text:
Glossary of Wine Terms

May 12th, 2016|1 Comment

There are thousands of words associated with wine, but this is a good overview. For a more in-depth source, check out the Wine Lover’s Companion. Acid A vital part of wine, necessary to help achieve

How to Taste Wine

May 12th, 2016|0 Comments

Following a few simple steps will lead to a greater understanding of what you’re drinking, and hopefully help you put some words to what you experience when you drink wine. 1. Look at the color

Pairing Wine with Food

May 12th, 2016|0 Comments

With the great variety of both cuisine styles and wines available today, the old rule of “red wine with meat and white wine with fish” doesn’t cut it any more. Is the “fish” sushi or

Vermouth is undergoing a revival

February 25th, 2016|0 Comments

Vermouth is no longer seen as an unfashionable tipple and is undergoing a revival It wasn't so very long ago that vermouth seemed irredeemably unfashionable, the butt of tongue-in-cheek jokes on TV ads and doomed

Terroir – What is it & why should you care?

July 24th, 2015|0 Comments

Terroir (tear-whar) is one of the most important variables in wine. Understanding what it is and why it matters in winemaking will help you enjoy your culinary creations with the wine best suited to complement

Course 74 – Five Essential Wines for Thanksgiving

November 25th, 2014|0 Comments

While hosting Thanksgiving can be great fun, it can also create a ton of stress and anxiety. Having to manage friends, family, the menu and when to serve everything is enough to worry about without

Course 73-Wines of Argentina

February 10th, 2012|2 Comments

Great things are happening in Argentina’s wine industry.  A growing number of wineries have changed their philosophy and now concentrate on producing higher quality wines rather than manufacturing large quantities. Until recently, Argentina was more interested

Course 72-How and Why Wine Ages

January 27th, 2012|2 Comments

Aging is most noticeably the process of the tannins in the wine reacting with other components until they are unable to stay in solution, where upon they become sediment (precipitation). While this is happening, the

Course 71 – Food Network’s Wine IQ Quiz

January 18th, 2012|2 Comments

Source: Food Network Magazine

Course 70 – Wine Blends: From Bordeaux to Meritage OR It’s better blended

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Why blend different types of wines? If the grapes were great and the quality of their juice is good enough to bottle on its own, why blend? In essence, sometimes the sum is greater than

Course 69 – Decisions, Decisions…What wine shall I serve for Thanksgiving Dinner?

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, there is no better time to start planning your Thanksgiving dinner menu and selecting wines to complement the feast. Historically, the week before Thanksgiving is a great time to buy wine

Course 68 – South African Wine Facts

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

  « Return to course list

Course 67 – Ultimate Summer Wine Guide

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Ultimate Summer Wine Guide New and classic wine pairings for grilled foods of all kinds. By Ray Isle,  reprinted with permission from Food and Wine. Generally, grilled dishes mean bold flavors, and the top wine

Course 66 – How to read a German Wine label

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

1. Appellation of origin - Wine Growing region To identify the region compare with the following list of the 13 German wine growing regions: Ahr, Mittelrhein, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Rheingau, Nahe, Pfalz, Rheinhessen, Franken, Hessische Bergstrasse, Württemberg,

Course 65 – Test Your Italian Wine Knowledge

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

1. What is the most famous red wine grape varietal used in Tuscany? A. Asti Spumante B. Vin Santo C. Sangiovese D. Marsala 2. Chianti is which of the following: A. A wine producing region

Course 64 – Test Your Knowledge of Sparkling WIne

August 3rd, 2011|1 Comment

1.    What grape is normally NOT used in Champagne? a.    Chardonnay b.    Cabernet Sauvignon c.    Pinot Noir d.    Pinot Gris   2.    What country is true Champagne made in? a.     France b.     Spain c.     United States

Course 63 – Test Your French Wine Knowledge

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Here are twenty questions concerning wines produced in France. Information about French wines can be found on our web site under the education tab and the 60 second wine courses. Bring your completed questionaire to

Course 62 – What is Rutherford Dust?

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Rutherford Dust is the legendary reason why Cabernet Sauvignon grapes grown in the soil of the Rutherford area produce such excellent wines. And indeed, Rutherford wines consistently win high praise from wine critics around the

Course 61 – Beaujolais Nouveau Primer

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

At one past midnight on the third Thursday of each November, from little villages and towns like Romanèche-Thorins, over a million cases of Beaujolais Nouveau begin their journey through a sleeping France to Paris for

Course 60 – Alsace, France versus Germany-Reading Between the Wines

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

The wines of Alsace have a distinctive character and style that sets them apart from the other wine growing regions of France. Its wines are also totally different from those produced in neighboring Germany. Located

Course 59 – Pacific Northwest Wines

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

America’s Pacific Northwest Wine Appellations Washington and Oregon are premier wine growing regions, each with diverse geography, climates and soils. Combined, the states have 20 American Viticulture Areas, where high quality grapes are grown and

Course 58 – Italian Wine Demystified- Part 2

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

We looked at the various regions of Italy in part one of this course, so now lets get to the heart of the matter:  the Italian wines for your tasting pleasure! Some well known Italian

Course 57 – Italian Wine Demysified- Part 1

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

From fertile valleys to rocky mountain tops, it seems as if every inch of Italy is planted with grape vines. Some of the wines are considered along with the world’s best, others are less distinguished.

Course 56 – French Wine Demystified

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

No other winemaking country in the world has such a wide range of cool climates, and this has enabled France to produce the entire spectrum of classic wine styles. They range from the crisp sparkling wines

Course 55 – Blending: Why and How

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Blending is one of the most important steps in making fine wine with a distinct and unique character. Complexity is probably the number one reason that most winemakers blend their wines. Blending often will give wine a

Course 54 – Wines of Washington State

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Think fast: which state leads the U.S.'s wine production? California probably quickly comes to mind, but do you know the runner up? Maybe that's not so easy. The State of Washington is the less-obvious answer

Course 53 – South African Wines

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

South Africans have been making wine for centuries, but it's only been since the mid-1990s with the fall of apartheid and the lifting of U.S. sanctions against exports that its wine has been widely available

Course 52 – Expand your wine knowledge

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

The enthusiasm for wine-drinking in America has reached a fever pitch and with that increased popularity comes a host of magazines, web sites, books, DVDs and television programs that can expand your knowledge and your

Course 51 – Comfort Wine

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

The bad news is we've been enduring some really harsh winter weather lately. The good news is that this is some of the best weather for drinking wine, especially with the rich, slow-cooked foods that

Course 50 – It takes a Village

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

France is the world's second largest producer of wines (barely edged out most years by Italy), most of which comes from big-name regions like Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhone. But tucked within bigger appellations are small

Course 49 – Beaujolais Nouveau 2006

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé! ("the new Beaujolais has arrived!"). Well, it hasn't arrived yet but it soon will, kicking off one of France's most celebrated unofficial holidays which has spread throughout the world. Beaujolais

Course 48 – Exotic Grapes: Tannat

August 3rd, 2011|1 Comment

Almost everyone has heard of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, so in an ongoing series we will periodically explore a grape that is a little outside the mainstream. This time we take a look at

Course 47 – Ahhh…Rosé

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Long, hot summers like the one we've been "enjoying" are tough on wine lovers. A lot of the wines we savor all winter are just not that appealing when the temperature spikes and humidity becomes

Course 46 – Zinfandel: The Super Summer Wine

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Red wine lovers have it tough in the summer months when it seems like all but the die-hard are forced by the mounting heat and humidity to eschew their favorites in favor of crisp white

Course 45 – The Art of Wine

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

With the thousands of bottles competing for consumer attention on wine shop shelves these days, it's no surprise that many winemakers have turned to clever labels to set their wines apart from the masses. Who

Course 44 – Spain Gets Hot

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Until recently, most wine drinkers outside of Spain associated the country primarily with Rioja, which was saddled with the reputation of being simply cheap and easy drinking. The country's winemakers have worked hard to ratchet

Course 43 – Aussie Wines

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Since the early 90s, Australia has been known simply for making decent quality, easy drinking wine that could be had for way below $10 a bottle. But with demand for Australian wines at an all

Course 42 – Celebrity Winemakers

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Have you heard the one about how to make a small fortune in the wine business? Start with a large fortune. Corny jokes aside, some of the world's richest business moguls, athletes and entertainers have

Course 41 – Carmenere: Chile’s Heirloom Varietal

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Everyone loves a comeback, and who couldn't love a grape that was deemed extinct more than 100 years ago only to be discovered alive and kicking thousands of miles from its birthplace? This is the

Course 40 – Meritages: The Best of the Blends

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Meritage wines are some of the best on the market today, but many wine drinkers shy away from them because they don't even know what a Meritage is! The term "Meritage" was born in much

Course 39 – Wine FAQ 2006

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

The new year brings 365 fresh opportunities to learn about wine. Whether you're a connoisseur or you've recently discovered the world of vino, the Detroit Wine Organization hopes to spend this year expanding your knowledge

Course 38 – Tis the Season to Enjoy Wine

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

The holiday season is rife with opportunities to experiment with food and wine pairing, give wine as a gift, and all-round make wine a sharing experience. Sparkling wine, including Champagne, is practically the default holiday

Course 37 – The Mediterranean Heats Up

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

The Mediterranean diet is hot. Who wouldn't love a diet that calls for an abundance of fresh fish, tomatoes, olive oil, lemon, garlic, and most importantly, moderate yet regular consumption of wine?! At least 16

Course 36 – The Fine Wines of Michigan

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

After years of relative obscurity, the wines and winemakers of Michigan are finally beginning to see some national recognition perhaps in response to the immense jump in quality these wines have recently made. With 13,500

Course 35 – Red Wine Headaches

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Red wine headaches, fact or fiction? Even in small portions red wine can leave some people with a throbbing headache. Not to be confused with the headache you may get the morning after a night

Course 34 – The Rhône Valley

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

The Rhône Valley in southern France is one of the world's most famous wine regions, home to appellations like Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes-du-Rhône, Côte Rotie, Hermitage and Tavel. The Rhône region is actually split into two areas

Course 33 – Kosher Wine

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Those who want to enjoy wine with their seder may be pleasantly surprised by the range of high-quality kosher wines now available to them. It wasn't long ago that Manischewitz and similar sickly-sweet wines made

Course 32 – Petite Sirah

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Despite its rather delicate sounding name, Petite Sirah is a gutsy bulldog of a wine, deep and dark with an appropriately mysterious past. Petite Sirah's ancestry and name origin confounded the wine world for decades.

Course 31 – Exploring Terroir

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

In wine, like real estate, it very often comes down to location, location, location. Or, maybe we should say terroir, terroir, terroir. Terroir, the French word for "soil," is a wine-world term used to describe

Course 30 – White Wine – Moving Beyond Chardonnay

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

When you hear "white wine," what immediately springs to mind? Undoubtedly 90% of you thought, "Chardonnay." Maybe a couple thought of Sauvignon Blanc. But what about Gruner Veltliner, Pinot Gris, Chenin Blanc or Riesling? As

Course 29 – Ordering Wine in a Restaurant 101

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

When making any purchase decision, from a car to a cell phone, a little research goes a long way toward making a good choice. Ordering wine in a restaurant is no exception. First, you should

Course 28 – The Santa Ynez Valley

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

For years, the Santa Ynez Valley AVA (American Viticultural Area) in California's Santa Barbara County quietly produced excellent wine while being dwarfed by the imposing shadow of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys to the north.

Course 27 – Super Tuscans

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

If you've been a reader of the 60 Second Wine Course for awhile, you know that wine naming is a pretty standardized process, usually enforced by federal law. So how is it that a label

Course 26 – Dessert Wine

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

The holiday season is the perfect time to explore the wine world’s most decadent product: dessert wine. This luscious treat usually has both a higher residual sugar level and alcohol percentage compared to table wine,

Course 25 – Zinfandel — The All-American Grape

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Thoughts turn to Zinfandel at this time of year not only because its spicy, jammy flavors seem so perfectly suited for winter, but because it is an all-American wine — the most widely planted grape

Course 24 – Beaujolais Nouveau

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

There are lots of important dates in November: Election Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving. But November 16 is the date circled in bright red on most wine-lovers calendars. Beaujolais winemakers begin shipping about 70 million bottles

Course 23 – Wine Becomes Uncorked

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

The wine industry is abuzz, and it’s not about the new harvest. Winemakers across the globe have been popping their corks — literally — in favor of metal screw caps. Yep, the same ones that for

Course 22 – Building Your Cellar

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Whether you're thinking of investing your retirement funds in wine or just have more wine around the house then you plan to drink in the next month, how to store your wine is going to

Course 21 – Barbecue-Friendly Wines

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

A frosty brew may be the common beverage of choice at a Labor Day barbecue, but wine lovers shouldn't despair. There are a lot of wines that marry beautifully with burgers, brats and baked beans.

Course 20 – Grapes of the Great Northwest

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Next to California, Oregon and Washington are probably the best known states for wine in the U.S.  Washington is the country's second largest producer and Oregon is not far behind.  Known for some of the

Course 18 – New Zealand

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

I am a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc freak.  I admit it.  In fact, I'm proud of it.  I've been a freak for about a year now (longer if you ask my husband, but that's another

Course 17 – Australian Overview Practical Knowledge

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Think of Australia and images of the rugged outback, Ayers Rock, the Sydney Opera house and, of course, the latest installment of "The Bachelor" immediately pop to mind.  It is a continent with a reputation

Course 16 – Best Local wine Lists – Part I

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Each month, the venerable wine publications like Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast publish articles and information about restaurants around the nation with premium wine lists.  There are actually quite a few Detroit area establishments that

Course 15 – Riesling – The Misunderstood, Undervalued Grape

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

With warm weather comes the inevitable search for summer whites that pair well with light summer foods.  As you begin that search, don't overlook Riesling (reece-ling not rye-sling). If you're anything like me, your first

Course 14 – Wine Competitions and Ratings

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

I must begin this edition of our 60-second Wine Course with an apology... I neglected to send an issue out at my regularly scheduled time 2 weeks ago.  The reason for that oversight is that

Course 13 – French Wine Primer

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Pick up any book about wine and one of the first things the author will tell you is how important France is to the study of wine.  The French not only make what are commonly

Course 12 – Sake, The Basics

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

Wine, as we all know, is made from grapes.  Wine can also be made from other fruits and berries - strawberries, pears, apricots - pretty much anything that can be fermented to create alcohol from

Course 11 – Aroma and Bouquet Practical Knowledge

August 3rd, 2011|0 Comments

It's finally Spring (at least until that last blast of winter hits around the first week in April)!  You can see it.  You can feel it.  But most of all, you can smell it.  It

Course 10 – Spain: More than Sherry and Tempranillo

August 2nd, 2011|0 Comments

Spain - it brings to mind images of flamenco dancers in brightly color costumes moving to hypnotic music under a bright sun and sipping bright red wines in an open air cafe.  It also brings

Course 9 – WineMaking 101 – The Basics

August 2nd, 2011|2 Comments

Our first course when we began these 60-second Wine Courses back in November was Wine Tasting 101 - The Basics. We've come a long way since then - explored many different wine-growing regions and learned

Course 8 – Chile and Argentina – The Hottest Wine Growing Region in the World

August 2nd, 2011|0 Comments

Chile and Argentina are hot - and not just climatically.  The past 15-20 years have seen an explosion in wine quality, production and exports from these countries that have been producing wine for over 400

Course 7 – Giving Your Wine Some Breathing Room

August 2nd, 2011|0 Comments

We've all been told to "take a deep breath and relax" at some point in our lives.  Sometimes it helps.  Sometimes it doesn't.  It's pretty much the same way with the process of decanting wine

Course 6 – Italian Overview

August 2nd, 2011|0 Comments

News Flash - It's really cold outside!  Kind of makes you want to curl up in front of a fire with a good book and a soothing glass of red wine... or bundle up and

Course 5 – Old World – New World… What’s the Point?

August 2nd, 2011|0 Comments

Thinking back to elementary school history lessons, you probably recall America being referred to as "The New World".  If you visit Europe or Asia and see the centuries-old tombs, cathedrals and monuments, you can almost

Course 4 – Champagne

August 2nd, 2011|0 Comments

The New Year is quickly approaching and bubbly wines are on every store shelf, so it seems appropriate to talk about them.  In keeping with our pledge to explore the various wine producing regions in

Course 3 – What’s Climate Got to Do With It?

August 2nd, 2011|0 Comments

You're in your local wine shop, browsing the shelves for something to take to a holiday party.  You want something full bodied and smooth with warm fruit flavors that will match well with holiday foods...

Course 2 – Oak

August 2nd, 2011|0 Comments

In our last edition, we started the discussion of oak fermentation and aging...Unlike fruit flavors or sweetness, which come from the grape, oak flavors in a wine come from the winemaker.  Master Sommelier Andrea Immer

Course 1 – Naming Conventions

August 2nd, 2011|0 Comments

Bordeaux vs. Cabernet Sauvignon - what's the difference?  Chablis vs. Chardonnay?  Sancerre vs. Sauvignon Blanc?  In most cases, the difference is the naming convention.  Some wines are named for their grape variety.  Others are named


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Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Me, You, and Glasses for Two, At The Franklin Park Zoo

In college, I did a project where I had to plan an awards ceremony for a company that trains seeing-eye dogs. I decided to hold the event at a zoo. I was so inspired with the work they do with dogs, that I thought why not let them celebrate with a whole bunch of animals! Sure enough, it was a successful project, and definitely a memorable one. That's why when I saw this event actually happen, I knew I had to blog about it.

The Franklin Park Zoo hosted their first ever 'Uncorked' event featuring wine tastings and snacks in the Tropical Forest Pavilion. Boston Uncorked hosts a variety of wine-related events in and around Boston. Their events include everything from walk-around tastings to educational forums. Each event is designed to provide participants with the opportunity to explore a collection of wines in a friendly and social atmosphere.

Guests tasted sips from Twelfth Night by Vela Wines, Indaba Wine by Cape Classics, Barefoot Wine and Bubbly, The Naked Grape, Sexy Wine, Tricky Rabbit, and Stray Dog, while spending some quality time with the zoo’s animals. Proceeds from the event went toward funding Franklin Park’s conservation and education initiatives. Check out pictures and more information here.

The Franklin Park Zoo will also be hosting a 'Brew at the Zoo' event in August (actually on my birthday, so I should most definitely attend). Brew at the Zoo is a beer-tasting event that features stations hosted by local breweries and restaurants. You will also have the opportunity to stroll amongst the animals at the zoo. Actually, this is the first year the entire Zoo will be open for the event! Get more information and your tickets online at the Franklin Park Zoo website.

What a great way to devour the details while visiting your favorite zoo animals!

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11.0455 evidence

Humanist Discussion Group (humanist@kcl.ac.uk)
Thu, 11 Dec 1997 20:52:19 +0000 (GMT)

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 11, No. 455.
Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London

Date: Tue, 09 Dec 1997 20:57:44 +0000
From: Willard McCarty <Willard.McCarty@kcl.ac.uk>
Subject: seductive power of evidence

It's a joy to know that what one writes will be subjected to imaginative
scrutiny, read and reread like a lover's missive, or a poet's poem. All that
I thought I meant when I contributed that anecdote about the hybristic young
scholar with masses of evidence was how seductive they can be. I've spend
some years pouring with scrupulous care (I hope) over a large body of
evidence, and hold as personal heroes those who have done the same or better
with more, but I do wonder about what skills we are beginning badly to need
as the evidence mounts up. I wonder, for example, if anyone has done a
study, informal or otherwise, on the kinds of arguments we are now tending
to get in ancient Greek studies from those who have used the TLG, or those
in English from users of the Full-Text Poetry Database, or those in Dante
studies from beneficiaries of the Dartmouth Dante Database, and so forth.
Are there whole sections of the countryside devastated from the hybristic
exploits of mad tank-driving scholars?

Even if not, it seems to me that those of us fortunate enough to be teaching
humanities computing require a component in our courses that teaches
students how to deal with evidence. Not that this is uniquely a problem in
computer-assisted applications, but it is brought to the fore by the
evidence vending machine.

Northrop Frye used to say that with enough prose one could link any
statement with any other statement. With enough evidence at hand, I'm
thinking, one can get away with less specious reasoning by substituting a
few footnotes fat with references to this or that database.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dr. Willard McCarty, Senior Lecturer, King's College London
voice: +44 (0)171 873 2784 fax: +44 (0)171 873 5801
e-mail: Willard.McCarty@kcl.ac.uk

Humanist Discussion Group
Information at <http://www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/>


text:
Monday, November 22, 2010

The Sound of Diabetes

I've had an insulin pump for almost 5 years now and although I have not had the same model, as I got a new one 2 years ago, not much has changed. I've always had a clear one, although I've always wanted a purple one. (Random fact: I love, love, love the color purple. But, I realized it was not practical to get a purple pump because what if it is out and I am wearing black, or blue, or orange? It would not go at all, which is why I got clear) Over the course of 5 years, I have always had my pump on vibrate.

When I first got my pump I thought if I had my pump on sound beeps rather than vibrate mode I would draw attention to myself. Therefore, I set it up so it would vibrate and have never changed it. The only time my pump beeps at me is when there is a low battery. I am aware of that noise, especially since it is the only noise that comes from my pump.

As you know, if you have been reading this blog, I"m teacher. Today during my first period class (literature), I heard the pump low battery sound. I was standing in front of the class and checked my pump; however, my battery icon was full. I thought I might be hearing things, so I continued to teach. Then again, 5 minutes later, I heard the same noise. I have a girl that has diabetes in my class, so I wondered if she was beeping for some reason. She is good about testing her blood sugar when need be, so I just let it go, especially since she looked just fine.

A few minutes later the students were watching a short video clip on WWII, when my student with diabetes came up to be and said, "my pump warning is going off. It says I have a low battery." I asked her if she had a spare with her supplies, but she did not. I got one out of my purse for her, along with a coin to undo the battery cap. She couldn't get the batter lip undone, so I did it for her. The new battery was in and no more beeping was heard throughout the day.

Sometimes it is nice to know that someone has the same things you need in case you run out. I am glad I had what my student needed.

Were you ever in a random place and needed something that someone else had?

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text:
Bedeutung von “track” im Essential American English Dictionary

noun us /træk/

B1 a narrow path or road:

We followed a dirt track off the main road.

B1 a path, often circular, used for races:

a race track

the long metal lines that a train travels along

a mark or line of marks left on the ground or on another surface by an animal, person, or vehicle that has moved over it:

The hunters followed the tracks of the deer.

one song or piece of music on a CD, record, etc.

lose track

to not know what is happening to someone or something any more:

I lost track of how much we spent.

(Definition von “track noun” aus dem Webster's Essential Mini Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)


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Translation of "close" - English-Turkish dictionary

adjective uk /kləʊs/ us

A1 near in distance

yakın, yanıbaşında
His house is close to the airport.

A1 near in time

zamanı yakın olan
It was close to lunchtime when we arrived.

A2 If people are close, they know each other very well and like each other a lot.

yakın, samimi, tanıdık
close friends
I'm very close to my brother.
RELATIVE [ always before noun ]

B1 A close relative is someone who is directly related to you, for example your mother, father, or brother.

akraba, anne, baba, kardeş

seeing or talking with someone a lot

yakın olan, biriyle sıkça görüşen
Our school has close links with a school in China.
I'm still in close contact with my school friends.
be/come close to doing sth

to almost achieve or do something

başarıya çok yakın olmak, neredeyse başarmak
We are close to reaching an agreement.
be close to sth

If someone or something is close to a particular state, they are almost in that state.

neredeyse, hemen hemen, çok yakın olmak
She was close to tears.

B2 A close game, competition, etc is one in which people's scores are nearly the same.

sonuç/skor olarak bir birine yakın olan
CAREFUL [ always before noun ]

looking at or listening to someone or something very carefully

yakından, dikkatli,
On close inspection, you could see that the painting was a fake.
Keep a close watch on the children (= watch them carefully).

Close weather is too warm and there is not enough fresh air.

(hava) kapalı, bunaltıcı/sıcak
closeness noun [ U ]

See also

(Translation of “close adjective” from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary English–Turkish © Cambridge University Press)


text:
Why You Need to be Bilingual in Business and Technology

Mobile has indisputably changed the world and how we do business. It has left an indelible mark on both how consumers interact with brands and how employees interact with their companies through digital technology.

bilingual_blog-600x400Since smartphones have infiltrated the business world, the transformation has been profound. Mobile is integrated into our daily work on many levels, improving employee productivity and mobility. However, the changes brought about by mobile are also disrupting how businesses function. This is a good thing.

Digital has demanded the integration of disparate parts of an organization to be closer than ever before. The question is, how can business and technology leaders work together on shared objectives if they’ve been speaking different languages? We have to become bilingual: We have to learn to speak the two languages of business and tech.

Conflict and collaboration

In organizations today, some employees are speaking the language of technology and others are speaking the language of business. Modern leaders need to learn how to speak both.

Let’s take a look at the two languages and a little history:

  • The language of technology
    This language is what you hear from your chief information officer (CIO), chief technology officer (CTO) and other IT leaders. The vocabulary includes words like security, scalability, integration and so on. These people are closely watching the technologies that are revolutionizing business — mobile solutions, cloud computing, the IoT and many more — and they will be tasked with keeping their companies up to speed.
  • The language of business
    This language is the one spoken by the chief executive officer (CEO), chief marketing officer (CMO) and line-of-business leaders. The language of business has a vocabulary of acquisition, retention and return on investment. These employees are working with numbers and concerned about the growth and sustainability of the business — they need tools and applications that work quickly and effectively.

In the past, these two “sides” of a company were separate. IT was often tasked with problem-solving for the business. Over time, however, business leaders have brought greater demands to their CIOs and CTOs. This too is a good thing.

Increased adoption of smartphones for work and personal use has made every user an “expert” with strong opinions about mobile technology. Consumer grade enterprise experiences matter.

Consumers often have access to better apps than enterprise users, and this has caused their demands and impatience to grow. As a result, in some ways CIOs and CTOs are facing an existential crisis: On the one hand, they’ve traditionally been the trusted technology service providers for their organizations, but on the other, they feel like they are losing control as business demands grow and employees seek third-party apps to solve their business challenges. The business is having a stronger voice, which is another good thing.

In the future, we will speak both languages

Companies can no longer consider business and technology in isolation if they want to win. To move into the future, leaders need to learn to speak both languages and break down the barriers between the business and technology sides of a company. Technology has to not just understand business concerns but also own the outcome and tie their objectives to the company’s larger aims; businesses need to understand how technology is unlocking business strategy.

According to CIOs in the Global C-suite Study, mobile technology is expected to be a top area of continuing growth. If you’re in the mobile space today, you need to be bilingual.

Mobile is a matchmaker

Though mobile and other digital technologies have caused a disruptive shift for businesses in the 21st century, there’s also an opportunity for mobile to be a matchmaker. After all, mobile is something people from both sides of the company are familiar with from personal use. It is the hub of a successful digital strategy. Mobile enables collaboration and can be an avenue for forming stronger partnerships between the business and technology sides of a company.

Is your mobile strategy bilingual? Does it speak the language of business and the language of technology? It needs to. And that, of course, will be a good thing.

About Warren Tomlin

Strategy and technology growth driver with 20 years experience fusing strategy with technology to create innovative new opportunities. Recognized as one of Marketing Magazine’s 100 Thought Leaders and IBM Chief Innovation Officer. Previously, Global Mobile Managing Partner for consulting and development – including our exciting Apple + IBM partnership. Focused on driving integrated strategy, innovation and technology to create differentiated experiences. Often asked to speak on innovation, Warren has been a keynote presenter with astronaut Chris Hadfield, author Malcolm Gladwell and rock star Gene Simmons. A two-time speaker at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), keynote presenter at 2016 Mobile World Congress, and a regular contributor to various media and publications.

» View all posts by Warren Tomlin

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Friday, October 4, 2013

Halloween Cupcake Toppers

There's so many fun things that can be created using my new digital kit... "The Witch Is In" and they don't need to be just digital projects.  I designed these cupcake toppers using the images and circular sentiments for a fun way to decorate your Halloween treats!

Here's the sheet of toppers and you can .....

Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Did you know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month?
Sadly, everyone knows someone who is affected by this horrifying disease.  I am going to make several new breast cancer encouragement cards each week in October. I am also offering my services to send out these cards to someone YOU want to mail a card to!  Do you have someone special in your life who could use some encouragement?  Each one of these cards is only $4.50 and that includes mailing costs. I'm only charging a few pennies over cost and doing the design work for you.  You can message me at and let me know what card you want and all the details that need to go in it. You can send a personal message and even add a photo if you'd like.
Here's the outside and inside of these 4x6" or 6x4" cards.  Let someone struggling or recovering from Breast Cancer know that you're thinking about them!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

The Witch Is In

Hi there!  I'm super excited to be rolling out my new digital scrapbooking blog today!  I am also excited to finally have my newest digital scrapbooking kit available!  You can visit my ETSY shop here to purchase it!  This one is just in time for Halloween!  I love to draw and paint. I have been a little artist since early on in my childhood.  It's exciting when I can design things that other people can use to create their own little pieces of art.  Each image in this kit was hand drawn and painted. Not designed in Photoshop. That's what makes it unique and different.  I created a few projects using my kit to share as samples and also had a few friends help out as well.  I will post their creations below as well as a link to their site or blog. Thanks so much girls for your help!  Okay.... I can't wait to hear how you like it and would love to hear from you in the comments below!  Here are the previews as well as samples using the kit.

I loved this fun black and white striped background paper so I used it on my layout above and my card below. FUN!!
This ADORABLE printable was created by my friend Heidi and I am seriously dying over the cuteness!  How much will your kiddos love finding these in their lunch boxes???
You can visit Heidi at Polka Dot Pixies.
How cute is this layout by my friend Tammy Maus? Love it! I'm in love with that little grouping in the left corner and how she made a fun banner! And of course her little
trick-or-treaters are darling! these next couple of photos will show you how my friend Sarah Slade used the kit to print the images then create traditionally scrapbooked projects. Soooo fun! Love how she embellished the images!  Please visit her blog here and see more photos of these projects.  Just look at how she made my banner and word art BIG! Love!!
Okay..... this fun, sweet little Halloween flip book by my friend Jeanne Coto just made me smile!  I love it to pieces. She created it in Studio through Heritage Makers so you can view the whole adorable little flip book by clicking this link
Here's the cover of it below.
These last two projects I will share are designed by my friend Renee Lamb. Love that with the first project she used the kit and digitally created a scene with the images then printed it out to make a fun wall hanging for Halloween.  So cute! And then of course that adorable black cat card! CUTENESS!!!
Thanks soooo much for stopping by my digi blog today! I'm super excited to be sharing a ton of amazing things with you here. I will be posting and sharing regularly and will be hosting different challenges as well.  Please take a minute if you'd like to subscribe to my updates by filling out the little form on the right side of my blog.  OR... if you prefer... PLEASE go "Like" my Facebook page here. That way you won't miss a thing that's going on!
And of course.... go buy my new Halloween Kit here!!!
Thanks and hugs!


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Visual Pollution Study

Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

Visual pollution is defined as sign proliferation and clutter, unscreened junkyards, overhead wires, etc., that generally diminish the quality of life and natural beauty of a community. The study recommends ways to improve Jacksonville's image such as enacting stronger sign ordinances, changing policies to promote the greening of the city and creating a Code Enforcement Board.


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Non-UNL users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.

Improvement trends, phenotypic and molecular diversity among hard red winter wheat cultivars in Nebraska

Fufa Hundera Birru, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

The first chapter deals with the genetic improvement trends in agronomic performances and end-use quality attribute in the Nebraska hard red winter wheat cultivars. The aim of the study was to determine genetic variability and trends of genetic progress in agronomic and end-use quality traits and assess stability and association between characters if there were changes over time. Thirty cultivars including 5 historically important ancestors released from 1784 to 2000 were evaluated under rain-fed conditions at Lincoln, Mead and North Platte in 2002 and 2003 seasons using alpha lattice design with 45 incomplete blocks of two plots. Modern cultivars were high yielder, highly responsive to environments and less stable for grain yield and its components when compared to older lines. Older cultivars showed more response than modern cultivars for days to flowering and plant height. Breeders have selected lines for higher grain yield and spike productivity, earliness, shorter height, higher flour yield, longer mixing time and mixing tolerance. ^ Chapter II focused on the comparison of genetic diversity estimates using different methods in the same cultivars. The study objectives were to (1) determine the genetic diversity among had red winter wheat cultivars adapted to the Northern Great Plains using pedigree information, morphological traits, end-use quality attributes and molecular markers and (2) examine the association of genetic distance estimates obtained from these methods. Genetic diversity was estimated based pedigree history, morphological traits and end-use quality traits, seed storage proteins, 51 SSRs and 23 SRAPs. Molecular markers showed that pedigree analysis had overestimated genetic distance between cultivars due to unrealistic assumptions. All distance estimates were positively interrelated. Highly significant positive correlation of distance estimates from morphological traits with all other method showed relation of morphological diversity with end-use quality and molecular markers diversity. Highly significant positive correlation between molecular markers-based distances estimates shows that molecular markers could explain similar genetic variability among cultivars. Relatively, clustering based on SSR markers and morphology grouped most cultivars in agreement with pedigree history. ^

Subject Area

Agriculture, Agronomy|Agriculture, Plant Culture

Recommended Citation

Birru, Fufa Hundera, "Improvement trends, phenotypic and molecular diversity among hard red winter wheat cultivars in Nebraska" (2004). ETD collection for University of Nebraska - Lincoln. AAI3131536.


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The Commodores: Zoom

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The Commodores: Zoom
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Today's date:
Fall 2000

Only a Unified Korea Can Survive in the Information Age

Kim Dae Jung
is the president of South Korea.

Seoul—The welcome offered by Chairman Kim Jong Il and his hospitality on my visit to Pyongyang in the early summer was beyond my expectations. He went to the airport to personally receive me on arrival and also see me off on my departure. One million citizens turned out in the streets to greet me, which I am told was the largest turnout in the history of the city. To me, this was an expression of love as members of one ethnic family.

In the course of the talks, there were times when I was desperate, but I tried my level best with faithfulness. Eventually, Chairman Kim extended substantial cooperation, and we were able to reach agreement on a range of issues from visits by divided families to a "loose form of confederation" on the Korean peninsula in the future—a concept that requires maintaining two governments for the two sides as they are now and creating a conference of ministers and an assembly with which the two sides can jointly solve problems step by step.

We also talked about nuclear weapons and missile issues and the matter of United States armed forces stationed in the South. Dialogue on these subjects was very useful, and I was able to confirm that there are things that have a bright prospect for resolution.

In short, a new age has dawned for our nation. We have reached a turning point so that we can put an end to territorial division.

The Pyongyang people are the same as us, the same nation sharing the same blood. Regardless of what they have been saying and acting outwardly, they have a deep love and longing for their compatriots in the South. That is quite natural because we lived as a unified nation for 1,300 years before we were divided 55 years ago against our will.

It is impossible for us to continue to live separated physically and spiritually. I was able to reconfirm this fact firsthand during my visit. That is why I returned with the conviction that, sooner or later, we will become reconciled with each other, cooperate and finally become unified.

I expressed my view to Chairman Kim that, in the waning years of the Chosen Kingdom, when the people should have united and hastened modernization, the country was splintered and turned away from modernization. In the end, we reaped the sorrow of losing the country, resulting in 35 years of Japanese colonial rule, the division of the country on August 15, 1945, the Korean War and the confrontation across barbed wire. Thus, I asked, didn’t the Chosen rulers give the country 100 years of punishment?

Now, the world is entering into an age of the greatest revolutionary change in the history of mankind—the age of knowledge and information. It is also entering into a time of borderless and boundless economic competition.

How, I asked Chairman Kim, can we survive if we who are one people waste our energy against each other? On the other hand, even if we cannot unify the country right away, we can open the skies, roads and harbors; we can come and go freely, cooperate with each other, develop the economy together and have exchanges in culture and sports.

"Wouldn’t the Korean education tradition and cultural creativity be assets in the age of knowledge in the 21st century?" I asked. Ours is no longer an age of imperialism when the Big Four powers rule us. On the contrary, the Big Four powers are our markets, and we can benefit from that.

At this time, if we don’t become alert and North and South don’t cooperate with each other but fight instead, what would be our fate? Whatever else happens, we must not stick to the ideas of communizing the South or absorbing the North. Instead, I said, let us coexist and proceed on the path toward unification. This is a time of opportunity for us to forge, together, a first-rate nation in the 21st century.
Of course, none of this means that everything went smoothly in our talks or that there is nothing to worry about. This is only the beginning. It will take time: We need patience, and we need devotion. We also need to look at things from the point of view of the other side
There should be not the slightest wavering in the resolve on the part of the Republic of Korea to maintain national security and sovereignty. But we must ultimately go on the path to unification by solving one thing at a time, taking the easiest things first while cooperating with each other and giving consideration to the other side.
Korea is one country with one ethnic family. Koreans of both North and South have the same behavior and lifestyles. But it is also true that South and North Koreans have lived under different political and social systems for decades. These gaps cannot be narrowed down within a short time.

But the North will no longer attempt unification by force and, at the same time, we will not do any harm to the North. In short, the most important outcome of the summit was that there is no longer going to be any war between us.

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DIGITIMES daily IT news
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MUZEE releases free Internet radio app for iOS devices

Press release [Thursday 22 December 2011]

MUZEE, leading cloud multimedia solution provider in Taiwan has just announced that its MUZEE.iRadio. Free app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad is currently available for free on the Apple App Store. With this new app, users will be able to tune into over 20,000 radio stations online, based on their genre or even language preference.

The Muzee.iRadio app collects, customizes and delivers an extensive selection of dynamically updated music sources from various online radio stations. With MUZEE.iRadio, no need to waste time on searching music online. You will get the most comprehensive guide that quickly matches your needs. All the users can enjoy non-stop online entertainment and the service with lifetime updates.

Key features

•Listen to favorite real-time programs of celebrity interviews, world news, fashion updates, talk shows, etc….
•Run this app in the background while checking e-mails, texting, chatting or running other apps
•Able to connect with social networks, you can share the station you're listening with your friends via mailing them or posting on your Facebook
•Unique Internet photo gallery allows you to enjoy watching pictures of your own and 100,000+ fantastic pictures from Internet while listening to the radio
•Personalize your own list of favorite radio stations as "My favorites", never miss the hottest hits & new release songs
•Check recently played radio stations in "Recent" page
•Search for radio stations by simply key-in any word of a station name
•Browse organized stations by "genre" or "region", the quickest way to learn new languages and cultures
•Recommended local top hit stations
•See what's playing right now
•Top 100 stations recommended by all the listeners. You may rate stations and share your comments too
•Support multitasking with iOS4.0 or above
•View station schedules if available
•Choose an alternative stream or bit rate if available
•Works with either Wi-Fi or 3G networks
•Automatically memorize your last playing station
•Support iPad and iPhone 4 Retina display
•Compatible with iPhone 4, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPad

For more information and to download the MUZEE.iRadio. Free, please visit http://itunes.apple.com/app/muzee.iradio.free/id473186008?mt=8

The DIGITIMES editorial staff was not involved in the creation or production of any sponsored content or press release provided in the commercial news wire service. Companies looking to contribute commercial news or press releases are welcome to contact us.

Feel free to write a comment. All comments will be screened before posting. Please avoid writing profanities, personal insults and spam. Comments that require too much editing are unlikely to be posted.

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April 24- Jack White- Blunderbuss

Jack White doesn’t like to stick to one thing for very long. After years with The White Stripes, a band that was basically an excuse for him to do whatever he wanted while his ex-wife Meg White tagged along, he has been a part of multiple projects including The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather. Both of these bands had a signature Jack White bluegrass/rock style while still sounding different than anything he had done before. Now he is finally releasing his first album as a solo artist, which means he has the freedom to change his style completely from song to song. Recently on the otherwise atrocious Lindsay Lohan episode of SNL, he stole the show with performances of “Love Interruption” and “Sixteen Saltines.” “Love Interruption” is a slow and serious song about the ways love can destroy someone. On the contrary, “Sixteen Saltines” is a blazing fast Jack White crunchy riff-filled rock song. Both songs have completely different backing bands and sounds, meaning this could be the most interesting and different thing Jack White has ever done.

April 13th- The Cabin in the Woods

“The Cabin in the Woods” is a horror film co-written and directed  by Drew Goddard, a veteran of the show “Lost” and the writer of the film “Cloverfield.” The other co-writer and producer of the film is Joss Whedon, creator of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and the writer and director of a little upcoming film you may have heard of called “The Avengers.” The plot seems simple -- a group of college students go on vacation to a secluded cabin in the woods and begin dying one at a time. However, knowing Joss Whedon and his tendency to play with genre and fan expectations, this film should be more than meets the eye. A few hints in the trailer point to the fact that the seemingly cliche plot may be that way on purpose, and there could even be a sci-fi element to the film. Hopefully future trailers for this film don’t spoil too many of the surprises, because early reports from the South by Southwest film festival say that this film is even more fun if you don’t know much going into it.

March 23rd- The Raid: Redemption

The film “The Raid: Redemption” technically came out in late March, but since it is a foreign film that is likely to receive a limited release, you will still be able to find it in theaters this month. It is worth mentioning because it is being called one of the best action films in years. The simple plot is that a SWAT team in Indonesia has to battle their way through 30 stories of a building that has been taken over by a crime lord. The result is one nonstop ass-kicking scene after the next. Definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of martial arts movies.

Archer, Seasons 1-2

FX’s “Archer” continues to be one of the smartest and funniest comedies on television. The animated spoof of James Bond and 80’s spy shows is so rapid-fire with its comedic references, it’s sometimes hard to keep up. Luckily, all the episodes form the first two seasons are now available on Netflix for you to watch again and again. H. Jon Benjamin’s deadpan portrayal of Sterling Archer as a womanizing playboy secret agent is hilarious, and the supporting voice cast is extremely talented.

Fans of director Darren Aronofsky (“Black Swan”, “Requiem for a Dream”) should check out his first directorial effort, a trippy black and white thriller about a mathematician who discovers the meaning of the universe and has trouble keeping it to himself. The film shows the early signs of the director’s rapid-fire style and his choice of dark and somewhat depressing subject matter.

 Angry Birds Space:

After the past few years of Angry Birds mania, it is impossible to go to a store without seeing countless Angry Birds toys, clothes and merchandise. The iPhone and iPad game has become an international phenomenon. However, after multiple updates adding more worlds and characters, it seemed like the Angry Birds had run out of ideas. Now, the latest update to the game has proven that the birds have some new tricks up their sleeve. Angry Birds Space is now available for all your touch screen devices, and it  has added a whole new level of excitement and difficulty to the game. Now that the birds have made it to space, they have to deal with the gravity on planets of various sizes. The birds spin around small planets to knock pigs into the far reaches of space. It didn’t seem possible, but Rovio has managed to add a much needed update that makes the game seem as new and refreshing as it was when you first downloaded it.


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We Won't Short-Change You

Family History 2 - Collaboration - 5 Cents
Posted by: Mark Nichols

13 Jun 2010

If you want to build a family tree on your own, you can simply use paper, you can download PAF from familysearch.org, or you have numerous other options such as Ancestry.com.

But if you want to collaborate with others while building your family tree, check out some of the below options.

Be sure to consider the following when figuring out what service to use:

1) The service may cost money (and if it costs money, does everyone have to pay or just one person?)

2) The service may require you to set up your own website

3) The service may not allow you to store documents or images, or only up to a certain amount

4) The service may not allow you store certain info (2nd marriages or other particular info)

5) The service may not be compatible with other software or services you use (e.g., maybe you need something that's GEDCOM compatible)

Websites that allow you to collaborate:

Family Pursuit

Shared Tree

Modules to add to your own website:

The Next Generation

Ancestral Quest

I'm sure there are other options (some I chose to ignore on purpose). But feel free to suggest any and maybe I'll add them to the list.

© 2010 Dime Brothers
Category: How To

Reader Comments:

The Legacy Factor
You'll want to consider the legacy factor. How long is each website going to be functioning into the future? To me, the most popular one has the best chance, so I say stick with ancestry.com. The whole transferability factor is a big reason I refuse to upload photos to an online photo repository: there is no easy way to change services once you've chose, there's no great way to label your photos, it takes too long to upload full-size photos, and there's no guarantee a website won't totally re-write their code and waste days of your work.
13 Jun 2010

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How Bad Was It? Breaking Down The West Coast Trip

I may need my head examined to have done this. But I decided to sit down and crunch some numbers of this past 3 game road trip out west. So here are some of the scary numbers:

  • Raptors lost by an average of 26.3 points in the 3 games
  • Raptors allowed 358 points an average of 119.3
  • Raptors only scored 279 points for an average of 93
  • Raptors shot only 39.5% (104-263)
  • Raptors 3 opponents combined shot 53.9% (145/269)
  • From 3pt Range Toronto was 33.8% (20-59) opponents were 40% (22-55)
  • Raptors were out rebounded by an average of 50.6 -34
  • On offensive glass it was 10.6 - 8.6
  • The Raptors only bright spot was they out shot opponents from the line on avg 82.2% - 75.4%
There are lots of scary numbers in that mix. The most shocking of which is the shooting. The Raptors as a team our suppose to be a team with a lot of dangerous shooters. It is suppose to be the strength of this club. But you see no evidence of that in these stats. The obvious is of course the lack of defense and the glaring difference on the glass. I also looked at turnover numbers which were fairly close actually but it is a case of when they were being made. The fact these were blow out games offer reserves that are in general more prone to make turnovers extra time on the floor. So those numbers did not reflect the true numbers in my view.

That is the stats but basketball is only in part stats to me. They are the evidence that people use to make their points. But seeing as these are humans and not robots we need to look at the human aspects. Those are just as disturbing as well. In the process of this trip as we all know Sam Mitchell was fired. That was done for a lot of reasons. But the one main reason you make a coaching change is to get the attention of your team. Also the next game the Raptors would play was on ESPN in the United States. I am not sure what that means to guys like Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani. But even they understand it is a big deal. So you had a brand new coach and you were playing on National T.V. That would be a clear combination that should energize a team. But much like in Denver that energy lasted all of 2 minutes.

Something is fundamentally wrong with this Raptor team. What it is I can not tell you. No one in the established media says that they see any kind of problems in the locker room. I mean it is kind of like the Raptors have been turned into pod people. I say that joking around but seriously if this was happening to you wouldn't you be angry? I would. I'd like to see J.O kick a trash can, or Jose chuck a gatorade bottle at halftime. Show me some kind of anger and emotion. I am begging you. But the way things have gone for the Raptors if J.O kicked the can he would break his foot. The gatorade bottle who hit Bosh in the head and cause him to forget how to play basketball. Maybe that would not be a bad thing. Forget all of it. The expectations, The M.V.P talk, the future. Just worry about this next game. Worry about getting 1 win and not 50 wins.

I do not envy Jay Triano the task he has seems to be a hard one. This team has lost it's way and is in need of some kind of energy injected into it. Everything that has happened is making everyone look backwards instead of forward. Did the Raptors pick the right point guard? Did they make a good trade to get J.O? Was is worth risking the cap space for two years? What is Chris Bosh thinking and what is Bryan Colangelo thinking? Is Colangelo losing the heart and mind of his star player? Can he get it back if he has?

Raptor fans are getting frustrated and angry. But if you listen to Charles Barkley he would say we only have ourselves to blame. I base this on his recent comments that the Raptors are a good team but basically a .500 team and people who had higher expectations had been wrong to think that. Kenny Smith went further in attacking Jose Calderon and saying that he was a first rate back-up point guard in this league. That is a far cry from the best point guard in the Eastern Conference and deserving All-Star talk in Toronto until very recently. Chris Webber also chimed in but he also was on the record as calling the Raptors his surprise team earlier in the year. So he seems to flow with the way the wind is blowing.

To me all of this can be summed up in one word PRIDE. A classic example of that was shown in the NBA last night. Kevin Garnett who is a guy that I may respect but do not like. He got in the face of Glen Davis to the point he made him cry. Garnett demands accountability from his team and he is willing to make sure it happens by any means necessary. Maybe to extreme but still. Chris Bosh and Jermaine O'Neal how bout showing some of that to your team. I remember Bosh laying into a young Andrea Bargnani in his rookie year. He didn't make cry but the point was made. This Raptor team seems to accept it's fate far to easily of late. Someone in that locker room has to say enough and instill some pride into this Raptor team. Without that this team will be doomed to be at best a .500 team just praying and hoping that will be good enough to make the playoffs.

I did get to have a positive thing to do despite all of this negative stuff going on. I was able to contact our contest winner Brett. He is going to be taking his final exam of the his semester at Western. He will be able to focus on the fact he is going to be seeing the Return of T.J Ford with me. I hope that a lot of folks have learned just how important T.J Ford was over these past few weeks. He deserves to get cheers from the crowd at the A.C.C when he returns. I am not thinking that will happen but I will be at least on person that will clap my hands for him. I am not going to get into a Calderon vs Ford rant but let's just say without Ford you can see just how special that combination was together here in Toronto. Forderon was really a great combination and when we look back on this season if it goes wrong many may wonder if we should have tried to keep that together. Were there issues between the two and the team? Absolutely but the team has some serious issues right now. It is just a case of if those issues could have been worked through. At this point you may even wonder if it was a terminal case that could not be solved if the Raptors should have taken the risk on Ford. But this is all could have and what if. Raptors can not worry about any of that. They also can not wait for Bryan Colangelo to make a trade to save the day. Sam Mitchell being fired was meant to send a message and to this point the message still has not been answered.

It is not as much that the Raptors have lost 3 games as much as it is about how they have lost. Win or lose on Sunday against Portland the effort and energy must improve. That is the only way out of this whole. Chris Bosh wants to be a leader and an M.V.P well that is done through helping you team recover from tough times like these. It is his team by being the franchise player and he needs to address his team and let them know this is not acceptable. That is the first step on the road back.

  1. First off congratulations Brett on a fine win.I hope you really enjoy the game and return of TJ. Your passion truly shows

    I will keep this brief as to what I think the problem is.
    This team lacks one key ingrediant and that is leadership.This has been an existing problem for quite some time now. At this point Bosh in my mind does not deserve an mvp. He still lacks leadership skills.It was starting to show and then he went into oblivion. Jermaine certainly is not taking that responsibility either. I am not liking the direction or attitude Bosh has taken of late and he needs to wake up a little otherwise his production will continue to drop.He needs to wake this team up.Clearly this team also needs to step up the D. Its one thing to change this team to a fast break offense but you also have to fast break on the defense. The raps are horrible protecting the arc.
    Trades may be the answer but these guys are well paid and should be putting out a better product day in and day out.I highly doubt Jay will be interim till end of the year.
    Time will tell with this current roster

  2. Thanks Maurice and I am proud to have had such great finalist for the first contest we have had here at Dino Nation Blog. You all have been great and it is nice of both the finalists that did not win to congratulate Brett.

    This was a really rewarding experience to have had the chance to do this for the readers from my point of view.

    With all the bad things going on with the Raptors this has been a positive thing for me to focus on as well.

  3. Great article James. Thanks Maurice too for your kindness. I really agree about the lack of leadership on the team, but hopefully Triano can come in and force Bosh to step that part of his game up and become a true MVP.


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diogenes/dionysus: Chris Valentine

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Chris Valentine

Chris Valentine plays the role of Officer Sam. He is a graduate of Kerrville Tivy High School like his brother Leaman. Chris choreographs fight scenes and acrobatics for theatres around Texas. He’s also a part of the tech crew for this film doing lights and sound. He works rehabilitating kids in serious trouble.

Milk River Film


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FREE shipping on orders over £59

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e-Lit Resource
Dali Clocks: Time Dimensions of Hypermedia

Stephanie Strickland investigates an epistemological shift in web-specific art and literature, from an understanding that is less about structure and more about resonance.

This essay originally appeared in the 11th issue of ebr, which focused on the visual arts in various media, at http://www.altx.com/ebr/ebr11/11str.htm.

Other ebr essays by Strickland include:

"Poetry in the Electronic Environment" http://www.electronicbookreview.com/thread/electropoetics/map-like
"Seven League Boots: Poetry, Science, Hypertext." http://www.electronicbookreview.com/thread/electropoetics/mathematical
"To Be Both in Touch and in Control" http://www.electronicbookreview.com/thread/electropoetics/perception
"Moving Through Me as I Move" http://www.electronicbookreview.com/thread/firstperson/stenorthographic

(This last essay generated a series of ripostes from Rita Raley, Camille Utterback, and Strickland herself).

This is a stub, serving as a placeholder. If you would like to contribute an original entry, please add it as a comment and a Directory editor will replace this stub with your entry at a later date. Your contribution is welcomed.


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Friday, June 23, 2006

My blog has moved!

And I hope that everyone will take a minute to update their bookmarks, because I am finally making the inevitable move from Blogger to TypePad. I'm also rolling all three of my blogs (Dirt, Humboldt Hens, and Worms of Endearment) into one, and in addition to writing about the garden, the chickens, and the worms, I'll also be writing about the book tour and lots of other topics related to my new book, Flower Confidential. My new blog home is here:

And last, but certainly not least, you'll find me over at GardenRant a few times a week. We're having a lot of fun, so come join us.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Welcome, San Francisco Chronicle Readers!

If you're coming here to check out the blogs you read about in the San Francisco Chronicle, welcome. Settle in; have a look around.

I'm blogging regularly on a new group blog, GardenRant. You can find out more about the inspiration for this blog here.

And if you're interested in starting a garden blog of your own, you might want to read Don't Get Dirt in the Keyboard, and Other Blogging Tips for Gardeners.

Friday, June 16, 2006

In Praise of Small Magazines

When I saw Sign of the Shovel's post about her husband's new book, I realized that it was about time for me to employ a little crass commercialism in support of my own spouse's venture.

Scott has been the half-owner and editor of Fine Books & Collections for four years now. He started the magazine for the same reason most people start a magazine: The magazine he wanted to read didn't exist, so he decided to create it himself. Believe it or not, FB&C is the only true, full-color, glossy magazine in the US devoted to the world of rare books. There's probably a dozen magazines out there about dogs, but if you're interested in old books, or just about anything unusual and interesting on paper, FB&C is it.

Having watched the running of a magazine, day in and day out, for four years now (Scott runs the entire editorial division out of our house, working with a network of freelancers and designers by e-mail and phone), I can tell you that it's a labor of love. I also know that most people don't realize how much one individual subscription (especially one that renews every year!) means to a small or medium-sized magazine. It's not just the money; it's also the thought that someone out there cares enough about the subject to want it delivered to their house every month or two. I remember FB&C's first direct mail campaign, and how excited I was to go to the post office and see that someone in Anchorage, Alaska or Petosky, Michigan had sent in a check just because we'd sent them a brochure bragging about a magazine that, at that point, didn't even exist yet.

If you are a book lover, or if you know a book lover, or if you just want to buy a subscription for your local library, FB&C will happily take your 25 bucks. (I can almost guarantee you that your online subscription will soon be followed by a cry of, "Hey, Amy! One of your blog readers just subscribed!")

And if FB&C isn't for you, I hope that you'll stop and think about the great little or not-so-little magazines that you pick up from time to time but don't subscribe to. I bet their subscriptions cost less than a pizza and are much better for you.

There's something wonderful about magazines: the feel of the paper, the photographs, the great writing, the ease with which you can read them in the bathtub or on the bus...not to mention the heart and soul behind them.

No matter how much time I spend online, I'll always be a magazine junkie. I long ago stopped counting the number of magazines coming into this house every month. A stack of yet-to-be-read magazines on the nightstand is a little luxury that I couldn't live without. What about you?

Monday, June 12, 2006

Garden Rant Takes Over the World

A few months ago, I started talking with Susan Harris of Takoma Gardener and Michele Owens of Sign of the Shovel about a modest little idea we had to stage a horticultural revolt. We were tired of what the mainstream gardening media has to offer--warmed-over garden tips, repurposed press releases about the ten thousandth new coleus on the market, dull little essays about the wonders of spring--and we were convinced that bloggers could overthrow the gardening establishment in the way that they are transforming coverage of politics and current affairs. (Witness the success of the YearlyKos convention. Not that I want to be the DailyKos of gardening. I'd much rather be the Gawker of gardening. But one thing at a time.)

Like all good revolutionaries, we began by writing a manifesto. You can read the whole thing on our site, but I'll touch on a few of my favorite points here:

--We are convinced that gardening MATTERS. Get us out of the Lifestyle section and as far away from home decorating as possible. We're talking about how we interact with the plant kingdom, not how to choose a throw pillow. This shit is important!

--We are flabbergasted at the idea of "no maintenance" gardens. If I have to read one more magazine article about Easy Container Gardens in 10 Minutes or Less, I may actually go bury MYSELF in the perennial border. Gardening is something you DO. It's not something you buy and arrange around the exterior of your home in between fluffing the aforementioned throw pillows.

--We are delighted by people with a passion for plants. Show some excitement! Have an opinion! Fall in love! Get mad! If you're bored, put your pen down and go outside. Just don't bore us, too.

Are you with me? All right, then. Follow me over to Garden Rant, where I'll be blogging a couple times a week. We've uploaded some of our previous posts from our own blogs to help set the tone, but it's all new stuff from here on. Some of my favorite new features include:

  • Ask Dr. Bleedingheart--horticultural advice for the lovelorn. Send in your melodramas today.
  • I Don't Have a Garden, But I Watch One On TV--reviews of garden television and Internet garden videos. (We'll cover podcasts and radio too, so if it's good, send it our way.)
  • Taking Your Gardening Dollar--product reviews, rip-offs, and vicarious horticultural shopping experiences.
  • You! We're looking for guest bloggers, so if you have something brilliant to say, we hope you'll consider saying it on Garden Rant first. Come rant with us!

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Holy Bat Shit, Lady Hillingdon!

Well folks, this is it. This is as good as it gets. The garden is at its absolute peak right now. There are some late summer salvias that are not in bloom yet, but apart from that, everything is out of control, including--in the background, against the fence--a yellow 'Lady Hillingdon' rose that has gone completely mad. She's normally a well-behaved, reserved old lady, but this year she just went wild. I attribute it to the bat guano pellets I fed her a few weeks ago.

I'm not much of a rose person, but 'Lady Hillingdon' was here when I moved in, and I'm learning how to get along with her. The canes are a beautiful burgundy, quite dramatic next to the creamy yellow blooms. Not much scent and they don't last long as a cut flower, but this is one of those lovely sprawly, shrubby roses that doesn't like to be cut back too much. Fortunately, that works out pretty well with my approach to pruning. Posted by Picasa

The Future of Heronswood

Anne Raver, writing about Heronswood in the New York Times, has a bit more to say about the future of the gardens themselves.

"Mr. Ball said Heronswood's gardens-- 5 1/2 acres of the garden, as distinct from the business Burpee is moving, will not be depleted even as the best specimens are taken for propagation and testing. 'I would like to find some kind of buyer who would keep it open to the public,' Mr. Ball said. He pictures a 'high-end retirement community, with nice condos' built around the gardens on the 15-acre Heronswood property.

Mr. Hinkley agreed that the gardens should be preserved, but only if they have a purpose beyond nostalgia, such as serving as an educational resource. Otherwise, he said, 'I would much rather see the garden euthanized immediately than to see it decline over several years.' "

Agreed, Dan. High-end retirement community? Nice condos? I shudder to think what the landscaping contractor hired by the homeowners association would do to those gardens. If it must be sold and developed into condos, at least let the local plant geeks come and dig up the good stuff first.

Abruptly, an End Comes for a Garden Shangri-La - New York Times

The Opinionated Multitasker

Thanks to the Houston Chronicle for choosing Dirt as its favorite opinionated garden blog, and to the Sacramento Bee for...uh...choosing Dirt as its favorite opinionated garden blog.

Green Space: Best Gardening Blogs (and what I've learned from them)

The SacBee says: "A fascinating and informative blog from Amy Stewart, a popular speaker and writer who lives in Eureka. You may have read or heard about her books, which include, "The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms" and "From the Ground Up: The Story of My First Garden." Both are exceptional books about gardening and nature.

Her blog is unabashedly opinionated and often on current events. Stewart, the consummate multitasker, also has posted links to her chicken blog and her worm blog."

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Nursery Too Interesting, Catalog Too Smart, Must Be Closed Down

If you haven't been to Heronswood Nursery in Kingston, WA, it's too damn late. The owner, Dan Hinkley, sold it to Burpee, and they have--yep, you guessed it--shut 'er down.

Brilliant plantsman Dan Hinkley, who continued to run the nursery after he sold it, was horrified to show up and learn that Burpee had shut it down with no notice. He told the Seattle Times: "The hardest thing for me to swallow right now is that this is what people feared would happen," he said. "It was my decision to sell to a large corporate nursery, and it was not a decision that was made lightly, but I made it, so ultimately I am the person to blame."

It's not clear what will happen next. There's talk of keeping the online business open, but relocating the plants to the East Coast. Burpee hopes to find a buyer who will appreciate, rather than pave over, the gorgeous display gardens filled with Hinkley's treasures from around the world. But given Burpee's matter-of-fact focus on profits, I wouldn't be surprised if paving over it turned out to be a fine option, too.

What galls me the most is Burpee's blatant East Coast-centric-ness about this deal. In a Kitsap Sun article, Burpee president George Ball bashes the plant selection for being too well-suited to the Pacific Northwest. "The vast collection of plants, while they were terrific for people in the Pacific Northwest, they weren't good for people in places like Iowa and Pennsylvania," said Ball.

Really? So, let me make sure I understand this. You buy a nursery located in Washington State that specializes in plants that do well on the West Coast, and then you're surprised that those plants won't grow in Pennsylvania.

He goes on to make this astonishing statement: "When we purchased this six years ago," he said, "we were anxious to make it a profitable company that would be fulfilling our ambition to serve a national audience of gardeners, which is predominantly on the East Coast."

Huh. A national audience...predominantly on the East Coast...Because California is...uh...the world's sixth largest economy, and the populations of California, Oregon, and Washington exceed those of New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire combined. Add to that our year-round growing climate, throw in--oh, I don't know--Canada--and I can see how you'd have a hard time selling us plants.

So instead, Ball is considering taking the plants "back to its Pennsylvania research and production facilities to work on adapting them to other climates less genial than the Pacific Northwest." Ah yes, just imagine the new, glorious, Burpeefied American landscape, populated with reliable year-round bloomers that are perfectly adapted to zones 1-11. I'll never again have the awful burden of traveling to another part of the country and coming across a plant I haven't seen before. Why, it's on page 11 of the Burpee catalog, and yes, it will do just fine in--where is that you live again? Well, no matter--it will grow there, too!

Ball goes on to take a more inclusive approach to insulting gardeners by insisting on dumbing down Hinkley's fine catalog. The Kitsap Sun reports that: "Both Hinkley and Ball indicated that there have been differences over Hersonswood's catalogue, revamped this year with only 250 plants offered and full of bright, colorful pictures like most standard offerings from giant retailers. Hinkley called it a dumbing down that talked down to Heronswood's core customer base. Ball said the old one read like a textbook."

That's right, folks. Burpee knows what you want. Bright, shiny catalog pages filled with ruby red tomatoes and happy little annuals that will grow in any climate. Good, because that's what you're getting.

I close with this sadly prophetic little snippet from Heronswood's February 2006 newsletter. If only George Ball would read his own textbook.

"We humans have an irresistible, sometimes inexplicable, compulsion to “enhance” whatever nature gives us, whether we’re breeding beefier livestock, more abundant crops, or larger flowers. In the garden, you need only survey the hybrid peonies, daylilies, and hostas available today—in a bewildering array of unlikely colors, outlandish sizes, and splashy patterns—to see how very different our altered ornamental plants can be from their wild ancestors. Of course, some of the more bizarre results of selective breeding also make it clear why many gardeners are eager to rediscover the simple elegance of original, unrefined species. "

Read on:

Seattle PI: World-famous Heronswood Nursery closes

Heronswood Nursery

More expletives from the blogosphere here, here, here, and here. Watch out, they're a little upset. Let Burpee know how you feel here.

Want to support Dan Hinkley in his new, post-nursery life? (He signed a non-compete clause, so there will be no new nursery for a few years.) Buy one of his books from a Pacific Northwest independent bookseller.