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Thoughts from my hospital bed

Sometimes I grunt at God.

I’m pretty sure He gets my drift. The sheer disgust of my current state. The discouraged exhale of a fed up girl not getting her way. The disgruntled wordless bemoaning. The eye rolls. Yes, those silly little eye rolls emphasizing the depth of my frustrations.

I got a text from a friend day #2 into a 6 day hospital stay. He asked me what God had been speaking to me while I was laid up. OF COURSE, this was the perfect opportunity to hear from God. No distractions. No busy schedule. Just me stuck in my hospital bed with absolutely no energy, no real concrete thoughts or deep theological revelation. I did what any good Christian would do. I lied.

I shared something that God has been speaking to me about, but something that has been simmering for months (you’ll be hearing about this more shortly). I couldn’t bring myself to tell this friend that I felt like God had been silent during this “vacation” of mine. I couldn’t actually tell this friend that my desire was to just get through the pain and get to the other side of this affliction.

My pride is my biggest hurdle to true honesty. If I were actually honest with my friend he might think less of me. Maybe he’d start praying for me convinced I was some kind of “backslider”. I’m being silly, but isn’t that where out mind goes? If I’m honest, maybe people won’t like the real me.

During my hospital stay, I didn’t necessarily hear God say anything, but I can tell you something He showed me. I saw love in the flesh. I saw friends rally around me offering their time to sit with me for hours, sometimes in silence. I saw flowers flooding my bed-side table from friends near and far letting me know they were thinking of me and praying for me. I saw nurses in beautiful kindness bring me comfort in forms of painkiller and jell-o.

Maybe, God didn’t say anything. Or maybe He decided to SHOW me something instead.

7 thoughts on “Thoughts from my hospital bed

  1. What a wonderful reminder of the many ways of God. And that he loves us so much he chases us down when we’re too busy to see him through our eye rolls and seething grunts {not that I know anything about that. even if I’ve identified myself with Jacob from time to time…}

    Hoping your recovery goes well.

    Thank you for sharing your heart with us.

    • Thanks so much for the comment, Judith. And you’re exactly right, He is a pursuing God and comes after us in the most loving and beautiful way. Thankful that He does and that His love gets through my thick skull and into my heart.

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My Heartbeat

That is the only adequate word I have right now.

I am simply…. numb.

Yesterday morning we awoke to the news that the fires that had been raging in our beloved mountains had grown through the night due to increased intense winds. Suddenly, things were scary and real. There has been no significant rainfall, if any, for well over 100 days. We were living in a virtual timber box.  The unthinkable finally happened.

Fire atop The Chimney Tops

In the past 24 hours I have witnessed three friends losing their homes, their businesses, and their livelihoods.  This monster wildfire has devastated and destroyed nature, history, and lives. It came with no warning, no time for preparation, and no mercy.

The residents and community are devastated.

The world has seemingly not taken notice either. They are too busy arguing over election recounts, Kayne’s recovery, or who is or is not going to the late Cuban Dictator’s funeral. Barley a mention on national news on the worst devastation this community has ever witnessed.

But if there is one thing I know about the mountain Culture I live in, it is that people take care of each other, and they will rise from the ashes this monster has left.

So much has been lost….homes, businesses, gorgeous miles of dense thick forest, but one thing remains…..

The human spirit.

Gandhi once said, “A nation’s culture resides in the heart and  souls of it’s people.”  We, the inhabitants of this dear, beautiful, and historical place, are what truly makes the culture. Tennessee is not called the Volunteer state for no reason. There is a sense of humanly duty any time disaster strikes.  Within MINUTES of the evacuations, hundreds of people were opening their homes…to strangers. They didn’t stop and ask who they voted for, what their sexual orientation was, or even ask if they were an “outsider”.

They simply helped.

That is what mountain people do.

That is what HUMANS do.

So my friends, I implore you to pray. Pray for our beautiful mountains. As day is breaking we are seeing just what all has been lost. Pray for the thousands who have been evacuated and left all behind. Pray for the firefighters who work selflessly to contain and control this monster. Pray for the winds to cease and the rains to fall.

This community will rise again… just as the phoenix rises from the ashes, so will the people in the hill of East Tennessee.

Oh Tennessee, My Tennessee
What Love and Pride I Feel for Thee.
You Proud Ole State, the Volunteer,
Your Proud Traditions I Hold Dear.

I Revere Your Heroes
Who Bravely Fought our Country’s Foes.
Renowned Statesmen, so Wise and Strong,
Who Served our Country Well and Long.

I Thrill at Thought of Mountains Grand;
Rolling Green Hills and Fertile Farm Land;
Earth Rich with Stone, Mineral and Ore;
Forests Dense and Wild Flowers Galore;

Powerful Rivers that Bring us Light;
Deep Lakes with Fish and Fowl in Flight;
Thriving Cities and Industries;
Fine Schools and Universities;
Strong Folks of Pioneer Descent,
Simple, Honest, and Reverent.

Beauty and Hospitality
Are the Hallmarks of Tennessee.

And O’er the World as I May Roam,
No Place Exceeds my Boyhood Home.
And Oh How Much I Long to See
My Native Land, My Tennessee.

By William Porter Lawrence

29 thoughts on “My Heartbeat

  1. I am quite hopeful that this too shall pass quickly and that the present devastation will soon only be a rueful past memory which will be covered over by a new future as by fertile humus topsoil. That is exceptionally hard to comprehend, however, in the current circumstances.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I’ve watched the news in absolute horror and prayed for our beloved Smoky mountains and Gatlinburg and the wonderful people there. I cried tears of sadness when they announced on the news last night that the missing Memphis couple were found dead (their three adult sons who they were vacationing with and were somehow separated from during the evacuation, are all in Vanderbilt’s burn unit). I think of all the happy times my family has spent vacationing and hiking in the Smoky mountains. I cherish those memories forever. I will keep praying. Take care of yourself and God Bless.

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Dainty Mouths & Big Burgers: Liberating Japanese Women

Ochobo level: Achieved

Japanese Burger joint Freshness Burger had a problem. Their largest burger, the “Classic” was a huge hit, but only among men. What was going on? Well the burger is enormous and in order to eat it you have to unhinge your jaw and get a little (a lot) messy. According to the campaign video, this was a deal breaker for Japanese women:

“For Japanese women, having “ochobo,” a small and modest mouth, is regarded as attractive. In public, a large open mouth is regarded as ugly and rude. It is therefore considered good manners to cover the mouth when opening it. This means they are denied the wild pleasure of taking mouth sized bites of this big tasty burger freely in public. Freshness burger decided to challenge this convention.”

How? By introducing the “Liberation Wrapper,” which covers a woman’s face with the image of a smiling closed mouth, allowing her to get down to the business of burger eating without looking unladylike. According to Freshness Burger sales of their Classic Burger have gone up 213% among women since the introduction of the Liberation Wrapper.

This campaign is getting buzz because it hits an internet trifecta, clever advertising, yet another bizarre thing Japanese people do (it’s officially filed under “weird” on msn), and gender politics. To the first and second I say yes and, what is “weird” anyway? To the third, obviously it’s troubling that women are hiding themselves behind paper masks to conform to expectations about “dainty” and “demure” mouths while men are free to scarf down burgers as messily as they like.

Maybe the Japanese just need a role model to teach them that ladies can eat burgers without shame. And no one makes a better role model for burger eating than America.  So let’s check in with some liberated American women to see how they eat a burger. Ladies?

Kate Upton for Carls Jr

Okay…not exactly what I was looking for but at least her face isn’t covered I guess. Let’s try again.

Still from Carls Jr Pulled Pork ad

Screen Shot 2013-11-05 at 10.16.39 AM

Well obviously this just isn’t a burger ad so there’s no problem with…

Paris Hilton for Carls Jr

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Clearly Carls Jr is the problem here, I’m sure if we check out some ads from other…what’s that? Burger King too?

Surely Arby’s, (home of the roast beef sandwich ®), would never…

Bun-boobs? Really?!? I give up.

Obromacare or MotherbroXXX

By Amanda Grigg

Last week everyone from The Atlantic to Buzzfeed covered a new Colorado Obamacare campaign targeting “bros.” The campaign can be found at “gotinsurancecolorado.org and is part of the Thanks Obamacare campaign run by ProgressNow Colorado and the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative. You can also reach the site via “doyougotinsurance.com” which is, clearly, a more bro-friendly url.

got insurance, bro?

Of course the Colorado campaign’s real aim is to get the attention of healthy, uninsured young people, a group that pretty much everyone agrees is essential to the success of the Affordable Care Act. Because they rarely use medical services these “young invincibles” are cheap to insure, and thus their enrollment is necessary to offset the costs of older, less healthy patients. It just so happens that most of the healthy, uninsured young people (57%) are male. This explains both Obromacare and the Koch brothers’ recent attempts to get bros to “opt-out” via events at campus bars offering free beer and ipad drawinngs. Unfortunately for proponents of the ACA, healthy young men without pre-existing conditions are generally thought to benefit the least from Obamacare, which makes them both vital and possibly resistant to health care form. As a result, we get to watch as everyone and their mother (literally) bro-down.

AARP_ACA_eCard7_600.imgcache.rev1379416663982Efforts to promote the health care law among young invincibles have also targeted mothers. Ads on facebook and recipe websites admonish, “Mom knows best, get insurance!” and cheeky AARP e-cards read “Get health insurance so I can stop pestering you to sign up and start pestering you to get married.” As Democratic pollster Celinda Lake explained to the Washington Post,“it will be the moms of America who are going to decide if their families get coverage…They will decide and then insist their children and husbands sign up.” Polling backs Lake up – many young uninsured people, and particularly young men, cite their mothers as their most trusted source of information about the health care law.

So, a big part of the explanation for these ads can be found in policy and the fact that high enrollment among healthy, uninsured young men is necessary to make Obamacare work. The campaigns are highly gendered because they’re targeting very specific, gendered audiences (mothers and young men). And they’re a little cheesy because bureaucrats and the Koch brothers trying to identify with the cool kids is a little like your parents trying to talk to you about Miley Cyrus. Or your great aunt publicly chastising you for posting bridesthrowingcats.com on facebook because “who would do that to a cat?”

More troubling than the seemingly inevitable pandering to bros is the misleading use of healthy young men as an exemplar of the harms of health care reform. Because of their unique relationship to the ACA, healthy 25 year old men have become the darlings of health care reform critics, who have conveniently held them up as (purportedly) randomly chosen example that illustrate how the healthcare law works and why it will raise rates (Jonathan Chait does a good job of addressing the problems with this tactic). Put simply, the 25 year old healthy male example is a poor one on which to base arguments about the ACA generally because it’s one of very few cases in which individuals may see rates go up, and because the group makes up a small portion of the total population. And as Sarah Kliff explains, the structure of the ACA makes it difficult to generalize even about this relatively small, homogenous group. Most notably, the example is misleading because it’s almost inevitable that in his lifetime this bro will benefit from Obamcare both directly and indirectly if he gets sick, becomes poor, lives past 25, cares about anyone who is or becomes sick, and let’s not even get started on how straight men benefit from the birth control mandate.

Google Autocomplete and Global Sexism

By Amanda Grigg

UN Women has a new campaign that uses google autocomplete to demonstrate the scope of sexism worldwide. Ads in the series place autocomplete search results for queries like “women cannot” and “women should not” over close-ups of a diverse group of women. According to creator Christopher Hunt, “The adverts show the results of genuine searches, highlighting popular opinions across the world wide web” (more on whether Hunt is right about this below).

Autocomplete results are known to vary by location, which inspired me to do some quick google searching of my own (I also thought it was time to get the men involved) and I found a little something for the optimists/male breastfeeding proponents:

Of course I also found this (thanks patriarchy/E.L. James):

and found out that the male version of this:

women should not

is this:

men should not

Fellow Jilter (Jilted?) Graham noted that the search results of autocomplete suggestions don’t always perfectly match the sentiment of the autocomplete. So, an autocomplete of “women shouldn’t vote” for a “women shouldn’t” search conducted in New York might turn up a couple of articles about the women’s suffrage movement (my search turned up this) in addition to more recent coverage critiquing someone who opposes women’s right to vote (here and here) and not turn up much in the way of meaningful opposition to women voting. I don’t think that this makes the campaign any less powerful or accurate as a reflection of sexism, for two reasons. 1. the campaign is global and we could imagine that there are places where correspondingly sexist results would turn up and 2. as far as I can tell, autocomplete is based on popular searches not popular content, so regardless of what the search turns up, the suggestions reflect a large group of people searching for those (sexist or anti-shortsist) terms. Of course we can’t be sure of what people wanted out of their search – they could have been declaring a personal opinion or searching for arguments against women serving in combat for a term paper. So I’ll give some ground on whether all autocomplete results are direct evidence of sexism and maintain that there is ample evidence elsewhere that sexism remains a global issue.

I Admit It — I Like Ads

By Graham Peterson

I’ve had an advertising epiphany: I like it.  And that’s a big step for someone whose lion share of social thought came out of, wait for the name, Adbusters Magazine for years.  But Google has started sending me ads to incredible furniture stores I didn’t know about.  Should I be ashamed that I’m grateful?

Most of the cultural criticism of advertising, at least the part that’s not motivated by deep-roots Marxian theorizing like Herbert Marcuse and Antonio Gramsci, comes I think from the sheer fact that advertising often annoys people.  And who wouldn’t be annoyed with a message constantly blaring in your face that you don’t want to hear?  Imagine a guy follow you around and pestering you to buy something you have no interest in buying – print and digital and billboard and TV commercial ads aren’t much different.

These advertisers have made efforts to tailor their advertising.  In rhetoric we call it consideration of audience.  At the bar they call it having a clue.  Nobody was wheat-pasting feminine hygiene product posters at Wrigley Field in the 1950s.  Soap operas actually began as filler in between soap commercials aimed at upper middle class housewives who were home during the day.  Toys get advertised during Saturday morning cartoons.  Etc.  So why the indignation and fear that companies are tracking our web browsing?  Ok, it’s a problem if the government does it.  Separate issue.

People’s attitudes towards advertising and sales-y-ness will begin to change as advertisers know more about who they’re talking to and when.  Us academic libertarians tend to believe that anti-market sentiment comes from a history of a small cadre of activist intellectuals who enjoy disproportionate influence.  That’s as likely as the right wing conspiracy to exploit the poor and destroy the environment is – not very.

At least half the reason the populist perception of markets has been negative is that markets seem like a disingenuous, inauthentic, and impersonal place when you’re being approached constantly with homogenous products, most of which you don’t even want.  But as technology advances and products become cheaper, they become more tailored to taste.  Working class toilet brushes now get designed by professionally trained artists.

A sense of intimacy and understanding will grow as markets become more personalized and people can more effectively forge relationships with companies.  With increasingly cheap communications technology, market persuasion is increasing in quality.  Ads are becoming less of a pain in the ass.  Just like life in general in a progressive market economy.


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Thread: IPSC Gun Choice
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Old December 17, 2011, 08:16 PM   #1
Join Date: December 17, 2011
Posts: 61
IPSC Gun Choice

I am really interested in IPSC and I had a few questions for anyone on this forum who might shoot in IPSC matches. The first is: what type of pistol do you use? Be specific with make and model, sights, perfered ammo... Any tips for a beginner? Any excercises that might be helpful that aren't so obvious (like target practice lol). And lastly if you answer any of my question then please let me know which competitions you were in and perhaps how good you did. Thanks a million in advance!
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Old April 2, 2013, 11:55 PM   #9
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Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 1,815
As CraigJS said Ammo, finances aren't allowing a new gun this year.
Chief stall mucker and grain chef

Country don't mean dumb.
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Flooring Installation, Sales, and Service

The Flooring Pro Guys

Do not worry about finding the perfect contractor for flooring projects in Waukesha, WI, as we’ve already done that for you. The drawn out task of deciding between the reliable contractors and the bad ones isn’t something you need to do. The most qualified flooring contractors in Waukesha today are certainly the Flooring Pro Guys! Go over this list to give yourself a few tools to use when looking for someone to hire for your flooring project.

Flooring Installation Contractor

Hundreds of options and samples to choose from!

Value Vs. Price for a Floor Installation

When you work with a flooring contractor, keep in mind that it can be tricky to find the perfect balance between cost and value provided. Never forget that when you work with the cheapest contractor, you’re most likely going to end up spending more because they will use poor quality materials and do a horrible job. To ensure that you only need to have your project done once, stay away from the temptation to hire the cheapest contractor available. Make sure that you go to the web to research on the quality of various flooring types before choosing one.

Every time you begin the process of price negotiation, look out for pricing that is too good to be true. Many contractors don’t stay in business very long, which means any warranty might end up being worthless. Ensure your flooring contractor won’t be one of the number of to leave the field and leave you without services in the end. Always ask about the warranty coverage and make sure to get it in writing.

carpet installation
Hardwood flooring installation

Local References

Asking each prospective flooring contractor for at least three references will give you what you need to make an informed decision. The references of your chosen contractor should be near flawless. Many customers satisfied with the quality results they’ve received can be provided to you. The Flooring Pro Guys are in a position to link you with numerous happy customers who’re willing to share their experience with doing business with our company.

Contact the references provided by the flooring contractors and inquire about the way their property was handled by the crew. For instance, ask if the crew did a great job of cleaning up the mess when the work was done. If your chosen flooring contractor is any good, he should have no problem returning the state of your house back to how it had been beforehand. You really do not need to handle a careless contractor when you have furniture and property in the house.

A Professional Flooring Contractor

Liability insurance on behalf of the local contractor should be insured before you work with. In addition to knowing there’s financial protection in the event of an accident, you have the comfort of knowing an insurance company considers the local contractor an acceptable risk. Working with a uninsured contractor is really the last thing that you would need to do. People who are insured are contractors who pay attention to detail.

It can be an important thing to seek out if the contractors have signage that shows their level of professionalism. Securing a pickup truck is as easy as borrowing one from someone or renting one yourself. Examining the given phone number can easily be determined to be local or long distance. Only experienced contractors will have a professional answering service for their flooring company.

tile floor installation
Laminate Flooring

A Quality Flooring Installation

If you will be present at the area where the undertaking is happening, a guru should furnish you with the nitty gritty guidelines and will showcase how he can and will handle the chaos. People who choose never to occupy the property being worked on over the course of the flooring project still need to have a projected plan and agenda completed before the project begins. They should be able to offer you all the details about the project, the time frames, and the projected completion. During the entire project, The Flooring Pro Guys make sure that you will be taken care of.

When going through the list of contractors, inquire on how the job will probably be done from the first day to the last day of the project. Ask whether they typically complete one room prior to moving to the following or will probably be working throughout your home for the duration of the job. All jobs that require replacing flooring can create a mess, therefore the crew on the job should remove the trash generated. The procedure of cleaning up after a job is completed should be outlined for you before a local contractor begins the job.

It’s A Messy Job!

Inquiring how the flooring contractor will combat potential messes during the flooring job is a perfect idea. Flooring contractors that are professional always drape the rooms with a durable plastic. Dust barriers are created using special overlap techniques. Red tapes with wordings “Men Working. ” are used to wrap the room and provide it the feel of crime scenes seen in movies.

Finding out if the cost of plastic drapes are covered in the quoted price is a smart idea, especially in case you have children that could be entering the unfinished flooring area. Exposed nails can be a danger to youngsters who are not effectively supervised. People who install flooring professionally should know how to keep anyone in the household from being injured. It’s vital to find a licensed contractor who is quite conscientious about safety.

vinyl flooring

A Professional Flooring Installation From A Trusted Flooring Contractor

Every professional flooring contractor with experience in flooring service should know his product lines from memory. The presentation carried by the professional will highlight the merchandise lines for your benefit. All contractors worth their weight should have the ability to remember and recall their experiences with product lines from each price range. If he keeps checking up details of his product lines and quotes, steer clear.

Ensure that nothing has fallen through the cracks and that the legal agreement drawn up by your chosen contractor accurately captures all of your specifications for the job. In the long run, it will help you save a lot of cash and stress to ensure everything that you and your contractor have agreed upon is stated in the legal agreement. Before you sign anything, ensure your queries and thoughts about the job are passed across to your contractor. Legal terms are often put into contracts to confuse the person signing the papers. Be sure to have an attoney verify the contents of the legal agreement.

More than you may know, following the process of picking out colors, applications, and textures, after the very first coat of stain is applied to a hardwood surface, the customer can choose to change the color entirely. Even if you end up changing your mind and incurring the cost of re-doing your floors, it’s better to spend the extra money to purchase a quality stain. You deserve to get the excellent flooring job exactly how you want it to be completed. The main aim of the Flooring Pro Guys company is to have you as one of its many customers who are well pleased with our work.

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Frugal Outings That ROCK!

Sometimes you just gotta get out of the house, but that can be an issue if you don’t have money to spend. Well I’m here to tell you that you and the kids can have an enjoyable outing without spending a fortune (let’s face it, it’s easy to blow a big chunk of the budget at the cinema or tenpin bowling).

Recently I took my three and half year old daughter on an outing that had many benefits. It included the opportunity for fresh air, exercise, use of gross and fine motor skills, and use of imagination and art skills.

Living in a semi-rural area means we have lots of lovely opportunities to spend time in nature. So I decided to take my daughter to a nearby river to collect smooth river rocks for painting (thanks Pinterest for the inspiration!). She loved the idea of rocking hunting for “treasure”.

For as many rocks as she put into her bucket, she also throw a few into the water and watched the ripples… she seemed to really enjoy that.

After collecting our desired amount of “treasure”, we took the time to enjoy the outdoors and commune with nature (we are nature lovers after all).

When we got the rocks home it was time to wash and dry them. My daughter loved being part of the process of preparing the rocks, and I’m sure your little ones would enjoy it too… it is their “treasure” after all.

Once the rocks are dry they are ready to paint. The great thing is that they can be painted with acrylic paint which is really cheap to buy- around $2.00-2.50 per tube or bottle at your local discount store. I found that the rocks, being somewhat porous, absorbed a fair bit of paint. Next time we do this activity I’m going to try Mod Podging them first to create a barrier… I will let you know if it works.

As you can see, the white painted rock on the left has absorbed the paint.
As you can see, the white painted rock on the left has absorbed the paint.

This is where the little ones can go crazy with their imagination and create works of art that rock!

I also purchased the paint brushes from the same shop as the paint, and they were $2.00 a pack, which gave 5 brushes of various sizes. If you don’t have a paint palette, a disposable plastic or paper plate will suffice, or even a piece of aluminium foil.

Once our rocks are finished I will Mod Podge to seal and once dry we will create a little rock garden in our yard. I will post pictures when all is complete.

My daughter really loved this outing and activity and it only cost us the petrol (and since this river was only a few kilometres up the road, the petrol was next to nothing). The paint I already had, but as I stated the paint and brushes are quite cheap.

Happy treasure hunting!


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Honoured to be Nominated for 7 Lovely Awards

Thank you to Pretty Little Things in a Box for the nomination of some lovely awards, yep I did say some, seven in total!

Blogging brings so much joy, I love sharing what I am doing with my like minded friends and really appreciate how many of you take the time out to comment and encourage. And I find the inspiration is endless as I wander through the pages available on my laptop. It is a wonder we have time for doing our craft.

The awards include:

For my nominees named below I kindly request that you complete the following before passing on the awards to your own 7 nominees. Have fun scrolling through your pages to find new untapped blogs.

(Abstracted from Pretty Little Things in a Box)

1. Thank the people who nominated me and link back to their blog

2. Share seven things about myself

3. Nominate seven bloggers to receive the awards

4. Let them know they’ve won by sending them a message

Here we go then:

A huge thank you to Pretty Little Things in a Box for honouring The Grange Range with this nomination, it is so nice to receive such kind acknowledgement.

Random things about me mmmmmmm………… well I apologies in advance if they are not too imaginative but they are the first 7 things that spring to mind this fine evening.

1. I love making baby clothes and cannot wait until one of my brood decides to have children so I can start creating. No pressure guys!

2. Recently, through blogging I have started to fulfil one of my long time wishes, learning about photography.

3. I love baking and trying out new recipes and there are so many to be found through blogging.

4. Having just started a new job I have discovered that it is never to late to start learning new skills.

5. Much as I would love to do better in the garden I have discovered that I don’t have very green fingers, they are more brown!

6. My favourite colours are purple and orange.

7. I am a terrible hoarder, I have things in the loft like the children’s first shoes, favourite outfits and all the toys and games they used to play with. With 4 children that is quite a collection of stuff, I wonder why I keep it all sometimes but having had it so long I just cannot find the courage to let it go. I always thought I was keeping it for them but the truth is they all think I am mad!

My seven lovely nominees are……………….

One last plea, can anyone help me with some direction about how to put the awards on my blog, I cannot do it no matter what I try.

5 thoughts on “Honoured to be Nominated for 7 Lovely Awards

  1. lovelucie1 August 17, 2013 / 16:59

    Congratulations on your awards! As for adding them to your blog try this.
    BTW I would find this easier to do on my laptop than an iPad/ tablet
    Save each of the awards as a ‘photo’
    In blog admin go to ‘appearance’, then ‘widgets’.
    Pull over an ‘image’ widget from the left into your side bar.
    Import the photo into the widget.
    You’ll probably need to pull over an ‘image’ widget seven times for seven award photos.
    Let me know if you still have trouble and I’ll go into it in more detail.

    • thegrangerange.wordpress.com August 17, 2013 / 21:30

      Thank you so much for your help, I have tried so many times and not worked it out before but you made it so easy with your explanation.

  2. Bet August 17, 2013 / 00:35

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Peppermint Crisp Tart from South Africa

The best things in life are simple, so this little tart is a winner. Some friends around, cup of coffee? Eclectic music station ok lets begin…

1 packet of Tennis Biscuits

2 cups of cream

1 can of caramel treat 360g

2 large slabs of peppermint crisp chocolate 180g X 2

South Africa Peppermint Crisp Tart ingredients

South Africa Peppermint Crisp Tart ingredients

here is how we make the tart to completion

here is how we make the tart to completion

Place the tennis biscuits crunched at the bottom of your desired dish, any dish, ensuring that the bottom of the dish is covered.

Crush the tennis bisciuts

Crush the tennis bisciuts

Place the caramel in a mixing bowl and mix until smooth.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the cream until stiff peaks form, being careful not to over-whip.

Add the whipped cream and 100g of the grated peppermint crisp chocolate to the caramel and combine well.

In the mix

In the mix

Lets get this layered:

Mixture over the tennis biscuits, then another layer of biscuits, and then another etc. Do this until your dish is full, and then spread over a crumble of biscuits and chocolate.

Its needs an hour to set in the fridge and thats it.

This will happen, time to lick that up!

This will happen, time to lick that up!

The team, Andrea and Chris the creator

The team, Andrea and Chris the creator

Moving on

My new blog….

The Great Secrets

I was always the person that danced a lot. In fact I studied dancing growing up such as ballet, modern, tap, acrobatics and gymnastics. And then one day, I was in a car accident and broke my legs and other major bones. I had been drinking at a work dinner, I never thought for a minute that my life would be in danger, or that I wouldn’t get home.

I was in hospital for about 4 months, started off in an induced coma and then hi-care at the Johannesburg General Hospital. During the trauma admission to ER, they put titanium in both of my shattered femur to help them grow back together. It was very lucky of me to get the care that I did by prompt medical response to the scene of the accident and being admitted to the student education hospital. I was unable to move for some…

View original post 542 more words

Tabbouleh – An awesome couscous salad

I love working with simple things and making amazing results. A friend of mine Mel in Cyprus has inspired this recipe after she raved about her tabbouleh salad.

1 box of couscous

750 ml of water

1/3 cup olive oil

10 ml of cayenne pepper

20 ml salt

1 cucumber

6 tomatoes

1 cup of celery

1 red pepper

½ green pepper

1 cup of lemon juice

¼ cup olive oil

30 ml of dried mint

45 ml of dried parsley

Place the dry couscous in a large serving dish. Combine 1/3 cup olive oil, 30ml of cayenne pepper and ¾ cup of boiling water. Pour over the boiling water and cover for 15 mins. Hold separate.

the couscous

the couscous

Chop up the tomatoes into small pieces after discarding the pips, the red and green pepper into tiny pieces and the celery. Combine all of these cool ingredients together with 1 cup of lemon juice, olive oil and herbs. Toss with a giant spaghetti spoon. Allow the couscous to draw, and fluff up with a big fork. Allow this to cool, and then combine with the salad. And hey presto you have now got a treat for a larger dinner party.

Tabbouleh Salad

Tabbouleh Salad

The Great Vanilla Cupcakes

The Great Vanilla Cup Cakes

The Great Vanilla Cup Cakes

It was my birthday this week, so I decided to make some cakes for my granny. I only had an hour to make them so that I was not late for an appointment.

–         Lets Go

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line a cupcake tray with paper inserts.  Put all your ingredients out in front of you and measure them out. Utensils should be handy: whisk, spatula, two dessert spoons, sieve, measuring cups and spoons, a knife, two bowls.

–         The Cake

125g butter / white margarine
¾ cup castor sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
1½ cups self-raising flour
1 t baking powder
1/3 cup milk

Sift the flour and baking power. Beat melted butter with the sugar until creamy. The sugar needs to dissolve totally. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla essence. Fold through the sifted flour and baking powder. Gently mix in the milk.
Place spoonfuls of mixture into regular cupcake cases. Hold two dessert spoons in each hand. Use a heaped dessert spoon full, and swiftly scrape clean with the other hand. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden and firm to the touch. A knife must run clean when poked inside. Allow to cool on a wire rack before icing them.

– The Icing
2 cups icing sugar
25g melted butter
1 t vanilla essence
To make vanilla icing, mix together icing sugar, butter and vanilla until smooth. Use a knife to easily ice the cool cupcakes. The icing will harden shortly, so add any sprinkles you might want strait away. I found some shocking pink sprinkles this week at the shop, so my next batch will be funky!

The Great Summer Steaks with Kale Salad and Minty Salsa Verde

The Great Summer Steaks with Salsa Verde

The Steaks

A few minute steaks – rubbed in olive oil and salt and pepper

A few large kale leaves from the garden, chopped thinly. (I use a Zimbabwean variety called Mustard Rape)

Spring onions, chopped (including a few ends)

Garlic, chopped fine

Squeeze of half a lemon

1 cup fresh coriander
1 cup fresh mint leaves
½ an onion
Zest and juice of 1/2 a large lemon
1 tbsp grape wine vinegar
Pinch of cracked black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil

The Kale Salad

Make the kale salad first to give it time to relax in the fridge before serving.

Take the washed garden fresh leaves and cut into thin pieces, drizzle with olive oil and chopped garlic, as well as a few chopped spring onions and chop a few of the ends as well. Toss everything up for a bit in the bowl, then place into fridge.

The Salsa Verde

In a liquidizer place all the herbs, the lemon, roughly chopped onion, vinegar, olive oil and vinegar. Dice up on pulse mode for a short while and set the sauce aside.

The Meat

Preheat a griddle pan. Make sure the steaks are room temperature, they should take a maximum of 4 minutes per side to cook. Smear both sides of your steaks with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. When the steaks are perfectly cooked to your liking, move them to a cutting board to rest for a few minutes and save any resting juices.

Now scatter the chilled rape salad over your chosen serving platter and place steaks across, finish with a few tablespoons of salsa verde and scatter over any remaining fresh herbs. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Gluten Free and tasty. Mission accomplished!

The Great Granola Bars

Being gluten free is new to me, so I did some research and came up with these granola bars to eat for breakfast, instead of fruit and more fruit.

Granola Bar

Granola Bar

Granola Bar

Granola Bar

Dry ingredients:

Dry ingredients before tosating

Dry ingredients before tosating

2 cups of oats

½ cup sunflower seeds

½ cup blanched almonds

½ cup sesame seeds

½ cup shredded coconut

Toast these ingredients in the oven at 180 degrees in a baking pan covered in foil for about 12 mins. Turn this every now and then to avoid burning.

Turn down the oven to 140 degrees.

Wet ingredients:

In a small pan, melt:

½ cup of honey

60ml of golden syrup

60ml of peanut butter

Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, allow to cool while you work on your fruit, then combine everything.

The fruit:

The dried fuit

the dried fruit

 You can use anything you like, I used the following (and forgot to add my cherries)

½ cup of raisons

½ cup of dried cranberries

½ cup of chopped dried apricots

Add the fruit to the mixture and then prepare your pan. Use a baking pan about 8 X 5 inches wide, rub with butter, then line with parchment paper. Add your mixture, aiming for about ¾ inch high or so. Press the mixture down with your fingers until firm and pressed in.

Cook for 35 minutes, and then allow to dry for at least 2 hours. Cut into squares.

The Great Healthy Kale Solution

I’ve just started be a health freak, and watching my diet. And one of the recommended things to eat being O blood type is kale. As it turns out this stuff is already growing in my garden, what a bonus. I found this recipe and voila, I now eat this side dish every day with my dinner. A great source of nutrients and vitamins, so try it.

Kale Kale

Kickin’ Kale:

  • 1 large bunch of curly kale
  • 2 or 3 lemons
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 4 small or 3 large cloves of garlic (peeled, smashed and chopped)
  • 1/2 to 1 purple onion, sliced very fine

  1. Wash and ‘spin’ dry the curly kale.
  2. Remove the stems.
  3. Stack the leaves on top of each other and slice them horizontally into fine strips
  4. Place the strips into a glass or porcelain bowl
  5. Juice the lemons.
  6. Peel and cut the garlic cloves into chunks.
  7. Put the olive oil, lemon, garlic, and salt into the blender and combine on high to make a frothy liquid.
  8. Pour 1/2 the liquid over the top of the kale.
  9. Mix well with salad utensils.
  10. Pour the remaining liquid over the kale and keep turning and mixing with the salad utensils.
  11. Let the mixture sit for at least 2 hours before you eat it as the lemon and olive oil will ‘cure’ the kale so that it becomes much softer and more edible.
  12. Garnish with as many of the onion slices as you like.


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Handlebars helpers

In an application we are using Handlebars templating. However, we needed many custom helpers to do what we wanted to achieve. Here are some of those helpers. It may help someone who is looking for achieving similar things. Examples are included.

Character limit with trailing characters (optional).

Pun Warning – Warning system for PunBB

Quite long ago, I have developed this extension to warn users due to violating rules in Projanmo Forum. Many asked me for releasing it but I could not release it for various reasons mainly as I could not test in Non-Bangla forums.

Today I decided to release it and so I’ve downloaded punbb and installed and then tested it. Seems it is working fine. So, I am now releasing it.

1. Download and install it as you do other extensions. You will also need to install jQuery extension before installing it. Continue reading →

My experience with phpXperts seminar 2010

phpXperts Seminar 2010, is my third program with phpXperts. Other than phpXperts programs, I have also joined in other programs like Facebook Developer Garage, SQABD Lightning Talks etc. However, this one is exceptional to me as I was one of the speakers in this session.

My initial gratitude goes to Hasin Hayder, who tried hard for first speakers like me. He even advised me about my topic “HTML5 – Web is getting sexy”! Continue reading →

Recaptcha with AJAX application, get new challenge using JavaScript

Currently, I am working on a commercial project (for me) that will be dedicated to the soul of Michael Jackson. I have used some AJAX based interface where I have used reCaptcha challenges to fight spamming. The form where I have used reCaptcha, will be submitted through AJAX calls. As the page won’t reload, the same captcha challenge exists even the user makes a mistake during filling the form.  I wanted to show a new challenge each time he/she makes a mistake. I thought, I will be in trouble in this part! However, I have seen it is extremely easy to get a new challenge. Continue reading →

Facebook Like button for PunBB forum

Facebook likeFacebook like button is a component of its social plugins. It is a great tool of driving traffic to your site. Mashable has a report of increasing referral traffics by 50% by using this Like button.

Considering it as a good tool to drive traffic, I have developed a tiny extension for PunBB bulletin board. When you install this extension, you will find a Like button at the top of Topic View (viewtopic.php). It will also show number of persons liked the topic. Continue reading →

Header Image Rotator for Twenty Ten theme of WordPress 3.0

WordPress 3.0 is still in RC1. I have already upgraded this blog to this version. I can’t but  simply love the new theme ‘Twenty Ten’ which is default in WordPress 3.0. It is super simple theme.

In this theme, there is option to use custom header image. From the admin panel you can select the header image. However, all of the default banners looked interesting to me and I have also uploaded some of my own shots. I wanted to show them all.

Keeping that in mind, I made this simple plugin, Twenty Ten Image Rotator. Having this plugin installed, you can show all images on the header. Single banner each selected randomly on each page load.

I believe if you love Twenty Ten theme, you will love this plugin too :).

Download from WordPress Plugin Repo

WordPress Category Widgets plugin – display different widgets for different categories

Today, I have developed another plugin for WordPress which I named ‘Category Widgets’ plugin and as usual nothing more peaceful rather than sharing with the community.

Using this plugin, you can display a text widget for any specific category and/or its sub-categories. For example, you want to show different sidebar banners based on different category. It is easy using this plugin. Just create a new widget and select the category.

I have found another plugin for almost the same purpose. That plugin lacks of capability of displaying in the subcategories. That mean it does not work for the sub-categories of the selected category. In this plugin, I have made that feature and also optionally you can disable that feature too.

  1. WordPress 2.8+

Continue reading →

Passing filename arguments to PHP from shell and space issue…

Today, while working with a project to import thousands of articles from text files to wordpress,  I had faced a trouble while I am executing a shell script to iterate through all text files and call a PHP script with sending the filename as argument. The PHP script would then process the file as our requirement. The shell script looked like:

for i in `find . -type f -name '*.txt'`;

php import_posts.php $i

Here, $i would be the filename and it is passed to PHP script for processing. But the problem is that, when the filename (including directory name) consists any whitespace in its name, the script would broken. For example, some files path looked like
/home/user/articles/Internet Business/Web Hosting/how_to_start_your_company.txt

Here, notice the space after Internet and Web. The shell script was breaking just after Internet. It was sending /home/user/articles/Internet as argument to PHP script and obviously PHP script was failed to find this file.

After searching a lot, finally I found a solution.

It was really simple. I am quoting from his blog:

If none of your files or folders have spaces in their names, then this isn’t a problem, but that is increasingly unlikely nowadays.  If your songs do have spaces in their filenames, then the solution is to change how the shell splits that output.  This is controlled by the variable $IFS, which is set to spaces, tabs, and newlines by default.  We’d like it set to just newlines, so we do:

So, here is the solution. I just put the following line at the top of my shell script.

export IFS=$'\n'

After that everything is fine. The script is running exactly how I intended it to run.

Thanks for Anthony for his solution.

PunBB Topic Ownership Change extension

Just now I have developed a small extension for PunBB that will let admins and moderators to change the ownership of any topic. As usual, I made it for Projanmo Forum but it is always pleasing to share with the community :).

It is very simple plugin. Just upload and activate the extension. Then if you view any topic with, at least, moderation privilege, you will see a link ‘Change Topic Owner’. When you click on it, you will be asked to enter new User’s ID (check the image below). Once you enter and hit Ok, you will be redirected to a new page where either the ownership will be changed or corresponding error message will be shown.

Note: This will not affect users’ post count.

Technical session on ‘Facebook Application Development’

Yesterday evening, I have participated in a technical session titled “Facebook Application Development” at BASIS SoftExpo 2010. The session was taken by legendary PHP engineer and founder of Leevio, an Social Networking RnD startup, Hasin Hayder.

During the session, the speaker has tried to elaborate the fundamental steps of facebook application development that will show the light to the novices those are interested about facebook application. He also showed ,step by step, a sample facebook application development process.

The whole session was entertaining and useful.

The presentation slide can be downloaded from his blog or directly by clicking here.


text:
A photo a day – week 3

15) mug

15) mug

Just another morning

Darkened windows. Curtains drawn. Arms stretched above sleepy heads.
Feet descending stairs. Water running from taps, splashing hands & faces.
Toothbrushes landing in cups. Hairs brushed. A quick glance.
Some shade here. A line there. A smile. A frown.
Children rushed from their beds. Getting dressed.
Sweaters pulled over weary minds; darkness and then light again.
Legs sliding into trousers. Cold feet begging for socks.
Coffee steaming in cups. Cereals tumbling into bowls.
Milk streaming from cartons. Bread buttered.
Cheese sliced. Lunchboxes packed.
Hopping onto bicycles. Running for the bus.
Jumping into cars. Heating & radio turned on, chasing dreams & the chill away.
News report falling into silent space, with minds floating sometimes here & sometimes there.
And sometimes not anywhere…

One thought on “A photo a day – week 3

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Travel Tuesday: London Olympics

Michael and I have been trying since last year to score tickets to the London Olympics this summer.  First, it was a lottery.  You put in your ticket requests for the events that you wanted and if you won the lottery, they charged your credit card and you were in.

Big Surprise.  We didn’t win the lottery.

Then it became a grab for whatever tickets were leftover.  The ones no one wanted. Handball.  Race Walk.  Judo.  No thank you.

CoSport | Individuals Tickets

Just the other day, the organization that is managing the tickets released what was left.  And lo and behold, there were some of our events.  Now, I won’t pay $800 for Athletics (Track and Field), even to see Bolt break the World Record.  But tennis was there, football (soccer) and some others that we were interested in.  And at reasonable prices.  So once again, we got excited about the chance to go to London for the Olympics.

And this was the lowest we could find even after playing with the dates every which way to Sunday.

Our Olympic dreams, like so many others, were shattered.  And I put in all that training….

About nfoste2245

I am approaching 40 and have been married since my early 20's. I have become more than a little frustrated with having to answer incredibly personal questions about my choice to not have children. It is apparently taboo to talk about religion and politics, but confronting me about my reproductive choices is fair game. It is not a choice I made alone, quickly or lightly. My husband and I made it together. I am not "withholding" children or grandchildren from anyone. There is an astonishing lack of understanding over the idea that it is an actual choice, to have a child or not. There is also an amazing lack of support, discussion and resources for those like me, that have made the choice. This is not a blog for kid-haters, or mocking people for having kids. It is a place where we can talk about living full lives, without kids, and without guilt.

Posted on February 14, 2012, in Sports, Travel and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.

  1. OUCH! holy crap that is expensive.

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text:
The Brush of Your Hand…

The brush of your hand across my shoulder
Sends fire into my cheeks, burning away
My confidence, waning as the sun over the horizon.
I would chase you until morning
Dazzled as the night brightens your strawberry hair
Undone by the moonlight framing hazel eyes that
Always smile against a masterpiece rendered
In countenance, sublime in its glowing reflection.

Let my love rest beside your form, holding
Tightly your features till dawn snatches
You from my grasp, and memory dreams
Along the snarling contours of day.
I await the night and the fragrance preceding your touch.

All My Dreams Rise on Thermals

All my dreams rise on thermals
Unhindered in the waning sun
Seeking a fresh perch for the night.

Its beauty keeps them aloft
Silver beams streak like towers of pure light
Reflected and filtered by the moon.

They lay down tracks to usher in
Milky Way and her sister Andromeda,
Their diamond gowns shimmering as life itself.

I Enter the Forest at Night

I enter the forest at night
Search for a glade and rest
My tools I lay on the ground
Worlds apart, alive with sound

Hours I pass listening to songs
Played out infinitely
My eyes adjust to the dark
Set my sight, enlist my mark

Barrel and scope point assurance
Ranging through the moonlight
My target comes into view
Minutes down, seconds ensue

Accommodation of fresh eyes
Clearly see through the night
I set my finger in place
Press down, capture time and space

Chill passes through the earth
In that moment where the sun
Escapes behind the horizon,
A thrill of anticipation
That starlight brings
When earth’s denizens
Find the oases of quiet darkness
And gaze upon the glory of the sky.

The soft trill of rustling leaves
Or grassy stems bristling in the night
Echo, in their way, the starsong,
Quietly rumbling across space and time,
Speaking a sublime language meant
For ears attuned and listening
With hearts willing to hear
The message hidden among its static notes.

Now on!

“To Scratch the Surface of Beauty” is now available throughout North America and Europe on!

“To Scratch the Surface of Beauty” Available Now!

To Scratch the Surface of Beauty Cover Image

A short collection of poems from this blog is now available for purchase in paperback on CreateSpace and on Kindle. If you’d like more information or would like to purchase a copy, just click on the “Shop” page in the menu to the left. You’ll find the information and links you need to make your purchase. I appreciate the support you’ve given me these last few months. I will continue to post new poems and fiction in the the coming days.

Peace of Christ,


text:
Jim Clark - Dream Repairman

Message: "Richard, please could you go down to the cutting room of 'The Killing Fields' and meet Jim Clark." From David Puttnam. I don't recall clearly what our first exchange of pleasantries were - but I do have a visual memory of entering Jim's cutting room as I was announced in by Bryan, his trusted assistant. A feeling of orderly calm, with light music playing in the background with an array of trim bins holding the strips of 35mm shot footage ready for selection. Jim was sat at the 'Steinbeck' considering his latest selection.

I must have made the right impression on our first meeting, as we continued to meet after on 'The Mission, The Frog Prince, Memphis Belle, Meeting Venus and Copycat.

In Jim's book 'Dream Repairman' he cuts and splices together a rich life in the movie business - a great read and such a personal pleasure for me to have worked with on some of his greats.

"Jim Clark's book is witty, wise and wonderfully well written. Anybody remotely interested in the past fifty years of British cinema should lap it up." David Puttnam.

Jim Clark

"Jim Clark is a master at his craft and 'repaired' my film as a director in ways that were beyond my knowledge or comprehension. Read 'Dream Repair Man' and you'll understand what I mean. I will be grateful to him for life." Gene Wilder.

Click here to visit the official site


text:
Nobody Knows You’re a Drone

image by Imp Kerr

What a computer is to me is it’s the most remarkable tool that we’ve ever come up with, and it’s the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds.
— Steve Jobs

Forty years ago, in a hundred garages through-out the Silicon Valley, across the country and around the world, hobbyists pushed forward the state of the art of a technology developed by mega-contractors at great military expense. Steve Jobs’s techno-Utopianism evinced in the quote above is both clear and typical of the era. A million geeks worked with visions of beating high-tech swords into ploughshares, creating tools that would make life better and bring the world together. More subversively, computers and networks would restructure society, for the first time ever, in a truly meritocratic way. Decades before anyone had heard the phrase, “on the Internet nobody knows you’re a dog,” the so-called hacker ethic, described in Steven Levy’s Hackers, dictated that criteria like age, degrees, race, position, or gender were irrelevant.

Such a benevolent role for computers represented a dramatic shift from the way they had been perceived previously. Just a few years before Jobs began tinkering with them, computers were seen as cold, calculating, a symbol so “odious” that the leaders of the Free Speech Movement on the steps of the university across the Bay encouraged students to throw their “bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus.” Students wore signs on their chest that co-opted the language of the punch cards so deeply intertwined with computers of the day: “Don’t bend, fold, spindle, or mutilate.”

Forty years later, we’ve seen a new wave of military technology take flight in the form of aerial vehicles — drones. Their rise has been anything but benevolent, turning into the military’s most relied upon and most lethal weapon. But in small circles of technology enthusiasts, these machines have captured the imagination in a way that’s reminiscent of the personal computer revolution, a fascination that doesn’t stem from their role as a weapons delivery system. As terrifying as the implications of armed and unmanned patrols overhead may be, remote destruction isn’t what holds the imagination.

Drones have not only destroyed thousands of lives, but delivered back real-time images of the destruction. As a domestic tool, drones aren’t the next development of projectiles or even aircraft, they are the latest stage in surveillance gathering and analysis, outfitted with a vehicle and sometimes a weapon. Understanding drones in this way welcomes another separation between the oncoming drone revolution and that of personal computers: If the PC is a bicycle for our minds, as Jobs said, what are unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), when liberated from the military and operated by the general public? Instead of increasing our understanding, they extend our senses. They extend our vision, giving us “eyes in the sky,” overhead or across the globe. Drones exist in a curiously intimate spot, that thin membrane between ourselves and the world, expanding and filtering what we may take in. More even than “thinking” technologies, “seeing” technologies become a part of us.

Aerial surveillance is far from the first technology to change the way we see. Eyeglasses made our surroundings clearer, telescopes shortened distances, microscopes showed us life and movement where before there was none, and high-speed cameras separated motion into a series of static positions. There’s nothing inherently insidious about literally broadening our perspectives. And with hobbyist communities like DIYDrones playing the role of the Homebrew Computer Club, it’s hard not to be gripped with a combination of excitement and anxiety. On the individual level, the introduction of increasingly powerful systems with which we can see the world can be empowering. Widespread recording and communication technologies have given benefits unevenly, but have at least occasionally granted a voice to group members who may have otherwise been disenfranchised. Drones make the same promise: if brave activists like Manal al-Sharif, whose driving videos sparked protests by other women drivers in Saudi Arabia, can draw attention to inequality with the technology of today, what might women’s rights activists be able to communicate once a new powerful technology becomes a part of the way they see the world?

But whether drones end up being a net positive for liberty and equality depends on how we allow the technology to develop and advance. Institutionally, drones are already allowing for surveillance so unprecedented in its thoroughness that it seems all but certain to permanently entrench the power imbalances that exists today. Gender proves to be an important filter through which consider these issues, and a ready framework for looking at power gaps: will drones provide a perpetual and unavoidable “male gaze,” as Madeline Ashby and others have warned? Or will they deliver through technology the “post-gender world” Donna Haraway describes in her “Cyborg Manifesto”?

In order to weigh these two possible futures, it’s important to first consider the scope of the surveillance at hand and the trajectory of technological development. And to get a feel for the ambition of the military programs, it suffices to review the plans they have for the straightforwardly named “Gorgon Stare.”

The Gorgon is a traditionally female sort of Greek mythical monster. Its names stems from the Greek word gorgós, meaning “terrible” or “dreadful,” and it is typically portrayed as having a variety of animal features, from wings to tusks, and most often snake-like qualities. In The Iliad, Gorgons are described as such: “and therein was set as a crown the Gorgon, grim of aspect, glaring terribly, and about her were Terror and Rout.” Often, statues of Gorgons were placed on the top of buildings; builders believed their unnerving gaze would protect the buildings from intruders. It was that unflinching gaze that made her legendary: The most famous Gorgon, Medusa, was actually one of a very few who were considered mortal. She, of course, was known for turning anyone who locked eyes with her to stone.

For those concerned about the perpetuation of the male gaze through aerial surveillance, and given the widespread gender gap in the  cybersecurity field, the choice of name is especially ironic. But the Army’s version is much scarier than Medusa and her less famous sisters. There is no avoiding eye contact with these drones. The flying machine holds dozens of cameras that can cover 40 square kilometers, leaving no area untouched. As the Washington Post describes, “It can send up to 65 different images to different users; by contrast, Air Force drones today shoot video from a single camera over a ‘soda straw’ area the size of a building or two.”

“Gorgon Stare will be looking at a whole city, so there will be no way for the adversary to know what we’re looking at,” bragged the Air Force’s assistant deputy chief of staff for intelligence. “We can see everything.” And not just see everything. To the extent that it’s about  seeing, Gorgon Stare is an intelligence program. But they are also watching everything. And when it’s about watching, it’s a way of establishing or reinforcing a power inequality.

To offset this sort of military power requires a radical decentralization and democratization ofthe technology. Where the popularity and capability of the personal computer increased as processor prices fell, the rise of personal drones will follow the drop of sensor prices that has already begun. Projects like the Occucopter, conceived by an Occupy protester to document police abuse, show promise as a means of putting drone power in the hands of nonstate people. These examples will only grow more common as open-source toolkits like the Droneserver project for online journalism comes to fruition and groups like the University of Nebraska’s Drone Journalism Lab continue to explore the realm of possibilities.

The military may be spending tens of billions of dollars on their drone programs, but the Internet revolution has shown other factors can end up neutralizing that sort of imbalance; for better or for worse, in recent wide-eyed Congressional cybersecurity hearings, individuals with cheap laptops were described as a great threat to billion-dollar infrastructure.

University projects like the popular “swarming nano quadrotors” out of Pennsylvania, or hobby-level spy or projects like the F-BOMB give a hint of the future. Programs like Gorgon Stare may remain in the hands of state-level actors, but widespread technologically-enabled  surveillance can undermine their impact and recalibrate power relationships. Moreover, broad individual technological empowerment can serve as a sort of progressive tax on the traditionally powerful, leveling off dynamics that would be otherwise perpetually skewed.

The impact of that strategy is moot, though, if the technology isn’t used for individual and community empowerment. Other technologies have left promises unfulfilled. Strong encryption and decentralized communications channels may have allowed individuals to avoid surveillance, for example, but they failed to generate the same followings as less secure and more centralized channels.

It’s a mistake, then, to approach the drone revolution with the same starry-eyed optimism or techno-Utopianism as the leaders of the PC revolution. There is no question that this new technology poses a real threat to our liberties, but we must accept that it will continue advancing. It’s also a mistake to cynically assume that the situation will worsen. Drones will come to dominate the sky in the near future, that much we know. But whose drones they will be, and whether they’re advancing the public interest, is still an unanswered question.

Hackers Gonna Hack

Inside the Department of Defense bug bounty program: An interview with Katie Moussouris, Chief Policy Officer for HackerOne and organizer of Hack the Pentagon, the first federal bug bounty.


text:
I mentioned last Saturday how the b-side of the single by Zones reminded me so much of the late 70s era three-bar blues style of Status Quo who remained one of the most popular and biggest selling bands in the UK even as punk, new wave and electronica gained footings in the music world. I was of an age that only knew that particular version of the Quo and wasn’t aware till many years later, when I saw footage from a 1968 Top of the Pops show that was part of a music series the BBC were broadcasting that I learned the band had started out making what is has been described as psychedelic pop.

Pictures of Matchstick Men was their first Top 10 hit single and was a song heavily influenced by the popular sounds of its time such as later-era Beatles and Beach Boys and contemporary bands such as Pink Floyd. I’m not a huge lover of the psychedelic pop genre – this might come down to a lack of exposure to it from my mum and dad (see last Monday’s posting!!) although there one or two songs I can listen to now and again such as Itchykoo Park by Small Faces and Happy Together by The Turtles.

The Quo 45 was the subject of a cover version in 1989 by Camper Van Beethoven who, just four years earlier, had been responsible for one of the finest, most enduring and most fun singles of the mid 80s:-

mp3 : Camper Van Beethoven – Take The Skinheads Bowling

I’d never heard the cover version before I picked up a second-hand copy the other week and I was hoping for a quirky take on it given that this was the period when the band had a violinist in their line-up.

mp3 : Camper Van Beethoven – Pictures of Matchstick Men

I think it’s fair to say it was a major disappointment. This bore no resemblance to the sorts of music the band had been making just four years previously. It is depressingly bland and lacking any sort of rhythm or soul but when I looked up details on wiki I learned that it was their biggest selling single which I found rather depressing reading.

The b-side isn’t any better as they put to music the tale of the man who shot the man who assassinated the President:-

mp3 : Camper Van Beethoven – Jack Ruby

It’s always disappointing when a band, in an effort to record and release music with a broader appeal than their earlier material, lose the very bit of magic that made them stand out in the first place.

File under…played once and put away in the back of the cupboard.

Released here in the UK on Rough Trade Records in 1986, I was very surprised to learn that it was only ever an album track in their native USofA:-

mp3 : Camper Van Beethoven – Take The Skinheads Bowling

This is an utterly joyous two and a bit minutes, and it’s opening few bars are guaranteed to cheer me up and make me smile no matter how foul a mood I’m in. One of the greatest and catchiest sing-a-long songs of all time, and yet its success caught the composer, David Lowery, by surprise:-

“I never thought that Take the Skinheads Bowling would become a Hit. If someone had traveled from the future and told me we would have a hit on our first album I would not have picked this song as being the hit. Not in a million years. I would have more likely picked Where the Hell is Bill.

Why? We regarded Take The Skinheads Bowling as just a weird non-sensical song. The lyrics were purposely structured so that it would be devoid of meaning. Each subsequent line would undermine any sort of meaning established by the last line. It was the early 80′s and all our peers were writing songs that were full of meaning. It was our way of rebelling. BTW this is the most important fact about this song. We wanted the words to lack any coherent meaning. There is no story or deeper insight that I can give you about this song.”

Here’s the other bits of music  made available on the 12″ single:-

mp3 : Camper Van Beethoven – Cowboys From Hollywood
mp3 : Camper Van Beethoven – Aktuda
mp3 : Camper Van Beethoven – Colonel Enrique Adolfo Bermudez

In case you are wondering who the subject matter of the last song is, (he is described on the back on the sleeve as ‘a real bastard’)…..he was one of the founders of the armed contra army which was formed to oppose  the Sandinista government of Nicaragua and which had very controversial links with American military intelligence throuighout the 80s.

Click here for a brief bio.


text:
Christine Ford

So, if we are bits of dust,
flecked from explosions
in a sky fitted with starlight
and supernovas, is waking up
a call to leave what we know,
to a Black Hole that is birth,
not death, as we think of it?

Six swans rode through my sky this morning;
afternoon stole my head to beating waves.   Geese leave noisily
as I empty tumble drier.   The garden hangs in mist.

Needle and thread on desk points out
black holes and how they need sewn up to stop us,
my Mum and Dad, and the sisters,
from being thrown out, broken up.
But falling stars and meteorites
feel cold and hot on my thoughts:
Hooker’s fairy bells
group in garden growing.

The Just Joey rose for Dad,
yellow poppies for Mum,
sit in black hole of death or birth.

Copyright © Christine Ford 2016

About sunnydunny

Poet, publisher, gardener
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text:
There came some pirates from space…

A Cleffa, A Beldum, a Rock-ette

A dozen lil robots in sockets

The traveled very far

From a moon, to a star

And all with no cash in their pockets

These travelers made use of a star map

Its coordinates all made up by Snorlax

It did not explain

That one should refrain

From sailing too close to the tar trap

The pirates of tar trap are well known

They collect all the treasure in their zone

They always are happy

Their comebacks are snappy

Never afraid cept of one of their own

The Captain of Tar Traps called Jack

She’s a Golduck who’s graces might lack

But you never expect

Often forced to reflect

After she makes you a fool with Attract

The Cleffa, Mr. Beldum, MISS Rock-ette

They whirl round the sun in an orb-ette

They watch not their scanners

Their ship filled with yammers

The lil bots be askn’ if they there yet?

Aboard Jack’s main cruiser they soon spot

The pink thrust and the ships lil’ robots

They plan an attack

Then are taken aback

When the Cap tells um fight they will not

The ship filled with Psyducks all wonder

What had stolen their prized cap’ns thunder

What could possibly cause

The Captain to pause

And to make such a terr-ible blunder

Nettle’s crew continued their strollin’

Through stargates and black holes they rollin’

The Beldum unknowing

He’d caused this on-going

Cause a pirate Capn’s heart he’d stolen

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text:
the pieces i keep

My Bars

My bars are so tight around my neck. Bars are supposed to stay at a distance, straight and true, to keep you locked inside; they are not supposed to creep toward you, to grasp your neck and choke the life out of you. But my bars, they choke and they close tighter and tighter. Sealing off the air, sealing off the vital life-giving supplements.

I try to fight them, I try to relieve myself, but I cannot. I grasp through the bars, hands catching only air. There is no one to hold the bars back, no one to relieve the pressure.

They tell me only I can fight the bars. Only I can relieve my suffocation. But I’ve spent all of my time trying to relieve theirs. So what am I left with? I am exhausted from the everyone else’s fight and have left nothing for myself. And so they close-my bars-tighter and tighter. Bruising my neck and cutting off my air.

Fight them like this, yells someone who has never fought my bars. But I am unconvinced that they know the secret to my bars, and so I do not fight like that. You have to do it like this, says someone else who has no idea of my bars. But again, I know that they cannot understand my bars, and so again I refuse. And in the end amongst the confusion, I do not fight.

I let the bars choke and hold until I have no air left. But perhaps the dark unknowing will be a relief to these bars.

My Mother, My Struggle

I cut my mother off today. It doesn’t feel nice, though it is relieving. It’s like putting alcohol on a cut; it hurts and it stings, but you do it because it cleanses the wound. Of course, it isn’t entirely acceptable to refer to your mother as a wound. By rule, it makes me a bad kid. But quite frankly I’ve run out of things to call her that don’t, by rule, make me a bad kid.

My mother. In my earliest memories, she was shimmery. Like an angel. I wanted her golden hair and blue eyes so badly. To me, those two things were all that a person absolutely had to have to be beautiful. She thought so too; she was very disappointed in my green eyes. I don’t think there is anything I wouldn’t have done in my early years to make her happy. I let her dress me up, paint my face, curl my hair, and parade me around on any stage she could get me on. I grew up thinking that’s what I wanted. To be the center of attention, to be talented, to be adored. I rarely won the pageants, and eventually she gave up on them. And me.

She gave up on other things too. My dad was sick and couldn’t take care of her, so she left him. She couldn’t seem to keep a job, so she gave up on that, and we moved to my grandpa’s farm. We didn’t have a home, we lived in his camping trailer. It wasn’t much, but we were close–my mother, my brother, and I. She played “Angels Among Us” by the old, county band Alabama every night before we went to sleep. That moment in my memory feels warmer than any other I have of her.

Time moved on, and Grandpa bought us our own mobile home and moved it to his farm. With more space, we moved farther apart. I missed the camper. I still miss the camper. She went on dates, got remarried, got divorced, went on more dates. I wanted desperately to be the center of her attention again. I taught myself to sing. She said I couldn’t do it, that I was terrible, but I proved her wrong. And it worked! Suddenly, I was the star again, I was worthwhile. I was perfect. I studied hard, I got great grades, I was moved into the “Gifted Program,” I made the top choir, I got solos, I got parts in plays, I was exciting to her again. For a moment.

Another man broke her heart, but this time, the blame was mine. He lived in Kansas City, and we lived two hours from there. She wanted to move, but I wanted to stay. My father was here, my friends were here, and I felt important here. I couldn’t leave. When he left her, he told her it was because he couldn’t break up the family. So it was my fault. She let me know. Often.

For as long as I could remember, she had struggled with depression. I would spend hours in her room trying to cheer her up; eventually, I always succeeded. It didn’t matter how long I had to sit there, I never left until I had made her feel better. One particular day, her birthday, my brother and I made her breakfast in bed, we had a great day planned. But she didn’t want it, she wanted to sit in her room and be sad. I couldn’t cheer her up, and I was furious. We had a great day planned for her, and she just wanted to be sad over Mr. Kansas City. And it was my fault.

I left. I got my brother into my car, and we left. We left her there. She called me about an hour later. She told me that she had taken every pill in the house, and that it was my fault. She would die, and it was my fault. I called the ambulance, they pumped her stomach, and they saved her. But it was my fault. We never talked about it, and I never told anyone. I was too ashamed. All I had to do was to stay there and cheer her up, and I had left.

It’s been well over a decade since that day. I’ve given up trying to impress her or to be enough for her. No matter how much you give, no matter how much you love, it isn’t enough. It’s never enough. I’ve given up singing and trying to be the center of attention. I’m not really sure if it’s something I ever wanted, or if I just did it for her. I can’t tell anymore.

We got into a fight recently, because I didn’t give her everything she wanted, because I didn’t do enough. Just like that day, her birthday years before, I was furious. I finally told her how that day had made me feel, how it had eaten away at my soul and emptied it out. I wanted an apology, I wanted understanding, I wanted forgiveness. I got none of it. I got, “You left me.”

Yesterday, she tried to sell me a ring left over from one of her failed relationships. She still hasn’t learned to keep a job, she’s running out of people willing to help her, and she is in desperate need of money. The thing is, I don’t want the damn ring. I don’t want it. And I’ve utterly exhausted every single shit I’ve ever given. I think she finally broke something in me the other day when she denied me my apology, my understanding, my forgiveness. I think she finally broke a link in the chain that has tied me to her for thirty years.

I had never considered cutting her off before, but I have never felt nothing for her before. After all this time, and all of the pain and energy spent trying to make everything alright for her, I just can’t feel her anymore. I don’t feel a warmth in my heart where a mother should be, I feel a cold and gaping hole. Quite frankly, the cold is strangely comforting after the thirty years of throbbing pain. At least a hole–even a gaping, frigid one–can be filled back up again. But pain? Pain just permeates until it eats you alive.

My Father, My Fighter

When I was five years old, my family was pretty much on top of their game. My dad owned his own radio station, which had been a dream of his for quite some time. And it was doing really well. I still have memories of the county fair, and all the cool people that my dad brought in to do concerts. We lived in a little, tiny town but he still managed to book everyone from Garth Brooks to Meat Loaf. We were living in a beautiful Victorian home, something my mother had longed for. She loved that home and decorated it to excess every Christmas; we were even on the town’s Christmas tour. And to add a cherry to the top, Mom was pregnant with my little brother. We were middle-class Americans on top of the world, living the American dream.

Sometimes I think about what my life might have been like had it not changed so drastically, if I could have just lived out that life. But fate was getting ready to deal us a blow. My father got sick. He started having terrible migraines, numbness in his fingers, and he was having trouble controlling his right foot when he walked. He started getting tests done. But no one could tell us what was happening.

I don’t have a lot of memories from that period, but I remember a dark feeling prevailing in the house. Foreboding, I suppose. Even at five, I knew something was wrong with my beloved father. He who had taught me to swim, he who was teaching me to ride my bike, he who caught me every time I dove off of the couch giggling and flailing. Something was wrong with him. I could feel it in my gut.

Finally, after numerous trips to various doctors and many more tests, we were told that he had a disease–Multiple Sclerosis. Those words were too big for the mouth of a five-year old. I didn’t understand. Nor did I understand what it meant for my father or my family. My parents tried to keep the station going, but my father’s quickly-deteriorating and incurable condition made it impossible for him to keep up with his previous workload. Plus, he had a bigger problem. Multiple Sclerosis was raiding his body, but the piles of medical bills proved to be the undoing of our entire family. He had to sell his station. We had to sell our house. We moved away from our little town and our American dream.

We tried to start a new life in a different part of the state. By that time, Dad was on disability and couldn’t work. That left my mother to take care of our entire family on little education or formal skills. We bought another home. A trailer. Even that we ended up losing to our debts. We bounced around from town to town for a while, renting whatever we could afford.

I have more memories of this part of my life. Vivid. My father had changed. Not just his physical abilities but his entire demeanor. He was angry and prone to bouts of erratic temper. He was never violent toward any of us, but all the same I was terrified of him. We all were. Eventually, I think the strain of everything got to my mother. She demanded a divorce. My father moved in with his widowed mother. My mother, my brother, and I started sleeping in my grandfather’s travel trailer. It was the kind you could hitch up to the back of a truck; we had no running water, no power, and nowhere to call home.

It had all fallen apart so quickly. I turned ten the summer we lived in that tiny travel trailer. My father was only thirty-five years old. In five years, the hopes and dreams of my parents had been dashed to pieces and left so little in their wake.

I’ve been through a lot of different phases of my life since then. I’ve gone from terrified of my father, to proud and respectful of the man he has become despite everything. His temper has improved, he’s done a lot of work over the years to help others dealing with the same disease, and he has become a truly kind, gentle soul. Everyone in our small town knows and loves him. Dearly. Seeing his struggle has made me stronger and wiser than I probably would have been otherwise.

But I can’t help but wonder if our story should have played out differently. I can’t help but be sad that my brother never got to see the man that I got a glimpse of. No father, son camping trips to the woods or swimming lessons. I can’t help but be furious that I live in a country that has let this happen to families over and over again. I can’t help but struggle to understand why so many are calling for more funding cuts to programs that help people like my father. He has so little left as it is. So little dignity.

A few years ago, when I was home visiting from college, he pulled out a stack of papers. He calmly informed me that he had taken out a life insurance policy on himself. He apologized for not being able to provide my brother and I with the kind of life that he had set out to. He was sorry that we had been forced to make due with so little. There was so much pain in his eyes. So much remorse. I saw him as the man who prevailed in living a positive life, even in a wheel chair. He saw himself as a failure.

This story doesn’t have an actual ending yet. He is, thankfully, still with us. Sitting in his chair. Watching television. Everyday. But, I believe, that this story does have a moral. None of that “try hard and you will prevail” bullshit. He didn’t prevail; he survived. We subsisted. The moral is that we live in a country that doesn’t seem to give a damn about people like my father. Look it up, there are hundreds of stories like this one. Families ruined because someone got sick, and they couldn’t afford the healthcare. The drug industry, the insurers, the health care system, even supposed research-based non-profits are making billions off of the failing health of Americans. I need something to change. Families all over America need something to change. Now. Before another father looks to his death with open arms, hoping to finally provide his family with all of the things he couldn’t in life.

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text:
Details for this torrent

Foo Fighters - Wasting Light (New Album)
Audio > Music
109.51 MiB (114833857 Bytes)
foo fighters wasting light white limo rope burning light
2011-04-02 00:06:36 GMT

Info Hash:

(Problems with magnets links are fixed by upgrading your torrent client!)
New Foo Fighters album.  Full album was leaked by official Foo Fighters page on face book.  Simply recorded and uploaded.  recorded with 320kbps.

Transcode... Eww...

The songs on Facebook/Their website is 128kbps.
The band have leaked the whole album on the official site in high quality, why bother with this shite quality stream rip.

What is the quality like of this compared with the other one that is up on TPB?
Valeu, rapá!
The quality should be the same... it's the 128kbps version... just re-encoded to 320kbps
The copy of tje album i uploaded is better quality and is only half the size of this. It has also been up longer
Guys, Sorry for trying to be helpful. I don't know much about bit rates (in fact nothing at all). I seen that the album was on their site/facebook so hit google looking for the first program to record streaming music. Then I recorded it in the highest bit rate as I know some people prefer the better quality. I didn't know it as streamed over a lower bit rate. freeagent - My copy is from the exact same source as yours so it will be the exact same. Just larger due to my lack of knowledge.

It fits on a CD ok and sounds fine in my car. But its a stand in until the 11th April for when my copy comes in the post.

If anyone else has a proble, simply don't download and wait until the Album comes on out on the 11th (12th in the states) and buy your own perfect copy. Or stream it online which will be fine for you if you don't want to listen to it out the house.

Thanks to everyone else who have shown there appreciation. My first torrent and never thought I would end up with over 1k seeds overnight. I'll keep seeding until the full album comes out. By that time someone else will probably have a better copy up anyway :-) Thanks.
tnks =) i know the songs are also on their facebook but.. you can't download those.. so..
Thanks dude, don't listen to the morons who are bitching, you did a great job and gave us the best quality possible! :)
Actually, it seems kind of stupid to manage a stream recording if you don't know what you're doing... I mean, Freeagent obviously has 128 kbps on his upload for a reason.

It's far to common on sites such as this one that people just grab the release with the highest bit rate just because it looks better. But what you're getting here is about twice the size with absolutley no better quality.

It's quite obvious that people are grabbing this one instead of Freeagent's just because it's newer and has a bigger size. The least you could do is to tell people that 50% of the data downloaded is just empty space.
Sebbepojken, read my comment its all there. unfortunately I can't edit the description as the site won't allow it (not sure why) and I never said it was 320kbps, just that I recorded it with 320kbps, doesn't mean it is 320kbps. And no its not stupid. When I first went to put torrent on the site there was no other. So at the time I was simply putting the torrent online for others to enjoy if they want to listen to it away from streaming. because I had already done the work for my own personal use I seen no reason why not to upload for others to enjoy. Ok the other user done it faster than me but thats the joys of the internet.

People aren't sheep, if they don't want to download then thats fine. And again, if you aren't happy with the download then fine, go download another copy or wait for the release and buy it, just like I will be doing in just over a week, but this will let me get by for now.
Thank you and david grow
Cheers for the upload.
BTW who's Dave Grow?
Agreed that if ppl don't like the upload... THEN DON'T DOWNLOAD!
Well, without criticism (both positive and negative) on torrents, you won't get any improvements over time, since people settle with whatever gets uploaded. But I guess that's the 'beauty' of open sites like this one, that people just don't care about the quality and are happy to download twice as much as they need to.

And oh, I haven't downloaded any of these torrents, I just recorded the whole thing by myself. So there's no need to give me all your "If your're gonna have an opinion about the torrent, then don't touch it!"
Then don't comment on something you haven't tried yourself.

I think Dave Grow should be Dave Grohl.
Can now buy from iTunes and stream over Spotify so I'm going to stop uploading. Will keep torrent alive but I'll delete once it starts to die out. If by any chance anyone gets stuck and really wants me to go back online with the torrent drop me a comment and I will start seeding again. See no point now though as it can be bought.

Thanks to everyone and lets hope theres another album in another few years.
Sebbepojken I have 20GB on my mp3 player and 1 TB on my hard drive so I DON'T FUCKING CARE if the songs take up 100MB space when they should take 50MB. If you are so smart you can upload what you recorded yourself, until then I am grateful to anyone who has uploaded the album in a decent quality.

foofsfan1 thanks again man. :)
thanks for the upload, and crap on all the lousy whiners out there.

i just read a nice article about the new album and wanted a fast download. thats what i got here so thanks.

to all the whiners:
make a torrent with better quality and we will be thankful. until that moment: shut your traps and sit back in the corner
Fuck you foosfan1 and countorlockiii
Fucking Trolls! Cheers man for the upload!
thank you thank you thank you thank you foosfan1!! YIPPEEE! See you on April 11th :)))
I thought the quality was pretty good and this was the FIRST copy on PB. Thanks foosfan1! Well done.
foos rock, gonna buy the cd to support the boys but thanks for the up
if you guys who are saying Dave Grow truly love foo fighters... you'd know that it's actually Dave Grohl. otherwise... this is an amazing day for me.
To all of you people that whine on people that come with criticism:

You are just so funny! :D It's as simple as this: There is enough to have ONE (1) torrent with streamed contents like this. If the streamed content is in 128kbps, then that's the max quality you're getting. There is no use to upload any other torrent than this single one, if they all have the same source.

So you're all just talking BS when you tell me to upload my version myself. Because my original point was that there is enough to have a single torrent and also not to fool people that this one has a better quality with its wasteful extra bitrate.

I'm trying to help people that put out good torrents as fast as possible. This is just a dupe that earns downloads by fooling people about the quality.
So everyone knows.

When I posted this it was the first copy online that had all the songs and all the songs in order. I thought I was doing everyone a favor by uploading the highest quality I could. I am a noob to stuff like this so I didn't know that when the program I used to record said it was recording in 320 that the original source was not 320. And I have never said it is 320kbps. Just that it was recorded with 320kps. sebb, you clearly cannot read so there is no point in moaning. And it was the only copy available with all the songs and also in the correct order with no sound drops or issues with any of the songs for at least 3 weeks AFTER the album came out. So almost 4 weeks in total as this was uploaded almost a week before the album came out. I paid for the album when it came out though and I think anyone who does like them should also buy it therefore if you have a problem with this torrent. Fine. If you enjoy the music that is offered then it shouldn't matter as you should be supporting the artist so we can get another album.
why sit here and whine about it, he said the bit rate is the best it is, let it go and just download and enjoy or dont download it no one really cares, GREAT job foosfan1 keep up the good work looking for them before they are released, sound good to me, im half deaf anyways so anything sounds great :D