text:
A’ Fàgail na Dachaigh | Leaving Home

Jordan Ogg speaks to photographer Ian Paterson about a new exhibition documenting abandoned homes in the Outer Hebrides.

Abandoned buildings have been the subject of several recent photographic  publications. In one of these, Ruin: Photographs of a Vanishing America (2009), the photographer Brian Vanden Brink notes that man's decaying structures serve as a kind of architectural memento mori:

'Maybe these buildings fascinate me because they represent all of us; maybe they are symbols of our own impermanent status here on earth - metaphors for our transient lives and inability to stop the passing of time.’

Similarly, the photographer Reuben Wu, when featured on The Island Review earlier this year, spoke of how he is drawn to abandoned buildings because they exist as signifiers, orphaned from their original purpose, of how 'everything will come to an end, and we only have a short time to look around before we die.’

'A’ Fàgail na Dachaigh / Leaving Home: an alternative view of the Outer Hebrides' is an exhibition of around 50 photographic prints by John Maher and Ian Paterson which adds to this growing genre. Soon to go on show at at An Lanntair in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, it documents abandoned croft houses in the Western Isles of Scotland.

Click on any thumbnail to view the gallery full size.

Earlier this week, Ian Paterson took some time out from his preparations for the exhibition to speak  about the ideas behind the show.

TIR: For those unfamiliar with the history of the Western Isles, can you explain why there are so many derelict houses in the islands?

There are several reasons, the principal of which would definitely be depopulation of the Outer Hebrides throughout the whole of the 20th century, primarily on account of the lack of economic opportunities. Young people would leave the isles for the mainland, either for work or further education. Many simply did not return. Fathers and mothers would pass on, leaving their crofts to a younger generation who had no desire to live the lives of relative hardship borne by their parents.

There is also the topographical truth that many of these houses predate the existence of the road systems in the islands. The homes were originally built near the water's edge since the main mode of transport would have been by boat. As the roads were built, many of the properties found themselves some distance away, making them unsuitable for the younger generations to stay in after being left the house by their parents. It was often easier, and sometimes more cost effective, to create a new build by the road on the same croft rather than update an older house and create new road access.

TIR: What first triggered the idea for the project and what brought you and John together to work on it?

There was no actual trigger for the project, more a gradual realisation that we had amassed between us a relatively large body of photographic work that embodied a specific period of time in the Western Isles of Scotland. We were working independently of each other and neither of us had any kind of long term plan or end game in sight. John had been photographing the exteriors of the houses for several years at night under a full moon, creating some stunning images. His curiosity got the better of him and he started venturing inside them. I had been visiting the Outer Hebrides since the mid-1980s and had always been aware of the large numbers of empty houses, I had just never photographed them. On a trip to Vatersay in 2010 I visited the deserted and remote village of Eorasdail and became instantly hooked on discovering more about these places, and the people who lived there.

John and I first had contact through a chance comment I had passed on to him about Eorasdail, having come across some of his Hebridean night shots on the internet. I thought it would be a location that would suit his style of photography perfectly. That was in early 2012. Over the following 18 months we had the occasional e-mail and only two very brief meetings, although we were both aware of each other's photography via our websites. At a second meeting at Leverburgh on the Isle of Harris in May of this year, we decided to see if we could get our work exhibited together at An Lanntair in Stornoway. A couple of months later we got the green light and ever since then we have been working hard on the various aspects of putting the exhibition together.

It is the shared appreciation of the hardships of life on an Outer Hebridean croft, and the amazing fortitude and resilience of the people who lived on them, that brought us both together on this project. Bizarrely we have only spent about one hour in total in each other's company and have never actually been on a photo shoot together. It is purely and simply the quality and intriguing nature of the subject matter that brings us together metaphorically. The whole project has been coordinated remotely, with John on the Isle of Harris and myself in Fife. As John said to me, it's the poor man's photographic equivalent of the 1980s hit 'Ebony and Ivory', where Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder appeared together in the video yet each had his part recorded on opposite sides of the pond!

TIR: The exhibition website states that you have: 'spent the last two years researching, locating and photographing the houses, in order to document in visual form what remains of life in the croft houses of the Western Isles in the second half of the last century'. What did this research entail? Where did the process start and end?

My use of the word 'research' does not mean that we studied academic texts and historical documents to isolate prospective properties worth photographing. There is no register of abandoned croft houses, or not one that we had access to. Mine was a very modern and computer-led form of research initially, spending hours on Google Earth locating potential houses to photograph on my next visit to the isles. Frequently this was fruitless, since the computer images were several years old, and on turning up at the location I could find a shiny new holiday home, or a heap of stones. It did provide me with some wonderful locations too.

I would communicate with people via Facebook, posting occasional images on relevant groups asking for information or stories relating to what I had photographed. These contacts often lead to phone calls and long chats with people who were very keen to offer their help. There is absolutely no substitute, however, for the boots on the ground approach. The majority of the information I managed to get about potential subjects came from walking around the villages and taking the time to talk with the locals.

I probably wouldn't bother with Google Earth now since I'm so familiar with the areas of interest to me. Instead I’d rely on spending as much time out and about as possible, talking to people and asking them endless questions. There is no end point to the process, none of the images or stories I've collected are finite in nature. There are always more places to photograph, different ways to record the same place, and most importantly there are many more stories out there to enrich the images. I'm hoping that the exhibition will bring some interesting information out from people who come to view it, and who perhaps even lived in some of the houses we've photographed.

TIR: The exhibition website also mentions that many of the images will be accompanied by text passages detailing the memories of those who either grew up in these houses, or who remember them when they were still homes. What was it like hearing and watching people tell their stories?

This for me is far more rewarding than taking the actual photographs. It's always very nerve wracking knocking on the door of a complete stranger and asking them about their childhood home which now lies abandoned, and which you're seeking permission to photograph. The older people of the Western Isles whom I had the pleasure of conversing with were incredibly generous with their time, in every case inviting me into their homes for a cup of coffee and chunk of cake whilst we chatted. These abandoned homes are full of memories, not all good, and are now gradually returning to the earth as they give in to the Hebridean weather. This is a very emotive and sensitive subject for those who grew up in the houses; not everyone would be interested in sharing their memories. The hospitality and geniality exhibited by the islanders I spoke with is not the sort that is practiced and brought out for guests; it is the kind that is congenital and inherent with living in a small community where regular contact with your neighbours is an essential part of day-to-day life. One thing that did surprise me though was the lack of a sense of misery for what they didn't have when growing up. Everyone I met with spoke of a life full of hardship in retrospect, but a great life too since it was all they knew at the time. I liked this lack of self pity.

I did possess a digital recording device and had every notion to use it, not wanting to miss a single detail. I used it once, then packed it away again. With the recorder switched on I felt that I too was acting as part of the recording machinery. I much preferred to sit back and have a really good blether - that's the way it works in the isles - and just hoped that I could remember as much as possible by the time I climbed back into my car.

TIR: What is your lasting impression of the project now that it’s reaching the final stage?

It's difficult to form a lasting impression of the project since it feels like there is so much still to be done. I'm sure that when the An Lanntair exhibition finishes it will not be over either. We already have ambitions to take the whole show to other venues in 2014 and the wonderful response to our Kickstarter campaign has meant this is a definite possibility. The main impression we both get from the body of work we have created is right there in the subtitle of the exhibition, it is an alternative view of the Outer Hebrides. We are proud to have created a record of these family homes before they disappear for ever. Most areas of the Western Isles proved very difficult terrain in which to forge a living in the last century and we admire the people who managed to do this. The incredibly stunning and dramatic landscapes of the Outer Hebrides belie the hardships endured by those who had to farm the land, fish the waters and do whatever else they could to sustain a living for themselves and their families. We'd like to think that our project injects some reality, even offers an antidote, to the stereotypical image of the flowering machair atop the vast empty white sand beach. Our project puts the people and social history before the landscape, and it is just as captivating.

A’ Fàgail na Dachaigh / Leaving Home: an alternative view of the Outer Hebrides runs from Saturday 9th November until Tuesday 31st December 2013 at An Lanntair.

Website: leavinghome.co.uk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/leavinghomeexhibition

Twitter: @LeavingHome2013


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/html

WARC-Type: response

text:
polls and lots of rambling

I've had so many things in my head to write about lately but didn't want to bombard everyone. Now I feel spent without even writing anything.

So a little wedding prep update...I ended up going with the blouse/skirt combo. I would like to point out that even though I have several black skirts, none of them seem right with this shirt. I'm going to buy just a simple pencil skirt. I figure I can wear that forever and am surprised I don't own one already. It's funny. I don't think I'm superficial by any means but I do love fashion. My current guilty pleasure is Project Runway. It makes me want to design and make clothes. I think, however, that if I made my own clothes it would look like I made my own clothes.

Changing topics... So the post regarding the last poll has moved to the next page. This means it's time for a new poll. But first, here are the results of the past two.

Favorite Irresponsible Car
Saturn Sky 50%
Pontiac Solstice 14%
Mitsubishi Spyder 36%

Truth is on this one that I'll most likely get none of them. What with being a single person with only one income and no sugar daddy, I can't have everything I want (even if it is somewhat within reason). It all comes down to the fact that I want a house more than I want a hot car.

Least Favorite Industry
oil 27%
tobacco 64%
pharmaceuticals 9%

Thanks for making me feel better on that one. And the person who voted for pharma, you got me right here. Ouch.

Now a new poll... I'm having a hard time coming up with a new topic. How about tv? What show do you absolutely love that you can't wait to see again? There's the list over there. If there's something else I didn't include, feel free to comment. Even though there were only about 4 episodes of it last year, I'm really looking forward to What About Brian. Because I thought I'd be the only one, I didn't include it. Of course, Grey's Anatomy is my #1 pick. Hmmm, maybe I just love shows with hot guys. If you take that clip and add George, Alex, and Denny; remove the chief; and insert "Candice" for "Miranda" you have just gotten into my head a little bit... It's nice in here.

Bubba's Sis said…
Hooray! I'm your official first vote on this one! I voted for Lost - I'm totally hooked. Also looking forward to DH tho, AND CSI (The Original).

Other shows I love (in case anyone cares): Boston Legal, Amazing Race, Survivor, and E.R. (altho that last one is losing me a bit). Some of the new shows look interesting, too. Oh, and I'm loving Treasure Hunters right now! Very good show. It ends this week.

And the Astros won tonight - YAY!
Bubba's Sis said…
OMG - can't believe I left out American Idol! Love that one, too!
km said…
GREYS ANATOMY, Baby!!! Even if you would have had American Idol on your poll, I still would have voted for GA. Can you believe that??
tigger said…
TV? What is this thing you speak of?
Bubba's Mom said…
I am a Law & Order junkie. I will even watch them over & over again. I am anxious about this year though because they've moved it to Friday nights which is like Siberia. Jack will be getting a new asst. since Alexandria got murdered (too bad, but I really didn't care for her anyway) and Ed will get a new partner because dapper silver haired guy (Dennis Farina) will be gone. And, I really liked him!! This show usually survives changes in cast very well, so I hope everything will be OK. I also LOVE Boston Legal. William Shatner and James Spader just crack me up.
Anonymous said…
I'm also looking forward to What about Brian!

crowd favorites

100 things--thankful

hey, would you like to see the nursery?

warcinfo:
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-164-221-253.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-43
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for October 2017
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf


WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: application/xhtml+xml

WARC-Truncated: length

text:
Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com

View topic - Singaporean here..!!

Singaporean here..!!

New members may introduce themselves in this forum

Singaporean here..!!

Postby wakuiz » Fri 06.10.2005 4:03 pm

User avatar
Posts: 23
Joined: Wed 03.02.2005 9:32 am

Return to Introductions

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


text:
The Official Online Store of John Maucere

John Maucere Aluminum Power Bank

Our sleek aluminum power bank can charge your IPhones, IPads, tablets, Andriods, and so much more! Never be stuck again with a drained battery for your mobile device. Our Mobile Power Pack can charge any phone or tablet to keep you productive throughout the day. Great for frequent travelers and heavy mobile users. To recharge the Mobile Power Pack simply plug it into your computer’s USB port or replace your wall charger using the included cable.You can also use your cable of any input with this power bank as long as any end is USB enabled!

Out of stock

SKU: 0406201531 Category:

Power Bank can charge your IPhone ranging from 50% to 90% – depending on how long you charge your power bank. This power bank holds 2,200 mAh. IPhones generally have mAh ranging between 1500 to 1900. IPads have 8,827 mAh.

Pre-order is an order for an item that has not yet been made commercially available. For your convenience and peace of mind, we will ship on the 1st and 15th of each month, depending on orders received.

Weight 13 oz
Dimensions 3.63 x .86 x .86 in

error: Content is protected !!


text:
Sunday, April 11, 2010

Poo Ponty Greighson tearing up a toy... I miss my little guy! Brinksey I'll get Joey to send some pictures of the Princess too.

1 comment:

  1. good job on the stuffyectomy greighson
    i'll be holding my breaff until i see my lady love again
    pibble sugars
    brinksey winksey


text:
Income Tax Ban Fails Senate Vote, But Clarifies Lawmakers’ Stance

Income Tax Ban Fails Senate Vote, But Clarifies Lawmakers’ Stance
A proposed constitutional amendment banning an income tax at all levels of government in Washington state failed to clear the Senate during a Tuesday, March 7 vote. However, the debate around SJR 8204 brought further clarity about where lawmakers stand. Photo:

A proposed constitutional amendment banning state or local taxes on individual incomes failed to garner the necessary two-thirds majority vote in the State Senate on Tuesday, March 7 to advance. However, SJR 8204 may still have accomplished another objective desired by its sponsors: having lawmakers clarify where they stand regarding an income tax in Washington state. Several failed amendments to the bill and remarks exchanged legislators prior to the vote indicated that some favor a high earner income tax as a potential new revenue source.

Removing Ambiguity On Income Tax Stance

“This is a very important issue,” State Sen. Michael Baumgartner (R-6) said March 7 on the Senate floor. “What we really need to do here is flush this issue out, because it is confusing when we hear people sometimes say they want an income tax and sometimes not want an income tax. And right now, we have need to figure out how we’re going to fund our state’s budget, and we have a lot of spending proposals that are far in excess of what we have for expected revenue.”

All Senate Majority Coalition members voted in favor of SJ 8204, with Senate Democrats Steve Hobbs (D-44) and Democratic Assistant Whip Mark Mullet (D-5) also in support. The bill was sponsored by State Sen. Phil Fortunato (R-31). Its House companion bill HJR 4207 remains stalled in the House Finance Committee.

Legalizing Progressive Income Tax Through Judicial Fiat

The vote came as new local efforts are underway to impose a progressive income tax that supporters hope will prompt a court challenge ultimately overturning previous State Supreme Court rulings defining income as property in the State Constitution.

‘We currently have a very activist court,” Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler (R-9) said during the March 7 floor debate. “Many groups have tried to take advantage of the possibility that an activist court would rule different on a local income tax or a state income tax. I say this pass this constitutional amendment today and give the people their voice.”

Attempts to legalize a progressive income tax through the judiciary has gained traction among activists after Washington voters overwhelmingly rejected a progressive income tax in 2010, the ninth time they have done so.

Fortunato: Bill Sends Message That Taxpayers Are Heard

Fortunato told colleagues March 7 that “this is really just a very simple bill. The people have repeatedly said we don’t want an income tax. But we have to ask ourselves, who down here is actually representing the taxpayer? This sends a clear message to the taxpayers that we have heard that what they said. They want to keep their money; they don’t want an income tax.”

Democratic Floor Leader Sen. Marko Liias (D-21) proposed an amendment that would have applied the ban only to annual incomes less than $250,000. He told colleagues that this would “clarify that we’re talking about income taxes on working class people.”

“I think a view that most of us hold here on the floor (is) that working class people, middle class people, shouldn’t be exposed to additional taxation. We’re paying our fair share already,” he added.

Prior to the vote on that amendment rejecting it, State Sen. Doug Ericksen (R-42) warned that “if you have an income tax, that impacts everybody, that gets passed on. The idea that moving away from a sales tax to an income tax would not harm lower class or lower income people that’s just simply not true.”

He added that “you would see people paying higher taxes at all levels with the income tax, which I think is actually the goal, which is to get more money for the state where the people have said they don’t want to be paying an income tax.”

Granting Local Autonomy On Income Tax

State Sen. Jamie Pedersen (D-43) proposed another amendment would have had the prohibition only apply to income taxes imposed without prior voter approval.

“We definitely have political subdivisions within our state that are exploring and interested in the idea of using income tax to balance out our very unfair tax system,” he said. Referencing a new effort in Seattle to create a progressive income tax, he added that “with this amendment, that would be possible as long as the voters of the city of Seattle decided to do that.”

State Sen. John Braun (R-20) opposed the amendment, arguing that “what makes us (Washington State) regressive, it’s not the lack of an income tax. It’s the cigarette tax. It’s the highest liquor tax in the country. It’s the highest gas tax in the country. These are the things that actually make Washington tax’s system the most regressive in the country, and I don’t hear us talking about that.”

A third amendment proposed by Democratic Leader Sen. Sharon Nelson (D-34) would have required a two thirds majority vote by the legislature for any new state gross receipts (B&O) tax incentive.

State Sen. Marilyn Chase (D-32) said although “I’m really opposed to a B&O tax…this is an amendment whose time has come.” Last year, she introduced SJR 8214 calling for a constitutional amendment allowing a progressive income tax.

However, Ericksen argued that “this amendment says that basically all money belongs to the state, all the wealth belongs to the state, and they’ll make a decision on how much they’ll allow you to keep.”

Critics: Proposed Constitutional Amendment “Pointless”

Following the rejection of the three proposed amendments, Liias said “To me, the serious challenges that our state faces are not a joke. They are a serious problem. Here we are, approaching the 60th day (of session), and we’re talking about something that in my opinion is utterly pointless. We actually tried to propose some ideas to take this pointless bill and make it meaningful.”

However, Baumgartner replied that the debate served “to understand where people really come down on the tax proposal and what they truly believe.”

“If you don’t like it (income tax), say so clearly, but come forward with a tax proposal you truly believe in,” he added.

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here


text:
Sunday, 25 March 2012

It's all Pretty Sweet.....

Well what a wonderful weekend this is turning out to be, weather wise....a beautiful day of hot sunshine yesterday and bright and sunny again makes me feel like summer is finally on it's way. Let's hope we are not disappointed!

For my card offering today I have used my Polka Doodles Pretty Sweet CD and both the digi image and the papers have come from this.

As you can see, the image is quite big so this 6 x 6 card doesn't need too much embellishment, so I have just added some punched flowers with tiny button centres to finish it off.

I am entering this card in to the following challenges:

I love Promarkers - use three papers
My Mums Craft Shop - Digital Images
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
Prairie Fairy - Spring Fling
Stamping for the Weekend - Anything Goes
Card Makin Mamas - Buttons
Sweet Stamping - Anything Goes.

That's all for today. Next card making project....Easter this space!

Thanks for stopping by.

Sharon x

Wednesday, 21 March 2012

Animal Magic

The challenge over at Passion for Promarkers this week is 'Animals' and there is also a Dots and Spots challenge over at Bearly Mine, so.........combine the two........and here is what you get!

All the stamps on this card are from one set, and are part of Stamp Addicts own range - coloured in with Promarkers of course!

As for the dotty paper - well it's CD ROMs to the rescue and it was from one of my Polkadoodles CDs - although sadly I can't remember which.

So, I'm going to quickly enter this card in to the above mentioned challenges, before getting ready for my trip to Hobbycraft tomorrow (Crafter's heaven here I come!!)

Thanks for stopping by.

Sharon x

Sunday, 18 March 2012

A bit if Fairy Magic

A quick post to show a Flower Fairy decoupage that I made recently. No stamping on this one but it makes a change to try something different don't you think?

I had a lovely time revisiting my Flower Fairies of the Garden CD to make this card. I had forgottrn just how beautiful the backing paper were, and I will definitely be using them again in the near future I think.

The decoupage was certainly a bit of a challenge, cutting wise, but I think the result was well worth the time in this case.

As you can see, my Doohickey, flowers, swirls and lace dies have been put through their paces once again too!!

As for me, I am a very lucky lady as I have had lovely mother's days presents from my son and husband today and I am hoping to have a lovely relaxing Sunday (after doing the ironing of course!) before looking forward to a short working week as I am off to Hobbycraft on Thursday......can't wait!!!

Hope all you mum's have a lovely day with your little angels today.

Sharon xx

Saturday, 17 March 2012

Elephants never forget.......

Elephants may never forget, but apparently I do, as I had completely forgotten about this little card, which I have been meaning to add to my blog for ages!

It is created using one of the first ever stamps that I received as a DT member for Stamp Addicts, and I just love the little face on this character, which Ithink is perfect for those 'I forgot' and 'Sorry' type cards that we all need from time to time.

I have coloured the main image using Speccies and stamped the leafy border using my Stamps by Judith leafy stamp, using distress ink. Finally I have distressed the edges with ink as well, and used a little old scrap of paper for the backing.

I thought I would enter this card in to Lisa's Waste Not Wedensdays this week.

Don't forget to pop over and see her lovely blog here as she has some really beautiful work  for you to see, plus she has a Digi Stamp Boutique prize up for grabs too.

Thanks for popping by today and I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Sharon x

Sunday, 11 March 2012

My cards on Telly.....

Morning all - we are having such a lovely morning here in Milton Keynes - it feels like Spring is well and truly here! I will have to try and make time today to get outside a bit I think!

But first of all a quick post from me to show one of my cards that appeared as a sample on the Stamp Addictsshow that aired on C&C last Friday. I think I had a bout 4 cards shown this time and I have to admit ut still give's me a buzz!

This card is made from stamps in the etched flowers range, of which there are tow sets, each containing a selection of flowers and some 'quotation' sentiments. They are really lovely if you need to make a card for someone who is a bit of a traditionalalist.

There is a nice challenge over at Allsorts this week, entitled 'Say it with Flowers', so I thought I would enter this card.

Thanks for looking and hope you all get to enjoy some sunshine too.

Sharon x

Wednesday, 7 March 2012

Couch Potato

Here I am again (for the third time today!) with my second manly card - this time for my father in law's birthday.

He has a brwon terrier type dog who loves to snuggle up to you, so I thought this image from Digistamp boutique was perfect for his card.

I picked the papers first, from my Nitwits digi collection and colured and decoupaged the image to match with three layers of depth.

I am glad that I got my FIL's card finished as I still haven't a clue what I'm going to get him for a birthday present.....guess where I will be on Saturday morning!

In the meantime I'm going to enter this card in to the following challenges:

Papertake - Anything Goes
Anything Goes - Boys to Men.

That's me done for today!

Sharon x

Spring has Sprung

I was lucky enough to get my hands on the first edition of the new Polkadoodles magazine which included the stamp and all the backing papers that I used to create this card,

I have made it for a special occassion (can't tell you what right now or it might spoil a surprise for someone!)

As you can see, I have gone a bit mad with my dies cutter, creating the card base and cutting the baking papers with a grand nestie, whilst all the embellishments have been cut for lovely Magnolia Doohickeys (infact I used my entire doohickey colletion on this particular card!)

There are some nice 'Spring' challenges around this week, so I thought I would enter this card for the following:

My mum's craftshop - Spring is Springing
Pollycraft - Sping colours
Papertake - Anything goes

Thanks for looking.

Sharon x

Going Green

I have birthdays for both my own dad and my father in law coming up this weekend, which meant it was time to get a little bit 'manly' with the card making!

My dad loves his golf, and when I say this digi, available from LadyBug Crafts a few months ago, I just knew I had to have it.

So for this card I printed the image 3 times, coloured with promarkers and decoupaged. For the papers I delved in to my Crafters Companion CDsand came up with this very 'golfy' tartan, and the gingham.

This is such a great image and I love the fact that there is a little bit of comedy in there. I hope that I will be able to use it again (but not for my dad of course!!)

I'm entering this in to the following challenges:

Anything Goes - Boys to Men
Secret Saturday Crafters - Green for Go
Papertake - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by.

Sharon x


text:
ATM Crooks Hit Rye Bank

Just slightly more than a week after urging residents to be on guard, Rye police have discovered an ATM card skimmer at a local bank.

The skimmer found at the HSBC Bank on Purchase Street is the fifth device of its kind discovered recently in Westchester. Similar illegal set-ups, which also include hidden cameras, have been found at bank machines in Bronxville, Pelham, Yonkers and Poughkeepsie.

The skimmers record information from a user’s ATM card and the cameras record the user’s PIN as it is punched in on the ATM keypad.

The Rye Police Department issued an alert on Sunday, advising ATM users to take precautions when using their bank cards. Those precautions include:

  • Before inserting your card into the slot of an ATM, wiggle the slot. Normal ATM slots should not wiggle, but a skimmer installed on the slot may seem loose.
  •  Cover the keypad with your free hand while keying in your PIN, so if a hidden camera is installed it will not be able to record the number.
  • Always be aware of your surroundings when making an ATM transaction, and be alert for suspicious activity or people loitering nearby.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


text:
Starry Kitchen

Claypot Caramelized Striped ass with Pancetta

Starry Kitchen is the perfect name for this restaurant, as the stars must have been aligned when formidable home chef Thi Tran married Nguyen Tran, perhaps the greatest promoter since PT Barnum. Starry Kitchen started out as an underground experiment in Thi and Nguyen’s apartment in 2009, where they rose to the top of the Yelp ranks. They eventually moved from one legit restaurant to another, and have settled for the time being in the old Grand Star Jazz Club in Chinatown. Still, you may want to follow them on twitter just to keep up. ‘Cause, yeah, they also have a bahn mi pop-up every Friday at 727 N. Broadway. And maybe that space will become a second restaurant, or maybe they will just move there. Or maybe they won’t. As Nguyen would say, “Check your twitter feed, FOO!”

Nguyen is known for showing up at food festivals dressed in a giant banana suit and making dirty jokes about their infamous balls. In fact, he may be the only person I know who curses more than I do. As maitre D’ and expediter of the restaurant, he is superenergetic, greeting you by name and giving detailed tableside lessons on how to pry the last bit of sweet meat out of the crab shell. But all that hype and friendliness would not get them anywhere if the kitchen didn’t deliver. And deliver it does. You can catch a glimpse of Thi working her ass off in the kitchen with a few line cooks, who, according to a recent job advertisement, are “No BS and drama-free.” Whether it’s a relaxed weekday evening or a bustling Saturday night, amazing and delicious dishes flow in a steady stream out of that kitchen and into your mouth.

The Crispy Tofu Balls have not held a cherished place on the menu simply to provide opportunities for off-color humor. These day-glow green crunchballs are filled with tofu and bits of vegetables, crunchy on the outside and silky-smooth in the middle. A spicy sauce is drizzled on top, with more provided for dunking, making them perhaps the perfect snack. Other apps like the Double-fried Chicken Wings seriously kick ass and often sell out. The Pandan Chicken comes wrapped in a slightly charred leaf, which has a learning curve for opening with those slippery plastic chopsticks. After removing the pik, hold the leaf by the edge and let it unravel itself, dropping the moist steamed chicken on your plate. On the night we ordered it, it was accompanied by a delicious and unexpected watermelon pickle. For serious connoisseurs they offer a limited amount of fish heads and tails, but I’m just not that gnarly.

Noodles on the current menu include their cult favorite, Japanese Garlic Noodles, which are a great choice for a side if you don’t go for the unbelievable pork belly X0 fried rice (“X0 is a super-special Cantonese sauce made of dried scallops, shrimp and ham”). Or get them both, especially if you have more than two people. Personally, I have to watch my carbs to keep my girlish figure.

A couple can easily get out of the place with three dishes for less than 40 bucks. The Malaysian Chicken Curry is a steal at $14. Made with an Indonesian Sambal curry from the Netherlands, chicken on the bone is bathed in a thick yellow curry. And you don’t have to eat that chicken drumstick with chopsticks, at least I don’t. Other great choices are Braised Sweet Soy Sauce Ginger Pork Belly, one of the non-spicy, richer dishes, and Sweet+Sour Rib-eye Beef in a sauce that is a house-made traditional/classic Cantonese sweet+sour sauce. Sweet + Sour Ribeye is one of the few coated and fried dishes, like gourmet Chinese take-out.

Still, something worth doing is worth doing right. Spurge on the Claypot Carmel Striped Bass (“Ka Cho To”), which is Nguyen’s “Death row last meal” meal. The fish is improved by breaking it up and returning it to the claypot to really infuse it with the sauce.

If you want to try my “Death row last meal” you will have to reserve the Singaporean Crab ahead of time, like 24 hours ahead. But it’s always worth checking to see if there were any cancellations. The dungeness crab is pre-cracked for your convenience and floats in an insanely addictive chili sauce that takes 2 days to make. New Orleans-style beignets dot the dish, providing a mild and pillowy respite from the spicy sauce. It is advertised as “Market Price” as shellfish often is; a month ago it was around $69. The price does fluctuate, so it is sometimes only $50. Before you totally freak out, that feeds three to four people. We usually see a table of four enjoying the crab and only the crab, so even at $69 that’s less than 20 bucks a person, totally reasonable.

Starry Kitchen also serves a Pineapple Beer Chicken Wing Soup, vegetables, and desserts. We recommend the Salted Plum Lychee Panna Cotta to cool your palate after the spicy food. The Grand Star Bar is still open and will serve your table with soft drinks and a full bar. They charge separately, but take all major cards. The old Grand Star Bar is kind of jacked up, making the restaurant ambiance early dive bar. But it adds to the feeling that even though they have gone legit, you’re still an underground rebel for eating there.

Starry Kitchen does deliver, contact them to see if you are within cycling distance. There is parking right next to the restaurant in front of the Bruce Lee statue. You can make a reservation on their website or call (213) 814-1123. They also cater. Unless you’re a D-bag, then no.

Go! Now! Or…call 24 hours in advance to reserve a crab and then go!

The Grand Star 943 N. Broadway St, LA, CA.

Elise Thompson

About Elise Thompson

Born and raised in the great city of Los Angeles, this food, culture and music-loving punk rock angeleno wants to turn you on to all that is funky, delicious and weird in the city. While Elise holds down the fort, her adventurous alter ego Kiki Maraschino is known to roam the country in search of catfish.
This entry was posted in Food, Miscellanious. Bookmark the permalink.

4 Responses to Starry Kitchen

  1. Pingback: DTLA Night Market | The LA Beat

  2. Pingback: Party Sunday Afternoon to Save Starry Kitchen’s Balls | The LA Beat

  3. Pingback: Have You Missed Starry Kitchen’s Balls? Us Too. Uber Eats is Here to Save Us! | The LA Beat

  4. Pingback: The Return of Starry Kitchen is Coming Soon!!! | The LA Beat

Leave a Reply


text:
Wednesday, September 06, 2006

August Performance Review: Micro-Managing Trades

I just completed my August trading review and I'm not as happy as I was pre-review. While I did post a decent 9 percent gain, a common trading flaw became apparent that kept me from having a huge month: micro-managing trades and pulling out before my stops were hit.

I pulled out of 8 trades before hitting my predetermined stop, and 7 of them never hit the stop and would have given me decent sized gains. I need to remember why I placed the stops where I did in the first place (usually just under support/resistance/price-volume bars) and stick with the trade, no matter how many other opportunities I see while waiting. My biggest problem is that the grass always seems to be greener on the other side of the fence. I see all these setups on my watchlist and become impatient with my own trade. This certainly is not a recipe for success, so I need to do a better job of keeping my emotions in check.

So my goal for September is to allow my trades to work for me and not micro-manage them. I may even take the drastic measure of only checking my trades and watchlists 3 times per day, at the open, noon and close. Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it!

Note: I firmly believe that psychological development is one of the most crucial aspects to trading. I highly recommend Brett Steenbarger's website, which is the most comprehensive trading site that I know of.

Tags: TraderFeed, Steenbarger, stops

No comments:


text:
Close [x]

Can PBDEs Harm Your Pet?

Eliminate Toxic PBDEs

An industrial chemical known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) used in home furnishings could be diminishing your pet's health.  This chemical is a flame retardant used by manufacturers to reduce the flammability of padded chairs, sofas, mattresses and other cushy seats in homes and offices.

You can reduce or eliminate the PBDE levels in your environment by choosing electronics made with alternatives to PBDEs available from Apple, Sony, Intel, Erickson, HP, Canon and Dell.  Select wild salmon rather than farmed fish.  Use lean meats, poultry, and low-fat dairy products rather than their higher fat counterparts.  Fatty tissue serves as an accumulation zone for PBDEs.

The Environmental Protection Agency indicates that polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have a negative impact on your health and environment.  These chemicals in your home environment may be causing harm to your pet without your knowledge.

In the body, PBDEs are found in breast milk, blood and the blood of umbilical cords.  These chemical compounds persist in the environment and accumulate in wild animals.  They are thought to cause brain damage, birth defects, and contribute to disease of the liver and thyroid.

PBDE chemical compounds are used as flame retardants in industries that produce electronics, furniture and foam.  These products have a propensity of giving off airborne particles that build up in your home's dust.  Seventeen pet dogs who live primarily indoors participated in an analysis at Indiana University.  The analysis found their PBDE concentration levels to be five to 10 times higher than that of humans.

"In the U.S., we the have highest levels of flame retardants in our dust and in our bodies," indicates Arelene Blum, Executive Director of the Green Science Policy Institute.  Pollution in People asserts that these toxic PBDE industrial chemicals have been used for more than 30 years in the manufacturing of mattresses, furniture and consumer-used electronic plastics.

Household furniture is frequently produced with flame retardant chemicals and materials before it is shipped to consumers.  Furniture that is made with organic cotton stuffing or wool padding will be free of the hazards of PBDE.  This means when shopping for sofas, loveseats, easy chairs, mattresses and other furniture with seat, arm or back padding, it will be important to ask the contents.  Ask if flame retardants are used and if there are alternate choices.  Request that organic cotton or wool padding be provided as a condition of your purchase.  The use of flame retardant materials varies from state to state.  Its use will depend on governmental laws and regulations that are in effect.

It is estimated that approximately five percent of the weight of the petroleum-based fill known as polyurethane foam is flame retardant chemicals.  Polyurethane foam is used in nearly all sofas, easy chairs, loveseats and mattresses manufactured.

"PBDEs are an important, but generally unrecognized, persistent organic pollutant,'' advised Robert C. Hale in Nature.  Hale is a professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences.  Persistent organic pollutants can remain in our environment for many years without breaking down.  Body fat in animals and humans become the storage zones for these pollutants.

''There is an enormous need to act quickly when there is a problem with a chemical that is not only toxic but is persistent and accumulates,'' says Gina Solomon, Natural Resources Defense Council senior scientist.

Talk with your veterinarian about the impact of these industrial chemicals on your pet's health and wellness.  Your veterinarian will guide you in reducing the negative impact on your pet's health.

Environmental Protection Agency.

Green Science Policy Institute.

Hale, Robert. Nature.

Main, Emily. Flame retardant furniture: Unhealthy, and doesn't stop fires.

Natural Resources Defense Council.

Pollution in People.

Practically Green.

Exclusive Offer

New patients receive 50% OFF their first exam.

THIS ---->https://themeadowsvetcentercom.vetmatrixbase.com/index.php

Office Hours

See your pet on Petly –

 As your pet's personal health page,Petly is a

special place for you and your pet. You're just one click

away! – GO

Monday8:00 am5:00 pm
Tuesday8:00 am6:00 pm
Wednesday8:00 am5:00 pm
Thursday8:00 am6:00 pm
Friday8:00 am5:00 pm
Saturday9:00 am12:30 pm
Day Morning Afternoon
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
8:00 am 8:00 am 8:00 am 8:00 am 8:00 am 9:00 am Closed
5:00 pm 6:00 pm 5:00 pm 6:00 pm 5:00 pm 12:30 pm Closed

Dr. Engel is one of my heroes! My dog was very sick and and would not eat or drink...........

Newsletter Sign Up


text:
Close [x]

White House Pets

A surprising issue that has arisen in the American political arena is not foreign policy, but rather which breed of dog the Obama's chose  to join their family in the White House. Barack Obama has announced that his family  narrowed their breed choices to a Labradoodle, a mix between a Labrador retriever and a Poodle, and a Portuguese water dog. Both breeds are large, with curly hair and a mild amount of shedding.

Obama stated in interviews that a limiting factor was his daughter Malia's allergies. They decided on a six month old Portuguese water dog they named Bo. The dog is a gift from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who owns several Portuguese water dogs.

There has been a long history of pets in the White House. Most Presidential pooches have been pure-breed dogs, including "Buddy" Clinton, a chocolate Labrador retriever and "Barney" and "Miss Beazley" Bush, both Scottish terriers. Bush Sr. had a Springer Spaniel named "Millie" that gave birth to puppies while at the White House. Ford's Golden Retriever "Liberty" also had a litter of puppies. Reagan owned a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named "Rex" and a Bouvier des Flandres named "Lucky". James Garfield named his dog "Veto".

 There have been some mix-breed dogs in the White House though: Abraham Lincoln's dog "Fido" and Lyndon B. Johnson's dog "Yuki" were both strays that found a home in the most prominent house in the world. Cats have also lived at the White House, most notably "Socks" Clinton. Eleven presidents have brought their cats to the White House, including Lincoln, McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Kennedy, Ford, Carter, Clinton, and George W. Bush. Although the standard White House pets are dogs and cats, a few presidents have enjoyed the company of more rare animals. John Quincy Adams owned an alligator and silkworms. Martin Van Buren briefly owned two tiger cubs. Calvin Coolidge had pet raccoons and a pygmy hippopotamus named Billy, among many other exotic pets. James Buchanan had a Newfoundland named "Lara" and owned a herd of elephants, which were a gift from the King of Siam, and two bald eagles. John F. Kennedy had a collection of animals joining him at the White House, including dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, hamsters, ponies, and horses.

Teddy Roosevelt had the most elaborate menagerie at the White House, including a bear named Jonathan Edwards, a badger named Josiah, and a blue macaw named Eli. He also had a lion, a hyena, a wildcat, a coyote, bears, a zebra, and various dogs, cats, snakes, hamsters, and guinea pigs. Animals at the White House certainly provides opportunities for some embarrassing occurrences. Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Terrier named "Pete" chewed a hole in the French ambassador's pants at a White House reception. "Yuki", Lyndon B. Johnson's mix-breed dog would howl during Oval Office meetings. Jimmy Carter's dog "Grits" ruined a White House photo op for Heartworm Awareness Week by becoming aggressive, ripping off her muzzle, and growling while a technician tried to draw blood for a heartworm test. Obama and his family have a big choice to make. Animals living with their family at the White House are an American tradition, and whichever dog the Obama's choose, one thing is for sure, it will be one lucky dog.

        Popular Pet Names

 Whether a pet's name comes from pop culture, their owner's profession, or is named after a loved one, there are many choices for pets names. The Presidential dog is named "Bo" in reference to singer Bo Diddley. Below are the most popular dog names:

1.    Max
2.    Buddy
3.    Jake
4.    Rocky
5.    Bailey
6.    Buster
7.    Cody
8.    Charlie
9.    Bear
10.    Jack

Most popular female dog names:
1.    Molly
2.    Maggie
3.    Daisy
4.    Lucy
5.    Sadie
6.    Ginger
7.    Chloe
8.    Bailey
9.    Sophie
10.    Zoe

Exclusive Offer

New patients receive 50% OFF their first exam.

THIS ---->https://themeadowsvetcentercom.vetmatrixbase.com/index.php

Office Hours

See your pet on Petly –

 As your pet's personal health page,Petly is a

special place for you and your pet. You're just one click

away! – GO

Monday8:00 am5:00 pm
Tuesday8:00 am6:00 pm
Wednesday8:00 am5:00 pm
Thursday8:00 am6:00 pm
Friday8:00 am5:00 pm
Saturday9:00 am12:30 pm
Day Morning Afternoon
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
8:00 am 8:00 am 8:00 am 8:00 am 8:00 am 9:00 am Closed
5:00 pm 6:00 pm 5:00 pm 6:00 pm 5:00 pm 12:30 pm Closed

Dr. Engel is one of my heroes! My dog was very sick and and would not eat or drink...........

Newsletter Sign Up


text:
Psalm 127:3-5

Behold children are a gift of the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a mighty warrior, so are the children of one's youth.
How blessed are those whose quiver is full of them

Thursday, November 27, 2008

A blog about my birthday

My birthday was Tuesday and despite horrific morning sickness all day I really had a quite enjoyable day. The girls and I spent the day here at home just relaxing and playing. We colored and did crafts (our usual daily activities) and we had a little picnic on the tile floor for lunch. In the evening the girls went to play at Pop and Nana's house and mommy and daddy had a date!

Jimmy gets lots of fabulous tickets with his job and he happened to have a set of Mavs tickets for my birthday! We ate in Victory Park with some friends and then attended what turned out to be a very exciting game. It was slow at first but the Mavs made a comeback at the end that had the crowd on it's feet for the last 10 straight minutes of the game! I love games like that and it was so kind of them to produce such a game just for my special day!

All in all my day was wonderful... the morning with my girls, the evening with my man! Thanks for the special day Anna, Serene and especially Jimmy! You make 32 feel like about 22! I love you all!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Happy Birthday to my wonderful wife !

Hi All,

I just want to say to all who read this blog that I have the most amazing wife on the planet! Happy Birthday to Tarrah, you are the most amazing person I have ever known. The girls and I love you more than you could ever know! You are the best wife and mommy any family could possibly ask for! I hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow and I can't wait to take you to the Mavs game! Love Jimmy

Turkey bowling...

Last week after getting home from purchasing our Thanksgiving turkey I found my husband teaching our 3 year old how to "bowl" the turkey down our long tile hallway. While I do not condone playing with your food, I even "bowled" a few times myself!!

(PS, this is one of the things I love the most about my husband is how incredibly "boyish" he is)

This is the outfit Anna chose to wear to run errands last week. Princess dress and boots!! =)

Also, this is Serene's favorite new activity... digging in the entertainment center.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Doll haircut

For fun, I let Anna cut the hair on one of her dolls the other day. I told her the night before that she could do it the next day and so first thing the next morning she came stumbling, eyes barely opening carrying her doll saying "I'm ready for the hair cut mamma, where are your mommy scissors." (She also got to use my "mommy" scissors, which she thought was a really big deal!)

Monday, November 17, 2008

Monday, November 10, 2008

Disney World 2008

We just got back last night from visiting my brother in Orlando and getting to meet his awesome girlfriend Jennifer!! Of course while in Orlando we went to Disney again. We did Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Epcot. This year mom and dad also came which made it even more fun! It was a great family vacation!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Fall festivals, cowgirls and cheerleaders

We attended two fall festivals this year so Anna chose to dress up in two different costumes. The first was for her daddy in her UT cheerleader outfit.... Ok, to all my A&M and OU friend, please forgive us but Daddy had to be true to his school.... I am sure you all got pleasure out of their horrible defeat this past weekend anyway. =)

New president

I am sad as I write this email.... CNN just declared Barak Obama to be president of the US. I CANNOT believe that people are so ignorant as to buy into the lies this man has laid out on the American people.

BUT, my biggest complaint about this man... he believes that an unborn child that has any type of problem should be legally MURDERED by their mommy if the mommy isn't happy about the problem the baby has. This is HUGE to me and here's why... My precious Serene has been diagnosed with a HORRIBLE genetic disease... this means that we could have found out about it while she was still in my womb and said "forget it.. just kill her because we don't want to mess with constant Dr. visits and the problems and heartaches this disease causes". If you voted for Obama you voted that Serene would have been better off dead. God show mercy to those who voted for this man and the murder of babies just like my precious Serene.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

4th annual visit to the pumpkin patch

Birthday party at the fire station

Anna's good friend John Wesley had his birthday party our local fire station. The children got to eat in the fire station kitchen, take a tour, get in the fire truck, spray the fire hose and various other things! It was lots of fun even for my little girl who asked me on the way there "mommy what is a fire station?" She is all girly girl! =)


text:
Sunday, December 11, 2016

Pie Palooza & Mary's Wedding

 Dress: Knot Front Dress in Blue Cells by Lucie Lu (size 5x) via Gwynnie Bee (use my link to get your first month free & help me earn GB credit)
Top: Maggie Barnes?, thrifted
Tights: Catherines
Shoes: Mossimo, thrifted
Jewelry: Vintage
Photography: Super Boo & Me
Stats: 5'7" 55-50-64
Since Lucie Lu went out of business...this could very well be my last knot front dress...which is a tragedy...because I love them so. The paisley one I had before this I bought & I own several others. This was not my favorite pattern, but the blue was bright & pretty & went rather well with this peacock blouse I found at Savers.
I wish I had pulled one of the colors out of the top for my tights instead of going with black. Someday I will plan my outfits out instead of grabbing what I can find as I dash out the door.
I *think* I wore this dress to market? I don't remember...but I'm quite sure I did so without any make-up on. Kate wearing her fox tail. Weston Antique Apples are the best...I find new ones to love every year. I like tart crisp apples...nearly impossible to find in stores.
Pie! Pie Palooza is a yearly event I look forward to...I LOVE pie. Angie, Toby, Daniel, & Kate...eating...pie. I chose chocolate pecan pie & leek & parmesan quiche. My most beloved pie is key lime, but it's not that popular around here.
Later that day David & I traveled to Spring Green to see our last APT play of the season...Mary's Wedding. It was our favorite...I think we both cried the entire last 1/4 of the was amazing.
This last photo is how I wore this at work...I pinned the shirt closed for less skin.
My make-up with this outfit included...Urban Decay eyeliner in Zero; Sephora eyeliner in Brown; UD eyeshadow in UV-B, Freakshow, & Acid Rain; NXY lip palette in The Plums; & Colors by Llarowe nail polish in Rockin' My JuJu.

No comments:

Post a Comment


text:
Who wants the National Theatre sold?

0 image_print

SIR: The report in the media that the Federal Government is moving to turn the National Arts Theatre, Iganmu-Lagos, to a five-star hotel is appalling, disappointing and defeats the spirit behind the building of this great monument.

The National Arts Theatre built in the 1970s to celebrate the Festival of Arts and Culture, popularly referred to as FESTAC ’77, to showcase, promote and preserve Nigeria and by extension Africa’s arts and rich cultural heritage must not be allowed to die. Truly this historical edifice has been neglected and practically abandoned by every successive government to the detriment of our rich cultural heritage, young and talented artists. We cannot continue to wipe away our history because a few amongst us has refused to get it right. What the masterminds of this National Theatre conversion is telling Nigerians is that we may not have the edifice to point to our children and grand children when telling them the story of FESTAC ’77.

The National Theatre complex is a cultural edifice belonging to the people of Nigeria and must be protected by the Federal Government on behalf of the people. It is just because our tourism ministry is not thinking positively that the place is lying comatose. It is in this edifice, in the mid 1980s, that I, with others in my student days watched live a popular Nigerian play by Ola Rotimi, The Gods Are Not To Blame. Why would a country like Nigeria not know that it is very vital for us to have such a complex and equally put it in use for the benefit of the people?

Today in Nigeria tourism is gradually dying, not because we lack tourist sites, or we do not have things to show but, because the managers of those in the ministry are not positively positioning or investing greatly in the tourism industry. It is said that in Nigeria, the only way people relax is visiting drinking joints and that is why we have more drinking bars, parks and gardens scattered everywhere in Abuja, Lagos, Port-Harcourt, Calabar, Uyo, Enugu, Owerri, Kaduna, Jos, etc.

No theatres, no cinemas, it is very absurd!

There were reasons for putting up such national buildings by the Federal Government in the first instance; they worked before until bad management brought them on their knees. It is still possible to bring them on their feet again. It is corruption that we must fight to get back the nation on sound footing.

• Uzodinma Nwaogbe

Maitama – Abuja.


text:
Sunday, March 21, 2010

"A grand, gloomy, and peculiar place" (21-Mar-2010)

Okay, so that picture above was supposed to be the "Welcome to Kentucky" sign, but I didn't quite take the picture in time as my car passed. I would have just pulled over to take the photo, but there was a surprising amount of road construction in this part of the country, so oh well; it was nice scenery and a sunny, warm day though.

Driving through Appalachia these past few days has filled me with so much wonder and awe. Our country is so beautiful and I was feeling bit envious at those who lived in this region. Being surrounded by the mountains and rolling hills really brings you back to life and does wonders for the soul.

Today I explored Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky! It was discovered by the Native Americans more than 4000 years ago and is the largest underground cave system in the world. In fact, our guide told us that if the second and third longest caves in the world were joined together, Mammoth Cave would still be the planet's longest cave and have nearly 100 miles left over! Crazy.

Here is the entrance:

This room is called "Rotunda" due to its round shape and is the 6th largest "room" in the Mammoth Cave system.

This rock formation is called "Giant's Tomb" and using a flashlight and shadow techniques, our tour guide was able to "lift" the lid off of this tomb :)

Also, our tour guide described how tours were first conducted back in the day and he turned out all of the lights then lighted a small lamp. I don't recall experiencing anything that dark in my entire life.

This sign was funny. They actually named this section "Fat Man's Misery" due to how narrow it is. The ceiling also drops significantly so if you're taller than 3 feet, you'll be crouching. I hit my head pretty badly while taking this picture due to not watching where I walked :P

In this large room, our guide elaborated about the history of the cave when this part of the country was still under water (LONG ago; Mississippian Sea). The hard body parts of sea creatures made mostly of calcium carbonate settled into the sea bottom and pressure and heat transformed these sediments into limestone.

We also learned about the bats in the cave which are no bigger than your thumb. Most of them were hibernating this time of the year though. There didn't seem to be many insects or sources of food for the bats inside the cave so I asked the tour guide what the bats fed on while in the cave and he jokingly replied "lost tourists..." :) But then he said that they come to the surface at night to feed on insects while following the same flight path, night after night.

Here we got to see some stalactites. This part of the cave didn't feature many of these formations, but rather was focused on the vastness and history of the cave.

This last part of the cave was the way out. We had to climb this very large, high staircase to reach the surface as we had traveled more than 300 feet underground. I took that second picture near the top of the staircase as the group ascended.

This last photo describes the cave system as a "honeycomb" formation, but our tour guide described it as a large bowl of spaghetti flipped upside-down. The hard, bowl dome is the surface and all the strands of spaghetti randomly weaving in and out of each other are all of the tunnels. We only did a 2 mile tour of this 367 mile cave system, so there is much more to discover. The quote title of this post was recited by our tour guide as the conclusion of the tour. An early guide named Stephen Bishop described Mammoth Cave as "A grand, gloomy, and peculiar place...". I definitely felt the "grand[ness]" of this place, but perhaps the gloom he describes was associated with the lack of lighting back in the early days?

If I had more time, I would have done one of the longer tours where you get to use helmets with headlamps! I highly recommend visiting this park if you are able. There are all sorts of different tours for all ability levels and interests.

I am now in St. Louis, MO and will write more tomorrow night!

  1. Great pics! I feel like I'm right there with you!

  2. Oooh, the fat man's misery part makes me feel all claustrophobic! What an awesome experience Doodle! I honestly didn't even know this cave system existed - and to think that part of the country was once under water?! Crazygonuts! Can't wait for your next post!!

  3. this is very exciting i think i would be checking my hair for bats the whole time though.

  4. Awesome, Dan! I would love to go there someday!


text:
Saturday, October 29, 2011

Tacos Ensenada

Tacos Ensenada
2171 Huntington Dr

Tacos Ensenada has been on my list of places to try, since I saw LA Magazine's Top 10 Mexican Restaurants. Interesting to see that a Mexican restaurant I review, La Casita Mexicana, was also in the Top 10.

My favorite place for fish tacos is Tacos Baja in East LA, so I'm trying to find other fish tacos as good, if not better than Tacos Baja. How did LA Magazine miss Tacos Baja, as one of the Top 10 Best Mexican restaurants in LA?

Anyways, Tacos Ensenada is a very small restaurant with a few tables inside and one table outside. It's most to go and I heard they get very crowded.

Let's start with the shrimp taco, $1.99. WOW, was this good. The shrimp was very fresh, the batter was light, crunchy, and flavorful. There was a ton of shrimp in this taco. The toppings; tomato, onions, that white sauce was very fresh and added a wonderful flavor. What I liked the most is the contrast between the coolness of the white sauce, and the spiciness of the salsa. Just an awesome taco. This is among the best shrimp tacos I have ever had.

What wasn't the best was the fish taco, $1.59. The toppings were exactly the same as the shrimp taco and they were great. But, the fish, which is basa fish, was rubbery and the batter was soggy!! No crunch, no freshness, nothing. Maybe the fish had been sitting under heat lamps for too long. Maybe the oil wasn't hot even, when they fried the fish. Whatever the reason, this fish taco wasn't good. I kept thinking; I could have gotten a better fish taco at a chain!!

Service is ok. They were super friendly or welcoming, just going through the motions.

I may give Tacos Ensenada another chance, but even if they fish was fried correctly, I can't see it beating my old stand by, Tacos Baja.

Update Nov. 8, 2011

I went back to Tacos Ensenada and the samething happened, great shrimp taco but a mediocre fish taco. I posted much better pictures, but nothing has changed from my original review. Though I will add, every Tuesday the fish tacos are 99 cents! Still not as good as Tacos Baja.


text:
Safe spaces

John Muenzberg

Column by John Muenzberg, lecturer of philosophy

John Muenzberg

John Muenzberg

Recent questions of who should have access to the Curris Center bring up questions of Murray State’s responsibility to protect students from harassment and harm. One solution that many universities have adopted is the creation of “safe spaces.” Unfortunately, much of the criticism of safe spaces is unproductive and uses a logical fallacy common to political discussion.

Many criticisms of safe spaces misrepresent what safe spaces are and then reject them based on the mischaracterization. Logicians call this the Strawman Fallacy. The name implies an effigy of one’s opponent that is easy to knock down.

Some critics falsely present safe spaces as isolated lounges with soft music and children’s toys. Or they present universities as places where no one is allowed to be offended in any way. If these situations existed, then they should be criticized, but they are false representations of what safe spaces are.

The current idea for safe spaces originated with marginalized groups, especially women’s groups and LGBT students. For some groups of students, being intimidated and harassed is common. For LGBT students, for example, simply being honest about one’s identity can incite physical violence. Safety requires caution in one’s words and actions.

Talking about one’s situation, no matter who you are, is generally beneficial. Yet LGBT students know that even staff and faculty can be dismissive or threatening. By the late 1980s, LGBT advocates thought that if students had a place on campus they could be honest about themselves, free from intimidation and violence, then their quality of life would improve.

One cannot control other people’s reactions, so they created a place where like-minded people would meet. This is why some faculty have “Safe Space” stickers in their offices. They are letting students know they can relax and be honest with them.

This is a far cry from the cartoonish safe space presented by their critics. If you only criticize the extreme version, then you are not presenting the argument honestly. Student centers for women, African-American or LGBT students serve an important purpose. One could also argue that all student groups serve a similar, though less necessary, role.

But there are problems with the way that some people implement safe spaces. One problem is the move to designate large public areas as safe spaces. This flips the motive from finding a place that is safe from others and turns it into requiring others to conform to my ideas. Safe spaces, as initially conceived, actually supported free speech. Rather than prohibiting other’s speech, they removed themselves from the harassment. People are mostly free to say what they want in the public realm, but the safe space is removed from that realm, and entered into voluntarily.

This then leads to the second problem with expanding safe spaces. It is difficult to distinguish between being in real danger, feeling unsafe and feeling uncomfortable. Taking a disagreeable position is not the same as intimidation. But what crosses the line is fraught with disagreement. Even seemingly settled questions of behavior, such as workplace sexual harassment policies, are difficult to define and must be decided by the courts.

This vague designation all but guarantees that people will inadvertently violate the policy.  Extreme actions, such as physical threats, are illegal and against Murray State policy. When these happen, we should take action. But people who espouse positions that might lead to harassment is too broad to police.

Do not reject a sensible idea because some present it falsely, or implement it clumsily. Safe spaces are important for students’ health and well-being, but what they are in reality might not be the same as what you want them to be.


text:
Pages Menu
Categories Menu

Posted on Nov 25, 2014

Straining Pasta, Stress, Nostalgia & Walter Mitty- Our Holiday Lettings Apartment Pashas House- Istanbul, Turkey

Straining Pasta, Stress, Nostalgia & Walter Mitty- Our Holiday Lettings Apartment Pashas House- Istanbul, Turkey

the nomadic family, straining pasta, stress, nostalgia and walter mitty, holiday lettings pashas house, istanbul, turkey Life on the road is not all about ruins, historic sites, and crazy adventures. We have those too. But mostly, our lives are about finding ourselves, creating peace in the family, and finding and losing the delicate balances of optimal mental, spiritual, and physical health. Sometimes family world travel life on the road is also about creative ways to overcome obstacles and smelling, tasting, or seeing something that reminds us of home. Sometimes, family life on the road is about watching a movie together as a family and experiencing something that touches the unspoken deep within us.

This post is about that kind of flotsam and jetsam. The every day sort of thoughts and feelings that fill of spaces of day-in-day-out kind of life. Enjoy our this vlog entry loves. I love sharing with you my random thoughts about this, that, and the other and how it all fits into the perfectly insane yet peaceful puzzle of our lives.

the nomadic family, straining pasta, stress, nostalgia and walter mitty, holiday lettings pashas house, istanbul, turkey

Straining Pasta and Stress

Nostalgia and Walter Mitty

————————————————————– You can see our first Turkish home with Holiday Lettings Pashas House for yourself. And… ARE YOU READY?

Owner Barbaros was so delighted by the way we lead our life and inspire others and was so overjoyed to be a part of that magic that he said anyone who contacts him and says they came because of  The Nomadic Family, he’ll give them 20% off their rental. God, how did we find these angels. So, we have nothing but ‘thank you’s’ and admiration for our new Turkish friends who hosted us so remarkably. Should you be in Istanbul and desire to feel that magic, go to Holiday Lettings Pashas House and when you communicate with Barbaros let him know that you know us and he’ll set you up. Life really is good.

————————————————————- Some of the best posts that reflect our personal insanity and emotional journey on the road: 7 Reasons One Family Travel Blog will Keep You on Your Toes One Stop Telenovela- How the Annapurna Circuit Almost Killed Us Our Trashed Homes and Being in the Now– Nepal Dreams for Five Different Souls- Balance, Can We Find It?– Philippines I Hate This Home and That One and This One- Cambodia Life on the Road Isn’t Waiting for Me If you enjoyed this post that breaks prejudices and stereotypes, I think you will adore: My Muslim Mother- Cambodia Where I was Sure the Muslims Would Kill Us- Malaysia I Know Nothing and 99 Other Things the World has Taught Me I Hate Missionaries and Other Thoughts About Sexuality Heroes, Angels, and Friends- Singapore And a few other Turkey posts: Country Number Fifteen Contest– Where in the World is The Nomadic Family From Murder to Love Affair– Holiday Lettings Pashas House —————————————— We’d love to connect to you also on TwitterFacebookYouTube. About the Author:

Insanely unorthodox, embarrassingly honest, and on her path towards spiritual awareness, Gabi Klaf blogs about her family’s ups and downs in their now third year of non-stop budget world travel. This family of five has lived with an indigenous tribe in the jungles of Ecuador, hitchhiked throughout the world, danced with drunk Vietnamese at weddings, and hiked the entire Annapurna Circuit trek where a film crew accompanied them for the documentary movie about how The Nomadic Family is redefining modern family life. They have left their six-month home in Goa, India and are now exploring Eastern Europe. Gabi writes about the untold sides of family travel life, those moments that take your breath away, adventures and mishaps while globetrotting, and how bits of her soul remain in this small town and off the side of that river. She is a guitar-stumming, energy-healing, ADHD wind-loving scaredy cat. Hugely romantic, tantalizingly sweet, and hysterically funny, Gabi Klaf represents a rare Rubik’s Cube of family world adventure. ——————————- family travel blog, life on the road with kids, travel with kids, world travel with kids, world travel with children, the nomadic family, budget world travel, framily travel tips, RTW family travel, 2012 best travel blogs, family travel southeast asia with kids, famiy travel central america with children, family travel south america with kids, annapurna circuit with children, life on the road malaysia, rtw family travel, rtw family travel peru, rtw family travel cambodia, rtw family travel ecuador, rtw family travel panama, rtw family travel costa rica, rtw family travel colombia, rtw family travel vietnam, rtw family travel thailand, rtw family travel south east asia, life on the road RV, philippines, malaysia, rtw family travel nepal, rtw family travel india, ups and down on the road, spiritual travel, meditation and parenting, on the spiritual journey around the world, the nomadic family project documentary movie We’re out doing crazy stuff and making our dreams come true, every single one of them, and a few more that sort of flew into our mouths while we were smiling into the wind. Should you like what we are doing as a family, BUY AN EBOOK to support us, share this, tell any media source or local newspaper, leave a comment. Your footprint makes all the difference in the world friends. Gracias! Gabi and Kobi, Dahnya, Orazi, and Solai And, sweet new news loves:  In addition to parenting, family life and trauma therapy, Gabi is now offering Make Your Dreams Come True/We Wanna Travel But.. Coaching too. Engage with Gabi!


text:
Justin Bieber

Street Style Inspiration at the Justin Bieber’s Purpose Tour Mumbai

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Mumbai Was Totally Concert Ready

With the #BeiberFever spread far and loud. So, unless you are living under a rock, far off in a cave which is in a far off island without no-human trace anywhere you would be aware it was Justin Beiber’s concert yesterday at the D.Y. Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai. And around 50,ooo #belibers strutted in style to listen to the 23 year old pop sensation.

Continue Reading…


text:
Sunday, June 16, 2013

Nuffer Family Summer Camp, week 1: SPACE

I was so excited to get started with our camp!  The first week went really well!  I had to move a couple weeks around to fit different attractions in Lubbock, so we started off with Space Week.

First, we watched a video about the planets on YouTube and then we made our own solar system and rocket.  They absorbed more about the planets than I thought they would.

Tuesday we visited the space section of the Science Spectrum.  We saw a real astronaut suit, a real space shuttle engine, meteorites, and a satellite!  The boys weren't as impressed as my mother and I were...  It was really cool stuff!

And then they pretended to be weather men.  Hey, weather is brought to us by satellite so it's still a space activity!

Wednesday we made constellation cards and a constellation craft.  The constellation cards were kind of a fail for several reasons, but the craft was a hit!  The even named their constellations all by themselves.

Thursday we watched a moon phases slide show and made the different moon phases with Oreos!  They loved the Oreos part!
Austin was upset about something, I just think he's a cutie pie even when he's upset.

Friday we played with galaxy dough!  Just FYI, this stuff was a HUGE mess to make!!  HUGE!!  It was dough made from corn starch and shaving cream which I made blue with a little food coloring.  It smelled great and easy to clean up, but making the stuff was very messy and time consuming (getting the right consistency).  Austin wasn't sure about it at first, but he caught on and got into it-

Overall, there were a few hiccups, but it was a really fun week!  Jackson told everyone he saw (in the store, or at the post office, or people that came over) that it was space week day 4 (or whatever day it was).  They really got into the crafts and the theme.  Pirate week is coming soon!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

What's that sound!?!

Look at this adorable face, don't you just want to squeeze this boy and smother him in kisses?!

For weeks Austin would put his little hand to his face and say something that I could not understand.  I felt terrible because he would repeat it over and over again hoping I might catch on, and then he would give me the saddest heartbroken face when I didn't understand him.  He would talk about dinosaurs afterward, so I thought, what is he saying that involves dinosaurs...?  Then, one day, after about 3 weeks of being frustrated that I didn't understand him, he was playing with a toy computer that makes a sound and then says, "what makes this sound?".  Austin immediately put the computer toy down and put his sweet little hand up to his face just like in this picture and said, "what's that sound!?".  His face was frozen, anxiously waiting to see if I finally understood what he was saying, and I DID!  I was so excited to finally know what he was saying for so long-  "What's that sound?!  Dinosaurs! ROAR!".  What a relief to know what he's saying and not to disappoint him any longer.

Now, all day every day, he still puts his little hand to his face and says, "what's that sound?!".  Notice he doesn't cup his ear, just puts that pudgy little hand right next to his face.  He's so adorable!  But now, instead of hearing dinosaurs, he hears a baby crying, so the routine is:  "What's that sound?! BABY!  Oh no, ah crying!".

I love my tiny baby boy!

Here's a video.  I couldn't get him to say "what's that sound" though.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

I made the "big chop"!

For years I've wanted to donate my hair.  It's so flippin thick that I know it'll go farther than the average donation.  I have been growing it out for about 18 months, but I just could not take all this hair in 100+ degree weather for another summer.  Soooo, today was the day for the "BIG CHOP"

(Sorry, the next couple pictures are stretched- I don't know what's wrong with Blogger)

My hairdresser, Mary Jane, and my first ponytail donation-

I'll be honest, I don't love my hair after the cut, I don't even like it.  It's TOO short and I look like a mushroom head. BUT I am finally able to donate not one 10" ponytail, but 4 ponytails of hair.  WOOT WOOT!  So, yeah, I look like a mushroom head and I hate it, but it's just hair and it'll grow back; and I, hopefully, helped give a little something to someone who's fighting a great fight.

PS  I really wanted my hair to go to a cancer fighter and I learned from a little research that Locks for Love mostly makes wigs for kids with Alopecia, which is a VERY worthy cause, but not what I was looking for.  The American Cancer Society only accepts donations through and Pantene's Beautiful Lengths.  I chose to donate to Beautiful Lengths since they only need a minimum of 8" and Wigs For Kids requires 12".  Visit the links if you'd like to make a donation as well.


text:
Aural Advent Calendar: Day 20

Today’s installment is brought to you courtesy of Frere Mussel who is celebrating his birthday in La Suisse. The carol is Quelle est cette odeur agréable?, which is awkwardly translated in English versions as Where Is That Goodly Fragrance?

The tune is quite mesmerizing in the way that Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine is and sung quite ably in this video by the Umeastudentkor in Sweden.

Rather surprisingly, considering all the search engine love up for grabs this season, the interwebs are rather short on information about this bit of Adventual loveliness. As far as Miss Mussel can tell, the text is traditional French from the 17th century set to music stolen from John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera from 1728, which was previously stolen from folk singers, pubs, hymnals and contemporary operas.

Here’s an original OM translation of the French text. It doesn’t fit the music and and is more conceptual rather than literal in its approach. en anglais.

What is that lovely smell,
Shepherds who charm our journey?
Does it not smell to you like a field of spring flowers?

What a bright light strikes our eyes in the night.
The noon sun has ne’er shone so brilliantly.

Here are many more wonders!
Omnipotent Father, what do I hear in the wind?
Never have our ears heard such a symphony.

Fear not, all ye who are faithful.
Listen to the angel of the Lord.
He announces a wonder that will fill you with happiness.

Unto you has been born Saviour
In a Bethlehem manger.
Go! And let nothing prevent you from adoring him.

Glory to God in the highest
Peace on earth and goodwill towards men.

[that’s womyn too…unbunch those panties..Santa can see you.]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


text:
The Online Photographer

Check out our new site at!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

The Publisher as Casino

To answer some of the questions that have come in about the book project:

"Which do you want to do?"

I want to write a book that will sell. I already have unpublished, unpublishable manuscripts in my desk drawer (or hard drive). In this case—on this occasion—I'd like to write a book that people actually want to buy.

"When will it be done?"

Well, it won't be, as things stand this second, because it's not going to be a book. It's going to be a book proposal. Then if an agent can persuade a publisher to part with an advance, it will acquire a timetable. At that point, it will have an estimated time of completion. Until then it's not even a project, really.

The work of writing books is way too front-loaded for a guy in my situation. Which would be fine if there were a reasonable guarantee of a payoff eventually; law school is expensive too, with a lot of front-loaded effort, but the law school student who is putting in all that money and effort up front has a pretty reasonable prospect of a payoff down the road. You don't have that with a book, which is why it's more reasonable for a large corporation to undertake the risk.

So why demand that a corporation take on a risk that that I won't take on myself? It's like this. When a publishing company takes on the risk of a book project by funding it with an advance, it's functioning sort of like a casino. It places a great many bets, some of which pay off and some of which don't (about 70% of published books lose money), but it can usually manage its odds so that it comes out ahead overall. A casino doesn't really care if it loses or wins any one particular bet. A person making one single wager is not in that position, so the risk in the case of a single wager is a lot greater if the person placing the bet can't handle the downside (i.e., losing).

Bottom line is, either a publisher will have to be persuaded to help amortize the risk or the project won't go forward.

But at least now I have an answer for the publisher who asked, "Why not do a book on how to choose a digital camera? That sounds like it might sell." I have a little more ammunition now for saying, well, maybe, but probably not to people like my blog readers.

"Before you write another book, where's my copy of The Empirical Photographer?"

If you paid for but have never received a copy of The Empirical Photographer, please contact me by leaving a comment that starts "NOT FOR POSTING." But you must leave your email address in the comment or I won't have any way to get in touch with you. Please don't forget to include your email address.

Blogger Eddy said...

If you want a book that will sell in quantity then your potential publisher might be right. The population difference is there. Besides, the polling here is a bit biased.

10:46 PM
Blogger Bas said...

If you really want it to be a best seller, I would call it "Harry Potter and the Unsharp Mask". Or "Harry Potter and the Darkroom of Secrets".

Think about the entire new market segment you could reach out to that way!

12:18 AM
Blogger Joe Goh said...

Your situation is remarkably similar to what independent software developers face and i've written a blog post about it over here

Good luck with finding a publisher Mike!

12:45 AM
Blogger Mike Johnston said...

Thanks for your comments, Joe, here and on your blog--

5:24 AM
Blogger Kevin said...

Joe's comments reminded me of an even more extreme example of the software development "cycle":

1) Announce a new product for release. A picture of the box somehow makes it more real.

2) Evaluate the market's reaction.

3) If there's sufficient interest, develop the software!

This is efficient because vaporware is very cheap to develop. The down side is that you just might have to build something in a hurry.

Oh wait, didn't Pentax use the same method for the digital 645? I guess it works for hardware, too.

7:42 AM
Blogger Michael Digital said...

Why not self publish on dvd or cd. Arthur Morris has self published his "Birds As Art II" on DVD and sells the 800+ page book for $30. Quite a bargin! When his first "Bird As Art" was paper published he told me he received $2 for each book sold. You can be sure he is making more than $2 per sale of the DVD item. BTW the new book is outstanding. I have read and reread my copy.

7:46 AM
Blogger Frank said...

Why not throw it in as a part of the blog? That is how I am approaching mine at the moment. Down the road after you have written everything you want to write as individual posts, you package it as a book (self-published) for sale on on your site (wouldn't be the first time this approach has been used and proven sucessful). You already have a readership and following which is half the battle.

2:37 PM
Blogger stevierose said...

I am concerned about the obvious potential bias reflected in your poll. I, for one, find all of your writings to be pretty interesting and would be quite interested in reading your views on "Game Theory for the Photographer". So if you ask me (or the people who are motivated enough to comment on your BLOG) if I would like to read a book written by you on this subject, the answer is, yes!!

Does that mean that such a book will sell more than 140 copies? I kind of doubt it. This sounds like a book that is aimed at the thinking photographer, at someone who cares about the aesthetics, who will invest in reading a book in an effor to elevate their "game". Someone who wants more guidance than "set the aperture to 2.8 if you want a shallow depth of field to improve your portraits!" I just don't know if that will sell many copies. I know that there are a lot of gear heads out there. Also a lot of pixel peepers. But people who are willing to genuinely work on improving their photography? Not so sure. How many copies of "On Being a Photographer" do you think have sold in all of its printings?

4:40 PM
Blogger Ted Kostek said...

Here's some free advice; I'm sure you'll get your money's worth.

The book I'd really like to buy is a set of essays about specific photos: making, interpretation, why it works, how it fits into the 'canon', etc

Two of my favorite photo books are Adam's 40 photos and Way Beyond Monochrome. They give the chance to watch a master over the shoulder.

You could include the photos you have recently been selling, plus your faves from your portfolio.

I'd buy this in a second.

5:44 PM
Blogger mike said...

I thought LULU was the answer in self publishing.

3:50 AM
Blogger Ted Kostek said...

Another photo book I love and loan to many of my friends when they get a new camera is "Learning to See Creatively" by Bryan Peterson. What I love about this book is that he shows the evolution of the idea. Most of the time he has several similar photos, most of them bad and one good. You can see him hunting the interesting shot.

When I used to be serious about chess I bought a lot of books with annotated master games. I was always trying to get in their head. I rarely actually read this books, but the point is I bought them.

You are proud of your printing skills. I'm sure it's a process of searching for the interpretation. Some trial and error, some guesses, a little bit of pixie dust, and a lot of work. That's what I'd like to read about.

Sorry to belabor my book request, especially since it wasn't an alternative.

In any case, I applaud your market research.

8:49 AM
Blogger nvonstaden said...

you shoud contacht and do your OWN thing you don't need any stinking have enough of a fololowing here to start you out....

11:31 AM

Post a Comment

<< Home


text:
The Mysterious Case of the Missing Woman CD

I was asked a question the other day that has been asked several hundred times before to several other people before me:

Why aren’t there more women Creative Directors in advertising?

I didn’t have an answer to that. Not a good one in any case. And of course, we can’t have that now, can we? So I thought, let me see what others think. And ask them I did.

One of my colleagues felt that there exists a definite glass ceiling in our industry. Women are perceived as not being capable enough to handle the demands of a senior management post. I’m not sure if I agree with this. Because if this is a blanket assumption made about women, then it doesn’t explain the existence of women who’ve made it to CD level and beyond. Besides, I have personally never encountered any kind of professional discrimination on the basis of gender, nor has anyone I know. Maybe the glass ceiling exists in some agencies, but I think they’re the exception rather than the rule.

The belief leading to the alleged glass ceiling sometimes takes a softer, more patronizing voice. In the form of the hugely popular view that women find it impossible to manage their homes, while keeping advertising hours. You know how it is. You work fourteen-hour days, weekends, public holidays, festivals – or run the risk of being termed not driven enough, not committed enough, not… good enough. And that’s perfectly fine till a certain point in life. In fact, a book I had read in ad school clearly said that advertising is a great, fun profession, if you’re single. Apparently, marriage, kids, tend to change women’s priorities. They begin questioning the logic of spending more than half the day in the office, when they can be spending quality time with the family instead.

Apart from challenging the belief that men feel no such longing, I must also point out that I’ve seen a stellar exception to this norm. The lady in question was a CD when I first started working with her, and according to her partner had once worked on a pitch right till the day before she delivered her second baby. She had help, of course – a cook, a maid, her mother, all helped her run her house smoothly. And to her credit, she won her share of awards in her day and built some fairly well-known brands too. Then, she retired from advertising to pursue interior design. Which brings me to the next point.

After Neil French (in)famously declared that the reason there are fewer women at the top in advertising is because they tend to “wimp out and go suckle something”, he found a whole bunch of silent supporters. I actually think if you leave out the colourful bits, there may be a grain of truth in there somewhere. Like the lady I mentioned before, a lot of women have quit advertising at middle-management and even senior management levels, though not, and this is important, necessarily to reproduce. No, a lot of them simply found something more interesting/ rewarding/ financially more satisfying/ insert suitable adjective here, to do with their time. But then for that matter, I’ve known a whole bunch of men who’ve quit and taken up other careers halfway through their decently successful advertising stints.

So then is it simply a numbers game? Perhaps there are more men in creative departments than women, so if the same number of men and women drop out of adland, it still seems like more women have quit, because fewer women are found at brainstorms after this exodus. But it’s a mathematical theory, this one, and like anything to do with that hateful subject, without the numbers to back you up, you have nothing. So let’s just leave it at ‘maybe’.

At this point, you’re probably thinking if I came up with an answer at all. It’s the least you can expect after wading through 633 words, right? Sadly enough, I’ve had no such luck, only theories. I may not even have a definite answer till I reach a point where I have to quit this business. Even then, I’ll be able to speak only for myself. Till then, I suppose I’ll just do what every other woman in this field is doing: work like I’m single.

(This is my July blog-post for Campaign India.)

DhruvAkhaury said…
The lady in question likes this :-)

Popular Posts


text:
Wellnigh as tatty as warez

View previous topic View next topic Go down

Wellnigh as tatty as warez

Post  RABCACYN on Wed Aug 03, 2011 2:33 am

What's up? A troupe of indie developers are selling a containerize of their games which includes some of the biggest self-assured games on the market. Gamers can pinpoint their own payment—from 1c to $1,000—as a usage to a bundle of games that would probe in an old score with in bad books of on all sides $80 if sold separately. Anyone who buys the confederation can be designed of psychoneurotic thither themselves as expertly; customers can send any amount of their purchases to two protuberant nonprofit groups. The sellathon, nicknamed the "Unpresuming Wrap" within reach the studios la-de-da, is certainly epic. The games included in the containerize are Stretch of Goo, Gish, Lugaru, Aquaria, and Penumbra Overture. Each of these titles has proven to be a unrestricted beat, and the details that five away studios are working together to feature d knock off effectively them on tap to gamers repayment for appreciation much they comprise a sensibility to away is unusual. As Jeff Rosen of Wolfire explained to Ars in a current talk, the close-knit brains of community handful indie developers is big honourable as a serving to the purchasing's existence.

Back to top Go down

View previous topic View next topic Back to top

Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum


text:
Sunday, June 1, 2008

Catching up from a busy May...

So, it has been a little hectic, with all of the doctors appointments and traveling this month, so time to play some catch up!

At the beginning of May, we went to Memaw and Papaw's house up near Lake Texoma to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom. Aiden got to ride his new horsey tire swing that his grandparents bought him and even made a new friend, Lance the turtle. Aiden always loves to go to Memaw and Papaw's house--between the air hockey table, where he plays "pockey" and the great back patio and yard, not to mention the constant spoiling, he has a great time. It was a short visit on our way to see my Grandmother Charlotte in Oklahoma, but it was nice.

We also visited Gran and Gramps in Bandera (near San Antonio) this month for Memorial Day weekend. Aiden enjoyed playing "house" in Gran and Gramps' new camping trailer, playing baseball with Mamaw and Papaw (his great-grandparents) and wading in the river. Plus, another huge dose of spoiling, of course!

While there, Brad and I got to see my college roommate and close friend, Jess, and meet her fiancee (we completely approve--ST is a great guy!). We enjoyed an evening of grown-up conversation (with free babysitting!) and the chance to catch up--Jess is a pediatric resident for the Air Force who is always working, so it was great our schedules finally matched up and we got to see one another. I miss having her around, but she is one of those friends that you instantly catch up with when you see them--you pick up right where you left off and just have a great time together. Hopefully we'll get to see one another soon, since she is graduating from her residency this month! Way to go, Jess!!

The "splashy playground" at Harry Meyers Park in Rockwall opened up this month, so we went over one afternoon for our first visit of the season. Aiden always starts off a little hesitant of the sprayers, running around the water instead of through it, but he eventually gets into the spirit of things and ends up getting soaked. It got a bit cold as the sun began to set, so Aiden ended up lying face-down on the concrete like a reptile, trying to warm up. After an hour of splashing, we went scootering around the trails in the park and fed the ducks at the pond. The park is gorgeous and we had a great time walking and exploring.

We've slowly began the summertime transition of living more and more of our lives outside. Each evening, we end up outdoors in the late afternoon sunshine, playing baseball, enjoying Popsicles, having watergun fights and going for walks/runs around the neighborhood (Brad and I walk, Aiden runs ahead, then back, then ahead, then back). And even though the Texas heat can be pretty miserable, we slather on the sunscreen, pack bottles of water and head out for the sunshine. It's just the beginning of a long summer of fun, so stay tuned for many more pictures of fun outings to come!

No comments:

Want to hear more about the Pack?

Check out A Belly in Bloom, a page devoted to Angela's pregnancy with Aubrey. You can see belly pics, sonograms, and learn more about how Aubrey (formerly known as "The Bean") came to be the lovely little girl she is! You can also find Angela's favorite recipes and newest food experiments at Cooking with the Parker Pack.


text:
GALAX GeForce GTX 1050 Ti EXOC White 4GB Review

Table of Contents

GALAX GTX 1050 Ti EXOC White 1440p Benchmark Results

For the 1440p gaming tests, I used the same settings with the 1080p. All games are set to their highest graphics presets (Ultra or Very High) and graphics resolution is set to 2560×1440. Note that the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti isn’t designed for 1440p gaming and above. Many games are still playable at this resolution but you definitely need to lower the graphics quality to get playable frame rates. I wouldn’t recommend a 1050 Ti if you are planning to play at this resolution. To give you an ideal check out the results below.

Finally, let’s see how the GTX 1080 Mini performs on the 2160p or 4K UHD gaming resolution.

You might also like

  • Rafael Lim Brillo

    does fan stops at idle?

    • no, the fans don’t stop at idle