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Experts Say

What’s the Difference Between SPF and UPF?

Did you know there’s a difference between SPF and UPF? Both have something to do with keeping your skin protected from the sun but mean very different things. Sunlight includes rays of invisible ultraviolet (UV) radiation; overexposure to UV rays can lead to sunburn, accelerated skin aging and skin cancer. Sun protective clothing and sunscreen offer your main forms of UV protection but are rated two different ways with SPF and UPF.

UPF is the standard used to measure the effectiveness of sun protective fabrics. UPF stands for “Ultraviolet Protection Factor” and indicates how much of the sun’s UV radiation penetrates a fabric and reaches the skin. UPF is associated with fabric and you will see a UPF rating from 15-50 associated with products that claim that they are sun protective. A fabric with a rating of 50 will allow only 1/50th of the sun’s UV rays to pass through. This means the fabric will reduce your skin’s UV radiation exposure significantly because only 2 percent of the UV rays will get through. This also means that it blocks both UVA and UVB rays while SPF only takes the UVB rays into account.

SPF is a standard used to measure the effectiveness of sunscreen. SPF stands for “Sun Protection Factor”. It measures the amount of time it takes for sun-exposed skin to redden, while UPF measures the amount of UV radiation that penetrates a fabric and reaches the skin. Remember that SPF only accounts for UVB rays unless specifically stated as a broad-spectrum sunscreen.

Here is a visual breakdown of the two compared to each other.

As you can see when you are trying to keep your skin protected it is important to know the different rating systems. Many skin-care experts believe clothing shields skin more effectively from UV light than sunscreen. Many of us often apply sunscreen lotions too thinly, giving our skin less protection than the sunscreen’s available SPF rating, and we neglect to reapply it as directed by the specific sunscreen that we use.

To receive The Skin Cancer Foundation’s Seal of Recommendation, sun-protective fabrics must have a minimum UPF of 30. They consider a UPF rating of 30-49 to offer very good protection and 50+ excellent protection. Coolibar was the first clothing brand to receive the Skin Cancer Foundation’s Seal of Recommendation. All of our clothing is rated UPF 50+, with protection that will never wash out.

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Live Wisely

Can Dogs Get Skin Cancer?

ANSWER: Sadly, yes.

We were as disappointed as you are to find this out. In fact, the common forms we develop are what also affect them – melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma. Although most dog breeds are at risk, Jill Abraham, a board-certified veterinary dermatologist in New York City, told the Skin Cancer Foundation that the ones with “light-colored, short coats and less hair on the belly” are the most vulnerable. Before you start slathering sunscreen on your dog (Yes, you can put sunscreen on a dog), there are a few tips to help your furry companion live a safer life in the sun.

Limit Sun Exposure

Like us, dogs can get sunburned. Ever notice when a dog’s skin looks a little red after coming back inside? Sunburn. We all know how much they love laying out in the backyard sunbathing in the grass, but limiting the amount of time they have in direct sunlight during the strongest hours (between 10am and 4pm) is crucial. Helping encourage them to shady areas is a very good compromise to beating the sun.

We weren’t kidding! Dogs 100% can wear sunscreen and it is actually strongly recommended by Richard Goldstein, DVM and chief medical officer of the Animal Medical Center in New York City.

A dog’s skin can be damaged by the sun just like our own, so they require the same protection against the development of sunburn and skin cancer.

Richard Goldstein, DVM and Chief Medical Officer of the Animal Medical Center (PetMD)

Here’s a video from Banfield Pet Hospital to cover the rest of the important basics to know about sunscreen and dogs:

Video created by Banfield Pet Hospital
Sun Protective Clothing

Hear us out on this one. For the pets with no escape from the sun, you could use some of your older UPF 50+ tops and wrap it around them or even see if it fits without too much struggle. It might sound a little ridiculous, but even Dr. Abraham thinks it’s a viable option. And to be honest, it is always cute to see a dog running around in a t-shirt.

When it comes to our loyal buddies, keeping them safe is a no brainer! One of the biggest final tips on dog skincare is just building up the consciousness of knowing when your dog is receiving too much sun. Now get out there, grab a Frisbee and enjoy a sun-safe life with your loving, furry best friend.

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Live Wisely

Skin Care Musts in the Fall & Winter

Even though the sun may not feel as warm in the fall, UV rays do not end at Labor Day. Sun protection and nurturing skin is no longer a regimen solely for summertime. In fact, doctors warn that cooler months are more dangerous because the sunshine of summer, that serves as a reminder to reach for sunscreen, is gone. So, here’s your nudge to take care of skin as fall gets into full swing. No matter how cool the temperature feels, the sun’s ultraviolet rays can still cause damage to the DNA in our skin within just a few minutes. While UVB rays (burning rays) lessen as the earth rotates away from the sun, UVA rays (aging rays) remain strong with the same intensity year-round. UVA rays powerfully beam through office windows, car windows, clouds, and fog. And UV damage to our DNA is cumulative. Here are some tips for fall and winter skincare and sun protection:

Do Not Stop Wearing Sunscreen

Use broad-spectrum sunscreen daily on all exposed skin, neck, ears, back of hands and your face daily. In locations where snow flies, UV rays reflect off glistening surfaces like snow, and in warmer locations, UV rays bounce off grass, sand, water, and cement back at your face. Be proactive and protect your face daily with an excellent sunscreen of SPF 30 or more. In fact, dermatologists explain the use of sunscreen, when it starts to really cool down, as a “must”. For women, consider using sunscreen as a base layer before applying cosmetics. Many mineral-based sunscreens are moisturizing and protecting at the same time. Apply, rub vigorously so they are fully absorbed, then apply any cosmetics. For men, apply a mineral-based sunscreen as a daily moisturizer and keep a tube handy in the car for reapplications. Don’t stop at your face, cover your neck, chest, and tops of hands.

Use an SPF Lip Balm

Most people are unaware that lips do not contain melanin, our skin’s natural defense against ultraviolet radiation. Lips are particularly vulnerable year-round, but in months when the air is drier, they are also susceptible to drying and cracking.

Consider Cosmetics with Built-in SPF

According to Paula’s Choice Skincare, after a layer of broad-spectrum SPF 30, women can use a makeup primer of SPF 20 and a foundation with SPF 15. While the layers of protection don’t aggregate and add up to SPF 65, the layering approach has the benefit of better overall coverage of sunscreen. In general, most people do not apply sunscreen thickly enough. By layering these products one upon the other, this technique provides a “thicker” layer of protection against sun damage.

Reconsider Your Cleanser

When humidity drops in cooler weather, you may want to compensate by switching up your cleanser to a moisturizing cleanser. Look for hydrating ingredients that don’t strip your skin of moisture. Or, if you love your skincare program and don’t want to risk skin irritation by trying a new cleanser or moisturizer, there are ways to keep your routine and just boost it for the winter.

Moisturize Nightly

Follow nightly cleansing with a moisturizer made for nighttime. The right nighttime moisturizer will help protect against the red chafed skin in winter and help nourish your skin. If you have sensitive skin, or you’ve experienced reactions to various products, we recommend you meet with your dermatologist. They can evaluate your skin health and offer suggestions on a regimen for sensitive skin that won’t cause irritation before switching.

Wear UPF 50+ Clothing in the Car

UPF 50+ sun sleeves or sun gloves are ideal for days driving. UVA rays (aging rays) penetrate car windows and office windows. The Skin Cancer Foundation cites nearly 53 percent of skin cancers in the U.S. occur on the left, or the side receiving rays while driving. UVA rays are hitting your skin on a road trip, while running errands or driving kids to soccer. In fact, they are reaching your kids too. The Skin Cancer Foundation says clothing is the first line of defense against the sun. Having UPF 50+ clothing in the car or at the office – coverage for arms, hands, necks, and chests, like a long sleeve hoodie or wrap, a neck bandana, sun sleeves and sun gloves – make sun protection effortless. The more you’re covered, the more you’re protected.

Keep the Sun Off Your Face with a UPF 50+ Hat

UV rays impact the tops of heads as much as any other exposed part of our bodies. So, while you’re out walking the dog to keep her healthy, wear a hat with at least a 3” brim and apply SPF 30+ broad-spectrum sunscreen to other exposed areas.

When seasons change, people forget there’s still sun and sun damage. Get fall-winter ready and stay sun safe with tips above. It’s also an ideal time to check in with your dermatologist and get their recommendations for cool weather skincare.

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Skin Diaries

Amy Nichole: “Love the Skin You Were Given”

My name is Amy Nichole. I’m a fine art portrait photographer specializing in children’s & teen photography. For my career, I’m always outdoors and occasionally in the studio. Since birth, I’ve always had very pale skin with freckles and a reddish tone to my hair. At the age of 8, I received an awful sunburn that actually resulted in a birthmark looking design on my right arm and parts of my back. Following the incident, my mother brought me in to see a doctor, but they just pushed it aside and chalked it up as a bad reaction to the sun.

Let’s fast forward to my teens, it was the IT thing to have tan skin. Being of British and Irish descent, my fair skin wasn’t going to tan easily. From laying out in the sun for hours covered with oil to using the tanning spray alternatives, I tried everything you could think of! With all my attempts of trying to fit in, my “birthmark” only got darker and that’s when the moles and spots started to appear.

At this point, I scheduled an appointment to have a dermatologist take a closer look at all these odd-spots, which lead to biopsies left and right. Every single extraction the doctor performed and examined came back as pre-cancerous. Although disheartened by the results, I’m thankful that this first scare educated me on the importance of constantly checking your skin and prepared me for the future I had ahead.

I’d begun getting skin checks every 3-6 months and made my skin health a top priority following my time with the dermatologist. During a personal ABCDE (Asymmetry. Border. Color. Diameter. Evolving.) in June 2016, a spot on my upper chest had drastically changed in size. I expressed my concern to my dermatologist and she agreed that biopsying would be appropriate. THANK GOODNESS I was so proactive! 4 days later, she personally called me to say that it was melanoma and was at Stage 1B and very close to transitioning to Stage 2. We scheduled my first excision quickly and successfully removed the melanoma before it worsened.

Since that day, my life revolved around taking care of myself while outdoors. I started always wearing long sleeves, hats, pants, you name it! That’s when I was introduced to Coolibar from the surgeon who performed my surgery. With my line of work and living in Nevada, I’m always outside and it gets difficult to cover up with the extreme heat, but I’ve been able to make it work.

After two years of being cancer free, I had my next scare. I began seeing a new dermatologist that was very highly recommended in the area, working with celebrities and high-profile individuals. After switching though, I just never felt like we were on the same page. For months I was still doing the 3-month check-ins to be safe but at one point he’d insisted for us to make it a checkup once a year – I declined this suggestion quickly. In February 2019, I was still with the same dermatologist and we came up to our eventually agreed upon 6-month appointment and I came in with concerns of a new spot that had randomly appeared. There was a little back-and-forth on next actions but I requested he take no chances and biopsy.  Just a few days later, he called me to let me know that “random” spot was, in fact, Stage 1A melanoma. While having my first Mohs surgery, they had to go in 3 times, so the whole operation was over 6 hours. During the visit, I requested the surgeon biopsy one other spot that had grown over a scar I had from a pre-cancerous removal. Guess what! Those results also came back as a 3rd melanoma diagnosis.

I’ve finally been upgraded to an oncologist for further testing. I’m not going to let this bring me down or define me whatsoever. I have an amazing support system and know it’s not going to be an easy road ahead. But, the scars and the love I have from everyone is what’s going to help me get through this. I even put on a special portrait session for 12 kids, that was inspired by the “This is Brave” Campaign, and we raised $900 for the Skin Cancer Foundation. You can see a lot of the images from the photoshoot within my blog! I wanted to help the younger generation be more aware about protecting their skin.

After reading my journey up to this point, I want you to take a little advice. We do need to put our faith in the doctors but also you NEED to be your biggest advocate. You are the one that sees your own skin 24/7. Protect yourself, love the life you live, scars are beautiful, and they will never define you. But most importantly, love the skin you were given.

Live Wisely

Hawaii Bans Most Sunscreens. How Do I Cover Up?

It’s no secret that the coral reefs of the world are diminishing. From climate change to overfishing, one of Earth’s strongest ecosystems is being destroyed by countless factors. And just to make matters worse, a recently discovered threat may top the list – sunscreen.

For decades, research has proven the vitalness behind basic sunscreen usage. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, one in five Americans will develop some form of skin cancer in their lifetime. With that statistic alone, there’s no denying the importance, but what environmental cost are we willing to pay?

Should I Not Use Sunscreen Anymore?

To clarify a bit, not all sunscreens are harmful. The two active ingredients in question, oxybenzone and octinoxate, are the main perpetrators and have been linked directly to increased bleaching, genetic damage to the reefs and it’s marine organisms and ultimately irreversible death to the coral. In fact, Hawaii, one of the world’s most popular tourist areas known for its coral reefs, signed the country’s first bill banning sunscreens containing the two destructive chemicals starting January 1st, 2021. The island’s ground-breaking decision even influenced the Western Pacific nation of Palau to take action and many others are expected to join the movement.

So How Am I to Cover Up?

The bills don’t take effect for a couple years but transitioning now will greatly benefit the coral reefs. Although oxybenzone and octinoxate are two of the most common active ingredients found in sunscreens, there are other ingredients that are dermatologist recommended and considered environmentally safe by researchers.

Dr. Monica Scheel, a board-certified dermatologist in Kona, stated that, “Your best sun protection ingredients are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.” Also, remember when searching to look for products that are “non-nano”, such as Badger, Coola and MDSolarSciences, because nanoparticles can be consumed by the corals and ultimately cause death.

Along with seeking shade whenever possible and limiting sun exposure, choosing UPF 50+ clothing is also a highly recommended move. Dr. Henry W. Lim, the president of the American Academy of Dermatology, considers UPF 50+ clothing just as effective as sunscreen.

For the environmental specialists, it’s simple. Craig Downs, the executive director of the Haereticus Environmental Laboratory that has studied the damage caused by sunscreen on the coral reefs, said, “For women in a bikini, 85% of her body will be covered in sunscreen. She can reduce that by 50% just by wearing a sun shirt.”

Obviously, sunscreen isn’t the only detrimental force attacking the coral reefs of the world, but it is one of the most controllable. That reasoning alone should be more than enough to encourage us all to reevaluate our approach to protecting ourselves in the sun. Together, we can protect the coral reefs.

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Together We Will

Together We Will… Educate Everyone and Anyone We Can Reach

Daniel Fine (Passed away October 10th, 1998 at the age of 26)

Written By: Stephen Fine Ph.D., Founder, President and Health Educator for the Melanoma Education Foundation

My oldest son Dan taught me about skin cancer. He’d never intended to give his family a hands-on, educational experience with the risks, treatments, and mortality rates of melanoma, but when he was 24 our education began.

In 1996, I noticed an ominously large mole on Dan’s lower back. It was brown, nearly half an inch wide, and thick. He had it removed and called me a week later from home, crying. He’d just learned that the mole was a high-risk melanoma and he would require further treatment. Not knowing what melanoma was, he’d searched the internet. As you can imagine, what he found was frightening.

If melanoma is not recognized and treated early it can advance and spread to other parts of the body where it becomes hard to treat and can be fatal.
The Skin Cancer Foundation

Dan always had a dark complexion and tanned easily. He was also relatively sun safe, he wore sunscreen and covered up with a T-shirt when rowing with the University of Miami crew team. When his dermatologist told him that sun exposure was likely a factor in his diagnosis, we were all surprised. Throughout high school and even college, no one had shared with him the risks of sun exposure to ALL skin types. Even though he was an athlete who was constantly on the water in college, it never came up.

The signs were there though. About five months before he was diagnosed the mole had started bleeding slightly. He blamed it on the rough fabric of his new office chair and moved on. To make self-checking more difficult, the mole was on his back so any changes it had gone through from childhood to when it started to bleed went unnoticed. What started as a small mole when he was a kid, had grown into something deadly without him noticing.

After his diagnosis in June 1996, Dan underwent surgery to remove a large area of skin surrounding the mole, the removal of 29 lymph nodes in his right armpit – two of which tested positive for melanoma, and a year of Interferon treatment. In April 1998 it was discovered that the melanoma had spread to his liver and was inoperable. From then on, the disease progressed steadily until October 10, 1998 when he passed away at home.

After Dan passed away, like many families who’ve lost loved ones to cancer, we wanted to make a difference. Research was an obvious choice as everyone wants to find a cure. But our families story felt rooted in our lack of awareness. It became apparent to us that Dan’s death (like most melanoma deaths) could have been prevented by early detection. None of us had been educated about melanoma until it was too late. If that was the key to saving the lives of others, then education was what we needed to provide. We launched the Melanoma Education Foundation in 1999.

We identified middle schools and high schools as the ideal venue to educate youth about melanoma. They were old enough to request dermatology visits from their parents, and young enough to have any melanomas curable. When we started reaching out to schools in our area we discovered that most wellness teachers knew as little about melanoma as we had. As a result, it wasn’t included in most health classes at all.

Children will be more inclined to practice sun protection if they understand why it’s important, namely to prevent skin cancer and premature aging.
– The Skin Cancer Foundation

Our free course—which includes a detailed one-period lesson plan, separate videos for high schools and middle schools, student handouts, and a teacher video—received a Gold Triangle award from the American Academy of Dermatology. The reach of the program quickly spread. By 2015 our SkinCheck® class had been adopted by over 1,700 schools in 49 states. We’ve also spread our reach by offering community outreach sessions at regional wellness events, public libraries, colleges, city employee sites, post offices, and service organizations.

We do all of this thanks to support from our donors and special events we host throughout the year. Their financial support helps us in our efforts to provide every teacher we can connect with the tools they need to be most effective. We continue to expand our database of almost 20,000 schools and serve the 1,700 who are actively engaged with us. Beyond outreach, most of our funds go to revising and updating our teaching materials and methods. Thanks to donor contributions, we’ve even been able to provide schools with facial sun damage analyzer machines. For a lot of students, especially skeptical teenagers, seeing is believing. With every dollar we earn, we’re able to reach more communities, teachers and students, and we’re constantly getting better at it.

In a 2017 survey of 334 teachers after teaching the course:

• 49 reported that students found early melanoma

• 113 reported that students found precancerous moles

• 145 students reported that family members found suspicious moles

• 95% reported that students said they’d use more sun protection

• 81% reported that students said they’d stop using tanning beds

– The Melanoma Education Foundation

Nearly 20 years since we offered our first course, we continue to be devoted to saving lives from melanoma by expanding high school and middle school educational services, serving as a resource for health educators on the subject of skin cancer education, and promoting greater public awareness.

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Skin Diaries

Fighting Fires and Melanoma

I’m a firefighter. Someone once lovingly called us a group of “macho bastards”. We’re tough, self-sacrificing, and stubborn. The day my future disappeared, my macho demeanor suddenly changed to extremely vulnerable and fearful.

I was an active, healthy man and a fireman for Pete’s sake. It wasn’t until I became a father that my perception of the need for sun protection changed. Our family photographer, Tracy Callahan, launched the Polka Dot Mama Melanoma Foundation after being diagnosed with skin cancer. I recognized her efforts to raise awareness about the importance or early detection and prevention. She encouraged me to make an appointment with a dermatologist. I went out of support more than anything.

On May 20th, in a quick 15-minute appointment I had one mole on my back biopsied and was sent on my way as the doctor assured me that everything should be fine. Four days later a nurse called and things began to change quickly. The biopsy was malignant, and my doctor was scheduling an appointment at the University of North Carolina.

“Firefighters are diagnosed with melanoma at younger ages—an average of 42 compared with 64 for the U.S. population.”
– The Skin Cancer Foundation

While I was still recovering from this news, the phone range again. It was the oncology department advising me to come in as soon as possible. I was going to an oncologist. A doctor who treats cancer. As I sat in my appointment the next day listening to the doctor use words like “excision”, “margins”, “sentinel lymph nodes”, “out of work for weeks”, and last but not least “cancer”, the realization and shock that I was in trouble really started to sink in.

After spending the Memorial Day holiday with my family and five-year-old son, I went in for surgery on June 7, 2016 to have the cancer removed. It all happened in the course of a morning and I was sent home heavily bandaged with a drain tube in my side, an abdominal binder wrapped around me, and NO idea what was next.

All I could do was try to rest and recover while I waited for the doctor to call and let me know if they got all the cancer. For days I just prayed and between prayers, I would cry over the life I could lose and what my family’s future would look like without me. Yes, when faced with your own mortality, career firefighters cry. When I finally got word that I was in the clear I wanted to scream from the rooftops! I immediately shared the news with my friends, family and coworkers, all of whom had been so encouraging and supportive.

I owed my life to Tracy Callahan and Polka Dot Mama. She got me to get checked. She saved this stubborn fireman’s life. Literally. What shocked me was that she was the only source of the information I needed to survive. Tracy was the only one that made me aware of the dangers of skin cancer. I wanted to make sure my friends and family were safe. I wanted to protect my firefighting brothers and sisters from skin cancer.

“Men are more likely to die of melanoma than women. This is true at any age.”
– American Academy of Dermatology

Cancer is not a new word around the firehouse, we are exposed to some of the most toxic carcinogens known to man. Firefighters experience cancer-related deaths at a 14 percent higher rate than the U.S. general public. We often focus on our lungs, or prostate, but our largest organ is our skin, and it absorbs everything. As fellow firefighter Mark Rine discovered when he was diagnosed with terminal stage 4 melanoma, occupational cancer is real.

Organizations like the Firefighter Cancer Support Network are working to remind firefighters of the importance of taking steps to protect themselves on and off the job. I’m doing my best to help spread the word wherever I can. I now bear the scars to show what not being sun safe can do to your body. I’m certain that the people around me, especially my colleagues, are sick of hearing me get on them about being sun safe and wearing protective clothing AND sunscreen. But you know what? If I save just one life, just one, it will have been completely worth it.

Story originally shared by Polka Dot Mama on June 23, 2016.

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Live Wisely What's Hot

2018 Coolibar Guide to Showing Someone You Care

“One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime.”
Skin Cancer Foundation

The need for sun protection is universal. Whether you live in a hot or cold climate or have fair or dark skin, we all need to be mindful of our exposure to UV rays. Coolibar recommends gifting UPF 50+ protection to the people you love most as a way to help them live a sun-safe lifestyle while enjoying the outdoor adventures they love most.

For tiny cuties who already love the water:

“Because babies have thinner skin, sunscreen is not recommended for infants under 6 months of age.”
Skin Cancer Foundation

For the “big kiddos” you love to the sun and back:

“Even one blistering sunburn during childhood or adolescence can nearly double a person’s chance of developing melanoma.”
Skin Cancer Foundation

For the sun protection-resistant men in your life:

“By age 50 men are more likely than women to develop melanoma. This number jumps by age 65 making men two times more likely as women of the same age to get melanoma.”
American Academy of Dermatology

For global-trotting sun seekers:

Travel destinations like Hawaii are starting to ban sunscreens containing chemicals harmful to coral reefs.

For adventures in and on the water:

“Many surfaces reflect UV radiation and add to the overall UV levels you experience. Water reflects 10%; sea foam reflects 25% and sand reflects 15% UV rays.”
– World Health Organization

For the garden party goddess that craves a touch of glamour:

“About 90% of visible skin changes such as aging, wrinkles, brown spots or leathery skin are caused by the sun’s ultraviolet rays and can be minimized by sun protective clothing.”
Skin Cancer Foundation

For someone who needs a little extra support:

“Melanoma is not just a skin cancer. It can develop anywhere on the body – eyes, scalp, nails, feet, mouth, etc.”
Melanoma Research Foundation

For EVERYONE spending time in the sun

“For every inch of brim you wear, you reduce your lifetime risk of skin cancer by 10%. So a 6” brim means 60% risk reduction.”
– Skin Cancer Foundation

2018 Holiday Gift Guide

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Together We Will

Together We Will… Navigate Skin Cancer Prevention, Detection and Treatment

Some people are born for the careers they choose. Others wake up one day thinking they need a change, then suddenly discover they’re meant to help save lives. That’s what happened to Dan Latore, Executive Director of The Skin Cancer Foundation. He’d never dreamed he’d work for a cancer foundation, but now his job is to dream up ways to elevate the Foundation’s purpose and mission.

COOLIBAR: How did you become the Executive Director of The Skin Cancer Foundation?

LATORE: I don’t think anyone grows up thinking they want to be the executive director of a cancer foundation. But twelve years after I joined the team here, I still love it.

C: You started your career as an ad and sales guy, what is it about The Skin Cancer Foundation that has kept you going for over a decade?

L: The results. They’re not about ROI on ad dollars spent or sales numbers, they’re about people. One of my favorite stories is about a woman who donated $20 on behalf of her husband Gus who had passed from melanoma. It was all she could spare, but it was important to her to give to an organization that could potentially help the next “Gus”. We hear stories like this every day. When you have the ability to touch people’s lives through the work you do, there is nothing more inspiring.

C: How do you do it? How do you and your colleagues continue to support this community in such an impactful way?

L: The work we do is so essential when it comes to helping people through every stage of diagnosis and from every vantage point, whether they’re a patient, doctor or caregiver. We literally save lives with early detection programs like Destination: Healthy Skin, our RV that travels across the country to screen and educate people about melanoma. is often THE source for information. Nearly 9 million people each year look to our website to get the answers they need. Our Seal of Recommendation and information—all verified by physicians and dermatologists—help break through the fear. Knowledge is power. We are all about empowering people to get the right diagnosis, the right treatment and the right help.

C: Donors and potential donors want to know…where does the money go and how do you decide how much is donated?

L: We’re 100% a people-driven non-profit. Every dollar we get whether it’s $20 from a personal donor or a $25,000 grant is meant to save lives either through education, advocacy or research. It’s our job to ensure that every donation is used in a way that is smart, efficient, impactful and durable. We’ve worked with the government and National Council for Skin Cancer Prevention to tackle issues like tanning bed regulations and FDA limits on sunscreen ingredients. We source and support “Young Investigators”, or doctors who are poised to make scientific breakthroughs. Most importantly, we educate people.

C: What progress have you seen on behalf of your mission?

L: Currently, the incidence of melanoma and skin cancer are on the rise, but mortality rates are falling. This is progress. We want more people to get checked and diagnosed early so that they can be treated, and lives can be saved. We’ve turned early detection into a trend alongside rash guards for children, higher SPF in retail stores, and sun protection clothing for sportsmen. We’re also seeing the impact of our “Go With Your Own Glow” campaign with celebrities embracing their natural skin tone and devaluing the beauty standard of tanning.

C: Can you share a personal story about the important work SCF does?

L: There have been SO many stories! One that stands out is Linda Nagel. Linda lost her husband Todd Nagel, to melanoma ten years ago when he was in his mid-thirties. Since then she has hosted The Todd Nagel Open, a golf tournament that raises about $25,000 annually for skin cancer research. With her help, we grant the amount to a “Young Investigator” poised to make a difference. I look forward to the day when one of Linda’s doctors makes a breakthrough in honor of her late husband.

C: What is the most important thing you want our readers to know about the Skin Cancer Foundation?

L: We’re here to help. One of our most vital assets is Google “skin cancer” and you will get a large number of resources available. When someone is diagnosed, they are overwhelmed and confused. Through our network of doctors, we can provide credible information and resources that support patients and caregivers in a way that is understandable. We work hard to help everyone find what they need quickly and effectively.  It’s all a part of our mission to save lives through education, prevention, early detection, and prompt treatment of the world’s most common cancer.

Latore and his team will be at The Skin Cancer Foundation’s Champions for Change Gala this Thursday, October 25th at the Plaza in New York City. To learn more about the event or to make a donation please visit:

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Speaking of Women's Rights: Women in the Bullseye, or Why We Need Feminists

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Women in the Bullseye, or Why We Need Feminists

Breaking news in today’s headlines about a Pennsylvania man who went on a shooting rampage, killing three women and himself, chronicling his rejection by women on a personal webpage, stating, “Women just don’t like me. There are 30 million desirable women in the US (my estimate) and I cannot find one.” His diary read, “Many of the young girls here look so beautiful as to not be human, very edible.”

I am sickened, horrified, saddened.

This tragic incident has echoes of the Montreal massacre. Do you remember this? In December 1989, at the École Polytechnique in Montreal, Canada, a 25-year-old man separated the male and female students. After claiming that he was “fighting feminism,” he shot all nine women in the room, killing six. He continued through the building, specifically targeting women to shoot, ultimately shooting twenty-eight people and killing fourteen women before turning the gun on himself.

I’m sure, as with Montreal, this incident in Pennsylvania will be much dissected for all the societal ills it exposes – misogyny, gun violence, mental illness.

But let’s not shrug this off as just another horrific headline, removed from each of our daily lives. No. Let this remind us of why it is so important to challenge sexism whenever and wherever it occurs. To quote Andrea Dworkin (in her book about the Montreal tragedy):

We have to stop men from hurting women in everyday life, in ordinary life, in the home, in the bed, in the street, and in the engineering school.... We have to be the women [and men] who stand between men and the women they want to hurt….

The feminist is the woman who is there not because she is his woman, but because she is the sister of the woman he is being a weapon against. Feminism exists so that no woman ever has to face her oppressor in a vacuum, alone. It exists to break down the privacy in which men rape, beat, and kill women.

So I challenge you: Be a feminist. Do it in your own way – quietly and privately, or loudly and publicly, in small ways or big. Join us in supporting a basic Women’s Bill of Rights.* Because all of us women need you.

*We believe that all women have these rights:
• The right to equal treatment and to be free from discrimination
• The right to decide when and how to form and maintain their families
• The right to be safe wherever they are
• The right to economic equality and independence
• The right to be healthy and active

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Working towards peace and sustainability

Many Thanks to All!

We here at Peaceworks wish to express our profound thanks to all who participated in "Peace Is Growing!" on Sunday, March 18. Seven hundred mid-Missourians turned out for this awesome rally, march and tree dedication. We thank all the speakers, performers, and volunteers of all stripes. We are especially appreciative of all of you who joined in our recruiting efforts, helping to get the word out and bringing into our peace movement many, many new faces.

For those reading this who did not get to participate, you can get some sense of the event by reading the coverage we got in the Columbia Missourian and the Columbia Tribune. We hope you will be able to be with us for future peace actions, and that you will not wait until a five-year anniversary event. We really don't want to be protesting an ongoing Iraq War one year from now, and we need your participation to help build a broad-based movement capable of bringing our troops home and averting a war with Iran.

Below are some suggestions for further action that we shared at the rally. Please do what you can. We all can play a very significant role:

Peace Efforts Approach a Tipping Point, But Things Could Go Either Way. Your Active Participation Could Make the Difference:

Thanks for being part of the movement to end the war. You are part of a growing majority of Americans who recognize that the Iraq War is wrong and must be ended. Likewise, the overwhelming majority of our people do NOT want war with Iran. Our challenge now is to convince our government—both the Republicans in the White House, and the Democrats and Republicans in the Congress—that they should follow the will of the people.

So Much is at Stake Today.

The stakes are very high indeed. We are making more and more enemies. Attacking Iran could trigger a world war, or at least a major regional war that would last many years. Given the critical nature of this moment, we are calling on each of you to consider how you might up your level of involvement. Some options include:

• Get involved in day-to-day activism. Peaceworks offers many opportunities.

• Make your views heard. Contact Congress regularly (click HERE for contact info).

• Write letters to the editor. (Click HERE for a list of links to Missouri papers)

• Display your concerns (yard signs, buttons, stickers, etc).

• Bring a peace agenda to your house of worship.

• Arrange a peace speaker for your organization. (Contact Peaceworks. We’ll supply someone.)

• Participate in peace vigils regularly. We especially encourage you to come out Wednesdays for the highly visible Rush Hour Peace Demonstration (4:15-5:45 p.m. at B’way & Providence). Come for whatever portion you can.

• Become a Peaceworks member or renew your membership. Click HERE for details.

• View yourself as an activist. Be an agent for progressive change.

• Stay informed. Regularly access the alternative media like Democracy Now!, CommonDreams.Org, TruthOut.Org, AlterNet.Org, TruthDig.Com, etc.

• Also, please sign up for Peaceworks’ Weekly E-Updates.
Write us at mail@midmopeaceworks.org.

What this really comes down to is what sort of world we want to leave for our grandkids. Do we care enough to get involved? If so, are we willing to get to the root of the problem? These are the questions we in Peaceworks are asking. Will you be a part of this movement? Can we work together to shape a brighter, more hopeful future? We hope your answer is “YES!”

Contact us about any of the above by stopping at the Peace Nook, sending an e-mail to mail@midmopeaceworks.org or calling us at 573-875-0539.


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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Hit Me With Your Best Shot: Angels in America

I struggle with the HBO adaptation of Angels in America because the play means a lot to me, and especially given all the money that was clearly made available to this project, I wish it were a richer, more thoughtful production. Perestroika in particular brims with missed opportunities, though the heavy re-writing only further proves that Kushner has never quite settled on a design for that half of the play (though chaos is clearly an indispensable element). I can see that Nichols and his designers have played up the "staginess" of several interiors so as to keep the project rooted in a sense of theatricality, but a lot of the cinematic embellishments and CGI effects feel too slick and two-dimensional, when the play clearly benefits from as much tangibility as you can bring to it. I'd love to see what John Greyson or Robert Lepage or somebody might have done with the material. Still, it's hard to imagine a really bad production, and this one certainly isn't, because the core text is just so provocative, ambitious, imaginatively drawn, and beautifully written.

I'm picking this image less as the "best" than as a kind of emblem for my feelings. I'm not sure Angels needed this new scene that Kushner wrote for Perestroika, and it feels like a somewhat desperate opening-out of the physical space. I'm not a huge fan of natural location photography with a project like this anyway, since the whole text is constructed as a series of artificial problems and conceits laid over the very real nightmares of our history and our current reality. The beach here feels so ...domesticated, in a play that thrives on fantasy and fire. At the same time, I do appreciate the dynamic of this scene, not just because you see Joe Pitt getting recklessly invested in a relationship he barely understands—and at the same time you're feeling Louis Ironson starting to pull out of it—but because Angels in America is always telling us that denuding ourselves does not pare us down to essentials but in fact exposes our complexities. That in opening yourself to the world of sexuality you inevitably create a storm of debris, big or small, and that somebody else will have to pick it all up, now or later.

From a visual standpoint, in a miniseries that takes playful but earnest care to consider all the characters' potential relations to the angelic, I like how the foamy line of surf hits Patrick Wilson's body just where a tufted set of wings might go. The story, the dialogue, and the bulk of the shots make this Joe's scene, which is fine with me, since I think Wilson gives the best performance in the cast, in the play's most potentially opaque role. But visually, as Joe begins to strip down, we also recognize that it's really Louis's turn to wrestle, Jacob-like, with the naked angel—whatever an "angel" might mean to Louis, or to us, at this point in the piece. The shot and the scene are like a cold parallel to Emma Thompson's magnificent arrivals to Louis's HIV-infected boyfriend, Prior. Joe looms above with a kind of majesty that Wilson's body, the best one that a court of appeals lawyer ever had, only reinforces. Louis, like Prior, crouches below in a panic. This Louis-as-Prior doubling, despite the annoying fact of how the miniseries rejects a lot of the other doublings that the playscript demands, only intensifies insofar as this gray, cruddy beach with the jagged stumps at the shoreline and the capsized hulk on the horizon is like a downscale, mundane precursor of the chilly, magnificent wreck called Heaven that Prior is soon to visit.

If anything, though, it is Joe who is the hapless, Prior-like innocent in this relationship, and Louis who is the flighty, schizophrenic, Angelic agent/invader who likes to think he is a victim. In fairness, Louis does suffer. But nonetheless, the brief, visual confusion of roles in this shot strongly implies that this relationship won't work out.

So, a lot of resonant stuff going on in this otherwise simple shot, though it still feels like the viewer and the play have to do a lot of their own thinking to keep the image and the movie interesting. HBO's vision of Angels is nothing if not concepty but it barely if ever registers as intellectual, a category that the play fully embraces but which Nichols' movie avoids like a kind of ...virus? That's my reaction in a nutshell to this made-for-TV Angels, which I always feel like I'm either overestimating or underestimating. If Patrick's just taking off his clothes in a last-ditch attempt to convert me to the cause, what can I do about that? Let him try.

P.S. I would like to add a few more runner-up shots. Like Nathaniel, I am totally in love with Jeffrey Wright's physical vocabulary as Belize, whom he plays very differently than he did in his Tony-winning take on the same character for Broadway. I like this shot not only because Belize just cracks me up with all his heavy-lidded, low-volume, but prissily catlike gestures, but because I always wonder how much Wright might have felt like Belize, trapped in a play that pretends to have a lot to say about race (and, like Louis, it occasionally does have something to say) but delivers a lot less than it promises. Does Wright ever wish he could just signal the waitress, grab his check, and get outta there? It'd be Belize's best option for finding a private life or an orgasm, since even Hannah Pitt beats him to both. (Also, love those Ann Roth costumes.)

I'm including these three shots of Emma Thompson—the we-get-it, she's-a-religious-icon halo shot, the worthy showstopper that ends Part One, and the Goth-queen hurricane she whips up in Part Two—because even though I felt while watching Angels that Emma could have been more confident with her character work (outside of her marvelously dykey, warm but gruff take on Nurse Emily), I think the piece ultimately benefits from her balls-to-the-wall spirit of exaggeration and risk. You'd not have imagined Margaret Schlegel doing this, and if you fast-forward through Angels instead of actually watching it, she seems like the biggest incentive for a re-watch. I'll certainly take her any day over Mary-Louise Parker, who can always find new opportunities for empty, adenoidal "irony" in virtually any part. The entire HBO version misses Harper so badly, from script to performance, that it's too sad to dwell on.

And lastly, since it's one of the few shots that suggests what Angels might look like with a Tarkovskian sense of cold, stately, unreassuring divinity blowing through it, I'll admit that this shot triggers fantasies of what a totally different film might have looked like. I'm more reconciled to this version than I'm sounding in this post, but I like it best when it prompts celestial visions of other, more persuasively millennial approaches.

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Blogger Bill C said...

Do you think Altman would've done any better with the material than Nichols, Nick?

I like the miniseries a lot, having not seen any incarnation of the play. But I felt like Nichols understood CLOSER a lot better.

8:48 PM, August 11, 2010
Blogger NicksFlickPicks said...

I can't honestly imagine Altman anywhere near this project. You need someone with a real theatrical sense, and someone comfortable with big show-stopper tableaus and set-pieces. Obviously Altman generated plenty of indelible sequences in his films, but I don't think they're the same sorts of grand spectacle that Angels requires. And I can't envision him handling all the homosexuality all that well, frankly, though I don't know that Nichols excels himself in this regard, either. The pitch-black lighting on Louis and Joe's climactic kiss at the end of Pt 1 is a low point that it's hard to bounce back from.

Greyson and Lepage are major theater artists who have also worked more or less nimbly in cinema, which is why I thought of them; that they're both gay can probably only help, but I don't really subscribe to the Takes One To Know One logic whereby directors always have to be identitarian matches with the people they're building their movies around.

9:49 PM, August 11, 2010
Blogger Joe Reid said...

I have to think that the HBO version being my introduction to the material plays a big part in our differences of opinion here, Nick. I'm not going to allow Mary-Louise Parker to come between us, but I have to admit, she was the one who pulled me in to begin with. I do see what you're getting at -- her Harper doesn't seem like she's ever set foot in Salt Lake -- but I've often clung to the bite and bewildered lucidity that she brings. She's a walking contradiction, and it keeps me riveted.

That said, I'm excited to see how different Harper is in the stage version. Which I am FINALLY seeing in January.

9:56 PM, August 11, 2010
Blogger NicksFlickPicks said...

That's funny, since I don't actually have too hard a time seeing Parker's Harper as a sort of bad-girl Mormon. I just don't feel like she does much with her fabulous lines. The part is really fierce, very funny at times and hugely unlikable at others and enormously sympathetic at still others, and her lack of a "grip" on reality should feel like more than a cute conceit or a butt of wry jokes about herself. For me, Parker just does that thing she's always doing where she leaves her mouth open while she slides her eyes from looking straight ahead to looking sideways, or from looking sideways to looking straight ahead. Or barreling through a line with flat inflections and unrelenting eye contact. She makes Harper a lot more like the other self-deprecating but acerbic characters that Mary Louise Parker has played in the past than she is like the woman in the script. Not actively a bad performance, but a major, missed opportunity in my book.

Then again, it doesn't help that she loses all her chances to play other characters in the cast (Martin Heller, for example, the lawyer who is Roy Cohn's associate in DC - i.e., "Harper" plays the person helping to lure Joe away from Harper, aka, even when Joe thinks he's getting away from Harper, she always turns up, even in DC, which she hates). In both plays, but especially Perestroika, where Harper has much more to do than the film version allows her, she feels like a sort of co-lead to Prior throughout. The movie just feels to me like it seriously demotes her.

I'll be curious to hear what you think of the play when you see it!

10:26 PM, August 11, 2010
Blogger NATHANIEL R said...

i'm so excited to see it on stage again in november.

i loved this piece and though i get where you're coming from with your critiques, it's hard for me to imagine a director i'd actively prefer. If you want someone great with theatrical showstoppers and THIS IS THE MOMENT images than Baz Luhrmann would be a good choice too but maybe he wouldn't pull back when needed to let the glorious text do the heavy lifting as it should.

but like you i think Patrick Wilson is pretty much unimproveable in the part so even if there is another version, they'll have their work cut out for them where Joe Pitt is concerned.

11:48 PM, August 11, 2010
Blogger NicksFlickPicks said...

I think Derek Jarman might have knocked it out of the park if the timing had been right, unless the specifically American dimensions of the play's ideologies and historical imaginations proved hard for such a deeply immersed, deeply radical, deeply committed Brit to inhabit. Then again, Greyson and Lepage, my choices from above, are both Canadians.

Why can't I think of a good American film director for Angels? I definitely think Luhrmann would fluff all the complexities and accelerate the pace while nonetheless putting on quite a show. I don't know that I'd want to see his version. If I really wanted flash, I'd be more inclined to go with a Lee Daniels type, who would cast imaginatively and certainly gets the New York, the queer, and the American angles, and grew up at exactly the right time for the project to resonate.

I would probably jump off a bridge if Todd Haynes asked me to, but the slightly clinical remove that I love so much in his movies wouldn't necessarily be ideal here. There are long stretches of Velvet Goldmine that suggest he'd hit some real peaks, but temperamentally, he might not be my first choice.

Based on the complex historiography in Swoon and the head-trippy colors and aggressive stylistics in Savage Grace, plus the compelling performances in both, I might nominate Tom Kalin?

Or what about John Cameron Mitchell?? Smart, humane, gutsy, spectacular and completely in touch with specifically theatrical idioms.

If I were a producer trying to fire up a new movie version of Angels in America, I'd want my first two meetings to be with Kalin and Mitchell, and then with Robert Lepage, John Greyson, Lee Daniels, and Todd Haynes if something still wasn't clicking. But surely there are at least two or three fabulous Angels productions waiting to happen just within that group of six.

And what about Gus Van Sant? Paul Thomas Anderson, since he loves American epics, and he seems to be getting more interested in grand-stroke politics and history? Rodney Evans, if he were comfortable with the budget? Julián Hernández, if we didn't mind it being rendered in Spanish, and maybe even transposed to Mexico? Still America. That'd be cool. The Prior-in-Heaven sequence actually reminded me of Hernández this time around.

I'd love the idea of a woman helming Angels, but I can't think of who might fit the bill in this case.

1:00 AM, August 12, 2010
Blogger tim r said...

Julie Taymor? Though she'd be just as likely to make a terrible mess of it, I'm sure. Maybe I'll nominate an idealised version of Julie Taymor who hadn't made Across the Universe.

Your Mitchell pitch feels like the winner on paper.

3:15 AM, August 12, 2010
Blogger NATHANIEL R said...

JCM for the win. it's really a brilliant choice.

one of the sad things about the cinema -- though remakes generally inspire derision as in "why" -- is that it doesn't seem as flexible as theater to different interpretations. I mean. wouldn't it be great to have an ANGELS every decade from a different auteur. There's just so much in the text worth exploring and no one version will ever truly suffice.

6:50 AM, August 12, 2010
Blogger Bill C said...

I love the idea of PT Anderson, and certainly think Mitchell could bring it. I was always kinda glad it slipped through Altman's fingers, because he apparently rewrote it into something unrecognizable.

I have a strange reaction to the thought of Greyson or Lepage being sought out for this. To me they're both too reserved, too Canadian, but that could be mere lack of national pride on my part.

9:16 AM, August 12, 2010
Anonymous Guy Lodge said...

Like Joe, I know this material only in its screen manifestation, but that doesn't make me any more predisposed to it: I remember being riveted by Part I, only to feel absolutely crushed by the turgid, all-caps symbolism of the remainder. I'd love to revisit it on stage to see if the problem goes away, or if it's a block on my part.

With that said, I think Patrick Wilson is absolutely smashing in it -- handily my 2003 Best Supporting Actor champ, whatever the size of the screen -- and I'm so pleased to see he's your best in show.

As for directors, I'll second the Tom Kalin pick, while idly (and not with any degree of certainty) wondering whether Alison Maclean would have been ready for this jelly.

11:20 AM, August 12, 2010
Blogger Andrew K. said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

3:55 PM, August 12, 2010
Blogger Colin Low said...

Andrew, I know what you mean; I also wonder if I might feel more receptive to Angels in America, apart from its easily acknowledged theatrical bravado, if I weren't a (relatively) young non-American. I was born in the year the Berlin Wall fell, and my coming of age coincided with the furore over the legitimacy of gay marriage, so the AIDS crisis (as well as the Approach of the Millenium and Perestroika, which form the names of both parts of AiA) feels quite firmly out of my historical frame of reference.

11:16 PM, August 12, 2010
Blogger NATHANIEL R said...

Andrew and Colin, I'd suggest reading the play. About frames of reference: When I first saw it performed I was seeing it through a very limited prism. My frame of reference was that I was at the time (in 1994) a gay Mormon. When the HBO version premiered it felt so different to me and when i saw it again on stage in a tiny regional space a few years ago it felt ever different.

THere's so many ways into it that depending on where you are in life it will morph. I used to see it as this huge gay religious thing. Now, believe it or not, it doesn't feel that gay or religious and i'm way more obsessed with its migration and change themes. Maybe it's because I uprooted and started over in the mid 90s.

anyway. don't let the HBO miniseries be your only experience with it. I love the miniseries but it's such a complex piece of theater that one version is not enough.

7:03 AM, August 13, 2010
Blogger CCW said...

I've yet to experience Angels in any incarnation, but the mention of Mary-Louise Parker brought back memories of her work in Longtime Companion. Although she does fill the role with the mannerisms you mention, Nick, I found her strangely endearing in it.

4:03 PM, August 13, 2010

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Monday, February 21, 2011

Pit bull injures Illinois teenager as she loads her car

A woman from Murphysboro, Illinois, was injured recently when a pit bull attacked her from behind as she loaded things in her car. The offending animal, which belongs to a neighbor of the victim, was taken into custody and was placed under observation, CBS affiliate KVFS reports.

The attack occurred around 8:30 a.m. and began was the victim, 19-year-old Stephanie Volner, had her back turned. The animal bit her several times and cause some serious injury to her feet before a nearby witness, 59-year-old Hector Cano, came over and prevented the animal from inflicting any further damage.

"Mr. Cano heard the screams from inside his home," Sgt. Brain Brewer, with the Murphysboro Police Department, told the news source. "He came out and took action to go over and actually pull the dog off the victim."

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the number of hospitalizations resulting from dog bites has been on the rise recently, with an 86 percent increase between 1993 and 2008. Individuals looking for a way to protect themselves against a similar attack may want to consider carrying pepper spray. The device has shown to be an effective way to keep an aggressive animal at bay.

Pepper Spray Products

Pepper Spray MACE & Pepper Spray Blends Premium Pepper Spray State Specific Formulas Sabre Brand TASER & Stun Guns Animal Repellents Safes Home Safety & Alarms Decon & First Air Training Units Personal Alarms Pop Up Displays Night Time Safety Child & Pet Safety
Copyright 2011 Pepper Spray. All Rights Reserved - TASER® and the Globe and Lightning Bolt logos are Registered Trademarks of TASER International, Inc.


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Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Crescent City California Retirement

Crescent City lies on the Northern California Coast, about 20 miles south of the California - Oregon Border. Home to Redwood National Park and some of the finest coastal scenery in the USA, natural beauty is abundant in this region. Unfortunately the Crescent City economy is not so beautiful with a relatively weak job market with many low paying jobs, leading to some community challenges. The stretch of California Highway 101 passing through Crescent City gives a bad impression of the city, but also reflects the fact that this area is a far cry from the more luxurious standards of California Retirement areas like San Diego and San Francisco.

Retirement Communities: Couldn't find any! If you know of one please let us know.

Population: About 5000

Climate: Very rainy with mild to cool temperatures pretty much year-round.

Cost of Living: Moderate

Housing Costs: Moderate

Taxes: California generally has high taxes. Details:

Higher Education: College of the Redwoods

Transportation: Redwood Coast Transit provides dial a ride service throughout parts of the region.

Health care: Sutter Coast Hospital . Sutter Coast Hospital is a 59 bed acute care, community-based, not-for-profit hospital offers many forms of care at the Crescent City

Travel and tourism: Check out the Del Norte Chamber website for information about travel and tourism in this amazing region. The Redwoods and Coastal scenery are magnificent.

1 comment:

swayam_robert said...

thanks nice and awesome..........
US is very beautiful. Lots of tourist places.


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When is the Best Time to Send an Eblast?

Knowing when to send your bulk email is crucial for optimizing how many people see your content and increasing deliverability.

Most email marketing campaigns are sent between 8-10 AM on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. However, sending your eblast with everyone else might discourage your message being opened. Statistics are showing that there are other time windows that show better open rates (percentage of recipients that open your message).

  • Weekends see the least amount of emarketing, but these emails typically get the highest open and click through rates (click through rate is the percentage of recipients that click on the links in your message). The weekends are a good time to send out your email campaigns because you’ll have little competition for your recipient’s attention.
  • Messages sent late at night, between 8-12 pm, have a high 22.7% open rate, compared to the usual 17% when sent in the daytime. Click through rates were higher too.
  • No one time/day is perfect for everybody. Try analyzing your recipients and thinking about when they would be most likely to open emails. Send your emails at different times to compare and see what time works best for your business.

Quarterly Email Benchmark Study

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Monday, April 28, 2008

Updates to the Online Gallery

The developers have been working hard to make the StudioCloud Online Gallery even better. Recently they have introduced several new features, variable slideshow speed, the ability to save favorites, and additional confirmations for your customers.

Back on April 9th Tara blogged about the ability to set the slideshow speed. Well the developers have taken this feature one step further. Previously you could select slow, medium or fast speeds. Now you can select a custom speed and specify the number of seconds that each picture is viewed in the slideshow.

The StudioCloud Online Gallery has had a place for your customers to place their favorites for quite some time. But they could never save their favorites so they could come back and view them later or share them with their friends and family. Well now they can! Your customers can select a group of favorites and save them so that they can come back and view them later or they can share their favorites with Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa. Also after you upload the pictures to an online gallery you, the photographer, can login and create a group of favorites for your customers to see.

The final addition helps to provide your customers with a sense of security. After they have placed an order a popup message will be displayed that tells them what invoice number their order was assigned. This will help them to know what to reference if they have any questions for you. Secondly, a simple email is sent to your customers that gives them a summary of what they purchase. These two additions will make them feel more comfortable with their purchase.

These are three of great new features that have been added to an already incredible product. And just think you haven't had to pay any additional money to take advantage of them.

StudioCloud, It's Just That Easy!

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Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Elsie Challenge #3: Ribbon Border

I need to get that book so I can follow along and play with Phin. Get inspired by Elsie's style, which is completely opposite from mine, but I admire her technique a lot.

Ginnie said...

It really amazes how scrapbooking has taken off to this level, or do you call it somethig else? It's all very creative, whatever you call it!

Ragged Around the Edges said...

I love how you put the text on the photograph, it adds to it greatly. Beautiful choice of color too.


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Domestic Selection: Muscat Canelli, 1990. Santino Winery

Matt and Nancy Santino, along with Nancy’s father, Joseph Schweitzer, founded Santino Wines in 1979. Mr. Schweitzer remained as owner when the younger couple left the operation some time ago. The winery is located in the heart of California’s Shenandoah Valley in Amador County, adjacent to the oldest known producing Zinfandel vineyard in California. This… read more »

Domestic Selection: Cabernet Sauvignon, 1986, Vanino

What do you get when you cross an entrepreneur and a negociant? Vanino Wine Cellars. Steve Vagnino (drop the g for pronunciation) decided while in a hospital bed in 1985 that he was going into the wine business. What is interesting is that Steve is a native of St. Louis, Missouri and when he found… read more »

Import Selection: Zinfandel, 1987, San Martin

A mission Padre was the first to plant grapevines in Baja California; on the site of the first lower California mission circa 1697. But viticulture was known to Mexico far earlier than that. In 1524 the Mexican conqueror Cortez decreed that all Spaniards holding land grants in Mexico had to plant annually, for five years,… read more »

Adventures in Eating: Meringue

In case you hadn’t heard, spring is here! That means, berries and luscious summer fruits are not far behind. Although, these days, seasons are all mixed up with fruits out of season coming from south of the border orchards. Personally, I consciously refuse to purchase these fruits, because my head tells me they belong to… read more »

Adventures in Eating: Party Fruit Compote

Growing up, one used to hear the “older folks” (which I am now one of) tell how travel expands the mind. I guess it does, but in my instance it also expands the girth. We recently took a quick 8-day break and thanks to airfare bargains and jet travel made it to Great Britain and back…. read more »

A wine full of zest is described as a well-balanced with fruit and acidity. It has very colorful flavor and pop in the taste.   .

Wine with Food: Liebfraumilch | Pairing Tips

Wine with Food: Liebfraumilch By Paul Kalemkiarian Sr. | February 1983 You will notice that I have changed the name of this column. For 14 issues now, the emphasis has been on the meal, with the serving of a wine as the complement. Thus—Wine with Food, was the natural title. I make a particular point of… read more »

Wine with Food: Dessert II | Pairing Tips

Wine with Food: Dessert By Paul Kalemkiarian Sr. | January 1983 The absolute crowning touch to a meal, in my opinion, is the serving of a wine with dessert, or maybe for dessert. It is so much more substantive than the traditional cordials or liqueurs with their loud flavors. The alcohol content is less, and therefore there is… read more »

Recipe: Rosy Rhubarb Puff

Adventures in Eating: Rosy Rhubarb Puff Rosemarie | August 1982 By chance, I picked up at my local market one of those calendars that have a recipe for each month, along with a marvelous picture to illustrate it. One of them was a tempting challenge to try. I could not resist my favorite combination of rhubarb and… read more »

Recipe: Peach Chutney

Adventures in Eating: Peach Chutney Rosemarie | July 1982 Let me warn you of this month’s recipe, before we get started. It is a product that needs canning—chutney. I find so many people shy from this process. Don’t be shy; it can be fun and what you make will certainly be more delicious than anything you… read more »


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Multiple WordPress blogs from 1 instance / 1 wordpress folder to maintain

WordPress is a victim of its own success, but its no victim. It is huge. Millions upon millions of people use wordpress to power their blogs (like this one for example) to make money and to have their voice present on the internet. It has become a first stop for a huge host of people making their way online and is often one that leaves such a positive impression that it never leaves that same user. Its free, its slick, its efficient, its easy…literally I have nothing but good things to say about wordpress and the people that support it. I could spend hours applauding the democratisation of tools that is wordpress and discuss how its helped the internet blossom and why its so key to understanding the web today but that’s not what this post is about. If you haven’t already got a wordpress blog then I would suggest you get one, either for free at or from (the latter if you have your own hosting) – and once you have one you might soon realise the huge benefit of having 2, 3, 4 or more wordpress blogs. These are real benefits.

The question then comes after you have 30 wordpress blogs on the go, various niche market’s blogged too or personal sites about cats or what have you, what then? Updates then. WordPress do update fairly regularly, they aren’t the slow moving behemoths some other companies are because they are open source, and that’s a good thing. Anyway maintaining 30 copies of wordpress is actually a lot easier than it sounds, an update is usually nothing more than 10 minutes uploading the new wordpress files over the old ones via FTP. But say you had a little project where you wanted to create a few more wordpress blogs. For the sake of this post lets say you wanted 90 blogs. 90 WordPress blogs installed on an average web host (I suggest 1and1) is not a big deal. It can be as big a deal as you make of it but in your pursuits and interests online its potentially likely to crop up.

You can run 90 wordpress blogs (or 1000 etc.) from 1 instance of wordpress. That is 1 wordpress folder on your host serving to 90 blogs at, etc. thats nothing new – I am sure the quicker off the mark or longer in the tooth of wordpress users have been doing it for a while, but somehow I missed this up until I got past the 30 blog mark and so I thought its about time I looked at the option of hundreds of wordpress-blogs running from 1 folder, a project has come up. The reason this works by the way is the wonderful way (take not web developers) that wordpress splits its config files and its database. The only file in the wordpress files you upload to your blog that contains any site specific data is the config file, which pulls everything from the database.

On the preface there are both good and bad things about doing this with word press, here are the pro’s and con’s as I see them pre-project.

  • Single central wordpress folder  – 1 wordpress folder to update periodically
  • File size – rather than using up 4mb per wordpress install, this method uses 4mb per x number of wordpress installs, although space isn’t an issue really in current web hosting
  • Plugins and themes only need to be copied once – they can effectively be shared
  • Easier to backup – backing up files of wordpress blogs is pretty pointless apart from wp-content (uploaded images, themes, etc) – putting all your blogs in one basket means backing up the whole lot is a breeze, 1 folder not 90!
  • WordPress database is seperate – you could potentially run all the blogs from 1 database too – (capacity dependant) – as wordpress allows table prefix’s
  • Adding a blog can be automated 😉 – replicating the first wp database from an install can mean tons less setup work

  • Permalink structure may have to be the same? *not 100% on this one and havent tested but there may be issues with permalink setups across multiple blogs as htaccess is shared*
  • Other .htaccess differences – because you will effectively only have 1 .htaccess file for all domains pointing to this folder, this puts all that custom .htaccess code out of the window
  • Flip side of themes being easy to install is that editing one theme will lead to all blogs using that theme to notice the change, fine if your blogs are stable in design but multiple versions of the same theme will be required if you want to tweak these on a blog specific level, which could make for a messy confusing setup if not through through
  • If you are running a network of blogs and want to stay under the radar or just want the sites to be as different as possible – by nature of single resource they will leave footprints unless you are aware and make sure you do things like rename folders for themes non-sequentially etc ( or maybe don’t be paranoid :p )
  • Centralising the files for all domains/sites/blogs does mean this folder on this box does then become a single point of failure, loose/break this and the whole of your blog network/project is down. Probably not such an issue with stable hosts these days
  • As previous point if you do update, change a file or accidentally delete anything it does effect every site – its a risk but not a big one just be careful!

  • Unsure about .htaccess but presume custom rewriting becomes a pain as all sites share a file
  • There will be a limit as to how many blogs you can run off a single install. It’s probably thousands though – if you had 30,000 sites for example – the file which points the install to the right database tables would become bloated

How to run tens, hundreds or thousands of wordpress blogs from 1 instance – install wordpress once for hundreds of blogs – without MU.

  1. Install wordpress into a folder on you hosting (download latest from and then upload via FTP/copy across network)
  2. Get your database details together, you will need Database Name, Database Username, Database Password and the Database host for each of the databases you are going to host wordpress tables in
  3. Install a single blog using the normal method – point a domain at the folder, go to that domain and follow the wordpress wizard, entering your database connection details and this blogs title.
    1. Go through this newly installed blog and commit any changes that you will want duplicated throughout the new installs – delete the “hello world” post/default wp links for example.
    2. Imagine this like creating a ghost image for a network of pc’s – you want to make a bare bones default wordpress setup so you can replicate this onwards without having to redo it.
  4. Happy with  your ghost blog setup? go to your phpmyadmin (assuming you have it) and export all the tables for this blog into SQL.
  5. Open that SQL into your favourite text editor, in this case I am using Dreamweaver because I like its find+replace.
  6. You will need to do several find + replaces here, but by doing this you can literally clone a wordpress installation – (works as at 2.9.1 anyway) – this is great for mass distribution (This is quicker than installing and can be automated)
  7. For example if your site was “” with a title of  “Harrys Blog 1” then do a find and replace for “”, switching out the new domain to be added, same with title’s, users, post’s etc. This way you could clone a wordpress site and switch out words…you can change the table prefix this way too.
  8. Run this newly modified SQL on whatever mysql database you want to run the blog from (could be same one if you mass replaced the table prefix’s)
  9. Alter your wp-config.php file very simply:
    1. Open it up and put a bit of logic which basically says “what domain am I loading from, ah this one – use this DB and this table prefix” – This logic can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be – I kept mine short and sweet with literally:
$thisDom = $_SERVER[‘HTTP_HOST’];

if ($thisDom == “” || $thisDom == “”){ $useDB = 1; $table_prefix = “specificDomainWhatever_”; }

if ($useDB == 1){

define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘xxx’);

/** MySQL database username */
define(‘DB_USER’, ‘xxx’);

/** MySQL database password */
define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘xxx’);

/** MySQL hostname */
define(‘DB_HOST’, ‘xxx’);

/** Database Charset to use in creating database tables. */
define(‘DB_CHARSET’, ‘utf8’);

/** The Database Collate type. Don’t change this if in doubt. */
define(‘DB_COLLATE’, ”);

*note this is just how I did it, there are other ways – the code works but was just to test the theory – when upscaled to a network of xxx or x,xxx sites this is automated quite easily

*note2 I am having to cut this post short but if anyone has any questions or wants to know more/help on replicating wordpress or multi blog – 1 wordpress instance installs let me know in the comments

Striderweb – this post pretty much explains the theory, a bit like this post – but I actually happened across it after writing the post – well worth reading if your going to do this – Stephen Rider has made a great plugin that will do everything you want it to do as above, I winged it and just modified the wp-config which simply worked in my case so personally I didn’t use it, but no doubt its probably worth a try if  you want a more deep solution.

Woody Hayday
9a Holywell Hill

Hi Jo

I have just found out that I will be away to thailand in the beginning of march and as my 6 months of tenancy is up in feb (08th) I was wondering how it worked with regards to rolling contracts?

I would like to move out just before

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  1. Posted January 26, 2010 at 6:03 pm

    Awesome article. You might really enjoy this read too.

    Rob Kerry takes it to the next level by adding in some phproxy re-writes allowing you to have 1 solid server serve every site. Much faster and more stable. I used this with success back in the day. All my future projects are now a lot more legit and less shady, but if you are building your site network this rocks. I would definitely use this on shared hosts and less free hosts, but drop like a few bucks for the basic hosting plans across 3-10 small hosting companies and start rolling.

    Also make sure to vary your registrants if you are automating stuff. 🙂

    Ps. One of the biggest things you can’t skimp on is hosting. Invest in a good server for your serious projects. Other side projects can be on shared stuff.

    Pss. If you are rocking 100+ domains, move them to Moniker and ask for a discount. I get domains with private whois for under $9/year.

    Psss. Can you bump the line height/font size up on your content column. Had to do in firebug, would make it a lot easier to read ;).

    Keep rocking the Mate 😉

  2. Posted January 26, 2010 at 7:46 pm

    Hey Nick,

    Cheers for stopping by!

    Rob Kerrys’ way looks useful, depending on size of the project – Definitely not worth skimping on the hosting though, admittedly this is on shared hosting right now but thats a lazy logistics issue…

    Less shady things eh? You still got any remnents left of the old days ;)? – what’s your current few projects then? ones you don’t mind sharing?

    Currently rocking 100’s of domains,’s are only costing me just over £2 though but proxy whois is extortionate with current supplier. Will check Moniker out.

    Site will get a bit of a redesign soon, stock wordpress theme has served me well but its just been temporary!

    Just tried a glass of good red / mate….doesnt taste half bad without any algave/sugar too!

Woody Hayday

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text:
Tuesday, February 2, 2010

S.A.D. p023

DSC_6153, originally uploaded by threeleggedcasey.

This photo has haunted me FOREVER. I cant quite put my finger on it exactly... but it definitely has something to do with the perfect sharp isolation of the hand and can, and the quickness to which the rest of the background blurs out into overexposed goodness.

But other than that, theres no real story or anything. Its just an image that always catches my eye. So fuck it, I'm finally posting.

1 comment:

ritabook said...

This image haunts me too...

It reminds me of Photo 2 class in high school but you would be the kid that won the award at the photo gallery place... I am just an honorable mention.
Yeahhhh Best Artist!


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