Home secretary to initiate ban on drug as experts say 'legal high' is really an amphetamine

Chief constables are to target dealers and not young users when a ban on the legal high mephedrone, comes into effect within the next few weeks.

The home secretary, Alan Johnson, hopes the statutory instrument he is to introduce in parliament tomorrow scheduling mephedrone as a class B drug will win sufficient cross-party backing to reach the statute book before the general election campaign officially gets under way.

"The government is determined to crack down on these so-called legal highs and we must all play a part in ensuring children and young people know about their dangers," he said.

Johnson also announced an immediate ban on the import of mephedrone – known as miaow or M-cat – after the government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) disclosed official concern that the imitation amphetamine may be linked to as many as 25 deaths in England and Scotland.

Tim Hollis, who speaks for the Association of Chief Police Officers on drugs, said: "Our enforcement will initially concentrate on those people who sell and traffic this harmful drug rather than on the young people who we may find in possession of it. It is not our intention to criminalise young people.

He added: "Its new classification will, I am sure, provide a degree of reassurance that something is being done about it. It does not, however, solve what has become an increasingly complex issue, and making something illegal does not stop it being sold, bought or consumed."

The decision to ban mephedrone and similar substances in the cathinone group follows a report from the ACMD that the drug is really an amphetamine.

Drug experts say mephedrone has been one of the fastest-growing drugs in Britain. It was developed by chemists in the Far East from the active ingredient in khat, a plant found in north Africa. It is widely sold on the internet and in "headshops", often as plant food.

ACMD's chairman, Professor Les Iversen, said reports from the National Programme of Substance Abuse Deaths indicated mephedrone was possibly implicated in 18 deaths in England and a further seven in Scotland.

He did say this fatal link had not yet been confirmed and postmortem and inquest verdicts were awaited. In one case in Scotland it had been confirmed that death had followed a mixture of mephedrone and methadone, the heroin substitute.

Iversen said: "A ban may not impact on all users or dealers but one of the alarming features of mephedrone is that it is being taken by young people who have never taken illicit drugs in their life.

"They are taking it because it is legal and they think it is safe. We can convey two messages to the community: it is not safe and it is not legal."

The ACMD chair said the most serious potential harms from mephedrone were a "mirror image" of those caused by "crystal meth" or methamphetamines.

They include a strong desire to redose, in order to recapture the initial rush; potentially dangerous changes in body temperature, including overheating; a heart rate of more than 100 beats a minute; constriction of blood vessels, making fingers turn blue; and hallucinations and psychosis at high dosages.

Iversen acknowledged that clinical research or hard information on the harmful effects of mephedrone was limited but said the ban last year on spice, another previously legal high that imitates the effects of cannabis, provided a precedent.

He said: "We know a little about mephedrone but we know a lot about amphetamines. Cathinones [of which mephedrone is the most popular] are simply amphetamines by another name."

Senior police officers had warned that users were stockpiling the drug and buying it in bulk in anticipation of a ban.

The decision to ban mephedrone was taken despite the resignation of the only veterinary consultant on the ACMD, Dr Polly Taylor, on Sunday, leaving the council inquorate.

Home Office lawyers are confident this legal issue can be resolved.

The government promises to close a legal loophole that means it is still legal for private tutors and teachers in Sunday schools and madrasas to smack pupils

The government today promised to make it illegal for private tutors and teachers in Sunday schools and madrasas to smack pupils after it was claimed that some were enacting biblical scenes of child punishment.

A legal loophole has meant that while teachers have been banned from administering corporal punishment in state schools since 1987, and in private schools since 1993, teachers in religious schools have been free to do so.

The law has permitted smacking in educational establishments that teach children for less than 12.5 hours a week. Teachers in these settings have the same status as someone who is standing in for a parent and can plead the defence of "reasonable punishment".

The government's chief adviser on children's safety, Sir Roger Singleton, said that while collecting views on whether the law should be changed for a report published today for Ed Balls, the children's secretary, he heard claims that pastors in some churches advocated carrying out biblical references to child punishment, while extreme forms of punishment take place in madrasas.

In his report, Physical punishment: improving consistency and protection, Singleton writes: "I was told of pastors who advocated the literal interpretation of biblical references to chastising children and at times this led to physical punishments.

"The Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board and the Muslim Parliament strongly support the prohibition of physical punishment in madrasas. I was told of other physical punishments such as the "hen" position where fingers are laced with a pencil and squeezed."

Singleton recommended that the law be changed so that children are not allowed to be smacked by anyone outside their family.

Balls said this was "a sensible and proportionate approach" and that he would change legislation "at the earliest opportunity".

He said the government would stop short of making smacking illegal for parents, but that parents who disapproved of smacking "should make this clear to others who care for their children". Balls said he would promote positive parenting techniques to give parents "better alternatives to smacking".

He added: "The government does not condone smacking, nor do we want to criminalise parents who choose to discipline their children with a mild smack. We know that the majority of parents agree with this view."

Ann Cryer, Labour MP for Keighley, has raised concerns about physical punishment in madrasas and Sunday schools in the Commons.

This is my first official Pose Fair 2010 post. Yeah! The fair will be open in a few days. People are still moving in, but already there is a lot to see — some extremely clever new props with poses and a surprise or too. I chose this vintage pose from Long Awkward Pose [LAP] as my lead this evening for two reasons. I wanted to show you the great back detail of the new Blue Blood set I featured earlier today? Yes, that was one. But more importantly, because it is distinctive.

We forget sometimes how truly boring our blog posts would be without the talents of our pose makers. Old timers and new comers, they give us the tools to make our features shine. There are over fifty official Pose Fair 2010 bloggers and of course many more that are not “official”, so you will be seeing a lot of poses featured on the feeds this next week or so. That’s a good thing. It is a time to reflect on all content creators — including those that twist and turn our avatars into emotion filled stances.

Poise is releasing TEN new couples poses at the Fair with 25% of all proceeds will be donated to Motivation.org.uk.There is also a giant teddy bear and a couple’s balloon seat; both being donation items. This top pose ball set is called Forever Yours and is an excellent pose for a couple’s portrait.

This ground pose is named Embrace. Definitely romantic!  You can find the Poise booth HERE at the fair. Don’t overlook the  box containing 8 modeling poses (4 Male and 4 Female) exclusive to the Pose Fair. Oh I forgot — 8 FREE modeling poses .

Behavior Body is releasing three new AOs. The Classic style AO will be the donation item at the Fair. Since this release has already be featured on several other blogs, I am going to point you to Nadja’s blog as she did a super job explaining the details. From my information notecard and other websites, it appears that these are already available at the main shop and will also be at the fair. Chic crossing fingers that this is correct intel.

The fair will most likely be laggy with a capital “L”. While efforts are being made to keep scripts at a minimum, all those [...]

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Part ISo what are these previously unreleased outtakes? Mick Jagger says he defined the "Exile-era" as from when the first song that ended up on Exile was recorded -- Loving Cup, in 1969 -- to the final recording and mixing sessions in Los Angeles in March 1972.

Here is the latest (and presumably final) list of the bonus tracks and some notes:

01 Loving Cup [alternate take] (5:25)
Three early versions circulate; aka Gimme A Drink or Gimme A Little Drink. The earliest version is from the Let It Bleed sessions (April-July 1969) and it has a much different piano intro. The Stones debuted the song at the Brian Jones memorial concert in Hyde Park, on July 5, 1969. Another version and the Exile version were recorded in December 1971 during the Exile overdubbing sessions, with a different vocal and longer playing time. The Exile version is 4:25. Maybe we are getting the December 1971 outtake.

02 Pass The Wine (4:54)
"Sophia Loren" was the working title when it was recorded at Villa Nellcôte. Nico Zentgraf describes it as a "long, slow rocker with piano and brass". New guitar has been added. It has been reported that Mick Taylor, who left the Stones 36 years ago, met with Jagger and adding "new guitar licks" to one of the songs. (Note: This is probably not the 1968 outtake Blood Red Wine, though that is also a slow song.)

03 I'm Not Signifying (4:54)
aka I'm Not Lyin'. An outtake circulates (4:00). Most likely recorded in Los Angeles, but there is a possibility it was recorded in France. All this talk of LA puts the lie to the wonderful myth of Exile being banged out in a drugged haze down in Keith's grungy, humid-as-a-swamp French basement. The evidence is scant, but it seems like parts of as few as 5-8 of Exile's 18 songs (and probably next to none of Jagger's vocals) were laid down in France. Exile is Exile no matter where it was recorded, but I really want to believe more of it was created in that basement.

04 Dancing In The Light (4:21)
Instrumental; first recorded during an early Sticky Fingers session (March-May 1970). A circulating version can be heard here, but that is only 2:48 and cuts off abruptly.

05 So Divine [aka Aladdin Story] (4:31)
aka Aladdin Stomp. Instrumental recorded at sessions for both Let It Bleed (February-March 1969) and Sticky Fingers (June-July 1970 and October 1970). The October 1970 version has saxophone. A circulating version clocking in at 5:30 is here. New guitar parts were added for this release.

06 Soul Survivor [alternate take] (3:58)
New to collectors! Early take with Keith singing different lyrics (guide vocal), most likely from Nellcôte. Exile version is 3:49.

07 Following the River (4:52)
New to collectors! Nothing with this title is on any recording sessions info. Originally an instrumental, Jagger wrote and sang new lyrics to it for this release. Why is this bad? There is a time gap of nearly 40 years, plus Jagger gave a reason back in 1995: "I never would write that song [Brown Sugar] now. I would probably censor myself. I'd think, Oh God, I can't. I've got to stop. I can't just write raw like that."
08 Plundered My Soul (3:59)
New to collectors! Nothing with this title is on any recording sessions info. Described as "soul/gospel-ish". It will be released on April 17 as an actual 7" single, with the remastered version of All Down The Line on the B-side (jeez, they couldn't even bother to throw on an ADTL outtake, of which there are several).

09 Good Time Women [alternate take] (3:21)
Very early version of Tumbling Dice, with completely different lyrics. It was recorded at two Sticky Fingers sessions (March-May 1970 and October 1970). This take is probably from the latter.

10 Title 5 (1:47)
No idea what this might be. Some early guesses were that it was "Exile On Main Street Blues", which Jagger recorded on piano at the very end of the Exile overdubbing sessions. He sang lyrics that referred to the songs on the upcoming album, and it was used as a radio promo. The full-length promo, with snips from the actual album, can be heard here.

It looks like five of the ten tracks could be brand new. Maybe more, if there are alternate takes of songs that have already been bootlegged before. The total running time of these 10 tracks? 48:02. ... CDs can hold 80 minutes of music. Why isn't there another 30 minutes of toons on this thing? [There is a similar problem with the DVD. More on this below.]

Alternate takes exist of Shake Your Hips, Sweet Virginia, and Stop Breaking Down. There is an early version of Shine A light and an instrumental version of Sweet Black Angel. Why not release those in superior sound quality? Or include several takes of one particular song, like All Down The Line, so we can listen to its development?

There are also other possible outtakes, such as Potted Shrimp (3:59), You're Goin' Down (2:53, and no Keith!), Hillside Blues (10:27; aka I Don't Know The Reason Why), and Travellin' Man (one of my faves, joined in progress and still a lengthy 5:59; video is not of the song but from May 1972 tour rehearsals). I also like Highway Child (5:00), but it's from 1968.
According to recent interviews with Jagger and Richards, and producer Don Was, there are hundreds of hours of stuff in the vaults that no one knows about. Was said he was mindful of fans who have oodles of bootlegs and wanted to make sure they got some surprises, too. But the four or five above seems like the bare minimum. What else could have been included?

Maybe the very first recording of Happy? Keith says it came out of an afternoon jam at Nellcôte: "I put down some guitar and vocal, Bobby [Keys] was on baritone sax and [producer] Jimmy [Miller] was on drums. We listened to it, and I said, I can put another guitar there and a bass. By the time the [rest of the] Stones arrived, we'd cut it."

Or maybe the full "Just Wanna See His Face"? As Keith told Roy Carr: "We just chopped the most interesting part out of it (2:52 on Exile) and threw away the rest." (I'm assuming Richards doesn't mean they literally destroyed the rest of the recording.)

One problem with outtakes that are jams or rough works-in-progress is that most listeners will not go back to them again and again, so I understand the idea of focusing on nearly-completed songs for the extra disc. But if the Stones had bothered to use all of the time available on the bonus CD, or even compiled two discs, they could have satisfied (reasonably so, anyway) every subset of fans.
The other problem with this package is its exorbitant price. Even for an obsessed fan, it's too much. Especially since this obsessed fan already has much of this material. Prices at online retailers vary, as do amounts in the US, UK, and Canada, but I'll use the amounts at Amazon in the US:

CD:                               $ 12.99
CD with outtakes:                 $ 23.69
Vinyl:                            $ 28.49
2 CDs, Vinyl, DVD, 50-page book): $119.99

I have two Exile CDs, one of which is the 1994 Virgin remaster. I don't care about the 2010 version, partly because it will likely be excessively compressed (see the Loudness War). I could download the outtakes, but I want to actually own them, so I'm in for the 2-CD set at the every least.

I have five vinyl copies of Exile, as well as some dandy first pressing vinyl rips (such as this Canadian pressing and an original UK LP). I don't need another vinyl version. Some descriptions of the box mention four postcards being included. The original LP came with 12 postcards.

Here's where it gets annoying: The DVD is only 50 minutes long: 30 minutes of a new hour-long documentary called Stones In Exile, plus 10 minutes snipped from each from Ladies & Gentlemen and Cocksucker Blues. (This says the entire DVD is only 30 minutes!)

I have several complete copies of both L&G; and CB; they are not hard to find for free online. There is word that L&G; will be officially released in November (now that is exciting news!). The full hour-long BBC special will be commercially available shortly after its airing (as well as, no doubt, on various torrent sites). The DVD is little more than a commercial for future items to spend your money on. It should have been considered a freebie in this package.

The only thing new for me in the Super Deluxe box is what sounds like a very beautiful hard-cover book of somewhere between 50-92 pages. Am I willing to pay an additional $96.30 to get the book -- and the pretty package everything comes in? I'd really like to own that book, but ...

Wait. I don't live in the US. According to current prices at Amazon Canada, I'd have to pay $152 for the book. ($196.99 vs $34.99). ... Can I get a hearty "Fuck You" from the congregation?

If it was this book, I'd do it. That baby is 248 pages, with 280 photos by Dominique Tarlé, who spent the summer of 1971 at Villa Nellcôte, and 90,000 words by various contributors, including Keith. Only 2,000 copies were printed; one sold for about $1,600 on eBay last month. The Stones finally dip into their vaults and they decided to do it for a special edition of my favourite rock album. It's beyond-fantastic news, but they are doing such a half-ass job. And what's worse, I cannot figure out why they are doing a half-assed job. The Stones have plenty of material to choose from and there are numerous examples of how creative a band can be with these types of releases. And it's a simple fact that in 2010, bands have to do a little extra to get fans to shell out for reissued albums and not grab what they want from the net. The Stones have not done that with this Exile set.

I want to buy the whole shebang, but they have released what amounts to a so-so collection (to me, at least) at too high a price. And that doesn't even take into account the news that set me off in the first place: tinkering with historical 40-year-old recordings by adding modern overdubs. Maybe the price of the box will drop as the release date gets closer. Maybe I'll buy it in Buffalo (or in New Jersey in November). Right now, I'm thinking I'll download the outtakes and simply wait and perhaps grab a cheap sealed copy off eBay sometime in the future.

Last weeks was good, can this weeks be better? The lovely Tara from StickyFingers is giving us the opportunity to have a bit of a snoop, Outside my front door...
---- link



BinkyBlogs:: The best baby / infant and early child raising blog posts from around the web
The best baby / infant and early child raising blog posts from around the web

The crash of a shattering window as a brick is hurled at a politician's office; the hiss of gas from a slashed utility line outside the home of a congressman's relative; snarling epithets left in the voice mailboxes of elected officials. These are among the most unsettling noises of the backlash against the new health care law, and to some, they sound like an echo of a checkered American tradition: vigilantism, taking the law into one's own hands.

Vigilantism is often presumed to be synonymous with racism or irrational political extremism. True/Slant's Sarah Libby decries "the notion of vigilante justice" as "a scary one that has deeply racist roots" in the post-Civil War lynchings of southern blacks. Frank Rich of the New York Times termed the spate of post-vote incidents "vigilante violence" and compared the perpetrators to the Nazis on Kristallnacht. Even the Associated Press is using the magic V-word in its write-throughs about the unrest.

Since 2008, instances of anti-government outrage have gradually escalated, from Joseph Stack's plane crash into an Austin federal building to the vandalism, death threats and intimidation of the past few weeks. According to a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the United States has enjoyed a 244 percent increase in the number of active patriot groups--"militias and other extremist organizations that see the federal government as their enemy"--in 2009. Pundits nervously wonder what the future of vigilante violence will hold. "The weapon of choice for vigilante violence at Congressional offices has been a brick hurled through a window," penned Rich. "So far."

While the facts of some of the recent incidents are disputed, it's incredibly appropriate that vigilantism is being invoked to brand the instances of political violence. Vigilante justice is not a historical artifact of the Wild West, where American pioneers on the lawless frontier banded together to protect life, liberty, and property. From the "Dirty Harry" movies of the 1970s through the eco-terrorism of the animal rights and anti-mansionization movements, the impulse to impose "justice" where the system fails to is not confined to one era or ideological extreme. Recalling the historical roots of American vigilantism can help us understand where the current anti-government violence fits and where it may be headed.
 
While vigilantism has been defined in a variety of ways by academics, there is broad agreement that it is essentially a conservative impulse. Vigilante scholars H. Jon Rosenbaum and Peter C. Sederberg situate vigilante activity between revolutionary and reactionary violence, as "acts of threat or coercion in violation of the formal boundaries of an established sociopolitical order, which, however, are intended by the violators to defend the order from some form of subversion." Historian Richard Maxwell Brown, a long-time scholar of American violence, sees vigilantism as inherently driven by the desire to restore the sociopolitical order to a previous level of stability. The sources of instability vary throughout history--crime, demographic shifts, government corruption--but the impulse remains the same: to restore stability to a world turned upside down, and reinforce those values at risk in a rapidly changing world.

No wonder, then, that conservative backlash and the vigilantism associated with some of its adherents has been accelerating since the economic collapse and the 2008 election; notions of "change" coinciding with economic instability are a classic recipe for anxiety and paranoia.

While vigilantism was a fixture on the American frontier in small settler communities since the end of the 18th century, the current uproar has much in common with the granddaddy of large-scale American vigilante movements, the San Francisco Vigilance Committee of 1856. San Francisco had already been home to a small vigilante movement in 1851, when fears of arson and larceny in the face of the California gold rush prompted the organization of a temporary militia until municipal law enforcement could take control. But a few years later, with street crime in check, the issue was soaring municipal debt, rising taxes, and bankruptcy under corrupt political leadership, in a city described by Brown as a "seething caldron of social, ethnic, religious, and political tensions." The political elite exploited those tensions to mobilize support from its base, strong-arming elections and mobilizing the Irish-Catholic and mostly Democratic working class of the city as its political backbone. After a muckraking journalist, James King, who had been exposing machine abuses, was murdered by a political operative, enrollment in the vigilance committee soared. The vigilantes saw the municipal courts as corrupt and ineffective, so they methodically collected material evidence of election fraud and municipal corruption before ousting the machine.
 
The San Francisco Committee shares many of the same features and focus as the recent political unrest: frustration with government, underpinnings of socio-cultural strife, and urgency to act promoted by an aggressive, inflammatory press. Students of today's anti-Obama, anti-Washington rhetoric will recognize the style King employed, portraying his city as caught in the grip of a "second class" of men who "stand all day at the street corner, flourishing whale bone canes and twirling greasy mustachios. At night they flock to the gambling halls, abounding in all our thoroughfares, where they feast and carouse, bet and blackguard, damn their own souls and take the name of God in vain. Or else, flushed with wine and lust, they throng the houses of prostitution." Concluded this latter-day Glenn Beck: "Men without one particle of claim to the position have filled the post of Mayor and Councilman in the city, for the sole purpose of filling their pockets with the ill gotten gains of their nefarious schemes, their pilfering and dishonesty." King's editorials created a "near-panic psychology" concerning municipal crime (despite low crime rates reported by the California Alta), bringing the anger of average citizens to a boiling point before focusing their popular rage on the negligent state government.

This phenomenon was repeated in the Montana vigilante movement of the 1880s, where leader Robert Fisk used the territorial press to hype a declining crime problem and feed the vigilante fever by demonizing his adversaries: "There is no disguising the fact that Helena at this time is the rendezvous for a score or more of very hard characters--men that have no visible means of livelihood and that are watching for opportunities to rob and even murder, if necessary, to carry out their infamous purposes," wrote Robert Fisk in the Helena Daily Herald. "Would it not be a wise precautionary step to invite some of these desperate characters to 'take a walk' or shall we wait for other murders and robberies, and perhaps until they burn the town down again?" Next to this, Sarah Palin's use of "crosshairs" to mark her political targets almost seems tame.

Such scare tactics have found fertile soil in modern media. Cries of socialism, Marxism, communism, and totalitarianism broadcast--usually unchallenged--across the airwaves and blogosphere resonate with those already unnerved by "change you can believe in." Thus, a bill that true leftists abhor promoted by a president unloved by the hard left is easily spun into a subversive effort by committed enemies of the American way to undermine the fabric of American society. Rep. Michelle Bachmann's (R-MN) recent calls for civil disobedience are self-explanatory. Steve Benen highlights the incendiary rhetoric of Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), who claims "Americans are reacquainted with the danger of an arrogant all powerful government, a deadly enemy within, a clear and present danger in Washington." Or, as Glenn Beck puts it: "the end of America as we know it."

History suggests this level of fear--and the activism, non-violent and otherwise, it fuels--is difficult to sustain. Even with control of the press, the leaders of the San Francisco and Montana vigilantes could not maintain a panic psychology after justice was served, and their movements dissolved. But today's digital media provides a wider--and more accessible--avenue for rabble rousing, and there's nothing to stop those who want to keep the fire burning from doing so. Take away her book, speaking engagements, and Fox News platform, and Palin could still have an impact; during her post-resignation months in the political wilderness, she built a loyal base entirely through her Facebook page. And no one can control the likes of Mike Vanderboegh, the 57-year-old former militiaman from Alabama who encouraged those who agree with him to throw bricks through the windows of Democratic offices nationwide in protest of "Pelosi's Intolerable Act." (profile) The easily accessible platforms of the blogosphere and social media can make any wing nut an overnight pundit with a digital bully pulpit.

The sight of partisans quickly taking sides and pointing fingers in the debate over the emerging vigilante culture and violence associated with it suggests another reason why the phenomenon may linger--it's in the self-interest of some to keep it going. We're already seeing how both Democrats and Republicans have recently sought to capitalize on these months of political upheaval as a fundraising tool. Even if saner heads do prevail, they'll likely be drowned out by media outlets catering to an ideological ("narrowcast") demographic. Video of rabid right-wingers hoisting signs equating Obama with Hitler is mother's milk to the talk-show hosts on MSNBC, just as ceaseless garment-rending over the "Cornhusker Kickback" is a ratings-grabber for Fox. Any hope of more sober dialogue will surely have to wait until after the November election, or perhaps beyond--unlike the social and political grievances that inflamed 19th century San Francisco and Montana, our economic woes and complex health-care reforms won't be resolved in short order. The "mad as hell" crowd of the moment seems destined for a madder than hell future.
 
Today's journalists and politicians correctly invoke vigilantism to describe the recent violence. But having done so, they bear responsibility for learning history's lessons. For instance, Reason's Matt Welch chides journalists for their emphasis on the "narrative" of politics and encourages them to focus on policy rather than inflammatory sidebars. Politicians should also heed Welch's advice and reconsider the need for narratives, for as much as modern vigilantism reflects the cycle of populist violence in America's history, the prospect of a never-ending crisis spun by message-makers is cause for concern that vigilantism's comeback might be a permanent one.

The cub, 2 pounds at birth on March 18, is getting cat formula in addition to her mother's milk.

Although her eyes have yet to fully open, the week-old Sumatran tiger at the Sacramento Zoo is sucking down bottled milk, offering up high-pitched hisses when handled, and venturing out of her den box on occasion.

But zookeepers are far from predicting the female cub, born March 18, will survive. The cub has gained little beyond the 2 pounds she weighed at birth, prompting thrice-daily supplemental bottle feedings of cat formula.

"We're cautious still," said the zoo's general curator, Harrison Edell.

The cub came as a surprise to zoo keepers who did not realize the cub's mother, 9-year-old Bahagia, was pregnant. But she was a welcome addition to a community reeling from the unexpected death March 16 of a week-old giant anteater.

Bahagia, or Baha for short, came to the zoo from Atlanta in 2002 to join a male tiger named Castro, who will turn 12 in May. Castro was born in New Orleans and arrived in Sacramento as a 1-year-old in 1999.

The two tigers were deemed a good genetic match, and zookeepers set to work on the unpredictable task of introducing them.

First, they were allowed to see each other through glass enclosures. They moved to being able to smell each other through a mesh screen. Then they were allowed to share an enclosure for a few days at a time. Any more, and Baha would snarl at Castro.

"She was always leery," said senior keeper Leslie Field. "Tigers are generally independent souls."

The pair spent a long 13-day stretch together in 2006, and zookeepers realized Baha was pregnant. After a gestation lasting 90 to 100 days, Baha gave birth to three male cubs. They remained in Sacramento until December 2008 and now live together in a new tiger exhibit in Jackson, Miss.

When the Sacramento tiger pair again began longer visits with each other last fall, zookeepers ordered an ultrasound for Baha in early December but found nothing. Then staff discovered two cubs in the tiger enclosure last week.

Baha gained about 10 pounds during her last pregnancy and just a pound or two during her monthly weigh-ins this time. It is also late in the tiger birthing season, which generally happens in late fall.

A male cub was suffering from severe head trauma, forcing zoo staff to euthanize him. But the female cub appeared engaged, strong and continues to bond with her mother.

To counter the scanty weight gain, zookeepers began supplementing the cub's nursing with about 15 cubic centimeters of formula three times a day. They since have upped that to 50 ccs, or about a fifth of a cup. It makes up a third of the calories cubs need daily, said zoo veterinarian Dr. Ray Wack.

"Mom's milk is best so we want to utilize as much of mom's milk as we can," he said.

Sumatran tigers are the smallest of six subspecies of the world's tigers. There are about 100 in captivity and 400 in the wild, Edell said.

Those living free on the Indonesian island are affected by the destruction of their forest home and the continued poaching of tigers for their hides and for body parts used in medicines.

The Sacramento cub is being monitored via closed-circuit TV in her straw-lined box behind the zoo exhibit and has yet to be named due to the superstitions of zookeepers, Edell said.

"If all goes well, knock on wood, she's still going to be back here for three months before she will do like her (older) brothers did and tear apart our exhibit and eat all the bamboo," he said.

The zoo's newborn tiger cub, her eyes still partially closed, is weighed the day after her birth. She's kept in a straw-lined box behind the zoo exhibit and is monitored by closed-circuit television.

You made it! 

[quote author=haroldlovesmaude link=topic=342066.msg3974601#msg39...

• What: Nevada Ballet Theatre's "Brave New World," featuring world premeire works "Song of the Nightingale," "An Incandescent Start" and "Cyclical Night."
• When: 8 p.m., Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday.
• Where: Artemus Ham Hall at UNLV.
• Cost: $10-$75; Nevada Ballet Theatre Web site
• For more information: 895-3787 (ARTS)

James Canfield reels off a list of some of the great ballet dancers of all time — Rudolf Nureyev, Margo Foneyn, Gelsey Kirkland, Mikhail Baryshnikov — and says, "When they were in the top of their careers, still working on perfecting the simplest things as a tondu, how can anyone else in the world make a statement that they have arrived at greatness when the greatest are still working at achieving perfection."

Then he makes the central point, en point.

"The great ones are the ones who work the hardest."

It that point, of course, I think of Jerry Rice, alone on a football field on sweltering August day on a community college football field. I tell Canfield, artistic director of Nevada Ballet Theatre who is bringing the program "Brave New World" to Artemus Ham Hall at 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, of watching Rice work out.

"This was in training camp," I tell him, during the latest episode of "Our Metropolis" on KUNV 91.5-FM (show aired Tuesday at 6 p.m. but can still be linked here and at KUNV.org) "Every other player had left the field, and Rice was running pass routes, eight-yard outs, slants, fly patterns. He was the best route-runner in the league."

"He wasn't the first one in the locker room," Canfield says.

"Nope," I say. "He was in incredible condition. He had the body of a dancer, actually."

"We forget, they are athletes," Canfield says. "Dancers are athletes. You can't stop training. You're doing it for a reason."

The reason being, dancers need to be in topnotch physical shape to work with the demands of Canfield, who in his 15 months as the NBT's full-time director has earned a reputation as an unbending instructor who won't yield to any standards lower than his own. He's shed the "tiered" philosophy he inherited when he took over at NBT, stripping the company of the titles of principal, solo, core, apprentice and trainee. It's an ensemble cast now. NBT is leaner (thanks largely to budget cuts) and, Canfield says, hungrier than the troupe he inherited from Bruce Steivel in early 2009.

"For me, I want to give the gift of a very strong company to this community, and the community will have their favorites," says Canfield, who strives to build each dancer into a principal-quality performer. Sort of like a ballet all-pro team, to revert to NFL parlance.

For this weekend's programs, Canfield has commissioned two longtime colleagues from the years he has spent teaching across the country.

Gail Gilbert, whose work with Canfield dates to their days at Oregon Ballet Theater, choreographs "Song of the Nightingale," based on the Hans Christian Andersen fable. This is the same Gail Gilbert who portrays the nursemaid character in "KA" at MGM Grand. "An Incandescent Start" by Wideman/Davis Dance Company Artistic Director Thaddeus Davis. The piece is described by Canfield a strong, purely contemporary piece, and Davis has been working closely with the dancers in developing the movements rather than merely instructing what already exists. Davis has been in residency at prestigious The Julliard School and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. Canfield's own tango-driven "Cyclical Night" closes the performance, for which special $10 balcony ticket prices are included in the price range of $10-$74.

"This is the most exciting performers' series, we are about to present," Canfield says. "The new works are what really begin to identity a company."

More from the interview:

• On how inviting guest choreographers to work with his own company enhances the artistic process: "It's a gift that I can give the dancers. I can take them only so far in their careers, and these outside influences can continue to take them as well. And they also get the same voice, just from a different person. I can say something over and over and over and over again, and all of a sudden there was that new teacher that comes into your life and says the same thing and (snaps his fingers) says the exact same thing and the light bulb goes off in our head and it's, "Oh, that's what you meant." Yes! That's what I've been pulling my hair out trying to get across to you!"

• On the "E" words: "Execute is one of the words that begins with an E that is in the line of 'E' words. We also have elevate, entertain, expose and educate. It's been my season of 'E's.' And is not been 'E'-asy. If you look at the history here (at NBT), under Vassili Sulich, the founding artistic director of what was Nevada Dance Theatre, he did have yet another 'E' word, with an ensemble company. So he had what I have brought back into play. ... Basically, history is repeating itself."

• On the possibility that the absence of a ranking system might strip some dancers of artistic motivations to ascend to the top tier of their art form: "My idea is, I don't have a group of core dancers. I have a group of principal dancers. As you will see in 'Brave New World,' there is showcased talent, more than one or two people, all throughout the entire evening, in principal capacity. That tells me the idea I am bringing is working. (But) when you are given a title, there is a level of complacency in the room, that, 'I don't have to work as hard.' I think this is an art form that has a definite beginning and a definite end. It is a very young art form, and you have to get a lot out of it in a very short period of time."

• On how he vets potential dancers during NBT auditions: "My first question is, 'Why do you want dance as a career? I want smart communicators. If they can give me a smart answer and communicate that answer, then they can communicate that passion to the audience. ... I want to know, how do you present yourself? It's a job interview. Why would you come in and wear baggy clothes, or have your ribbons hanging out of your point shoes? The audition starts before I give you a combination. When they introduce themselves, it starts then. What colors they wear, how they are trying to hide parts of body — you want me to see your body, that you have attention to detail, not the other way around. I don't trust anyone who can't look me in the eye.

"Again, I have a standard."

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats.

[1]Image by RyAwesome via Flickr Here's a question: Why do so few people in politics seem to know or care a whit about political science? People in sports care about sports science. People in business care about the science of how to do whatever it is they do better. But folks involved in politics — campaign consultants, journalists, and politicians themselves — could hardly be any more ignorant or disengaged when it comes to the science of politics. I have a few ideas why this is, but first let's take a quick survey of the political landscape in the wake of health-care reform... As Andrew Gelman points out [2], two things are true right now: 1) The Democrats have passed a historic piece of health care legislation; and 2) The Democrats are exceedingly likely to get slaughtered at the polls in November. In another day and age, these two facts would be inextricably linked come the day after Election Day. The narrative would be: Democrats got slaughtered at the polls because of passing health care reform. However, there's a catch... In this particular case, political scientists have gone on record, as far back as September 2009, predicting that the Democrats would get slaughtered in the Fall of 2010. The economy's terrible, they are the incumbent party in Congress, and a new president of their party has just been elected. Any model of midterm elections would point in the same direction: Big losses for Democrats. Now, political pundits will no doubt write this narrative anyway after the relatively inevitable happens. But people who've been paying attention will know the real story (assuming, of course, that these models do indeed bear out). What's interesting, though, is how small a role knowledge of these models and predictions seems to have played in the health care fight. The truth for most members of Congress, even in swing districts, is that it didn't matter how they voted. People vote emotionally, they vote blindly, and they vote based on a general sense of whether they're doing OK or not doing OK. If the economy's humming along, they're OK and they keep incumbents around; if not, they do the opposite. Instead of realizing this, however, we had months of fighting over "process," including a lengthy interval spent agonizing over whether voters would punish Democrats for using reconciliation to pass health care reform. Let me be exceedingly clear about this: Voters don't know what reconciliation is. If you went to their houses and explained it to them patiently and clearly, they'd punch you in the face for interrupting American Idol. And, so, what would somebody with an understanding of political science have told Democrats about health care reform? Elections are usually determined by forces entirely outside your control, so vote your conscience. Voters have the memories of gnats (that may be unfair to gnats), so vote your conscience. And people love a winner. I think that last point may have actually broken through in the process debate. A question formed toward the end: Do you really think it will be better to be the party that tried to pass health care reform and then got spooked, or will it be better to be the party that passed health care reform. And, lo and behold, we're getting the first evidence that the latter indeed was the smarter strategy: A new poll from Gallup shows that people suddenly support health care reform [3] — now that it's passed. And Obama's poll numbers are bouncing [4]. The fact is, people like a winner. When someone's winning, we assume it must be because they're smart and good; when they're losing, we assume it must because they're idiots and bad. As the president himself says [5]: "I guess we'll be considered smart again for at least another four weeks." And, so, my theory of why no one in politics likes to think about political science: because it renders them powerless. How do you do your job as a political consultant when the truth is that 90% of the success or failure of what you do will be determined by the unemployment rate? If you're a political journalist, how do you write a story every day for a year (or three years, given our current presidential election system) saying, essentially, "Well, the fundamentals still make it exceedingly likely the president will be reelected." If you're a politician... well, then you're a sociopath anyway, so perhaps it's not worth getting into this scenario too deeply. The point is, we need to believe we're in control. Political science tells everyone in politics the opposite: You're not in control. The economy rules your fate — the rest is just pissing in the wind. No wonder they prefer to keep their eyes closed and their fingers in their ears. UPDATE [8:36 p.m., 3/24/10]: More movement on health care numbers [6], though more for Obama's approval on health care than for the bill itself. Neuroworld looked at whether politicians are primarily liars or cowards or morons here [7]. Neuroworld looked at whether more elections equal more democracy here [8]. Neuroworld looked at the politics in your genes here [9]. [1] http://www.flickr.com/photos/26390358@N02/3192873027 [2] http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~cook/movabletype/archives/2010/03/good_timing_the.html [3] http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/03/poll_health-care_reform_more_p.html [4] http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2010/03/24/early-polls-give-obama-a-boost-in-health-care-debate/?cxntfid=blogs_jay_bookman_blog [5] http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/24/quote_of_the_day.html [6] http://www.pollster.com/blogs/cbs_offers_a_hcr_panelback_sur.php [7] http://trueslant.com/ryansager/2010/01/20/panic-at-the-capitol/ [8] http://trueslant.com/ryansager/2010/03/03/do-more-elections-more-democracy/ [9] http://trueslant.com/ryansager/2010/01/11/your-republican-uncle-in-the-genes/

Congressman Tom Rooney (R-FL)

ROONEY DISCUSSES INTELLIGENCE BREAKDOWNS IN CHRISTMAS DAY BOMBER CASE ON FOX NEWS

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) appeared yesterday on Fox News Channel to discuss intelligence breakdowns in the Christmas Day bomber case, following a Judiciary Committee hearing to examine the Administration’s handling of Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab.  Excerpts and full video below:

“Obviously (the number one issue) is safety, and then the lack of communication between the several federal agencies . . . After 9/11 we were supposed to have better communication so that the dots could be easier to connect, and that just didn’t happen here.”

“There's too many lists, there's too many agencies, and one of the things that I would like to see is, as we were supposed to do with Homeland Security, really streamline the process.  It's a one-stop shop.  The error happened here and it'll never happen again, and we just don't have that yet.  We still have too many agencies with their fingers in this pot, and it needs to get better.”

	ROONEY ON FOX REGARDING THE CHRISTMAS DAY BOMBER

Congressman Rooney represents Florida’s 16^th District

You'll find Congressman Tom Rooney online at: http://rooney.house.gov/

(3/2010) Rooney (R-FL) Supports Off Shore Drilling

FL Senator Joe Negron (R) On Haitian Relief (02/12/2010)

 

Well, THAT was a bit of a chore, I must say. I’ve spent the past day-and-a-half migrating this blog from GoDaddy hosting over to my new digs here at BlueHost.com (via their $3.95/month special offer … a nice deal).

It feels so obscenely good to be almost 100% free of GoDaddy’s headache-inducing UI, shameless upselling, relentlessly crappy service and support, and spotty (at best) hosting performance. I say almost free because there are still two domain names which I can’t get them to release … I opted for private registration when I purchased them, and for some reason they were not added to my *existing* DomainsByProxy account, but to some new, strange, random account that no one seems to know anything about. A week of going back and forth trying to get them to merge this mysterious phantom account with my *actual* account has been of no avail. GOD I HATE EVIL GODADDY AND ALL THEIR EVIL LITTLE MINIONS.

Deep breath.

Anyway … most of my domain names are moved (to NameCheap, which seems reasonably OK … a way better UI, at any rate, but IMHO the proof of how good a registrar is comes only when you try to move a name AWAY from them …) And I’m about to call Domains by Proxy AGAIN to see if we can’t get those last couple of outstanding domain issues resolved …

We shall see. Please don’t suck, BlueHost! I’ve had enough of that with GoDaddy to last me my whole life long.

Migrating the blog itself was less horrible than I imagined, but it still had its hair-tearing moments. I had a few plugins act up on me, but some simple deinstall/reinstalls took care of those. I had to do a bit of tweaking on the PHP settings because I kept getting fatal errors saying I didn’t have enough memory allocated for Wordpress processes (12 MB by default? Really? Oh … kay.)  And then there was the need for a few targeted SQL database edits (to replace calls to GoDaddy specific file-structures). But now everything is back to normal. Hopefully. Fingers crossed that nothing blows up.

Anyway, that’s been my past 36 hours. Excelsior!

(And now I shall hit post, and we’ll see if my Wordbook and Twitter crossposters still work …)

Originally published at M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave any comments there.

The title Paper Cuts may bring up bad connotations of sore fingers and painful little cuts, but this book by Taylor Hagerty will teach you how to make a collection of decorative paper art pieces.

Including 35 inventive projects, this book will teach you everything you need to know about paper-cutting. Cut out some Tea Party Placemats, an intricate Alice In Wonderland themed Tea Party Centerpiece, gorgeous Flower & Butterfly Cards, some Initial Gift Tags, handy Feathered Friend Treat cones and a fantastic Ginkgo Leaf Lampshade.

Snip and slice yourself some delicate and intricate decorations and accessories.

Check out a sample project from the book, Ginkgo Leaf Lampshade.

You can pick up a copy of the book now from The GMC Group.

So far so good. Diving has not been that great - so far. On the other hand meeting old friends, and having made some memorable new acquaintances, has been so good for the soul: First and foremost "Jifa" who invited me to be his guest during my first week in South Africa; his 15-month old fabulous husky, "Machin", with whom I immediately fell in love; Andre Hartman, the legendary Great White Sharkman, a towering man with huge hands and a huge heart; the Addisons of Blue Wilderness; Fred Buyle and William Winram, world-class freedivers with impressive achievements; and others. Two old shark-nut farts: Andre Hartman and Wolf. Photo: Jean-Francois Avenier Jifa, who is a good friend of Andre, arranged for a one day marine excursion in the larger Gaansbai area to observe great whites. Andre managed to attract four beauties close to the boat; their sizes ranged between 1,60 and 3 meters, the largest being a self-confident and dominant male. Too bad we could not swim with them. "Better than nothing..." Photo: Jean-Francois Avenier There are severe restrictions on diving with great whites in South Africa; not only that - we were in an area where abalones are protected, and no one can dive there for any purpose whatsoever. As anywhere else in the world, South African government officials only complicate the lives of others, not theirs. Thus, they simply established that merely carrying basic diving equipment in your boat proves you automatically guilty of suspected poaching with heavy fines and even jail terms. We had two sub-standard days at Aliwal Shoal with 3 to 5 m visibility and just one tiger shark. However, this female tiger was "Sabine", an Aliwal Shoal resident shark during the past eight years except for the last two years that she spent elsewhere. To see her back "home" filled us with joy. Tomorrow, March 25, we are planning a trip to the Protea Banks, famous for its bull sharks. I have never dived with bull sharks, and am quite excited about the prospect of seeing them. As you can imagine, we all cross our fingers and hope for the best: Best visibility, best bull interaction, best everything!! Last, but definitely not least................................ "Machin"!!!!

Chieko Ishijima, 25, is the manager of Brilliant Nail Shibuya, a salon next door to the Marui and Seibu department stores, smack in the middle of one of Tokyo's hubs of young fashion. She quickly painted and sculpted her way to the top of the highly competitive nail-art industry with intricately layered designs incorporating semi-precious stones and super-cute designs made from acrylic. Once on a customer's fingers or toes, her miniature flowers, bows and anime characters are works of art that speak for themselves. Ishijima herself says she just loves being face to face with customers and adorning their nails with some of her handiwork.
Nail artists are model makers, sculptors and architects, all trapped in one body. We create long, perfectly shaped nails and make sculptures by adding layers of gel, airbrushed designs, 3-D artwork and decorations.

(This guest post previously appeared at NewDeal2.0)

Bloomberg has released a poll (tx yves) with the headline “Wall Street Despised in Poll Showing Most Want Regulation“. It is very interesting to say the least. Some of the highlights:

* Most people interviewed in the Bloomberg National Poll say they don’t like Wall Street, banks or insurance companies and favor letting the government punish bankers who helped cause the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
* 57 percent of Americans have a mostly unfavorable or very unfavorable view of Wall Street.
* Banks are viewed badly by 54 percent of poll respondents.
* 60 percent have a negative opinion of insurance companies.
* The majority of poll participants — 56 percent — say big financial companies are more interested in enriching themselves at the expense of ordinary people.

Fairly substantial numbers against the ruling doctrines and institutions of the past thirty years. However, there’ a catch:

* Almost seven out of 10 people surveyed support using current bank regulators for consumer protection, backing positions held by the financial industry and Republicans over President Barack Obama’s proposal to establish an independent agency.
* More than 40 percent of Americans say the government has gone too far in measures to fix the financial industry; 37 percent say it hasn’t done enough.
* “Anything the government gets their fingers in, they mess it up,” said poll participant Norman White, 60, a community college electronics instructor who lives in Colfax, Louisiana. “I don’t have a very high opinion of the government running anything.

What this poll reveals is the great contradiction in American politics. We are at the end of the Reagan Revolution, the great reactionary movement of American politics against the New Deal and “big government.” The heroes and myths of the era, such as Wall Street and “free markets”, lay shattered on the ground. But just as importantly, the distrust of government, not only in this poll, but all polls, is at record levels. Thus, simply mouthing platitudes from 70 years ago or trying to instill faith back in government with massive bills filled with subsidies for mega-corporations isn’t going to get you far.

The poll also shows most Americans don’t like the nation’s top corporate bosses. Almost two-thirds say they have an unfavorable opinion of business executives, a rating that rivals the public’s disdain for Congress, which was viewed with disfavor by 67 percent of respondents.

Having followed this issue for a long time, neither of these numbers are new, however they are historically high. The question of whether large corporations have too much power in this country has been at or above 70% for a couple decades, in fact, the power of giant corporations has always been an issue since their inception a century and half ago. But today, with both parties in the pockets of the mega-corporations, it is never realized as an issue. Nonetheless, this is the sweet spot of American politics at this point, yet one party will insist on helping the corporations and eventually you through more centralized government, while the other will continue their bankrupt philosophy of laissez faire, thus, political advantage to neither.

What we need is to revive and evolve the principles and institutions of this republic, understanding the people are sovereign. We need to revive the imperative of self-government, now lost to history, that if we are to have democracy, it must be decentralized. If we advocate the use of government, we must first revive its legitimacy, and the only way that is going to be done is by bringing the American people back into politics and into the decision making processes of government.

Joe Costello was communications director for Jerry Brown’s 1992 presidential campaign and was a senior adviser for Howard Dean’s effort in 2004.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• We Cannot Fix Wall Street Because All The Senate Staffers Want Wall Street Jobs
• Capitol Hill Staffers Think They Know Why Obama Won't Ditch Geithner: Because Obama Secretly Loves Wall Street
• The Secretive "Blob" On Capitol Hill That's Blocking Any Hope Of Financial Reform

The cub, 2 pounds at birth on March 18, is getting cat formula in addition to her mother's milk.

Although her eyes have yet to fully open, the week-old Sumatran tiger at the Sacramento Zoo is sucking down bottled milk, offering up high-pitched hisses when handled, and venturing out of her den box on occasion.

But zookeepers are far from predicting the female cub, born March 18, will survive. The cub has gained little beyond the 2 pounds she weighed at birth, prompting thrice-daily supplemental bottle feedings of cat formula.

"We're cautious still," said the zoo's general curator, Harrison Edell.

The cub came as a surprise to zoo keepers who did not realize the cub's mother, 9-year-old Bahagia, was pregnant. But she was a welcome addition to a community reeling from the unexpected death March 16 of a week-old giant anteater.

Bahagia, or Baha for short, came to the zoo from Atlanta in 2002 to join a male tiger named Castro, who will turn 12 in May. Castro was born in New Orleans and arrived in Sacramento as a 1-year-old in 1999.

The two tigers were deemed a good genetic match, and zookeepers set to work on the unpredictable task of introducing them.

First, they were allowed to see each other through glass enclosures. They moved to being able to smell each other through a mesh screen. Then they were allowed to share an enclosure for a few days at a time. Any more, and Baha would snarl at Castro.

"She was always leery," said senior keeper Leslie Field. "Tigers are generally independent souls."

The pair spent a long 13-day stretch together in 2006, and zookeepers realized Baha was pregnant. After a gestation lasting 90 to 100 days, Baha gave birth to three male cubs. They remained in Sacramento until December 2008 and now live together in a new tiger exhibit in Jackson, Miss.

When the Sacramento tiger pair again began longer visits with each other last fall, zookeepers ordered an ultrasound for Baha in early December but found nothing. Then staff discovered two cubs in the tiger enclosure last week.

Baha gained about 10 pounds during her last pregnancy and just a pound or two during her monthly weigh-ins this time. It is also late in the tiger birthing season, which generally happens in late fall.

A male cub was suffering from severe head trauma, forcing zoo staff to euthanize him. But the female cub appeared engaged, strong and continues to bond with her mother.

To counter the scanty weight gain, zookeepers began supplementing the cub's nursing with about 15 cubic centimeters of formula three times a day. They since have upped that to 50 ccs, or about a fifth of a cup. It makes up a third of the calories cubs need daily, said zoo veterinarian Dr. Ray Wack.

"Mom's milk is best so we want to utilize as much of mom's milk as we can," he said.

Sumatran tigers are the smallest of six subspecies of the world's tigers. There are about 100 in captivity and 400 in the wild, Edell said.

Those living free on the Indonesian island are affected by the destruction of their forest home and the continued poaching of tigers for their hides and for body parts used in medicines.

The Sacramento cub is being monitored via closed-circuit TV in her straw-lined box behind the zoo exhibit and has yet to be named due to the superstitions of zookeepers, Edell said.

"If all goes well, knock on wood, she's still going to be back here for three months before she will do like her (older) brothers did and tear apart our exhibit and eat all the bamboo," he said.

The zoo's newborn tiger cub, her eyes still partially closed, is weighed the day after her birth. She's kept in a straw-lined box behind the zoo exhibit and is monitored by closed-circuit television.

Part 1

Well, I was right. Surgery was the call of the orthopedist. I had a 66° rotation in the bones of my finger. The only thing that would get things lined up properly and keep them there involved surgery and pins.

The docs schedule was full for over two weeks probably because he was considered to be THE MAN for hand repair. I would have to wait if I wanted this doc to repaired my finger properly. Even though I wasn't crazy about the wait, I decided to go with this doc.

The surgery was scheduled and I was given another prescription for drugs to "hold me over". They also did a different type of splint to add more protection to the finger while I waited for the surgery to take place.

This doc saw plenty of horse people. He knew I wouldn't be staying away from my horses while I waited. He knew protection for the finger was as important as anything else he had to do for this patient.

There was another little twist to the two week wait. It just happened to be during Victorian Country Christmas http://www.avictoriancountrychristmas.com/ at the Western Washington Fairgrounds http://www.washingtonfair.org/ in Puyallup. Now you might be wondering what that has to do with my finger being broken by my husband's Arabian horse.

We were buying that horse on a contract. And like Scandalous, I was paying that contract for Aidol from the sales of crafts I made. Victorian Country Christmas was my second biggest show of the year. I wouldn't be able to make up lost sales from this show. I was going to have to do the show AND have the surgery no matter how tough a task that might be.

VCC is a magical show......... not just big. All the booths have facades of Victorian store fronts and all exhibitors must be dressed in costume consistent with the theme of the show. That meant if I needed help manning my booth because of my surgery, I'd have to be tracking down appropriate attire for those folks.

It also has paid admission. I had a limited number of passes for booth help so those would have to be managed too if I required extra help to deal with my finger.

As the schedule turned out, set-up for the show began the day after my surgery. That didn't sound too bad until I HAD the actual surgery. I probably could have toughed it out had it not been for one thing........... that one thing was those PINS they put into my finger.

You see I had these eight pins sticking out of both sides of my finger. Those pins were laid out in a spiral pattern that matched the pattern of the break. That finger and the pinky next to it were enclosed in a cast. As my hand swelled from the aftermath of surgery, those pins began to rub on the inside of my cast............ the result wasn't just annoying............. it was excruciating.

I am not a wimp when it comes to pain. I've experienced a lot of it in my life, both physical and emotional. I know how to buck up and take it. I certainly know how to do it without crying or complaining.
BUT this thing with the pins rubbing on the inside of my cast was just too much. The pain killers didn't even touch the edge let alone give me any relief. I couldn't think straight, let alone manage a busy show like VCC. I had to get it fixed so I called the doc.

The made the time to get me right in and I left my older kids setting up my booth. Anyone who knows me knows that just doesn't sound like me. I am a perfectionist about everything I do and that booth set-up can affect sales in a big way. I never would have left if there had been another way.

So I head off to the doctor thinking they can solve the problem. They look in at the pins and see the redness developing and get a little worried themselves. The cast was cut off. X-rays done to be sure everything is still OK and then they tried figuring out how to put the cast back on so nothing rubbed this time. It sounded good.....but it didn't work out that way.

I made it through VCC with 5 cast changes before the docs finally gave up and modified some kind of splint for me. No matter what they tried, after several hours those pins would start dragging against the inside of the cast. That would cause more swelling which in turn caused more dragging of the pins. It was a vicious cycle with not relief.

I felt like someone was shooting electricity right through the nerves throughout my hand. After a while even taking the cast off didn't bring me relief. It was only after they gave up on the cast altogether and they left my fingers exposed that I began to feel any relief.

In the meantime my kids and other vendor friends were keeping my booth running. It wasn't the most professionally run show I've ever done, but we got through it and I made a chunk of the first payment for Aidol. I guess it all turned out ok........ but the thought of those pins dragging against the sides of that cast still makes me cringe to this day.

To be continued..............



Visit Blog Village and vote daily for this blog Here They are now measuring the rankings by the number of votes out, so if you find my blog on the site, please click that link too to improve my rankings. TY

Photo via jankor's flickr

• From the Gothamist newsmap: a Fatal Jumper Down at 5th Ave & 48th St in Manhattan; a Strong Arm Robbery at 320 Vanderbilt Ave on Staten Island; and a Crime Scene at 558 50th St in Brooklyn.
• Does Lady Gaga's appearance in a New Yorker cartoon mean the superstar is highbrow-friendly or that the mag is becoming lowbrow-friendly?
• This is a lot of fingers and toes for just one person.
• The employees at Abercrombie & Fitch's flagship store on 5th Avenue haven't been getting paid.
• The Brooklyn Flea folk will be curating food vendors at this year's SummerStage.
• Actually, this is why you're fat: corn syrup.
• And we always knew New York was full of big dicks.

Because I couldn't get enough net traffic based on my part time job, Bryan which is the Flavor of the South, got in contact with me to review a couple of their products and sponsor a give away.

My Feedburner stats are sure to go up on this one.

I received a 16 oz package of Bryan Smoked Sausage Links and a package of Bryan Beef Cocktail Smokies Smoked Sausage for review.

The initial email from the public relations liaison suggested some recipe ideas for me which consisted of:

Cocktail Smokies Bagel Dogs; Cocktail Smokies in Peach Barbecue Sauce;Cocktail Smokies with sauerkraut and Apple Sauce; Italian-Style Smoked Sausage Sandwich; Smoked Sausage Jambalaya; Smoked Sausage Spicy Kabobs.

These along with other recipes can be found on their website at http://www.bryanfoods.com/.

While these seemed like good choices, I thought about my family and felt I needed to go with a more practical approach.

We first tried the Bryan Smoked Sausage Links.

I cut the links in I don't know, half-inch pieces and browned them in a skillet. I also browned a cup and a half of white rice.

I added Seasoning Salt, Ground Comino, Garlic Salt, Salt and Pepper to the rice while browning. I couldn't tell you how much I used, because here in San Antonio and probably most of the South, we don't measure seasonings. We just pour, sprinkle, dash, sift however much we feel is correct.

When the browning of both parties were complete, I combined the two in a large skillet along with a can of drained whole corn, an 8oz. can of tomato sauce and 3 cups of a chicken broth water concoction.

I then mixed them all together and let it return to a slow rolling boil. Actually I don't know if it's called that, and it's not like it returned because it previously wasn't boiling. I just wanted to make it seem like I honestly know what I'm talking about. Once it starts boiling, reduce heat to "LO", cover, and let simmer for 25 minutes. The finished confection looks like this.

Thinking about it, this looks like a lot of Kibbles and Bits, I assure you it is not. We served on warm tortillas and enjoyed.

The kids enjoyed it. Even though Celi was sick, she ate what she could. Disco, who is in this phase of not wanting to eat, actually ate all of it. Ladybug just ate the sausage. Both KC and I though the sausage was good as well.

Afterwards I asked Disco if he likes the sausage, he told me yes. I then asked him what he would give it, he held up three fingers. I'm not sure what scale he was going off of, but let's assume it was out of five.

The one package would not have been enough to feed my family (6 eat, 1 nurses). Which is why I had to go the more practical route and make it into something that would garnish leftovers.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A couple days later, KC popped out the Bryan Beef Cocktail Smokies Smoked Sausage for the kids lunch. She opened the package and emptied the contents into a small pan. She then drowned the poor smokies in Hunts BETTER TASTING Original Barbecue Sauce.

She brought to a small bubbly boil and served along side with Macaroni and Broccoli. The result was this.

As mystical and elusive as the gods that reside on Mt Olympus, a trip to Pan Heong somehow always failed to materialize, until one day, the Goddess herself, Boolicious of Masak Masak, decided to intervene and snapped her fingers, and lo and behold, and outing was organised in less than 5 minutes.

The way we rendezvous-ed to form a convoy heading to Pan Heong makes you think it's located in an orang asli settlement in the foothills of the Titiwangsa range.... actually, its VERY easy to find. Turn off to the Batu Caves/Kuantan road from Jln Kuching, take the first left after the huge elevated roundabout, and left again. The chinese school is the landmark.


We are amongst celebrities..... Lil Chef, from Senses, KL Hilton (Frat's and my idol and hero), Aly, his other half, from Red FM, fasting growing English language station in Malaysia, and of course, no need for introductions, the Queen of the DSLR....who incidentally has her own blog post pasted up on the walls of Pan Heong. That's like having your painting in the sistine chapel.


The Youth of Today.


Monkey indulges in a supersized Jam Tart which Boolicious brought back from Singapore. They were delightfully buttery, with pastry that crumbles in the mouth.


This is some potato leaf vegetable dish. Aisehman, how to be food blogger like this? Can't even describe the vegetables correctly. I think its called Fan Shue Yip....literally, potato leaves. It has a lovely slim texture, and enough chlorophyll to make you want to go into the sun and photosynthesize.


Aren't we lucky to have such lovely ladies (or girls) to serve us? Lovely century egg and fish congee, which is one of their signatures. Smooth texture like a baby's bottom.


Actually, the century egg was surprisingly good quality. Our local century eggs somehow usually lack that rich, gooey yolks that the Hong Kong ones have. Maybe Hong Kong/China ducks lay golden eggs. Our local yolks are usually hard and tasteless. The one in the congee was well, not as good as the Hong Kong ones, but better than most local ones.


The MUCH famed and hyped about Sang Har noodle. (Freshwater Noodle). The twist is they use kueh teow instead of sang mee. I myself am an ardent Sang Mee fan, but this kueh teow option was very palatable indeed. Lovely silky smooth rice noodles slithering down the throat coupled with that rich prawny roe gravy. Divine!


Kau Yoke Meehoon. It's like that Mui Choi Kau Yoke dish, except with mee hoon, without the mui choi. (its a fatty pork with preserved vegetables dish). Very good, and we were bemoaning the fact that there was only one plate. That was duly rectified.


Nam Yue Pork. Deep fried filleted pork in a preserved bean coating. Lovely and crisp, the kind of food that goes well with booze. Which we thankfully had. A couple of bottles of Savignon Blanc made for a lovely nap after lunch.


Mee Mamak, in a chinese tai chow. 1 Malaysia!!!! However, they should leave the mee mamaks to the mamaks... it was okay in itself, if you do not compare, but as far as Mee Mamak goes, I think the resemblance was about as much as me and Jet Li. The similarity stopped at the Yellow.


Encore plate of the Kau Yuk meehoon.


Two satisfied children.

So, is it worth the hype? Well, the food is good, no doubt about it. I would definitely go back again at the soonest opportunity. Go early, coz it was packed, and without our Goddess's influence, I wonder if we would've gotten a seat at all.

The cracks widen in Don's veneer, and there's another triumph for Peggy

SPOILER ALERT: This blog is for those who are watching Mad Men on BBC4. Don't read on if you haven't seen episode 10 – and if you've seen more of the series, please be aware that many UK viewers may not have done so …

Will Dean on episode nine

"Well he knows how to leave a room." Danny Farrell

We know that Don's veneer is cracking, but tonight we see just how far. After leaving the key to his mystery drawer in his dressing gown, Betty hears it rattling around in the tumble drier (rumbled by the consumer goods – O Fortuna!). She's smiling as she opens Don's chest with it, but what she finds knocks her off her feet: pictures of Don marked "Dick", a divorce certificate and a bond for a house for Anna Draper and Dick and Don's dog tags.

Fittingly, just as Betty discovers the Whitman family, Don is trying to atone for the death of his brother by reaching out to Suzanne's sibling Danny (True Blood's Marshall Allman), who is getting in the way of his affair. Danny seems resigned because of his epilepsy but Suzanne manages to sort out him out with a job in Massachusetts. As Don drives him there, he reaches out and encourages him to pull himself up (like Don did) before doing the right thing and letting him go his own way. "I swore to myself I would try and do this right once," he says, as he hands him his card for emergencies – a lifeline he never gave to Adam Whitman.

Little does he know that at home, Betty is riding a wave of anger and waiting to confront him, entirely unaware that Don is betraying her in a different way at Suzanne's. By the time he does return at 5.30pm the next day, she's not got the energy for the battle. At the Sterling Cooper party, there's some wonderful wordless acting from January Jones as she non-listens to Don's speech and thinks: "Who the hell is this man?"

The episode is called The Colour Blue and Suzanne and Don's early post-coital chat about perception of colours – "How do I know if what I see as blue is the same as it it to you?" – feeds through to Betty's discovery. She's been seeing Don as "blue" for all these years – but he's a completely different colour. 

"Wearing a dress isn't going to help you with Western Union." Kinsey

After her shellacking from Don a few weeks back, Peggy proved her skills as a copywriter tonight and left Paul Kinsey reeling at the same time. Despite having improved the "Paul Kinsey Theatre" Aqua Net idea in front of Don, Paul takes the easy view that Peggy's only got where she is because she's a woman and pits himself against her as they think of Western Union campaigns. While Peggy is diligently committing her ideas to tape – Don-style – Kinsey is getting pissed, looking at his old Playtex triumph and listening to jazz to drum up some inspiration. When it does finally strike after a conversation with janitor Achilles ("Achilles, I have thought of something very, very good"), he promptly falls asleep before writing it down.

Thankfully due to a combination of Kinsey's knowledge of Chinese proverbs ("The faintest ink is better than the best memory") and Peggy's ad instincts they produce a great idea together. Kinsey's reaction to Peggy's skill – "By ... god" – was perhaps the most gratifying moment of series three. Perhaps the office's self-styled liberal might now realise that there's more to Olson than just a skirt. And that also that she's just better than him.

A final point – I loved Peggy's assumption that "talk to Achilles" was some kind of classical euphemism that went over her head. If only, eh Paul?

"We finally have an answer to the question, what makes Don Draper smile?" Lane Pryce

A quick note on the potential sale of Sterling Cooper. Only Lane knows so far but PPL are using the 40th anniversary party as a way to advertise the agency to buyers. Let's deal with this when we know the details but the chat between the two (literally) disenfranchised ex-owners was rather telling – particularly Cooper's introspection and Roger's growing contempt for the leapfrogging Don. Did we know that Roger had picked him from a fur factory and introduced him to fellow wedding-cake topper Betty?

Notes

• A triptych of great lines for Lane: "Am I to entertain your ballad of dissatisfaction?"; (On it not being England) "I've been here 10 months and nobody's asked me where I went to school."; and (on his gig speech) "Churchill rousing? Or Hitler rousing?"

• Poor Jane in the car with Roger's mother. First mistaken for Margaret before Roger is asked ... "Does Mona know?"

• What with Suzanne's brother's epilepsy, Guy's foot and Sal's sexuality, Mad Men certainly does a good job of sticking two fingers up to equal-opps/H&S; recidivists.

• After the phantom call, did anyone notice Sally's under-her-breath "Jeez, Louise"?

• Don keeps a supply of dry-cleaned shirts in his office drawer.

• Plenty of great shots: I loved Betty closing the study door before we cut straight to Suzanne opening the front door to let Don in.

Culture Watch

Betty is reading Mary McCarthy's The Group in the bath. Here's a wonderful piece by Elizabeth Day about the impact of the book on women like Betty.

A boy in China with 15 fingers and 16 toes had surgery on Tuesday to remove the extra digits. Experts said a gene mutation contributed to the aberrance.

by Tom Laskawy

BPA leached from plastic: not just a problem for landlubbers.It’s looking more and more like the chemical industry’s idea to make the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A ubiquitous in the environment was a terrible, and terribly dangerous, idea. Having successfully tainted the food supply with its presence, BPA has now has put the world’s oceans at risk (via Science Daily):

Scientists have reported widespread global contamination of sea sand and sea water with the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A (BPA) and said that the BPA probably originated from a surprising source: Hard plastic trash discarded in the oceans and the epoxy plastic paint used to seal the hulls of ships.

The team analyzed sand and seawater from more than 200 sites in 20 countries, mainly in Southeast Asia and North America. All contained what Saido described as a “significant” amount of BPA, ranging from 0.01 parts per million (ppm) to 50 ppm. They concluded that polycarbonates and epoxy resin coatings and paints were the main source.

One of the notable findings in this study is that in the ocean environment, “unbreakable” polycarbonate plastic… breaks down. And when the stuff breaks down, it releases a nasty set of toxins, including BPA. Meanwhile, every ship in the world contributes to the process simply by the act of steaming about the ocean while the BPA in its exterior paints and epoxy resins leach into the water. Even worse, the scientists measured BPA concentrations at levels known to affect mollusks, crustaceans and other sea life.

It sorta makes the FDA’s refusal to ban the chemical irrelevant, at least for the oceans’ sake. But for the sake of people ingesting the stuff through can linings, etc, the agency needs to act. Now. Thanks to the potent combination of a gung-ho chemical industry and lax sygovernment oversight, we are now well into a massive experiment with the endocrine systems of pretty much every form of life on earth. As if we don’t have enough to worry about with climate change and antibiotic resistant bacteria, now we’re just going to have to cross our collective fingers and hope some kind of BPA-related nightmare scenario doesn’t occur.

Related Links:

Ask Umbra dives deep with ocean advocate Sylvia Earle

The health-care act requires calorie labeling at fast-food joints

First came superweeds; now come the superbugs!

Spring is officially here and I've packed away my sweaters making room for a couple new spring pieces.  I've preached before about the importance of building a functional wardrobe (little black dress, sensible trousers, awesome jeans, pencil skirt, pleated coats, etc) because shopping is easier/cheaper when you introduce just one or two items to spruce up your look, each new season.  You build your wardrobe like a hobbyist builds their collection.  In the end you have a well working closet.

 

What's on my radar this spring 2010?

 

Not much, which is a true sign of the economy.  I've tried to go into the mall and left emptied handed - this would've never happened just two years ago.  I actually told the Saks shoe associate that, "I just don't love them.  I don't really need them."  When trying on the most delicious BCBG ballet flats (found similar ones at DSW).  On my radar this spring are things that I really love and aren't worth a fortune.

1.  Earrings. Specifically very long dangly ones that complement my new short hair cut.  I'm planning on wearing a lot more earrings and rings and wearing fewer necklaces and bracelets.  I found cute earrings at a craft fair for a whopping $5!  Woot.

2.  Aviator sunglasses. Gold ones because I am all done with anything silver.  And I am all over wearing sunglasses that scream GUCCI or  CHANEL or LOOKATME.

3.  Floral. Floral is everywhere but I can't imagine rocking a floral print dress so I am searching for a simple "floral" like top that will match well with my skirts/trousers.  H&M; had decent floral tops.  As did my trusty Target.

4.  Flats. In fun colors!  To match my fun dangly earrings.

5.  Minnie pants. If there's one pant you buy this season consider the JCrew Minnie pant.  I read about them online, went to the store, saw them on the sales associate and walked out with two pairs.  They fit amazing and are as comfy as your most favorite yoga pants.  I promise.  If you are buying online, order a size down as they are very stretchy.  (Yes, I know they are $90 pants - but they feel like $90 pants and I wear them all.  the.  time.)

6.  Trench. I've owned mine for 4 years and still look forward each spring when I dust it off and throw it over a pencil skirt.

7.  Tote. I've been searching for a "Hermes" inspired tote for about two years now.  I think I found one and keep looking around the house to see what I could sell on ebay to afford it.

8.  Lip gloss. I go lighter in the spring.  And shinier too.

 

 

I am sashaying around Cleveland in my new pants, old trench, a pair of $10 aviator sunglasses scored at an outlet mall, huge earrings found at a craft fair, a new shade of pink gloss, new hair and crossing my fingers that spring is here to stay.  Just a pair of new shades and some sassy earrings are enough to make me feel like a million bucks this season.  I think I'm turning into a responsible adult.  Gasp.

What's on your radar this spring?

Schoolboy with 31 fingers and toes has surgery to remove his extra digits Schoolboy with 31 fingers and toes has surgery to remove his extra digits | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1260245/Schoolboy-31-fingers-toes-surgery-remove-extra-digits.html) ---Quote--- A six-year-old boy with 15 fingers and 16 toes has undergone surgery to remove his extra digits. The unnamed Chinese child had four fingers on one hand and three on the other fused together. He now has ten fingers and ten toes following a six-and-a-half hour operation at a hospital in Shenyang, Liaoning, to remove the surplus 11 digits. The boy has a condition known as polydactyly, in which one of a variety of genetic disorders - which can be inherited, or are new mutations - gives rise to excess digits. Most commonly, the extra digits appear on the little finger side of the hand. This child appears to have the much rarer condition of central polydactyly, in which the middle fingers and toes are duplicated. His mother said he had been ridiculed and called a 'monster' by his schoolmates in kindergarten. He is thought to hold the world record for the number of digits ever recorded on a human being. The current official record holders are two Indian children, Pranamya Menaria and Devendra Harne, who both have 12 fingers and 13 toes. ---End Quote---

Your Shun Knife and You.

An informative guide.

Congratulations on purchasing your new Shun Pro Knife. This handy guide will instruct you on the myriad uses for your Shun Pro II Deba or Shun Pro Yanagiba knife.

When using your new knife for the first time, please note that the sharp, or “blade” side should be used for cutting only. Do not attempt to hold the knife using the blade side. Instead, hold on to the ebony-black Pakkawood handle. The handle on your knife is D-shaped, and will fit your hand perfectly regardless of which hand you use.

Note that the D-shaped handle will not work correctly with feet.

Your Shun knife should provide excellent response with slicing, chopping, or dicing motions. While stabbing or puncturing may feel temporarily satisfying, please note that it is not an effective or safe use of your Shun knife.

Be sure to keep fingers, toes, small pets, and loved ones clear of the blade at all times. Failure to do so may result in litigation and heartache.

Warranty: KAI Limited Lifetime Warranty

Features:

Kai VGE0165D Shun Pro II Deba 165mm Knife

Features:

• Steel: 5mm Pure VG-10 steel composed of carbon, chromium, cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, silicon, and vanadium
• Handle: Ebony-black Pakkawood with brass-accented bolsters and end caps
• Single-sided, beveled edges for less sticking and less damage to food
• Handle accented with a brass medallion, as well as brass rings
• Ideal for either left or right-handed use
• Blade length: 6.5”
• Dishwasher safe

Kai VG0300Y Shun Pro Yanagiba 300mm Knife

Features:

• VG-10 steel composed of carbon, chromium, cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, silicon, and vanadium
• Single-sided, beveled edges for less sticking and less damage to food
• Handle: Ebony-black Pakkawood
• “D” shaped handle that fits the hand perfectly
• Stainless steel bolsters and end caps
• Dishwasher safe
• Blade length: 11.75” (30.0 cm)

In the box:

• You Choose: Kai VGE0165D Shun Pro II Deba 165mm Knife or Kai VG0300Y Shun Pro Yanagiba 300mm Knife

Black farmers are worried that a landmark deal to compensate them for discrimination faced over decades could slip through their fingers as a deadline looms without funding approved by lawmakers.

A 6-year-old boy from China, who was born with 5 extra fingers and 6 extra toes, has undergone an operation to remove his extra digits, the Daily Mail reported. If you do the math – that’s 31 fingers and toes.

Fliptop Makes RSS Feeds Work for You is a post from Chris Pirillo

Fliptop was introduced at the DEMO conference this week in Florida. This application will make you sit up and take notice. You may even gasp loudly, and trip over your fingers in your rush to grab this for yourself. RSS feeds can be a pain to manage – we all know this. Additionally, normal RSS feeds only offer you a direct feed that you have to add to a reader of some sort.

Fliptop has several interesting features that normal RSS feeds do not. The application gives you the ability to filter content by keyword, follow only certain topics or categories that interest you, and allows you to receive email digests of only the things you want to see. The service is available in two different styles. One is designed with website owners in mind. The other, of course, is geared towards the users who visit those sites.

The interface for site owners will give you a button to embed on your site. When clicked, the button will ask the user which topics they want to follow. Below that there is the option to also filter by keywords. The user then chooses how they wish to be alerted to new content: via traditional RSS feed, email, Twitter, Facebook, or text message. If you want to receive email updates, you can also tell the application how often you want to hear from them.

After reading all about Fliptop, I can admit that I will be tripping over my own fingers very soon in my rush. What about you? How fast will you be typing this into your favorite search engine?

• Have you checked out Remmina yet?
• Muziic is one of the best applications available if you are a music lover.
• What happens when school is really REALLY boring?
• Be careful when upgrading your operating system. You don’t want to corrupt your partitions.
• What is Virtual Linux?
• Motorola Droid owners are still waiting for their update.
• iThink, therefore iAm.
• What exactly is Microsoft hoping to accomplish with the next version of Internet Explorer?
• AVG offers a free CD (or other portable tools) to help you get back up and running again.
• A Developer’s guide to getting it on: Twitter Style.
• What ten cities run the highest risk of cybercrime according to Symantec?
• If you are a Firefox user, please make sure you grab the newest update as soon as you can.
• Don’t get stuck on stupid – purchase an upgrade!
• Why won’t Dan ever use Google Chrome?

Don’t forget to see what’s new in the software center today.

• Should School be Taught in the Cloud?
• What Type of Music Helps You be More Productive?
• How to Remove Internet Explorer 8
• Does Internet Explorer Suck?
• How to Improve Internet Explorer
• How Do You Enlarge Web Site Fonts for Printing?
• Did You Order Your iPad Today?
• $65 Laptop
• Lady Gaga Tops Vevo
• Go Shopping With Google

• Meet this 6-year-old, who has 15 fingers and 16 toes, enough to outnumber the current world record of 25. He lives in Harbin. [People's Daily]
• The Rio Tinto trial for Stern Hu and three other Rio Tinto employees has ended, though a verdict on the charges of accepting bribes and stealing commercial secrets won't be announced for a while yet. [New York Times]
• So yeah, Google wasn't able to make it in China. But will any of these touted Chinese internet giants - Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba - really be able to make it out? [New York Times]
• Speaking of Google (and who isn't these days?), James Fallows has an interview with chief legal officer David Drummond, and it seems everyone we know thinks it's absolutely required reading. [The Atlantic]
• Under a new regulation of a provincial public security bureau in Henan, police chiefs and deputy chiefs should resign if prisoners under their jurisdiction die without "adequate reasons." [China Daily]
• Thank goodness for poor Beijing: the dust storms have dispersed and normal weather has returned. Still, with ongoing overgrazing, deforestation and urban sprawl, the chances of another sandstorm coming are quite high. [Associated Press]
• China may report it's first monthly trade deficit in six years, which could help it convince trading partners that its yuan isn't quite so undervalued. [Wall Street Journal]

That Clay Buchholz was battered by the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday will raise few red flags in the Boston Red Sox clubhouse, as the lanky right-hander suffered the thumping during an admittedly sleepy spring training tune-up.

The Calendar still reads March, which is to say the numbers don’t matter yet.

But the Red Sox need to hope the numbers are impressive when they do.

Not just because Buchholz is a key part of the Red Sox rotation—that part is most definitely true, and is indeed critical—but also because at this point the can’t-miss prospect literally can’t miss without the Sox ending up with egg on their face.

Buchholz’s story is no secret. The skinny rookie burst on the scene and fired a no-hitter in his second start ever, raising the expectation bar to an unattainable level. What followed was a two-year journey through baseball’s mental spider web that featured fewer peaks and more frustrating valleys before Buchholz seemed to begin turning the corner down the stretch last summer.

He is now slotted into the No. 4 spot in the Red Sox rotation and is about to enter his first season as a full-time starter. At the age of 25, the time is now for the highly-touted prospect to put the package together.

The Red Sox, no doubt, have their fingers crossed.

Buchholz has long been the most prized possession in the Red Sox farm system. Dozens of times teams have approached Theo Epstein with a trade package built around the promising hurler, and dozens of times they’ve been turned away.

And the Red Sox faithful have patiently waited for the culmination, to see what the Red Sox scouts have promised.

Now they better see it.

Over the past two seasons alone, Buchholz could have been the key component to net the Red Sox Adrian Gonzalez, Roy Halladay, or a package of both Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez. Epstein shrewdly coaxed the Indians into surrendering Martinez without taking Buchholz in return, but the belief is that a deal including Mr. Clay would have brought former Cy Young winner Lee to Beantown as well.

What you have in those players is a sure thing. Halladay or Lee would have immediately made the rotation as deep as any baseball—this, of course, precedes the John Lackey signing. And Gonzalez would have provided the middle-of-the-order bopper Sox fans have been thirsting for since Big Papi became slightly larger than average Papi.

This isn’t to say the Red Sox haven’t done well for themselves anyway. They’ve won a pair of World Series in the last decade and have reached the playoffs in every season under Terry Francona save for one. But the possibilities are literally endless when you consider the kind of player Buchholz could have brought in return.

Boston has proved adept at holding onto prospects in the past. Jonathan Papelbon, Kevin Youkilis, and Dustin Pedroia have all blossomed in front of our eyes, and—perhaps more directly connected to this conversation—Jacoby Ellsbury and Jon Lester have turned into perennial All-Star threats after the Sox refused to ship them out of town for the likes of Johan Santana or Halladay.

The one big-time prospect they did let go of, Hanley Ramirez, was shipped out when Theo was on his brief hiatus, and one can only assume Epstein wouldn’t have made the deal given his prospect-protecting history.

So it’s no surprise that Buchholz is still around. But the time has come for him to fulfill his immense promise, or for the first time the Sox brass will have plenty of explaining to do.

Let the record state that I am firmly behind Buchholz. I advocated keeping him in every instance, and still believe it will prove the better decision in the long run. With the possible exception of Gonzalez, there wasn’t a player available I’d have even considered moving him for.

But seeds of doubt have begun to creep in. A pitcher I once thought was a sure-fire ace of the staff has yet to show that kind of punch. He doesn’t necessarily have to get to that level, but seeing him emerge as a viable No. 2 or No. 3 would be ideal.

Especially if you have a job in the Red Sox front office.

A new national poll from Bloomberg today finds that nearly two out of every three Americans dislike top executives in big business, reflecting a broader disdain of Wall Street and Big Finance that wasn't as prevalent as before. 70 percent of those polled, the poll also found, favor giving consumer protection powers to existing bank regulators and not to a new consumer protection agency, as proposed by the House, Senate, and President Obama. And to no one's surprise, a majority of Americans think the government should have the power to limit executive compensation for top Wall Street executives.

Here's more from the Bloomberg poll:

The majority of poll participants—56 percent—say big financial companies are more interested in enriching themselves at the expense of ordinary people, while 40 percent say such firms play a vital role in enabling the economy to grow.

At the same time, Americans are divided over the scope of government regulation. More than 40 percent of Americans say the government has gone too far in measures to fix the financial industry; 37 percent say it hasn’t done enough. Almost six out of 10 people say Wall Street hasn’t gone far enough on its own to protect against future emergencies.

“Anything the government gets their fingers in, they mess it up,” said poll participant Norman White, 60, a community college electronics instructor who lives in Colfax, Louisiana. “I don’t have a very high opinion of the government running anything.” ...

The Fed could use some marketing help, the poll shows. More than a quarter of participants don’t have an opinion about the central bank, while 42 percent have a favorable view and 31 percent hold an unfavorable view.

“This little piggy went to the market” would take ages ! “A Chinese boy with 31 fingers and toes is set to undergo an operation to remove the extra digits.” He has a total of 15 fingers and 16 toes (which is too many). [ Ed Note : Updated due to catastrophic math fail! Everybody take a deep breath.]

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Clinique High Lengths Mascara - $18

The "willow" wand applicator is certainly unique so I was interested to try this one out.  They advise that for best results, to start at the base of the lash line with the curve of the brush against the natural curve of your lashes, then slowly comb upward through the tips of the lashes to extend and separate.  For added feathering and separation, use the tines towards the top of the fine-toothed comb to find and define smaller lashes.

What Clinique didn't count on was my super-spazziness!  I'm not the most coordinated person at the best of times and I thought this mascara had gotten the best of me!  But after a few tries I did get the hang of it and was happy with the results.  My lashes are noticeably longer and I never find the formula clumpy.  An unexpected bonus is that it also seems to curl my lashes - I looked and nowhere on the box or in anything I read about it has said it's supposed to do that so I suspect it has something to do with my (incorrect) wand technique.  I am totally okay with this side effect!  

If you like a lengthening mascara that doesn't add volume, has a funky brush-comb thing that possibly might curl your lashes too then you should give this one a try!


Clinique Instant Lift for Brows - $19.50

Everyone knows how important having well groomed brows is.  Well groomed brows can take years off your age, open up your eyes and just make you look so much more polished.  Instant Lift for Brows includes a brow filling pencil on one end and a brow bone highlighter on the other.  The pencil is designed to fill-in brows and even out sparse areas to create perfectly defined, natural looking brows.  When applied under the brow, the highlighter instantly brightens your appearance and gives the illusion of a lifted look, using light reflecting ingredients to highlight the brow.  It's a simple way to look years  without the fuss - instant gratification at its best.

The brow filler side is a wax-based formula.  It has a long-wearing formula that is supposed to last up to 8 hours without smudging or smearing.  It comes in three shades:  soft blonde, soft brown and deep brown.

The brow bone highlighter side is a warm pink champagne colour meant to be universally flattering and creates the illusion of a lifted brow when applied on the brow bone right underneath the brow.

The two sided pencil idea is genius.  I use both a brow filler and a highlighter on a daily basis so having them both together in one place makes life so much easier!  This was also much easier then the powder formulas that I usually use, you just swipe it on, blend a little bit with your fingers and it's done!  My only issue is with the colours offered - I'm a redhead and like to have my brow's colour be somewhere in the auburn family. Sadly, Instant Lift for Brows offers nothing for the gingers of the world so hopefully they will be addressing this short sightedness soon.  If you are of the blonde or brunette persuasion, or like to have brows of this colour, this is worth a try!

Tell It To Woz, Turtleneck

Of course, we’d never ever tell you to do something illegal. Never ever.

But, well… the courts haven’t yet decided that a Jailbreaked iPhone is illegal yet, have they? And this wonderful nation we live in isn’t a big tribute to Steve Jobs’ own personal opinions. If that was the case, Flash would be on the run and Google would be at the bottom of a river. And is Google at the bottom of a river? No? Well, then, get in line, Steve, because you’re not running the show just yet.

Anyway, this Apple 8GB iPhone 3G comes all AT&T ready. It can handle GPS, email, the Internet, texting, video, photos, music, the whole range of 3G features. But, see, if it was gussied up a little… maybe it could do more.

So even if you already have a brand new iPhone, consider this Apple 8GB iPhone 3G as a chance to experiment. Because who knows? One day ol’Stevey might get his whiny whiny way, and it might be illegal to Jailbreak brand new iPhones.

But who hasn’t heard of the Grandfather Clause?

Authorized for SquareTrade Extended Warranty

Warranty: 90 Day Woot Limited Warranty

Features:

• Phone, 8GB iPod, and Internet device in one, iPhone 3G offers desktop-class email, Google Maps, and Internet browsing
• With its large Multi-Touch display and innovative software, iPhone lets you control everything using only your fingers
• iPhone responds to motion using a built-in accelerometer. When you rotate iPhone from portrait to landscape, the accelerometer detects the movement and changes the display accordingly
• When you lift iPhone to your ear, the proximity sensor immediately turns off the display to save power and prevent accidental dialing. The ambient light sensor in iPhone automatically brightens the display when you’re in sunlight or a bright room and dims it in darker places
• Find your location quickly and accurately via GPS, Wi-Fi, and cellular towers. Drop a pin to mark your location or share it with others via email or MMS
• Keyboard accelerates your typing because it tracks what you type, then suggests words, corrects spelling, and inserts punctuation for you. It even learns the words you use most often
• View a list of turn-by-turn directions or follow a highlighted map route and track your progress with GPS
• Quick and easy to cut, copy, and paste words and photos, even between applications
• Rotate to landscape to use a larger keyboard in Mail, Messages, Notes, and Safari
• Send SMS and MMS messages and include photos, audio, locations, and contact info
• Spotlight searches all your contacts, email, calendars, and notes, as well as everything in your iPod
• Capture a memo, a meeting, or any audio recording on the go. Voice Memos works with the built-in iPhone mic or with the mic on your headset
• Discover tens of thousands of apps that let you do even more with the iPhone. Browse apps in categories from games to business, finance to fitness, and more
• Access the iTunes Store over cellular or Wi-Fi networks. Then browse millions of songs or browse movies, movie rentals, TV shows, music videos, audiobooks, podcasts, ringtones — even college lectures from iTunes U
• Home screens give you one-tap access to everything on iPhone,even when you’re on a call. Customize your Home screens with your favorite applications and websites

Size and weight:

• Height: 4.5 inches (115.5 mm)
• Width: 2.4 inches (62.1 mm)
• Depth: 0.48 inch (12.3 mm)
• Weight: 4.7 ounces (133 grams)

Cellular and wireless:

• UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
• GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
• Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR wireless technology

Location:

• Assisted GPS
• Wi-Fi
• Cellular

Power and battery:

• Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
• Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter
• Talk time: Up to 5 hours on 3G Up to 10 hours on 2G
• Standby time: Up to 300 hours
• Internet use: Up to 5 hours on 3G Up to 6 hours on Wi-Fi
• Video playback: Up to 7 hours
• Audio playback: Up to 24 hours

Display:

• 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display
• 480-by-320-pixel resolution at 163 ppi
• Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously

Audio playback:

• Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
• Audio formats supported: AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
• User-configurable maximum volume limit

Video playback:

• Video formats supported: H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 3.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

Camera and photos:

• 2 megapixels
• Photo geotagging
• iPhone and third-party application integration

Sensors:

• Accelerometer
• Proximity sensor
• Ambient light sensor

Mac system requirements:

• Mac computer with USB 2.0 port
• Mac OS X v10.4.11 or later
• iTunes 8.2 or later (free download from www.itunes.com/download)
• iTunes Store account
• Internet access

Windows system requirements:

• PC with USB 2.0 port
• Windows Vista; or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later
• iTunes 8.2 or later (free download from www.itunes.com/download)
• iTunes Store account
• Internet access

In the box:

• Apple MB046LL/A 8GB 3G iPhone
• USB Cable
• Earbuds

The other week I met a mom. We started chatting about our kids, as moms tend to do, and she asked how old mine were. When I told her 3 and 1, she gave me a look that was part pity and part relief. Her kids were 5 and 7, I believe. “Wow, you’re really in the thick of it, aren’t you?” she said.

I suddenly remembered a friend telling me about a very similar conversation she had with another mother when HER kids were 3 and I. Except I believe that woman’s exact response was, “You’re in hell, huh?”

If complete strangers are widening their eyes and oozing sympathy, there’s gotta be something to it, right?

The thing about having kids ages 3 and 1 is that one is trying to be independent and the other is still completely dependent on you. One can talk (you may wish sometimes he’d stop) and the other gets your attention by screaming and crying. One is trying to do wheelies on his scooter and the other is trying to scale the stairs. One can eat anything but won’t, and the other can’t eat everything but tries to. One is still napping (thank God) but the other wages epic battles against quiet time. One may be out of diapers but you’re still wiping 2 butts. It’s grueling, people.

And yes, I’m sticking with that word: GRUELING. Rail at me all you want about how motherhood is nowhere near as hard as picking beans in a field and I will tell you you’re WRONG. It’s harder.

In a single day, you can find yourself rushing to the pediatrician because of some weird rash, racing to the ER because someone did a faceplant at the playground, saving one kid from drowning when his brother gets too rowdy in the bathtub, fishing the other one out of a duck pond, and changing a wet kid in a crowded locker room after swimming lessons while the other screams in the stroller. And yes, these are all real-life examples.

In a single night, you can find yourself comforting a child who’s coughing and another who’s having nightmares. You could be chasing away monsters, singing lullabies, fetching cups of water, and changing diapers and sheets. You might sleep from 11 p.m. straight through till 7 a.m., or you could be woken at 2 a.m., 4 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. You never know.

Some days I wonder if I will ever again wake up without a small, damp person clawing at my face and kicking me in the stomach. Will we ever get through a meal without tears and threats? Will I ever get to finish a cup of coffee without reheating it 7 times? Will I ever get to shampoo AND blow-dry my hair on the same day? Or wash, dry, fold, and put away a load of laundry in the same week?

So why the heck do people do this kid thing, then? Because all the stress and struggles are interspersed with moments of real joy.

I’ll be yelling at Miles to take his hands off his brother when I notice Riley is laughing harder than I’ve ever seen him laugh. Riley will be wailing in the car and I’ll hear Miles say, “Don’t cry, buddy. When you get bigger we’re going to have bunk-beds, isn’t that exciting?” The tears and scrapes are offset by hugs and silly songs we make up. A day may start with spilled milk and slammed fingers, and end up with a picnic and feeding the ducks. And then one kid slips and falls into the pond and it’s back to tears and laundry.

So, yeah. I’d say we’re in the thick of it. But at least I know from these other moms that there’s life on the other side of 3 and 1. Man, 5 and 7 must be a walk in the park... without a change of clothes.

MILESISMS, VERB EDITION:

- When he uses half a bottle of soap to wash his hands, he’s “make suring” they’re really clean.

- “Mom, when you’re done take caring of Riley, can you get me a snack?”

- He likes “lawn mowering” the grass with his toy lawnmower.

I have had it up to here with the Budget (you cannot see, but I'm holding my hand up to my forehead), having tweeted my fingers raw on the subject, and written 385 words in 19 minutes for a magazine. My brief reaction is: I heard loads of micro-things from Darling, all of them adding up ...

My pointer finger is to small for all 6 strings is there a way to move my hand or fix my finger so I can play barre chords. Or should I try to wait until my fingers get longer. I don't know if this helps but im 13 and 5 foot 5 inches tall.

Fancy a flutter on the length of Alistair Darling's budget speech, buzzwords or even his tie colour? The bookies can oblige
• Budget 2010: Live blog

The budget wouldn't be complete without the opportunity to place a bet or two, and this time the bookmakers have excelled themselves with possible wagers on Alistair Darling's performance.

The chancellor is expected to take almost an hour to deliver his statement, with Ladbrokes taking bets on the speech lasting either under or over 52 minutes (5/6 either way). If you reckon he'll break Benjamin Disraeli's record of 45 minutes, set in 1867, then William Hill are offering 7/2 on under 41 minutes and 4/1 on 41-45 minutes.

There's also unrivalled opportunity to win (or indeed lose) a packet betting on which measures will be included. Paddy Power is offering 1/5 that alcohol duty will go up, 12/1 that it will be reduced, and 3/1 that there will be no change. It is also offering 1/5 that the final budget deficit for 2009-2010 will come in below £178bn.

The issue of the UK's huge borrowing will dominate the budget, of course. But how often will the chancellor mention the word "deficit"? Paddy Power reckon it could easily reach double figures (13/8).

Ladbrokes has also pulled together a list of buzzwords. "Interest rates" are a near-certainty to come up (1/20), along with "fiscal stimulus" (1/5) and "inheritance tax" (1/2). We may also hear about "tough choices" (5/4), "hard-working families" (5-1), "Tory cuts" (5/1) and "Bankers' bonuses" (6/1).

Also on the policy side, William Hill is taking bets at 4/1 that Darling delays or scraps the forthcoming rise in fuel duty.

For serious profits, though, place your money and cross your fingers to hear "slash and burn" or "workmanlike" at 25/1. Or even Darling's headline-grabbing phrase, "forces of darkness" at a recession-busting 100/1.

As usual, there's plenty of opportunity to bet on the colour of the tie that Darling (or his redoubtable wife Maggie?) picks out of the wardrobe. The bookies are divided on this one – Ladbrokes has Tory blue at 2/1, socialist red at 3/1 and pink (the colour of being fired in America) at 4/1. Paddy Power, though, reckons there's a good chance that the rather natty blue/grey/silver (fashion opinion varies) tie seen a year ago will make another appearance. Grey/silver is 4-1, after red at 9/4 and purple/pink at 5/2. Last year Ladbrokes paid out to anyone who backed blue or grey so this could be your best chance to offset the chancellor's tax rises.

Political wisdom states that this is the last time that Darling will pose with the battered red box, regardless of who wins the next election. Bookmakers, though, aren't completely sure. William Hill has George Osborne down as the firm favourite, at 4/11, to deliver the first budget of the new parliament. He's followed by Darling at 8/1, and then a dead heat with Vince Cable and Ed Balls both at 10/1.

Are you bored, lonely, and devoid of purpose? Me too! So glad you stopped by.

It’s time for the weekly Smartypants Quiz – a brain-melting frenzy of general knowledge. Jump right on in!

 
PRIZES

(2) First Prizes: Amazon Kindle.
Two readers will win first prize: 1) the first person who correctly answers all questions, and 2) a randomly selected player in the Top 100 who correctly answers all questions. (This is in acknowledgment of the fact that not everyone’s fingers work at the same speed.)

(1) Second Prize: $150 Amazon.com gift card. The second person who correctly answers all questions.

(3) Runners-Up Prizes: $75 Amazon.com gift card. Three players who correctly answer all questions will be randomly selected.

 
THE RULES

One entry per person, please.

Read each question very carefully before answering.

IMPORTANT: Answers will be hidden during the quiz. ***You will be able to see your own answers after you submit, but no one else will be able to. I will begin approving comments Sunday afternoon and announce winners Sunday night.***

ALSO: ***Please note that when you post your answers, it will appear that your answers are in the #1 spot. This is only because all other answers are hidden.***

 
Quiz will end at 7:00 pm Pacific Time Wednesday. Answers (and comments) will be revealed and winners announced Thursday morning.

 
Good luck!

 
 

1. Which Amendment to the US Constitution grants people the right to keep and bear arms?

 
 
 

2. Name the only mammal that can truly fly.

 
 
 

3. Name five pairs of U.S. presidents who share the same last name.

 
 
 

4. If laid end to end, approximately how many miles of blood vessels are in the average human body?

a. 500 miles
b. 7,500 miles
c. 60,000 miles
d. 350,000 miles

 
 
 

5. Name two Shakespeare plays in which ghosts appear in the story.

 
 
 

6. Which of the following is NOT one of the five most common elements in our universe?

a. Oxygen
b. Helium
c. Aluminum
d. Hydrogen

 
 
 

7. Identify the artist that created this self-portrait:

 
 
 

8. Which of the following four wars claimed the lives of the most soldiers?

a: Revolutionary War
b: Civil War
c: World War I
d: World War II

 
 
 

9. Before Alaska became a state, what was the tallest U.S. mountain?

 
 
 

10. Which of the following serves as a passageway for both air and food?

a. trachea
b. pharynx
c. larynx

 
 
 

11. Identify this performer, whose breakthrough single was released in summer 2009:

 
 
 

12. “Desultory” means

a. evil
b. lacking a plan, purpose, or enthusiasm
c. mandatory
d. having a keen sense

 
 
 

13. Who played the blond receptionist on the seventies sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati?”

 
 
 

14. What is the largest country in South America?

a: Columbia
b: Argentina
c: Brazil
d: Peru

 
 
 

15. What was the name of the last movie in which John Wayne appeared?

 
 
 

16. Who sculpted the Pieta?

 
 
 

17. What TV Show featured a husband-wife team played by Norman Fell & Audra Lindley?

 
 
 

18. What is equal to -459.69 degrees Fahrenheit?

 
 
 

19. What word can be defined in the following two ways:

a. thread
b. a long tale

 
 
 

20. How many 9’s are between 1 and 100?

 
 

Ready…set…GO!

M Theory Entertainment, Bumin-Murray's digital arm that was launched in 2006, scoured this year's SXSW to find some of the best live bands and then asked them to share their inspiration behind how they crafted their set lists for the night. This combined with fan reactions were filmed, edited together, and resulted in over a dozen 3 - 5 minute episodes that make up the documentary web series The Set List. The series is being released exclusively for the next month on Dailymotion through their music section and SXSW hub. The season kicks off with Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, a band that has been described as being "like a modern-day version of Tina Turner stroking the microphone in a spangled mini-dress while fronting the Rolling Stones circa Sticky Fingers." Potter fronts the band with a husky yet sultry crooning and could very well be Joni Mitchell reincarnated. One fan exclaims energetically in the episode, ""I hope I get my face melted off". Potter and band-mate Matt Burr explain their process of putting together their list of songs for the night with passion and humor. "It's like making a mix tape," explained Potter. "I'm talking about sitting there with a tape recorder and a tape cassette and all your favorite records and going through them one at a time and putting your heart and soul into it. That's the process I like to think of when I'm writing a set list." But prankster Burr sometimes likes to derail that process. Potter playfully expresses her amusement at finding surprises interjected into her well-crafted work...like that "Jazz Odyssey version of Free Bird," laughs Burr.

We decided to try out khaugalli after reading the write up in the paper.

The place is located at mhada on the way to lokhandwala from the 4 bungalows signal.You turn left at the sign and then go straight. You will pass the versova telephone exchange on the left and then drive straight it is about 5 buildings from the exchange (not 2 buildings as the guys told us over the phone)

Sorry for the lack of updates for the past two days - just got back to Tokyo last night and have been swamped with non stop mails, skype, phone calls and meetings ^^;;;
Today I finally get to talk about one of the most exciting projects that I've ever worked on.

I absolutely love anime which is a key column of Japanese pop culture and throughout the years of blogging and running Mirai Inc, I've befriended many comrades in the anime business. After learning more about the industry and the production process, I gathered enough knowledge and connections to build up a team of talented people to work with me in a new anime production studio called Mirai Fusion. I'm working with a unit called Hibuse on the production of their original story called "Chinka" - the kanji is 鎮火 which means to "put out a fire."

Story

Since a few years ago, there have been many cases of arson.
In the rural town of Kiyotaki, situated in a beautiful mountain valley, the town folks are talking about the legendary arsonist, Akaneko [赤猫].
The police have completely given up on Akaneko, who has slipped through their fingers every time.
The town's only hope is its one and only firefighting team - the Mizuneko [水猫] Fire Brigade. But because of their destructive fire fighting ways, they too are feared by the town folk. Almost every night, Akaneko and the Mizuneko Fire Brigade fight fiercely, taking down many of the town's buildings in the process. The Mizuneko Fire Brigade have depleted most of the town's financial resources so the town ends up on the verge of bankruptcy. The town was in a critical state when Chinka, a girl with a superhuman ability to smell out fires appears. With her powers, the Mizuneko Fire Brigade close in on the true identity of Akaneko...

The town of Kiyotaki

The town is densely packed with small wooden buildings so fires spread rapidly. The Mizuneko Fire Brigade uphold the motto "destructive fire fighting" but because of this, many parts of town lay in ruins.

Mizuneko Fire Brigade

Although the Mizuneko Fire Brigade is a private organization, as the town of Kiyotaki doesnt have a fire department, Mizuneko Fire Brigade are in charge of the day-to-day firefighting.

Press release

And this is what my press department came up with for our first title.

MIRAI FUSION launches its long-awaited first anime project!
The original animation from HIBUSE will be finally unveiled after a long two-year wait since the conception of the story. The unique and intriguing characters and the artfully written scenario will extinguish the moe anime fever! This commemorative first anime has been developed by Danny Choo and his anime production company, "MIRAI FUSION."

Firefighting action animation!
A breathtaking chase involving the two-wheeled firefighting chopper, "Mist Dragon"!
Mechanical wonder of Mikoto's "Dragon Breath", a monstrous high pressure pump!
A sight-to-see firefighting action with Megumi and Tatsugoro Shinmon!
Chinka's clumsy scenes!
Chinka is packed with exciting firefighting scenes pivotal to the story, which are true-to-life representations of real firefighting action - a must-see for anime fans and firefighting manias alike. We've obsessed over even the tiniest details, and now this action-packed, humongous project is about to begin!

And no - Chinka will not be a fanservice anime - maybe at the level of K-ON but that's about it ^^;

Character introductions as follows.

Chinka

This is the main character Chinka (椿香) aged 14 - the naive clumsy new girl who has just joined the Mizuneko fire brigade. She has the ability to sniff out fires from far distances.

This an example of a character outline that the animators are working from. These are called Character Settei [キャラクター設定]. Chinka has got fire hoses with little fire bells attached to her hair. A sweetie she is.

Shoka

This is Shoka (翔華) aged 16 - leader of the Mizuneko fire brigade. Tough boyish character. Favorite vehicle is her two wheeled Mist Dragon. Her father is the mayor of the town.

Megumi

This is megumi (めぐみ) aged 17- the bishojo with a tennen (おっとり天然系) personality - cant describe that in English so just imagine something similar to Miyuki (Lucky Star) and Mugi (k-on).
Megumi is a descendant of the legendary fireman of the Edo period Shinmon Tatsugoro (新門辰五郎). She excels at extinguishing fires and is the only one who can control the fierce Mikoto pumps.

Shinmon Tatsugoro

The legendary fireman of the Edo period Shinmon Tatsugoro (新門辰五郎) and great grand father of Megumi. When Megumi is in a spot of bother, he would appear behind Megumi and she would become possessed by his spirit to help her.

Mikoto

The quiet mechanic Mikoto (ミコト) aged 15. She looks after the maintenance of the fire engines and does a load of customization to them too - all the fire fighting equipment on the engines have been turned into weapons which deliver incredible water pressure.

Now that the four main girl characters have been introduced - which tickles your fancy the most?
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Hibuse-san

Hibuse-san (ヒブセさん) - the station cat. Was picked up by Shoka at the scene of a fire one day and as been living at the fire station garage ever since.

Height comparison of the Mizuneko Fire Brigade members.

Mirai

You already know my mascot Mirai (みらい).
In Chinka, Mirai plays the part of a cat loving maid waitress who works at the cafeteria located near the Mizuneko headquarters. The cafeteria is where the Mizuneko girls to go to relax after a hard days work but they tend to run amok and cause trouble for gullible Mirai-chan ^^;

Some sketches of the PV that we are in the middle of putting together now. Mirai has always been fascinated by the customized fire engines built by Mikoto and one day she finally gets to ride on one.

Some concept sketches of the Mist Dragon, Megumi with the spirit of Shinmon Tatsugoro, Shoka, Hibuse-san and the fire engine Downpour Dragon that has rods which shoot into the ground to prevent it from shooting backwards after the Dragon Breath high pressure water canon is engaged.

Downpour Dragon is filled with sacred water from a shrine called Ryukisui (龍奇水).

The most important part of the character - the upper set of eyes - the lower pair of eyes being the second most important? ^^;
Here we see the eyes of Megumi, Mikoto and Chinka.

A few more sketches. Shoka on the Mist Dragon and Chinka breathing in a cool refreshing breeze.

And here is the econte for the PV that we are working on now.
1. Camera pans down from the clear skies onto Chinka breathing in the fresh cool breeze.
2. Camera zooms back from Chinka who is on the roof of the Downpour Dragon, camera then zooms in on Shoka on her Mist Dragon who moves in from the left.
3. Shoka pulls out her fire extinguisher cannon.
4. Camera pan on Mikoto, camera does a track back as she opens her eyes.

5. Mikoto suddenly pulls on the levers which spins Downpour Dragon around with the back facing the camera. The stabilizer rods shoot out from the back into the ground and the Dragon Breath water canon extends upwards - camera pans up.
6. Megumi looks worried and flustered with a "whats going on?!" expression.

7. Mist emits from Megumi's back. Cutesome music turns sinister. Camera pans around to Megumi's face where she has awoken with the spirit of Tatsugoro behind her. Camera zooms back to reveal Tatsugoro's full shape and Megumi whips out her fire hose canons - two huge jets of water shoots out towards the camera.

Screen is filled with water spiraling into the center where it hits a column of fire - Akaneko appears.

8. Camera pan on Akaneko who gives a sinister laugh.
9. Chinka stands in front of a wall of flames and looks up.
10. Splash of water engulfs the screen and we see the four heroines of the Mizuneko fire brigade - Chinka.

Sneak peak from one of the episodes.

Rough sketch of Chinka splashing water on Mirai-chan - they like to tease her ^^;

The team is currently working 247 on the PV which should be ready to show you soon - full season to follow after. Many of the animators have previously or are currently working on big titles which you have been watching - their names to be announced after the PV.

Moving into anime production seemed like a natural move for me - my work has enabled me to meet the right people at the right time which suddenly aligned the stars. I love anime and being able to actually produce one has been more than a dream come true.
Chinka is not only an anime but also does things like teach history and also increase the awareness of being careful with fire. This year just happens to be the year where Japanese households are required to fit smoke detectors too - been working with the Japanese fire department on this project shortly after I met their head at the Coming of Age Day 2010.

You have been involved with Otacool 1 and 2 and I want you to be involved with Chinka too. There will be scenes for you to illustrate or color in and we will feature your name in the credits. You get to have your work featured in an anime which I would say is a great opportunity for those who want to expose their work or get into the industry. More details to come. Hope you are as excited as I am!

Me need to go beddy byes now - its nearly 3AM and I got NHK coming over (again!) to film me from the moment I leave my door as I head over to Akihabara to give a tour.

 

As we enter a new season, with new hopes and new aspirations, I thought I'd post a more lighthearted blog for all the recruiters out there.

I'd like to preface that the interview process from a job seeker's perspective is stressful and could lead to unexpected comments/reactions. With the utmost respect for our job seekers and doing my best to choose those stories that are not offensive, I present a few funny outtakes taken from a discussion on LinkedIn.

All recruiters have humorous encounters over the years and a recent LinkedIn discussion created quite a following as fellow recruiters shared some of their stories. I give credit to Jo (here is a link to her wonderful career blog) for posting this question.

After relaying my own personal recruitment story, I have shared 20 of the best responses and provided them for your enjoyment!

My Story: A Painful Blast from the Past

There is one case that continually comes up in conversation as an incredible coincidence.

I was visiting a campus and conducting on-campus interviews. On about my 3rd or 4th interview, a very nice young lady walked in. The interview began as normal and carried through most of the 30 minutes quite naturally. However, at the end of the interview, during the period where the candidate asks me some questions, she asked where I went to school.  I responded that I happily attended the University of Virginia. Her eyes lit up and in an animated fashion and she asks “One of my best friends went to UVa." Having not been too much older than the candidate, it was feasible that I did know this person, so she followed with "Do you know [First name] [Last name]?!”

“Really?” I ask. “I do know him, actually. Strangest thing though..” Her smile started to fade, as she must have read my countenance.  I continued, “if we are talking about the same person (and we were), your friend broke into my bedroom and stole hundreds of dollars worth of personal property.” True story.

The good news is that the individual in question did turn out to be a nice guy with a serious problem (I caught the intruder). It did not affect my opinion of the candidate in the least...

So, without further ado, I’d like to draw upon some other recruiter stories in this episode of

20 Funny Interview Stories…from the Recruiter’s Eye!

20.) When hiring for my own team, I took a female candidate to lunch and she proceeded to order chicken wings and then went to work systematically cleaning all the meat off of every bone while licking her fingers as she told me about her background.

19.) Half way through the interview day [a candidate] asked how much longer she would be there. She said it was close to her nap time and she needed a cigarette. It was 1130AM!

18.) A candidate telephoned me asking when she could expect her “check.” When I asked her what “check” was she referring to, she said during the interview, I had told her she would be reimbursed for mileage…..(that applied only if she’d been hired and had to transport a client in her vehicle!) She was looking to be paid for her gas she used to come to the interview.

17.) I had a candidate that was so hyper I told him he needed to relax. When the client called to update me about his interview with the said candidate he said “well he was almost asleep”. I said ‘really I feared he was going to be so hyper’.

I later talked to the candidate and told him some of the high points and then said that the client felt you were almost asleep. he said “ I was. I didn’t want to come off as hyper so I smoked some weed before the interview.”

16.) As I got closer to the room where my applicant was, I realized that security and the police were heading there too. While he was waiting for me to return, the applicant had pressed the red panic button on the wall, which automatically summoned security and rang at the local precinct. When I asked him why he pressed the button, he replied that he wanted to see what it would do, and when nothing happened, he pressed it a few more times.

15.) One that stands out is the interview I had with a Project Manager, who showed up dressed to impress, looking very sharp. The interview was going along very well until he told me that the lunch he had was causing some problems with his teeth and if I minded if he could stop and take care of it.
I thought, sure, he could take a short break and maybe go floss his teeth or something of that nature. But, no, he just opened his mouth stuck his fingers in there and pulled out his teeth, both the top and bottom set and then to top it off, he put the whole set right on top of my desk.

14.) [One candidate] began the interviews by issuing demands, i.e. – a list of things that would have to be done or changed before he would agree to take the job. None of these, by the way, were the least bit reasonable. The last straw was when he told the head of the company’s help desk unit that help desk staff were just outsourced techies “who don’t add any value”.

13.) I interviewed this gentleman who wanted a few temporary positions in Data Entry or Filing. He interviewed and tested very well. I thought of a couple of positions that I could put him on, one in particular a Health Facility that needed a Data Entry Clerk to enter information of patients, etc.

That night, I went home, turned on the late evening news and THERE HE WAS shown being arrested, apparently he was wanted in several counties for fraud, identity theft and robbery, his M.O. was to get Temporary Data Entry positions with companies and steal people’s information from the computer systems and either steal their identity or go to their homes and break in.

12.) Once my team member (Female) called a Candidate and said "I saw your updated profile on X portal. Are you interested in a change?" Answer was - "No, I am happy with my wife I am not looking for a change."

11.) After conducting an initial screening with a candidate for a customer service position, I explained the final step in our process would be to go for a drug test. The candidate then replied, ‘what type of drugs do you want me to test?’

10.) I conducted interviews for someone to work in our warehouse. As I do with every candidate at the end of my interviews, I stood up to shake his hand. As he shook my hand he gave me a kiss on each cheek. I must of blushed out of sheer surprise, to which he said, “oh, you’re Italian, don’t you kiss everybody?”

9.) I had an interview that was like pulling teeth to get anything about this person. When I asked him what he considered to be his greatest strength, literally after about 2 longggg minutes of complete silence while he thought about it, he told me it was his ‘communication skills’.

8.) A candidate came through a retained executive search firm which typically means they’ve been pre-screened quality and qualifications. The man, on paper, looked fine. He seemed uncomfortable and a bit odd. I saw that he had service in Vietnam so I thought I’d make it a bit more comfortable saying “well, I see you were in the military….thank you for your service.” He says, “oh thank you.” I say “where were you stationed?” And he says….”at the base of Mount Rainer.” (Washington state) huh??? Perplexed I say, “wow, I did not know that there was hostile Vietnamese territory in Washington State?” and he leaned in, winked at me and said “we don’t…I took care of it.”

7.) I explained to an applicant that if he were to be hired, it was required to go through a background check involving a drug screen and finger printing. He stood up and told me he would not allow his “sample” to be taken because he just knew we would use it, as he declared himself a genius, to clone him.

6.) At one point, when a new candidate’s turn came up, two guys appeared instead of one. The originally invited quickly explained, that he came with his best buddy, they always worked together, and if he would get the job, his buddy would be the first he’d hire, so he better brought him along as well…

5.) I did a phone screen one time and first talked to the candidate’s ‘girlfriend’ that I later realized was actually him (’she’ put him on the phone). Turns out that he was a cross dresser that talked about his ‘other self’ in the third person.

4.) The client called and told him (the agency recruiter) that the candidate had failed to show for the interview which was puzzling. When he finally managed to get the candidate on the phone, the candidate said the interview had not only went very well, but the company offered him a position and he accepted. Through a very, very lengthy conversation, they figured out that he went to the wrong company, he went to the company across the street from the company he should have gone to and walked out with a job. Just to top it off, the agency recruiter called the company that offered him the job, explained the situation and walked away with the fee.

3.) I had a candidate come from Philadelphia to NY for an interview. The receptionist called me and told me the candidate was here — with his dog. I asked if he was blind and she said he definitely was not. I came out to see him and he said that he drove in from Philly and brought his dog along for company. When he got to the parking garage, the attendant wouldn’t allow him to leave the dog in the car, so he brought him up. At first, we put the dog in a large coat closet off the reception area. The dog started to howl and we had to take the dog out. We put the dog in the mail room and found that one of our mail room clerks was allergic to dogs. The clerk blew up with a huge rash and had to be sent home. The receptionist then said she loved dogs and we could leave him with her. To avoid the dog’s snapping at visitors, we tethered him to a huge palm tree in the reception area. The dog then started to yelp at the receptionist and visitors, staring at the leash, until he managed to pull the six foot 250 pound tree across the room.

2.) Candidate’s question at interview with client, for a Chief Operating Officer position: “How long is the waiting period before psychological counseling will be covered by the group insurance?”

1.) Met a girlfriend in an interview: Best  – Turned out to be a psychopath: Worst

 

Bonus: A Little Video that Goes Along with this List.

 

Not sure there are any lessons to be learned with this blog post, but keep a sense of humor in life. It's short and we have a lot of work to do!

Your friend,

Tarek

 

Date: Mar 24th 2010 5:26p.m.
Contributed by: siennapc

It's finally spring (fingers crossed!), and while the air today isn't the greatest, we're hoping that blue skies will have you wanting to get outside soon. Beijing's many club sports are also hoping you want to get outside. Whether it's rugby, football (all kinds) or softball, there seems to be a league for everything, and all of the ones below are very welcoming to new members.

American Football

Beijing’s first and only American flag football group meets every Saturday at 1:30pm in Chaoyang Park for a pick up game. Their 10-week spring league starts on April 4 and culminates in a Super Bowl. Games are played on Saturdays 1-4pm at Ditan Sports Stadium, followed by drinks and video highlights of the game on the projector screen at Blue Frog in Sanlitun. You can sign up online and are encouraged to attend the pick-up games before players are drafted for the league.

American Flag Football (Email: cliff@beijingflagfootball.com, Web: www.beijingflagfootball.com)

Rugby

Beijingers of all nationalities let off steam and make friends through rugby, and there are five men’s teams in Beijing. Two of the biggest are the Aardvarks, who are based out of Wudaokou and train every Thursday, and the Devils, who meet at The Den to bus over to a field at WAB Tuesdays and Thursdays (the two teams square off on April 10). The new season starts now, but players are welcome any time. The same goes for women’s rugby—the Ladies Devils are especially eager to attract newcomers to the sport. All teams also have plans to travel around China for away games this spring, and rugby teams from other Chinese cities will come to Beijing to compete.

Aardvarks (Email: aardvarksrfc@yahoo.com); Devils (Web: www ...

An unidentified 6-year-old boy in Shenyang, China has a world record 31 digits: 15 fingers and 16 toes! He isn’t able to use all the fingers, as three are fused together in the middle of each hand. He will soon undergo surgery to reduce the number of extra digits. The previous record was 25 fingers [...]