of relationship: sometimes close, sometimes combative, but always animated by a mutual regard.

And on this night, the brothers were meeting to make peace.

Over the winter, Brien had backed Fox's prime challenger to the speaker's chair, Gregory Schadone, throwing a few of his trademark haymakers along the way. And while the insurgents were gearing up for another run, it didn't look good.

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    When I spoke with Treasurer Gina Raimondo this week, I opened with the obligatory question about whether she'll run for governor. "I'm seriously considering it," she said. "But I think as you know — we've talked about it before — I have little kids: a six-year-old, an eight-year-old. I'm a mother. It's a big deal."
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 See all articles by: DAVID SCHARFENBERG


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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Healthy Eating

I skipped my Weight Watcher meeting yesterday...because I knew it wouldn't be pretty!
I will have to do better this week.
New healthy recipes always help get me motivated.
I found this recipe blog that I love.  You've probably already been to Gina's's pretty popular!
Her recipes are easy and she includes all the nutritionals.
She also calculates the points for those who are doing Weight Watchers.
I tried three of her recipes this week:

This was really good.  I skipped the tomatillos b/c I didn't have them.
Next time I might add a little avacado.

Roasted Chickpea Snack
Yum!  Make sure you leave them in the oven long enough....
They need to be hard and crunchy!

Low Fat Baked Onion Rings

These were very light and crispy.  I enjoyed them!

Of course last night we went and ordered these:

It was Brady's idea...the wings...not the beer!
I'm not very good at this dieting thing.
I know it's about moderation...but I think if it weren't for the weekends...
my clothes might fit better!

Have a good one!

Traci said...

I've never seen that recipe blog so thanks for sharing.

The weekends do me in too. Dieting is so crazy hard...especially when you're a big eater (like me)

gabe said...

I must live in a cave because I rarely know about other blogs...looks like a good one! Those onion rings look so yummy!

Glad the beer wasnt Bradys idea!

yaya said...

Your recipes look wonderful. I need to check out that blog. However, the diet thing just does me in...I can do pretty good..then I wake up and start the day and it's all over!

Sweet Little Smoothie said...

Oooh that cilantro dressing looks yummy! I've been looking for some lighter recipes - thanks so much for sharing!

ps - why can't chocolate & pizza & wings be diet food!?! :)

corners of my life said...

Thanks for the website link. Looks like a lot of great recipes.

Donna said...

So funny....about the wings and beer!! That's the kind of dieter I am! I just made your m&m chocolate chip cookie tort...THAT was good!! The dressing looks good but not as good as your torte!!

Bridget said...

These recipes look yummy! I'll have to go check her blog out.

Tessa said...

ok that cilantro dressing is going on my meal plan for next week. sounds so yummy. as do the other things, including the wings & beer! ;)

Kris said...

Kat said...

Those look delicious. I am pretty good during the week too, the weekends, however, a totally different story.

Genn said...

Hi Kerri!
Thanks for sharing the recipe blog. I'm going to go check it out right now.
That creamy cilantro dressing looks SO good. I buy one that looks similar at Fresh N Easy. It's probably way better homemade though.

It's hard to stay motivated to eat right.
Have you read Skinny Bitch or Food Rules? Right now those two books are really keepin me motivated!!

Cindy said...

Those snacks look really yummy (the wings too actually!). I have never seen that site, but I will pass it along to my chef!:) He loves new inspiration. Weekends are always toughest for me's finally back to a normal Monday for us.
Have a happy day Kerri

Kim said...

Those chickpeas look yummy! My friend is doing WW also. She really fell off the wagon too. We had movie popcorn followed by a night of margaritas and fish tacos. I think she hates me now.

Stephanie the PW said...

All of those recipes look fantastic.. especially the baked onion rings... but the wings look SOOOO much better! haha!!! The weekends are so tough, we eat out way too much!

Jenny said...

Hang in there Kerri. Weekends throw us off our whole schedules, everything, not just food but exercising, cleaning, sleep... I have a recipe for chickpeas snack that I want to try too. I think the onion rings look fantastic. I hardly ever eat those but I do love them. Better luck this week.

Jill said...

Glad you are enjoying the site! I love her recipes. :-) I agree weekends are tough especially when you're out and about like we are trying to get things done. I try to carry snacks and water but it doesn't help with the meals. :-)

Have a great day!

sloan said...

omg, kerri, i missed so many posts over here!! I love those dipped oreos with the clover sprinkles and the little cookie cakes with the marshmallows and jelly beans?? Please, you are too much!! Happy belated Birthday to Brady, too, I'm sorry to hear you were getting some sass recently ... he's such a good boy, I know it won't last long ;-) BTW, I'm totally checking the link to these yummy recipes - thanks! Good to be back - I missed you!!

Stef said...

Thanks so much for that site. I too am going to start WW...someday this week. I haven't really commited to a day yet. But I am thinking this will make it more fun!! Okay, maybe fun is not the right word. Bareable???

Dana @ Bungalow'56 said...

Don't get down on yourself Kerri! It's easier if you have a specific time goal. I always do well when I know a bathing suit and camera's might be involved : )

Nicolle said...

I love beer and wings! :)

The creamy dressing looks great. Someone else recently showed me her website too.

I have made the chickpeas before and loved them, but I cooked them just a tad too long. They are really good though!

Kris said...

HI Kerri,
Thanks for the nice comment on my table redo. You mentioned skipping your WW meeting. I wanted to share something my leader always says. She says, "When you have a good week, your meeting needs YOU, when you have a bad week, YOU need your meeting" I love that. It is so true. Hang in there! I am in your corner!!!!

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Yowsers, Y'all

Rick Perry, not a Homo

Oh, c'mon, Cowpoke, Rick. You can't be serious. Only someone with a grudge could be so cold hearted, biggoted, and out of his mind. You have some pretty outrageous stands on many issues, but there's almost a sense that you believe in what you're saying, when you can remember what that is. Forget those three cabinet posts you'd do away with.  It's the one that you might add that scares me and a lot of others.

What the hell is the new proposed cabinet post on Anti-Gay Activities? Are your serious, Cowboy? Jingle your spurs, grab your reins and settle down to a trot, big boy. You got some little doggies to do some 'splainin' about.

Rick Perry's long reign as governor of Texas is ending and he's considering a run for president. (How did that work out for you last time, Rick?) Here's some things America will be remembering when you start out on the journey for the 2016 nomination.You have long been one of the most vocally anti-gay governors and political figures in American history. The cream rises to the top -- depending on the cream.

In 2003, you lambasted the U.S. Supreme Court for striking down the Texas sodomy ban, and all sodomy bans in the states, calling the court "nine oligarchs in robes." How enlightened for a man who thinks we provide too much public education, health benefits and food subsidies for the poor. You're also a man who doesn't want a path to legal citizenship for immigrants despite your state's huge numbers of undocumented residents. I guess you're no stranger to taking an unpopular cowboy stance.

In 2005, as governor, you championed a draconian constitutional ban on gay marriage and civil unions in Texas, and signed it into law in a ceremony held in a church.  Nothing like blurring the lines between church and state.

During your 2012 presidential run you had the audacity to cruelly tell a 14-year-old bisexual girl on the campaign trail that gays shouldn't serve in the military because "homosexuality is a sin," and he demeaned gay service members in a political attack ad that which became the most parodied ad of the election season.

Only someone with a grudge or something to hide would go to all those extremes to hurt god-loving, honest, hardworking people. Are you gay? Are you trying to hide it with this smokescreen? You wouldn't be the first. Rock Hudson, Liberace,  Ken Melman, Lance Bass,  Ricky Martin, Richard Chamberlain, and Cheyenne Jackson. They all went through stages of public denial before admitting the truth.  Nobody cared. It didn't matter. But lying about it left a bad taste in the public's mouth. So do you have something to tell us?

Ordinarily, I'd say you should give up a presidential run with a stand like that, and kiss your ass goodbye. But two things -- you'd have to take your head out of your ass first, and kissing it might turn you on. Not a picture America  wants to see.

  • cwazycajun

    dont forget ted haggard he was loud and proud to be in the closet

  • dominickJ

    This is GREAT!!!! Loved reading it....


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Anti-immigration protesters are afraid of children

pro immigration protesters Murrieta CA

"Many of them are fleeing violence and extortion from gangs..."

And many of them have been raped:

“It’s not just the heat that could kill them but there are other dangers. Officials at Lackland Air Force Base told us that one-third of young girls that come across – and they were just like little babies; 10, 11, 14 years of age. That about one third of them get raped and/or abused on the way here.

"This is about the kids, that's what it's about."

"They're destroying our country."

"President Obama has called it a humanitarian crisis."

President Obama is right.

Here's an idea, protesters. If you don't like what's happening, call on Republicans in the House of Representatives to get off their obstructionist asses and support an immigration reform bill. It would likely pass... if they'd allow a vote, that is.  Actually, this could very well happen... after the November elections. That way those Republican paragons of bravery can say they accomplished something on immigration reform just in time for the next election cycle in 2016. How courageous of them.

By the way, Boehner, how's that Latino voter outreach shaping up?

But what struck me about this particular protest was the following. Via the Los Angeles Times:

Police said about 100 to 150 people met the buses a few blocks away from the Border Patrol station, chanting "Go home" and "We want to be safe."

The detainees — many of them women and children from Central America — had crossed the border in Texas recently and were flown to San Diego by the Department of Homeland Security.

I watched Tamron Hall's reporting on this today (video unavailable), and the person "on the ground" did indeed confirm that most of the immigrants were women and children. Ooo, scary. Better get out the firearms and hide the kids, protesters. After all, you "want to be safe."

anti immigration protesters CA Murrieta

statue of liberty give me your tired your poor

  • <3 you too!

  • <3 you.

  • mellowjohn

    and by blocking the buses, the protesters – who want these poor people to "go home" – assure that they'll be here a little longer.
    sometimes i wish irony deficiency was fatal.

  • RepublicanSwine

    This is on Boehner's head more than anyone else. He knows better. His desire to remain Speaker at all cost makes him a coward. The deference and kowtowing to the Barn-Yard Trash wing of his party is shameless pandering and a disgrace to the office he holds.


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Sunday, October 16, 2011

The $3 Top :)

New top - black w/ white and grey dots and solid gray tie - found the main fabric in the remnant section at Joann's :)  Used Simplicity pattern 3750 - easy pattern that only needs 1 yd of fabric

1 comment:

  1. Very stylish top! Lovely merge of fabric and style.


text:
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abcd sydney saturday soirée

19 March 2012

Are you a design, art or craft blogger? Have you been to one of our abcd Sydney get togethers yet?

Steph Bond Hutkin of Bondville and I have been busy hatching a plan for a new look event... a Saturday Soirée! We're moving out of the moodily-lit cosy cocoon we usually meet at in the evenings and into a lovely bright airy atrium on a Saturday afternoon. We are hoping to catch a last stray day of summer, or one of those glorious blue sky autumn days that Sydney is so good at, so we can all sparkle and shine and chat and hang.

abcd stands for artists + bloggers + crafters + designers, so if you blog about any of those topics - your creations or other people's - we'd love you to come! We are a friendly group of (usually all) women and it's a relaxed event where you can grab a glass of something sparkly or a nice cuppa and enjoy the company of like minded creatives.

Would you like to join us?

Saturday 14th April
2pm - 5pm
Ruby L'otel
Back bar (Atrium)
68 Victoria Road
Map and details of parking

We have exclusive use of the Atrium area from 2 til 5, but there's nothing stopping us from staying on. There is a great snack menu available all afternoon, plus dinner of course if you'd like to linger longer. As well as the pub's bar there's coffee and tea available... and cocktails. Pat and Stick's Homemade Ice Cream Co. are generously giving us some of their 'world famous' and delicious ice cream sandwiches and Alison of Alison Lawson Cakes is making a delish confection for us.  Steph and I are styling up the venue and Milk and Honey Photography will be snapping us all at our social best. We are hoping we might be able to convince everyone to wear white, pastels or sparkles - or all of them together - to make our Soirée super style-y. What do you think? Are you in?

As always, abcd goodie bags will be part of our Saturday Soirée. The goodie bags are wildly popular and are available to everyone who contributes to them. If you're unfamiliar with our goodie bags your contribution is something for others remember you by. It's more than just a business card... maybe a sample of something you make, or a little something you whipped up especially, a sweet treat... a little memento. Prior to the event we need to know goodie bag numbers so if you'd like to participate let us know when you register.

If you'd like to join us for our abcd Saturday Soirée - come on, it's going to be fun! - we need to know by Monday 9th April so mark your diary now and register by commenting on the post below. You must register in order to attend, and don't forget to tell us if you'll be adding to (and receiving) a goodie bag. We'll email all the goodie baggers on Tuesday 10th so you'll know how many items you'll need to contribute. It's usually around 30.

If you have any questions about anything, or are just feeling a bit shy and need reassurance, please email me! If you do Facebook (and you know I don't) you can find abcd there too, thanks to Steph.

Steph and I are very excited and are already wondering what we can plan next to go one better! We hope you see you on 14th.


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Obesity Need Not Be an Epidemic

When is it about me? I was just speaking with a client this morning who stated that she needs to lose 100 pounds. Her hair analysis report shows that her thyroid is low, despite her doctor telling her it was normal (doctors’ tests have a huge normal range when it comes to the thyroid). She has all the symptoms of hypothyroidism, which seriously affects metabolism. Her liver also needs to be brought into balance to help level out her hormones. She told me that it saddens her so much when others just assume she ‘eats like a pig’ and she knows she doesn’t. I explained to her that when one has a low thyroid, the emotional connection is that they are often doing too much for others and not enough for themselves. The subconscious asks “When is it about me?” This is why so many mothers have low thyroid! And then they get judged for weight gain when they are simply doing too much for their families and not enough for themselves 🙁

Weight gain also occurs when a child or adult is not properly absorbing their vitamins and minerals – mal-absorption is rampant in North America. When we don’t properly absorb nutrients, we continually eat food, searching for the nutrients we so desperately need. This calls for the healing of the intestine so that it can function properly.

More and more, we are hearing that cleanses (e.g. candida, parasite) help individuals lose weight and keep weight off. There is a particular way and order to doing cleanses so that the body learns how to properly eliminate toxins and then shed weight. Having lots of filtered water also cleans the garbage out of our bodies.

FOODFood sensitivities and allergies can add piles of weight to a child’s or adult’s body. When we react adversely to a food, it causes inflammation or swelling in the body. The problematic foods are most often dairy, wheat and sugar i.e. the foods most of us eat regularly!

Vitamin and mineral deficiencies can decrease energy levels, preventing individuals from having the motivation to exercise and causing them to crave sugar. Lack of probiotics or essential fatty acids can contribute to the colon being sluggish. Vitamin C and Magnesium are natural laxatives! These are just a few examples of how having enough of certain vitamins and minerals can keep us slim.

Obesity - Causes and EffectsAnd then there is the emotional connection to obesity. When we are overweight, we are protecting ourselves from others or from situations in our lives where we don’t feel safe or accepted. We are rejecting parts of ourselves and running away from our negative feelings. We seek fulfillment.

So, you see, there are so many important aspects to look at when we want to lose weight. Maybe now, you can see why diets rarely work!! These physical and emotional contributors must be explored in helping children and adults alike become the healthiest possible.


text:
Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Gift shop at The Rocks offers everything maple… and then some!

When you walk into the main building at The Rocks Estate to start your New Hampshire Maple Experience, you’ll notice a unique gift shop filled to brimming with locally made gift items and maple everything!
Gift shop manager Carleen Quinn says she brings in new items each season, along with longstanding customer favorites. This year she points out the life-sized wooden bears carved by a local artist as the latest and greatest.
Here’s her list of maple offerings at the shop, a boon for all lovers of maple:
* Maple syrup, one of a kind, made only here at The Rocks – all sizes in stock.
* Freshly made maple kettle corn – popped right here by the folks from Kingdom Kernels Kettle Corn Co. in Vermont.
 *Any kind of maple product anyone could want, including maple candy, moose maple pops, maple bites, maple cream, and maple sugar.
Be sure to take a wander through the shop during your Maple Experience!


text:
Thursday, September 5, 2013

In a Word ~

The Star-splitter by Robert Frost

"You know Orion always comes up sideways.
Throwing a leg up over our fence of mountains,
And rising on his hands, he looks in on me
Busy outdoors by lantern-light with something
I should have done by daylight, and indeed,
After the ground is frozen, I should have done
Before it froze, and a gust flings a handful
Of waste leaves at my smoky lantern chimney
To make fun of my way of doing things,
Or else fun of Orion's having caught me.
Has a man, I should like to ask, no rights
These forces are obliged to pay respect to?"
So Brad McLaughlin mingled reckless talk
Of heavenly stars with hugger-mugger farming,
Till having failed at hugger-mugger farming,
He burned his house down for the fire insurance
And spent the proceeds on a telescope
To satisfy a lifelong curiosity
About our place among the infinities.

"What do you want with one of those blame things?"
I asked him well beforehand. "Don't you get one!"

"Don't call it blamed; there isn't anything
More blameless in the sense of being less
A weapon in our human fight," he said.
"I'll have one if I sell my farm to buy it."
There where he moved the rocks to plow the ground
And plowed between the rocks he couldn't move,
Few farms changed hands; so rather than spend years
Trying to sell his farm and then not selling,
He burned his house down for the fire insurance
And bought the telescope with what it came to.
He had been heard to say by several:
"The best thing that we're put here for's to see;
The strongest thing that's given us to see with's
A telescope. Someone in every town
Seems to me owes it to the town to keep one.
In Littleton it may as well be me."
After such loose talk it was no surprise
When he did what he did and burned his house down.

Mean laughter went about the town that day
To let him know we weren't the least imposed on,
And he could wait—we'd see to him tomorrow.
But the first thing next morning we reflected
If one by one we counted people out
For the least sin, it wouldn't take us long
To get so we had no one left to live with.
For to be social is to be forgiving.
Our thief, the one who does our stealing from us,
We don't cut off from coming to church suppers,
But what we miss we go to him and ask for.
He promptly gives it back, that is if still
Uneaten, unworn out, or undisposed of.
It wouldn't do to be too hard on Brad
About his telescope. Beyond the age
Of being given one for Christmas gift,
He had to take the best way he knew how
To find himself in one. Well, all we said was
He took a strange thing to be roguish over.
Some sympathy was wasted on the house,
A good old-timer dating back along;
But a house isn't sentient; the house
Didn't feel anything. And if it did,
Why not regard it as a sacrifice,
And an old-fashioned sacrifice by fire,
Instead of a new-fashioned one at auction?

Out of a house and so out of a farm
At one stroke (of a match), Brad had to turn
To earn a living on the Concord railroad,
As under-ticket-agent at a station
Where his job, when he wasn't selling tickets,
Was setting out up track and down, not plants
As on a farm, but planets, evening stars
That varied in their hue from red to green.

He got a good glass for six hundred dollars.
His new job gave him leisure for stargazing.
Often he bid me come and have a look
Up the brass barrel, velvet black inside,
At a star quaking in the other end.
I recollect a night of broken clouds
And underfoot snow melted down to ice,
And melting further in the wind to mud.
Bradford and I had out the telescope.
We spread our two legs as it spread its three,
Pointed our thoughts the way we pointed it,
And standing at our leisure till the day broke,
Said some of the best things we ever said.
That telescope was christened the Star-Splitter,
Because it didn't do a thing but split
A star in two or three the way you split
A globule of quicksilver in your hand
With one stroke of your finger in the middle.
It's a star-splitter if there ever was one,
And ought to do some good if splitting stars
'Sa thing to be compared with splitting wood.

We've looked and looked, but after all where are we?
Do we know any better where we are,
And how it stands between the night tonight
And a man with a smoky lantern chimney?
How different from the way it ever stood?

No comments:


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Saturday, 23 January 2010

The City as a Stage - Busking culture in Manchester

A LATE afternoon in January. At this time of day, the city would normally be packed with shoppers and workers, rushing about. But the city centre is all but silent. The pavements have been taken over by blocks of snow, which, refusing to shift for over a week, have worn smooth into ice. Workers have been sent home early, the city centre has ground to a halt. Those few people braving the treacherous streets do so through a wet fog of snow showers. The city’s still, the atmosphere oppressive. But one thing is going on as normal. The dreadlocked busker is still installed in a shop doorway on Market Street. The notes of a thumb-piano-esque African instrument follow you, clinging like the powdery snow that’s sticking to your face and eyelashes. Plip plopping, rising and falling in repetitive pitter-pattering sequences, his notes fight their way through the muffled air. It’s not weather to be tarried in, hence the deserted streets, and his fingers must be freezing, but still he’s playing on. It’s eerie and beautiful.

Manchester is known as a musical city. You can go and see bands any night of the week. But what about the city’s other musical culture, the one that’s on the streets, open to everyone? These are the bands you stumble across during your lunch hour, that stop you in your tracks and leave you with a smile on your face for the rest of the day.

Street performance may raise associations of earnest buskers with acoustic guitars playing predictable covers, and we often walk straight past them, but there’s variety and skill in Manchester street performers. Some greats of twentieth century music like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell started their careers on the streets, and in Manchester one performer who’s gone on to find fame is the former Britain’s Got Talent winner, teenager George Sampson from Warrington, who used to draw big crowds on Market Street with his dancing.

Yes, there are guitarists churning out Dire Straits, an in-your-face Christian rap group and the slightly naff people dressed as Native Americans who play panpipes along to a backing track, but Manchester’s other performers range from African drummers to a trumpet and accordion jazz band and a man playing the intricate West African music of the Kora. One of the most unusual is the saxophonist who seems to only come out at night, often outside Kendal’s department store on Deansgate or, most strangely, amongst the damp and pigeon poo in a railway arch by round the back of Piccadilly train station. Add that to painters, human statues and even just people protesting or trying to raise awareness of a cause, and there’s a lot to grab your attention on the streets of Manchester.

It also changes from season to season. At certain times of year, like Christmas, there’s an explosion in music students - string quartets, violinists and brass players practicing their classical repertoire. Many street performers move around, alternating between towns and cities like Stockport, Liverpool, Bolton and Blackpool. Others spend a block of the year in Manchester and the rest back at home in Africa.

Manchester's city scape lends itself to street performance, from the fact that much of the city centre is pedestrianised to the backdrops formed by the concrete architecture of Piccadilly Gardens, the sound tunnel of the covered walkway at the end of Market Street and the steps that make an almost-stage outside Marks and Spencer.

A familiar face on Manchester’s streets is Buddy the One Man Band, who plays at various locations up and down Market Street as well as spots like outside Marks and Spencer with his home made foot operated drum kit. He’s a distinctive sight, often wearing a waistcoat and hat adorned with badges.

Salford musician David Budvar has been busking for thirty years including, for the past four or five years, three or four days a week on the streets of Manchester. His trade has also taken him from Japan to Australia and New Zealand, where the money is good.

When the snow’s thawing and the rest of the buskers have started to come back out, Buddy explains: “It just happened. I busked a lot as a kid. I became friends with a one man band and he inspired me.”

He’s a busker of the traditional kind, who plays the type of songs you can stop and sing along to, and also plays gigs inside if asked. He said: “Everyone has different ideas of what they like. It’s very hard to play your own songs unless you’re very talented. I sometimes do if I get bored, but you have to be fairly good. People are so used to listening to songs they know. I always start with Stand by Me. I’ve been playing it a long time.”

At the moment, though, he says people have less money in their pockets because of the recession. Buddy, who works as a support worker by day, is only really coming out at the weekend: “I can’t make enough money to survive. If everyday was sunny then maybe, but it’s down to the weather. You come out and you never know.”

Today, he’s having equipment troubles and everything’s going wrong. Spencer, a balloon seller, comes over and tries to help. He suggests Buddy ask Sally from the potato stall for a piece of foil from one of the potatoes. As another regular on the streets, Spencer’s quite positively inclined towards buskers. He said: “There are some good buskers and some bad, but they definitely liven the street up.”

Another busking veteran is freelance dancer and dance teacher Danny Henry from Salford (here is Danny dancing in the video for the Hacienda dance classic Vodoo Ray by A Guy Called Gerald) who has been performing on the streets for decades, first with percussion group Inner Sense, then Manchester School of Samba, and now most often with Jali the Kora player in the Piccadilly area. He smiles: “Many people know me and know my face.”

“I learned street samba from a Brazilian girl. It’s a mixture of samba moves and creativity - what you can put in. Samba and carnival was made for the street because it comes from the street. It’s a celebration of freedom. I come up with routines very naturally and quickly. I express myself through the music and incorporate handstands etc. as a show if the music moves me. People like to see what you can do,” Danny explained.

Being on the street offers a unique challenge, Danny added: “You meet all sorts of people, positive and negative. It’s a natural element of my work. It’s organic - people are passing all the time. People smile more, start dancing, groups of kids follow me. Everything’s possible…although you get the odd person who's a bit drunk and starts pulling me or something. It‘s a great feeling when people join in. The more the better. It’s my job to get people dancing.”

Whilst busking with Manchester School of Samba, dance and Capoeira (a Brazilian martial art) students would sometimes join in, and members of the crowd of all ages, from toddlers to middle aged shoppers, would often come up and start a dance-off with Danny. “I can come up with a hip-hop routine on the spot. I like that challenge. Sometimes we’d get people who would do something interesting or different, like break dancers, and I would stand back and let them show off.”

He continued: "People want to be out there performing. It’s natural to want to be able to show off what you’ve learned in front of people, and have pride in it. The self-expression of a person is so important. It’s about community spirit and liberating people. With this country, though, sometimes it’s hard to get up and just do it.”

Danny would like to see the council support street performers more by promoting them and creating defined busking spots so buskers could know when and where it’s safe and acceptable to perform. Busking often relies on negotiation and flexible arrangements over times and pitches, though recently there’s been tension with newcomers coming and ‘stealing’ spots. Other people would like to see more spaces opened up to public performance, for example Exchange Square, which was originally intended as a performance space before the Big Wheel took it over.

Jali and Danny were invited to perform on a float in Jeremy Deller’s Procession in July. Part of Manchester International Festival, Procession was a celebration of the diverse groups of people that contribute to the life of the city. Buskers have also performed at events at Band on the Wall, such as Exodus Jam.

Jali moved to Manchester from the Gambia about seven years ago, and has been busking for about five years, admitting: "It's not easy to get a job here." He returns to the Gambia regularly, where he plays concerts. He explained: "I've been playing Kora all my life, and I play at all different types of places and occasions." In Manchester, he's sometimes accompanied by drummers. Today he's with Bob who's also from the Gambia, and is learning to play the djembe by playing along to Jali's music as well as busking with friends at night time. It's still too cold though, and they stop after a couple of hours. (here is a youtube link to Jali performing.)

Danny just started dancing with Jali one day and they formed a 'relaxed partnership.' Danny said: "Jali’s music is all about feeling, handed down from generation to generation. He sings in his language and I don’t speak it, but the music of the Kora speaks for itself. I speak through my body. I can hear and feel the percussion.”

He admitted: “If I make some money, that’s great, but it’s more about the spirit.”

However, not everyone has positive views on busking. Manchester School of Samba, a regular Saturday fixture outside Marks and Spencer, stopped busking nearly two years ago after complaints to the council and City Co*, the public-private consortium that manages the City Centre, about noise from nearby shops.

One vociferous protester was David, from jewelers Arthur Kay and Brothers, a small, neat shop which directly faces the raised steps where MSS used to busk.

“They were too noisy. We couldn’t hear our customers and they couldn’t hear themselves speak. It was even worse for shops like Accessorize who have their doors open with a warm wall of air. They couldn’t hear the telephone. Zara and FCUK didn’t like it either. It would be okay if it was only for an hour or so, but of course it‘s not because they need to make money,” he complained.

He continued: “There’s a safety issue too. If people are watching and step backwards they could get hit by a car. We kept expecting that to happen. Or people can’t hear the warning noises of the bollards.”

He’s not anti-busking per se, though: “It’s the drums. Other buskers are just background noise, for example the official buskers at the Christmas markets.” As I leave, a saxophone rises sweetly through the damp end of day gloom, its riffs on The Girl From Ipanema twisting round the buildings of St Ann’s Square, while a lone saxophonist bobs up and down (“a lot of saxophonists just stand there apologetically - that’s why I try to move around a bit.”). Buddy comes and over and they exchange business cards, promising to ‘stick together’. Buddy offers to lend some equipment and suggests the saxophonist gets something to 'entertain the kids during the day'.

Manchester School of Samba, although one of a few samba bands that used to busk outside Marks and Spencer, was the first and biggest, with around 15 drummers performing each week as well as a group of dancers. The band's leader, Anthony Watt, explained: “As well as a core of buskers who’d turn up, we’d get other players who would wander in and out. Busking is a way of advertising what we do, but it's also useful as a means of rehearsal and helps draw the band together. The band itself got better and tighter, and we got quite a bit more work.”

He counters accusations of excessive noise pollution by arguing that when his group busked, it was a tourist attraction that encouraged people down towards that part of town, with up to a thousand people stopping to watch over the course of a typical Saturday. He also claims the band had the support of shops such as Marks and Spencer: “We helped increase trade. It’s a natural performance space and we drew people down to the shops there."

Street performance animates the whole city. It raises questions about what is the city space and what is Manchester? The more exciting cities like New York, Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin tend to have the more unusual, individual street acts. People have said to me that it’s one of the things that makes Manchester what it is,” Tony elaborated.

“Busking gives people a reminder that there’s more to life than money and shopping. We can be too obsessed with the pursuit of money. Samba’s about human contact and human relations, which is valuable - even if the rest of society doesn’t think so. You’d see fractious kids and arguing parents, they obviously never did anything together, but then when they started listening to the band whatever they were thinking about before would just disappear.”

He continued: “We set an exciting background to people’s Saturday afternoons. Every week was exciting. The things I enjoyed most were the little things. You might see someone at the back of the crowd and then they walk in time to the music, then they stop and listen and walk away smiling. That happened very often.

“Busking is a philosophy of life. A way of looking at the world. Being a street performer brings together odd groups of people. It’s a focus of the community. It allows connections to be made that wouldn’t have been otherwise. Samba bands in particular are social organisations.”

Single Cell, an art and music collective, share concerns about public space, saying their aim is 'to open up the city, to liberate space and use it for creative purposes'. They organised a Guerilla Busking event in the centre of Manchester last year, inviting both regular buskers and people who had never busked before to take part. Jonathan from Single Cell Collective explained: “In Manchester, in common with many other cities in the UK, public space is becoming increasingly managed, policed and privatised. Many 'undesirable' elements such as the homeless, graffiti writers and skaters are being excluded for spurious reasons."

He said: “We chose to do Guerilla Busking as a way of testing the boundaries of public and private space. We wanted to stage public performances in public space to demonstrate there is a role for creativity and performance in the city.”

It seems a shame that the commercial and creative sides of the city can't coexist better or come to some sort of agreement - after all, with shops the same in high streets across the country, often blaring out the same chart music, surely busking offers something different to the city experience.

Perhaps Danny summed it up best when he said: “When the music stops there’s something missing. Music is the heartbeat of Manchester.”

*Like every other article I have tried to get a comment for, neither got back to me

Manchester School of Samba meet at the Dancehouse, Oxford Road, every Wednesday from 7.30pm-10.30pm, with dance and drumming.

Hubert said...

Excellent article! Now I have another reason to hate that big wheel in Exchange square. I saw Jali playing with the dreadlocked thumb-piano (mbira) guy, a white guy on the hand drums, plus a guy doing some crazy dancing (Danny? not sure). Manchester's finest! Bought Jali's CD and it's excellent - several of the tracks are a fusion of his traditional African sound with hip hop beats. It works very well.

generic cialis said...

Interesting article, added his blog to Favorites


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Space Surfing and Solar Outbursts

Come on Down to the Carnival of Space

Every week, the work of a hardy band of science writers, specializing mostly in space and astronomy topics, is featured in a roving blog entry called “The Carnival of Space.”  We all take turns hosting it, highlighting the writings of  16 of us spacey scriveners.  This week, the Carnival is playing out over at The Next Big Future blog.  Check it out!  You never know what you’re going to learn as you surf the cosmic midway at the Carnival!

Sun’s Up!

This close-up view of a prominence high above the Sun_s surface shows the twisting and swirling motions caused by magnetic forces over about 10 hours on April 17, 2011. While some of the material seems to break away from the Sun, much of it appears to return to the surface by the end of the clip. This event was observed in the extreme ultraviolet light of ionized Helium and is being shown with time-lapse images every three minutes. Courtesy NASA/SDO Mission.

On the mountain where I live, we’ve been getting blasted with snow off and on the past week or so.  It’s the last gasp of winter, even as we’re truly into spring. While the snow is much-needed (it’s very dry here and the specter of forest fires is looming already this year), it means that we don’t get to see much of the Sun, so I turn to my online solar sources for some virtual sunlight.

Two sites I visit pretty regularly are the STEREO mission Web pages and the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) web pages. These two space-borne missions are studying our star and sending back some really spectacular images of its busy surface and atmosphere.

The next couple of years should be exciting times for solar observers, as the Sun moves into its period of maximum activity. We’ve already seen some pretty spectacular outbursts, and there’s more to come.

A substantial coronal mass ejection blasted out from the Sun from an active region (Apr. 3, 2011) as seen by the STEREO (Ahead) COR2 coronagraph. The eruption hurled a billion tons of mass into space at over a million miles per hour. In coronagraphs an occulting disk (black) blocks out the Sun (represented by the white circle) so that we can see faint features of the expanding cloud of particles beyond that point.

Even though we evolved in the light of the Sun, and despite the fact most life on Earth thrives on heat and warmth from this nearby star — and despite the great knowledge we have about the Sun —  there’s still much to be explained about its behavior, its evolution, and its eventual demise.

Yet, that demise is billions of years in the future — what concerns many of us is the Sun of today.

Missions like STEREO and SDO tell us a great deal about the Sun’s activities, and help us understand its influence on our part of the solar system. The Sun and Earth are linked together not just as star and planet, but as members of a coupled geomagnetic system. The solar wind (that stream of charged particles that continually blows from the Sun), tangles with the magnetic field of our planet. The stronger the solar wind, the stronger our magnetic field reacts.

The local effects are sometimes no more than a beautiful display of northern or southern lights. But sometimes, the Sun’s belches affect technology on Earth.

Understanding the Sun is important in the grand scheme of human concerns. It warms us, but it can also take away our telecommunications and electricity.

So, marvel in the Sun. Enjoy its light. Revel in the fact that it keeps life going even as it poses a threat to our planet with its fiery outbursts.

And, remember that we’re still learning many new things about our nearest star every day.

Looking for Matter

The Answer to the Question…

How do you search out unusual types of “cosmic stuff” such as dark matter and antimatter?  The response:  you do particle physics.  Now, what’s particle physics?  It’s the science of understanding the makeup and actions and effects of particles (atoms and their constituent components the electrons, quarks, etc.) that make up matter in the universe.

Cosmic rays are a big part of particle physics. They are pieces of atoms called “subatomic particles” that are very energetic.  They zip around the universe at high speeds, they can penetrate our planet’s atmosphere and the surface,  and even your body.

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer at KSC before launch. Courtesy NASA.

The next shuttle launch (the last one for Endeavour) will take a unique experiment into space called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS for short).  It will be left on the International Space Station and spend some time doing particle physics.  In its search for antimatter (which is the “anti” version of regular matter), the AMS will look for what’s called an “antihelium” nucleus occurring naturally in the universe. This “stuff” has been observed before in collider experiments where they have been created briefly during high-speed particle collisions.  The instrument is sensitive enough to detect such antimatter at tremendous distances — out to the limits of the expanding universe (where, in its early  moments, there may have been antimatter created as a part of the birth of the cosmos).

The AMS also sets its sensitive sights on the detection of dark matter, that stuff that appears to make up some 95 percent of the mass of the entire universe.  There’s a LOT of it out there, and eventually we’re going to find out what it is.  The AMS will look at the background amounts of positron, anti-proton, or gamma-ray flux (or type of flow). If there are peaks (or jumps) in the flux, then this may tell us about the presence of dark matter (and what it is).

Of course, since the AMS will be in space, studying space, it will give us a lot of information on the cosmic ray counts we encounter in near-Earth space. Cosmic rays come from a variety of sources (including supernova explosions, the Sun, and so on), and knowing the cosmic ray environment at both normal and peak levels helps us understand their role and existence.  In addition, anybody venturing off Earth — whether to the Moon, the ISS, Mars or wherever — has to be continually aware of the cosmic ray levels. These babies are lethal in high doses!

So, how does this weird-looking instrument do its work? It has a set of detectors that are “interested” in various particles.  For example, the transition radiation detector clocks the speeds of very high-energy particles, as does the ring-imaging Cherenkov detector. The AMS also has a superconducting magnet that is strong enough to bend the path of a charged particle and allows it to be identified. Other instruments measure the energy of the particles as they pass through, and give some indication of their coordinates in the magnetic field of the superconducting magnet.  This all makes sense once you understand that these particles are creatures of their magnetic environments and so using speed detectors and magnets to measure their characteristics is the way to go.

While much subatomic physics can be done on the ground at places like CERN and Fermilab and Brookfield National Laboratory (among others), such experiments are usually better conducted in space, away from the Earth’s environment and where the conditions can be more easily understood.  This flight of the AMS module (officially called AMS-02) is another step in stretching our understanding of the smallest particles (and their actions).  For more information about AMS-02, visit the instrument Web page, where you’ll find introductory material, images, and videos.


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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

I'm Late, I'm Late, I'm Late to a Very Important Date

Goodness, I'm seldom late to anything, in fact I'm usually early. My husband is the late one.

I thought I'd already written a blog for today and had it waiting in line. Wrong. I received a reminder from one of my fellow bloggers.

I love writing blogs with this bunch of gals--they make me feel so young. I'm probably thirty years older than most of them. I was a kid during World War II, married the cute sailor I met on a blind date the same year I graduated from high school, we raised five children, and I led a Camp Fire group for ten years--until they graduated from high school.

Through the years, I had various jobs. When the kids were little, I worked as a telephone operator off and on. Hubby, a career Seabee, was gone as much as he was home. When he finally retired, I went to work part time as a teacher in a pre-school for kids with developmental disabilities and began college.

Three of our children married, grandkids began arriving.

Hubby wanted to move to a smaller town and we found the perfect place, the foothills of the Sierra. We purchased a licensed residential facility for developmentally disabled women, moved in and took over. (A much more complicated process than that.)

Though I'd been writing all along, I didn't get published until the first year that we lived in our new place. After our ladies left for work, I wrote for about three hours--and as the years passed, more books were published.

We had our facility for over twenty years and finally decided it was time to retire.

Now I'm writing nearly full time--though life interferes at times.

That's just a quick overview--but you can see I've been on this planet much longer than the other members of the Stiletto Gang. I love them all, and they certainly brighten my life and I bet they do yours too.

  1. We're so delighted to blog with YOU. Your energy, enthusiasm, and perspective are an inspiration to your fellow bloggers -- and our readers.

  2. Hey, we love you, too! I'm at the point where I ask "what would Marilyn do?" when musing about something. Your wit and wisdom are an invaluable part of our Stiletto puzzle. Maggie

  3. I agree with Marian and Maggie! You're a breath of fresh air, Marilyn, and it's always fun hearing what you have to say (and learning from you in so many ways!).

  4. What a great story - I'm loving it!


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High School Teachers Share the Wackiest Things Kids Have Done in Class (PHOTOS)

Maressa Brown LOL

kids at a desk in classOn their worst days, teens can be rebellious, sullen, fiercely independent, or just plain awkward. But they're also still kids, trying to figure out who they are, and sometimes acting in mind-boggling, hilarious ways as a result. High school teachers know this fact intimately. It's something they'll tell you keeps their jobs as educators both interesting and challenging! Thankfully, they also get a kick out of their students' wacky moves from time-to-time.

Here, high school teachers reveal the craziest, boldest, most jaw-dropping thing their students have ever done in class ...

More from The Stir: High School Teachers Share the Craziest Things Students Have Said in Class

What's the craziest thing your teen -- or one of their friends, maybe -- has ever done in class?

Image via Vancouver Film School/Flickr


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Nigeria Clinch 7th AWC Crown, Beat Cameroon 2-0

Nigeria clinched a record seventh title at the Africa Women’s Championship after defeating Cameroon 2-0 in the final on Saturday evening at the Sam Nujoma stadium in Windhoek, Namibia.
Desire Oparanozie curled a well taken free kick in the 13th minute past Cameroonian goalkeeper Annette Ngo Ndom to give the Super Falcons an early lead.
Cameroon’s Gaelle Enganamouit’s had a chance at goal but the long range shot went wide to deny Les Lionesses an equalizer minutes later.
Les Lionesses’ defender Yvonne Leuko slid at the age of the penalty box losing the ball as an alert Francisca Ordega picked it up sending a through pass to youngster Asisat Oshoala who spectacularly found the back of the net in the 44th minute to give Nigeria a 2-0 lead before the halftime mark.
Enganamouit had yet another chance at goal in the 63rd minute from a corner kick but it went wide again before she almost converted a well taken free kick but was denied by the crossbar in the 79th minute.
Nigeria held on to be crowned continental champions and remain unbeaten at the two-week long tournament that attracted eight countries.
The Super Falcons have never lost to Cameroon since the inception of the continental showpiece in 1991 as both sides faced off in the final back then with Nigeria winning 2-0 against Les Lionesses.
Nigeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast will represent Africa at the 2015 Fifa Women’s World Cup in Canada.
Oparanozie finished as the top scorer of the competition with five goals, while Oshoala, who scored four goals, was named the MVP just months after she was so named at the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in Canada.

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Monday, December 12, 2011

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Mine was pretty great : ) Lots of relaxing and snuggling with the boy between Friday and Saturday. I couldn't get enough of being wrapped up with a blanket on the couch with Ryan. It was so cold....I hate going out because I have to put what seems like 20 layers on just to stay warm! On Sunday the weather got a little nicer and the temp was up around 50 so we ventured out to run some errands and such. Although I did get dressed up for a date on Saturday night (which was amazing-sushi!), the rest of the weekend my outfits didn't get past this point....
Weekend by thesweetashleylife (<~~~Click to view items)
I had to have my scarf, boots, and wool socks. Yes, I even asked if I looked like a teeny bopper, with my boots and skinnies.....Ryan assured me that I could 'pull it off'. Haha I'm not sure if I'm happy with that or sad! Either way, I stayed warm!

Even though we spent a lot of time at home, we still had some fun! We drank this season's first batch of eggnog (someone might have spiked it...), ate pizza, watched movies (Perfect Host, which was pretty good) and laughed at some SNL goodness. I even made two more wreaths yesterday to ship out. So, add productive to the list!

This morning I've been trying to figure out my holiday schedule. Between figuring out time off from work, figuring out a moving schedule, figuring out the time we'll be spending with family (here and in KY), plus all of the normal stuff--I can't keep track of it all! We'll start moving late next week so I have a ton to do between now and then BUT I'm super excited about seeing everyone between now and the end of the year!

Oh yea, have any of you seen these funny pics of Christopher Walken? I find them randomly and I always crack up! I can't be the only one....right?!
A friend sent this one...

What did you do this past weekend? Are you getting excited about the holidays?

MacKensie said...

Bahaha those Christopher Walken photos are amazing.

Elizabeth said...

Random question: How do you make those outfit pictures on one pic? I'm apparently not that smart to do that.=) Good luck moving!


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Volume 78 - Number 48 / May 6 - 12 , 2009
West and East Village, Chelsea, Soho, Noho, Little Italy, Chinatown and Lower East Side, Since 1933

Talking Point

Seize the day, but I’m not so sure about the building

By Arthur Z. Schwartz

Last week Lincoln Anderson, The Villager’s associate editor, asked me to write a piece, as a veteran of Columbia University building occupations long ago (and a father of four, including two in college), about the recent spate of building occupations at The New School and New York University. Here it is.

 I was a student at Columbia from 1970 to 1974, long before Barack Obama made his appearance on campus. While at Columbia, I was arrested three times, took part in one building blockade and then occupation in 1972, and did sit-ins in various offices a number of times. It was a different era — the Vietnam War was more horrific than the horrors now committed in the name of democracy in Iraq. The government of Richard Nixon made Bush Jr.’s excesses look like strolls in the park. Black activists were gunned down, antiwar leaders were framed, the government spied on everyone.

I took part in a building occupation in April 1972, after the U.S. began to bomb Hanoi and mine its harbors and invaded Cambodia. Thousands of students rallied at Barnard College, and our congresswoman, Bella Abzug (who we shared with the Village), urged us to “Do what you have to do.” The university went “on strike” for a week, with picket lines in front of buildings and demands that Columbia stop accepting grant money from the Defense Department. After a week of picketing, the N.Y.P.D., who hated the “rich” students (tuition was $1,500 that year), chased us away from the buildings; so we took them over, chaining the doors to seven buildings.

Over the next week, as the activists spent their days inside, classes started to meet again. At first, I was exhilarated, writing a long tome, which I still have, about my willingness finally to sacrifice my privileged life (I was the child of two doctors), my future career and my freedom for a cause. But we watched as classmates — without 500 organizers in their midst — began to worry about papers and finals, and after four days, we marched out and did the same. I never got into much trouble for my actions — our legal team, led by William Kunstler and Gus Reichbach, a young lawyer who had occupied a building in 1968 and had been charged with riot (and who is now a New York State Supreme Court judge), got Columbia to back off by the next fall.

We were protesting war and racism, and were upset that our university, in which we felt an ownership stake, did so much to support the United States’ imperial designs.

Were our protests a good thing? Probably. We changed the landscape at our school, leaving it a place that helped shape Barack Obama 10 years later. Were we righteous? You bet. And Columbia’s law graduates and Business School graduates still play major roles as kings of the financial world, which has done the world so much wrong. Did it impact my life? It did — it pushed me on the path I have followed ever since, lawyer for protesters, lawyer for workplace whistle blowers, lawyer for union activists, lawyer for transit strikers and now general counsel for ACORN, the right’s favorite target.

But as a tactic, building occupations stink. They cut organizers off from those they need to reach. Righteousness doesn’t always change the world. People do. Sometimes an act of civil disobedience will spark a popular movement. But the groundwork has to be set, networks created, anger and commitment stoked. But just making statements doesn’t change anything. I learned that as I sat in a building and watched fellow students trudge to class as though nothing was going on. In fact, if it weren’t for The Villager, very few outside the university community would have known what was going on.

To my friends at The New School and N.Y.U., I say this: I applaud your passion and your courage. Your universities don’t respect their students or their faculty, particularly the graduate faculty who make up so much of their work force.

But don’t get caught up in symbolic statements which, in the end, accomplish nothing more than getting you kicked out of school. You can bug Bob Kerrey and the ivory tower brass at N.Y.U. far more creatively. And you can and must build support — if your issues are clear and well spelled out — and compel coverage beyond The Villager. If you don’t do that, you won’t get anywhere.

We live in an era where passion around the same issues, from thousands of young people, turned the dream of an Obama presidency into a reality. We helped get that job done. But we’ve got a long way to go before we rest.

Schwartz is general counsel for ACORN and the American Institute for Social Justice, and is Democratic state committeeman for Greenwich Village, Soho and Tribeca.

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Thanks to Crissy for adopting this fanlisting out to me on June 29, 2015, and to previous owners Jessica, Anna, Anne-Sophie and Emma-Jane for taking care of the fanlisting before me.

The layout and skin system, is based on the actual TFL layout, created and designed by Emma-Jane of Audiohype.

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Thursday, April 24, 2008

It's Time to Rebuild at Texas A&M

The 2007 season was a forgettable one in College Station. If Dennis Franchione wasn't publishing his VIP Connections newsletter or running up the score on Nebraska, an Aggie yell leader was being sent home from the Alamo Bowl after saying, "Joe Paterno's on his death bed! And someone needs to find him a casket."

To top it off, an Aggie fan at the Alamodome was caught on camera digging in his nose and consuming a tasty snack. Yikes!
But times, they are a changing in College Station. Thanks to the fine photography work of reader Greg, we are here to show you how they are blending the old with the new in Aggieland in 2008. It was all on display Saturday at the Maroon and White game.

Yes, the 12th Man is alive and well, along with the $1,000 boots cadet seniors proudly wear around campus.
Gone is Franchione and his newsletter. The new sheriff in town is Mike Sherman. OK, who cares if he was caught sleeping at the NFL scouting combine when he was on the staff of the Houston Texans? And the yell leaders? They promise to be on their best behavior.
The Aggies embrace their tradition. They have a trophy case to prove it.
Everything is big in Texas. They once crammed 88,253 into Kyle Field.
The snazziest addition to Kyle Field came in 2006 with the installation of 12th Man TV, a 3,954 square foot Mitsubishi Diamond Vision enhanced resolution LED videoboard. Bitching!
Aggieland Outfitters was sued over the Saw 'Em Off logo and had to make minor changes to it because the original design infringed on the Texas Longhorn trademark. (This all started after an Aggie victory over the Longhorns in 2006.) But from the looks of it, the lawsuit merely made the logo even more popular among Aggie fans.
Young and old fans were among the estimated crowd of 32.000.
Gas prices might be pushing $4 a gallon, but Texas is oil country and high prices for fuel are not going to slow down the Aggies.

1 comment:

Three N Out said...

It was kinda funny that Texas Tech and OU sell very similar shirts to the "saw 'em off"

A&M wins in '06 and Texas sues just A&M


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Online Groupon Deal: From $24.99 for Escali Arti Digital Glass Kitchen Scale

Groupon: from $24.99 for Escali Arti Digital Glass Kitchen Scale-12 Colors Available

Escali Arti Digital Glass Kitchen Scale

The Escali Arti digital glass kitchen scale—an invaluable tool for any chef, dieter, or Lady Justice statue—measures up to 15 pounds of wet or dry ingredients with accuracy to the nearest 0.1 ounce. A digital display and glass weighing surface with touch-sensitive buttons render the scale user-friendly, and additional features, such as display hold for large ingredients and tare for zeroing out containers, ensure accurate weight recordings. The instrument also cleans up easily, adds a pop of color to countertops, and helps reassure weight-conscious pet gerbils.

  • Measures up to 15 pounds in 0.1-ounce increments
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  • Tare feature for weighing ingredients in containers
  • Display-hold feature maintains weight on screen when measuring larger items
  • Auto shutoff preserves battery life
  • Two lithium batteries included


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The Dorfsman 'a'

Following on from our Lou Dorfsman post, someone asked what font the 'ha ha ha' was in. See the lower case 'a' above. Well this is a mystery to us here at 'Things to Look at'. Did he redraw it specially to work at that size? It seems likely that the extreme contrast between thick and thin lines would disintegrate at smaller sizes making specific size versions a must. We know that he created CBS Didot and CBS Sans and we are aware he was a fastidious man making it seem highly likely that this is a one off hand drawn letter.

Could it be an existing font? A lost font perhaps? Or is there some other explanation? If anyone knows the answer then it would be very interesting to know. All we can work out is that is none of the usual 'modern' suspects shown below, especially as many of them post date the poster which was created in 1961.

jonathan said...

Pretty sure that it is custom drawn. I have seen it in one of my old copies of Graphis magazine. It is featured in an advert designed by Herb Lubalin for a type design competition. Will try to find out more and let you know.

jonathan said...

Found this on a site featuring some of Lubalin's work.

jaypeg said...

Jonathan that site is excellent. Yes, I think it's most probable that the A was handdrawn.

Diane said...

I believe it's Pistilli Roman. Unfortunately it has never been turned into a digital typeface due to it's extreme thicks and thins. I did a crazy search for this for some time and the information on it is minimal.

Diane said...

Hi, I also wanted to show you these images that I found of Pistilli Roman

They are beautiful examples!!!!

sex said...


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rustic industrial diy decor

Rustic Industrial Diy Decor

Rustic Industrial Diy Decor

We have collected a list of 40 of the best DIY projects to give your home that rustic look. You can find everything from headboards and picture frames to cabinets and This project combines two of my very favorite things: rustic home decor and chalkboard art! See how I made this DIY Rustic Industrial Chalkboard for my kitchen and Whether your entire home is decorated in a rustic style, or you just want to add a little charm, these DIY rustic decor projects will get you there.Rustic décor is so “in” right now. Whether you live in the country or your home is in the city, you can still have beautiful rustic décor and you can do it all DIY Rustic Wedding – Many rustic brides and looking for DIY rustic wedding ideas and projects to help make their wedding a perfect rustic country wedding.Today I am creating a TV stand. Using these supplies will allow me to have a rustic and industrial TV stand. Using a thinner wood will allow it to have a more modern 59 DIY Shelf Ideas Built With Industrial Pipe. Whether you’re going for a sophisticated, modern vibe or a homey, rustic appeal, industrial pipe shelves can be one way Defined, rustic style is a design emphasis on rugged, natural beauty. It embraces nature-inspired textures, simple and earthy colors, and ultimately an unpBrowse the best of DIY and remodeling. Find DIY home decorating projects and remodeling ideas and materials in a range of styles, from modern and rustic to minimalist.Rustic Decor features rustic frames and barn wood accessories made from reclaimed wood. Reclaimed wood is also often called barnwood or barn wood as well.

Images Of Rustic Industrial Diy Decor

Related Video Of Rustic Industrial Diy Decor

Hey y’all! Today we will continue our journey in Darryl’s office/music studio! We built these awesome rustic industrial shelves! We loved how these came out!

How To Style Bookshelves | Rustic Industrial | Office Decor Today’s video is going to be a look into Darryl’s office/music studio. He wanted a gentleman and …


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Thursday, September 08, 2011

Happy birthday, Mary!

In today's liturgy we celebrate the birth of Mary. There are only three birthdays celebrated in the liturgy: those of Jesus, Mary, and St. John the Baptist. Usually, the Church celebrates a saint's feast on the day of death, because that's when they entered eternal life.

But Jesus, Mary, and John the Baptist played very important roles in the history of salvation, so their lives on earth were extremely crucial for all of us.

We don't have historical records about Mary's birth. The names of her parents, Joachim and Anne, come from an ancient document called the Protoevangelium of James. It is not a canonical Gospel, so we can't rely on it for historical details. But it was an important source for the development of Marian piety. It was written in the early second century, and shows that, among other things, Christians in that early time believed in Mary's virginity.

Like us, Mary lived a human life on earth. It was hard. She had to struggle, even though she was graced from the first moment of her conception and never sinned. She dealt with suffering and sorrow. But on her birthday, we can celebrate her life as one of us, our spiritual mother, our friend, someone we can always go to for help.


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Wednesday, March 07, 2012

South by Southwest (SXSW) - Welcome to Austin

It is that time of the year.  The hint of spring is in the air.  Must be time for SXSW.

SXSW began as a music conference, but has grown into an experience in music, film, business and more.

I have attended the SXSW Interactive conference (sort of business meets tech, meets advertising, meets social media, etc...) for the past seven years.  Over that time the event has changed a lot.  The time I was involved it was not that crazy, but last year the interactive portion alone had over 19,000 people (This year they expect more!).

I have both attended and presented at the event, and this year will be hosting a fun-oriented session called "SXSW Stories - Open Mic".  They asked me to MC this event where people can come and share their best experiences from the 2012 SXSW Interactive event.  My hope is that we can make it fun.  I plan to channel my best "Oprah" style as I get the people to open up.  The format is all about the audience, so if only a few show up we will have a coffee chat, if it is crowed we will have more short format sharing.  My hope is that it will be both informative and funny.

If you have ever thought about attending SXSW, there are few experiences that rival this event.  I highly recommend the investment of time and money.  But you need to book your hotel room a year in advance if you do not live in the area.  It is not for everyone, and with so many panels, speeches, parties, and other activities happening at once you cannot wing it.  Preparation is the key to success at South by Southwest.

If this is your first time in Austin, you will love the city.  The weather in Mid-March is usually picture perfect, and the city itself is part of the SXSW experience.

Get ready, there is no turning back.  SXSW starts this week!

Have A Great Day.

thom singer

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Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Don't Stop Believing

From "Play's the Thing," Woodstock Times, June 5, 2008:
Nine years after a crowning, unique achievement in baseball history, and after two entire seasons spent at home in the Dominican Republic wondering where his career had gone, Fernando Tatis recently returned to the major league scene as an inspired contributor to the dispirited New York Mets. In the space of just a few days, his late-inning hits won two ballgames, the admiration of his teammates, and the adulation of a new fan base. His twelfth-inning walk-off double in the first of these contests overcame a one-run deficit and may turn out to have saved his manager’s job.

On another comeback front, the famous-long-ago rock band Journey, missing the signature tenor of Steve Perry since 1995, kept trying to recover their sound and their audience. Searching for his clone, the band hired and fired a couple of lead singers in the interim until they found one on, of all places, YouTube — and residing in the Philippines, no less. This week Journey, fronted by its new 40-year-old chameleon vocalist Arnel Pineda, issued a new CD to bewildered but favorable reviews. “The album ... is, actually, good,” wrote a clearly surprised Ben Ratliff in the New York Times; “the band seems to have taken rock vitamins: it feels alive.”

Journey’s comeback may have been overshadowed by Pineda’s own: he had struggled along the piers of Manila, where as a boy he had collected scrap metal, bottles and newspapers to survive. As he told a Philippine reporter in January of this year, he always kept a positive outlook, thinking, Gaganda rin ’to, which may be translated as “Things will get better” or even “Don’t stop believing.”

Hillary Clinton ran a valiant if doomed race against time and math yet, conquering neither, kept running as if her power switch was stuck in the on position. “It ain’t over till it’s over,” she offered, echoing Yogi’s tautological wisdom, but what she may have really meant was that it wasn’t over until she said it was over.

Lost in the post-primaries squabble over concession etiquette was her still compelling argument that projecting to the electoral college come November, she appears to win handily while Obama may struggle. Also lost was that her comeback from the political-operative incompetence of the caucus states showed not only relentless drive but also simple courage.

What a long strange week it’s been, with hope and renewal and denial and anger all contending for the top rung. Just hold on, the still, small voice had seemed to say, and the finish line will extend magically ... another day, another season, another tour. These Comeback Kids — Hillary, Fernando, and the members of Journey — have each struggled against what seemed inevitable defeat and, if only for a moment vanquishing it or shoving it to one side, merit at least our grudging admiration.

The pump had been primed for Journey’s return to the top when the Chicago White Sox selected their 1981 anthem “Don’t Stop Believing” as their theme song on the way to winning the 2005 World Series. It became the fire-up music of all Detroit sports franchises, too, for its opening-stanza line “Just a city boy ... born and raised in South Detroit.” But the song’s ultimate return to glory came when, after closing out last year’s final episode of The Sopranos, it catapulted to the top ten of iTunes downloads — a comeback from the dead of perhaps unparalleled dimension.

Unless you think of Tatis, who on April 23, 1999, playing for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Los Angeles Dodgers, did what no one had ever done before and no one is ever likely to do again. He hit two home runs with the bases filled in the same inning ... and against the same pitcher (Chan Ho Park). In that season, when he was a rising star aged 24, he hit 34 home runs and 31 doubles, drove in 107 runs, and even stole 21 bases. He signed a multiyear, multimillion-dollar contract. The road to Cooperstown opened wide.

But he never approached those numbers again, and after four more years of dwindling production with the Cardinals and the Montreal Expos and a failed spring-training trial in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Tatis found himself back at home at San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic waiting for the phone to ring. For two years he stayed home with his wife and five children. After flirtations with the Baltimore Orioles and the Dodgers he landed with the New Orleans Zepyhrs, a Mets farm club for 2007, where he played alongside similarly washed up teammate Chan Ho Park.

Today both are back in the big leagues and contributing big time, Park again finding a home with the Dodgers. The two even faced each other in a single plate appearance of a game last week. What drove Tatis, at age 33, to stick with baseball, despite the indignity of diminished stature, salary, and playing time? His older children told him they wanted to see him play in the majors again. Fernando is now playing the game with a verve that his teammates would do well to emulate. He is happy to be back on the big stage.

So is Journey, whose combined CD/DVD “Revelation” floods into WalMart stores this week (the exclusive retail outlet except for the band’s website, And while there are those who hate the power-ballad era and its fossil remnants, the boomer audience never really left Journey’s side.

Senator Clinton is finding it hard to give up the big stage of Presidential politics. A return to Washington as the junior Senator from New York, with an obstructed view of both the Majority Leader’s chair and that of the Armed Services Committee, seems unpalatable. Negotiating her way onto the ticket will require a position of submission (if only to reality), not strength, and thus is unlikely to prevail. Why she would want the second position is a mystery anyway.

As Hillary considers her next destination, the glowing screen may be a beacon in the dark. “Don’t Stop Believing” was Tony Soprano’s jukebox choice, along with “I’ve Gotta Be Me,” sung by Tony Bennett, selected but not heard before the abrupt blackout (other jukebox options for those who would treat the series finale as a mini-episode of Lost were: “Who Will You Run To,” “Magic Man,” and Journey’s “Any Way You Want It.”) When the Clintons made their celebrated YouTube parody of the Sopranos finale they chose “Don’t Stop Believing” as the background track ... but her jukebox choices for campaign song included “Get Ready,” “Don’t Look Back,” “I’m a Believer,” and “Suddenly I See,” as well as the song ultimately selected for the campaign, Celine Dion’s insipid “You and I.”

Unsolicited advice, from one not unfamiliar with misfortune: Don’t stop believing, but do stop bereaving. Focus on the good times. And as baseball players know, not every hit is a home run, and some days it rains.

--John Thorn

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

“Vot? It’s not for you good enough? Strike two!”

Kessler at the Bat

This previously unpublished riff on the immortal "Casey at the Bat" is by Mikhail Horowitz, bon vivant, raconteur, performance artist and, you should be so lucky, friend.

It looked, well, all farcockteh for the Putzville nine that day;
The score—don’t ask—was 4 to 2. You heppy now? Hokeh.
And so when Plotkin plotzed at first, and Schwartz popped up to third,
Already y’hay sh’may rab-boh was in the ballpark heard.

A couple shlumps got up to go, the others shrugged, and stayed
(For box seats on the field, hoo boy! their tuchuses they paid);
They thought, If only Kessler maybe gives the ball a zetz,
We’d shimmy through the shtetl and forget about the Mets!

But Stein preceded Kessler, as did his nephew, Moe,
And Stein a real shmegegee was, and Moe was just a shmo;
So maybe now for Kessler they should bother not to wait—
Moshiach had a better chance of schlepping to the plate.

But Stein, he blooped a bingle, and his mother cried, Mein Gott!
And Moshe clubbed a double, I should drop dead on the spot;
And when they finished running and bent wheezing at the waist,
There was Moe verklempt on second and Stein on third, vershtast?

So now from all those Putzville fans was such a big to-do,
They rose and davened in a wave, a hundred shofars blew;
A host of angels wept to hear a thousand chazzans sing,
For Kessler, Rebbe Kessler, he was coming up to swing.

There was schmaltz on Kessler’s tallis as he stepped into the box,
In his beard were crumbs of matzoh, small piece cheese, a bissel lox,
And when he shook his shtreimel, drenching half the fans with sweat,
No goyim in the crowd could doubt—’twas Kessler at the bet.

And now the mystic, Kabbalistic pitch comes floating in,
And Kessler’s brow is furrowed, and he slowly strokes his chin;
He comprehends that long before Creation had begun,
This pitch existed somewhere . . . but then he hears, “Strike vun!”

From the stands (donated by the Steins) the whole mishpocheh moaned,
A yenta started kvetching and a balabusta groaned;
“Hey, ump!” an angry moyel cried, “I’ll cut you like a fish!”
So, nu? They would have cut him, but Kessler muttered, “Pish!”

With a smile of pure rachmanis, great Kessler’s punim shone,
He stilled the boiling moyel, he bade the game go on;
He yubba-dubba-dubba’ed as the pious pitcher threw,
But he yubba-dubba’ed once too much—the umpire shrugged,
“Vot? It’s not for you good enough? Strike two!”

“Feh!” cried the maddened Hasids, and Elijah echoed, “Feh!”
But a puzzled look from Kessler made the audience go, “Heh?”
They saw his payus rise and fall, they saw his tzitzits twitch,
They knew that Rebbe Kessler vouldn’t miss another pitch.

The smile on Kessler’s punim now is more profound, and keener;
He glows with all the preternatural light of the Shekinah;
And now the pishka-pishka pitch so big and fat it gets;
And now the air is shattered by the force of Kessler’s zetz!

Oy. Somewhere in Jerusalem a grandson plants a tree;
A klezmer band is playing—so, the clarinet’s off-key;
And somewhere else a shmoyger with the rebbetzin has flirted;
But there is no joy in Putzville—mighty Kessler has converted.

(“The name is Kelly, if you don’t mind!”)


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Thursday, 28 June 2007

Blending the Blues

In the middle section of the forewings, I want to gradually blend from the darker blue to the pale blue. First I remove four sugas from a strand of dark blue silk and replace them with four sugas of pale blue (each strand of silk contains 16 sugas). I worked one row of stitches with this blend. I then work two rows in a 50/50 blend and finally two rows in a blend containing 4 sugas of dark blue and 12 sugas of pale blue.

© Jennifer Ashley Taylor/Carol-Anne Conway

Happy Stitching

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