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Following are links to books, documentaries and various web sites that should definitely be of interest.
This symbol represents "must read / must see" items. These items all make major mention of the "Kee Bird" and the 46th/72nd Reconnaissance Squadron.

There is web site currently under construction, strictly for the 46th/72nd Recon.
(www.46th72nd.org) Please visit it - as it will contain lots of great history on this fantastic military unit.

(Please notify us if you experience problems with any links.)

World In Peril
Author: Ken White
The Origin, Mission & Scientific Findings of the 46th/72nd Reconnaissance Squadron.
World in Peril is the nonfiction story of the first operational unit in the Strategic Air Command, the 46th Reconnaissance Squadron, assigned SAC's first operational mission, "Project Nanook," - to assess the Soviet threat in the Arctic at the beginning of the Cold War.  There is an excellant section on the "Kee Bird" and the rescue of the crew.  The Author's Father is Maynard E. White, who was the founding Commander of the 46th/72nd Recon Squadron from June 1946 - August 1948. This is a must read!
Hunting Warbirds
Author: Carl Hoffman
The Obsessive Quest for the Lost Aircraft of World War II.
Hoffman takes us questing for rare WWII aircraft with warbird hunter Gary Larkins and air racer Darryl Greenamyer. They partnered in repairing the B-29 Kee Bird and planned on flying it off the Greenland icecap, where it crash-landed in 1947. Greenamyer's crew actually had the Kee Bird executing a takeoff run 50 years after it crash landed. This is a must read!
Spy Flights of the Cold War
Author: Paul Lashmar
New evidence, both documentary and interview, from the former Soviet Union reveals the full extent of political tension created by the spy plane war.
This book mentions the 46th/72nd Recon and has quite a bit on General Curtis LeMay.
Navigation North of Seventy
Author: 1st LT David J Haney
Out Of Print.
From the book: 1st LT David J. Haney was one of the most qualified authorities on Polar navigation. He had over 10,000 flown in the Arctic and Polar regions by the 72nd Recon squadron (VLR) Photographic. It was his desire that the Polar navigation of the future use this history as an orientation, and a basis from which he can immediately develop his own refinements and techniques without having to experience situations that have already been met.
The Secret Explorers
Author: Fred Wack
Out Of Print.
There were only 500 copies of this book made. (Sadly enough). This is a great read. Full of great photographs. There is currently an effort underway to bring this book back. The author, Fred Wack served in the 72nd Recon from 1948 until 1951. He was a Radar Navigator on RB-29's & B-36's.
Television Documentaries
B29 Frozen In Time

Purchase the video
See the PBS transcript
Excellant documentary of the attempt to repair the Kee Bird almost 50 years after it crash landed - and fly it home.
The Kee Bird was abandoned, lost but not forgotten. A small group of dedicated aircraft lovers took on the daunting task of replacing the aircraft engines, propellers and repairing other damage caused in the crash landing and by nearly fifty years of severe arctic weather.
Web Sites featuring the "Kee Bird" and The 46th/72nd
Lucky Strikes
Kee Bird crew member 2nd Lt. Robert L. "Lucky" Luedke, (Flight Engineer) shares his memories of the last flight of the "Kee Bird", and some of his experiences with the 46th Reconnaissance Squadron. This story was featured in an article from Westword magazine in 1998.
Greenland Expedition
Fantastic images of the Kee Bird prior to the recovery attempt in the 1990's. By Air Pirates - Gary Larkins. This is a must see. (And has a pic of Russell jordan in 1993!).
Paul A. Siple - Landings were made on TARGET-X
During these years of the late 1940's, studies were made by the reconnaissance squadron encompassing survival rations and equipment, navigational aids, weather reporting and national defense possibilities. The finding of TARGET-X (re-designated T-1)
Greenland Experiences
by John Lomholt

Johannes (John) Lomholt, radio technician, was stationed at what became Thule AFB from June 1946 until August 1947. "I was on early duty when SOS signals were received from a "Ptarmigan" B-29 that belly-landed on a lake approximately 300 miles north of Thule." This web site has some great photos and info on the downed "Kee Bird" and the crew's rescue.
Page 1
Page 2
Lots of great photos and commentary about the salvage attempt of the "Kee Bird" aircraft in 1995 (B29 - Frozen In Time). One of the photos shows the repaired "Kee Bird" moving under it's own power.
National Geographic (1)
National Geographic (2)
A couple of pages from National Geographic about the 1995 salvage attempt of the "Kee Bird". (The photographs were take by Carl Hoffman - Author of Hunting Warbirds)
Other Related Web Sites
B-29 Superfortress Then and Now This is the official home of B-29.org, a site dedicated to the legacy of the amazing B-29 Superfortress and the men and women who flew, crewed, built and maintained her.
This is a very organized site with TONS of valuable information.
29th Bomb Group Association This is the Official Website of the 29th Bomb Group. The 29th Bomb Group was activated on February 1, 1940 at Langley Field, Virginia. It was comprised of the 6th, 43rd, 52nd, and 411th bomb squadrons. The 411th inactivated on May 20th 1944. On April 1, 1944, the 29th Bomb Group (H) was redesignated as the 29th Bomb Group (VH).
Commemorative Air Force The CAF's objective is to preserve, in flying condition, a complete collection of combat aircraft which were flown by all military services of the United States in World War II. They perpetuate in the memory and hearts of all Americans the spirit in which these great planes were flown for the defense of our nation.
B-29, The Lost Flight of 428 This is a link to purchase an excellant book written by Tim Geary about the mysterious disappearance of his Great-Uncle's entire crew of the 428. The crew was in the 29th bomb group, Guam. (See above link to the 29th Bomb Group's official web site.)
Once in the site, go to HISTORY/MILITARY to find it.
B-29 Links Really nice site featuring more links to B-29 related web sites than I've ever seen. This takes you directly to their Links section, but you really need to look around once you're in. Loaded with B-29 info.
Requiem For An Aircraft - Farewell to a Pilot Great site featuring B-29's and accolades to their pilots. Some good photo images. Well written.
Warbird Alley Great site featuring B-29's and all other WWII vintage aircraft. This link takes you directly the the B-29 section, but you can go from there.
Boeing Site - about restoration of B-29 named "DOC" A project is under way in the Experimental Flight Hangar. According to Restoration Project Director Dick Ziegler, the key to this effort will be getting volunteer mechanics who can "help put that airplane back together."
Boeing Site - Many great old
B-29 photos
This site from Boeing has many vintage B-29 photographs. Be aware this site this site has 3 pages total - once in the site you can click on the page numbers to view them.

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Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Pottery Barn Chalkboard Rock Vase Filler Hack

 This is a stale post.  Don't you smell the stank?
For fresh ideas and the newest new new stuff
why don't you head on over to the blog we actually update.

Love to see you there.
Carry on as you were.

So one of the newbies at PB online
Is a vase full of awesomeness. aka chalkboard rocks.
I would never pay $16 for 4 black rocks.
No matter how smooth they are.
Granted, they are black rocks that you can write on with special little white sticks.

And yes, PB designers, if you "season" your chalkboards,
they won't have ghost letters for years to come.
Although, maybe, that is the look you are going for?
Halloween theme and all.

But I do still have this big old basket of rocks

Pinehurst Summer Harvest Week 2
Photo (c) b3 home designs

And I am certain that there are some smooth ones in that grouping.
So help me God.

And a while ago, I went to the Habitat Home Improvement Outlet in So. Seattle. And on their paint to the heirloom white and butter yellow minis, they had a quart of chalkboard paint.

When I went to check out, the checker tried to tell me
"Where did you get this?  I don't think it is for sell. I think this is our chalkboard paint"

I looked around and saw all the chalkboard decor.
Got it.
Said nothing.
He got a clue.
Sold me the quart and understood if he didn't want something to be sold
it shouldn't be set on the shelf.
Especially on the PAINT shelf.
I could see if I had picked it up in the nail section.
I picked it up in the paint section.

And so like everyone else, it is time for another chalkboard project.
Hack commenced.

Break out the contraband chalkboard paint.

 Habitat store chalkboard paint
Photo (c) b3 home designs
Start with a super sized (paper plate sized) rock and slap on the paint
Preferably, with a sponge brush
Continue with much more reasonable sized rocks

Various painted rocks
Photo (c) b3 home designs

Give PB props for realizing that smooth rocks are so much easier
to paint and chalk up
than knubbly rocks are

Once dry, SEASON your chalkboards people!
No matter how pretty those smooth hard black rocks look

Smooth black, rough black and seasoned rocks
 Photo (c) b3 home designs

If you don't season your rocks by scribbling them up with chalk
rubbing that chalk in
and then wiping it off
you will see your first message
and ever
and really
who wants that?

Finished and scribbled chalkboard rocks
Photo (c) b3 home designs

Especially when you write stuff like this on them.

PB Hacked | Chalkboard Rocks
Photo (c) b3 home designs

Throw them in a vase (gently, of course)
and call it done.

for various places you can use your rocks in your home
I used the big one on my kitchen window sill
after I scribbled

on it.
how sappy.

Your turn.  Show me your rocks!

This one is totally Easy.
DIY addicts already have chalkboard paint on hand.
Or know where you can get some at a similar ReStore|Habitat type shop for super cheap.
Or use your Mike's or Jo's coupon and get some there for super cheap.

Dig up some smooth rocks.
Or buy them at said crafty store.
Break out the sponge brush and slap on the paint.
Or just drop them in the can and fish them out later.
Whatever floats your boat.

  1. I kid you not, I was just looking for stones earlier today to do this! Yours turned out great, I'm going to find myself some for sure! :)

  2. Somehow I missed seeing those in the catalog - they're awesome! I'll be making those this week! Thanks for sharing! Visiting from CSI.

  3. Haha!!! I saw those on PB's site last night and wondered who would pay that much for rocks. Kudos to you for pulling it off on your own. :) Visiting from The CSI Project. Hope you'll stop by and visit me too. :)

  4. Oh, you are so smart and sneaky to be the first one on the world wide web with this faux PB project! Good for you! I wonder how many folks will actually shell out the cash for those things?

  5. What a great idea! I live 100 yards from a beach full of large (and small) pebbles washed smooth by the ocean. Can you guess where I am going today? What is 'seasoning'?

  6. I saw these on their site and had to make them too. I changed them a little by turning them into magnets for my son's room. I need to get a chalk pen to be able to write on them better. Oh I love all your rocks on your other post too.

  7. OMG - thanks so much for this idea. I'm totally going to make these this weekend. So cool! I have some pink chalkboard paint that I can use, too! Love the 'get milk' rock - so so clever!

  8. You are so funny! This is a great project, I'm totally going to do it. Thank you for a fun project, and the giggle!

  9. Just saw these on Pinterest. FABULOUS idea. Now off to search for smooth rocks in the garden!

Brilliant, huh? Glad you think so (smile). Tell me something good.

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Contact Us

‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ Sequel Is Progressing “As We Speak”

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Focus Features

‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ did wonders for Gary Oldman back in 2011. Although ‘The Dark Knight Rises‘ gave him ample footing to take on the upcoming ‘RoboCop‘ remake, the Tomas Alfredson-directed spy flick gave him his first ever Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Plus, it raked in some big box office numbers for the year. So talk of a sequel is only natural, but do we really need one?

While updates on a ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ sequel has been quiet for the most part, producer Eric Fellner has confirmed work is progressing “as we speak” on the next installment. But where might the story go?

Speaking with Collider, Fellner stated, “We are working on another one. [Producer] Tim Bevan is putting it together as we speak with [screenwriter] Peter Straughan and Tomas Alfredson, so yes it’s in development. … [‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’] did unbelievably well and it didn’t cost hardly anything…But things take time. Tim is passionate about making sure we do another one.”

Gary Oldman actually revealed back when that ‘Smiley’s People’ — the third and final novel in John le Carre’s ‘Karla Trilogy,’ of which ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the first — was being considered for a movie follow-up. That story brings the actor’s character out of retirement.

What do you think? Fellner stated that everyone on the team is really excited to see a sequel to ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,’ but are you? Let us know in the comments and give us your theories for where the story might go.

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Thursday, July 23, 2009

Because I've Got Nothing Else

Y'all, I'm in a blogging funk. I've been rather melancholy lately, so that's probably why. Here's what we've been up to this week.

I took Jackson to see the VBS show at a church in another part of town. If Disney did VBS, this is what it would be like. Jackson has a DVD that was made from last year's VBS and he loves it, so I thought he's enjoy seeing it in person. Some of the characters and songs are the same. Our friend Steve plays the Commissioner and when he came out in his costume to greet us before the show, Jackson was in awe and hid behind my legs. The rest of the day was filled with swim lessons, aerobics, and grocery shopping.

That night I had the Me Myself & Lies study with some girls from Sunday school while Curt took Jackson to see an Astro's game. I hated missing the game with them, but the study has been great. I was really behind and had to do four days of homework before our meeting. Annabeth hung out with Mom and her college roommate.

The kids and I had a swim playdate at a friend's pool that morning. That was really great. Annbeth had been super fussy for 48 hours with teething and we ended up having to leave early. Jackson even said, "Mommy, Annabeth is fuzzy." A minute later he got in trouble and then he told me he was fuzzy. That night I cooked chicken spaghetti while Curtis took Jackson to swim lessons. The recipe called for cream of chicken soup and I didn't have any, so I made it from flour, milk, butter, and chicken bullion. It made it so good. I wish I didn't know how much butter was in the creamy sauce.

This morning we went back to the VBS show and Curt came along. Jackson held his hands over his ears for most of it. He doesn't like the power pirates (the bad guys). Then we had lunch at Clay's. For some reason our waitress brought us free ice cream cake. Score! That's a great family place if you're in Houston. I worked for the rest of the afternoon while the kids slept and now we're getting ready for Metro. Only three left!

Catherine said...

Please share the chicken spagetti receipe...Please ;-)

Gabby said...

All the restraunts you mention make me seriously want to move to Texas. We got nothin' here. Nothin'

Dori said...

I don't always read your personal blog and I haven't comment in ages, but I just wanted to tell you that my heart leaped with joy when I saw these words:

"and had to do four days of homework before our meeting..."

I have been facilitating Bible studies for more than 10 years and I have done so for nearly every one your Mom has written, but I can't tell you the times that me -- even as the facilitator -- had to get up before the roosters on Bible study day to catch up. So...

Go in peace, my sister!

Blogging funk -- me, too! Melancholy -- ditto.

I had to have me a moment today with Him and then moments later Steven Curtis' song from a few years ago "Magnificent Obsession" shuffled on the iPod and this is what I heard right off:

"Lord, You know how much
I want to know so much
In the way of answers and explanations
I have cried and prayed
And still I seem to stay
In the middle of life’s complications
All this pursuing leaves me feeling like I’m chasing down the wind
But now it’s brought me back to You
And I can see again

This is everything I want
This is everything I need
I want this to be my one consuming passion
Everything my heart desires
Lord, I want it all to be for You, Jesus
Be my magnificent obsession."

Praying that for you and for me tonight, sweet friend.

Michele Helms said...

I'll give you something...Check out my amazing man! He shared his testimony 20 years ago for the first time at First Baptist Woodstock when our pastor, Johnny Hunt asked him to speak. This was taken a few months ago and one of our good friends put it on you tube for us. I love this man and I am so glad that he loves Jesus and wants to share it with the world!

Kristen Love said...

You sound BUSY girl!
I remember when my son thought things like pirates (or the real-life characters at Walt Disney World) were terrifying. One day at preschool, Clifford the Big Red Dog walked into the gym for a program. Well, my little Carter ran out of the room screaming! LOL! He loved the cartoon, but the real big red dog was too much!

Moose Mama said...

You know...I was a little fuzzy myself, yesterday.

I like your blog diaries, even if you don't think they're creative. They don't always have to be thought provoking or stupendous. I'm just happy you do it. It's fun.

Angela said...

I'm in a funk too. I was in status update overload with FB and blog last week. I just don't want to share my life with others right now, you know. I'll be back, I enjoy this too much not too. So for now I am just posting here and there.

Keri said...

Boy do I hear you with the blogging funk thing!! It's been a really sad couple of weeks around here so I feel like all my blog posts have been big 'ol downers!

We LOVE Clays! One of my kid's favorites. Get ready, you'll have many a soccer, baseball, birthday party there!

KM said...

Love your updates...even in a blogging funk. Nice to hear real talk by a Christian mama.

One thought: I'm sure you've heard of teething tablets from your mother friends...but thought I'd mention them in case you haven't. Hylands Teething Tablets. Worked wonders for my daughter. She'd come crawling and whining when she'd hear the bottle rattle! Miracle workers.

Callie said...

pretty much know that you were at my church this morning and sure enough if I wasn't there too! Too bad I didn't see you there - boo for that! I was stuck in the craft room in the nursery but a few of us snuck away to see the show - isn't it great?!? VBS has been NUTS this week! We had 4,000 kids. For real?!? Anyway, if you come tomorrow, stop by the nursery and say hi!

bethany said...

I totally understand your blogging funk Amanda...and the melancholoy thing too. I am not up to date or inspired with my blog right now...but I do love blogging so definately need to get back into it.
It's fun to read about your weekly activities. Glad that you share those :)

Cheri-Beri said...

I'm in a blog funk, too. I posted EVERY DAY in June. And I think I've posted 4 times since July 1! We'll get back in the saddle soon, I'm sure of it!

Bobbie said...

"Out of the mouths of babes"! I'm going to have to borrow Jackson's 'feeling fuzzy'! That is a perfect description of how I feel very often during this 'time in my life'!! He's such a cutie, I'm sure he and Curt had a great time at the game.

Another Chicken Fried Steak place--can I blame you for the 5 lbs I've gained lately!! Don't worry, at least we're learning to share some of these meals.

Have a great weekend, trust me your funk won't last long!!

Rose said...

I took my 5 year old David to go see that and after seeing the video blog from Bethie I too realized that was the commissioner! Funny!!

Rose said...

I took my 5 year old David to go see that and after seeing the video blog from Bethie I too realized that was the commissioner! Funny!!

Rachel said...

I've been in a huge blogging funk, too. And I will say, it was rather encouraging/relieving to hear that Amanda Jones procrastinates on Bible study homework, too, sometimes. :) Thanks for being real.

Deirdre said...

can I just tell you how much it ministers to my heart to have you admit that you are behind on the study? I always feel so guilty when I get behind!

Summers Siesta studys are the only ones where I am on a strict schedule and i just can't keep up.

God bless you

katiegfromtennessee said...

Greetings Little Momma:)

Yeah, me too:) Looks like you had a good week so far:) That is funny that Jackson says fuzzy instead of fussy!:)

Blessings to you Little Momma:):)

Amy Beth @ Ministry So Fabulous! said...

I can't believe you just made whatever chicken soup thing-y you needed without a recipe. Whoa.

Amanda said...

Amy Beth, I knew how to make it from another recipe I have. I also googled it to make sure. Don't be impressed!

Heather said...

I love learning about new places to eat! We love chicken and spaghetti, I have so many recipes for this it seems! I'm in a funk from being back to the real world of cleaning after 3 weeks away!

Missy @ It's Almost Naptime said...

You are my kid restaurant connection. I did not know about Clay's, NOR did I know about the super fabulous Mickey D's and do you know how many times I have driven by that place, unaware of the glory within?? Walker took the kids there for a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon and all were ecstatic.


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Wednesday, January 17, 2007

I'm propping up the bar on a little speck of an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. I'm alone for a little while. Mrs Backroads has gone off diving with Sergio the Divemaster. He's half Japanese half Brazilian and cunnilingual. Apparently he takes her deeper than anyone's taken her before. She came back looking a little flushed yesterday. Apparently, she needed to manually blow some air back into Sergio's tank before he'd let her pass her diving exam. She passed, so things all came off quite well. So much so, they're having another practice whilst I kill a little time before my appointment with Saichai. I am having another 'Fusion' massage today. I like it when she kneels on my thighs and pulls me off
the massage table.

Even Saichai won't let me go diving (on account of my ears) but I can go snorkelling. Yesterday I saw a white tipped shark, a moray eel and some squid. Later I'm hoping to see a manta ray. They're top of the food change around here, despite which little is really known about them. All the attention goes to their sneaky cousins the sharks apparently. Which is a shame.

Most of the other guests here are more interested in catching rays whilst sprawling on their loungers in the brief gaps between the plentiful and sumptuous meals. Nationalities are diverse in our little community. There are the French (moody and ignorant in the main, they don't even nod a hello when you pass them on the beach), Americans (less annoying than you might think), young Russian mobster types with their many mobile phones which all seem to have Sam Brown's 'Stop!' as their ring tone... their girlfriends are young and pneumatic... I don't stare too much though...don't want to sleep with the fishes. There's the Spanish contingent... instantly recogniseable as they each carry a minimum of 40 cigarettes in case they run out during their starter. There are some Japanese... always the first at breakfast as they flew West to get here. There are one or two other Brits... like us often last at breakfast as we flew East and can't get out of bed.

Anyhow, the beautiful Saichai awaits...

She's wonderful but her English isn't great. When I asked for extras she mumbled something about Ricky someone, disappeared and came came back with some crappy DVD which is very popular here apparently. I'd not heard of it so me and Mrs B slipped it in after dinner. It was crap, so we shagged in the jacuzzi instead. Sergio dropped the video camera in so I've nothing for YouTube.


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Sunday, March 31, 2013

1 package of bacon
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 eggs
1 cup cold, strong, brewed coffee
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk, 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 shot of whiskey

These are things you’ll want to do first: Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Brew one strong cup of coffee. Cook your bacon until browned and crispy. Drain the bacon, cool on a paper towel, crumble and set aside. Mix together a cup of buttermilk and a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar if you have it. Let it do its thing for five minutes.

Start the cupcakes: While the bacon is cooking, combine your dry ingredients; flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a tiny well in the middle and gently pour in eggs, coffee, buttermilk and oil. Make a well in the center and pour in the eggs, coffee, buttermilk and oil. Stir it up until it’s become blended – no more, no less. Set aside some bacon strips to use as garnish, then crumble the rest to the batter. Divide the batter amongst the cups evenly. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Then release the cupcakes from the pans and let cool over a wire rack.

Now comes the whiskey icing: 8 oz of cream cheese, a cup of powdered sugar and a shot of Jack Daniels whipped at high speed. Add more whiskey and cream cheese to taste. Spread icing out over cupcakes, then add bacon garnish. Serve.

bacon recipe courtesy of: NoBakeLeni, Whiskey Bacon, May 1, 2012

1 comment:

NoBakeLeni said...

Hi! Super honored that you would share our recipe, but can you be so kind as to not copy and paste as much content. We'd hate to see you get pinged by Google for duplicate content. :D

Best of bacon!


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EEF33646-832E-47C7-9329-A006153AD436 Rich | Baghdad By The Bay

Posts Tagged 'rich'

$4 Toast, My Thoughts

iMfTrhtWhen I first heard someone talk about $4 toast in San Francisco I knew we weren’t talking about Wonder Bread. No one would have the cojones that big to try and sell Wonder Bread for $4, but of course San Francisco has plenty of bloggers with the cojones to make you think that. These rich techies are paying $4-$6 for a slice of toast!!!! Well, yes bread is involved and yes it’s toasted, but that’s pretty much where in ends for the most part.

Where it started is up for discussion, but people usually point to Trouble Coffee out in my hood or The Mill as the originators. They start with inch thick slices of wheat bread and slather it with butter and depending can top it with brown sugar and cinnamon, peanut butter and honey or whatever the hell they’re going to think up next. For a big eater it’s a light breakfast or a decent snack, but for the average person it’s pretty much a meal. It’s got a lot more calories and nutrition than a slice of Wonder Bread for sure.

The owner of Trouble Coffee said it was a comfort food for her because she grew up poor. For me, I was a kid in a middle class household that wasn’t hurting for money too bad and guess what my Grandmother used to make for me as a treat? Toast with lots of butter and brown sugar. Grandma would toss it under the broiler for a few seconds to get that serious caramelized effect that chefs like to go for now. It wasn’t a poor man’s pastry, it was actually more expensive than a donut back then probably because of the huge amounts of butter and stuff my Grandmother would toss on top of it. While most of the ingredients came out of boxes or bags this was home made for my Grandmother. I still like it today, I just never thought of slicing the bread an inch thick first.

My Grandmother would toss lots of stuff on bread that she’d toast. She used to broil cheese on bread and that was her version of a grilled cheese sandwich. I took a cue from her and toast bread then rub garlic on it and toss some chopped up tomatoes or other vegetables and call it lazy man’s bruschetta. Unfortunately for most people in San Francisco today lazy tends to be the norm. Finding a friend who is a foodie that can cook is kind of rare nowadays. Most of what people are spending their money on food wise has been prepared by someone else. Yes I cook so of course I’m going to not understand why other people don’t, but we’re talking about toast here. You can go to a bakery like Boudin and buy a loaf and ask them to cut it thick for you. You take it home, toast it, toss a bunch of stuff on top [if you’re slick you’ll put it under the broiler…] and you’re done.

The only reason there is $4 thick toast is that people don’t bother to do it for themselves. For the people who started selling it I think it’s a good idea. If you’ve never made it or bought it, it is something special. I had a poor period and a friend of mine gave me a 10lb bag of flour and a jar of yeast. That reminded me I knew how to make bread and I never felt hungry and I was able to do some pretty incredible things with it because when you’re hungry your mind sees everything as something you can turn into food [at least if you’re a guy like me.]

Incidentally, the $4 toast, after doing a little search didn’t start in San Francisco. It started in Japan as a breakfast item too. It has scrambled egg on top and is sprinkled with chives and is sold as tamago toast for the equivalent cost of…$4

Looks pretty good and I’ll have to give that a try one of these days now.

Things I’ve Learned About San Francisco: SoMA

South of MarketSouth or Market or South of the Slot as it used to be known is an interesting part of San Francisco historically. It was the first area of major development in San Francisco which the 1906 earthquake pretty much flattened leaving South Park as the only remaining houses to this day.

What was quickly replaced with industrial warehousing after the quake now has been converted largely to condos in the area North of 4th street with the condos starting to change more to newer apartments to the south. This part of  San Francisco is where a lot of the people older San Franciscans consider techies live, yes they are in Mission to a large degree, but the big money techies live here.

You have to have big money to afford the condos here. The condos here are all very new, very pretty and there’s no rent control because pretty much everything was built after 1979 if you’re living here. The condos are also very small, but are made up for by the amenities each complex offers. Most of the people I’ve met who live here are different techies than those who live in the Mission. They aren’t sharing the condos with four to five other roommates and in many cases they aren’t renting, but have bought the condos. As you move farther South in SoMA that starts to change as you get less condos and more housing. Many of these condos come with private, enclosed parking, shared grills, tennis courts in some cases as concierge services as well. It kind of feels like Manhattan a little bit without being quite so tall.

Many of the people who live here chose the areas because they love the views and the short trip to work. The price is pretty high for these spots and as I said, they’re also pretty small, but most of the people here are new to the City and haven’t much of an idea as to what things really cost in the City. I picked up a couple of guys here once who kept talking about how much they spent on the previous Saturday night going out and apparently around $500 is where it started to hurt. I suppose if blowing $400 on a Saturday night wouldn’t sting that’s a good indication that they’re making a lot more money than I am. Since these are relatively new places to live they aren’t pushing anyone out so the gentrification everyone talks about in San Francisco is really just moving out a lot of barely used industrial space. My personal experience has been that many of the people here thought really don’t know that they could get the same thing cheaper in other parts of the City so they’re creating a bit of a wave of upscale that’s spreading out through the City.

I used to work down in this area and always found it surprisingly quiet in the mornings. I might see the odd person jogging, but they usually stuck to the Embarcadero area for that, which I would too if I actually decided to jog anywhere. South Park is the last hip spot in the whole area that’s a little oval spot that feels like a part of the Mission was picked up and plopped down here. Note if you’re here around lunch time there’s a huge line outside Mexico Au Parc which lends a bit of hipster cred to the area along with the lines. It feels just like the Mission, except that while it’s noted as $ on most review sites I can get a burrito just as big and better for about half the price elsewhere in the City. I have yet to see anyone who lives in the houses in South Park, but I do know that at least a few of them have been converted to hipster workplaces which is really kind of out of place for the whole neighborhood. Calling it a neighborhood is kind of a stretch really since there is still lots of building and re-building going on and it’s very rare to find someone  that’s lived here for more than five years.

Walking around in the area you can find little parks stuck in any space that there wasn’t enough room to build a workspace with South Park really being the largest area. For me it was always a pleasant, but odd space to walk around because when you find greenery it is often surrounded by lots of noise from the traffic that is constantly afoot. It’s a nice place to visit for a short time, but aside from eating at one of the expensive places usually located on 2nd Street there isn’t much else to do. Once you pass 6th Street the condos mix in with newer apartment buildings and things become smaller and cramped. Food also gets a little bit cheaper but I think that’s in part to the area starting to mix in with the expanding Mission District which I’ll be writing about next.

Gentrification Of The Gentrified

"Margaret! Clutch the pearls! Even richer people are trying to move us out!"I read a screed the other day from a resident of the Sunset District who was decrying the Starbucksization of the Inner Sunset District and how expensive restaurants were going in all over and places that should be free to the public now making me show my ID or I have to pay a fee, how can we stop all this gentrification!

Wow. The Sunset District is getting gentrified? Does that mean that the crime will go down and instead of bar fights people will slam their drink down and proclaim I am miffed! I suppose they don’t like that the housing prices are increasing. Maybe they should go back to the old prices that were .02% of what they were when my middle class family bought one back in 1954. Rent and housing prices have been a problem since the Gold Rush era.

The Sunset District like many other areas of San Francisco has been a middle class neighborhood for years. It was even referred to as the suburbs of San Francisco when it was first built because you got to be in San Francisco, but, well, not in San Francisco. Many of the chains that have moved in were San Francisco based companies that just learned how to do it right and got popular and opened more stores. You can even find some such as the San Francisco Soup Company at local malls yet other local chains such at La Boulange are OK to many people because they don’t look so much like a chain.

Then you have…those other chains. Starbucks [started by three USF students who learned the trade from Berkeley based Peet’s Coffee founder] is the banner child to hold up when people like to decry gentrification around here, yet studies have shown that when a Starbucks goes in all the other coffee houses actually do better because people who didn’t have an interest in coffee suddenly do. While friends aren’t supposed to let friends do Starbucks, I disagree. I would rather spend my money at Starbucks and know that I’m going to get a good cup of coffee as opposed to a local coffee shop that the coffee tastes like hot water in cardboard for the same price. Starbucks has just purchased local company La Boulange which I think is a good thing because that means that food from a local company will be sold there. Starbucks also does something local businesses can’t afford to do — offer health insurance to it’s part time employees.

Granted San Franciscans who’ve been here for more than 10 years tend to hate the new people moving in yet forget that they were hated by those that moved in 10 years before them. Since I’ve been here for five decades I’ve had lots of time to hate people, but I’m a little more relaxed now. If you look through out the history of San Francisco you’ll see that people were saying the same thing about change in San Francisco over a hundred years ago. I’m sure the horse and buggy types shook their fists many a time at the new fangled motor cars.

There are no poor people in the Sunset being pushed out which is also the case in many other parts of San Francisco. We have rent control so if you’re already renting a place you’re set. Wife and I were renting when the Web 1.0 boom hit and apartments around us started going for $2500. We simply smiled and continued to pay our $1300/month for our two bedroom house which we did until we decided to move out in 2003. You couldn’t have gotten a place for that kind of rent then just as you certainly can’t now. If you happened to have been like my parents and purchased a house years ago your mortgage payments aren’t going up and if you’ve already paid off the house neither is your property tax because you’re a golden child in San Francisco terms because of California’s Proposition 13.

I am not rich by any means and there are many days where I feel like I never will even get close, but because I’m one of the few left that is lucky enough to not have to earn $50k/year just to cover rent since I’ve stayed in one place for so long and my parents thought ahead, I don’t have to worry as much.

It is sad that people have to have a high income to move here and that businesses have to pay high wages so that people can afford to live here, but that’s part of the problem with a 7×7 peninsula that has no room to grow. I don’t mind that smaller businesses are being replaced by businesses that realize we don’t want to spend $5 on a roll of toilet paper or they have a very narrow demographic of people they’ll attract. I don’t mind that businesses with a sound business plan are moving in and offering up higher paying jobs in places you wouldn’t find those jobs before and offering benefits. I don’t mind one bit that the crime rate is going down around town although I would like to have a talk with the person who imported all the frat boys to the Marina. That’s a form of gentrification I could do without.

Now I’m off to Starbucks and then show my ID card to prove I live here so that I can walk around the Arboretum for free. I might take a free ride up the Harmon Tower at the DeYoung and enjoy the view afterwards. I’m a cheap date. You can have me for less than $5.

OK, I have to admit that when I started this blog it was supposed to be about San Francisco, not San Francisco politics. Somewhere down the line I posted a couple of articles relating to San Francisco politics and was nominated as the Best Political Blog in San Francisco by SF Weekly. I came close to winning, but didn’t. Now that the election is over I’m going to write my last political article on politics in San Francisco and give it a rest for awhile, so what better topic to write about than, #OccupySF.

People of #OccupySF I feel for you, because I was there 20 years ago and I was also there 40 years ago. Now let me explain. 40 years ago I was just a little kid and the 60’s hippies were protesting everything except love and getting high. In an interview from way back when a girl said, We’re giving up our homes and jobs so that other people can have them so they should take care of us. This was almost always followed by, Get a job you f*cking hippie!

Fast forward 20 years and you have me just out of college. I went to college because I was told, if you don’t go to college you’ll be flipping burgers for the rest of your life. Well, seeing as when I graduated from college most of people flipping burgers where younger than me or not U.S. citizens, I probably wouldn’t have been hired at most fast food restaurants anyway. I stayed at home and didn’t have to pay rent, but I kept looking for work. I worked through high school part time and through college part time. When I graduated college [1987 and the total cost back then was under $5k by going City College and SFSU] I had no debt and very few expenses. I finally moved out at 28 [which left my mother in tears for a week] and moved in with a friend to a two bedroom home in the Mission where we paid a total of $800 per month.

I found work through temp agencies in fields that had nothing to do with my degree in broadcasting. I kept looking and I think I was finally hired as a full time employee around the time I turned 30 working for a printer. 19 years later to today I’ve worked at many printers and graphic design firms and taught myself html, css, php, etc. None of these things were available to learn when I was in college, but have kept me going.

How does this relate to the #OccupySF movement? Most of you are in debt and don’t like government and/or corporations. You’re the 99%. So am I, but while I agree that we should tax the 1% just like the rest of us, I see corporations as a good thing. Let me list a few reasons why:

  1. Steady work: Most corporations have enough money that they can keep going when the economy takes a down turn. Sure there may be some lay offs, but in general you’ve got a better chance of keeping your job with a large corporation
  2. Health Benefits: There was a time at one job I had where the boss said, well, paying for health benefits are a crap shoot maybe you’ll need it, maybe you won’t. Not true. I had a stroke at 37 and most people I know once they hit their 30’s suddenly have high blood pressure or high cholesterol and need to take medications on a regular basis and need to see a doctor regularly. Small companies don’t have to give you that and if the company is under 20 employees they don’t need to pay into the Healthy San Francisco thing we’ve got going here.
  3. 401k: It’s nice to have some money when you get old enough to retire and large corporations are more likely to take care of their employees with a 401k. You pull a little money out before taxes and put it away to earn money so that when you retire you’ve got something to supplement you Social Security [you know that ponzi scheme that Rick Perry likes to talk about]
  4. Perks: Large corporations don’t like having their employees turn against them so they placate them by having refrigerators stocked with food and drink for them. The company I’m with regularly stocks a few refrigerators with sodas, mineral water, juices, yogurt, cheese, gummies and energy bars. You practically don’t need to bring your lunch to work at a place like this.
Now today you have protesters who are camping out decrying government and corporations. They have no internet access or electricity and since they’ve been doing this for several weeks they most likely don’t have jobs. I don’t have time to do this. I supplement my income by using online resources such as task rabbit. I’m able to add a couple of hundred bucks more a week from that and another couple of hundred a week through freelance work.
Yes, I always hated the rich guys at the top of the food chain in business because they got to sit on their asses all day and rake in millions, but that was because I wanted that job. I always wanted to be able to provide for my family without any worries just like they did. The problem is that to get to that place you have to work for it, not sit and demand it. Even though I’m a contractor, I look for work ever day and I know that the jobs are out there because I send out at least 10 resumes a day. So do thousands of others which is why I don’t get calls as often as I used to, but I’m out there every day trying to make more money than I did yesterday. This is why I don’t have time to camp out and protest because I have a family to feed.
Many of you may not know this, but San Francisco has a JobsNow! program still in effect that if you can find someone to hire you San Francisco will give them a $5000 stimulus bonus for hiring you. They just have to keep you for five months. There are ways to make ends meet out there you just have to get out there and find them. Enough of the rant, just think about this. Oh and by the way, I’m a progressive, not a republican.

Goodbye to the California Academy of Sciences

As most of you know I have had a love/hate relationship with the California Academy of Sciences. I love the fact that they have a super eco-friendly building with LEED Platinum certification, but what I have found with the new change is that they don’t have the science so much anymore. I grew up at the Academy and whenever I had a science project at school I would always do my research at the Academy because it was a treasure trove of information and because I was also a member of the Junior Academy I had access to even more.

I received my renewal notice from the Academy a few days ago and noticed that last year we paid $159 for a family membership. This year they have risen the price to $199. While that’s less than a dollar a day that kind of thinking only applies to food, not an Academy of Sciences membership which has now entered into the luxury realm. They’ve raised their prices to $29.95 to gain entrance to its hallowed halls, but once you get inside it feels empty. See the fish! See the rainforest! See the planetarium! (sorry all our shows are filled for the day) See our living roof! Oh, here’s some crap we’re using to fill in the space while you walk to our cafe to plunk down another $50 on top of the $100 you just put down to get your family of four in the door on top of the parking fee.

I’m not taking it anymore. While I grew up there and learned a lot through my activities there the Academy has been rebuilt to serve science to the rich, not the masses. This prompted me to send them the following letter:

Dear California Academy of Sciences,

It is with great regret that I will not be renewing my family membership this year. You price for membership has risen too much over the years to make it feasible for my middle class family to afford anymore.

I grew up as a part of the Academy of Sciences, attending classes at the former Junior Academy while volunteering at Steinhart Aquarium and eventually moving on to work in the Junior Academy and Planetarium. The Academy gave me great benefits at the time that gave me much more than I was learning in school and had me understanding organic chemistry at the age of 12 to the point that I was regularly pointing out errors to my teachers.

That was many years ago. Back when a $25 membership would allow your entire family and two guests walk freely about the Academy that wasn’t so incredibly packed as it is today. We also used to have free monthly meetings and a magazine delivered to us each month and I always looked forward to the free members night that gave us all behind the scenes tours of the aquarium and all the other departments at the Academy.

While the prices obviously have to rise over time, your costs less than 10 years ago prior to the rebuilding of the Academy were $65 for a family membership and came with eight guest passes and you still had the members night. Today that would cost me $1000 and on my budget that makes it unavailable. I have had the standard family membership which when I paid it last year was $159. If I were to renew it today it would cost me $199 which I still cannot afford.

There was a time when the California Academy of Sciences served the people of San Francisco. Now it would cost a family of four $100 to spend a day at the Academy and to me that is unacceptable. I regret that what the Academy once offered me it no longer offers the people of San Francisco and that my daughter will grow up without having access to what I had. I regret that there are so many people flocking to the Academy and giving up their hard earned money to view the aquarium, rainforest and planetarium with a few bits and pieces strewn about. There is no more Wattis Hall of Man, no more Hall of Birds, no more Hall of Minerals, no more North American Hall, no more Life through Science, no more Swamp and no more Entomology room. You have retained African Hall, but the only thing people seem to pay attention to is the penguin exhibit with the rest of the hall being the only quiet, open space in the Academy.

I used to be able to spend an entire day at the Academy of Sciences, but now I can take it in in under two hours. While the Academy has grown in square footage it has shrunk in what it is offering its patrons. I have friends and family who come to visit here and they would love to see the Academy of Sciences, but as soon as I tell them the price they choose to go somewhere else. I used to be able to give them my cards to use, but now you insist on members to show their ID to get in. True, you do offer the one free day a month which is by far the worse day to visit the Academy as it is so crowded it is probably coming close to passing fire code violations on occupancy.

I am not sure if I will ever return to the California Academy of Sciences again unless there is a change back to serving the people of San Francisco by not selling the sizzle instead of the steak at a high price, but by serving up science to the masses that teaches them and gives them a better understanding of the world we live in and how fragile it can be.

Sincerely with deep regret,

Eric Kauschen

The times, they are a changing. Please share this with your friends. I think it will be a long time before you hear me mention the California Academy of Sciences again.

UPDATE: After doing a little fact finding I’ve just discovered that the family membership was $60/year until 2008, A mere 3 years ago and offered the benefits of 4 free academy passes that they valued at $7 each not the $29.95 they ask today, three years later.

[gmap zoom=’16’ center_lat=’37.7703997′ center_lon=’-122.4664991′]


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Monthly Archives: October 2016

TicketBiscuit Looks Towards Its Next Phase of Growth

What’s next for TicketBiscuit after its $5M funding win?

Posted October 20th, 2016 by Birmingham Business Journal

Birmingham software company TicketBiscuit is looking to a new phase of growth, thanks to a $5 million investment from a Tampa-based venture capital and growth equity firm.

Ballast Point Ventures recently confirmed its investment in the Birmingham ticketing software company, which TicketBiscuit CEO Jeff Gale called an “endorsement.”

“Investors are smart, especially institutional investors like Ballast Point Ventures,” Gale said. “They don’t invest in companies that won’t be good stewards of their money. I take it as an honor to receive that money and go out to put it to good use.”

The deal comes on the heels of funding wins for several other Birmingham companies, a trend local business leaders hope will create a snowball effect and lead to more investor money flowing into the Magic City.

Founded 15 years ago, TicketBiscuit has recorded steady growth and often ranked as one of Birmingham’s fastest growing companies. The company processes more than $100 million in ticket sales annually for customers like music venues, festivals and event centers.

Largely bootstrapped since its inception, TicketBiscuit needed the backing of a good capital partner to push it to the next level.

Echoing a familiar refrain of Birmingham tech experts and executives like Innovation Depot’s Devon Laney and health care startup Pack Health’s Will Wright, Gale said Birmingham companies like TicketBiscuit are hungry for outside capital access like BPV’s investment.

“We’ve got a really great, budding technology ecosystem here,” Gale said. “For the longest time, it’s been about health care and biotech, thanks to UAB and similar companies, but now we’ve got a true high-tech startup community in Birmingham.”

Tech investment appears to be gaining momentum in Birmingham: Shipt recently raised $20.5 million and GI Partners purchased a majority stake in Daxko.

Ballast Point Ventures recently invested another $5 million in Prepaid Technologies, a Birmingham company with major partners like Visa and MasterCard exploring the emerging wearable tech market.

“I’m really proud to have TicketBiscuit following in the footsteps of Shipt and similar companies in Birmingham to help grow this startup community and outside capital,” Gale said. “My hope is that it will get the attention of inside capital.”

TicketBiscuit’s $5 million investment will fund sales force expansion, marketing efforts and new tech development while the company continues to grow its StateChamps app. The company last year rolled out the software suite targeted for high school and amateur athletics.

TicketBiscuit is eyeing a massive opportunity in this market: Gale says high schools represent the largest ticketing market in the country, with some 500 million tickets sold each year.

“By and large, those tickets are paid for in cash, bought by people standing in line 10 minutes before the event,” Gale said.

Gale said high school and amateur athletics continue to use “old school” ticketing because existing modern technology can be too cumbersome and expensive.

Electronic ticketing solutions like Ticketmaster, where you print out your ticket at home and have a bar code scanned at the venue by a door attendant, require back-end support in addition to technology like scanners and employee training.

“It’s difficult to let everyone print their tickets at home if they don’t have this technology at the gate,” Gale said. “Scanners are expensive, flaky, require training and a robust internet connection – high schools don’t have these things.”

TicketBiscuit hopes to disrupt this market with Share and Tear, new technology that puts digital tickets on consumers’ phones. The tickets are authenticated through the StateChamps app: Gate attendants don’t have to validate the ticket any further than “tearing” it in the app with a swipe of the finger. People can also purchase tickets in bulk and distribute them digitally to their kids; no more wrangling families to hand out individual tickets at the gate.

Several hundred schools are currently using the technology across the country, in addition to eight state high school athletics association.

Gale said tens of thousands of people have downloaded the app for use, and TicketBiscuit only plans to grow from here.

“It’s 2016, and it boggles my mind that the largest ticketing market in the country still operates that way,” Gale said. “It’s our mission to change that with StateChamps.”

BPV Invests in Birmingham-based TicketBiscuit

Birmingham tech company lands $5M investment

Posted October 17th, 2016 by Birmingham Business Journal

One of Birmingham’s fastest growing companies has landed a $5 million investment from Ballast Point Ventures.

TicketBiscuit, an online ticketing and event management software company, announced the investment Monday. The company plans to use the funds to “grow its sales force, bolster marketing efforts and develop additional technology products.”

“This investment opens up serious growth opportunities for us,” CEO Jeff Gale said in a release. “Our team has worked relentlessly to build and support cutting edge technology and provide the best ticketing experiences on the planet. With this funding, we will be able to double down on our investments in talented people and bold strategies.

Founded by Gale in 2001, TicketBiscuit company processes more than $100 million in ticket sales annually for customers like music venues, festivals and event centers. In 2015, TicketBiscuit launched StateChamps, a software suite targeted for high school and amateur athletics.

Ballast Point Ventures, a Tampa-based venture capital and growth equity firm, previously invested in Birmingham-based Prepaid Technologies.

Ballast’s Robert Faber will join TicketBiscuit’s board of directors. Faber also serves as board observer at Prepaid Technologies.

“TicketBiscuit’s industry-leading position in online ticketing is a testament to the vision and platform developed by a great team over several years,” Faber said in a release. “Under Jeff Gale’s leadership, the TicketBiscuit team has had great success to date, and this investment dovetails well with our strategy of partnering with talented entrepreneurs who are building high-growth companies across the Southeast and Texas. We are excited to partner with Jeff and his passionate team at TicketBiscuit to continue building a leading technology company in Birmingham. TicketBiscuit represents our second investment in Birmingham in 2016, and we are excited to continue building our network in this market where a vibrant ecosystem of technology and health care companies has developed.”

TicketBiscuit employees around 50 people in Birmingham and Portland, Oregon. The company announced earlier this year it would be relocating from Riverchase Parkway to a new facility off Valleydale Road.

© 2017 Ballast Point Ventures. All rights reserved.


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Events Calendar

Find what, when and where happens! If you live in Timisoara or visit the city, you'll have frequent opportunities to get in contact with its vibrant IT&C community life by attending one or other of the events scheduled around.

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Banat IT Map

Locate, find out on the spot info on IT&C companies. Navigate from one to another or zoom in and out to find where support organizations for ITC companies are positioned. Everything on a specialized Banat IT Map.

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Tech Communities

Informations and analysis regarding Timisoara's tech ecosystem and individual communities. Learn more about specialized technology knowledge circulated freely and shared within the numerous specialized tech communities.

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Get A Life! :)

Sport, nature protection, culture, art, traditions, cuisine, health, helping-others or combinations of them, are domains where many people from Banat meet, cooperate and work together to change things, mentalities and souls.

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Timișoara High-school Kids in Tech Companies

afiOne week a year the school can be different for all the students in the Romanian pre-university education, including for ”kids in tech”, the teenagers enrolled in the relatively numerous ”mate-info” classes. Within ”Săptămâna Școala Altfel”, April 18-22, Banat IT Association and Timișoara Startup Hub, with the involvement of 12 small and medium enterprises have build a special opportunity for kids studying in the Mathematics-Informatics specialization in 5 of the best Timișoara high-schools (Colegiul Național ”Ana Aslan”, Colegiul Național Bănățean, Colegiul Național ”CD Loga”, Liceul de Informatică ”Grigore Moisil”, Liceul Pedagogic ”Carmen Sylva”) to discover the startup and SME segment of the local IT industry. The project, named Timișoara Startup Kids on Tech Trails, will assure to participating students an early exposure to the activities of companies like 123ContactForm3Pillar Global, Audionow Digital, Avaelgo, BitdefenderCloudbase Solutions, Digital Geek, [e-spres-oh], Movidius, Ness TechnologiesOPSWATSafefleet TelematicsSymme3D Manufacturing, or UnifiedPost. Interacting with entrepreneurs and employees, participating kids will be offer the best opportunities to learn about tech entrepreneurship, technologies used, products and services developed in Timisoara, to explore the professional field connected with IT and to establish an early insertion point into the local tech ecosystem. Participating kids will be encouraged to reflect on and to share thoughts about their experience through their usual social media channels. The most popular social media products will be rewarded. The project will end on Friday April 22nd through a Timișoara Startup Kids conference co-organized with OSUT, Timișoara West University Students’ Organization, featuring local young tech entrepreneurs and freelancers like Irina Marinescu (Save Potatoes), Andrei Avram (Transylvania High Tech) and Andrei Mărin (Dream Production). Timișoara Kids in Tech interested to attend the conference are invited to register no later than Thursday, April 21, 8.00 PM, using the form here.

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Voters to determine Southwest Harbor budget

By Bill Trotter, BDN Staff
Posted May 01, 2009, at 10:05 p.m.

SOUTHWEST HARBOR, Maine — Voters will decide next week whether to borrow money to pay for improvements at the Police Department and to acquire and install a propane-fired generator at the town’s Water Department pump house.

Southwest Harbor’s annual town meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Monday, May 4, when the open session gets under way at the elementary school. It will continue the next day with municipal elections, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the fire station.

Since the Fire Department moved to its new headquarters further north on Main Street in 2006, the town has been looking into options for renovating the first floor of the town office. If voters approve borrowing $800,000 for the project, the Police Department would expand into the space formerly occupied by the Fire Department. That amount already has been offered to the town in the form of a low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

According to town officials, the project is likely to cost $640,000. The renovated police station would include larger offices, a processing and training room, and more room for storage of evidence and supplies.

Voters also will be asked to borrow $300,000 to put toward a new generator at the town’s water pump house on Long Pond. The pump house’s existing diesel-powered pump is working properly but town officials have said future regulations might require the town to stop using the diesel pump in order to better protect the water quality of Long Pond.

Voters will consider an overall proposed budget of about $7.5 million, of which about $3.17 million would be for municipal operations. Of the $7.5 million budget, $6.8 million would be funded through property taxes.

Based on expenditures recommended by selectmen and by its warrant committee, the mill rate would be $8.86 for each $1,000 of a property’s value, up from the current rate of $8.39.

In elections, the only contested race is for the town’s school committee. Michael Sawyer and incumbents Prentice “Skip” Strong and Amy Young are competing for two three-year positions on the board. printed on March 22, 2017


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Posted Dec. 05, 2010, at 6:34 p.m.

He lost his home by the sea
when he couldn’t pay the tax.
He had to move inland
and he took along his axe.

And every stick he chopped
to stoke his shack’s wood stove,
he saw as the neck of the rich
who now lived on the cove.

There they could see the sea
and the boat by which he made
a living, depending on
what shore-rich merchants paid.

And then one day a yacht
near swamped his fishing boat
while he was patching a crack
to try to keep afloat.

He kept afloat, then opened
the throttle all the way
and headed for open sea
far beyond the bay.

Though some of us saw him go,
none of us saw any more
of him or his boat. Maybe
he found a kinder shore.

Gerald George of East Machias has written books on museums, historic sites and libraries and is a member of the Salt Coast Sages group of writers.


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USDA helps give some Mainers a sense of home

Posted July 31, 2011, at 11:13 a.m.
Last modified July 31, 2011, at 5:09 p.m.

ROCKLAND, Maine — The lime-colored room filled with a Victorian bed is the first bedroom Ria Biley, 62, of Rockland has ever had to herself. The green, one-story 1960 ranch is the first home she ever bought on her own.

“I wake up. I hear the birds singing and smell the sea air, and I say ‘I’m home.’ It’s the first thing I think every day,” she said.

But she could not have done it alone.

Biley doesn’t have much money. Her credit isn’t stellar. Two successful battles against cancer (breast and skin) left her with disabilities. She receives a disability check each month and supplements that with some freelance writing. So it took the help of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Direct Single-Family Housing Program to get her a mortgage she could pay.

Because of Biley’s low income, she was given a 38-year mortgage with a 1 percent interest rate.

Biley pays $270 in principal and interest monthly on her $102,000 home. When added to the $293 she pays for local property taxes, she still pays less than most rents in Rockland.

“I couldn’t rent an apartment for this,” Biley said, pointing at her mortgage bill. “My taxes exceed my principal and interest.”

In July the USDA increased the maximum salary limitations for these low-income mortgages so more people can get the loans. Now a single person can make up to $32,200 a year and a family of four can make up to $46,000 and qualify in Rockland. Other counties’ limits vary.

“We can often put people into homes for cheaper than they can rent,” said Virginia Manuel, the state director of USDA Rural Development.

Further, many of the people who get loans from the USDA “are renting or are moving from a home that is falling down and would be expensive to repair and needs to move into another home that is safe to occupy,” Manuel said.

Biley is one of 1,559 Maine families that have been helped so far this year with about $193 million from the USDA. Last year the program dealt out $308 million to 2,472 Maine families. The families must show that they can pay back the loan. The payments then go back to the USDA to help fund the program for more people, according to Virginia Manuel, the state director of USDA Rural Development.

Only people in rural areas can get the loans — but almost all of Maine is rural. Portland, Westbrook, Biddeford, Lewiston and Auburn are about the only places that don’t qualify.

The result of the direct loan program, Manuel said, is that Mainers can build wealth and feel proud.

“There is nothing like the pride of homeownership,” Manuel said. “If homes can be purchased at a price where over time they can build equity, it helps Mainers build wealth over time. It gives Mainers a sense of security and pride and a commitment to community. There is nothing like owning your home and being able to do what you want to it, fix it up. It gives folks dignity, and we’re really happy to help them achieve that.”

Biley plans on a lot of little fix-ups. Just about every room in her three-bedroom home is pink. Pepto-Bismol pink.

“This is a very well-built house, but no one has done any cosmetic work,” Biley said standing in her kitchen. “Everything needs to be painted, scraped, polished.”

She said the bones are good. The rest can be fixed. She expects it will take two years. Because of her handicap, Biley relies on her friends to help her make her home a home.

For Biley, homeownership was a step into independence.

“It’s a start of my new life,” she said.

In 2009, when Biley’s house hunting began, she had just left a 27-year marriage. After two years of jumping around to five different apartments, living out of boxes, she closed on her home in February.

Most of Biley’s things are still stacked in boxes in her garage. But it’s her garage they’re stashed in. That’s the difference.

“I feel secure here after being a gypsy in my own town for two years,” she said.

Now all she has to do is weed, scrape, paint, scrub and fill her house with furniture.

“This needs to feel like home because it’s my last home. I’m coming out of here in an urn.”


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Just 100 votes separate candidates for 1st District Republican nomination; 3 towns left to report

Posted June 12, 2012, at 10:05 p.m.
Last modified June 13, 2012, at 9:22 a.m.

PORTLAND, Maine — Maine Senate Majority Leader Jon Courtney found himself in a neck-and-neck race with Portland Republican City Committee Chairman Patrick Calder to determine who will challenge Democratic incumbent Chellie Pingree for Maine’s 1st District U.S. House seat in the fall.

Late numbers Tuesday from Sanford and Lyman gave Courtney a slight lead in the race after Calder held an advantage of several hundred votes between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. And numbers reported Wednesday morning continued to build Courtney’s minuscule lead.

As results from different municipalities trickled in late Tuesday, the candidates traded moments in the lead and spent a significant portion of the night virtually tied.

But by 9 a.m. Wednesday, Courtney had 14,264 votes to Calder’s 14,103 — a difference of just 101 votes and just one-third of a percent. Still to report were Arrowsic, Chelsea, and Limerick. Just 4,085 registered voters live in those three towns combined. With voter turnout of about 10 percent, those 400 or so votes could cement Courtney’s lead or swing the election back in Calder’s favor.

“We’ve gone back and forth all night,” Calder said Tuesday evening. “However it ends up, it’ll be tight. I think it speaks to the strength of our message here that it’s this tight. I don’t think anybody expected it to be this tight. And if Jon does ultimately win, he’ll obviously have my full support.”

Calder, a relative political unknown before entering the race, controlled the vote in the earliest Cumberland County towns to report tallies, winning 6,957 votes there to Courtney’s 4,142. Calder’s hometown of Portland gave him a bump in the form of 71 percent of the vote in the city, 857 compared to 354 for Courtney.

Courtney held a dominant edge in his home York County, however, claiming a 4,708 to 1,939 advantage in the votes reported there.

Calder was the first to announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 1st District, in late January, and quickly built a reputation as being articulate and well-versed in political issues.

Courtney, who officially launched his campaign in early May, held an advantage in name recognition garnered through nearly 10 years in the state Legislature.

Courtney said he expects to monitor results into the morning.

“I think there’s a lot still out there,” he told the BDN. “We’re upside down in Cumberland County, of course, but there’s still some York County towns that haven’t reported yet.”

At a time when bipartisan rancor has been in the spotlight — thanks in part to longtime Republican U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe’s decision to leave politics over it — Courtney highlighted during the campaign his legislative history working across the aisle with Democrats on issues such as historic preservation and alternative energy.

But Courtney maintained his party bona fides as well, speaking out on behalf of Republican proposals to set aside future state budget surpluses to reduce income taxes, for instance.

Calder hosted a primary night party at his Portland home Tuesday night, where supporters gathered after the polls closed.

Courtney set up his election night celebration at Pat’s Pizza on Market Street in Portland, owned by fellow Republican Chris Tyll, a candidate for the District 11 seat in the Maine Senate. Tyll, a former Navy SEAL from North Yarmouth, accompanied Courtney in Deering Oaks Park during his campaign launch on May 3 as well.


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A History of the Papacy, Vol. 4 of 6 Vols

It's Free!

M. CREIGHTON, -- A History of the Papacy, Vol. 4 of 6 Vols., From The Great Schism to the Sack of Rome, by M. Creighton, D.D., From the PREFACE. "MY aim in this book is to bring together materials for a judgment of the change which came over Europe in the sixteenth century, to which the name of 'The Reformation’ is loosely given. I have attempted to do this from a strictly historical point of view, - by which I mean that I have contented myself with watching events and noting the gradual development of affairs. I have taken the history of the Papacy as the central point for my investigation, because it gives the largest opportunity for a survey of European affairs as a whole." This is another of the magnificent and extensive Scholarly Works that must form the foundation of any factual modern History of the period and subject covered. These old Historical Works must not be lost as they are the foundation for learning the facts of the past, the 'New History' that seek to present History in a manner that presents a religion or a church in a complimentary manner by hiding the unsavory facts is no History at all, but simply Propaganda. This New History began in religious schools but over the last century has became more general, even in secular and State institutions.
Emmett F. Fields

  • Model: CRE4
  • Author: Creighton, M.

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Monday, 26 July 2010

Nepolise Dreams on Orcs in the Webbe

Hello Barkers,

A shameless bit of self promotion from me this time and its all about my regular column on the 'Orcs on the Webbe' website.

Orcs on the Webbe is run by the omni talented Mr Craig Andrews a life long die hard fan of the black powder fantasy genre of gaming in which of course the mighty Flintloque stands centre and proud..original and best!

OITW is the place to get tons of free material for black powder gaming including scenarios, articles and much more. New and classic material sits side by side, a labour of love for all to enjoy.

Sat pride of place among all the goodies is the ITA (Inside the Alternative) column written by myself, based on questions asked by Craig that his viewers want answers to. The current ITA column is not the first and a list of the others can be seen on OITW. They are all worth reading and contain info that you might well not see anywhere else.

This time Orcs in the Webbe presents;

Nepolise Dreams!

An indepth look at the Todoroni of Nepolise.
A firm favourite and comedy filled nation in the World of Valon.

Have a Read - HERE

If you have a request for the subject of a furture ITA column then drop Craig a line or email me directly and I will certainly pass it on to him.

  1. I'm looking forward to reading this one tonight!!!!

  2. Enjoy!

    Its a good one.

Only Followers of this blog may post. Follow Us now to post comments. Word verification due to spamming.


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Friday, June 28, 2013

Oversight Committee Concludes IRS' Lois Lerner Waived her Fifth Amendment Rights

Today, the House Oversight Committee passed a resolution affirming that when IRS Tax-Exempt official Lois Lerner made nine assertions of fact back on May 22nd, she necessarily waived her fifth amendment rights, which she subsequently attempted to invoke. Here is a copy of the resolution that was ultimately passed along party lines.

Via Oversight Committee:
On a vote of 22-17, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today approved a resolution determining that IRS official Lois Lerner waived her 5th amendment rights when at a May 22, 2013 hearing she offered testimony and answered questions.

“Today’s vote brings us closer to hearing Ms. Lerner’s important testimony about the targeting of conservatives,” said Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif. “The Committee remains focused on hearing Ms. Lerner’s full and truthful testimony.”
Now that we are a step closer to Lerner having to come back to testify in front of the Oversight Committee, perhaps she can be asked about her decision to sign off on the 501(c)(3) application of Barack Obama's half-brother, Malik. Not only did Lerner approve the application in record time but she also illegally back-dated it 38 months, which is a crime.

That's not all. Evidence suggests that in so doing, Lerner became an accessory to terror funding.

Here is Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) today, making the case for passage of the aforementioned resolution. As usual, Gowdy shows the adolescents how it's done:

Here is the excerpt from Lerner's testimony on May 22nd, during which Gowdy first called her out for "telling her side of the story" and then invoking her fifth amendment rights. If not for Gowdy's alertness on May 22nd, the resolution that was passed today may never have been drafted:

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Baseball card prices and checklists for Topps cards,
Bowman cards, Fleer cards, Donruss cards & Leaf cards

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Saturday, February 20, 2010

I Love a Good Quiz

For those who enjoyed my other All-Star quizzes on Sporcle, I have two new ones up. This time the position is catcher. You can try your hand at the American League and the National League. Have fun and feel free to let me know how you did!

In other news, I'm sorry it's been slow around here lately. I've been preoccupied with several other interests this month, and I haven't had as much time for blogging. Never fear, though! I'm working on a post that I think will be really cool once it's done, and I'll probably have the next World Series winner profile up before too long also. Your patience will be rewarded.

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Beasts of the East

Baseball’s natural order has been restored in the Bronx. As the 26-time-World-Champion New York Yankees await their bitter rivals from Boston, they ride the crest of a magical 15-wins-out-of-17-games stretch that has propelled them into second place in the AL East, a half-game ahead of the 25-21 Red Sox. Three weeks ago, the gap between the Yankees and Red Sox seemed insurmountable, the Yankees’ six-game deficit twice as large as the one that defined the difference between the Yankees’ annual AL East championship season and their perennial bridesmaids’ tidy little second-place finish in 2004. Now, it is the Yankees who look at the lumbering corpse of the Red Sox bullpen in their rearview mirror, eyes forever on the prize – an eighth successive AL East title, with only the Orioles between them and the true measure of baseball glory.

Talk to any Yankee loyalist, and they’ll tell you that the season is 162 games long, not 11. Postseason laurels may be all well and good to Johnny-come-latelies like those jelly-bellied fellows in red and blue, but the true measure of dynastic dominance occurs in these weekends in Tampa and Kansas City, far from the madding crowds and patriotic bunting of October nights past.

Across town, even the Mets tip their caps to their crosstown chums’ consistency. “The Yankees were just pullin’ the old okey-doke,” reported Mets Manager Willie Randolph, elaborating that a series of shrewd moves by George Steinbrenner were merely the baseball equivalent of “laying in the weeds.” Steinbrenner moved Tony Womack to left field, a position at which he was rated -31 runs defensively, and decided to pay erstwhile reliever Steve Karsay the remainder of his 2005 salary to sit at home and watch such family fare as “Britney and Kevin: Chaotic.”

Karsay’s $6 million, after all, is mere pocket change to Steinbrenner, a man who regularly sacrifices “virgins and other undesirables” for his own pleasure in his enormous underwater complex off City Island. Recently on the crosstown bus, a woman of a certain age remarked that she thought the Karsay deal was a sound cutting of ties, adding that “Unlike the Yankees, Karsay chose not to go the extra distance for his fans in New York.”

To be fair, the Red Sox are worthy competition. Yet they’ll never amount to anything but the Yankees’ sinecure unless they finally win an AL East title. If there’s one thing the Yankee players admit, it’s that they’re only glad to be playing this weekend’s series on home turf; the drainage system at Fenway Park is so outdated that Gary Sheffield compares playing right field on a rainy day to “surfing on a washcloth,” and New England has been pounded by rain and miserable temperatures for days on end.

Indeed, a dark cloud, courtesy of a freak springtime weather pattern, hung over Boston all week – perhaps an omen of the increasingly likely fact that dark clouds just hang over the miserable Sox by dint of some decree from a higher power. Perhaps God, Enlil, Zeus, or some lesser voodoo deity simply has it in for the Red Sox, in the middle of their frustrating decade-long quest for AL East gold.

Murray Chass, a baseball columnist for The New York Times, is a former New York Yankees beat writer who helped set the standard in print journalism for the position of national baseball writer. He has covered baseball for more than 43 years.

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Even More Thoughts on My Mind.

The season is more than a month old now, and we're starting to see some pretty impressive rookies out there. The wheat, as they say, is starting to be separated from the chaff, and we're starting to see who's going to stick, as well as who's going to slide.

I have to start first with Rockies rookie Clint Barmes. This kid, a 10th-round pick from Indiana State, is hitting the lights out of the ball in the Mile High. Sure, the ball carries better there...but when you're hitting .389 with 24 RBIs and a .625 slugging percentage, who cares? Remember, it's pronounced bar-mess, like the way a pub looks after Larry Bowa gets "asked" to leave by security personnel. (Haha, Larry, just a little rookie ribbing there! Don't get mad at me. Seriously.)

Other top performers are Gustavo Chacin, one of our favorites around here because he looks...well, not like a nerd, but you get the picture; Jeremy Reed, who can really flash the leather out there in center for the M's; the Twins' Jason Bartlett and the Brewers' J.J. Hardy, who are a couple of other real leather boys at shortshop; and some others whom I hope to write down here before I hit Publish Post.

Everyone knows about rookie hazing in baseball. It made some waves last year when a player was shot while wearing a dress, the specifics of which I will also remember to look up before I publish this article. But from the stories the guys here tell, rookie hazing is just as much a part of baseball as the on-deck circle and Cracker Jack. I guess I'm wondering if these rookies are dealing with the pressure of getting "initiated" into the bigs as well as they are dealing with major league pitching and/or hitting.

I mentioned (JOKINGLY) the idea up there that we have our own little hazing here on the set. Of course, we wouldn't do that to Larry, a great manager and player who does not suffer fools lightly, which is to say he's got a mean streak a mile wide. But HR and I pulled a couple of pranks last year on the Krukenhammer that--well, I'm not supposed to tell tales out of school, but let's just say that the words "early morning wakeup call," "lipstick," and "35-pound Chinook salmon" will always crack me up.

But he got us back, believe you me. Well, he got me back; somehow, HR was always absent when one of Kruk's payback gags went off. Like the day my corned beef sub from Quizno's somehow "magically" ended up with habanero peppers in it, seeds and all -- haha, try pronouncing "Ichiro Suzuki" with second-degree burns on your tongue! That was a good one! -- how did HR know to bring his own lunch from home that day? That guy is like Lucky Seven Samson!

But that wasn't all. Kruk was a big-leaguer for so long that he's got a million of them. And that means I have had the chance to experience what it must be like for rookies. Magazines and pizzas ordered by someone else in your name? Check. Friendly card games that end up in you having to walk home in your Scooby Doo boxers? Check. Take a little nap in the office and wake up with genitalia scrawled on your face in Magic Marker? Oh, yeah, big-time check. Reynolds? The guy gets off scot-free, every time. Eyes in the back of his head!

But hey, I'm not complaining. It has given me a whole new insight into the rookie mindset. Not only are they adjusting to more money, more pressure, and more attention than they've ever gotten in their lives, but they are also learning to deal with other things, like having their entire body forcibly shaven and then slathered with Atomic Balm. (If you thought I seemed a little uncomfortable on last week's Thursday night show...I was! Hahaha! Ha!)

So you'll never hear me pick on a rook on the show. Hey, us guys going through post-traumatic shock disorder at the hands of big muscle-headed unfeeling jocks have a lot in common! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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