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Monday, July 20, 2009

Insect repellent

A few days ago Mrs. Goodneedle posted a lovely poem about gratitude and one of the verses was;

"When life gives me dark clouds and rain I appreciate the moisture that brings a soft curl to my hair."

Well, I've got the rain and the moisture and I guess I've got the soft curls too.

The rainy season is supposedly over. According to the Japanese weather bureau. Maybe someone should tell the weather. I missed most of the rainy season while I was in the States but this week we have had rain and thunder and HEAT and HUMIDITY. That's why the curls. But the heat and humidity also brings out the bugs which I find difficult to be grateful about but I do have some ways of battling the insects.

Traditionally Japanese ward off the ever present mosquitoes by burning incense coils. Since California never had mosquitoes I don't know how the rest of the world deals with mosquitoes but Japanese will often burn these coils in the garden or by the windows of their houses. Recently I've even seen farmers with incense burners hanging from their belts to protect them while they are in the fields. I have used incense coils especially for Choco out in the yard but occasionally will burn them at night in the house. One coil will burn for about 7 hours and make for a mosquito free evening. I'm not sure how great all that smoke is for the lungs but it does have a nostalgic aroma which is not unpleasant.

Another way that Japanese will protect themselves from mosquitoes is to hang nets from the ceiling and sleep under them at night. I think this method is going by the wayside though because the nets take up space and only seem to work with traditional type rooms. Tetsu remembers using mosquito nets when he was a boy.

A more modern way to keep the mosquitoes away is by this nifty little machine that plugs into the wall. The center heats up and a small mat about the size of an eraser is placed on the heating element. I think there must be pesticides or something that will dissipate into the air when the mat is heated and I often use my mosquito repellent gadget at night. No smoke or smell and I just replace the mat every night before going to bed.

And in the event that the mosquitoes get through all the smoke and pesticides, there is a wonderful product called Unako-wa which relieves itchiness. It must have menthol or something in it because one dab and the itchy area is cool and tingly and no longer itches. Tetsu goes through a bottle or two of this each mosquito season...

So, we are grateful to all the people who have invented ways to keep mosquitoes at bay.

Mimi said...

Hi Tanya,

I absolutely HATE mosquitos. I usually just go inside when they start coming after me. They love my blood!! If my hubby and I are outside together, they will leave him alone and come feast on me!

I don't use repellent much, but in our area there is a new gadget being advertised that you clip on your belt or put on the table near you and it keeps the offenders away.

Glad you've found some things that work for you.

G'G'ma said...

Hate mosquitos too. We've had more than our share this year. With all the rain, flooding and water standing in ditches there has been an endless supply of breeding places. I've heard that mosquitos like women better than men. That liking I can do without!!

Allie said...

I hate them too. Avon's Skin-So-Soft works for me though, and it worked on my boys when they were small. They haven't tried it lately, it's too "girly".

Marcie said...

In Australia we have two other weapons against mozzies - personal repellent and window screens. The best-known repellent is Aeroguard, available as a spray or roll-on, but any repellent containing DEET (diethyltoluamide)will work. Most homes are also fitted with screens of fine aluminium mesh to keep flies and mosquitos out. We also have fly-wire doors, an extra lightweight door fitted to external doorways. But every now and then, a pesky mosquito sneaks in, whining ominously just as you're dropping off to sleep.

anareis said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Timi said...

In Hungary, this year, we have mosquitoes, lots of them...:O((
We can't go to the playground with the children because there are mosquitos anywhere!
The only protection is the net, so we use nets on every windows. I'm so surpised you have the same problem with these bugs as we do...

The Calico Quilter said...

My sister-in-law definitely needs one of those mosquito repellant machines. The bugs absolutely love her, and she is miserable all summer. The funny thing is, they barely live 1/4 mile from my mom and I never see a mosquite at mom's house. Maybe their garden and the flowers all over her yard provide breeding grounds for the bugs, whereas mom's yard is very flat and mostly clear.

quiltmom said...

HI Tanya,
We do get mosquitos and they do love to eat me- We have some of the coils and have used Skin So soft by Avon . As well, we use citronella candles outside on the deck. I try not to go walking in the grass at night as the mosquitos are the worst there then. If I do then I use what is called OFf bug repellent.
It seems like you have been a very busy lady. Hope you are getting some time to rest and relax too. Hope your mother is doing well since your return to Japan.
Warmest regards,

Rose Marie said...

We use the coils when we are at our cottage. Due to West Nile Fever (which has arrived in our area of the country), we don't sit outside around dusk and if I work in the garden then I will spray on some muskoil or some other mosquito repellent.


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Award medal for club's
25th anniversary

Arizona Tucson, Arizona, 10 Km. Walk

DATE: Saturday, November 4, 2017.

AVA EVENT NUMBER: 108460. One event.

START/FINISH LOCATION: Kennedy Park, Tucson, AZ.

DIRECTIONS: Kennedy Park, 3700 S. La Cholla Blvd. The park is at the intersection of Ajo Way and La Cholla Blvd. If you are on Ajo Way, turn right onto La Cholla. Take the 2nd left turn into the park. Ramada 34 will be the first one on your right. Due to the construction on I-19 at Ajo Way you cannot exit there. Take I-19 south to exit 89 (Irvington). Go right (west) one mile to Mission Rd. Turn right (north) on Mission one mile to Ajo Way. Turn left 0.5 mile to La Cholla. Take the second left into Kennedy Park. Ramada 34 is the first one on the right.

START/FINISH TIME: Start: 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Finish by 2:00 pm.

TRAIL DESCRIPTION: This walk is mostly on desert trails in the foothills of the Tucson Mountains. The trails are well maintained, however there are parts that are rocky. Similar to the walk from Coyote Pause. Like the route from Coyote Pause, the 10 has an uphill section to scenic views of the Tucson valley. Trail rating 2B.

REGISTRATION LOCATION: Same as the Start/Finish point.

REGISTRATION TIME: Day of the event, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

EVENT AWARD: There will be no special award ("A" award) for this walk.

IVV Credit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3.00
Walk Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Free

IVV Record Books will be available for purchase at $6.00 each. "New Walker's Packets" will be available for $5.00 each.

This event will be held regardless of weather conditions. There will be no refund for those not showing up or not completing the events.

ELIGIBILITY: Everyone is eligible. Children under 12 must bring an adult. Pets must be on a leash at all times and controlled.

WATER/RESTROOMS: Water will be available at the Start/Finish. It is strongly recommended you carry water while on the trail. Restrooms will be available at the Start/Finish Point.

FOOD: Available at restaurants in the area.

DISCLAIMER: Participants in this event do so at their own risk. Every effort is made to have the event safe, enjoyable and memorable, but the organizers and any cooperating group helping with the event assume no responsibility for lost or stolen property, or accidents or injury at anytime. The event will be held regardless of the weather. There will be no refunds for pre-registrants who do not participate.

WALKING THE USA, A - Z SPECIAL AWARD: This walk is in Tucson, Arizona, and qualifies for the letter "T" for AVA's Walking the USA, A - Z Special Award Program.

WEATHER: Check here for weather conditions in Tucson.

Click for Tucson, Arizona Forecast

Fred Barton - 520/298-4340 - E-mail: fbarton2@cox.net

If you would like to be placed on the Klub's e-mail distribution list for its events flyers and other walking information, please send your name and e-mail address to:

Sanctioned Event - Eligible for credit toward IVV Achievement Awards

Last updated: September 13, 2017

Click Here Books about
Hiking & Walking

Click Here Books about Arizona

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Monday, December 10, 2012

DAP Congress: DAP Need To Beat PAS Before Knocking BN Out

DAP Socialist Youth (DAPSY) and DAP Women is now held in conjunction of DAP National Congress which is scheduled to be held in December 15 and 16. This congress would be their last congress before the coming 13th General Election. Thus, we are expecting a great congress, just like how Muktamar PAS and UMNO General Assembly (PAU) where the number of attendance were just huge. Muktamar PAS showed how members had to queue up just to get to the toilet which PAU as usual caused heavy traffic congestion not just on the road, even the hall was filled with people where even walking from a point to another seemed impossible. But, the DAP Socialist Youth (DAPSY) and DAP Women congress seems a bit different. Chinese newspapers raised this matter and few of them reported that the number of attendance for DAP Women is only at 33.8% even though that is their first meeting. While the attendance for DAPSY was only at 53%. Denying the matter only shows an early sign that DAP is having an issue, their leaders gave the excuse that small attendance is just a normal matter for the party and it does not mean that they are getting weaker. Even a political watchdog, Ng Whien Chin, mentioned that the matter would not deter DAP's chance to maintain their power in Penang based on the fact that most rakyat in Penang still favor DAP over BN that they are willing to just ignore all of DAP's weaknesses and wrong doings. What was mentioned by Ng proved that DAP only rely on the strategy to spread hate towards BN so that they could remain in power. Or to be more clear, all these while, DAP has only been playing the emotional game with rakyat, raising racist matters and prejudice towards the government which is being led by Malays. DAP hopes that rakyat would be filled with hate that they can no longer be rational. When this happens, all of the party's negative actions will never be questioned, making them invincible. Ng's observation is true if it is a few years back. But, it is a bit false if we are to see it in this current situation. Perhaps Ng should should think again, how can rakyat hate BN only because DAP told them to when BN kept on giving them good service? The peaceful and luxurious life which the Chinese gets to live is all due to BN's great management. There is no way that the Chinese could be where they are today if BN which is led by UMNO is weak, corrupt, stupid, lazy and unjust. That is why, to beat BN, DAP would need to prove that their party is far bettwem transparent, democratic and more fair than BN. It is quite sad that rakyat manages to see how DAP, led by Lim Dynasty as well as Singh and how freedom of press was even violated only because they criticized DAP. and how crual Lim Dynasty is when they simply sack their members and DAp leaders only because they criticized his actions and decisions. DAP is also not embarrassed when they dedicate their party's official website for Teoh Beng Hock, forgetting that the death of Teoh was triggered from a corruption investigation involving one of DAP leaders. When the fat is, DAP was very happy for his death because he was one of the main witnesses and his death somehow really slowed down the investigation. That is why, for those who sees the dedication as something good from DAP, they have definitely been surrounded by hate against BN where they cannot think rationally anymore. Despite that, we believe that DAP members are beginning to see all that and the process is slowly growing from the party and even to rakyat. The evidence, the low attendance rate at the congress. To gain back the attention of their members, DAP cannot hide the clash of opinions among their allies in PR in this congress. They do not have any other choice but to talk about the issue of hudud, Islamic state as well as who would become the next Prime Minister. We need to remember that PAS has vowed to continue with their agenda during their recent Muktamar which was attended by thousands of their supporters, a great slap in the face for DAP. For that, DAP need to show PAS who's boss and who is the slave in the coalition, or the party will lose its votes in the coming GE. This is because, DAP's Chinese supporters cannot sit under or at the same level as PAS, PKR or just about any other races out there. DAP should accept the fact that the strategy of spreading hate messages on UMNO/BN is irrelevant and it is not enough to maintain their power in Penang. Perhaps, DAP's congress should focus on how to bring PAS down, before going against BN in the election.

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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Question/ Comment

How will the future of teacher student relations in the classrooms be?

From Knowledgable to Knowledge-able: Learning in New media Environments

From Knowledgable to Knowledge-able: Learning in New media Environments
By Michael Wesch
            This is a very good article on a timely issue. I like to cite some quotations from the article which underlie the arguments of the author.
            “This new media environment can be enormously disruptive to our current teaching methods and philosophies. As we increasingly move toward an environment of instant and infinite information, it becomes less important for students to know, memorize, or recall information, and more important for them to be able to find, sort, analyze, share, discuss, critique, and crate information.”
            As a college student I can easily relate these statements to my experiences. Almost everything is stored and available in the media, so that, there is no need to memorize anything. However, I am sometimes challenged to sort and analyze the information that is readily available in the media.
            “To understand the true potentials of this ‘information revolution’ on higher education, we need to look at beyond the framework of information. For at the base of this ‘information revolution’ are new ways of relating to one another, new forms of discourse, new ways of interacting, new kinds of groups, and new ways of sharing, trading, and collaborating.”
            It seems to me that the statement of “information revolution” is rightly used what is going on in the digital media today. It is a revolution changing almost everything in our life.
“This is a social revolution, not a technological one, and its most revolutionary aspect may be the ways in which it empowers us to rethink education and the teacher-student relationship in an almost limitless variety of ways.”
As Michael Wesch states, in the changes coming by the new media environment the most important thing is not its technological dimension, but its social impact. The new information technology is re-shaping out social relations including the teacher-student relations.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

the question

should we have more schools teaching about sex and what it is and how to use birth control for middle and high school age or should we have schools teach abstinence

Introduction: Are Teenagers Necessary? And The Teenage Mystique

Introduction: Are Teenagers Necessary?
The Teenage Mystique
By Thomas Hine

I like to cite three quotes from readings “Introduction: Are Teenagers Necessary?” and “The Teenage Mystique.”
“Anne Freud theorized that the experience of adolescence is so filled with pain, trauma, and turmoil that our conscious minds suppress it. There is a serious problem with this theory, though. Survey after survey of young people show that they are not miserable at all. They have problems, of course, but they feel confident about coping with them” (p. 2).
I agree with Thomas Hine that Anne Freud’s theory is problematic. My personal experience and observations do not fit this theory. Adolescents or teenagers are not filled with pain, trauma and turmoil. They experience problems but adults experience problems, too. Teenagers should not be characterized with those words.

“Our beliefs about teenagers are deeply contradictory. They should be free to become themselves. They need many years of training and study. They know more about the future than adults do. They know hardly anything at all. They ought to know the value of a dollar. They should be protected from the world of work. They are frail, vulnerable creatures. They are children. They are sex fiends. They are the death of culture. They are the hope of us all” (p. 11).
I used to hear these kinds of statements about teenagers, but I am surprised when I see all of them together. If adults or society are so confused about who teenagers are how they can developed solutions for the problems of teenagers? I think one of the reasons of this confusion is that teenagers are not a homogeneous group. There are many kinds of teenagers. From thirteen to fifteen, there are big differences among them.

“On the night of June 6, 1997, an eighteen year old woman from Fork River, New Jersey, gave birth to a six pound-six ounce baby boy in the women’s rest room of the catering hall where her high school senior prom was taking place. Her son was found dead, tied in a plastic bag in a trash can in the lavatory where he was born. His mother meanwhile was dancing, smiling, and to all outward appearances, enjoying what’s supposed to be a magical night” (p. 12).
This is really an unacceptable crime. The mom was cruel. It is hard to understand what kind of a personality she had. Her behaviors must be condemned. However, it is also hard how this event can be used to characterize a very large group of people called teenagers. Obviously, a teenager did something very wrong. There are also many adults doing things worse that what she did. Should we use to characterize adults by using the crimes committed by some adults. I think this is unfair.

Monday, February 11, 2013

How munch is the media influential in shaping the teenagers' consuming behaviors?

A Tangle of Discourses: Girls Negotiating Adolescence

A Tangle of Discourses: Girls Negotiating Adolescence
By Rebecca C. Raby

Parents brace themselves for the challenges that are assumed to come when their
children enter their teenage years, and many parents turn to advice columns,
books, talk shows and therapists for guidance.
In an interesting shift from this standard discourse of adolescence, Laurence
Steinberg’s research suggests that the teen years are ‘stormier’ for parents than
for teenagers (p. 431).

The statements above make a lot of sense to me. I think that the metaphor “storm” explains a dimension of teenage hood. Yes teenage years are story years for youth. However, it seems to me that it is more stormy for parents than it is for adolescents. Many parents assume that their adolescent children will do something wrong. This assumption is in the culture of adults. Parents are mostly over concerned about their teenage children. This concern directs them to discipline and control the behaviors of their children. In turn, their over protective behaviors irritate teenagers and make them rebellious.

“Youth today are courted as a high-consumer group, and are modeled in the media as the ideal age, with teenage hood constituting the onset of ‘the best years of your life’. Social historians often connect the emergence of adolescence to processes of production and patterns of consumption (Kett, 1977; Adams, 1997). (…) Today, youth not only advise their families on how to spend money, but are identified as a group with both free time and disposable income (Palladino,1996)” (p. 437).

The discourse of adolescence as “Pleasurable Consumption” and considering the role of media in the construction of this discourse is also meaningful. Today teenagers as a group are seen as profitable consumers. It is very obvious. When we go to mall or similar shopping places we see that most of the shoppers are teenagers. It is also seen in all TV and magazines advertisements. Teenagers are shopping in all places. In addition they advise their parents what to buy. In this context, an important point is that they are heavily influenced by the fashion industry and media. Whatever is commonly advertised in media, it becomes trendy and it is bought by teenagers.

“The present paper has examined key dominant discourses that frame adolescence, the investments behind these discourses and some of the contradictions embedded within and between them. (…) Clearly this discussion is simply a beginning, as these discursive patterns intersect with, and are disrupted by, class, race, gender and sexuality.(…) Discourses are not monolithic and unchanging; quite the contrary. Their study allows us to de-naturalize taken-for-granted assumptions (p. 446).

The five discourses of adolescents identified by the author are not clear cut categories. Also they are not universal. They are affected by race, culture, social class, gender and other similar factors. They cannot be seen as unchanging. Specifically, social class and culture, like media, influence teenage behaviors.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

My question is what do we have to do to teach teenagers  and young girls about self-esteem and the media in TV shows and also in movies?

Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us

Elif Ozcan

 Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us
Linda Clmstenscn

This author Linda Clmstenscn argues that TV shows for children are bad to watch. They are sexist and racist movies and cartoons that children watch as well as adults. The article talks about how little girls see the fairy tales such as Cinderella, and cartoons like Mulan and Aladdin as nice stories. They are influenced by these kinds of productions and begin waiting for a charming prince to come and take them to happy places. Also it teaches young girls and teenagers that African American people are fat and lower class.  They also teach children not to do anything with lower class and racially and culturally diverse people. The article also said that all these girls learn that being pretty, and having a nice and rich husband is what they need. These movies and cartoons teach children at an early age that this is what the world is. Also there are other movies like the three movies that the article talks which show in wrong ways how non-white and poor people live in their culture. Another issue is that these kinds of movies and cartoons teach that our step sisters and brothers are evil.  If your mom or dad marries to someone and if they have children then they will be evil.  It teaches our children that this really is what happens. Also they show how step mothers and fathers are horrible. How they make their husband’s daughter clean the house, and make dinner. It doesn't show that in real life step parents and families are not like this. I think there is need for movies showing the positive side s of blended families; movies showing that any parent can be loving and caring. Also there should be a fairy tale with gay parents. In all movies good parents  are all strait people. It would show children that having a different family is great. Also being a different race such as African American or being from a different country such as Egypt or China should not be seen as a disadvantage. I know it is getting better but we have to still show how different cultures and races are also great to be with.


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Heartwarming / A Death To Remember

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Heartwarming / Escape From Alcatraz

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Heartwarming / I Lucifer

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Monday, September 7, 2015

18th Century Wig... a simple hack

I've been a very bad blogger as of late. I've been doing mostly commission work, and EGLolita. The project that I'm going to share with you is for me, but is also in the style EGL. The community that I sometimes attend events with is having an Over the Top Tea. I've decided to do a rococo themed coord. To start that out I've decided to style an 18th century Tall Ship wig.

I started out with a copy of 18th Century Hair. I highly recommend that book. Lots of good information there.

I'm not going to go into step by step detail on how to make this wig, because you'll need to buy the book for that, however I am going to share how I "hacked" these instructions.

First off I started with an inexpensive full lace wig. I decided on a lace front because I've dyed my hair hot pink and mint green... this would NOT blend into a wig well. so I chose a lace front to look as natural as possible. I've done non-lace before, and the hair line is particularly non-natural. So, on a lark I decided to try a lace, just to try it out. I like it. I only mention this because the book doesn't offer a lace wig as an option. So that right there is a little hack. from the same company, and in the same color # I bought an elastic fall.

The main part of this little hack has to do with the materials list given in the book... I didn't want to buy all that stuff... like lots of different weaving hair in different textures. I just thought the whole thing was a bit extreme... so here is what I did...

First, I put the lace front wig on a form and mapped out a pattern to make the wire form. If you have the book you'll notice that my form is considerably smaller than what is in the book, this is because I'm doing Lolita... I want over the top, but humorously, a real rococo ship wig is really, really, big, much bigger than I need.

The book would have you at this point cover the wire form with ratted weaving hair. I didn't want to buy more hair, so I instead first covered the form with black felt.

After I covered the form with felt, I sprayed it down with spray adhesive. Then I stuck polyfill to the back and sides of the form.

Once I had the shape I was looking for, I spray painted the poly fill flat black.

At this point I sewed the form to the wig, pulled apart the elastic fall, and used that hair to cover
the back of the form, build the sausage curls and the loose curls at the base of the neck.

This is what the elastic fall looked like as I was taking it apart.
And here is the finished wig:

Friday, November 14, 2014

Strapped Regency Petticoat... a mini tutorial

Many years ago my friend Katherine showed me how to make this petticoat. I asked her if she would mind me posting a mini tutorial on it's construction, and she happily agreed.

Katherine is quite small... I call her 2/3rds scale, so this is her pattern but made to be me sized. I'm a typical American size 10, and am 5 ft 3in tall. That being said, my underbust is 36 inches and my petticoats length is 42 inches.

To make this petticoat you will need:
2 yards of linen (I used 50 inch wide)
4 sets of hooks and eyes
your measurements.... underbust and skirt length ( measure from your underbust, down your side to your ankle bone>>> you don't want this petticoat to be seen under your skirt or to be to the ground.)

If you want to put pin tucks at the hem of your petticoat add 1 inch per pintuck.... make your pintucks 1/2 an inch wide. I put 2 pin tucks at the bottom of my petticoat so I added 2 inches making the total length of my skirt panel 45 inches.... please remember to also add 1 inch for seam allowances at the top and bottom of the skirt. So for example if I wanted my petticoat not to have any pintucks I would cut my skirt panels at 43 inches.

Note about cutting Linen:
to find true grain in linen, find a thread at the salvage edge and pull... the thread may break, that's o.k. find it again, and pull until you have removed the thread from salvage to salvage. You will now have a straight line that runs along your material from salvage to salvage. Cut along that line. You will be using this method to cut all the pieces for this petticoat. You will be cutting 5 pieces.

#1 & # 2 skirt pieces. (bolt width x skirt length.... remember to add for both seam allowance and if your adding pin tucks)
#3 waistband (3 inches x underbust length + 3 inches... my under bust is 36 so I cut my waistband at 39 inches)
#4 & #5 shoulder straps (3 inches x bolt width... I suggest you cut one bolt width in half, so that the shoulder strap is considerably longer than you will need. That way you can simply attach the shoulder strap in back, put the petticoat on and mark the correct length for yourself. However my straps are 21inches if that helps in anyway.)

Mark your Waistband

Pin your waistband on at your underbust. You want to have the ends so that the pin is secured so that the backside edge is 1/2 an inch from the pin (seam allowance) and on the front side is 2 1/2 inches from the pin (seam allowance plus placket closure). Turn the waistband so that the closure is toward your RIGHT side back. You dont want it at center back, but you want it to be about a handwidth or so from your armpit. Now with a water soluable pen, mark were you think logically your side seam would be if you were wearing modern clothes. This doesn't have to be perfect... it's simply the place that YOU think would be the bestplace to start your skirt gathers. Next mark center front.... that's right there in the center between your boobs.

ok... now take off the waistband.
Pin the ends together just as it was on your body
make a mark at 2 1/2inches on the waistbands placket side... this should be right where your pin is.
fold at your center front mark.
match up the sides and pin through both layers of fabric at the mark you made for the begining of your skirt gathers. Make a mark at that pin on the fabrics other side.
fold the fabric all the way to the other edge... where the fabric naturally folds is your center back. Mark your center back as well. now take a quick measurement from center front to your skirt gathers starting point. Write that down.

Mark your skirt panels
Make a quick decision what panel is front and what is back.
both panels you need to mark center. The front however you also need to mark the begining of your skirt gathers.... make sure you mark that on both LEFT sand RIGHT sides of the fabric.

Construct your skirt....
right sides together, on the wearers LEFT sew all the way down the length of the side seam. On the wearers RIGHT leave 7-12 inches open at the top. You can if you choose roll the salvage edges and have a proper placket.

hem the skirt and put in pin tucks .... I'm not going to include that.... there are lots of tutorials out there for pin tucks.

Run 2 rows of gathering stitches, 1/4 of an inch and 1/2 an inch from the raw top edge. Your going to do this in two places.... one on the front skirt panel RIGHT SIDE  from the placket edge your "start skirt gathering here" mark, and another on the front skirt panel LEFT SIDE  from the "start skirt gathering here" mark to the back panel through the center back all the way to the back placket edge.

Attach waistband to skirt

decide what side is going to be the inside edge of your waistband.  On that edge sew a stay stitch 1/2 inch from the raw edge. Fold the waistband in half horizontally and using a 1/2 inch seam allowance close up the waistbands side edges.

With the waisbands outside side to right side of skirt, match up all marks (front edge of placket, start skirt gathering, center front, start skirt gathering, center back, back edge of placket) pull gathering threads to match waistband length.

Sew waistband to skirt, stroke your gathers to keep them pretty. Fold the waistband along the stay stitching, and pin that edge to the skirts interior. you and eitherhand stitch the inside edge or stitch in the ditch.

Attach 4 sets of hooks and eyes at the closing placket.

Shoulder straps

fold the shoulder straps horizontally right sides together. Using a 1/2 inch seam allowance, turn the tubes right sides out and press. Sew the shoulder straps 2 1/2 inches on either side of the center back mark.

Put the petticoat on and find where to place the shoulder straps in front. You will want them towards the sides. Sew the shoulder straps in place and your petticoat is ready to wear.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Making of... Tennis Dress #3

Frances Grimble’s Bustle Fashions 1885-1887 has a pattern for a front apron that is very similar to LACMA’s Tennis Dress. Although that pattern overlaps much further in the front than I wanted. An overlap that far would make it impossible to have the skirt attached to the bodice as the LACMA’s Tennis Dress is.

That being the case I decided to either draft or drape my own front apron. I spent quite a while looking at the Frances Grimble pattern and could never really figure out how to alter her pattern to make it useable. I gave up and tried my hand at draping the front apron.

It was much easier than I had thought. I very quickly, within an hour, had the perfect shape. I was lucky with this dress, because the fabrics stripe helped me to find the originals straight of grain, and by counting the stripes, I easily estimated the horizontal lengths. There are three pleats at the waistband and three pleats at the side seam. I was a bit confused by the hem edge. The original has a one inch hem. This seemed strange to me, because that edge has an extreme curve and I worried that it would bunch oddly there. I decided that I would use a bias strip of polished cotton to hem the overskirt. I caught the cotton lace trim up in the bias hem, so all the raw edges are nice and tidy.

 Another worry that I had was how to make the pocket in the under skirt accessible when the overskirt was installed. I decided to accomplish this by pleating the side seam of the over skirt and covering its raw edges with polished cotton bias tape. I then whipped stitched the overskirts front apron side seam by hand to the under skirt.

The back drape was much easier to construct. It’s a full bolt width and one yard in length. The waist band edge is knife pleated with a box pleat at center back. The sides are blind hemmed by hand with a half inch hem. The bottom hem is finished like the hem of the overskirt. I used a bias strip of polished cotton and caught the cotton lace trim up in the hem.

The back drape is tacked up with hooks and eyes.

The closure of this skirt is done so that both the over and underskirt share a waist band. The underskirt closes at center front, but the over skirts waistband crosses in a wrap closure.

I followed the instructions for Making a Round Bodice on pg 264 on Frances Grimbles Bustle Fashions 1885-1887. “ Cut and piece the lining as directed for a basque bodice, with the exception that you cut it only 2 inches below the waist all around.”

I enlarged the “Plain Basque” pattern on pg 74. The only alteration that I made to the pattern was to make the back and side back pattern pieces all in one. I thought it best to make the princess back seams faux. I made up the mock up out of my lining polished cotton. I altered it to fit, and when I was happy with it, I cut it apart and used it as my pattern to cut out of my fashion fabric.
I boned the bodice with Rigilene boning. The inspiration dress from LACMA has a gathered center front that I believe is a separate piece of fabric. I didn’t make a pattern piece for this, I just cut two rectangles of my fashion fabric gathered one edge and pinned it in place. I did this a few times and finally I found a look that I liked. The waist band is a strip of fabric torn on the grain, sewn to the bottom edge of the bodice and flipped up over the fashion side of the bodice. The collar is also a strip of fabric torn on grain. It’s trimmed in cotton lace. The center front buttons are faux. The bodice actually closes with hooks and thread bars.

The sleeve pattern is a two piece style with a curved elbow. I have used this particular pattern many times and actually drafted it for a 1780’s zone front anglaise. The only changes I made were to bring in the sleeves side seams at the shoulder only, 1/2” on each side, so 2” total. I also shortened the sleeve so that the cuff falls midway between my wrist and elbow. The sleeve is lined in polished cotton and trimmed with cotton lace.

OK... after a week of posting this info to you all I feel like I've run a marathon!! lol!

I hope you all enjoyed it, and it wasn't too annoying to see my name YET AGAIN on you friends page. I said it in the comments before, but I'll say it again here. Thank you all for inspiring me. I hope these posts are of use to you. :)

Making of... Tennis Dress #2

I decided to make a skeleton corset for this project. I had found a simple skeleton corset on a Tumblr Blog, called The Ornamented Being, about a year ago.

The Met Lightweight summer corset ca. 1871 “This skeleton-like corset is unique in form, for it is lighter and less restricting. The open spaces make it a cooler and comfortable choice for warmer weather. Most likely, this corset would be worn with casual day wear, due to its simplicity, the only detail being the lace trim at top.”

Although this corset is from 15 years earlier, this shape of corset was rather standard for a Victorian era. The Met doesn’t have any other pictures/views of this corset. I have no idea how the closure at the back looks so I did some searching about and found a similar corset in the private collection of Amanda Lerum. Her blog is here:

These pictures gave me a very good idea of how to make the overall pattern. Although the original Met corset has a very interesting button closure that I was eager to duplicate.

Corsets Construction
The inspiration corset is made wholly of cotton of one form or the other. On that vein I searched out my stash and found cotton sateen for the center corded waist panel, cotton bone casing from farthingales. 5/8th” india tape for the bindings, and cotton croquet yarn for the cording. All the bones are 1/4” flat steal. I used lacing bones at the center back, and one lacing bone to secure the buttons at center front. I did use spiral steel bone at the center front. I needed the flexibility at that point to work the button through it’s hole.

The first thing I did was to make a corded panel with the cotton sateen, cotton duck and the croquet cotton yarn. I used a zipper foot, and sandwiched the yarn between the sateen and duck. Doing the cording this way makes the top layer of sateen corrugated, but leaves the bottom duck layer smooth. Also, making the entire panel first and than cutting out the pattern piece gives a much more accurate shape than cutting out the piece and than cording it. I than made to my waist measurements, minus 2 inches for lacing gap, a pattern for the center corded waistband panel.

I bound the edges (top, bottom, and center back) with 5/8” inch india tape. Next was the button closure at center Front. Obviously a button closure has two pieces. The over placket (button hole side), and the under placket, button side. I was very concerned that the tension that the center front of a corset endurs, would be too much tension on a typical button closure, and the result would be that the button would tear out of it’s placket. I decided that I would use a lacing bone to create a stable surface to attach the button. A lacing bone is a 1/2” flat steel bone that has 1/4” holes drilled down the length of the bone at 1” intervals. I bought my lacing bones from Farthingales. I sewed the button through the placket fabric, through the hole of the lacing bone, and in the back to a small button to keep the thread from tearing through the placket fabric. One the top edge of the fabric I made a substantial thread shank for the button. I used two kinds of buttons for this corset, the front button is a rather large 5/8” shell, button, and the back is a smaller 1/2”? 3/8” shell button, both having 2 holes the larger being vintage, I think from the 1940‘s. The over placket has 4 vertical button holes, and a spiral steel bone along the outside edge. I was concerned that the button would rip through it’s hole. The bone along that edge seems to keep it in place. The Center back is a set of lacing bones covered in 5/8” boning tape from Farthingales. I used 00 two part grommets.

Next, to find the placement of the rest of the bones, I put on the corset and simply pinned on 1/2” boning tape where I thought would be best. I did one side and through trial and error worked out the best placement. I slid 1/4” flat steel bones into the tape and used the 5/8” india tape to find the right placement for the top and bottom edge. Once I was happy with the left side I duplicated it on the other. I decorated the corsets top edge with a piece of cotton lace from my stash. Although this corset gives me no reduction in the waist, I am extremely pleased with it for one reason. I am extremely short wasted. From my armpit to waist is about 5 inches, compared to the standard 7-8 inches. The way the corded waist panel sits forces my waist down and lengthens my waist 1 1/2”! and it does it very comfortably! This has become my new favorite corset!

I decided right off that I wanted to make an exact replica of LACMA’s tennis dress. I had gone to the museum and taken quite a few pictures of the tennis dress. I was very good about taking close up pictures of the fabric.

I used these pictures and sampled them in photoshop. I used a small portion 1”x 1”, and imported that sample to Spoonflower. Spoonflower offers the designer the option to tile the image in different ways. It was not a difficult project, but it was a bit frustrating having to wait for the next sample print. I did quite a few printings to get the colors right. After three printings I got a print that I was happy with.

This is a picture that I took of my inspiration dress in the museum.

You can see my Tennis Dress fabric here:

The LACMA has posted some great internal pictures of the Tennis Dress. From the picture it was clear to me that the bustle wires were part of the dress. Also the skirts pleats did not go up into the bustles base. I was fairly certain that the under skirt had a yoke top. Grimble’s book Bustle Fashions 1885-1887 offers an example of a pleated skirt with a yoke.

I didn’t want to take the time to figure out where to put the bustle wires but I already had in my stash both the wire kit and the pattern for Truly Victorian 101. So I used the yoke pattern pieces and its accompanying wire kit to build the underskirts yoke and bustle. The only alteration that I needed to add was to add a strip of material to the back yoke so that the bottom edge of the yoke was level with the ground. The skirt was easy enough to do. I cut four bolt widths of fabric to the length I needed, hemmed it and pleated it to the yoke.

After I got it all together I remembered that I needed to add a pocket. So I pulled one side apart and added a pocket.

The internal bustle tapes of LACMA's extant gown

The extant gowns pocket

The Grimble yoke skirt, and the TV 101 pattern.

You can see my pocket.

Making of... Tennis Dress #1

This is my Documentation that My friend and I entered at Costume Con this past weekend. We won Best in Show for this Documentation so I thought you all might like to see at least my half of it. Our entry was titled "Tennis Anyone?" and was two 1885 bustle tennis gowns. We also won Best in Show Historical Recreation, Best in Show in Master division, Best in Show in  Workmanship.

There's lots of information about early lawn tennis that I won't include here but needless to say, that this type of gown is pretty specialized. Not in a way that would matter greatly to our modern eye, but to Victorians these tiny deviations from the norm were very "sporty" as my husband would call it. The gowns were cotton and "light" (snerk... how can 9 yards be considered "light") shorter than typical, some had attached bustles, the corsets were specialized for heat, either being a skeleton, ventilated, or a more simplified version of a corset such as a "Good Sense corset waist".

My plan is to upload my documentation by piece... Combinations, boots, corset, hat, underskirt, overskirt, and bodice. But to keep my audience a little bit interested, here is my finished gown.

I’d never made a set of combinations before, nor had I ever drafted up a pattern from one of Frances Grimbles books. I used the combination pattern on pg 30 of Bustle Fashions 1885-1887. This book is filled with patterns that use The National Garment Cutter System, to enlarge the patterns.

I used Jen Thompson's video tutorial as instructions to draft up the pattern. Her tutorial is here:

I used 4 yards of cotton batiste in white to make up the combinations and the same small shell buttons that I used on the under placket of the corset, up it’s center front as a closure. To trim the combinations I used the same cotton lace as I did on the corsets top edge. At the pant cuff I used a handmade vintage crochet lace that I had in my stash.

This is a cap I found here:

this is a dramatic little story... evidently the woman in this picture, Adeline Fargo, might have been murdered by her Husband.

I'm assuming this photo was taken sometime in the 1890's, no date is explicitly given. Although this type of cap was popular for quite a long time. It's a man's working cap. Spencer's Mercantile sells a cap very similar.

I also found a similar cap worn in a more contemporary time in When the Girls Came out to Play. Although the hat is striped and has a bit less over lay on the brim. The basic premiss of the hat is the same. A six gored tip attached to a narrow band, by way of "crown". The tip is soft and loose it hangs over or is tacked down to the partial brim.

I patterned this pattern myself. I made it up in herringbone wool tweed. The tip and crown are flatlined in polished cotton. The brim is stiffened with 2 layers of single ply cotton buckram. The hat band is one inch wide wool twill tape. The cap is lined in cotton calico. The intersection of gores at the tips center is accented by a self covered button form.

Because this costume has so many buttons,(buttons in the corset, buttons in the combinations, buttons on the dresses bodice) I decided to run with the theme and wear a pair of button boots. I tried and failed quite a few times to buy a pair of turn of the century high button boots from eBay. It became obvious to me that this just wasn’t going to happen. So I began to look at modern reenactment boots. The only style I found was from Fugawee. These shoes are “faux”... the buttons don’t actually work. The other styles I found were discontinued. I became very disheartened again. I couldn’t find a style of historically accurate reenactment button boots.  I than decided to look for a modern interpretation of button boots and found , to my surprise, a brand called F-Troupe.

F-Troupe is a small shoe company based out of London England. You can find them here: At the time I was able to buy on sale a pair of button boots in leather and painted canvas. Although the buttons were faux pearl and the soles man made material the look was almost exactly like an extant pair I found on eBay. I just needed to find some appropriate buttons and dye the F-Troupe boots ivory.

I used Esquire Instant Leather Coloring dye to paint the boots. I cut off the original buttons and replaced them with a set of vintage mother of peal buttons. I think that with the changes I have made the F-Troupe boots look very similar to my inspiration button boots.

These are the Fugawee reenactment shoe

F-troupes with working buttons

boots I found on ebay that I wanted to make my f-troupes look more like

vintage shell shoe button from ebay... That picture will link you to the ebay listing.

My finished painted and rebuttoned F-troupes.


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Keeping the Fresh and Effectively Stored At Home

If an additional dimension is added, the road can be pushed all over the new dimension and develop a flat surface or dropped an engine. The plane can twist and spiral. To be aware this, imagine unrolling a tough piece of paper. please click the next post can grasp both ends and twist the paper forming a corkscrew shape. The surface of the paper will still be flat as well as dimensional. The plane may also loop back and touch itself without being altered.

The pool area. When there is a pool, you require to determine if the pool equipment was in working dominance. If not, that's another expense to calculate in price range.

Outdoor carpet tiles are as durable as other outdoor green area rug. They are especially nice in high traffic areas. You could easily replace the few damaged tiles instead belonging to the entire carpeting. This saves time and money. 1 does not require add padding because it is inside the tile. That will becoming environmentally friendly.

Another kind of outdoor carpet is grass outdoor carpeting made with olefin. It isn't as expensive as another outdoor carpets and it's easier preserve than the others. Since it is chemically treated it is often used for areas in contact with the light and other harmful weather elements. Genera this type of carpet is stain moisture and fade resistant.

But in a position to bought the supplies, this means that you has the potential to cook candies without physically visiting any store or whatsoever. For beginners, optimum policy is to set out with simple sounding recipes. You can apply people who find it tough sometimes making hard candy. They run into mishaps or mistakes. If you look at the main issue. candy making is harder than it actually tends. Actually, there are some tricks and twists that you want to get your hands on. And this usually takes a long time. For making candies, you'll need more than dishes. Molds are pretty challenging on your first thought. Things get easier as your experience and skill level grows.

Among the forms of fabrics which will be often seen home are carpets, rugs, doormats, curtains, sheets and of course, the gown. Part of meeting the demands of those things is mold cleaning. Not, implementing such process when its needed can cause financial cutbacks. In some cases, it may even cause health damages.

Flooring is next out there. Figure you will must change the flooring. Either carpet or some regarding tile, laminate or wooden floors depending in the price selection of the home, your budget and could intend on using the property, selling it or holding it and leasing it.

If you are a omega-3 fatty acids dietary supplement without first confirming that the manufacturer tests for contaminants, then resolve never exactly what you are getting to be.

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Monday, March 17, 2008

Dinner Party Description!

Wanna know what the official NBC preview description is?

Here it is!

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER-Pam (Jenna Fischer) and Jim (John Krasinski) find they have run out of excuses and are forced to go to Jan (Melora Hardin)and Michael's (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell)house for dinner. When Andy (Ed Helms) and Angela
(Angela Kinsey) are also invited to dinner, Dwight's (Rainn Wilson) jealousy gets the best of him. Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Oscar Nunez, Phyllis Smith, Paul Lieberstein, Mindy Kaling and Creed Bratton also star.

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The Value Of Shareholder Democracy At Rangers & Watford

Both Watford and Rangers have had disagreements at boardroom level over the last couple of weeks. Mark Murphy has been looking at both clubs, and arrives at the conclusion that under all of the smart talk, no-one – not even those directly involved – knows exactly what is going on.

Read More


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This morning, we return to our series of videos of the clubs of the Football League Championship with another of those relegated from the Premier League at the end of last season, Blackburn Rovers. Blackburn Rovers is a club whose initial decline arguably started with the advent of television, which makes archive footage of them a little difficult to find, but we do have six matches for you today from the years between 1968 and 1994, kicking off with a trip to Craven Cottage to play Fulham in 1968, and this is followed with a home match against Sheffield United from the 1969/70 season.

We then have two matches from the 1980s. First up is an away match against Swindon Town from the Fourth Round of the FA Cup in January 1984, and then comes a home match against Aston Villa from 1988. We then have two matches from the early 1990s, as Jack Walker built the club back up. First up is an away match against Grimsby Town from the 1991/92 season, which ended with the club getting promotion into the Premier League, and our final match demonstrates how well they settled once there – it’s a home thrashing of Liverpool from the following season.

You can follow Twohundredpercent on Twitter by clicking here.


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Tuesday, December 29, 2015

2015: So how did we do?

by Rick Blechta

Like so many I’m sure, I tend to start looking back at the previous 12 months once Christmas slides into the rear view mirror.

Of course I’m paying the most attention to how my year was. Then the circle expands to include my immediate family, then expanded family, and finally friends and acquaintences.

No, I’m not about to subject anyone to a year-end report of how things went. My reflection is more personal, and besides, I don’t share every twist and turn my life may take via social media anyway. In fact, I don’t share much personal stuff at all.

I’m also a believer in setting goals for myself at the beginning of each new year, and that short time between Christmas and the beginning of a new year is the time to reflect on these. One of them last December concerned Type M. My goal was simple: to not miss a single week’s post. I did pretty well on that one. I missed one Tuesday (simply forgot) and I missed one weekend guest post. (I do not have an explanation for that one. I just lost track of my turn.) I also fudged on two or three and posted a few comics in place of my usual deathless prose and scintillating ideas. (Hah!)

Big things can start really small, and noticing details can eventually total up into something really worthy of notice. So it is with obligations. Fulfill them and they can snowball.

No, I’m not patting myself on the back for being so dedicated to our blog. My goal with Type M was something personal for me. I wanted to see if I could carry out my goal. Incidentally, one other New Years Resolution for 2015 was to always hang up my clothes. I did not do quite as well with that little one — but I did do better than I had in the past.

So, for my last post of the year (and please be kind when you notice how late this is being posted), I wish you all to find yourself better off in a year’s time, even if it’s just a tiny bit. The world has always been a dangerous place, and it will remain so. Bad things can happen to good people. And sometimes one’s luck just runs dry when it’s most needed. Ending a year slightly better off than you began it is a worthy goal it seems to me.

Whether you’re an old fan or someone who just stumbled across us, thanks for hanging out on Type M for Murder.

Live long and prosper.

Eileen Goudge said...

You should give yourself a pat on the back, Rick. Well done on the 2015 postings. Your musings and insights were much appreciated. I even enjoyed your cartoons. Look forward to more from you...and Type M...in 2016!

Charles Benoit said...

Reading the blog was a weekly treat - thanks for making it a great year!

Rick Blechta said...

To both Eileen and Charles,

Thank you so much for your very kind words.

We do try...


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4 Free Apps For The Busy Mom

May 17, 2016

This blog was compensated by Tapinfluence and their advertiser. All opinions and creative content are my own. #ad #favormoms

1 | Favor

The holy grail of mom apps is Favor.

Do you ever think: “Why is it 2016 and the only thing I can get delivered is pizza?!”? Or maybe: “Why is my life such a mess and why am I so lazy and need things delivered?!” Just me? Favor allows you to get #anythingdelivered. Yep. ANYTHING. You could literally get mascara delivered if you ran out. Basically, you order what you need in the app, a “runner” gets your order and heads to the store/restaurant of choice, and then delivers your item. It’s so easy. Charlie and I were shopping in Atlanta the other day and I happened to have NOT packed diapers. This is not unusual, considering I’m scattered at best. I quickly entered the app, ordered diapers, and my runner brought them to me at the shopping plaza I was in.

Your credit card is saved in the app, so the runner literally hands you your item and leaves. My runner was also in constant communication via text giving me updates.  This app is currently available in 23 major cities, so make sure you’re on the list! Download Favor here and use my code: TwelveSix to waive your first delivery fee.

2 | Genius Scan

How many times have you been trying to conduct personal business from your phone and been asked to sign and return a form, or send a copy of your drivers license or birth certificate? If you don’t work in an office or have a printer/scanner (me), then you would normally have to go find a Kinkos or something to achieve something super simple. This app is great. It takes a photo of something and turns it into a “copy” basically, and then exports it as a PDF. There are other options within the app as well. I use it a lot!

3 | Cartwheel

I grocery shop at Target, along with buy everything else in the world. I have saved $500 with this app this year, y’all! That’s huge. I especially love when they have amazing clothes deals on Cartwheel!

4 | Starbucks

This is kind of a no brainer, but even if I leave my wallet at home- I can get my Starbucks with just my app. I can even pay before I get to the store. Plus, as a gold member, I earn my stars easily this way and they quickly add up to earn rewards.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Favor. The opinions and text are all mine.

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1 Comment

  • Reply Chelsea @ Life With My Littles May 19, 2016 at 2:34 am

    These all sound awesome! I love my Cartwheel app and Favor sounds like such a helpful thing for moms! I’ll have to try it out!

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UC San Diego News Center

Scientists Discover Neurochemical Imbalance in Schizophrenia

biosynthesized enzymes

Enzymes that biosynthesize the neurotransmitters dopamine (left), norepinephrine (center) and epinephrine (right).

Using human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), researchers at Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of California, San Diego have discovered that neurons from patients with schizophrenia secrete higher amounts of three neurotransmitters broadly implicated in a range of psychiatric disorders.

The findings, reported online Sept. 11 in Stem Cell Reports, represent an important step toward understanding the chemical basis for schizophrenia, a chronic, severe and disabling brain disorder that affects an estimated one in 100 persons at some point in their lives. Currently, schizophrenia has no known definitive cause or cure and leaves no tell-tale physical marks in brain tissue.

"The study provides new insights into neurotransmitter mechanisms in schizophrenia that can lead to new drug targets and therapeutics,” said senior author Vivian Hook, PhD, a professor with Skaggs School of Pharmacy and UC San Diego School of Medicine.

In the study, UC San Diego researchers with colleagues at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, N.Y., created functioning neurons derived from hiPSCs, themselves reprogrammed from skin cells of schizophrenia patients. The approach allowed scientists to observe and stimulate human neurons in ways impossible in animal models or human subjects.

Researchers activated these neurons so that they would secrete neurotransmitters – chemicals that excite or inhibit the transmission of electrical signals through the brain. The process was replicated on stem cell lines from healthy adults.

A comparison of neurotransmitters produced by the cultured “brain in a dish” neurons showed that the neurons derived from schizophrenia patients secreted significantly greater amounts of the catecholamine neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine.

Catecholamine neurotransmitters are synthesized from the amino acid tyrosine and the regulation of these neurotransmitters is known to be altered in a variety of psychiatric diseases. Several psychotropic drugs selectively target the activity of these neurotransmitters in the brain.

In addition to documenting aberrant neurotransmitter secretion from neurons derived from patients with schizophrenia, researchers also observed that more neurons were dedicated to the production of tyrosine hydroxylase, the first enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway for the synthesis of dopamine, from which both norepinephrine and epinephrine are made.

This discovery is significant because it offers a reason for why schizophrenia patients have altered catecholamine neurotransmitter levels: They are preprogrammed to have more of the neurons that make these neurotransmitters.

“All behavior has a neurochemical basis in the brain,” Hook said. “This study shows that it is possible to look at precise chemical changes in neurons of people with schizophrenia.”

The applications for future treatments include being able to evaluate the severity of an individual’s disease, identify different sub-types of the disease and pre-screen patients for drugs that would be most likely to help them. It also offers a way to test the efficacy of new drugs.

“It is very powerful to be able to see differences in neurons derived from individual patients and a big accomplishment in the field to develop a method that allows this,” Hook said.

Co-authors include Kristen Brennand, Yongsung Kim and Fred H. Gage, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies; Thomas Toneff, Lydiane Funkelstein, Kelly C. Lee and Michael Ziegler, UC San Diego.

Funding for this study was provided, in part, by UC San Diego Academic Senate, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, National Institutes of Health (grants R01MH077305, U01GM092655, R01MH101454, UL1TR000100 and P01HL58120), The JPB Foundation, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and The New York Stem Cell Foundation.

Media Contact

Scott LaFee, 858-249-0456, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

UC San Diego’s Studio Ten 300 offers radio and television connections for media interviews with our faculty. For more information, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).


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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A day in the life

I think I mentioned a few days ago that I’m never quite sure what I’ll be doing each day on this refuge.  I went into headquarters this morning not knowing if I’d be working or not.  Phyllis and Albert, from New Jersey, finished up their volunteer stint here this past weekend, and will be pulling out tomorrow morning.  Tom is still in the hospital for his cellulitis and Sally has spent her days there being with him.  That leaves Don and Mary and myself to cover things with the visitor’s center and other duties.  We scrambled a bit this morning to figure out how to cover things this week.

I’ll be taking over for Tom and Sally tomorrow, and doing the tour in the morning.  I’ll probably be putting in more hours this week until the next couple arrives, but I really don’t mind.  RV volunteers are like the RV blogging community, and we tend to stick together and cover each other’s backs.  What with Tom in the hospital for over a week after Sally just losing her father, it’s the least I can do.

_MG_5960I stayed on this morning to run the visitor’s center for the day.  We had 30 visitors today, which is a real good number here.  In slow moments, I slipped outside to see what I could see, and found several butterflies fighting over the minute blooms in the mowed area around the building.  Get a load of the proboscis of this guy curving around to the flower.

The wind had picked up a bit, but this guy hung on to sip the nectar of that tiny flower.

66 MS Sandhill Crane NWR 201215

Then, it got into a battle with this itty bitty butterfly over the blooms.  This one was 1/3 the size of the yellow one, but it was successful in sending the first one on its way.  If I had a little ambition tonight, I’d spend some time with my butterfly book trying to identify these critters.  But, alas, I’m pooped.  Sad smile  Working the visitor’s center isn’t physically demanding work, but after eight hours, and then taking Emma out for some exercise, I’m pretty much done for the day.

The forecast for tomorrow is for heavy rains, but I’m hoping they’ll hold off until the afternoon.  I’ve got a full van load of people scheduled for the tour tomorrow, and heavy rains surely lesson the chances of seeing any cranes.  We’ll see what happens.  Oh yea, Tom was released from the hospital this afternoon, but he’ll be laid up for several weeks recuperating from his ordeal.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

Monday, January 30, 2012

Generation gap?

The last two days have been taken up with necessary mundane chores, with a few hikes with Emma in between.  Today was shopping day for me, and I had a list.  First stop was J C Penny.  I needed some new sheets for the bed.  Am I the only person left in the US that thinks January is the month for white sales?  When I asked the very young salesgirl where the white sales were, she said that she didn’t know what I was talking about.  I wanted 400 thread count sheets with extra deep pockets, and nearly passed out at the price.  I guess it’s a good thing I don’t buy new sheets very often.

After a few more stops for essentials, I ended up at the grocery store in Ocean Springs.  I took four of my cloth shopping bags into the store with me.  It was not a major grocery day, but the things on my list were heavy items such as milk, laundry detergent, softener, bleach, and large cans of fruit and tomato juice.  When I reached the check out, I told the checker and packer that I had brought four bags so everything could be distributed without any one bag being too heavy.  They both nodded their heads in agreement.  I stressed that I didn’t want a bag too heavy to lift for this old body.  When I got to the car here is what I found: only three bags were used, and almost all the heavy items were in one bag!  Grr!  Hello young people!  Do you not understand English?  So, I repacked the bags and put them in the trunk.  I know these are small things in the scheme of life, but they do irk me at times.

Back at the refuge, Emma and I enjoyed our afternoon outside with our avian friends.  There are lots of chipping sparrows around, and they’ll soon be displaying their slightly more vibrant breeding plumage.

66 MS Sandhill Crane NWR 201214

I heard some loud chipping sounds across the way, and grabbed my camera.  What I found was one excited Carolina wren.  It was just very upset as it sat on the Blue Ox toad hitch of Don and Mary’s rig.  In another month or so, these little buggers will be trying to build nests in every nook and cranny that’s available.  I’ve had them try to set up housing under my slide topper awnings in the past.  I like wrens.  They’re so bubbly and audacious!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

Saturday, January 28, 2012

The tale of Crossbill continues…

Sometimes life is stranger than fiction.  Or maybe, life in the natural world rivals manmade soap operas.  Take the saga of Crossbill for instance.  She is a 10-12 year old female Mississippi sandhill crane with a disability; her bill is malformed.  For ten years, she had no mate.  She spent her time traveling around with a normal pair of sandhills.  It was thought that because of her crossed bill, she couldn’t find a mate.  Then, a little over a year ago, the female of that pair died.  Can you guess what happened?  Suddenly she looked pretty good to that four year old lonesome male crane.  Last spring, they became a pair even though he was much her junior.  (I’ve heard that young men have more stamina!)

They built a nest, but I don’t think they successfully raised any young last year.  In a stellar year, only four wild born cranes make it in this endangered population, so this was not surprising.  However, these cranes do mate for life, so they’ll try again this year.

Fast forward to early this morning when JERRY and Wanda joined me for the Saturday crane tour.  It turned out that between those that had signed up for the tour, and two people that just showed up, we had to take two vehicles for the tour.  A young college student and her mother joined the three of us in our vehicle.  If the young lady could get a picture of a Mississippi sandhill crane, she would get an A on her assignment for her biology course.  Alrighty then, there’s the challenge!

We hit pay dirt as we drove past the crane company on route 57.  For two years I’ve hoped to get a picture of the sandhill cranes at the crane company. It seems only fitting.Open-mouthed smile

Using my 300mm lens, I was able to get a shot of the pair showing their leg bands, and the transmitter on the back bird.  I’ll report that to the biologists next week.  That’s red over orange on the right leg, and green on the left leg of the front bird, for instance.  That’s enough to identify this pair.

_MG_5926 _MG_5928

Generally, one bird stands guard as the other member of the pair feeds.  They switch off with each other.  Once I looked at the pictures when I got back home, I noticed something a little unusual.

Sure enough.  It’s Crossbill!  This is not the usual haunts that she and her mate are seen in, but I’m happy that her saga will continue.

We continued on our way with the tour, and ended up seeing a total of 19 Mississippi sandhill cranes, and watched four adult cranes chasing off six youngster cranes from their feeding territory.  What a cacophony of sound that was along with  the aerial dynamics.  We also enjoyed watching this adult red-tailed hawk.  It was a successful tour in many ways.  I was happy to touch base with Crossbill again, and I think a young college student is going to get an A in her biology course.  Those are a few of the reasons that I do what I do.

                                                                               THE END!

(if you look closely, you will see a white projectile being sent toward us demonstrating what this hawk thought of our observance of him/her. Smile with tongue out)

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

Friday, January 27, 2012

I got taken out back to the shed today

And I didn’t even do anything wrong!

The SHED is a local barbeque joint that has been featured on “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives” on the Food Channel.  If you like barbeque and are along the Mississippi gulf coast, this is the place to go.

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Its name is a good one, because you won’t find fine dining here.  There is seating inside and out with gravel outside and wooden boards inside.  Thousands of one dollar bills are attached to the ceiling.  Watch your step, though, because the footing is rather uneven.

JERRY and Wanda, in their Casita, were stopping in the area overnight, so we got together for a late lunch this afternoon.

I last met them while I was making my challenging trip from Indiana to the repair shop in Louisiana last fall.  They are native Mississippians, and offered to give me a tour of Natchez should I head that way when my gig is up here at the end of April.  I’m thinking that sounds like a great plan.  They are a delightful couple, and they recently met JANNA and Mike in Florida when they found themselves in the same campground.  Members of this RV blogging community seem to cross paths quite often.  How cool is that?  Thanks, Wanda and Jerry, for good food and fun conversation.

I’ll actually be seeing them again early tomorrow morning as they take advantage of our free guided crane tours here on the refuge.  I sure hope I can find as many cranes for them to see as I did on the last tour I gave.  Fingers crossed  The rest of the day I spent chilling out, and taking Emma for a hike.  It was my day off after all.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Volunteer field trip day

At a few of the refuges that I have volunteered at, an occasional day is set aside to take all the RV volunteers on a field trip.  To be honest, it is one of the things that endears certain refuges to their volunteers.  That was on the calendar for this morning, but I wondered if it would be cancelled as a front with severe storms began moving through the area.  Our intrepid volunteer coordinator, Doug Hunt, cast the weather aside and said to hop into the van.  So, we did.

66 MS Sandhill Crane NWR 20129

Our destination was the Southeast Louisiana Refuges Bayou Lacombe Centre’, about 100 miles away.  It houses the visitor’s center for seven of Southeast Louisiana’s National Wildlife Refuges.  I’m sure glad I wasn’t driving that van, because we encountered an absolute deluge as we headed west through Biloxi.  Doug then hopped off of the interstate and gave us a narrated tour as we drove through all of the towns along historic route 90.  He has such a wealth of knowledge and stories about the southern Mississippi coastal area, that I truly enjoyed being a passenger on this excursion.

66 MS Sandhill Crane NWR 201210While the others toured the visitor’s center that I had visited last year, I went outside to enjoy the surrounding camellia garden.  This morning’s rain gave me one of those photographic opportunities to capture the freshness of the blooms with the rain drops still upon them.

                                                                   This one was my favorite.

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Then we took the Grotto trail that led to Bayou Lacombe.  Part of the trail was an old brick path that had to be unearthed after this became refuge property.  There’s a lot of history about this land that would take me too long to relate; from a former governor to priests, a school, and a church…

After stopping for lunch where I had a delicious shrimp po'boy, we headed out to spend some time at Big Branch Marsh NWR.

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We took a hike down a wonderful long boardwalk in search of the elusive and endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.  I’m too tired to go into the interesting story of this species tonight, but I’ll probably go into it next year when I hope to be working with them at Okefenokee NWR in Georgia.  Smile

Let’s just say that we had one little woodpecker cooperate and give us all a chance to observe it.  That sighting was the frosting on the cake to today’s outing in my opinion.  As we headed back the 100 miles to our home refuge, it seemed awfully quiet in the back of the van as I believe several volunteers reviewed the day in a movie viewed from the back of their eyelids.  Winking smile

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

A great tour, and a decision

I got a phone call at the refuge from NICKIE and Jim the other day.  They are fellow RVers and bloggers, and they wanted to sign up for a tour of the refuge on their way to Baton Rouge this week.

As it turned out, they ended up being the only folks that showed up for the tour today, and what a tour we had!  It’s always great to meet up with fellow bloggers, and what a joy to be out with people that harbor a similar interest in the natural world.  They’re known as the intrepid-decrepit travelers, and since I’ve been feeling a little decrepit lately, we got along just fine.  Winking smile

The weather forecast wasn’t the greatest, but it tuned out that we saw a record number of cranes today.  If I got the count right, we saw 38 Mississippi sandhill cranes today.  We might have seen six of them twice, but even so, if you consider that there are only about 120-130 of these cranes left on earth, that’s quite a few.  If you click on this picture you’ll notice all the colorful bands on their legs.  This group was most cooperative for pictures.

IMG_5853 IMG_5854

Most groups of cranes took off in flight as we approached.  I love the sound of cranes, and if you look closely you can see several of them with their beaks open trumpeting away.

During our journey through the back roads of the refuge that are closed to the general public, we came upon the lead biologist with two of his interns.  I believe they were out in the savannah doing a bird survey.  They use those long sticks to swish back and forth through the grasses on a transect to flush rails and sparrows.  That’s about the only way to get a count of those types of birds using the wet pine savannah during the winter.

_MG_5857We also checked on the eagle’s nest while we were out and about.  This time, I could see a little more than just an adult head peeking out from the nest.

I enjoyed my time with Nickie and Jim, and plans are in the works for me to visit them over in Alabama so they can show me their neck of the woods.  I believe they have a condo outside of Mobile, and travel in their RV during the summer.

Now, as for my decision.  As I’m sure most of you figured out, I made a commitment tonight to return to Alligator River NWR.  I appreciated all of your comments on last night’s post, but two in particular hit home.

I just read that "finding your passion" is one of the things to ward off Dementia -so more hours now may lead to a longer life :)”  and

Exciting your soul is a necessary survival skill. Making work hours feel like play hours is worth doing. Work hours that feel like work hours can kill your soul. But, you already knew all that. Besides, as much as we enjoyed our autumn drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains, it's not like they are going away anytime soon. :)

Yep, and a number of you pointed out my aversion to office work, and preference to being outdoors.  Hey, that gives me a couple of months to slowly make my way to the Outer Banks!  Hmmm, guess I’ll have to get out the drawing board again.  Smile

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

A Step Back in History-Kyoto

Our last and most favorite stop of the trip was Kyoto. We arrived into Kyoto Station from Osaka by the JR lines. Below is the gorgeous station that we were greeted with. Never have I been in such an innovative and futuresk (please excuse the creation of new words) public space.

This is the road leading up to the Kiyomizu Temple. While on a student exchange to Japan 10 years ago, my host family brought me to this same temple. It was so exciting to be sharing the same place with hubs years later.
Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto
Outside the entrance of the temple
Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto
Visitors light incense and try to cover their head with the smoke
Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto
Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto
Overlooking the city of Kyoto
Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto
Beneath the main hall is the otowa waterfall. Three different channels of water fall into the pond below. Visitors can hold long sticks with metal cups at the end and get a drink from these falls and get a wish granted.
Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto
There is a popular saying in Japanese that is similar to the states "take the plunge" and it is "jump off the stage at Kiyomizu". In the Edo Period (no idea what year that is) the tradition held that if you were to survive the 13 meter jump off of the veranda, your wish would come true. 234 jumps were recorded during that time with a 85.4% survival rate. It does not list, however, what injuries were gained by those who survived. Shockingly, the practice is not prohibited.
Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto
Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto
Late at night we would walk the streets of Gion which is said to be one of the last areas of Japan where geishas are still at work in the teahouses. Unfortunately, we were unable to see any for ourselves but the streets were a gorgeous mix of old and new that we loved to wander around.
gion, kyoto
After wandering around the streets for awhile, we started to wonder if geishas were real at all or if we were on the hunt for an imagined animal. At least we weren't alone. I'm pretty sure all the other foreigners walking anxiously down the street that night with cameras ready in hand were looking for the same thing.
gion, kyoto
My favorite site of all was the Fushimi Inari Shrine. It is a shinto shrine put in place in order to worship the God Inari, the God of Rice. Foxes are said to be its messengers which is why several fox statues can be seen along the trail. The large orange gateways are called toriis and there are thousands of them along the two hour trail. All of them are donations from individuals and businesses. Prices for the smaller ones start at around 5,000 us dollars while the larger ones start at around 13,000 us dollars.
Fushimi Inari Shrine, kyoto
Fushimi Inari Shrine, kyoto
Fushimi Inari Shrine, kyoto
Fushimi Inari Shrine, kyoto
Fushimi Inari Shrine, kyoto
Fushimi Inari Shrine, kyoto
 It was a gorgeous view of all the torii gates heading deeper into the forest.
Fushimi Inari Shrine, kyoto Fushimi Inari Shrine, kyoto
 The black lettering is the name of the donator and the date of the donation
Fushimi Inari Shrine, kyoto
We stopped briefly at the golden pavilion. It really has little history but it's a cool looking building in the middle of the water and there were about a hundred other people there taking pictures of it. I'd say it was worth it.
golden pavilion, kyoto
golden pavilion, kyoto
golden pavilion, kyoto
We stopped by a nearby temple for new years where they were setting up for a festival. We decided to come back when it got a little closer to the countdown. When we showed back up, the streets were packed with thousands of people with apparently, the same mindset as us. The police had barricaded the streets surrounding the temple so no one could get in until after midnight. When I think of sneaking into a place, often times a concert or some sort of show comes to mind. Apparently to people in Kyoto, the best place to try to sneak into is a temple. I guess 'sneak' is the wrong word. Jumping across barricades, running across lanes of traffic and dodging police is more along the right lines. The first few people were successful, the rest...were not. The police became pretty good at lunging at the hooligans and wrestling them to the ground, then proceeding to throw them into cop cars and haul them off to jail. It made for good entertainment while we were waiting.
A group of ladies at the temple all dressed up in their traditional kimonos.
Kyoto was by far our favorite stop in Japan. Around every corner was another historical site and another attraction to see. We had no problem filling up the short amount of time we were there.


text:
The brief.

Re-brand of the existing website, create a site to work on multiple devices and with the ability to manage content.

WOMEN Management is a global model agency, based in New York, now part of Elite.

What we did.

Developed the site using UI Farm’s custom ResponsiFarm™ WordPress framework, allowing the client to fully manage the content.

Expertise provided.

  • Bespoke Application Development
  • Front-End Development
  • Responsive Web Design
  • WordPress Plugin Development
  • WordPress Theme Development

  • Multi-city main menu, with custom drop-down sub-menu when needed.
  • Featured models in an animated responsive carousel.
  • Multi-columns layout with latest news and social feeds (Instagram and Twitter) for the agency.  In the model pages this changes to the model’s related latest news and social feeds.
  • Adaptive content for mobile devices and tablets, with performance-enhanced features.

Women Management home page.

  • The models photo gallery, using our custom responsive grid, adapted for all devices.
  • Clicking on a letter, a smooth scrolling animation points to the correct models names.
  • On mobile and tablet devices, the grid adapts to the different features. Big letters are “tappable” to open and close the related models.

Women Management board page.

A responsive full screen carousel has been implemented, to go through the model’s portfolio. A custom feature allows users to print a PDF version of the related book.

Model page.

Model portfolio full-screen slideshow.

Get in contact.

Please leave this field empty.


text:
August 30, 2013 / 9:43 AM / 4 years ago

Insight - For U.N. inspectors in Syria, samples hold answers

A U.N. chemical weapons expert (2nd L) takes a picture of a person affected by an apparent gas attack, at a hospital where she is being treated , in the Damascus suburb of Zamalka August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - With the world watching and a U.S.-led strike on hold, U.N. inspectors investigating suspected chemical attacks in Syria are under extreme pressure to make sure their findings stand up to the most intense scrutiny.

The inspectors, who have been gathering samples since Monday and may already have some results after testing them through the night at a Damascus hotel, will not point any fingers, but may offer clues by identifying what kinds of munitions were used.

Safeguarding the integrity of samples collected in the outskirts of Damascus, where hundreds of people are believed to have been gassed by a banned toxic substance in an August 21 air assault, is the top priority.

“If they don’t do that, they cannot guarantee the chain of custody, meaning that nobody tampered with the sample itself,” said Dieter Rothbacher, a chemical weapons expert who trained members of the team.

Abu Akram, a doctor who helped the inspectors at a field hospital, was surprised they refused to take some of the blood samples they had taken from the deceased, who were buried within 24 hours according to Muslim custom, and rocket fragments.

That would have broken the chain of custody guidelines stating samples must be taken by the inspectors themselves.

“So they took some other samples from the site - soil, pieces of furniture and clothing…. We also gave them the bodies of dead animals - we gave them a chicken that died from the chemical attacks,” Akram said.

The 20-member team, including experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) who served in Iraq, have already been testing for sarin, mustard gas or other toxic agents, people familiar with their methods said.

“If they have, which I am sure they do, onsite analytical capability, they have some analytical results already,” said Rothbacher who worked at the OPCW until 2009 and co-owns Hotzone Solutions Group, a training and consultancy company.

“And then, of course, now the question is how the U.N. deals with that result.”

Washington said it is convinced Bashar al-Assad’s forces were behind the gassing of civilians chemical weapons attacks, but many governments are awaiting the U.N. findings before drawing conclusions about responsibility.

The team, including three World Heath Organisation medical experts, plans to leave Syria on Saturday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said. The decision-making U.N. Security Council will then consider its findings.

Some defence experts said the rebels do not even have the capability to carry out a large scale chemical weapons attack, but Syria’s allies, including Russia, said it was the work of opposition forces seeking to sway world opinion against Assad.

A U.N. chemical weapons expert checks a fellow expert after they ended their visit to the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighbourhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

The team headed by Swedish scientist Ake Sellstrom crossed the frontline into rebel-held territory in a convoy of six Toyota Land Cruisers marked with U.N. initials. Unidentified snipers opened fire on their first day, but no one was hurt.

Once at the scene, they broke into pairs, some interviewing victims and taking blood and urine samples at hospitals, while others collected dirt and took swabs, or “wipes” from possible chemical munitions.

At the spot where a rocket was said to have struck, the inspectors wore chemical-proof body suits, gas masks and were equipped with air detection sensors and boots with sensitive paper that would change colour if toxins were detected.

“If chemical weapons were used, the team will in my opinion have a pretty good chance of getting (or already having) some sound evidence to show that chemical weapons were used,” said Ralf Trapp, a disarmament expert who worked for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Limited by basic portable instruments, inspectors probably tested only the so-called environmental samples of dirt, wipes from munition fragments, or chemical spills, he said.

Those samples can be cross-referenced against the OPCW’s database of more than 1,000 chemical agents and may already have given a positive result for sarin, the nerve agent Syria is believed to have in vast quantities.

“When I find sarin on a shell through analysis, that’s a positive. It’s always better when you have two or more positive results, meaning a blood sample, bio-markers, or whatever, but it’s almost certain if you find sarin on some of these shells you will also find it in the biomedical samples of possible victims,” Rothbacher said.

More elaborate bio-metric analysis of blood, hair or urine samples will probably be done in fully-equipped, designated laboratories, of which the OPCW has 22 in 17 countries.

Inspectors will carry the samples in containers, closed with individually-numbered fibre-optic seals.

To maintain the “chain of custody” the inspectors will accompany the samples out of Syria to two or even three of the OPCW partner laboratories, where additional analysis will be done, possibly to confirm preliminary field tests.

Under normal U.N. inspection procedures, the laboratory tests could be performed under the supervision of a Syrian scientist sitting in as an observer.

If the sample goes to an OPCW partner laboratory, the U.N. inspector who took the sample, or the team leader, would witness the analysis to make sure the chain of custody is not broken.

Additional reporting by Erika Solomon in Beirut; editing by Philippa Fletcher

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text:
Kingston kids' lunchroom debts paid in full

March 16, 2017 05:45 PM | 0 0 comments | 10 10 recommendations | email to a friend | print
A community fundraising effort spearheaded by Kingston resident Jill Draper reached its goal last week, with the remaining $3,500 of the KCSD’s $5,877 school lunch debt being donated by around 40 total donors.
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