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Thursday, July 28, 2011

South Sudan Calls Youths to Action

Simon Kun Puoc, a governor in newly formed South Sudan, has tasked the youth in his region with fighting poverty. The governor stressed to the people the importance of taking the initiative in their lives, asking them to rely on their own abilities and hard work instead of begging. He praised the work and efforts of women in providing food for the family, many of whom work year round in agriculture to pay for their children's school fees.

The governor cited the work of the youths in the country's liberation movement as an example of what they can do when they pull together. Now, Governor Kun has asked these same youths to direct their attention to their new country's development. South Sudan president, Salva Kiir Mayardit, has also called upon his people to invest in food production, believing that agricultural production is what will end poverty in the country.

With the emergence of South Sudan, it will be interesting to see if they can be successful in eradicating poverty in their country. By developing infrastructure throughout the country, youths will have a greater opportunity to combat poverty. The South Sudan government appears to be insistent on providing the solutions to poverty through their own hard work, which could provide a positive example for other countries in similar situations.

- Michael Kan

SOURCE: Sudan Tribune


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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Signazon Custom Vinyl Banner

I was given the opportunity to review a custom vinyl banner from Signazon. I was very pleased with their fast and friendly service. The ordering steps were easy to follow. I decided to make a Christmas banner. I used one of their templates (lots to choose from) and just added the words I wanted. I received the banner within a week after placing my order. Signazon notified me when the banner was shipped and when it was delivered. In addition, they included the link to the instructions for installing and caring for the banner. Very helpful! I love my Christmas banner! It is bright and beautiful. The banner is 2ft x 4ft. It has metal grommets on 4 corners for easy, balanced hanging. I hung it up in front of our property on the wooden fence next to the road so that it can be enjoyed by all who pass by. It goes perfectly with our nativity set, don't you think :)?

Check out their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/signazon.
You can also follow Signazon on Twitter at https://twitter.com/signazon.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Embracing Obscurity T-Shirt Giveaway

In October, I posted a book review for Embracing Obscurity by Anonymous. Excellent book! You can read my review here. Now I have an Embracing Obscurity t-shirt to give away :). It will be a great reminder for those who wear and those who see to embrace humble, obscure living for the glory of God.

Size: XL
100% cotton (soft)
Made in Egypt

To Enter: Leave a comment here with your email address. Please share your family tradition(s) for Thanksgiving or for Christmas.
Deadline: Nov. 30th at midnight (Pacific time)

For Extra Entries (please leave a separate comment for each one that you do):
- Follow this blog via GFC or NetworkedBlogs
- "Like" my page "Christ Alone" on Facebook
- Follow me on Twitter: @treasuredbyGod
- Share the link to this giveaway post on Facebook
- Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter

Friday, November 2, 2012

Book Review: All to Jesus by Robert J. Morgan

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

and the book:

B&H Books (October 1, 2012)

***Special thanks to Rick Roberson for sending me a review copy.***

Robert J. Morgan is a best-selling, Gold Medallion Award-winning author whose over twenty-five books include Then Sings My Soul, The Red Sea Rules, 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart and The Children's Daily Devotional Bible. A staff writer for Dr. David Jeremiah and Turning Points Magazine, he has also served as pastor of The Donelson Fellowship in Nashville, Tennessee, for three decades. Morgan and his wife have three daughters and ten grandchildren.

Visit the author's website.

"Cast all your cares on him." "Love the Lord with all your heart." "I can do all things . . . ." Most would be surprised at how often the word "all" appears in the Bible-literally thousands of times. And with each description of God's comprehensive promises, each reminder of our complete blessing in Christ, each appeal for our full and total surrender, His reputation grows larger before our eyes. We see again what He can do. We see again who we can be.

Based on the Bible's sizeable emphasis on this tiny yet powerful word "all," best-selling author and pastor Robert J. Morgan has created a remarkable 365-day spiritual growth experience in his new devotional, All to Jesus: A Year of Devotions (B&H Books, October 2012). A choice sampling of the Bible's most "all"-encompassing statements, All to Jesus will surround believers each day with inspiring stories, personal reflections and the encouraging assurance that they are cared for in ways they never imagined.

Product Details:
List Price: $14.99
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: B&H Books (October 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1433677865
ISBN-13: 978-1433677861

I collect devotional books :). I'm so pleased to add All to Jesus to my collection. I really enjoyed devouring this book of 365 devotions, based on the Scriptures that contain the word "all". Each devotion is a page long and begins with a Bible verse. Many of them include wonderful, insightful stories, poems, parts of hymns, or quotes. I didn't realize that so many Scriptures have the word "all" (5,675 according to the author). This book helps me to take time to really ponder these Bible verses and thank God for all He is and all He does. He is truly all I ever need! Some of my favorites (I have tons) are Day 16 (Genesis 14:20), Day 22 (Ecclesiastes 3:20), Day 26 (Isaiah 38:16), and Day 33 (Job 1:22). Bonus: This book also includes a link for readers to get free downloads of more than 40 hymns. There are 9 blank prayer pages at the end of the book where you can write down your prayers. All to Jesus would make a lovely gift for any Christ's followers!

"There are many philosophies in the world; but really, only two: Hope and Despair. Without Jesus Christ and His Word, all other philosophies ultimately end in existential gloom...Life is ultimately meaningless without God." ~Robert J. Morgan (from Day 22)

He is all in all to me,
And my song of songs shall be, Hallelujah, O My Savior,
I am trusting only Thee.

Fanny Crosby

One evening several years ago when troubled about a particular matter, I sat at the dining room table and picked up my Bible. I turned to a little book near the back and read through 1 Peter, thinking the old fisherman might have an encouraging word for me. When I got to the last chapter, I came across verse 7: “casting all your care upon Him, because He cares about you.” It was a verse I knew well, indeed had memorized it; but now I saw something I’d never seen before. It said: “casting ALL your care upon Him.”

Q&A with Robert Morgan, Author of All to Jesus
Permission to reprint is authorized with credit given to Robert Morgan

Can you tell us how your new devotional, All to Jesus,
came into being?

One night when I was troubled, I found 1 Peter 5:7, a verse
of Scripture I had known for years:Casting all your care on
Him for He cares for you. The word "all" struck me. I'd
never seen it before.
The verse would have been wonderful
without it, but its inclusion lifted the promise to infinity.
No burden or problem was beyond the reach of 1 Peter 5:7.
I could cast "ALL" my burdens on Him without limitation.
That mademe wonder if there were other verses in the
Bible that were similarly modified with that little adjective
and I found over 5000 of them. We selected 366 "alls" for
this book.

What is "the largest little word in all the world" and
why do you think so?

Someone said: "A
ll means all and that's all all means." We
often use the word "omni" to describe God--He is
nipresent, omnipotent, and so forth. The little word "all"
is the earthly appl
ication of God's omni-qualities. It takes
His infinite nature and shows us what it means to us here
and now. The Lord doesn't waste words in His
Book. In the
verses above, the alls could easily have been left ou
t; yet
there they are. See
ms it's one of God's favorite words. He
used it thousands of times
, often in passages that would
have read nicely without it; yet
the all maximizes the
meaning to the absolute. It's the largest little word in the
world, taking already-strong statements and broadening
their applications to virtual in
finity, which, after all, is what
one would expect from an omnipotent Father.

How many times is “all” mentioned in the Bible? Why do you
believe God uses the word so frequently?
The word “all” appears in the Bible 5,675 times. God loves to speak
in all-encompassing superlatives because He is eternal and infinite.
According to 2 Corinthians 9:8, He is able to make all grace
abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all
things, may abound to every good work.

What are a few of your favorite “all” verses and why?
All things work together for the good of those who love God
Romans 8:28
You have thrown all my sins behind Your back—Isaiah 38:17
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted—Matthew 10:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart—Matthew 22:37
Trust in the Lord with all your heart—Proverbs 3:5-6
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened—Matthew 11:28
Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life—Psalm
23:6 (NIV)
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all
these things will be provided for you—
Matthew 6:33

What do you hope readers will take away from their daily
readings of All to Jesus
Each of these devotions is excerpted from my pulpit ministry and
represents what I believe to be solid exposition of Scripture,
sprinkled liberally with stories, quotes and interesting tidbits of
truth. Each reading calls us to total faith and total obedience,
based on the totality of God’s grace. Because He is our All in All,
we can say, “All to Jesus.”

A Must-See Video for Every Christian

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Friday, December 15, 2006

In honor of my imminent trek to the Basement and in an attempt to get out of my own head for just a few moments, I offer this:

Drivers in Massachusetts are, not so lovingly, referred to as Massholes. With the holiday season upon us, I thought I might offer up some guidelines for understanding the Massachusetts driver for those of you who might be traveling this way over the next few weeks. Mind you, this is not a defense of Massachusetts drivers. We are indeed crazy. We're just all crazy in the same ways.

1. If you need a foot of space to make a merge, we will give you a foot of space. Do not expect 13 inches.

2. If you need 37 seconds to make a manuvuer, do not expect 38. If you try to take 38, we will throw our hands in the air, step on the gas pedal and blow by you as if it is your fault. Because it is.

3. When traveling on the MassPike, do not go 80 in the left lane. Trust me. All you will do is hold up the traffic behind you and piss us off.

Those are the top three tips for driving in Massachusetts. Because we may be Massholes but at least we're all the same kind of Masshole.

Be safe this season, wherever your travels take you.

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Depression and Disgust

Shortly before Thanksgiving, I started showing signs of a depressive episode. This was unexpected because it was early. My last one was March and I generally run on a year cycle. This means for 11 or 12 months straight, I am me. The Pobble. I have good days and bad days like anybody else, am generally happy, and am more sane than not.

Then it hits. My chemicals get wonky and out of balance. For the next 4-8 weeks, I'm different. Really, really different. The good part is that between behavior mod and good meds, I can keep it at 4-8 weeks, depending on the severity of the episode. The sad part is that I have to be very careful with whom I share these 4-8 weeks.

See, it's tiring to support someone with Depression. It's a very long 4-8 weeks. I cry. A lot. And hard. I'm not upbeat or perky. I don't want to do much and often can't make myself. I'm a dreadfully annoying combination of isolationist and needy. Most people react with disgust.

As I was explaining to Graziella last night (who is handling it with incredible sensitivity and grace, for the record), part of it is the label it carries. At least in my opinion. I have posted on this in the past. When someone hears "schizophrenia" or "bi-polar" or "PTSD", they realize that something unusual and major is happening here. When someone hears "Depression" the same triggers don't get thrown. I mean, everybody gets depressed, right? Why don't you just dig deep and find a smile? Can't you find a happy thought and focus on that? Take a day or two and then snap out of it? Dear Goddess...if I only could.

We live in a society that denies pain. We're all supposed to soldier on. Martyrs are admired and whiners are judged. Raw emotions make us incredibly uncomfortable. And so, in my experience, most people do not react well to a situation where a person cannot simply suck it up.

We tend to disregard the importance of sitting in silence instead of trying to fix. We tend to be uncomfortable saying "This makes me uncomfortable." We would rather be disgusted by the person than deal with their ~ and our own ~ turmoil in the situation.

I am lucky enough to have friends and family who can indeed handle what happens to me during these long 4-8 weeks out of every 52 or so. At least, some of them can. And I understand why the rest can't, even as it hurts to have to hide this part of myself from them. See, disgust is understandable. Even as it hurts.

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.

Thank you ~

~ to all of you, who have been so incredibly supportive during this time;
~ to Graziella, the Divine M and the Lovely Cats who have really gone above and beyond and know things no one else does;
~ to the FAEE who gets "I have to go right now" and doesn't even flinch;
~ and to my mom, yes, my mother, who has done everything right the last two weeks. Everything.

This weekend, I am heading to the basement. I am hoping to reset myself a bit and see if I can't salvage the rest of the holiday season. If I can, that's great. If I can't, that's okay too. But I would prefer being able to, I must be honest. Meanwhile, you'd be surprised how many people ~ and some of their names ~ who can't handle what I've been dumping on your people. Thank you for your grace and support.

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Angels and Ministers of Grace Defend Thee

I remember staying up late, late, late playing dominoes, smoking cigarettes, drinking bourbon and laughing. A lot.

I remember moments of comfortable silence, around morning coffee.

I remember a slow Southern drawl that didn't speak often but said much.

I remember a gentle arm around my shoulder.

I remember a hug that made you feel as if you were the only thing important in the whole world.

I remember you, Tim.

My father, grandfather and Tim are sitting around a table already. The bourbon is flowing. The cigarettes are burning. The dominoes are laid out. And I'm surprised we can't all hear the laughter. In another 40 or 50 years, I'll enjoy rejoining that party. For now...

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

This showed up in my inbox today:

Pobble, I just wanted you to know that (the closest thing you have ever had to an uncle) came home from the hospital last Tuesday and that afternoon Home Hospice came. The diagnosis is End Stages of failure to thrive. He has been so sick for so long. Most people on hospice have one thing that is fatal. He has many diseases that can't be cured. But you've known this. I'm just asking for your prayers for him to not suffer. While you're praying please remember me too. Love, (the closest thing you have to an aunt)

Can I stop now? *sigh* If you pray and however you pray, if you would please add Sue and Tim to your lists. Meanwhile, they buried RJ today. Yeah, I'm kinda done.

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

It's been a hard week. For me. For those I love. For those I work with. For those I work for.

I have been a good friend and colleague. I have been a bad friend and colleague. I have been caring, thoughtful, indifferent and negligent. As the people who support me have assured me, I have been very human. As I have assured the people I support, they have been very human. And we're all allowed.

With this long, hard week finally ~ thank the Goddess, finally ~ coming to an end, I offer you below some things that have brought me some peace with the hope that they do the same for you. Blessed be.

Those are Pobble Thoughts. May they bring you peace, with or without the buck fifty.

Snoopy vs. The Red Baron

Be sure to really listen to these words, not just enjoy the cartoon.

Little Drummer Boy

I couldn't find one that wasn't out of sync ~ but it's worth it.

Christmas Canon (with lyrics) - Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Friday, December 08, 2006

Very Mixed Emotions

Very sad...

Very proud...

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Let the Weirdness Begin

I'm not really up to writing anything yet so instead of being creative and coming up with something of my own, I'm going to borrow a tag that's going around and give you six things about me that are weird. Let me tell you, limiting it to six ain't an easy task. That however, I am up to. So...

1. I relate everything to the television show M*A*S*H. No matter what the situation, I can probably find a way to reference those characters or situations. Luckily, my mother does the same thing so I have someone to share this weirdness with without the whole world knowing I do it ~ until now.

2. I can listen to the same thing over and over and over and over again. Oh, and over again. It is not unheard of for me to put one song on repeat and go about my business ~ for hours. At night, I fall asleep to one of the Harry Potters on my iPod. When (because it's almost always a when) I wake up in the middle of the night, I put the ear bud back in and go back to sleep. The book just repeats throughout the night. I have listened to Goblet of Fire now for over three months. Did I mention and over again?

3. I don't check my phone messages. My outgoing voice message even says "I may or may not call you back." This is because I don't check my messages. Leaving me a message on my voice mail is one of the worst possible ways to reach me. Smoke signal will probably be more effective.

4. It takes forever for me to cash checks. I will carry checks around with me for days or even weeks. For some reason, I don't go to the bank. In fact, I have my last three paychecks in my purse now.

5. I quote movies in my head. When I say goodbye to someone, I tend to think "I'll meet you in Dinsford!" (101 Dalmations) When someone makes a joke, it's "That's a mama joke." (Remember the Titans) And when someone is moving something fragile: "Easy boy. Easy." (The Magnificent Seven) There are several others but those are the three most common. I'm not quite sure why.

6. I have a collection of Muppet underwear. What makes this weird (aside from the obvious) is the fact that I don't collect Muppet underwear. But somewhere along the line, my friends decided I did. I bought a 2-pack of Muppet underwear to wear to the Muppet's first show back several years ago. Then I gained a lot weight and they didn't fit any longer. So a friend bought me another 2-pack to wear to his shows. Then another friend was with me when I was doing laundry. A few weeks later, she gave me 2 pairs because she had noticed I had a couple already. Then another friend got me a pair after seeing me unpack at her house. And if you're thinking of it, no Elmo, please. I really can't stand him.

Those are Pobble Thoughts and Pobble Weirdness. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

RJ died this morning about 10:30. He was eleven years old. My Dear One is okay. Or as okay as he can be. Services are Sunday. Tomorrow will bring back the lighthearted post that was supposed to be here tonight. For now, continued prayers for his family will be very appreciated. He doesn't need them anymore.

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Old School

Since I missed yesterday, you get two posts today. I know. Thrilling.

Anyway, when it comes to the holidays, I'm old school. Actually, when it comes to a lot of things, I'm old school. But since this post is on the holidays, we'll focus on that.

And what does this mean, specifically? It means I hate gift cards. To me, gift cards say "I don't know you well enough to figure something out to get you so here's a wad of cash instead." Now, as with everything, there are exceptions to this rule. Gift cards are acceptable when...

*they are for a specific thing. I'm talking a massage, a housecleaning, even an oil change. Something you know the person wants but you can't wrap up in a box and stick it under a tree.
*they are used creatively. The year of AngryGirlfriend's 25th birthday, I got her 25 gift cards to 25 different stores. When the SGM and I were broke, broke, broke early in the marriage, the Lovely Cats gave us $20 to Starbucks. We were able to make that sucker stretch out for a month and it gave us a night out once a week ~ something that we couldn't have afforded otherwise.
*they are for something that you would want to do with the person but you aren't together in order to do it. The Starbucks gift card is a good example. Dunkin Donuts falls in here too. Restaurants to your favorite foodie. Movie passes for the friend who loves movies.

So when don't I like gift cards? When it is simply $25 to Target. Or Macy's. Or somewhere random. That's not a gift. That's handing them cash. That's not a present. That's a deposit. Personally, I would rather get vanilla bubble bath or another candle every single year than just be handed a gift card to a department store. And I'm going to take the time to find the thing that I know you like, not something I could give to you or any other random person who might wander through my life. But maybe that's just me.

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.

Well...I did it. My last day at work will be December 22nd. Working through a temp agency will be good, even if it's not a 100% steady paycheck. I'm sure I will have as much work as I need to make ends meet. Right...?

Plus, I've gotten a lead on two more writing gigs...

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

The New Plan

Tomorrow, I am giving notice at work. No, I haven't suddenly hit the lottery...although wouldn't that be nice. The problem is, as great as the plan was ~ work in the mornings, come home and write in the evenings ~ it didn't work that way. The theory was great; the execution sucked. It looked great on paper. Kinda like Communism. (digressing, Pobble...)
Instead, I will give notice tomorrow and register with a temp agency or try to find a part-time job that allows me to work 3 days a week, leaving me four days a week to do nothing but write. When I can do nothing but write, I write. And I write a lot. When I have to do something else first, it just doesn't happen.
Dear God but this is scary...
Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.

Better Late Than Never

Several weeks ago now, GNGirl issued a challenge to her readers to post about the things in our world that we love and that make coming home such a joy. At the time, I was arguing with my camera and it was winning. But no longer! I have prevailed over the technology and can finally rise to the challenge. Admittedly, this was tough because I have a pretty strict rule about not having things if I don't love them. However, I think I have chosen wisely. So, without further ado, here are some of the things that I enjoy the most about being in my space...

These are my loveseat and fabbo pillows. They reside in my den of iniquity ~ which triples as guest room (it's a sleeper, even!) and television room. For snuggling with the puppies, for napping, for lighting the candles around it and lounging, this is a wonderful space. Whenever I'm sitting here, I feel like a 1940's movie star. Not bad for a sleeper sofa.

My teaspoons. These were the first things I bought without thinking of the SGM's tastes as well as my own. These I bought just for me, to hang in my home. I have the matching measuring cups and love them as much. The spoons, though, represent more. I will measure things I don't need to measure just to use them. They are the first thing that gets hung in a new kitchen.

I adore sconces and have several in just about every room in my home. However, this collection pleases me particularly. I've owned the lanterns for several years and this is the first time I've ever hung them. The tiles behind them read "heal" "magic" "play" and "be free." These were bought while I was dealing with the issues around my biofamily and slowly, slowly getting my head around the truth of the dynamic. While I have hung the sconce and the tiles before, there is something about them in this configuration, along with the lanterns, that brings me peace.

All my life, I wanted peacock feathers in a vase in a room. The wax lanterns clustered there. And, in a slight cheat ~ the corner of my favorite print. It's by Ty Wilson and I have owned it since I was 15. The Lovely Cats had taken me to the mall just outside of Philly when I saw this poster. It took my breath away. I decided then and there that I would live that life at some point. Somehow, the peacock feathers and the candle lanterns got tied into that promise. Twenty-two years later, I've actually made that promise come true. This corner reminds me of that fact.

And, finally...

This is CeeGee. CeeGee stands for Ceramic Giraffe.
A couple years ago, I was having one of those days. No matter
what I did, I couldn't make it right. On the way home, I stopped
and bought a pack of cigarettes, a six pack of hard mike's
lemonade and a ceramic giraffe. It was an excellent combination.
He never, ever fails to make me smile when I need to ~ or even
when I don't. I hightly recommend owning a ceramic giraffe.
Those are Pobble Thoughts ~ and Pobble Things. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Holiday Tradition

Every year, I take an evening and have an A Christmas Carol marathon. See, I remember the first time I ever saw A Christmas Carol. When Bob Cratchitt comes in late on the morning of the 26th and Scrooge yells at him, I panicked. I looked at my mother, stricken. She smiled and said "Just watch." And so I did. And have every year since.

Several years ago, I ended up alone, with a bad flu and nothing on television. But I did have my three favorite versions of A Christmas Carol. My first very own tradition was started. First, I watch the Muppet version. Then Patrick Stewart's. Then my all-time favorite, George C. Scott's. That's a brilliant Scrooge, there, my friends.

Tonight, the babies and I snuggled up and had a date with George, Patrick and Kermit. It's a nice way to start the holiday season. Do tell ~ what do you do?

And God bless us, everyone.

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.


text:
Housing in the Boulder Area

Housing in the Boulder Area

Housing in the Boulder Area

Calling Boulder Home

A Variety of Housing Options

A wide variety of housing options are available in the Boulder area, including historic Victorians, contemporary condos, downtown lofts, traditional family homes, mountain retreats, and ranch properties.

Housing prices in the city of Boulder continue to represent values higher than those in the surrounding region, with a median home price of $500,700 in 2013. This compares to $349,100 for the county and $173,900 for the nation. The city’s idyllic location at the base of the Rocky Mountains, along with the presence of the university and rich cultural amenities, contribute to the differentials in home values.

More than half the individuals that work in Boulder live outside the city limits. A wide variety of housing options are located within 15 minutes of Boulder, including the following communities in Boulder County:

  • Erie
  • Lafayette
  • Longmont
  • Louisville
  • Superior

Owner-Occupied Home Values

Value Boulder Boulder County Colorado U.S.
<$100,000 9.6% 6.3% 10.7% 24.6%
$100,000 to $299,999 14.8% 28.6% 50.3% 48.1%
$300,000 to $499,999 22.2% 32.1% 27.0% 16.1%
$500,000 to $999,999 42.6% 27.0% 11.5% 8.8%
$1 million or more 10.9% 6.0% 2.1% 2.4%
Median value $530,000 $383,100 $255,200 $181,200

Source: 2014 American Community Survey

The 2013 American Community Survey shows that 96% of the city’s housing units are occupied, compared to 89.1% of the state’s housing units. Owner-occupied housing makes up 47.6% of occupied housing in the city while renter-occupied housing represents 53.2% of occupied housing units due largely to the presence of CU-Boulder. The city’s median gross rent was reported at $1,213 per month.

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Tulipe Quarterly is a quarterly subscription box from Tulipe Studios, containing a variety of products mainly inspired by nature. The boxes can be purchased individually or for the whole year. The majority of products are handmade by artisans (i.e., ceramic, pottery, etc.), and carefully picked to meet the subscriber's highest expectation of quality and use. There will also be gourmet goodies, if they are the right fit for our box. The total retail value of the products is equal or greater than cost of the box. With this box, we not only empower artisans, but also help animals in distress. The total cost of an individual box is $66 = $50 box + $16 S/H). For a limited time $10 discount is applied to the 2016 annual subscription. The customers have also the choice of ordering any of the boxes individually. Currently shipping to Canada and USA, but planning for more countries soon. With that being said, $5 from the sale of each box is donated towards the care for animals in distress.

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Cloud Computing
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SolaWerksTM Extending Lead in Mobile Energy by Adding Infrared to Its Solar Powered Apple Accessory Products

SolaWerks Inc., a subsidiary of DoMark International Inc. (OTCBB: DOMK) (the "Company" or "DoMark"), announces that is has obtained exclusive rights to revolutionary, patent pending technology that harnesses infrared light to charge electrical circuits in mobile devices. SolaWerks, already the leader in energy technology for Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) devices with its solar powered covers/chargers, will now be able to add infrared light as a charging source in all SolaWerks products.

Until now, solar technology primarily has been concerned with the visible light spectrum, which accounts for only 7% of the light emitted by the sun. Infrared light, the most abundant of the sun's light spectrum, accounting for 47% of the sun's light, has not been commercially harnessed as an energy source to date. Infrared light comes from many readily available light sources other than the sun, including incandescent light, the clouds (through re-reflection), and even the Earth itself. Infrared breaks the solar power compromise - no longer must solar charged circuits need a wired back-up system. Through the infrared revolution, we will finally be able to achieve a truly wireless world - no more plugging in your devices to obtain a charge.

SolaWerks covers/chargers enhanced with infrared harness capability will help double Apple device battery life using on-board battery back-up that maintains a charge with ambient light. "To date, over 200 samples of the new product have undergone beta testing by existing SolaWerks customers, third party testers, and staff. SolaWerks has taken into consideration voluminous feedback from many current users in bringing its next generation products to market. The response from our demo group has been nothing short of exceptional. We are very pleased," commented Andy Ritchie, CEO of DoMark.

The SolaCaseTM and SolaPadTM systems cover and recharge the batteries of Apple's iPhone and iPad devices using solar power. Each cover contains a large, high-efficiency solar panel on its reverse side, plus an internal battery to keep Apple devices charged at all times. Apple iPads and iPhones no longer need to be plugged in for hours to get charged - liberate yourself and your Apple device with SolaWerks!

According to ABI Research, the Apple accessory market, dubbed the "Apple Economy," accounted for $5-$6 billion of the estimated $34 billion 2011 global mobile device accessory market. Andy Ritchie, commented: "With the Apple iPhone 5 launch, undoubtedly the most impressive iPhone to date, we have been busier than ever."

For more information on SolaWerks Inc. or to inquire about SolaWerks products, visit

About DoMark International Inc.

DoMark is a marketing company engaged in owning and developing patented game changing consumer products through its wholly owned subsidiaries, SolaWerks, Inc. and Musclefoot Inc. SolaWerks' focus is to develop and distribute the SolaPadTM and SolaCaseTM, combined cover/charging systems for Apple's iPad and iPhone, respectively. SolaWerks competes in a market that also includes ReneSola (NYSE:SOL), PLX Technology (NASDAQ:PLTX) and MIPS Technologies (NASDAQ:MIPS). Musclefoot Inc. distributes, markets, and acts as sales agent for the revolutionary patented foot care system, Barefoot Science. With a strong commitment to customer service and security, and a proven and capable marketing team, DoMark intends to expand its relationships across a far greater product set.

For more information on DoMark International, visit

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Monthly Archives: July 2011

Christy & Josh – Treynor Iowa Wedding

Christy and Josh were married at the Living Hope Community Church in Council Bluffs, with the following Reception at the Tryenor Iowa Community Center. It was definitely a family affair, with their many family and friends showing their genuine love and affection for the couple. Excitement and happiness abound!

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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

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> Bicycle > Shoes > MTB / Indoor Cycling / Touring Shoes > Bontrager > SSR Mountain WSD Shoes - Women's
Bontrager SSR Mountain WSD Shoes - Women's

SSR Mountain WSD Shoes - Women's

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Bontrager SSR Mountain WSD Shoes - Women's

Bontrager's SSR Mountain WSD Shoes are perfect for touring cyclists, commuters and anybody else that needs a shoe with a good balance of stiffness for pedaling efficiency and flexibility for walking. They feature rubber outsoles for great traction and SPD cleat mounts so you can clip in for indoor cycling class and jaunts across town. The street-smart, lace-up design lets them blend in while you're grabbing your morning coffee, while the single Velcro strap customizes the fit and keeps your laces out of the way. Wherever you ride, the SSRs are comfortable, stylish and durable.

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Thursday, 5 November 2015

These days, November 5th is no longer exclusively what we used to call 'Firework Night' or 'Bonfire Night' since the crackles, bangs and whizzes have been going on nightly now for at least the past two weeks and will doubtless continue for a while to come.

But there was a time in England when tonight would have been one of the most exciting nights of the year, because it was––––

Guy Fawkes Night!

"Who-what Night?" you ask...

The night named after the treasonable activities of Guido (Guy) Fawkes (1570 - 1606), a member of a group of English Roman Catholics who, in 1605, sought to carry out the Gunpowder Plot: a daring and dastardly attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament, kill King James I of England and end Protestant rule.

I recall a time when every English child knew by heart the rhyme...
Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
There was actually more to the rhyme that would have been known to children of an earlier age:
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's mercy he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holla boys, Holla boys, let the bells ring!
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
And what should we do with him?
Burn him!
A somewhat gruesome tradition grew up of building bonfires on the top of which an effigy of the traitorous Fawkes would be burned on the night of 5 November.

Children would display their 'Guy' (dressed in old clothes and often sporting a mask) on street corners – or going house to house – begging "A penny for the Guy!", in order to raise funds with which to purchase fireworks for the Big Night!

 Of course, the real Master Fawkes, having been identified, came to a nasty end, but, true to the code of the martyrs (and forgive me for making a traitor into a bit of a hero) he valiantly made his exit, managing to cheat the axeman of the pleasures of drawing and quartering his body – at least according to William Harrison Ainsworth's "historical romance" (how much of each being open to conjecture)  Guy Fawkes or The Gunpowder Treason...

Guy Fawkes now alone remained, and he slowly mounted the scaffold. His foot slipped on the blood-stained boards, and he would have fallen if Topcliffe [the man responsible for torturing Fawkes], who stood near him, had not caught his hand.
A deep silence prevailed as he looked around, and uttered the following words in a clear and distinct voice: "I ask forgiveness of the King and the state for my criminal intention, and trust that my death will wash out my offence."
He then crossed himself and knelt down to pray, after which his cloak and doublet were removed by the executioner's assistant and placed with those of the other conspirators.  He made an effort to mount the ladder, but his stiffened limbs refused their office. "Your courage fails you, sneered Topcliffe," laying his hand upon his shoulder. "My strength does," replied Fawkes, sternly regarding him.  "Help me up the ladder, and you shall see whether I am afraid to die."

Seeing how matters stood, the executioner who stood by leaning upon his chopper, tendered him his blood stained hand, but Fawkes rejected it with disgust, and exerting all his strength, forced himself up the ladder.

As the hangman adjusted the rope, he observed a singular smile illuminate the features of his victim. "You seem happy," he said.  "I am so," replied Fawkes, earnestly, "I see the form of her I loved beckoning me to unfading happiness."

With this, he stretched out his arms and sprang from the ladder. Before his frame was exposed to the executioner's knife life was totally extinct.
On reflection, of course, it does seem rather regrettable that it took such a barbaric event to give the English an excuse to let off a few fireworks once a year!

Images: Gunpowder Plot by Ron Embleton © Look & Learn, 2007; Execution of Guy Fawkes by George Cruickshank; Cartoon by © Simon Pearsall

Parts of this post first appeared on blogs from a few years ago.

1 comment:

boll weavil said...

It's always been a fascination of mine has this plot not least because it raises more questions than recent years it has become more common to believe that Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury allowed this plot to come to fruition in order to have excuse to hunt down the Catholics. Interestingly some have accused George Bush of taking an identical role in 9/11 for his own purposes.there's nothing new under the sun....


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Thursday, October 12, 2006

Frederic Rzewski

Hear a sample from: The People United Will Never Be Defeated!

For you Kansas City Folks. As brought to my Attention via Dr. Mara Gibson.
I'll see you there.

'On October 16 from 12-1, Frederic Rzewski will be giving a free, noontime
lecture titled, "Nonsequiturs" at KCAI in Epperson. Rzewski is a VERY
influencial American composer and pianist that has agreed to come to
come talk with us about the creative process. He is also doing a residency
at UMKC.

Rzewski's music deals with improvisation , the use of language as a
structural element and often the overtly political. Some of his
better-known pieces include "The People United Will Never Be
Defeated!" (1975)(a set of 36 piano variations on the Sergio Ortega
Chilean song "El pueblo unido jamás será vencido"), written as a
companion piece to Beethoven's Diabelli Variations; "Coming Together,"
which is a setting of letters from an inmate at Attica State Prison,
at the time of the famous riots there (1971) and more recently, "De
Profundis," a 30 minute piano piece that requires the pianist to
recite a text by Oscar Wilde while playing (1992). Rzewski was also
co-founder of Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV) in the 60s which conceived
of music as a "collective collaboration process" bringing together
improvisation and electronic instruments.

Also, don't miss the concert with Frederic Rzewski on Saturday,
October 14, piano (as part of the Vanguard Series at UMKC Conservatory
of Music). A rare public performance by the legendary
composer-pianist. "...combustible energy...anarchistic tendencies - he
can take off into a free improvisation at any moment." Music by
Rzewski and others.

7:30 p.m.
White Hall in the Performing Arts Center
general admission $8, seniors $6, all students FREE with 24-hour
advance reservation, that INCLUDES KCAI students'

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text:
Sunday, May 19, 2013

Emily Blunt's Got A Bun In The Oven?! In Talks To Play The Baker's Wife In Into The Woods! (PEREZ HILTON)

Annnndddd we've burst into a million magical pieces!

Disney's film adaptation of Into The Woods directed by Rob Marshall already features A-List actors Johnny Depp, Meryl Streep, AND potentially stars Chris Pine and Jake Gyllenhaal…

And NOW we hear that Emily Blunt is in final negotiations to play the LEAD in the film, the Baker's Wife!

If you are not super familiar with the fantastical Into The Woods, the story follows a cursed baker and his wife who cannot have children as they go on a journey to find the witch that cursed them. On their adventures they meet all sorts of classic, fairy tale characters.

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Posted on: February 14, 2017

Brookings Recognized as “Azalea City”

The City of Brookings has been designated an “Azalea City” by the Azalea Society of America (ASA).

“Sincere congratulations to you and your city. It is clear that the City of Brookings has an active history of promoting and celebrating azaleas with numerous municipal, civic, and community events, said ASA President Robert Lee. “Azaleas are obviously a part of the community culture and it is only fitting that your city should receive certification as an ASA Azalea City.”

One of the principal goals of the ASA is to promote the appreciation of azaleas in public and private landscapes. To help achieve that goal, ASA established the Azalea City program in 2004 to find, recognize and certify those municipalities that promote and display azaleas as Azalea Cities.

Brookings is the first Oregon city to be certified as an Azalea City, and only the eighth city in the nation to be designated.

The City of Brookings and many of its residents have been active in the cultivation, preservation and celebration of azaleas…both on public and private property…for many years.

“We are pleased to receive this special recognition for our community,” said Mayor Jake Pieper.  “We plan to continue to build this into the fabric of the community and utilize the designation in our visitor promotion program.”

The Brookings City Council has adopted a Resolution encouraging the use of azaleas in public and private landscaping.

The 78th annual Azalea Festival…which pre-dates the incorporation of the City…is scheduled for May 26-29, 2017. The event includes the Azalea Parade on highway 101 and the crowning of the Azalea Queen and Court. Other festival activities are being planned by the Brookings Harbor Chamber of Commerce and other community-based organizations.

The City accepted ownership of Azalea Park from the State of Oregon in 1992. Azalea Park is a 33-acre park containing 850 ancient native azaleas that were growing there when Lewis and Clark wintered on the Oregon Coast in 1805-06.

The native azaleas had long been overgrown with berry vines and needed restoration when the City took ownership of the park. A group of volunteers and the City’s Department of Parks and Recreation began restoring the plants. This, in turn, released a flood of volunteer energy that built walkways and planting areas, cleaned up debris and planted rhododendrons.

“The revitalization of this park has brought much beauty and joy to the residents of Brookings as well as visitors,” said Mayor Pieper.

The abundance of the native azalea bushes is a direct reflection of the care given to these very old plants by local citizens. The City maintains the park…which includes a formal garden with non-native azaleas and rhododendrons…in cooperation with the Azalea Park Foundation.

The azalea blooming period at Azalea Park is typically early to late spring with May being the height of the blooming season.

Azalea Park offers active and passive recreational activities, exposing all park-goers to the native azaleas located there. Park amenities include softball/baseball fields, volleyball court, disc golf, picnic tables, handicapped accessible restrooms and horseshoe pits. A band shell hosts summer concerts in the midst of the native azaleas. The castle-like "Kidtown" play area provides younger children with a play area offering forts, bridges, slides, tires and ropes. All facilities were constructed by volunteer labor and contributions.

In 2007, Academy Award Winner Elmo Williams selected Azalea Park as the site for his “Capella by the Sea.” The $800,000 rustic timber, stone and glass structure has become a popular location for weddings and small musical events.

Every December Azalea Park is the site of "Nature's Coastal Holiday Light Show" which returns bigger and brighter each year with dazzling light displays created by the many community service groups. From the middle of the month until January 1, the park is transformed into a winter wonderland with a light show and sculpture display. The entire creative display follows a Northwest theme as visitors traverse through pathways bordered by the native azaleas.

Located about two blocks from Azalea Park another City-owned facility…Stout Park…is home for another 80 native azaleas. Located adjacent to the Manly Art Center, this grove of azaleas is the site of the annual Brookings Art in the Park Festival where artists display their creations among the native azaleas each spring.

The City has landscaped a portion of its downtown “Bankus Park” with azaleas, and has utilized rhododendrons…an azalea relative…as landscaping at another downtown “pocket park.” Azalea Middle School is found in the center of town.

Information on the planting and care of azaleas is available at City Hall or on the City’s website, or on the ASA website The City is offering to assist home and business owners in coordinating the purchase of azalea stock. Information concerning this program can be obtained from the Visitor Information Center at City Hall, (541) 469-1103.

Many local residents have also incorporated azaleas into their landscaping. The Gary and Carolyn Milliman residence is home to over 200 azaleas and rhododendrons, including some rhododendrons that are over 40 years old and 30 feet in height.

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text:
Bears Edged By Charleston Southern, 7-6

Bears Edged By Charleston Southern, 7-6

March 26, 2007

Box Score

Charleston, SC - After falling behind 7-2 in the fourth, the Brown baseball team (4-9) responded with four runs in the fifth, but it wasn't enough, as the Bears dropped the last of a four-game series with Charleston Southern (13-18), 7-6. Junior Jeff Dietz (Altamonte Springs, FL) drove in four runs, three coming on a home run in the fifth, and four pitchers combined for five innings of scoreless relief for the Bears.

The Buccaneers opened with two runs in the first, but Brown tied it back up with runs in the second and third. Junior Dan Shapiro (Basking Ridge, NJ), who started at designated hitter, drove in sophomore shortstop Matt Nuzzo (Everett, MA) with a single to put Bruno on the board. Dietz followed in the third with his first RBI, as he brought junior left fielder J.J. Eno (Kahului, HI) all the way around on a single.

In the bottom of the fourth, CSU appeared to break the game open, as they touched starter Rob Wilcox (Columbia, SC) for five runs by stringing together five hits, culminating in a three-run home run by catcher Stephen Herzog. That inning would prove to be Wilcox's last, as the freshman finished with three strikeouts, giving up six earned runs on nine hits and no walks.

The Bears answered back in the top of the fifth. Sophomore Steve Daniels (Fox Point, WI) led off, reaching on an error by the shortstop, then stealing second and advancing to third on a wild pitch. After an Eno walk, senior catcher Devin Thomas (Gainesville, FL) singled to right, driving Daniels in. CSU changed pitchers, but Dietz took David Perkins' first pitch and drilled it over the fence, bringing the Bears within one. Perkins was able to settle down from there, retiring the next three hitters to end the rally.

The Brown bullpen did its part to keep the Bears in it, keeping the Bucs off the scoreboard the rest of the way. Senior Paul Costa (East Providence, RI) threw 1.2 hitless innings, followed by senior Anthony Vita (West Babylon, NY), who allowed one hit and struck out one in 1.1 innings in his season debut. Freshman Will Ellis (Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, FL) started the eighth, getting two outs before giving way to junior closer Rob Hallberg (River Edge, NJ), who got the final out. Unfortunately, the Bears could not get the tying run past second, taking the loss.

Each of the Bears' top five hitters scored at least a run, as number two hitter Eno scored twice and Daniels, Thomas, Dietz and Nuzzo all scored once.

With its series at Charleston Southern over, Brown will start a two-game series with another Charleston school, The Citadel, on Tuesday. That game, as well as Wednesday's will be at 6 p.m.


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Paul Kingsnorth introduces Wendell Berry

About 18 months ago, out of the blue, I was offered something of a dream assignment. Penguin, the publisher, was looking to put together the first British collection of essays by the now-venerable American writer Wendell Berry, and they thought I would be a good person to make the selection, and write an introduction. Would I be interested? Of course, they would understand if I was too busy.

Needless to say, I was not too busy. I have been reading Wendell Berry for over 20 years, on and off, and have found him a constant source of nourishment and inspiration. It’s always difficult to explain exactly what you like about a writer, but Berry combines an earthy wisdom, an unashamed traditionalism, a love of his fellow man and passionate resistance to those who would desecrate the Earth which is his subject. It’s a combination I like. Also, to adopt his idiom, he has a damn fine way with words. I’d say he’s a writer who should be read by anyone wanting to find their place, or even figure out how to think about it, in an ever-churning age.

Read the whole article by Paul Kingsnorth (and Mr. Berry's "Damage") at Resilience.

On Wendell Berry vs. the metrics of winning

Both sides claim that we cannot be happy or hopeful unless “we” are winning. And both sides tend to paint grim pictures of “American carnage” to show how much we are suffering and how badly we need to do something so that we can start winning.

But what if we turned our attention away from the latest indications of whether we’re winning or losing and instead focused on practicing good work where we are? It is in this vein that Wendell Berry speaks about the need to resist both optimism and pessimism. While these may seem like opposite postures, both stem from a fixation on metrics and quantities: I’m optimistic if I expect to win and pessimistic if I expect to lose. As Berry puts it, “Optimism and pessimism are based on the idea of how things are [going to] turn out.”

Instead of either of these, then, Berry endeavors to practice the virtue of hope: “Hope is grounded in the present; it’s not about the future. It’s about the reality of possibilities, this sense of possibility that you can do better.” Thus Berry advocates for doing things that “are good now, according to [the] present understanding of present needs…  Only the present good is good. It is the presence of goods—good work, good thoughts, good acts, good places—by which we know that the present does not have to be a nightmare of the future. ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand’ because, if not at hand, it is nowhere.”

Read the whole article by Jeffrey Bilbro at Upwrite Magazine.

On Wendell Berry, the Ideal, and the Real

In ‘The Loss of The Future’ (from The Long-Legged House, Shoemaker and Hoard, 2004 (1965), New York, p. 48) Wendell Berry writes:

One of the most damaging results of the loss of idealism is the loss of reality. Neither the  ideal or the real is perceivable alone. The ideal is apparent and meaningful only in relation to the real, the real only in relation to the ideal. Each is the measure and the corrective of the other. Where there is no accurate sense of the real world, idealism evaporates in the rhetoric of self-righteousness and self-justification. Where there is no disciplined idealism, the sense of the real is invaded by sentimentality or morbidity or cynicism and by fraudulent discriminations.

Berry seems to employ both meanings of ‘idealism’ here. It may be understood as ‘systems of thought in which the objects of knowledge are held to be in some way dependent on the activity of mind’ and, of course, ‘the practice of forming or pursuing ideals, especially unrealistically.’

Read the whole post by Samir Chopra HERE

On Wendell Berry's idealistic fiction

When I read Berry’s poems and essays, I sense he and I are kindred spirits. I, too, care about preserving the good, true, and beautiful in a hellbent civilization. On the other hand, when I read Berry’s fiction, I begin to suspect he would not much approve of me. I read as if I were an adolescent who is constantly objecting “Yeah, but…” to the author’s often narrow view of the good life and his criticisms of anyone who wanders off the path. I can be contrarian, too, Mr. Berry.

I read about the Coulters and the Proudfoots and the Branches and perhaps his most beloved protagonist, Jayber Crow, as if I know them personally, and often I find they don’t represent themselves altogether truthfully. Maybe I feel close to them because two generations back both sides of my family lived in Port William–type villages in the center of New York State. When Mr. Crow moves to his final home on a riverbank, I feel like he’s speaking my family dialect. I know exactly the “substantial sound” of an anchor line plunking into the bottom of a boat, and the language of a single fish slurping from the surface of a still pond. I know it because, by the grace of God and kindly grandparents, I’ve spent countless childhood days on a quiet waterfront. But also, I know it because it’s embedded in my genes from my grandfather’s generation, who lived in a small village dotted with pastures and bubbling brooks.

The dissonance with Berry occurs when I consider other family tales buried under the agrarian beauty. These are stories of shattered relationships, addiction, job loss, abandonment, mental illness, and unspoken violations that seem to separate my kinfolk from the clans in Port William. In Berry’s fictional village, readers occasionally witness felonies, infidelity, drunken brawls, and tragic deaths, but all of them seem to be told in a dusky, warming light.

Read the whole article by Tamara Hill Murphy (no relation) at Plough Quarterly.

Read Rod Dreher's reflections on "What Wendell Berry Gets Wrong" at The American Conservative.

Read Jeffrey Bilbro's response, "Does Wendell Berry Have Rose-Colored Glasses?" at Front Porch Republic.

Read Matthew Loftus' response, "What Wendell Berry Gets Wrong about Wendell Berry" at Mere Orthodoxy.

Read Jake Meador's response, "The Abolition of Troy Chatham" at Mere Orthodoxy.

Read Rod Dreher's response to Jeffrey Bilbro in "Defending Wendell Berry" at The American Conservative

Read Tamara Hill Murphy response to all of the above in "A Few More Words on the Hole in Wendell Berry's Gospel."

Post-Election Thoughts from Mary Berry and Other Environmental Leaders

A number of environmental leaders have spoken to Here is Mary Berry's reflection.

While I deplore the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, I wouldn’t say that I was particularly hopeful about either candidate making much difference in the place I love the most.

My home is farm country in north central Kentucky. It has been in decline through many presidents, both Democrat and Republican. Kentucky’s raw materials have been sold to the highest bidder for most of the last 200 years under, mostly, Democratic governors. So my hope doesn’t lie with politicians and it never has.

I have often needed to try to convince our friends and allies that what they think is happening in rural places is not happening. Symbols are important, but a vegetable garden on the White House lawn does not mean that anything is actually being done to level the playing field for small family farmers. The urban demand for well-raised food is going up as the rural culture is coming down.

Now a man who is a product of television and capitalism has won the presidency, and there is no pretense that he is anything else. Now we know, the cavalry is not coming.

So this my hope, that things will never get so bad that a well-intentioned person can’t do what is right in front of them to do. If they are working on what is right in front of them, then the work is local work.

My father [author and farmer Wendell Berry] says that hope is a virtue. That to have it, we must work at it. He has kept alive in my mind, as we have watched the place we love the most decline, that what we are after is possible, that we don’t win but we don’t lose either, we just keep on.

See all other responses at Grist.

On Poetry, Angry Rhetoric, and Wendell Berry

Wendell Berry is a Kentucky farmer, author, poet, essayist, and activist. My high school English teacher and track coach, who is now retired, has said Wendell Berry may be the sanest man in America. I agree. Wendell Berry is a modern wise-man, a rare American sage, who speaks with the authority of the aged. I have benefited greatly from his essays, novels, and short stories. His poetry is a good introduction to his work.

He wrote “To A Siberian Woodsman” in the late 1960s during the cold war when we were taught to hate the Russians. This poem carries the weight of a societal elder who brings insight and counsel from another world. Berry is a prophet. He is both a poet and a farmer, which offers credentials much more substantial than those so-called “prophets” with self-appointed titles, blogs, and  YouTube channels. These lackluster “prophets” are lost in a mixed-up sea of conservative politics and a doomsday eschatology. Berry isn’t like that. He is a prophet like Amos, the fig farmer.

Read the complete article by Derek Vreeland at Missio Alliance.

Wendell Berry and Pastoral Ministry

Wendell Berry has made his home in Henry County, Kentucky, for more than a half-century. From this place and his affection for it, he has written approximately 50 books of poetry, fiction, and essays. Berry offers an alternative voice we can learn from, especially where his writings mirror biblical teachings better than religious books featuring baptized secular industrial models.

Pastors seeking to revitalize churches will do well to revitalize their minds along lines Berry suggests.

He asks us to choose nurturing over exploiting as a way of life. Exploiters look at people, land, and communities as raw materials to be mined for one’s own career and retirement portfolio. Exploiters inevitably look at churches the same way. Nurturers, by contrast, seek to conserve, preserve, enhance, and heal while living with people in community in particular places. The nurturer seeks wise practices that build for the long term. As Berry writes in The Unsettling of America (1977), perhaps his best-known volume:

The exploiter typically serves an institution or organization; the nurturer serves land, household, community, place. The exploiter thinks in terms of numbers, quantities, “hard facts”; the nurturer in terms of character, condition, quality, kind. . . . The first casualties of the exploitive revolution are character and community. . . . Once the revolution of exploitation is underway, statesmanship and craftsmanship are gradually replaced by salesmanship.

Read the complete article by Paul House at The Gospel Coalition.

On Wendell Berry as "The Seer" from 'Nowhere'

Produced and directed by Austin-based filmmaker Laura Dunn, and executive produced by Redford and Malick, The Seer is less a biographical study of Berry the man than an illustration of things that he values: the beauty and importance of his place and other places like it, and the people who live in it, care for it, and love it. In fact, the film’s footage is largely made up of video interviews with Berry’s friends and fellow natives of Port Royal, each of whom seems to view Berry as a kind of comrade in arms—a sympathizer—rather than a celebrity. And from early on in the film, it’s clear that Berry loves these people, that he values them. In a sense, the film feels like an elegy to people like them and the places they inhabit, a mournful recognition that we have forgotten them too easily. “The great cultural failure that we have made here in the United States,” he says midway through the film, “is to mistake millions of individual small places, with their own character, their own needs and demands in use . . . for nowhere. And of course there’s a penalty for that and of course we’re paying the penalty.”

There’s an ecological cost, to be sure, and Berry specifically mentions soil erosion and polluted rivers and toxicity, each of which he has castigated for decades. But there is also a very real human cost: towns that are dying, farms that are failing, and communities that are fading. This is not a problem unique to Kentucky or to the South or to farming communities. It’s an American problem, and it’s a problem of our own making, Berry argues.

Read the whole article by David Kern at Christ & Pop Culture.

"Wendell Berry's Reading List"

Talk to any group of young farmers, farm interns, kids with liberal arts degrees who are choosing to grow kale over 401(k)s, and the common denominator is likely to be Berry. He offers more than sharp cultural criticism, compelling novels and beautiful poetry; Berry makes readers want to change their lives. For many this is done by eating differently, following Berry’s insight that “eating… is inescapably an agricultural act.” His writing inspired the local food movement as people began to understand that the health of the environment depends on our decisions at mealtime.

For some, Berry is a religious figure. I once met a woman in a coffee shop who told me that Berry’s poem “The Wild Geese” was her religion, its closing lines offering a call to be present in our places:

…we pray, not for new earth or heaven, but to be quiet in heart, and in eye clear. What we need is here.

And then there are those who, like my 22-year-old self, are drawn to radical responses. Those who consider a return to the land to farm it and care for it with all the virtues Berry works out in his writing. But how to begin, was this the right choice, and most importantly for one who lives by books—what to read? I needed guidance, and so I wrote to the one man I felt could give it: Wendell Berry.

Read the entire article by Ragan Sutterfield at WorldArk Magazine.

"Eating as Discipleship"

Wendell Berry's famous statement that "eating is an agricultural act" has motivated many to reconsider the agricultural systems our eating habits promote. Yet Berry's writings also contend that eating is a spiritual act; when we eat, we enact our relationship with the rest of creation and with the Creator. Unfortunately, the social architecture of the developed world encourages us to imagine food as a fuel that we consume. We're trained to treat food as a commodity whose sole purpose is to satisfy our desires and give us energy.

Lisa Graham McMinn's To the Table: A Spirituality of Food, Farming, and Community joins a chorus of other books that call Christians to resist this consumerist view of food. McMinn's book begins with Leslie Leyland Fields's proclamation that "food is nothing less than Sacrament." In defending this view, McMinn—a sociologist and co-owner of a CSA—adds her voice to the growing number of books and blogs celebrating farmers' markets, gardening, and home cooking.

Read all of "Eating as Discipleship" by Jeffrey Bilbro at Comment.


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Friday, August 21, 2009

New Season, new beers.

I know we're all sad to see that summer is coming to an end, but there is an upside to the changing of seasons - it means new beer.

Starting today at the Tasting Room, we'll be releasing Autumn Maple, our fall seasonal, which is a delicious brown ale brewed with yams, maple syrup, and "pumpkin pie" like spices.  Now that's a good reason to look forward to fall!

We'll also have Snicklefritz on draft today, which is a citrusy, spiced, oaked Golden Strong Ale originally developed and homebrewed by Kyle Manns.  Kyle's beer will be our Great American Beer Festival ProAm entry this year.  Thanks Kyle!

So as you can see, there are plenty of reasons to welcome the new season, so come out to the Tasting Room and beat the end of the summer blues!

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Monthly Link up – Share your Favourite Brunch Spot in Brussels

brunch in brussels

When we set-up Brussels Food Friends, we wanted a community of people who could come together in Belgium and celebrate our love of all things blogging and food.

On the last Wednesday of each month, we will be having a ‘Monthly Link-Up’, each link-up will be a different theme and this is your chance to get to know the blogs of other Brussels Food Friends members.

How Does It Work?

Add your post to the Linkee below.
Click through to one of the other posts, take a read and say Hi. Feel free to check out more than link!

What Is The Theme for February?

What was your favourite brunch spot in Brussels post? That is what we want you to link to here.

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Sunday, June 30, 2013

Renovate your outdated bathroom with a frameless glass shower screen

The bathroom is one of the most important rooms in your home and it can be one the larger projects (along with the kitchen) to fix up. When you consider the amount of plumbing changes that may be involved as well as durable fixtures, the cost of simply updating the look, not just the functionality, may go beyond the average Joe’s budget. With this in mind, it is important to do your research when deciding to update your bathroom as there are ways to renovate your bathroom that don’t actually require completely overhauling the whole room, fixtures and all.

Bathrooms traditionally consist of a basin, bath and a shower – or shower /bath combination. In older bathrooms, the fixtures are often ceramic and a little out of date, especially when you are dealing with the older gaudy colours like pink, green and orange. You could paint over the existing fixtures to update the colour palette and you can try retiling – but this can put your bathroom out of action for a while and you risk air bubbles popping up if the job isn’t done carefully. Another option, one that is going to seem so simple and obvious when I mention it, is just replacing your shower screen! Your average framed shower screen can quickly create a visual barrier within the room, and when you have quite a compact bathroom, creating the illusion of space is very important. Frames also create more work when it’s time to clean but installing a frameless shower screen, like those from Frameless Impressions, you can instantly open up the space in your bathroom and reduce your cleaning time! A clear, frameless shower screen can turn a compact bathroom into one that creates the illusion of more space making your time in there a lot more enjoyable. Their flawless appearance adds a touch of elegance and sophistication to any old bathroom.

Frameless shower

There is quite a bit of versatility with frameless shower screens too. You have the ability to choose which way the door opens or whether it slides and what kind of tint you would like, if you want one at all. They are sleek and sturdy, built with thick, heavy glass to make up for the lack of frame.Elderly people, children or people with physical disabilities will enjoy the frameless design as there is no danger of tripping on a step. There is also the freedom of creating a large, wall-to-wall shower if the extra room is available.

A frameless shower screen really can dramatically alter the appearance of your bathroom without breaking the budget. You don’t have to put up with those brown tiles and that mouldy shower curtain anymore when a comfortable new shower is this easy to achieve.

Guest Post By:

Ivy is a home renovation enthusiast who spends her time researching current and affordable renovation trends.

Ready to update your outdated bathroom?  Give us a call or send us an email for a free in home estimate! ~Gary B.

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Sunday, 26 March 2017

Killbillies / Idila

Tomas Gorkic, 2015, Slovenia

A model photoshoot in the rural vistas of Slovenia turns into a fight for survival when the privileged fashionistas meet the kill-happy moonshine folk. Yes, it’s that old staple of the comfortable and brattish stepping out where they don’t belong and getting their comeuppance – hey, you really shouldn’t leave home, kids – and there’s nothing new in that. If you’re thinking ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ or ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ and a hundred others, you wouldn’t be wrong. Like those titles, psychopathology is directly linked to physical ugliness, so you’re going to know the bad guys at a glance: ugly within and without.

However, this is decently done with the original moniker
'Idila/Idyll' colouring in a slight subtext that the trashier English re-titling ‘Killbillies’ doesn’t have: namely, that in these holiday brochure surroundings, the worst goes on. The homemade brew distributed by the ugly family and beloved by locals seems to cause deformity and pathology. The characterisation and script are a notch above normal with decent performances. It’s bright and exhibits nice clean cinematography by Nejc Saje, has fun exaggerated make-up and clips through its routine at a brisk pace – it knows we’ve seen this before and doesn’t waste time being too stupid about it. Undemanding but fun, with just a twist of European sensibility to make it fresh enough.

Tuesday, 14 March 2017

Adam Randall, 2017, UK

Caught between Young Adult fiction and urban gangster clichés, Netflix’s ‘iBoy’ forgets how absurd its premise is, that this could be pleasing and that it should be having a lot more fun. Based on Kevin Brooks’ novel, Bill Milner is Tom who, having accidentally stumbled upon a gang-rape of a girl he likes, is shot when fleeing and calling the police and gets bits of his phone stuck in his head. This not only leaves him with a stylish scar, it gives him powers to log into the networks around him and he pledges to use them to get the boys who raped Lucy (Maisie Williams). As superhero powers go, this is promising as it means he’ll have to smart about things and there’s initially some fun to be had when he is discovering how to use his powers – like tracking people using virtual maps. But then he carries out martial arts moves and punches successfully after watching some video and the premise stops relying on wit.

Milner is agreeably vulnerable but it’s Williams as Lucy that stands out more, distinguishing a role that could have relied solely upon victimhood. There are gaping plot holes that can’t quite be avoided – so the assault was because her brother wouldn’t join the gang, but do they just forget about him afterwards? Do the police not follow up gang-rapes and shootings? And when the gang effectively carry out a mass theft, would this not inspire a potential crackdown? Wouldn’t there be some questions after the closing showdown? It’s all filmed in blue hues that just about steer clear of the grey and unflattering tones that usually denote neo-realism, but it’s all muted enough to make the cyberworld Tom’s sees pop out. There is some mildly effective class symbolism by having all this take place in the shadow of London’s Gherkin and Rory Kenear turns up to provide some focus in the later stages, but it’s never fun enough to pull it all together. It never quite finds a happy medium between its absurdity and it's gangster genre cruelty. Rather, it’s so busy trying to “hard-hitting and gritty” in a particularly English way that it fails to realise it’s humour and potential.

Monday, 13 March 2017

Kong: Skull Island

Jordan Vogt-Roberts, 2016, USA

Over Christmas, I watched ‘Jason and the Argonauts’ which I hadn’t seen in a while: of course, I came for the Harryhausen creations but then it became evident to me that actually the script and the acting were a bit … lacking. Indeed, my Christmassy family left the room and I could hear them grumbling about “bad acting” in the other room. And I thought: maybe it’s always been this way with monster blockbusters, that the monster stuff is good but the scripts and acting are crap.

And ‘Kong: Skull Island’ is no exception.

To the good: Kong himself is a frequently exceptional special effect. CGI has come a long way and it’s not unusual, with the right amount of cash and an army of multiple effects crews, to get realistic monsters that can stand up to lingering close-ups. Of course, we could be blasé now that we’re used to such amazing spectacles as the recent Planet of the Apes’ films, but I could  only dream of such photo-realistic monsters as a kid. Some have bemoaned that Kong is shown too early but I would say around the first three Kong reveals are good and thrilling. I had no issue with this, although it did imply a rush to the money shot for fear that the audience wouldn't have any patience. There is enough believable heft to these digital monsters that it’s all quite convincing. Yes, monsters yelling and/or plunging into the camera gets a little tedious, but the fights are decently orchestrated, paced and considered – including Kong battling a giant squid (??) – so it’s all good. That’s what you came for, after all.

But oh the script is woeful - by Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein and Derek Connolly. And that’s when you start to notice all that’s wrong. There are many big names in the cast but this means very little when the material they work with is so poor. I mean, why are good actors even necessary here? Only John C. Reilly really comes to life with what he’s given because he’s the comic relief and has more to work with. But even then, he’s the Comic Relief, because that’s what this kind of thing always has. He’s with the natives, but the natives literally have no voice so it’s America all the way (…okay, except for Hiddleston).

Tom Hiddleston is the ex-army Brit whose introduction speaks to how the script seems to be mostly more just ticking boxes than really trying: John Goodman and Houston Brooks are looking for someone to lead their expedition into an uncharted island so they walk into a bar where Hiddleston is playing pool; he has some kind of disagreement and dispatches his opponents with a couple of violent super-moves and Goodman decides that he’s their man – all this in about a minute. He goes on to warn them that the island will be full of diseases, etc. – but seems to forget this major problem as soon as they land. He’s happy to T-shirt the adventure. But it’s okay: the film forgets too, even though it went to the effort of mentioning it. ... and anyway, just because he's good in a barroom fight, why would they assume he'd be ideal for an expedition on a unknown island? Oh, he is though, so that's okay.

Brie Larson is The Female, an anti-war photographer disapproving of male warmongering as females are wont to do, tilting her chin upwards all the time to denote integrity. But she does get to do some action stuff.

And Samuel Jackson is at his most annoying, fronting the troupe of wisecracking military yahoos. Hey, they die and they never made an impression anyway so we don’t have to care. Jackson is meant to look tough, but he looks equally bored. His character is meant to represent the bad side of the American military “Always Win: Kill Kill Kill!” mindset, and there’s lot of allusions to Vietnam, but these are meagre shadings. Perhaps it’s just Jackson’s character that is irritating.

And why in these things do they seem to think rifles can bring down monolithic monsters? But it’s okay if you have endless ammo, I guess.

And for an island full of gigantitude, shouldn’t the natural surroundings show a little more wear and tear? I mean, we see Kong leaping from peak to peak and causing major damage to the island. And do we really need fantasy monsters as opponents when anything else real could be made big? And this isn’t even getting into how Kong Is A Good Guy And Defender Of Humans rather than a naturally morally neutral, fearsome beast.

You saw the ‘Kong: Skull Island’ trailer, yes? Well that’s Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ aesthetic: the editing seems to have been learnt from trailers, commercials and actions stills from posters. It’s relentless. Gliding shots over everything – not only over the island, which is understandable, but over a pool table, for example – which means the film is in a constant state of “Awesome!” which only diminishes the genuinely notable and remarkable shots, for example the vista of Kong against the sun and the cast hiding out in a giant skull to name just two (we don’t need a sweeping trick-shot through the native city to see how remarkable it is). Now, I’m all for camera trickery and conceits – I give ‘Hardcore Henry’ a pass for this – but here’s it’s in equal measure intrusive as inspired; it’s like the film doesn’t trust the quieter moments in case we notice how insufficient they are and thinks technical bombast will distract. Mark Kermode thinks the pacing is decent and that the direction has some distinction: I disagree. The monster fights are edited with coherence and focus; my problem seems to be that much else is directed as if a box-of-tricks has been dumped all over it, which I always think reeks of desperation.

And the jukebox soundtrack just seems by rote – by the time Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Bad Moon Rising’ (sheesh, again?!) is followed by Bowie, I was just rolling my eyes. This just feels emblematic of how cynically packaged the whole enterprise felt (“Hey, people, we know from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ that you like Seventies soundtracks, right? Buy this one!”). It’s gets so that just the opening riffs of songs can be heard to set a tone and that’s it.

So, yeah, come for the monsters. I am reminded that this is the way with blockbusters but I should be the ideal audience for this – I am a sucker for giant monsters and, sure, there are some great shots – but when so much else aggravates, I am left gravely disappointed. Perhaps this has always been the way with such features, even as far back as Harryhausen, but for all its flaws I didn’t feel the cynicism in that; I didn’t even quite feel it in ‘Godzilla’ or ‘Warcraft’ (for all of their failures, they did feel as if they were trying for something individual), but I felt it here. Yeah, I'm nitpicking and I know it's meant to be fun, but it seemed to be so by rote and cynical that I couldn't find it to be so. I don’t demand much, nothing remarkable, not really, honestly: just a reasonable script with my monsters.

And oh yeah, the post-credits teaser for a franchise is crap too.

Saturday, 11 March 2017

Mike Gray, 1983, USA

A minor close encounter: a couple – Robert Carradine and Cherie Currie -  go investigate weirdness on the nearby hill when she starts to telepathically hear cries; they stumble into a secret subterranean complex where the military are dissecting what they think are alien corpses.

The couple get imbrued in conspiracy scenarios and when the military attempt to cover it all up, the aliens get free. The telepathic angle means Currie can explain the aliens where things need a little clarification – hey, they’re just stranded tourists which means not only being captured and incarcerated but a trip to a church for a little religious undertone and then the desert. The aliens resemble naked bald children so immediately they are going to tap into the sympathetic/creepy kid vibe. Speilberg’s ‘E.T: the extra-terrestrial’ was meant to be cutesier. They see Jesus on the cross and consequently happily go back on their initial rejection of clothing: what is this, an introduction of Shame and a covering up of Innocence? But anyway, it’s then a little more in the adventure mode of ‘Escape from Witch Mountain’ but it’s tone is consistently eerie enough to align it with far headier affairs such as, say,  ‘Phase IV’, helped greatly by a score by Tangerine Dream. Although it’s unremarkable in many ways, the acting is solid and things clip along at a fair pace, but it’s most notable achievement is its accent on the situation and how it veers away from having clearly labelled villains: the military men may be cruel but they do so under the guise of just-doing-my-job rather than overacting malevolence. They often seem desperate and baffled in their orders and the brutal consequences of their reactions an offhand feature of what they do rather than denoting obvious sadism: arguably this banality of evil is far more chilling.

And all of this and claims it’s based on a True Story too, but this does not lead the film: indeed, this was surely already a well-trodden cover-up conspiracy theory in 1983. As an example of earnest Eighties b-movie fare, 'Wavelength' is enjoyable with budgetary restrictions beneficially making the focus on the drama.