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St Wilfrid’s staff and students really raised the bar with fundraising at our annual St Wilfrid’s Day celebration on Friday 5th July raising more money than ever before for the Trevor Mann Neo Natal Hospital in Brighton and the Neo Natal Unit at Southampton Hospital.

Our annual event is a day where we celebrate our Patron Saint, taking a day off timetable to celebrate his life and our mission as a Catholic School Community. Our tutor groups choose, set up and run a stall/activity of their choice for their peers to pay for and enjoy!  This year we had great support from our parents who helped by either donating equipment for the day or by simply giving their son or daughter funds to spend on the day.

The day was truly exceptional from start to finish with the sun shining down on us.  The day started with a whole school mass in the school gym followed by the staff and students going out onto the school field to set up their stalls for the morning and with Mrs Sparks and Mrs Dawson compering the mornings events over the PA system.

We had and amazing array of stalls including the favourite Sponge the Teacher, Coconut Shy and Candyfloss stalls.  There was a first for St Wilfrid’s Day where we had a helicopter land on our school field.  The aircraft is owned by Chartered-A Ltd, a company owned by Melissa in Year 7.  7FC had an amazing opportunity of having the Helicopter as their fundraising stall where students could sit in the aircraft and have their picture taken.  The tutor group also ran a raffle for staff and students where two students and one staff member could win a trip in the Helicopter St Wilfrid’s Day.  The lucky students were Siobhan in Year 10 and Isabella in Year 7 along with Mr Radenhurst.  After all the stalls had been tided up and the field cleared Isabella, Siobhan and Mr Radenhurst boarded the Helicopter and took off to great whoops and cheers from the rest of the school.  They flew over Crawley and Gatwick where they landed at Redhill Aerodrome and were then chauffeur driven back to school to see the Talent Show.

Each student had brought in £2 to cover their Non Uniform and their ticket to St Wilfrid’s Got Talent and this total was added to the total they raised on their stall. All money raised by each stall was converted into House Points, going toward the House Champion announcement at the end of the day.

In the afternoon we had our ever popular St Wilfrid’s Got Talent Show which was run by our amazing Music Department. The calibre of the performances were outstanding with the inclusion of a staff band making the afternoon an enormous success. The judges this year were Mr Morris, Miss Huxford, Mr Snidle and special guest judge, Mr Ritchard Burrows from Barclays Bank.

After a short break, the whole school gathered in the school hall to hear the grand total raised along with Talent Show Results and the House Champions for 2013. Firstly Mr Morris revealed the results of the Talent Show, Roisin Cast took first place with her Irish Dancing, 2nd place went David Selby for his piano piece with third place going to the Year 10 Band.  Mr Morris then informed the school that they had managed to smash last years amazing total £1,925.81 by raising an outstanding £2,936.96!!!!  This year Barclay’s Bank had agreed to match fund some of the fundraising total bringing the St Wilfrid’s Day Total to a staggering £4,436.66 for the Neo Natal units in Brighton and Southampton!!!!

Talent Show Winner Roisin Cast

Finally it was time to announce the House Champions for 2013. Once again it was extremely close with the money raised by each house being turned into House Points for each house. Benedict House were named 2013 Champions receiving the trophy which will soon have their name engraved on the honours board displayed in Reception. All Benedict student are rewarded with a trip to Thorpe Park.

Benedict House Champions 2013


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Katie Holmes Dives Deeper Into Beauty With Alterna as Co-Owner and Spokeswoman

Following in Jennifer Aniston’s footsteps, Katie Holmes has been announced as the co-owner and spokesperson of Alterna hair care. Holmes has been busy on the beauty front lately, recently becoming the first celebrity face of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics. For her deal with Alterna, the 34-year-old actress will be featured in Alterna’s very first print advertising campaign (to launch in mid-February) and will also provide the brand with input and insight on upcoming products and intiatives.

President of Alterna Professional Haircare, Joan Malloy, told WWD that, “Katie is a fashionista, a mother and an entrepreneur. In short, she is our consumer.” For Holmes on the other hand  the partnership was just as beneficial. “I love that Alerna uses natural and organic ingredients and stays away from harsh chemicals like sulfates and parabens,” said Holmes. “It’s good for my hair and good for the earth, so I feel good using it.”

Alterna’s two key product lines of the moment, Caviar and Bamboo, were named by Holmes as some of her favorites for keeping her hair in top condition as a brunette. “I like to keep it simple. When it comes to hair, great style should be sustainable. Using the right products means you don’t have [to] work as hard to look and feel your best.”

What do you think of Holmes diving deep into the beauty world? Do you think she’ll be a good face for Alterna, and also a good co-owner? Let us know in the comments below!

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Log in

New blog

Dear friends..

I won't be using livejournal anymore...my new site is in blogpsot. suanlin.blogspot.com
Yea, so feel free to drop by at my new blog and leave comments if you wish to yea.. Sorry livejournal, have to abandon you..hehe.

Sorry for the inconvenience.lol. =)

Prepared, people?

Clothes..pretty and beautiful these days.Image.

Shoes..very attractive and will still be.Comfort.

Cars..its everyone's favourite, we can't deny it.Convenience.

We used to hear the english adage goes 'save for the rainy days', i guess its about time we open our umbrellas now.. Its already drizzling for most of us and in time to come, it'll be raining cats and dogs for all..Life will be much tougher but i think we could pull through if we work out our own budget. It will continue like this if the market stays low and in fact the whole world is affected.. but its never too late to start saving now.

A trip to Langkawi

Last month i went on a holiday trip with my family - Langkawi. We flew there and rented a car to go around. Langkawi changed quite a bit ever since the last time i went..about a few years ago. Though there were kids around, still it was much more fun than the previous time. Find out more..

Honestly, there's nothing much in Langkawi except for alcohol and chocolates..The best part was to have a map and go round exploring the island yourself..and I love that. We went to the marine park, the cable car to look at the view of langkawi(the andaman sea actually), some duty free shops and hang out around Chenang beach. I guess its the most popular beach in Langkawi. Most of the expensive resorts are around there.. The best time i've had was during the boat trip to the Kilim Geoforest Park.

The trip includes visiting the Pulau Kasut(just show you the island pretty much looks like a shoe), Bat cave(the bats are really scary though they were sleeping),Floating restaurant(on stilts actually..selling fresh seafood), crocodile cave(theres no crocodile..just a name) and eagle feeding..this is fun. I've never seen so many eagles in my life. Fascinated by their sharp eyes and so many of them came together. The journey to Kilim Geoforest Park too about 30 minutes or more from where we board the boat..i think its Tanjung Rhu and the mangrove swamps looks really scary to me and so quiet compared to the open sea.

Dinner was just seafood. Every night. Some were nice and some were just okay. The best was the last dinner we had at the Chenang beach area. Great ambience and don't look much like a Chinese restaurant from the outside, more to contemporary style with good service and good food.Er..its quite expensive too.hehe. Chocolates..i didn't buy much as the expiry date was quite near(i won't be able to finish it by then) and..you know what, I think Langkawi is the one and only place i can find peanut butter kit kat in Malaysia..

I was quite exhausted that week as the next day after i came back from Langkawi i drove all the way up to Taiping to attend my relative's wedding. But..it was worth it i say, as..its been a long time since i've met up with my cousins..

Mother's Day

It was just another normal sunday.. Mother's day in our family isn't celebrated like other people..with fancy gifts and so forth just for mum.No no..we don't need that.hehe..Mum is much appreciated and loved at home.hehe.

Anyway, we had dinner in the Gardens that evening.. Tried out the Gurney Drive Delights since mum loves Penang food so much. Its on the third floor. Right, you won't get the ambience of Penang but the food is definitely Penang style..The food in the menu looks really tempting and bro ordered yea..a whole table of food. There were 6 of us and the waiter and waitress had a hard time placing the food on the table.. My God, they must be thinking we are PIRAHNAS..haha. Ouh well, its normal for us though.hehe..

Overall the food taste good and yummy yummy, delicious.. But some of it weren't as good as the original ones in Penang of course..I guess this is all individual opinions. You can try out if you're really craving for Penang food. ERm...last reminder:make sure you bring enough cash.hehe. Its really expensive.

A little insight

I've made my mind to post about things happening in the girls' hostel and no its not any secret. I think i've seen quite a bit for almost a year when i'm staying there. No doubt its my favourite place in the university. Really, it is comfortable. Well if you really want to compare my room with hostels in the other universities, i think mine is good. All along i was really quiet, it was a total different me when i studied there..So most of the time, i observed people.

We were lucky. All the chinese girl's rooms were very near to each other. Well,i mean the electrical engineering students. Normally we gather in one of the rooms and do everything there. Ate, joked, and so forth. Things were fine when we were in the first semester. My room was always said to be the best place to study, as it was quite quiet.. Things were new back then. Everyone have not adapt to it. Everything was normal, happy, the girls enjoyed it. 7 of us went to class, and 7 of us came back together. No separation. At night, we joined the crowd with the other girls from other sections and all were pretty fine.

And then...things changed. Slowly..

It started at the end of last semester..i think. Something wasn't right already. I think we started to sensed it. Things were running quite well still. After the finals, we had a month's break..

The beginning of second term was still alright, till one fine day when some were left out of a birthday discussion. One particular person took it as an offence..and conflict starts. Things started to pile up. Everything to her wasn't good..whatever they do.It just wasn't right. And she often see their weaknesses and mistakes in it. Hatred did not come by though. She just dislikes them. There was a separation later on. 7 people were separated into 2 groups. And then back in the hostel, slowly, everyone started separating. But just into 2 groups. So literally, two was the number.

Things change...drastically nowadays..

Everything that went on were no more together. Things were totally changed But well, we still live with it..Of course, the other party was left out from their activities in the hostel but not the ones that involve the whole class. The 7 went to class separately, sit, had lunch, and do everything separately. Then, criticism of one another started. I didn't like it. My classmates and I tried however to pull them back together but to no avail. The best way is to sit and talk, but they couldn't do it, so we just let it be. I know many people dislike two of my roomies..So, they really don't bother about both of them in my room. I'm not too sure if i'm involved in it, but we still talked like usual. So don't care. Recently, something worse popped up. Something which i thought we could all avoid. But no, it happened, and whats more when the girls from the other rooms knew about it. I bet it spread like wild fire. And i suppose they hate us a lot..i don't see any rationale to what's happening and i just couldn't understand why my dear roomate would think of something like it..It just saddens me. I think there's no way things will turn better the following term and i hope it does not get any worse.

One more thing, I have a feeling when people from a state outnumber the other states, they dominate the place. I don't know how to explain but i just don't like the way they talk and stuff like that. I'm getting really annoyed with it but since i'm not part of them, i shouldn't bother. And i daresay, some of us there stand alone despite being in a group. Does this happen to any of your place?..I really liked to know.I'm really curious about it.

when one starts breaking the vow

I've debated on the sanctity of marriage before in a debate session and yea it was a good one. Hehe..sharing views with one another while convincing the judge. Marriage is pure and beautiful that happens between two souls who are ready to have their own family, be responsible, to cherish each other for the better or worse. There is the vow agreed by both husband and wife and its supposed to be an unbreakable one. Due to immaturity or probably it really did not work out, many people have divorced. And it has become a trend for young couples to divorce these days. Its normal to many people. Now, i haven't been through this(OF COURSE..i haven't),and will not at the moment,maybe some day, so these are all personal opinion..you are free to point out your views.*my pleasure*

Its supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing and shouldn't be taken lightly. The day you decided to get married means you are and will be responsible for your family..That includes everything. Sometimes things change, but we all live with it. We have to. This if life. Adapt to the changes. When you have a family, every move you make may affect them..If you don't consider about the consequences, something disastrous will happen if its bad and otherwise. Things will be even more difficult especially when you have kids. They'll be the one who'll suffer more than the grown ups and this will affect them for life. And...more problems will occur..The roles of a husband and wife in a home are essential to uphold the family. Indirectly, when problems occur, both husband and wife did contribute to it. If family is your priority, i suppose you should see the matter from every side of it should any problems arise and rectify it as soon as possible.

Term II review

Oh yeay this marks the end of my second term in the university and i'm back at home already for 2 months break. Ouh well, i think some of you did ask me how was my second term and here it goes..I'm lazy to repeat the same thing over and over again..

The beginning of the term was really bad. Honestly. I had to re-adapt myself after the 1 month break before the term starts and i still remember myself whinning, complaining and being lost, somewhere in space i suppose.Hahah.. well, thanx to you guys who was with me when i needed to talk and of course my parents who have supported me always and always. Couldn't thank enough. Anyway, as some of you know, I often go home after friday classes. Couldn't help it(My class ends at 12pm). I took yea quite some time to re-build myself to whole-heartedly study there. But if you ask me, i'll still complain about the place but it seldom happen.I've trained myself well. =)

All the classes were equally alright and i especially liked computer programming this semester. I don't know why...but lecturers seem to think girls hated it so much so that i remembered my lecturer told us on the first day of class that the guys will end up getting an A and the girls will get C for C programming.hehe..Well, it totally rhyme, but Sir, we proved you wrong!! I'm not bragging, but i think the girls have scored pretty well..He is a nice lecturer too and wasn't really the fierce type from what we've experienced in a presentation with him last semester. I enjoyed doing the project this semester too..At least i know what i was actually working on this time and how it would look like in the end. And yea..i think we did a good job. So, there were no regrets. What's past is past and lets move on. Its all for knowledge and experience.

Friendship this term didn't work well among the girls..Something went truly wrong due to a small misunderstanding between 3 people(Alright..I'm not one of the 3) and it isn't solved till this day, just quieten a little bit. It had caused us to separate into two groups which i really dislike it and this conflict thing has been spreading around the first years. People from different gender, races and courses realizes it and kept asking around. Yea, its become famous which its not a good thing at all. And then another problem popped up just before the term ended..I haven't got an idea how it happen, why would it happen and..i don't see the rationale of it. This will be a big problem, another unsolved mystery. I'll write more about it in the next post(hopefully). Sometimes i think girls cannot stay together otherwise lots of problem will pop up due to their big mouth at times, they gossip everywhere even to hi-bye friends and they just couldn't keep something to themselves(not all..but mostly). Besides all the girl thing, we still have gatherings for celebrations and birthdays. All the parties went on well and i suppose everyone had a great time especially when it comes to snapping pictures.

Overall the term went on well but because of the misunderstandings around, things have been really different from the previous semester and there were lots of negative feelings from both parties i think...I really hope things will improve after the break but i guess...the chances are slim due to the latest conflict..Looking on the brighter side, without the conflicts, we wouldn't have known the weaknesses of each other. Probably things will be much better when everything is solved. We never know.

Guess thats all for this semester.

A conversation with serena..

So tonight i received a very much shocking news..To me, its not a good news and awhile later i didn't have the mood to study. So i stopped and decided to call my cousin sister. She called back when she was free.I was telling her about my roomies and that i would loved to stay alone the following semester - things would be pretty much good then.

Anyway, her advice was NO ground floors. She told me about her experience when she was in UTM for AIESEC conference. Honestly, if it was me.. i would totally freaked out. But one thing, snakes really do climb walls. Right, so when she checked into the room with her friend (it happens to be at the ground floor), they were curious about this door in the room. My say, I was really glad you opened the door girl..Least you knew else it would be worse. Hehe. When she opened the door, she saw something white dropped from the above and when it turns, it was black. They came to realize that it was a snake, they screamed after awhile(stoned, i supposed..Slow reaction).Of course they shifted to another room after that. And she realize too that snakes climb walls otherwise it wouldn't drop from the above right? See, i told my friends that snakes climb walls but no one seems to believe me..yikes.

Right, so back to this roomie story..Alright, first things first..I did not create trouble here, so no worries people. Its just that there were too many conflicts happening around here lately, i guess it influenced my room too.. haha..A virus spreading around, i suppose. On the whole i think its just a misunderstanding and maybe if we talked it out everything would be fine.. MAYBE. i'm not too sure though, but it would also turned into an argument if we're not careful. So far my other 2 roomates doesn't know about it and i don't know how to voice it out to them. Its concerning about our stay for the next term. Long story and its complicated. Its pretty sad to have these things around. Its uhh..i just don't like it and i feel really sorry for one of my roomie.Nice girl she is. Ouh well... i hope everything goes well or else, this place will not be a nice and comfortable place for me to stay anymore.

Ps:..Thanx for calling. ANd i'll see you back at home!! *hugs*


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California State University, Northridge WordmarkOviatt Library WordmarkOviatt Library Catalog Wordmark
Author Taraborrelli, J. Randy.
Title Michael Jackson : the magic, the madness, the whole story, 1958-2009 / J. Randy Taraborrelli.
Published New York : Grand Central Pub., c2009.
Book Cover

 Music & Media - Stacks  ML420.J175 T3 2009    IN LIBRARY
Edition 1st Grand Central Publishing ed.
Description xv, 765 p., [16] p. of plates : ill., ports. ; 24 cm.
Note Previous editions: 1st published as Michael Jackson: the magic and the madness : Birch Lane Press, 1991; Rev. expanded ed. Sidghwick & Jackson, 2003; Updated pbk. ed. Pan Books, 2004.
"Updated with new chapters on the star's last years and last days"--Dust jacket.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (p. 715-746) and index.
Contents Prologue -- Part 1 -- Introduction -- Joseph and Katherine -- Early days -- Joseph hits Michael -- Climbing mountains -- My poor, poor family -- Rebbie marries -- First record deal -- Jacksons sign with Motown -- Hollywood livin' -- Creating the Jackson 5's first hit -- Michael moves in with Diana -- Success! -- Part 2 -- ABC and 'the Love you save' -- It just kept gettin' better -- Joseph and Katherine buy an estate -- Michael's first solo record -- Growing up in the public eye -- Tito marries -- Groupies -- Rockin' Robin and 'Ben' -- Katherine files for divorce -- Downslide -- Jermaine falls for the boss's daughter -- Part 3 -- Jermaine's and Hazel's wedding -- Las Vegas -- Jackie marries -- Michael's private meeting with Berry -- CBS offers the Jacksons a 'sweet deal' -- Joseph to Jermaine: 'sign it!' -- What's in a name? -- Jacksons leave Motown -- Jackson family values -- Losing to Motown -- Part 4 -- Tatum -- Why do people think I'm gay? -- Michael and Joseph meet with CBS -- Wiz -- Rendezvous with destiny -- Wiz is a flop -- Transition -- Off the wall -- Michael turns twenty-one-and gets his own lawyer -- Joseph's secret -- Katherine is pushed too far -- Jane Fonda -- Part 5 -- First 'nose job'-and other freedoms -- Indirect conversation -- Katherine tills Joseph to 'get out!' -- Did Michael get his way? -- Thriller is a-thriller -- Hayvenhurst -- Michael meets with Berry, again -- Yesterday, today and forever -- Man and the moon -- Billie Jean and 'beat it' videos -- Managerial trouble -- Son vs father -- Putting pressure on Michael -- Another bombastic, attention-getting melodrama? -- Part 6 -- Michael gets burned by Pepsi-Cola -- I never smile with I dance -- Grammys -- Believe me, trouble's ahead -- Another nose job and Katherine's party -- Michael meets the president -- Their last shot -- Misery of the victory tour -- Jackson vs Jackson on the road -- Janet elopes -- Michael is not gay -- Part 7: Michael buys the Beatles' songs -- We are the world -- Prank that didn't work -- More plastic surgery -- Duets gone 'bad' -- Hyperbaric chamber -- Elephant man's bones -- Jackie, Jermaine and Janet -- How 'bad' can it get? -- White man won't let him -- Buying Neverland -- Part 8 -- Enter the moonies -- But what about Michael? -- Attack him-with love -- LaToya gets naked -- Million-dollar bounty on Michael's head -- Michael fires Frandk Dileo -- Michael's mother gets the reward money -- LaToya's drama -- I want more money than anyone else -- David Geffen influences Michael -- Still-struggling Jacksons -- Losing count of the plastic surgeries -- Maddening decade, an uncertain future -- Part 9 -- Michael meets Jordie Chandler -- Have you seen his childhood? -- Place where boys have rights' -- Never do that again, Jordie -- Either Jordie's mom trusts Michael-or she doesn't -- Michael meets Jordie's father -- Dirty minds -- Secret tape recording -- Michael feels betrayed -- Jordies's confession -- Part 10 -- Michael meets with his accusers -- Unsuccessful negotiations -- Jordie sees a psychiatrist -- Jordie will never forgive me -- News is out -- Enter: Lisa Marie Presley -- Elizabeth Taylor to the rescue -- Michael proposes to Lisa Marie -- You'll all be fired -- Chaos and rehab -- Michael stands naked -- LaToya in Madrid -- Michael pays up -- Last word on the matter -- Part 11 -- Michael and Lisa Marie become lovers -- Michael and Lisa Marie: happily ever after? -- Going public -- Lisa Marie wants to know why Michael is 'so selfish' -- Michael goes on the record -- Enter: Debbie Rowe -- Lisa Marie confronts Michael in hospital -- Debbie is pregnant -- Michael's new family -- Lisa Marie has a change of heart -- Lost love -- Martin Bashir documentary -- HIStory, blood on the dance floor & invincible -- Justin & Britney -- Everyone wants to be crazy -- Fathers and sons -- Michael's world caves in-again -- Explaining away his pain -- Way he wants it -- Michael's latest accuser -- Denials all around -- Booze, naked women-and Michael Jackson? -- Family dysfunction -- Jesus juice and Jesus blood -- Time line -- Not Debbie too -- Coda -- Final Years -- What if? -- Memories of Santa Maria -- I don't recall seein' any head lickin' -- Debbie Rowe's testimony -- Odd defence -- Verdict -- Aftermath -- Turning fifty -- Gone too soon -- Man in the mirror -- Personal acknowledgments -- Source notes -- Bibliography -- Index.
Summary From the Publisher: So much has how been said and written about the life and career of Michael Jackson that it has become almost impossible to disentangle the man from the myth. This book is the fruit of over 30 years of research and hundreds of exclusive interviews with a remarkable level of access to the very closest circles of the Jackson family-including Michael himself. Cutting through tabloid rumors, J. Randy Taraborrelli traces the real story behind Michael Jackson, from his drilling as a child star through the blooming of his talent to his ever-changing personal appearance and bizarre publicity stunts. This major biography includes the behind-the-scenes story to many of the landmarks in Jackson's life: his legal and commercial battles, his marriages to Lisa Marie Presley and Debbie Rowe, his passions and addictions, his children. Objective and revealing, it carries the hallmarks of all of Taraborrelli's best-sellers: impeccable research, brilliant storytelling and definitive documentation.
Subject Jackson, Michael, 1958-2009.
Jackson, Michael, 1958-2009 -- Family relationships.
Rock musicians -- United States -- Biography.
Alternate Title Magic, the madness, the whole story, 1958-2009
ISBN 0446564745
OCLC number 422762295


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Article Archives
Farm Bill Epilogue

Friday, March 28, 2014
filed under: Marketing/Risk Management

Two years, six months and five days . . . a little over two and one-half years . . . 920 days. These are the various ways to state the elapsed time between the enactment of the Budget Control Act of 2011 on August 2, 2011 — the recognized start of the effort to write the new farm bill — and February 7, 2014, the date President Obama signed the Agricultural Act of 2014 (AA14) into law at Michigan State University. It was an inordinate amount of time, no matter how you parse it.

Once the logjam finally broke in late January, the bill cleared both the House and Senate in less than a week. But that was almost bittersweet after the long slog it took to get a final vote in Congress, considering all the water that passed under the bridge, so to speak, during the previous months and years of gridlock. And reliving the torturous path to completion involves way too much drama to get into now — especially when all are focused on an explanation of the final product.

But while serious divisions plagued the agricultural community during this lengthy debate, it’s a safe bet to say that the vast majority of those who worked on this legislation are all relieved it is finally finished. Hallelujah!

USDA has geared up to implement the new law, but a signup prior to spring planting is next to impossible, since farmers in the southern growing regions already are in the fields. Implementation will require some patience, given the multiple choices, updates and new programs contained within the law, coupled with the tardy nature of its completion, i.e., four months plus a week after the expiration of the one-year extension of the 2008 farm bill.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that AA14 will reduce the federal deficit by $16.5 billion over 10 years — or by $23 billion if cuts mandated by the Sequester are included in the tally. Total outlays are projected to be $956.4 billion during the 2014-2023 fiscal years. Of that total, $756.4 billion is for nutrition title, $89.8 for crop insurance, $57.6 billion for conservation, $44.5 for commodities and $8.1 billion for other titles.

But what is actually contained in this new farm bill? Below are some highlights of the major titles.

Title I - Commodities

Direct Payments (DPs) are eliminated for all program crops, except cotton, which is no longer a covered commodity because its support will now come from the new cotton Stacked Income Protection Program (STAX). However, cotton will receive a portion of their DPs in 2014 and 2015 while STAX is developed and implemented.

The Counter-Cyclical Program (CCP) and the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) are eliminated. Instead, growers will have a one-time choice on a commodity-by-commodity basis between two new but similar replacement options: the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) or the Average Revenue Coverage (ARC) programs.

Eliminating DPs, the CCP and ACRE saves $47 billion. Then, $13.1 billion is used to fund PLC; $14.1 billion to fund ARC; and $3.7 billion to fund a livestock disaster assistance program. The other major expenditures from the savings are a $912 million increase for the Dairy program and $558 million for the transitional DPs for cotton. After other minor costs are accounted for, the Commodity Title ends up saving a net $14.3 billion, bringing the 10-year cost for commodity support programs down to $44.5 billion.

AA14 continues the full planting flexibility that has been in place since the 1996 farm bill. PLC and ARC support for covered commodities will both be paid on historical base acres, regardless of what is planted in the current year, just as DPs and the CCP were paid in the past. (The only exception to this continued decoupling from current year plantings is for generic cotton base that is planted to a covered commodity, which will receive support from the program chosen for the crop to which they are planted.) Growers will have a one-time option to reallocate base acres to the simple average of planted and prevented plant acres during the crop years 2009-2012, not to exceed the aggregate of current base acres.

PLC will be paid on a farm’s established program yields. A farm will have a one-time option to update program payment yields on a commodity-by-commodity basis to 90% of the average 2008-2012 yields per planted acre. Payment acres will be 85% of base acres. Payments will be triggered if the 12-month national average price of a covered commodity is determined to be lower than the reference price for that commodity. If a payment is triggered, the following formula would be used: 85% X base acres X program payment yield X (reference price minus the 12-month national average market price).

If the PLC program sounds rather familiar, it’s because the “CCP” and “target prices” have just been rebranded as “PLC” and “reference prices,” albeit with the option to update crop bases and program yields.

Producers choosing to participate in the ARC program will have a one-time option to choose either county or farm level* revenue support. Producers who choose farm level* coverage must enroll all crops in the ARC program. Payment acres equal 85% of base acres at the county level and 65% of base acres at the farm level.

At the county level, the ARC guarantee is equal to 86% of the previous five years Olympic average of revenue obtained by multiplying the average yield times the national average price during those years. ARC payments will be triggered when the actual crop revenue during a current crop year is less than the ARC guarantee, but limited to the 10% band of revenue between 86% and 76%. Actual crop revenue for a current year is determined by multiplying the actual county yield times the national average market price during the 12-month marketing year for the crop. If a payment is triggered, the following formula would be used: 85% X base acres X (the difference between the ARC guarantee and the actual crop revenue, but not to exceed 10 percent of the ARC guarantee).

At the individual farm level, the ARC guarantee is equal to 86% of the sum of all the previous five-year Olympic average revenues of all the covered commodities grown on the farm. The actual crop revenue is the sum of the products of the actual yields and national average market prices for all the covered commodities grown on the farm. Generally speaking, the same formula is used as the county level except that the payment acres are reduced to 65% of base acres.

ARC provides for a yield plug of 70% of a farm’s crop insurance T-Yield when the yield per planted acre or historical county yield for any of the five most recent crop years is less than 70% of the T-Yield. ARC also provides for a price plug equal to the reference price when the national average market price received by producers for a covered commodity during the 12-month marketing year for any of the five most recent crop years is lower than the reference price.

Because both the PLC and ARC programs require calculations using a 12 month national average of prices, payments for a crop year will be paid on or shortly after October 1 of the following crop year. In other words, if 2014 conditions trigger support payments for covered commodities, the payments will be received beginning October 1, 2015.

The Fruit & Vegetable (F&V) planting restriction has been modified due to the elimination of DPs. F&Vs can now be planted on up to 15% of a farm’s base acres without forfeiting PLC or ARC payments. However, F&V plantings in excess of 15% of base acre will not be eligible for PLC or ARC payments.

The Marketing Loan Program was reauthorized unchanged except for the cotton loan rate, which will be set at the simple average of the world price for the two preceding marketing years, but not less than 45 cents/lb or more than 52 cents/lb.

Payment limits are combined into a single limit of $125,000 per person for the programs of the Commodity Title, or $250,000 total for a producer and spouse. USDA will be required to define “actively engaged in farming” within 180 days of enactment. The Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) cap for payment eligibility is $900,000.

Title II – Conservation

Funding for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is cut by $3.3 billion by reducing acreage enrollment to 24 million by 2017. For reference, as of October 1, 2013, 25.3 million acres were enrolled in the CRP.

The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is cut by $2.3 billion, with $596 million saved by incorporating the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) into the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). These savings are then used to increase funding in several other conservation areas, including $1.2 billion for the new Agriculture Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) that was created by combining the Wetlands Reserve Program, the Grasslands Reserve Program and the Farmland Protection Program; a $497 million increase for EQIP; and a combined $454 million for several other conservation programs.

Bottom line, AA14 consolidates 23 existing conservation programs into 13 with an increased emphasis on working lands rather than land retirement. And while net spending is reduced by nearly $4 billion, overall spending comes in at $57.6 billion for the Conservation Title, outpacing the Commodity Title by $13.1 billion.

Title III – Trade

Export Programs —

Export promotion programs including the Market Access Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program (FMD) were reauthorized in full. MAP is authorized for $200 million and FMD is authorized for $34.5 million.

The Export Credit Guarantee Program (GSM-102) was reauthorized. The maximum tenor for loan guarantees is reduced from three years down to 24 months and allows the USDA to adjust program fees. These changes are included to facilitate resolution of the Brazil Cotton Case.

Food Aid Reforms —

The maximum allowable cash assistance for Title II of P.L. 480 (emergency and non-emergency assistance) is increased from 13% to 20%, giving USAID the flexibility when responding to food aid demands of various countries and regions and to build resiliency in areas of common food shortages and drought.

The “safe box” (portion of Food for Peace funds used on development) is changed from $450 million to a window of 20% to 30% of program funds, with a minimum of $350 million.

The agreement responds to a 2011 GAO report criticizing monetization practices by including a reporting mechanism addressing: how funds are being used, the rate of return, associated costs, and explanation if a commodity’s rate of return falls below 70%.

The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program is reauthorized with no changes.

The Local Regional Purchase pilot program from the 2008 farm bill is authorized as a new program with the intent to complement existing food aid programs, in particular the McGovern Dole program.

Title III does not accommodate the President’s proposal to move funding to International Disaster Assistance (IDA) and to eliminate P.L. 480.

Title VII – Research

AA14 increases mandatory research spending by $1.145 billion, bringing total spending to $1.256 billion over 10 years. The Specialty Crop Research Initiative captured the lion’s share of this funding, receiving $745 million. Some $200 million was invested in the newly formed Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, which will be used to supplement USDA’s basic and applied research activities.

Title IX – Energy

AA14 increases the Energy Title mandatory spending by $879 million, up to $1.1 billion over 10 years. The Biodiesel Fuel Education Program, which supports outreach to fleet managers, truckers and engine manufacturers, was funded at $1 million per year for five years. The Biobased Market Program, which supports and promotes increased production and use of biobased products through a federal procurement preference and a biobased product label, was funded at $3 million per year for five years. The Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels, which supports biodiesel production, was also funded at $15 million per year over five years. Among the other programs funded in the Energy Title are the Biorefinery Assistance Program, the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), the Biomass Research Development Initiative (BRDI) and the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP).

Title XI - Crop Insurance

AA14 creates two new major crop insurance products - the Stacked Income Protection Program (STAX) and the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) at a cost of $3.3 billion and $1.7 billion respectively.

The STAX policy will be available only for cotton. A 90% coverage level will be offered with 80% of the premium subsidized by the federal government.

The SCO policy will be made available to all covered commodities (and cotton acres not enrolled in STAX) beginning with the 2015 crop year. However, covered commodities enrolled in the ARC program are not eligible for SCO coverage. SCO will provide county-wide area coverage on top of individual farm level coverage policies up to 86%. Producers must buy, at a minimum, Catastrophic (CAT) crop insurance coverage. The federal government will subsidize 65% of the SCO premium cost.

The Enterprise Unit subsidy is made permanent, and Enterprise Units are allowed to be split by irrigated and non-irrigated acres. Different crop insurance coverage levels by practice will be allowed on individual units. The latter two changes cost $700 million.

Conservation Compliance from the Commodity Title was extended to the Crop Insurance Title, and producers will need to comply with those rules to be eligible for premium subsidies when buying federal crop insurance. However, the compliance was made forward looking from date of enactment for wetland conversions. Sod-saver language is also included for only the following states: Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Nebraska. The subsidy reduction for sod-saver is 50 percentage points and is in effect for four years after land is broken out of sod and is expected to save $114 million.

Premiums for Catastrophic Coverage are increased to more accurately reflect the cost of coverage; expected to save $426 million.

To mitigate the negative effects of disaster years on Actual Production History (APH) yields, producers will be allowed to drop a year of history for a crop in any year in which the yield of that crop in the county the producer farms is at least 50% below the simple average of the county’s previous 10 years; and then divide the remaining nine years of APH history by nine (instead of 10). The Manager’s Statement that accompanied AA14 expressed intent that more than one year could be dropped in a 10-year period. This APH yield adjustment is projected to cost $357 million.

When all the changes are tallied up, funding for the Crop Insurance Title increased by $5.7 billion, bringing the 10-year cost for the federal crop insurance program to $89.8 billion.

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12-13-12 Down Memory Lane

By Elsie Machtemes

10 Years Ago – Dec. 12, 2002
Scott Jensen and Theresa Pesch, both nine year members of the District 110 School Board, attended their final regular board meeting this past Monday evening.
MERRY CHRISTMAS: From Neubauer Chiropractic Health Center-Becky Neubauer, Peg Schmalz, Nikki Peterson, Dr. Dan Neubauer, Ann Heimerl, Pat Kuerschner, Becky Schmieg and Dr. Sean Neubauer.
Mayer – The Lutheran High School Crusader girls’ basketball team cruised to a 62-20 win over visitors Faith Lutheran of Las Vegas. Laura Tewes led all scorers with 10 points, followed by Christy Stuewe, Jenna Rolf, Amanda Jones and Steph Hoffman.
Kyla Smith, Cassy Norton and Laura Grangaard were three out of 10 area young people to play the grand piano for the “Young Artists Performance at Nordstroms at the Mall of America.
On Campus: Annie Dressen and Heidi Meier of Waconia are serving as volunteer tour guides for the office of administration at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
“Frost and Steam” on Main Street has new owners. They are John and Margaret Allenburg.
PATRIOT FORUM: What is your earliest memory? “I can remember when I was three, my mom’s dog, Sheba.”-Jessica Kullman-Waconia. “Our dog Addler. I remember when I was two.”-Mariah Welich-Waconia. “I remember a funny cat story when I was four.”-Kevin Blachowiak-St. Boni. “I can remember things when I was a baby and getting sprayed with water.”-Julie Zakashekski-St. Boni.

25 Years Ago – Dec. 10, 1987
Mike Leivermann, a 1982 graduate of Waconia High School, recently signed a one-year contract to play football for the Bonfiglioli Warriors of the IFL. The Warriors are located in Bologna, Italy. Leivermann is the son of Bob and Judy Leivermann.
Gary Fritz was crowned 1987-88 homecoming king for Concordia College, St. Paul. Fritz is the son of Elmer and Ella Fritz, members of Trinity Lutheran Church of Waconia. Gary is a senior in the secondary church teacher program and is majoring in religion.
Dick and Jean Kelzer announce the engagement of their daughter Michelle to Mark Anderson, son of Warren and Louise Anderson of Lester Prairie.
The Waconia Chiefs wrestling team is building a solid foundation according to Coach Bob Lindemann. Against St. Micheal Brad Ess pinned his man at the 105 lb. weight. Shawn Plocher pinned at 112 lbs. Kevin Wagener scored by points at 132 lbs.
The 1987 Waconia Chamber of Commerce Holiday Drawing local winners are as follows: Mildred Krause $20 at Our Own Hardware, Bev Cook $20 at Waconia Farm Supply, Pat Symanitz $20 at Everson’s Hardware Hank and Frank Schmalz $20 at Beck Pharmacy.
New Germany – Happy Anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. David Berge, and Mr. and Mrs. James Kohls.
Mayer – The bridge club was hosted by Mrs. Herb Ernst. The 500 club was hosted by Mrs. Curt Honebrink.

50 Years Ago – Dec. 13, 1962
Thomas Kerber, Waconia High School graduate and a son of Mr. and Mrs. Wilfred Kerber of St. Bonifacius, will sing for President Kennedy as a member of the St. John’s University Men’s chorus. The chorus will be featured at the National Pageant of Peace at the White House in Washington, D.C., Dec. 17.
The Waconia High School Art Club, under the sponsorship of Mrs. Gladys Johnson, decorated several downtown windows last week. Sharon Brandenburg, Nina Jerko and Dan Theis decorated the store front of Matson Drug Store. Susan Wilson, Sandra Westlund, Virginia Wabbe and Steve Gorres decorated the Gambles Store. Pauline Reinitz, Susan Musgjerd, Jim Peters and Jan Machtemes decorated the Northern States Power Building.
The Waconia Lions Club opened their Christmas tree lot located between the Coast to Coast Store and Kelzer Hardware on First Street. A tree auction will be conducted on Saturday. Radde Brothers Auctioneers will conduct the sale. Ben Hartman of the First National Bank will be the clerk. Lion members under the direction of Arnold Westphal have been rehearsing and will sing Christmas carols. Free coffee will be served during the auction.

75 Years Ago – Dec. 9, 1937
Grandma Burau celebrated her 90th birthday anniversary Wednesday. A large group of friends dropped in to help make the event outstanding. Mrs. Burau was born in Germany. She came across after marrying in Germany with only eight cents between them. They first settled in Carver. Fifteen children were born to them, nine of whom are still living. Grandma lives with her oldest son, Ferdinand, a bachelor and she still in spite of her 90 years, does all the house work, cooking and canning for the two of them. Grandma is a very active little lady, and the only thing that troubles her is a failing sense of hearing. Some of the people who surprised her were: Mrs. Joe Miller, Mrs. Henry Steinhagen, Mrs. Mary Fischer, Mrs. Math. Grausam and Mrs. Wm. Lemke.
A drastic order closing all Minnesota lakes to winter fishing after Dec. 31 was issued last week by Governor Benson. Closing of lakes to winter fishing was recommended by Conservation Commissioner Herman Wenzel after reports showed a sharp reduction in the number of female fish at spawning stations.
UECKER 7 SCHWICHTENBERG COMPANY, Waconia. Bed, Vanity, Chest or Dresser Complete 3 piece modern bedroom – $81.50. Walnut Hope Chests – $17.95.

100 Years Ago – December 13, 1912
HERE THERE AND EVERYWHERE: Victoria may get a pickle factory by next spring. Two broken wheels, two ribs fractured and an ear sliced was the result of an auto accident at Gibbon. The third annual rabbit hunt at Gibbon Hasenjaegers was pulled off last week. The entire town was invited to a feast of hasenpfeffer. Eighty-five rabbits were shot. A New Auburn farmer killed a hog and hung it on his back porch to cool. Some one is enjoying pig knuckles and sauerkraut just for the trouble of carting Mr. Porker away.
That cloud of smoke you saw Saturday last at the John Zeman home was not caused by a fire, but it was all the result of John’s friends smoking a bunch of pure havanas which he was handing out. The cause of John’s happiness was a bouncing baby boy with which his good wife presented him. “Ere’s ho! John!”
Alice, the one year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Radde Sunday evening is some manner got hold of a cup containing kerosene and drank it. Later in the evening after she had been sleeping for some time she awoke crying and nothing could be done to pacify her. Dr. Diessner was called who administered an emetic and the little one is getting along nicely.
Don’t miss Gomoll’s great sale from now until Christmas on Pianos, Organs, Victrolas and Graphenolas. Player piano – $350. Organ – $45. Victrola -$100. Graphonola-$60. A number of good phonographs – $5, $10 and $15.
Mayer – Gerber & Hahn: The finest line of Ladies Winter Coats in Carver County: Ladies’ Chinchilla Coats – $16.69. Ladies’ Black Caracul Coats – $6.98 to $9.00.
BOYS COMPOSITION OF GIRLS: Girls is the only folks that has their own way every time. Girls is alike one way, and they are all like cats. If you rub ‘em the right way of the hair they’ll purr and look sweet at you, but if you rub ’em the wrong way or step on their tails they’ll claw you. This is all I know about girls, and father says the less I know about them the better off I am.


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Monday, June 25, 2012

Star Trek Heroclix: Tactics - Set Phasers To Lame? Make It So, Ensign Wizkid

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool Trekkie. I like the franchise well enough, but the one thing I think that Star Trek does better than Star Wars or, really, any other space franchise, is space battles. Star Wars simply doesn't compare to the sheer scale of what Star Trek has, from really any standpoint. Star Wars has the Force, Lightsabers, and that's about it. I mean, I own the entire Action Fleet set from them and there's not that many unique ships. But Star Trek, I mean they have like several hundred races, each with unique ships, styles, weapons, and technologies. They just do scale so much better. And that's why I had an erection that Viagra couldn't have held a candle to when WizKids announced that they were releasing Star Trek Tactics, because I really do love space battle games.

I played Star Fleet Battles, Federation Commander, and all sorts of space games when I Was a kid. I was fascinated by the idea of giant, monolithic hulks bristling with particle weapons, probes, missiles, and whatnot blasting the shit out of one another in space, with crewmen taking their last non-breath of space dust as a hull breach and subsequent equalization of pressure sucks them into the abyss and to their ultimate doom. I mean, I love skirmish games of all kinds, but really, space skirmishes have always been my first love. And so, I looked past the blind booster setup that I so despise, and I bought some boosters and a starter set. It was at that point that I realized I would not be fully satisfied until I had the whole set, and so I started asking around if anyone had any. Turns out one of my best buds actually had doubles of almost all the common and uncommon ships, and so he sent them off to me. I then "ebayed" the remaining rares, so $130 later, I have them all.

Now, I have played Clix games before, and I'm just not a tremendous fan. Mage Knight was especially terrible, but Heroclix is tolerable. I mean, if you like licensed superheroes, there's not much of an alternative. In fact, the only thing in the Clix world that I found to be awesome was Mage Knight Dungeons, which I still say is one of the best dungeon crawls ever. But, alas, I had to know if this game was going to be good, and I was sure hoping it wasn't going to be another unremarkable, crappy game like Star Wars Miniatures: Starfleet Battles, but with Star Trek branding and the dial gimmick.

Turns out, the game not only is exactly like vanilla Heroclix, they didn't even bother to package the game with its own special powers and abilities card. So, the ships literally have super senses, super strength, and can leap. Yes, leap, in space. Oh, and what about the Klingon vessel with Blades/Claws/Fangs...because I'm sure you remember that ship as a Star Trek fan, the one that de-cloaks next to the Reliant and takes a huge toothy chomp out of the side, bypassing shields? Yeah, they didn't even bother to Star Trek it up. I mean, they did put some flavor text crap on the individual ship cards, which nobody will ever even look at, but otherwise, nada. The upside, I suppose, is that you can do what I did and have the Green Lantern Corps fight it out with a couple of Constitution-class flagships, right? Or Batman versus a Bird of Prey, since Batman is, you know, 360 feet long like a Bird of Prey, and can breathe in space. FAIL.

Because of them not changing anything, Superman can fight alongside the Enterprise, and everything is totally compatible. What's sad is that they could have printed out their own card for Star Trek with different power names, but still had the ships be compatible. They were just being lazy, I think, or maybe they figured that they had to keep it consistent so Heroclix lovers wouldn't get confused over the color banding system and have to re-learn what the colors mean. I guess I can understand it, but they had to kind of understand that the market for Star Trek is different than the Marvel market. At a minimum, no fangs or claws on a great big Federation spaceship might have been a good start.

But let's talk about the products, physically, for a moment. The ships themselves are quite nice. I'd argue they're not as detailed as those that come with the other blind-booster space miniatures game, Star Wars Miniatures: Starship Battles. That said, they're pretty well painted and durable. They come in one-ship boosters for like $4.99 a pop, and you can get one of 28 ships in three rarity levels. There's also the starter set, which is just barely a starter because it contains the rules, two dice, a powers card, two maps, and four ships. Marquis ships, but still, only four, which limits your tactical options pretty significantly.

What is pretty cool, though, is that while they have commons, uncommons, and rares, pretty much all of the ships are viable, and generally very different. They're all unique enough so that the ships feel, to me, like they play differently, and different fleets drafted together can be pretty interesting. There's a total of 28 ships, I believe that are available in boosters, plus the four starter ships, and there's a "Limited Edition" Warship Voyager that is like forty bucks on Ebay, which I will likely never own. My only bitch about the ships themselves are that there are quite a few ships whose sculpts that are identical, with some even painted identically, and some the same with some variant to the paint. I'd guess that there's probably 20 unique sculpts, though, and that's enough for my kid, so it's enough for me. There's even ships from every point in the series, from the original TV show, to the movies, to the spin-off shows like Deep Space Nine and Voyager. For a Trekkie, they've got the bases covered.

What really bothers me about the production in its totality, though, is that even with the starter you really can't play the game. You need to add to the game in order to play. Part of the game is placing tokens near ships to indicate how many activations they've had, and the game doesn't come with them. So, you have to get pennies or glass beads or something. It always pisses me off when a publisher short changes you and doesn't include stuff required to play, because if I had bought the game at a game store with the intent of cracking it open and playing right then, I simply would not have been able to. I'd have had to buy tokens of some kind, or rip up bits off the rules as markers if I didn't have some change in my pocket.

Also, there are rules on some of the ships that have them placing terrain, objects, or destroying them, but there's not a single terrain marker or object anywhere in the starter, or in the box with the ships that have the ability to place them.  So, really, you not only buy something that requires you to get your own activation markers, which isn't a biggie, but then on top of that, you have to realize that you don't even have the markers/tokens and then go to the Wizkids website and download them. Luckily, I found them: Unfortunately, the object tokens that exist are manhole covers, ATM machines, and the like, none of which I find to be something I would expect to be either in space or useful in playing a space skirmish game. So, in the end, if you REALLY want to play this to the fullest, using all the powers and rules, you don't get to unless you blow through some printer ink, card stock, and have some tokens on hand. The word that comes immediately to mind is "boochy".

So, from a value perspective, the whole deal isn't all that shit hot. I mean, it's blind booster, as a "package" it's incomplete, and it's essentially a half-baked attempt to sucker die hard Trekkies that would buy a bag of chili labelled "Vulcan feces" into getting indoctrinated to the world of Heroclix. Fleet Captains is infinitely better of an implementation of using Heroclix "technology" with Star Trek. Star Trek: Expeditions is an even better of an implementation than Fleet Captains, I think, so WizKids has the ability to make great Trek games, and demonstrably so. But Star Trek Tactics just feels plain half-assed, really, in my opinion. I mean, even if you already like Heroclix which, as I said, I am sort of on the fence about, I would be offended as a Trek fan regarding the total bastardization of the license and lack of effort put into doing something so ridiculously simple, like making a power sheet that exchanged "character" and "ship" and renamed the powers, even if they did precisely the same thing.

Now, I'm going to assume that you've never played Heroclix here, for a second. To understand Clix, you simply have to know that it's a relatively simple light skirmish game. Each character has its own special powers that are available at given times based on how much damage they've received. These powers are indicated in a window, and change by rotating the base mechanism, which contains a dial, on which is printed a series of numbers in the foreground on a colored background. The colored backgrounds define what power is available at the time. Some are automatic powers, like modifying your defense against a type of attack, while others need to be activated on your turn to use.

In short, the system's real triumph, if there had to be one that stands out, is that the variable powers really create a lot more tactical strategy potential. A character's powers can change dramatically during the course of a battle, and knowing which powers are going to come up at which point is a critical aspect to playing the game well. Tie that in with the activation system, which consists of simply declaring an activation and placing a token on your activated ship to denote it, then resolving an action. The linchpin to all of that is that you are limited in what you activate because no ship can have more than two tokens, so you can't really just bum-rush with your big bad ship. It forces you to incrementally move your entire fleet and really choose activations wisely.

The real downfall of the system, though, is that while each ship comes with a card that references what the name of the power is, it requires amateurs and even reasonably well-versed guys like me who have quite a few games to their name, to continually refer back to a large tri-fold card in order to understand what, precisely, the power means, based on the color and location of the square. After five or six plays with different ships, you get the main idea and the "crutch" of having to go back to the card gets less prevalent over time. But, the first five games are going to be way longer than they should be, and that takes a lot of the fun out of it because the pacing is literally hobbled by the "do something, look up power, resolve something, opponent looks up power" dance.

Once you get past all of the continual drudgery of card-reading and decrypting the color coded powers, the game's still not actually all that fun, though. Again, it doesn't really have any "big space battle" feel to it, it's more of just 3D icons with shapes that aren't little caped heroes or elves or something shooting one another. So, if you're used to Heroclix, or games where positioning isn't that important, where there are no facing rules, no inertia, no simultaneous damage, or anything more complex than "activate, shoot, rinse, repeat", then you're pretty much going to like the game if you can palate the idea of spaceships with Super Senses and Fangs. But if you want something that feels like a space game, and has more depth than really just managing action tokens and making sure you know your ships' powers and how they can interact with one another, you're best to look elsewhere.

The ship design itself, as far as ship balance and power design, is really pretty good. All the ships make sense, too, thematically. Each ship has kind of a theme that it adheres to, so small ships are nimble and wiry where the bigger ships are fast, powerful, and durable. There are ships that cloak, although cloaking is really pretty weak compared to the films' depiction, since they don't actually cloak, they just are not targetable if they're behind some terrain. But if it's a one-on-one engagement in open space, cloaking is completely worthless, which is really pretty shitty, since the valuation of the ship is based upon its inherent abilities. On par, though, the balance is really pretty good, the ships do some neat stuff to keep the game moderately interesting, and if you can get past the first five or so games and get used to the color wheels, well, you may dig it pretty well. Just don't expect Starmada, Silent Death, or really anything beyond the same old Heroclix.

Now, my problem is that my daughter loves Star Trek, and she likes Heroscape, and she views this as Heroscape in space, so she's fully engaged. Which means that I have to play this game, especially since I spent way too much money collecting an entire set for her so she could re-enact giant space battles that she's seen in the films. I also played with some friends who've played some other space shoot-em-up games, like Battleship Galaxies, Star Wars Miniatures: Starship Battles and Epic Engagements, and they found it kind of "meh" like I did. I mean, if these were someone else's toys, there's very little chance I would ever go out of my way to ask to play this game. Part of that is that it failed, for me, to really emphasize the Star Trek universe in the game, and part of it is that I just find the continual look up of the powers to be so mind-draining that it's just not worth the effort. To underscore that, I have a pretty good memory, to say the least, and I just don't care to crack open my hippocampus and allow the information to be stored.

This is not to say that it's a bad game, but it's just not a good one. It revels in its mediocrity, and it certainly did itself no favors by not embracing the license. I think the end-use of these neat ships will be that I re-base them onto A Call To Arms: Star Fleet bases, saving me some painting time, and playing a far superior game that really embraces the license. I'll be reviewing that at some point in the near future since Mongoose was kind enough to send this soon-to-be indoctrinated Trekkie the core rules to put it through its paces. I may also write up some cards to use with the Epic Engagements system.

One thing I should add, too, is that I found some really bad ass little Micro Machines star bases on Ebay for a couple bucks a pop, which I am still awaiting the dickhead seller to ship, 2 weeks later, as he is apparently on vacation. They are the same scale as these ships, more or less, and so I think they would be great to play with as scenario objectives or something. I'm the guy who plays Candyland with my 4 year old using Halo Interactive Board Game figures, so pimping a game is not, shall we say, out of my realm of experience.

Why Admiral Kirk Made This Game Mandatory At Starfleet Academy:
- Lots of Federation and Klingon ships, and none require painting to look spiffy
- Lots of availability on Ebay, and the commons and uncommons are pretty cheap, really
- It's easy to learn basic rules and simple game play is good for family gaming

What Makes Star Trek: Tactics Boldly Fail Like None Before It:
- If you want to find the worst bastardization of a licensed product, this tops the suspect list
- Calling something a starter set and then not including required parts is a bait and switch
- The lapse between first play and memorizing the powers make initial games slow
- Blind boosters? Really? The 1990's called and they want their sales gimmick back

It's not a terrible game, and if you are a fan of Heroclix, it's probably as good as you're used to, maybe even better since there's not several levels of each ship unlike the other Clix lines. But if you're new to the game, despite the easy to learn rules, the continual need to refer to a power card can slow the pace exponentially, which takes away from the experience. If you are determined, though, what you get is a moderately simple shoot-em-up that lacks most of what makes space battle games interesting. On top of that, there's virtually no Star Trek "feel" throughout the game other than the fact that the ships are recognizable from the fiction. So, from the game play standpoint, it's as "meh" as it gets. Unless you can re-purpose the ships, you're a Heroclix fan, or you're just a crazy Trekkie who wants the neat looking toys, I see absolutely no reason to invest in this game.

2.5/5 Stars

Check out the WizKids page for this line, which has had an almost identical level of disinterest put into it:

The best place for info on the ships is at the HCRealms site, here:

I've created some really nice looking maps, since the maps are fine, but not really beautiful, and you can download them at the following link if you want to take them down and get them printed to 24"x36". Just remember it's the 2" square maps you want, not the hexes, which are also there if you want them:

And lastly, since I am now forced to play this with my kid since she likes it so much, I had to make it bearable, since she is NOT going to remember the color coded powers, ever. To do so, I took all the powers that are on the "not-so-quick powers and abilities reference, and I put them directly onto some new cards I made. I'm almost done with all 33 of the ships, and I'll post them to my blog as soon as they're done, likely tomorrow. I've not edited or amended the powers and what they do other than to change "character" with "ship", and make things no longer refer to the named powers, so there should be a lot less of a learning curve. I'll put them in the above link, but like I said, I'll also write a blog post so there's a record on the site.

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as well as surfboards, we are also seeking:

  • paintings
  • posters
  • photos & postcards
  • patches
  • books & magazines
  • trophies
  • metal, wood & ceramic figurines
  • paper items like: decals, price lists, business cards, brochures, etc.
  • skateboards and related materials

surfing decals, laminates & patches

items relating to duke kahanamoku

surf posters, price lists, etc.

skateboards from 1950s to 80s

surfing magazines

photographs, postcards & images

home | bing | con | chuck dent | gordie | gordon & smith | greek | hansen | harbour | hobie | surfboards hawaii | greg noll | dave sweet | velzy | weber | contact us

dave sweet surfboards

any discussion of the evolution of surfboard design would be severely lacking without the inclusion of dave sweet surfboards. dave sweet began building wood surfboards in 1946 and eventually opened dave sweet surfboards in 1956 in santa monica, california.

dave sweet, the founder/owner of dave sweet surfboards, was the first to produce the modern polyurethane foam surfboards. while many people have thought hobie alter of hobie surfboards was the first to produce the polyurathane foam surfboard, most surf historians now agree that dave sweet was the first; quickly followed by hobie.

dave sweet surfboards were much less agressive in their advertising campaigns and promotional ventures than much of the competition. because of this, dave sweet surfboards had much lower production numbers and not widely distributed.

while dave sweet surfboards did enjoy a very large and talented pool of team members, most were not as visible or had the contest success of the other top surfboard companies in the 50s and 60s.

nonetheless, dave sweet was one of the top craftsmen of the day and dave sweet surfboards were sought by those in the know. dave sweet surfboards were the board of choice for much of the hollywood crew. actors like peter lawford, dick van dyke, jack lemmon, clark gable and probably many others from the hollywood group rode dave sweet surfboards.

thank you dave sweet and dave sweet surfboards for the huge contribution you made to surfboard construction!

some 1960s dave sweet surfboards:

  • 1961 stock
  • 1965 noserider
  • 1966 east coast aggressor
  • 1967 step deck
  • 1967 flexer
  • 1967 speedster

surf history preservation collection
the surfboard collectors
p.o. box 5637 hilo, hawaii� 96720

home | bing | con | chuck dent | gordie | gordon & smith | greek | hansen | harbour | hobie | surfboards hawaii | greg noll | dave sweet | velzy | weber | contact us

wood surfboards

collectible surfboards

40s balsa, pine, and redwood

1960 greg noll with figure 8 and s stringers

1961 big wave board by wally froiseth

1960s velzy surfboards

60s hobie longboard

60s wardy 'hawaii'

'64 gordon & smith 'mike hynson' red fin

'67 greg noll 'duke kahanamoku hawaiian nollrider'

70s lightning bolt

'78 larry bertlemann twin fin

'78 lightning bolt by parrish for mark richards

early 80s mark richards 'twin fin'

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RECIPES: Recipe Details

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Asian Inspired Orange Beef Burgers with Sesame Slaw

2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated, divided
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
4 Tbsp. soy sauce, divided
Juice of 1 lime
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
1/3 cup tahini paste
1 medium sized head Napa cabbage, thinly sliced

1 large carrot, finely grated
2 green onions, cut into 2 inch lengths and finely julienned
3 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup orange marmalade
2 Tbsp. chili paste
2 pounds ground chuck
Oil for the grill
6 Kaiser buns with sesame seeds, split
Prepared mayonnaise

Prepare a medium hot fire in a charcoal grill with a cover, or preheat a gas grill to medium high. To make the Sesame Slaw: In a large bowl, combine 1 inch ginger, vinegar, 1 Tbsp. soy sauce, lime juice, sesame oil, and tahini paste. To the dressing, add the cabbage, carrot, onions, and cilantro. Toss to coat well. Refrigerate until serving. To make the Patties: In a large bowl combine the garlic, 1 inch ginger, 3 Tbsp. soy sauce, orange marmalade, chili paste and ground chuck. Handling the meat as little as possible to avoid compacting it, mix well. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions and form the portions into patties to fit the Kaiser rolls. Brush the grill rack with oil. Place the patties on the rack, cover, and grill until browned on the bottoms, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the patties and continue grilling until done to preference, about 5 minutes longer for medium. During the last few minutes of cooking, place the Kaiser rolls, cut side down, on the outer edges of the rack to toast lightly. To assemble the burgers, place a generous amount of mayonnaise over the cut sides of the rolls. On each roll bottom, place a patty and top with an equal amount of the Sesame Slaw. Add the roll tops and serve.

Makes 6 burgers.


text:
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2013 Julius Stone Address: Professor Brian Leiter

14 August 2013

Online registration
This event is now fully registered. To join a waiting list, please email

Sydney Law School is please to announce the 2013 Julius Stone Address guest speaker, American philosopher and legal academic, Professor Brian Leiter (University of Chicago).

"The Case against Free Speech"

Western liberal democracies are rife with institutions that view massive restrictions on speech as essential to realizing the ends of liberal democracies. In universities and schools, for example, no one thinks the classroom should be turned over to unregulated expression of opinion, without regard to cognitive value, civility, or pedagogical purpose.Professor Leiter's focus shall be on the courts. In courts, the idea that the unbridled freedom of speech - the "unfettered exchange of ideas" to quote a typical formulation of the United States Supreme Court - has any value is rejected from the start. We recognize a plethora of epistemic reasons - reasons pertaining to the discovery of the truth - for restricting speech. There are obvious disanaologies between the courtroom and the polity at large, but the aim of this Lecture is to explore those in some detail.Professor Leiter willargue that to the extent there are reasons to have less regulation of speech in society at large, these pertain only to the epistemic reliability of our institutional mechanisms for restricting speech.

About the speaker

Brian Leiter is Karl N. Llewellyn Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the Center for Law, Philosophy & Human Values at the University of Chicago, where he has taught since 2008. He taught previously at the University of Texas at Austin (1995-2008), the University of San Diego School of Law (1993-1995) and, as a visiting professor, at University College London (Philosophy), Oxford University (Philosophy), Yale University (Law), University of Paris X-Nanterre (Law), and University of California, San Diego (Philosophy).

Professor Leiterteaches and writes primarily in the areas of moral, political, and legal philosophy, in both Anglophone and Continental traditions. He is the author of Nietzsche on Morality(Routledge, 2002),Naturalizing Jurisprudence(Oxford, 2007), andWhy Tolerate Religion?(Princeton, 2013), as well as many articles in such journals asEthics, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Philosopher's Imprint, Social Philosophy & Policy, Journal of the History of Philosophy, Yale Law Journal, Columbia Law Review, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Law & Philosophy,and elsewhere.

He has edited a number of volumes, includingThe Oxford Handbook of Continental Philosophy(2007) (with Michael Rosen),Nietzsche and Morality(Oxford, 2007) (with Neil Sinhababu),The Future for Philosophy(Oxford, 2004),Nietzsche(Oxford Reading in Philosophy, 2001) (with John Richardson), and Objectivity in Law and Morals(Cambridge, 2001). He is the founding editor of the Routledge Philosophersbook series and (with Leslie Green) ofOxford Studies in the Philosophy of Law. He was previously co-editor for eight years ofLegal Theory, and also currently serves on the editorial boards ofNotre Dame Philosophical Reviews, Journal of Nietzsche Studies, Journal of Moral Philosophy, The Philosopher's Annual, Oxford Bibliographies Online: Philosophy, Theoria(Sweden), Anilisi e Diritto(Italy),Problema: Anuario de Filosofia y Teoría(Mexico),Nietzsche Online(Germany), andRevista de Teoría Jurídica(Argentina).

Professor Leiter has given or is scheduled to give a number of named lectures at universities around the world, including the Taylor Lecture in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Otago in New Zealand, the Fresco Lectures in the Department of Jurisprudence at the University of Genoa in Italy, the Bernd Magnus Lecture in the Department of Philosophy at the University of California at Riverside, and the 'Or 'Emet Lecture at Osgoode Hall School of Law at York University, Toronto.

This event is generously sponsored by the Educational Heritage Foundation

Lawyers/barristers: attendance at this lecture is equal to 1.5 MCLE/CPD unit.

Time: 6-7.30pm (registration from 5.30pm)

Location: Sydney Law School, Building F10, Eastern Avenue, University of Sydney

Cost: Free, however registration is essential

Contact: PLaCE Coordinator

Phone: (02) 9351 0323

Email: 005545780412070c181970211e1725360f1a555245671322


text:
The Expendables opens at no.1

By Webmaster on August 15, 2010 / 1 min read

Sylvester Stallone has proven that he’s not expendable at the box office.

Stallone and his pals took Lionsgate’s 1980s-style action romp The Expendables to a no. 1 debut with $35 million. Meanwhile, Julia Roberts delivered a crowd-pleaser for women with Sony’s Eat Pray Love, which opened at no. 2 with $23.7 million.

Congrats Sly!

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text:
Sunday, March 14, 2010

Almost done

After what seems to be years...or almost a year of debates, summits,protests,screaming,yelling and insanity coming from every direction we're almost at the point of voting on a healthcare bill through reconciliation. This point only took what seems like forever and it took the everyone finally saying "f this I'm sick of debating" for the democratic majority to finally grow a pair and thanks to the sudden pair that has grown on the democrats we may in fact get some sort of health reform and a system that doesnt suck.If you have the mental and physical stamina to read the healthcare bill click on the picture of the original house bill below and start reading the PDF file of the house reconciliation bill.Be warned that it is 2300 pages long.

yeah, i wouldn't bother reading that. It's just a shell for the real reconciliation provisions that will be dropped in tomorrow or the next day. That big old thing is yesterday's news.


text:
NSI Executive Summary

Sample clip

(This summary document was presented as a poster session at the National Symposium on Educational Applications of Technology, sponsored by the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, New York, July 20-22, 1994.)

The purpose of this study is to improve captioning of "non-speech information" (NSI). NSI is a term to describe aspects of the sound track, other than spoken words, that convey information about plot, humor, mood, or meaning of a spoken passage. Currently, captioning companies vary in how they portray this information. Our study showed that consumers do not recognize features commonly used to represent NSI, when they are presented in isolation. The outcome of the study will be recommendations to the captioning industry to standardize the way it indicates this information.

Examples of NSI are:

Identification of speaker (off-screen speakers and multiple on-screen speakers)
Sound effects
Music (singing, background music, etc.)
Manner of speaking (whispering, emotion, word emphasis, etc.)
Audience reaction (laughing, groaning, booing, etc.)
Indication of title (book, film, newspaper, play, etc.)

Examples of features that can now be used to identify NSI are:

Double chevrons >>
Music icons
Quotation marks
Explicit description

An advisory committee composed of consumers and caption industry representatives advised the research staff on all aspects of the study.

Thirty-three caption writers were interviewed for input as to the challenges they face in representing NSI.

Thirty-seven hours of video were analyzed in detail to determine current practice in identifying NSI.

Nineteen video clips from television were selected, giving 19 different examples of NSI. Emphasis was on NSI identified by the advisory committee and industry as being most important, such as speaker identification.

For each of the 19 examples, two or three different ways of captioning to indicate NSI were selected. New uses of captions, incorporating new features in the new caption chips, were included as well as conventional features such as italics. In all, 55 uses of caption features were included.

Deaf (n = 106) and hard of hearing (n = 83) consumers viewed the tape and selected their preference from the choices presented. If any of the choices were unacceptable, consumers were instructed to mark those choices with an X.

Results were analyzed and recommendations to the industry were written. These were circulated for comment to the captioning industry in the summer and early fall of 1994. The final report will be published in early 1996.

Summary of Results

Consumers wish to see more NSI indicated than is now industry practice. They preferred versions that indicated NSI such as background music, audience laughter, accents, and sound effects.

Explicit description was most often preferred as the method of indicating NSI. This was particularly true in speaker identification. The punctuation used--brackets, parenthesis, colon--is relatively unimportant, based on findings of the study, although there was a slight (but non-significant) preference for parenthesis.

( audience laughing)
( soft, sad background music )
( southern accent )
( female narrator )

Italics were preferred for indicating when a speaker emphasized a word or phrase.

Quotation marks were preferred for indicating titles.

The conventional form of indicating singing, with music icons enclosing the words, was preferred over a paint-on style.

Explanation of a pun was preferred over no explanation.

Color was not a preferred method of indicating NSI, although it was tested five times in this study. This was also found in an earlier study by King and LaSasso (1993).

Flashing captions, paint-on captions, and underlining were not preferred in this study.

The preferences of deaf and hard of hearing consumers followed the same pattern in the vast majority of cases (16 out of 19 clips). The differences were minor and not of consequence for recommendations to the industry.

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text:
Monday, August 1, 2011

A book birthday, a contest winner, and a lot of gratitude

Throughout the weekend, people sent photos of my book on the shelves at WalMarts around the nation.

This morning I've been getting messages from people letting me know Making Waves has downloaded to their Kindles.

It's been out for a couple weeks in Barnes & Noble and Powell's and Amazon, so I guess it's official – Making Waves has released.

If anyone had told me a year ago how chaotic life would be in the days surrounding the release of my debut novel, I might have called my agent and asked if we could trade the book contract for something more relaxing. Electrified nipple clamps, maybe.

That's not to say I'm not giddy and grateful and delighted beyond words.

But I'm also utterly exhausted.

And while it's fresh in my mind, I'll tell you a few things that are helping me keep my sanity right now. Maybe it'll be helpful to those of you with book releases on the horizon, or maybe it'll help someone facing any sort of crazy stressful schedule.

Forgive yourself
You know how I usually write my blog posts the night before and set them to go up at 2:30 a.m.? You can see from the time on this post that I missed the boat today. I hate that. I also hate staring at the big, glossy alumni magazine from my college with its lovely feature on great summer reads. Making Waves isn't on the list, not because they hate me, but because I neglected to tell them about it. I forgot.

You know what? It's not the end of the world. The late blog posts, the missed PR opportunities, the deadlines that have blown past no matter how many late nights and early mornings I've put in these past few weeks. My writing career won't be made or lost based on things like this, and I have to remind myself of that constantly.

My Making Waves pose on Paulina Lake.
Give yourself a break
I had planned to devote my weekend to tackling edits and blog posts and some of the promo tasks sent to me by the amazing publicist at Sourcebooks. Then a friend called. "We're thinking of taking the boat up to Paulina Lake for the afternoon. Want to come?"

The answer to that question should always be YES! Even when you're busy. Especially when you're busy. Your brain can only produce so much, and then it becomes a puddle of cereal mush at the bottom of the garbage disposal. You need mental health breaks. You need a change of scenery. You need to be in the company of friends and loved ones and beautiful things that make you happy and keep you refreshed.

Besides, how cool is this photo of my feet in a semi-sorta reenactment of my book cover?

Let other people help you
I'm not good at accepting help that's offered, and I'm really not good at asking for help in the first place, but I did both this past weekend, and I've gotta tell you – it feels amazing.

My dad spits cherry pits to pick a contest winner.
I love to cook. It's one of my favorite hobbies, but even hobbies can feel overwhelming when you're stressed. When a text message showed up yesterday afternoon that began, "I'm bringing dinner tonight," I literally bawled with gratitude.

And since I was on a roll with the help thing, I called my parents and asked if they'd be willing to go through all the entries in last week's blog contest and address the envelopes to everyone who earned a signed envelope. Not only did they jump right on that task, they offered to pick the winner who will receive the added bonus of a signed copy of Making Waves, along with an advance reading copy of Believe it or Not when it becomes available.

Their selection process involved writing all the entrants' names on a sheet of paper and spitting cherry pits at it. A brilliant solution, so congratulations to Ara Grigorian (who actually wrote a lovely review of Making Waves just last week). Send me your snail mail address and I'll hook you up with your prize).

Thanks so much to all of you who've read the blog, entered the contests, read the book, and posted glowing reviews on Amazon and Goodreads and all over the blogosphere. I am eternally grateful for all the support and kind words you've showered on me through this challenging and thrilling time in my life.

You rock so hard you make me seasick.

Jennifer Harrington said...

Congratulations on the release! Glad you took the mental health break, too. You also have my vote for Most Original Way to Pick a Winner.
My copy of Making Waves is somewhere between Amazon and my house. Can't wait to read it!

Michelle Wolfson said...

Shouldn't there be another set of feet sticking out of that boat??

Julie Glover said...

I'll add to your list: I downloaded Making Waves onto my nook this weekend. I'm not usually a romance reader, but I've enjoyed your blog so much I'm giving it a shot! Congratulations.

Trisha Leigh said...

Congrats on the release. I've ordered my "real" copy and can't wait to coo at it :)

You're a lucky woman to have so many people in your life willing to see when you could use a hand, and then to come and give it. In the end, that's what matters.

The deal for your fantastic book is just the icing on top of the cake.

The Mom Pledge said...

Just downloaded my copy to my nook! Can't wait to read! Woohoo! Happy Book Birthday, my friend!

Judy,Judy,Judy. said...

I got my copy of Making Waves from amazon last week. Sat down and read it in one sitting. Loved it!
Thanks for the good story, lovable characters and especially for the laughs.
Can't wait for Believe It Or Not!

Ara Grigorian said...

This is unreal! I never win anything. And this prize is actually a real prize. Once I won a cup of coffee at work. But that doesn't count, because coffee is free at work, so my friend was just being a smartass (possibly an ass). I digress. Thank you. I'm off to send you an email!

Thanks again and congrats on your book.

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

Went to my favorite B&N this morning, and doggone it, they didn't have your book. But after I fussed and told 'em it was GREAT, they promised to order some copies. In the meantime, guess I'll try Walmart and/or another B&N tomorrow. I WILL buy that book!!!

Monica B.W. said...

Woo-hoo! Congrats on the release.
So Making Waves is on my way. The bad news is that I'll have to wait like 2 months to get it :(
(The post office sucks here!)
Anyway, so happy for you!! <3

Gabriela Lessa said...

Congratulations on the release, Tawna! Making Waves is uploaded on my Kindle and I can't wait to start reading it.

Christine Tyler said...

Congrats on the release! I've enjoyed your blog so much this may actually be the first romance novel I buy!

Way to go taking care of yourself at this time too. Water can't be drawn from an empty well. Great advice. And I can't believe you're taking the "gradual release" so well. Changes in plans can really make or break a person.

The Sprouting Acorn said...

Congrats! Have to chase down Wi-Fi before downloading books on the nooks. did that tonight after work… i'm another one, who, because of your blog and the humor in it went for the book… that and seeing the sample on amazon a few week's back. again, congrats! take a deep breath and enjoy the journey! (easier said than done, i suppose.) :)

Robena Grant said...

Congratulations! I was reading a non-fiction on my Kindle last night, and went to turn it off, saw Making Waves had loaded and I thought, hmmmm, let's just take a quick peek.
All in all I'm not too bleary-eyed today, and I did get some work done. Now I think it's time for a reading break. ; )


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Theresa Fiani

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