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Don't pull out your hair. We're keeping a running list of those things you may be searching for but just can't seem to find.
Dental floss: Yes, dental floss exists in France but you won't find it in the supermarket with the toothbrushes and toothpaste. Stop by your neighborhood pharmacie. You will find it there.
Fresh tortillas: Take a trip to the Latin Quarter to stock up at Mexi and Co., 10 rue Dante (5th arrondissement). These flour tortillas freeze well.
For corn tortillas, we're hearing good things about Mil Amores Tortilleria at 52 avenue Parmentier in the 11th.
Rice Krispies: Kellogg's products are widely available in Paris and you'll easily find chocolate flavored rice cereal as well. But for some reason, only two of the major supermarket chains carry Snap Crackle and Pop: Auchan and Super U. Unfortunately neither has a store in the city of Paris. Check their Web sites for an outlet in a suburban community near you.
Graham crackers for making graham cracker crust: You can probably find graham crackers at one of the markets catering to Americans but for one-quarter of the price, grab a package of Speculoos cookies at your local supermarket. These Belgian treats, nicely spiced with cinnamon and cloves, crumble well and are the perfect foil for cheesecake, Key Lime pie, and pretty much any treat calling for a graham cracker crust.
Bread crumbs: Take yesterday's baguette, let it sit out another day until it's good and hard, and then smash it with a rolling pin or put it in your food processor. If you don't have the time or the patience, you can usually find boxes of bread crumbs in the supermarket next to the flour. Look for the carton marked chapelure.
A decent hamburger: Okay first of all, the beef tastes different in France so it's never going to be like a burger back home. And second, let's just say that neither France nor the U.S. can really do each other's cuisine justice. That being said, there comes a time in the life of every North American expat when a decent burger is just what the doctor ordered. So take a look at blogger David Lebovitz's post: Where to Find a Great Hamburger in Paris and his review of the food truck specializing in American style burgers Le Camion Qui Fume. Here's a more recent take (in French) from Le Figaro: Les meilleurs burgers de Paris.
A place to rent a tuxedo: Two good sources are: www.jjloc.fr and www.lesdeuxoursons.com. Bear in mind that you cannot rent accessories so be prepared to buy ties, shoes, pocket squares, even shirts. Thanks to Anne at Fête in France for the info.
Dried sweetened cranberries: Although you may find them elsewhere, you might be surprised to learn that the ubiquitous urban supermarket Franprix carries dried cranberries. Look for a display of green or orange plastic packages with various types of nuts, dried fruit, and popcorn. You can also sometimes find them from the fellow selling nuts, dried fruit, olives, and spices at your local open air market. And the word in French for cranberries is……."cranberries."
Aluminum foil that doesn't feel like tissue paper: Look for the package marked papier aluminum renforcée which has roughly the same durability as the regular aluminum foil sold in North America. Stay away from the regular variety which tears at the slightest provocation.
Aveda hair care products: There are two licensed Aveda salons in Paris: Joel Villard at 16, rue de Saint-Simon in the 7th arrrondissement (Metro: Rue de Bac) and Montecino Salon at 7 rue du Louvre in the 1st. Joel Villard's stylists are trained at the Aveda Institute and familiar products like Rosemary Mint Shampoo, Be Curly, Shampure, and Hand Relief are for sale. Call 01 45 55 85 69 for hours.
Information about what's going on in Paris this week: Pariscope is the definitive source for all things cultural — art shows, theater, concerts, movies, special events. It comes out every Wednesday and is available for only 40 centimes at every press kiosque. (And if your French is limited, check out this on-line guide to how to read Pariscope!) Figaroscope, a weekly supplement to the newspaper Le Figaro. also comes out on Wednesday and includes feature articles as well.
A playground that suits my kids: There are tons of playgrounds in Paris, ranging from a tiny seesaw and a sandpit in a pocket park to full fledged affairs for older kids. The city of Paris has a complete list on-line arranged by arrondissement and you can download a .pdf here. Look for the photo with the title "les aires de jeux" and click on the text that says "Consulter le document au format pdf." If that sounds like too much work, the 2011 list can be found here.
Fabric, notions, and everything else for sewing: Take the metro to Anvers, head up the hill towards Sacre Coeur, hang a right and you'll find everything you need for sewing whether you're making clothes or decorating your Parisian apartment. The two biggest stores are La Reine and the Marché Saint-Pierre but there are also a dozen or more other stores selling material, buttons, trim, and the rest.
Musical instruments and sheet music: All musical roads lead to Rome, in this case, not the city in Italy but the metro stop on the border of the 17th and 8th arrondissements. Some of the stores rent musical instruments but get there too late in the school term and you may be out of luck.
Plants, seeds, window boxes and other gardening gear: Paris is thick with florists and you probably won't have any trouble buying geraniums, vases, and small pots in your neighborhood. If your needs go further, check out the stores along the Quai Mégisserie in the 1st arrondissement. There's also the Marché aux Fleurs on Place Louis Lepine on Ile de la Cité (Metro: Cité).
A cheap but decent manicure: There's no equivalent in Paris to the $15 manicure you find in the Vietnamese nail salons in New York or LA. For the most part, a full manicure will set you back 30 to 35 euros. But if you can trim your own nails and deal with your ratty cuticles, you can get nail polish applied expertly for around 6 to 8 euros. Ask for a pose de vernis rather than for a manucure.
Plus sized women's clothes: Heather, the genius behind Secrets of Paris, says that "one of the best clothing brands for women shopping for size 42-60 (US sizes 12-28) is Jean Marc Philippe, a French brand with three stores in Paris (including 89 rue de Rivoli, 1st). Down the street is another shop carrying sizes 42-62 called Couleurs (17 rue de Rivoli, 1st). In general, when looking for similar shops or sections within department stores, look for "Grandes Tailles" or "Femmes Rondes".


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Mariah Carey!
- Mine Again
- Ribbon
- Honey
…does it sound like gobbledegook?
Actually they are the three fragrances that make up Mariah Carey's Lollypop Bling!
Mariah Carey's Shortest Biography on the Web!
As is usual, here's the shortest biography of Ms. Mariah Carey that you can find on the World Wide Web.
Mariah Carey is 41 (Believe it or not,) she is a hip-hop and pop singer, who has sold more than 175 million copies of her records. She's won 5 Grammy Awards (Grammys)! Mariah Carey was born in 1970, and 3 years after he birth, her parents divorced. She became acquainted with the bitter taste of racism quite early in her childhood.
Her rise to fame began when Mottola, who she met at a party, saw her demo tape (pushed to him by Brenda Starr for whom Mariah Carey sang as a backup singer) and signed her up for a recording contract.
Her first album was called "Mariah Carey" and for it, she received the Best New Artist Grammy.
Mariah Carey's Personal Life:
Mariah Carey married Tommy Mottola in 1993 and divorced him 1994 because she found Mottola "controlling."
(There are countries where you'd be laughed upon if you cited that as a reason for a divorce – but celebs are measured by a different cultural yardstick, I guess.)
Around 2001, she separated from Columbia Records and signed a contract with Virgin Records.This period was bad for her and she suffered a sort of nervous breakdown in July 2001.The following years were a busy time for Carey – In 2008, she married once again. Her new husband was Nick Cannon.
Mariah Carey's Acting Life:
She's worked in The Bachelor, Glitter (an autobiographical sort of film – for which she got the Golden Raspberry Award – the Razzy – for being the worst actress – same as Sandra Bullock this past year.), and some others. In 2009, she worked in Precious, a movie for which she got a Breakthrough performance award.
Mariah Carey's Albums:
- Mariah Carey
- Emotions
- Music Box
- Merry Christmas
- Butterfly
- Rainbow
- Glitter
- The Emancipation of Mimi
- MTV Unplugged
(This isn't a complete list – you can find the complete list of Mariah Carey's Albums here.)
The point to note is that Mariah Carey's vocal cords aren't normal. She was lucky that her mom didn't deposit her in a hospital or she'd have never sung – instead, she might've ended up with some sort of psychological issue (an inferiority complex about her voice), which could've ensured that she never sang.
See my point?

subset: commoncrawl


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– Black Friday, 5th Edition –
Lamy AL-Star Matte Black LE
Noodler's Black Ink
Maruman Mnemosyne Notebook
Ironically, it's a week before the shopping "holiday" here in the US that's known as Black Friday. Because of Thanksgiving, the need to get some shopping done, and I happen to be moving that weekend, this feature is coming to you a bit early. Now onto the goods:
I really love my Lamy AL-Star. I have three of them, but the matte black limited edition is by far my favorite. Paired with a black nib, it completes the total stealth look. The second they became available, I picked one up. The Noodler's Black is a great ink. It's solid, dark, smooth, and water resistant. I completely understand why it's the go-to black ink for so many people. Last, but not least, is the Maruman Mnemosyne notebook in B5. These notebooks got me through my last two years of school. I love the size, paper, and ruling. The textured black cover and the black wire binding make the notebook an ideal candidate for a Black Friday feature.
Browse past Black Friday Features here, and be sure to check back in on the last Friday of every month for a new installment!
Related Reading:
- Review of the Lamy Safari
- Other black inks: Montblanc Mystery Black, Sailor Kiwa Guro and Noodler's Borealis Black


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Avion Silver Tequila
Review: Avion Silver Tequila 87/100
A review by Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
Originally Published July 1, 2012
Revisited and Re-scored May 09, 2015
According to their website, Avion Silver Tequila is a pure 100% Weber Blue Agave tequila made from the hand-picked agave grown in the Highlands of Jalisco, Mexico. As a highland tequila,we can expect the Avion Tequila to exhibit strong fruity citrus notes and to have a little hot pepper in the delivery and in the finish. (This is as opposed to lowland tequila which has stronger earthier flavours of agave and less hot pepper.)
Although the Avion website does not specify the exact distillery which produces this agave spirit, I did notice that the identified NOM on the bottom of the label 1416. This NOM identifier is required by the Mexican Government to be placed on the label of each bottle of tequila to verify that it is produced legally from agave sourced in the Tequila region of Mexico. Each distillery has its own NOM, and thus we can trace the distillery of origin. In this case it is Productos Finos de Agave who incidentally also produce Casamigos Tequila.
According to the information provided to me, to produce Avion Tequila, the harvested agave from the highlands is first slow roasted in brick ovens to bring out its natural flavors and aromas. After distillation, but before the tequila is bottled it is run through a proprietary "Ultra Slow Filtration" process which apparently lasts ten times longer than the filtration process for other tequila. Something good must be happening because according to the Judges at the 2012 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, this tequila is pretty darn good. They awarded Avion Silver Tequila as the Best Unaged White Spirit, and then gave it a Double Gold Medal for two years in a row.
In the Bottle 4/5
Although the bottle presentation is not terrible, it is not stellar either. Some of the label information is hard to read against the backdrop of the clear bottle and the clear tequila inside. As well, the spout of the bottle is slightly flaired which causes only the very bottom of the cork to have contact with the inside of the spout. (When I opened my bottle, and examined the cork I noticed that only the very bottom third of the cork had any sign of dampness. This led me to examine the flared spout, and I realized that most of the cork had no contact with the inside of the bottle.)
Note: When I returned to this bottle more than two years later, I was happy to see that despite my concerns over the corkage, the seal on the bottle and the tequila inside were both doing fine.
In the Glass 9/10
It is almost three years since I originally reviewed Avion Tequila and whether my perceptions have changed, or whether the Tequila has evolved over time is hard to say. Visually the spirit is pretty much how I remember it. It is clear with no sign of colour which is consistent with a blanco tequila which has had no contact with wood. I gave my glass a light tilt and a slow swirl, and I discovered a light sheen was left on the inside of the glass which slowly disappeared and displayed only a few thin legs which disappeared quickly.
When I brought the glass to my nose, I noticed a light effervescent almost spicy aroma of grapefruit zest which was reminiscent of the smells of my back garden after a light rain shower. I found the aroma light and clean, almost refreshing. I also noticed a moderately punky/fruity agave aroma with a mild white pepper scent rising from the glass with a light fruity sweetness carried by the agave. The overall effect of the glass upon the senses is relaxing although perhaps just a little stronger push of agave would have boosted the score higher.
In the Mouth 52.5/60
When I brought my sample glass to my mouth I tasted a lightly hot white pepper which was muted slightly by a light sugarcane-like sweetness. The punky agave flavours reminded me of grilled zucchini or squash with perhaps a bit of raw cucumber and pumpkin. There were also some nice (although ever so light) mint and anise-like flavours which accented the flavour profile. As I indicated in my original review three years ago, I can see why the Avion Silver won the awards for Best Unaged White Spirit at the 2012 San Francisco World Spirits Competition; like those judges at that competition, I found the tequila very smooth and very good.
When my tasting group, the Rum Chums sampled the Avion spirit as part of our deliberations for the 2015 Rum Howler Margarita Challenge, we determined that the Avion was a nice mixing spirit, although its milder agave flavour profile tended to be dominated by the lime and the Cointreau in our Margarita Cocktail. (For this competition, I designed a standard cocktail (see recipe here).) I would suggest that a lighter Orange liqueur such as Bols Triple Sec would work better with the Avion Blanco.
In The Throat 13/15
The Avion Silver displays a classic highland tequila finish with soft agave followed by a nice tonsil licking bite of hot pepper. Despite the hot pepper, there is no burn down in the lower throat, just a lingering spiciness that leaves the palate heated and the back of the throat heated. This is crisp and smooth, although perhaps I wanted just a little more fruity agave in the finish than was apparent.
The Afterburn 8.5/10
When I originally reviewed the Avion Silver almost 3 years ago I was to some extent blown away by what was then, the nicest Blanco Tequila I had reviewed to that point on my website. It was in fact, the nicest white spirit I had encountered. It is almost three years later and now with more experience, I find my enthusiasm for the Avion has waned just a little. It is very nice, but I am finding the spirit is perhaps just a little more laid back than I now prefer when I sip Tequila.
My score of 87/100 reflects a blanco spirit which is excellent for sipping and for mixing (see my suggested recipe below).
Note: I still had about half of my original bottle of Avion Silver and I tasted it to see whether it was I, or whether it was the Tequila which had changed. The blanco spirit showed me no differences between the spirit which had been given to me three years ago and the one which I was given this year, so the change in my preference appears to be a result of my evolving taste.
You may read some of my other Tequila Reviews (click the link) if you wish to have some comparative reviews.
Suggested Recipe:
The Dreadful Lemon Sky
2 oz Avion Silver Tequila
1 oz Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Sugar Syrup
3/8 oz Triple Sec
(optional add two drops yellow food colouring)
crushed Ice
ice cubes
Lemon Slice
Place a lemon slice in a cocktail glass
Place the first four ingredients in a metal shaker with equal parts of crushed ice and ice cubes
Shake vigorously until the sides of the shaker frost
Strain over the Lemon slice in the cocktail glass
Note: This cocktail continues my series of Tequila cocktails named after the Travis McGee novels of American author John D. MacDonald. I have always like the Travis McGee novels, and the titles of these novels just seem to me to be particularly well suited to be also the names of great cocktails.
You may (loosely) interpret the scores as follows.
0-25 A spirit with a rating this low would actually kill you.
26-49 Depending upon your fortitude you might actually survive this.
50 -59 You are safe to drink this…but you shouldn't.
60-69 Substandard swill which you may offer to people you do not want to see again.
70-74 Now we have a fair mixing Tequila. Accept this but make sure it is mixed into a cocktail.
75-79 You may begin to serve this to friends, (we are probably still cocktail in territory).
80-84 We begin to enjoy this spirit neat or on the rocks. (I will still primarily mix cocktails)
85-89 Excellent for sipping or for mixing delicious cocktails!
90-94 Definitely a primary sipping spirit, in fact you may want to hoard this for yourself.
95-97.5 The Cream of the Crop
98+ I haven't met this bottle yet…but I want to.
Very loosely we may put my scores into terms that you may be familiar with on a Gold, Silver, and Bronze medal scale as follows:
70 – 79.5 Bronze Medal (Recommended only as a mixer)
80 – 89.5 Silver Medal (Recommended for sipping and or a high quality mixer)
90 – 95 Gold Medal (Highly recommended for sipping and for sublime cocktails.)
95.5+ Platinum Award (Highest Recommendation)


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Insects have been hit hard by climatic aberrations in recent years and on my meanderings around the Cambridgeshire countryside this year numbers of bees and butterflies sightings have been down compared to previous years. It's now the middle of June and I saw the first dragons of the year today; two damselflies. I also read this week in 'The Guardian' newspaper that a third of managed honeybee colonies in the USA were wiped out in 2012. This article makes very sobering reading. And it's a similar story in Europe, but in Europe neonicotinoid pesticides, which have been implicated in colony collapse disorder, have been banned for two years to evaluate their effect on honeybees. My concern is that the onslaught on the bees is complicated and removing one variable may not show a significant effect in the limited two year duration of the ban. But I hope it does!
Early last month the sun finally broke through and gave us some insect friendly weather and it was remarkable how quickly the microfauna emerged.
Beeflies are found over large parts of the globe and can be seen hovering in sunny glades from the springtime. The narwhal of the Dipteran world, the spike looks fearsome but is only used to probe flowers for nectar, there is no sting. Beeflies procreate by flicking their eggs into the entrance to the burrows of wasps and bees where the larvae feed on the grubs of the occupants.
A pair of hoverflies doing their best to rectify the decline in the insect population
I think these hoverflies are 'Eristalis pertinax' but I'm not certain. It was good to see them though, especially as they were taking their biological responsibilities so seriously.
Addendum: on the subject of climatic aberration mentioned at the top of this post I just found and read with increasing concern this link:
which my blogging buddy Sam posted on her excellent WP blog 'Science on the Land'. This provides a chilling insight (in every sense) into why the weather in the northern hemisphere is behaving the way it is. And it doesn't look as though it's going to get any better folks.


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Forbes on Monday released its annual list of the top 400 richest Americans. While most of the top names and rankings didn't change from a year ago, the majority of members of the elite club saw their fortunes grow over the past year, helped by strong stock and real estate markets.
Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates remains America's richest man, taking the top spot on the list for the 20th straight year, with a net worth of $72 billion.
Investor Warren Buffett, the head of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., keeps second place with $58.5 billion, while Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison stayed third with $41 billion.
Brothers Charles and David Koch, co-owners of Koch Industries Inc., stay tied for fourth with $36 billion each.
Wal-Mart heirs Christy Walton, Jim Walton, Alice Walton and S. Robson Walton took the next three spots, with holdings ranging from $33.3 billion to 35.4 billion. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the founder of the eponymous financial information company, rounds out the top 10 with $31 billion.
According to Forbes, the 400 people on the annual list posted a combined net worth of $2 trillion, up from $1.7 trillion a year ago. That marks their highest combined value ever.
Meanwhile, the average net worth of the list's members rose to $5 billion, the highest ever, up from $4.2 billion in 2012. Net worth grew for 314 members and fell for 30 members, Forbes said.
Net worth for America's wealthiest people have risen in the years since the financial crisis, widening the gap between the exceptionally well-to-do and the rest of the country.
According to a study of Internal Revenue Service figures released last week, the top 1 percent of U.S. earners collected 19.3 percent of household income in 2012, their largest share in IRS figures going back a century.
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How to Prevent a GPS From Falling Off the Windshield
January 4, 2010 at 2:07 am Chad Upton 9 comments
You're driving along, minding your own business, when your GPS unit suddenly annuls its marriage to the windshield. It crashes into the dashboard, slides into the door, high-fives your passenger and bounces on the floor. Your GPS is not broken; but, it will be the next time it startles, then attacks your passenger again.
In the winter, it's especially tempting for the suction cups on your GPS or radar detector to take your electronics skydiving. The suction cup relies on a vacuum tight seal to maintain its grip on the windshield. Cold weather, or direct flow of air conditioning, can degrade that seal enough that it can't support the weight of the device.
The secret to getting a good seal: warm the windshield and suction cup(s) before getting them back together. You can warm the suction cup(s) with your hand or treat them like takeout food and warm them with your seat heaters. Using the defogger, blow hot air on the windshield for at least 10 minutes, then pull over in a safe place and apply the warm suction cup(s).
The idea is to create as much suction as possible inside the suction cups. Before you push it against the window, be sure the suction lever is all the way back, then push the suction mount HARD against the windshield, then push the suction lever forward. Because the windshield and suction cups are warm, you'll get a better seal that should maintain enough suction to support your GPS unit or radar detector.
If you still don't have any luck, try cleaning your windscreen and suction cups with glass cleaner wipes and repeat the steps above.
BrokenSecrets.com [Now available on Kindle]
Photo: redjar (cc)
Entry filed under: Automotive, Geek, ProTips, Travel. Tags: cold, cup, dashboard, detector, device, fall, garmin, gps, kindle, magellan, radar, suction, tomtom, window, windscreen, windshield.
9 Comments Add your own
[…] Source […]
"suddenly annuls its marriage to the windshield" — ha ha! This was really well written.
I've avoided buying a GPS because I don't really mind getting lost. I usually finds it takes me somewhere I haven't been and lets me see something I wouldn't have seen… it's kind of fun… a bit of an escape!
fun……….unless you are almost out of gas!!
[…] How to Prevent a GPS From Falling Off the Windshield Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Idling a Cold Engine Is GOOD For The EnvironmentThe World Will Warm Faster than PredictedNew York City Inspiration Video 40,000 Runners in 2009Frosty morning […]
suc-a-lot, a new product, which can enhance the suction of the suction cup. easy to use. just a spray will solve the problem. you can find it on ebay. just search for suc-a-lot, or go to http://www.sucalot .com
To prevent the suction cup from falling off the windshield, apply a thin layer of baby oil onto the suction cup surface before pressing it onto the windshield. This procedure will prevent the vacuum from disappearing due to moisture being dried up. The sun light generates much higher temperature on the black rubber surface than the windshield glass. This temperature differential between the windshield and rubber results movement thus causing the vacuum to disappear. The slippery surface from baby oil will allow the movement of surface thus maintaining the necessary vacuum,
suc-a-lot, a spray used on suction cup will help a lot. you can find it on ebay search for suc-a-lot.
Try this product, it works great and will support a GPS holder with a 10 pound weight on it almost indefinitely http://amzn.to/zZiu4s
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Interview with Kristina Halvorson
Content strategy has increasingly become a part of the web design conversation and in large part due to Kristina Halvorson, who has become a noted content advocate and activist. Kristina is the founder and president of Brain Traffic, an agency specializing in content strategy and writing for the web, author of the groundbreaking book, Content Strategy for the Web, and a frequent speaker at web design conferences worldwide. Over the past months, she and co-author, Melissa Rach, have been hard at work on the second edition of the book which is due out on New Riders in February 2012. Kristina took time out of her busy schedule to talk with us about the evolving world of content strategy. We thank Kristina for this insightful interview and invite WDD readers to join in the content strategy conversation. In your article, "Content Strategy and UX: A Modern Love Story," you wrote, "What's important is that we [content strategists and UX strategists] are all are able to talk about shared principles; this is where the foundation for our collaboration truly lies." What is your prescription for how content strategists and UX strategists should work together? Content planning needs to be a part of the mindset of the web project and we need to start thinking about content from day one. We need to ask the right questions: what content do we need, what content do we have already, where does it live, who owns it, and who's going to take care of it? Design has to match the content, and content has to match the design. Content will define design choices and designers have been asking for the right content all along. There's the messaging component — what are users showing up for, what are they looking for? We need to prioritize the content elements so we stay on brand, up-to-date, and have a shared language between content and design.
The second edition of your book, Content Strategy for the Web is due out shortly. What are the major differences you've seen in content strategy from the publication of the first edition to the second?
I can't begin to express the ways in which the content strategy conversation has exploded in the past couple of years. At Brain Traffic we learn from the conversations every day and over time have advocated for the practice of creating a content strategy. In the second edition of the book we pulled a lot of content that is no longer relevant and added a number of case studies and much more detail. We fleshed-out the strategy and created a new model. Melissa Rach, vice president of content strategy at Brain Traffic, co-authored the book with me and added many of our methodologies. A few weeks ago you observed (and tweeted), "Google search results of 'content strategy' increased 156% in 2011 over 2010. Results for 'content marketing' increased 875%. Discuss." What do you make about these increases and the differentiation between these two terms? Why in your opinion is content marketing gaining over content strategy? Content Marketing is a term made popular by Joe Pulizzi and Ann Handley, and my ongoing concern about content is that you can't create it without strategy. Content marketing is a tactic and when content is not considered strategically, for example. who it's for, is it being delivered to the right people, how are we positioning it— we need to have a conversation about what do we need to do to accomplish not just the substance, but the front-end, back-end, workflow, governance, policies and guidelines of content. With regard to getting content right — any organization where you have a good browsing experience, what you see in the search results, social media, and you're able to understand who the organization is, and are able to see that they're up-to-date and relevant. Landing pages often get a lot of attention but sometimes everything else behind it is in need of work. I compare it to a house that is falling down — you can add lots of coats of paint but eventually you need to deal with the structural needs. Have updates and shares on social networking sites changed content strategy? If yes, how so? And is this a good or bad thing in your opinion? Content strategy whether it's social media or mobile is a channel. It's largely experience-driven and functional. We need to ask what are the tools we're using and ask questions such as can we re-use content in another context, what is the voice and tone, and can we make it consistent? Content strategy needs to flex and grow with the way it impacts our lives. What are the most critical skills that a content strategist should have? A content strategist needs to be able to ask good questions, and be a good listener. They need to be a communicator through the discovery and planning process and look at the substance and workflow — the core content strategy. They also need to be mediators, editorial managers and understand the elements of user experiences. What initially brought you to work with websites? What keeps you there? I started out as a copywriter in print and catalogs. In 2002, I saw what the web industry was about and immediately loved the people in the field, the conferences, and web designers. I started writing for the web and looking at usability testing and the way users were interacting. It was through my own love for the medium. I'm passionate about it. As a copywriter I became frustrated with the content process and the first edition of the book evolved as a project-based perspective on what I saw that needed to be changed. You have a blog and Twitter profile for Brain Traffic. What was it about these platforms that makes them good choices to communicate about your company's work and perspectives in the field? The company started in 2004 but we didn't have our blog until 2009; the decision was intentional. We couldn't sustain it in the beginning. We take the opportunity very seriously as a way to interact with other people. In addition to the posts, we take comments very seriously and are excited to have such a good audience. On Twitter, both @BrainTraffic and @halvorson, we curate content, pointing people to other posts, events, and pushing content strategy forward. At one point in time we heard a lot about Web 2.0. And in the past year or so we've heard a lot about responsive web design. What do you think are the topics that we'll be focusing on more in 2012 and beyond? I think we'll still be hearing about HTML5 and responsive design. And we'll be hearing about new ways to deliver content cross-platform and via new technologies. We'll continue to evolve the processes and create a common framework for how everyone can work with the copywriter from day one, for example. tech comm, marketing, UX, and business strategists. What metrics should businesses be looking at to make sure that their web design and content is as effective as it can be? There's really no one thing, it depends on what you're trying to do. Businesses need to look at engagement through sales and conversion, and all industries need to look at user satisfaction. How do you approach content strategy at Brain Traffic? What are some of your best practices you'd be willing to share? We're kicking off a project at Brain Traffic now for updating our website. It hasn't been updated in a while and initially we were going to try and take some short-cuts. We thought we could do it in six weeks but we quickly saw that we needed to know what internal resources were available. We're now starting at the beginning. We assigned a content strategist, writers, and are tapping into the experience of current clients, looking at user comments, and asking — what do we need and how are we going to find it? Do you use a content management system at Brain Traffic or ones you recommend for clients? No, we work with people to identify needs, what they need to do, and what skill sets are needed for a solid user experience. As Karen McGrane said, "Content management systems are the enterprise software that UX forgot." Has content strategy become a part of your web design process? Is your team talking about content on day one of a new project? What will need to happen to make that possible?


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Capital Improvements Program Review and Advisory Committee (CIPRAC)
What is CIPRAC?
This advisory committee reviews proposed Capital Improvements Program (CIP) projects from a citywide perspective, providing the Mayor with proposed CIP budget recommendations and CIP project prioritization recommendations
What is the Purpose of CIPRAC?
As outlined in the City Council Policy 800-14 (PDF), CIPRAC objectively prioritizes and evaluates the new infrastructure needs of each City Department against previously identified infrastructure needs or projects. This prioritization process helps decision-makers to compare the costs, benefits, and merits of individual projects, and make best use of the available funding resource. The committee ensures conformance with the Mayor's and Council's policy goals, departmental priority needs, and anticipated funding sources. CIPRAC will revise its mission, authority, and objectives as needed to comply with the current administration.
What does CIPRAC do?
- Facilitates project coordination to increase cost effectiveness and minimize community disruptions. This includes long-term planning for public capital needs
- Reviews and approves multi-year CIP plans
- Provides key leadership, authority, oversight, and coordination for the CIP
- Assigns the following responsibilities to the appropriate departments or offices:
- Identify, leverage, and optimize funding sources
- Streamline and improve coordination and functionality of CIP related processes
- Review and assess efficiency of required processes
- Work with the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst to identify ways to streamline the process
- Ensures the financial /accounting system continues to support the needs of the CIP process
- Coordinates various responsibilities of service departments
- Makes certain that projects are reviewed for conformance with the General Plan and Community Plans
CIPRAC's goal is to ensure that projects are ranked on a City-wide perspective, balancing needs and budget with policy objectives. The advisory committee communicates with departments and other stakeholders about the CIP process and projects.
Who are the CIPRAC members?
The advisory committee is comprised of the City's department directors and senior-level officials involved with the CIP, bringing together both client or asset-owning departments and service providers.
Client/Asset-Owning Departments
- Public Utilities
- Transportation and Storm Water
- Parks and Recreation
- Environmental Services
- Disability Services
- Library
- Fire-Rescue
- Airports / Real Estate Assets
Service Providers
- Public Works Department
- Equal Opportunity Contracting
- Financial Management
- Development Services
- Debt Management
- Comptroller
City Department Directors & Senior-Level Officials
- Assistant Chief Operating Officer
- Director, Public Works Department
- Director, Debt Management Department
- Director, Development Services Department
- Facilities Financing Manager
- Deputy Director, Economic Development
- Director, Environmental Services Department
- Director, Financial Management
- Director, Inter-Governmental Relations Department
- Director, Library Department
- Director, Office of ADA Compliance and Accessibility
- Director, Park and Recreation Department
- City Comptroller
- City Engineer
- Fire Chief
- Police Chief
How are CIP Projects Implemented?
Most CIP projects originate in client departments as infrastructure needs. Once the project is part of the CIP, in most cases, the Public Works Department manages the planning, design, and construction of the project, including
- Project Initiation/Development
- Preliminary Engineering
- Permit, Environmental and Design
- Advertise and Award
- Construction
- Project Close-out
- Project Capitalized
- Project Service Life
- Deferred Capital
What is the CIP Approval Process?
- Council and Mayor provide CIP Policy/Direction
- Departments submit request
- Council districts, communities, and operational needs examined
- CIPRAC reviews
- Mayor determines available resources and submits CIP Budget to Council for consideration
- Council conducts public hearing
- Planning Commission certifies CIP conformance with general and community plans
- Council adopts budget
After CIPRAC establishes the CIP project priority list, those recommendations are considered by the Mayor. The resulting ranking list is reported by the Mayor to the Council as part of the annual CIP budget process.
Upon approval of the CIP budget by the Council, the Mayor pursues the completion of each project phase. The Mayor also uses the priority ranking to seek grant funding opportunities.


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This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. – (1 John 4:10, NIV)
True love is God's love for us, not our love for God. He sent His Son as the way to take away our sins. – (1 John 4:10, ERV)
This is love: He loved us long before we loved Him. It was His love, not ours. He proved it by sending His Son to be a pleasing sacrificial offering to take away our sins. – (1 John 4:10, TPT)
Love is sacrificial and does not love because it receives. Love chooses to give because it is the right thing to do. God has shown us what it is to love, as He loved us while we were far from loving Him. His love covers us and changes our hearts, leading us to Him who is love, so that we too, might love one another. To love is a daily decision to choose, not an emotion based on how we feel. Extending God's heart to the world is our opportunity and call to love as we are commanded to do. This is a far easier charge with those who love us back. However, we are still called to love those who do not. It does not mean we are to be unwise and take abuse or allow boundaries to be violated, but it does mean that we must continue to extend kindness and grace, even to those who do not seem to understand either in return. We never know the impact that our choice to love will have, yet we do know that each decision to love plants a seed that another can water, and still another can sow. God knows, and this is why He calls us to keep loving as He loves us. May we go forth and choose to love, just as God first loved us.
After eluding to the pending change, today is the official day that Mom will be moving into her new place, back in Wenatchee. She still has her home, but for now, will be in a smaller, more manageable space where help is available as needed, while she continues to rebuild and gain strength. Already, there have been joyful celebrations, as Megan and Scott made the journey with her back to Wenatchee from Albany, Oregon, and have spent time since Thursday afternoon in Mom's home. What a difference for Mom to be back in her home and able to walk around freely with her cane, rather than using a walker with someone following closely behind to be sure she was steady on her feet. Mom's joy has returned, as it was apparent that she desperately needed to be back home, in her own community. Mark and I are very much looking forward to driving over tomorrow to spend the day with her and check out her new place, and take her wherever her heart desires to go. I cannot begin to express my gratitude to the sacrificial love that my sister and her family have made over the last six months, as they opened their home and hearts to walk with mom through the most recent leg of her healing journey. We all are excited to see the progress she will make now, as she reenters life back in her own community. Mom loved the support of family that she has had since her stroke, but we all knew that she was at a point where she needed to be reengaged with the community she loves and has invested so deeply in. May love be what leads every person who interacts with Mom as she continues to move forward on this healing journey.
To love is a choice,
It reaches out first;
Gives kindness always,
In best and in worst.
For just as God loves,
And shows love to us;
We must also love,
Choose extend kindness.
True love gives the best,
Prefers each other;
No matter what comes,
Love one another.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that You first loved us and made the way for us to love You and love one another. Thank You that You are love. Forgive us for the times that we do not extend the love that we are called to give. Teach us to trust and rely on You more, so that we would love big, even when what comes back to us is less than loving. Show us how to love those around us in the ways that it is needed most. May many come into a lasting relationship with You. Be glorified O God, as we love each other as You love us. Amen.
© Shannon Elizabeth Grabrick and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. – Romans 12:10


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The ad in the Times real-estate listings said "medieval duplex," which was intriguing, unless "medieval" referred to the plumbing. It was 1987 and I was apartment hunting, so I arranged to meet the broker at a brownstone just off Washington Square. The apartment was four steep flights up, and the walls of the final landing were a rough stucco, with an odd-shaped niche high in the wall for a candle or a skull, just outside a rounded, rough-hewn door with elaborate ornamental hinges.
The apartment in question consisted of the full, narrow top floor, and I was smitten. The theatrical plasterwork continued throughout, and there was a bay window with a window seat, flanked by portholes of thick, leaded Mediterranean-blue stained glass, all overlooking the leafy corner of Washington Square Park where fanatics play chess. There was a micro-kitchen, one tiny closet, and a cramped, nineteen-seventies-vintage Pepto-Bismol-pink tiled bathroom, but none of this mattered, thanks to a vaulted skylight, a fireplace, assorted archways, and a hidden, winding staircase. The stairs led to the roof, where I found a large deck. A sun-bleached oak ship's wheel, six feet in diameter, leaned against the outer wall of a hobbit-scale cottage-—one room, with a beamed ceiling. The broker was chatty, and she mentioned that the apartment had once been the home of John Barrymore.
Here's how long ago this was: I didn't snap up the place that very minute but told the broker that I'd phone her the next morning. That night, I called my agent, Helen Merrill, a German woman whose accent had only deepened with her decades in New York. When I told her about the apartment, she remarked, "Perhaps you vill find my hairpins." It seemed that Helen, thirty years earlier, had conducted an affair on the premises with Barrymore's son-in-law, an erstwhile actor married to the troubled Diana Barrymore, whose mother was a poetess aptly named Michael Strange. Helen recalled the apartment, if not the son-in-law, in fond detail, and the karma became overwhelming. The next day, I met with Winston Kulok, the affable owner of the town house, who with his family occupied the first two floors, and the lease on the Barrymore place was mine.
As I settled in, I researched my new home. Barrymore had taken up residence in 1917, just before he began performing his legendary Hamlet uptown. His film career at that point was limited to locally shot silent movies, including an early take on "Moby-Dick," which may have been the source of the ship's wheel. Barrymore had remodelled the apartment as a Gothic retreat, christening it the Alchemist's Corner. He had installed all the false beams, monastery-inspired ironwork, and stained glass, which made his lair resemble a stage set for an Agatha Christie whodunnit in summer stock. The rooftop had been his masterpiece, and had at one time included a garden, with cedar trees, a slate walkway, and a reflecting pool. Tons of soil had to be hoisted up by pulley, and eventually caused a collapse into the rooms below. Of Barrymore's vision only the cottage remained; he'd likened it to a roost overlooking the spires of Paris.
I read up on Barrymore's life—particularly in his entertainingly fraudulent and entirely ghostwritten autobiography and in "Good Night, Sweet Prince," an equally fanciful work, devised, soon after the star's death, by his close friend Gene Fowler. There was a story that, following Barrymore's demise, his buddies snatched his body from the morgue and propped it upright in a chair as a gag.
Barrymore was born into an illustrious family of American performers, which included his sister Ethel and his brother Lionel, and John had been nicknamed the Great Profile for his beauty and acclaimed as a classical actor of extraordinary personal magnetism and range. He was later drawn to Hollywood, appearing as Katharine Hepburn's wayward father in "A Bill of Divorcement," a mature Mercutio in an all-star "Romeo and Juliet," and, most uproariously, a bulging-eyed, fire-breathing producer, opposite Carole Lombard, in the screwball gem "Twentieth Century." Perhaps his signature role was that of a handsome, dissolute jewel thief, redeemed by his brief, ethereal passion for Greta Garbo in the sumptuous M-G-M melodrama "Grand Hotel." The film exemplified the public perception of Barrymore as a gifted, doomed wastrel.
The more I absorbed, and the more months I spent under Barrymore's bastard Jacobean roof, the more I felt moved to write something set at the address. Someone or something had led me to these quarters and would not be denied. I began a novel about a character named Andrew Rally, the young star of "L.A. Medical," a fatuous network gold mine. Andrew moves into the Barrymore apartment just as he's about to play Hamlet at Shakespeare in the Park. He gets apprehensive about returning to the stage, and he's ready to flee to Los Angeles when the ghost of Barrymore appears. I soon realized that the material would make a better play than a novel, as it took place primarily in a single location and was overrun with theatrical types. I surrendered, to God or Satan or the will of Barrymore, and completed a draft of a two-act comedy called "I Hate Hamlet."
Following a successful out-of-town workshop in Saratoga, a group of producers decided to bring the play to Broadway. The characters by then included Deirdre, Andrew's love interest and an ardent twenty-nine-year-old virgin; Gary Peter Lefkowitz, Andrew's pal and writer-producer-director, who is given to remarks like "You don't do art, you buy it"; Felicia, a gregarious real-estate broker; and Andrew's agent, Lillian, a flinty but softhearted German émigrée, a tribute to Helen Merrill. In an early scene, Lillian asks her companions if she might smoke, and Deirdre implores her not to because it's such an unhealthy addiction. Lillian replies, "I know, I really must stop." Deirdre asks, "Smoking?" and Lillian says, "No—asking."
Most of the cast were New York stage actors, including Evan Handler as Andrew and the whiskey-voiced Caroline Aaron as Felicia. Lillian was to be played by Celeste Holm, who was practically the sole surviving cast member of "All About Eve." Adam Arkin would be Gary. Our great challenge was in casting the role of John Barrymore—ghost, thespian, and lecher. If you've written a star, you need a star. From Fanny Brice to Ray Charles, the impersonator must reignite the legend. The audience needed to believe that whoever played Barrymore, from the instant he stepped onstage, was an Olympian Hamlet, a devastating seducer, and everyone's favorite scoundrel. "I Hate Hamlet" was a romantic comedy by an unknown playwright, being directed by the very young Michael Engler, so it wasn't easy to find, persuade, and sign a Barrymore.
The search finally arrived at Nicol Williamson, a Scotsman who'd achieved fame several decades earlier on the London stage, as a self-loathing solicitor in John Osborne's "Inadmissible Evidence." Nicol had played a savage Hamlet in England and New York, and he'd become a reliable character presence in such films as "Robin and Marian" and "Excalibur"; in the latter, he'd been a memorably baroque Merlin. Onstage, Nicol was notorious. At a curtain call during the Broadway run of the musical "Rex," in which Nicol was Henry VIII, he'd slapped a fellow-actor, who Nicol felt was drawing focus. Our casting director had heard countless tales of similar misbehavior and advised us to acquire Nicol's services "only over my dead body." We didn't listen.
Nicol accepted the role, and an introductory lunch at a midtown restaurant was arranged between our Barrymore, the producing team, the director, and me. Like any decent star, Nicol arrived last. He was a tall, shambling man, with a bald pate bookended by buttresses of reddish curls. His eyes were doleful and piercing, as if he'd seen far too much, enjoyed most of it, and had somehow managed to avoid arrest. His basso voice was gorgeously Shakespearean.
"Hallo, mates!" he boomed, and we all grinned and exchanged delighted glances, because Nicol was, if nothing else, everything an American wants a reprobate, Continental stage personality to be. He beguiled everyone with tales of beautiful women, show business, and air travel. He was an incipient tyrant, an Amin or an Evita, caught at an early stage, where charm was of the essence in crafting a grateful, adoring cult. Clearly, here was Barrymore. After many hours, as the group departed, Nicol slung a long arm over my shoulders and said, "Dear fellow, I know you've heard tattle, but don't believe a word. I'm in top, fighting form. And I haven't touched a drop in over a year."
I chose to believe it, despite a quick backward glance at the table, which held a brandy snifter, a wine bottle, and a beer mug, all of which had been recently emptied into Nicol.
The early rehearsal period was, as early rehearsal periods often are, a promising Eden. Nicol embraced every company member, and everyone seemed happy with the play. Celeste provided delectable anecdotes. In 1949, she was co-starring with Loretta Young in the uplifting film "Come to the Stable," in which the pair appeared as radiant, tennis-playing nuns, founding a children's hospital in Bethlehem, Connecticut. In reality, years earlier, Loretta had secretly given birth to Clark Gable's illegitimate daughter. For publicity purposes, she'd then contrived to remain virginal by adopting her own child. All of this subterfuge had made Loretta an even more devout Catholic, and during the filming, whenever anyone used profanity, she had the person drop a nickel into a cuss box, with the proceeds shipped to Vatican-related charities. One afternoon, Ethel Merman visited the set and was told of the cuss box. She yanked a bill from her wallet, located Celeste's co-star, and brayed, "Here's ten bucks, Loretta. Go fuck yourself."
In our second week, Nicol invited me to his small, bare Hell's Kitchen pied-à-terre, where he hunched over a Hohner organ and played and bleated a song cycle that he'd composed, based on his divorce. Each number was devoted to a militant, obscene hatred of his ex-wife and assorted female members of her family. After each ditty excoriating another ungrateful bitch, Nicol would turn to me eagerly for an opinion. "Wow," I kept repeating. "She sounds awful."
"Yes!" Nicol thundered each time. "That's exactly right!"
Early in the play, the real-estate agent suggests that Andrew hold a séance to make contact with the ghost of Barrymore. An attempt is made, which, though apparently unsuccessful, later results in the great man's return to earth. "Am I dead?" the ghost inquires. "Or just incredibly drunk?" To prepare for this scene, the cast decided to stage an actual séance in my apartment. We hired a psychic, a frazzled woman with a matching perm who, I suspected, owned more than one cat and far more than one scented candle.
In my apartment, everyone gathered around a massive oak library table. I'd furnished the place in the Barrymore manner, with burnished leather couches, heavily carved and gilded thrones, the sort of antiqued coats of arms found in any suburban steak house, and a tarnished, tilting brass candelabra. I served reasonably priced wine, microwave popcorn, and Pepperidge Farm Milanos.
The meter was running, so I encouraged the psychic to aim for a direct hit on Barrymore. We all clasped hands, and she shut her eyes, clanged her finger cymbals, and began a rhythmic moaning that was either a trance state or a belated Kaddish for my grandmother. She directed us to concentrate our spiritual energy on the door that opened on the stairs to the rooftop. Nicol, who'd cornered the reasonably priced wine, staggered to his feet and, in a sepulchral wail worthy of any character on a "Simpsons" Halloween special, bellowed, "Come!"
Nothing. We all sat up straighter and glared even more aggressively at the door. "COME!" Nicol bellowed again, raising his arms in Dionysian welcome.
Still nothing. We were all quivering with ecstatic, ectoplasmic yearning, and Nicol howled "COOOME!!!" with such ferocity that I feared for his sexual partners.
The door moved a fraction of an inch. It didn't swing open, and Nicol had certainly been producing some Hindenburg-quality hot air, but who knows? I've often wondered if everything that followed was the result of that séance, if just maybe we'd actually unleashed some cackling, chaos-seeking, heedless Barrymore imp.
I continued to rewrite the play, but with each passing week Nicol grew more paranoid. His complaint was essentially that he was being asked to appear onstage with other people. He took to calling me at 3 A.M., always opening with a solicitous "I didn't wake you, did I?" He'd had a brainstorm: what would I think if Evan left the show and Nicol played the parts of both Andrew and Barrymore simultaneously? I couldn't even begin to formulate a response, since not only was Evan first-rate but the characters had many scenes together, including a ripsnorting duel that climaxed the first act. As I sputtered, Nicol jumped in: "Oh, I know just what you're thinking. Of course I could play both parts easily, but Andrew is intended to be what, twenty-six years old? And you're wondering, Will the audience accept me as twenty-six? It might be a concern, but it's not a film—from the stage, there'd be no problem at all!" Nicol was then fifty-two.
Our preview performances began. The set, by Tony Straiges, was a grander approximation of my apartment, resembling the great hall of some fantasy castle, with tapestries, a large oil portrait of Nicol as Barrymore, and, on a wooden stand, an enormous parchment-covered globe that, in the early moments of Act II, opened to reveal a wet bar.
Nicol was sensational. In a luxuriant wig and sculpted black tunic and tights, he was utterly persuasive as a dashing, brutally comic Barrymore. He commanded the stage, and seemed to be having the time of his life. He was possessed by Barrymore, both in the play's more burlesque moments and in his speeches from "Hamlet," which he delivered with eloquence and simplicity, as a lesson for Andrew and the rest of us. It was too good to last.
After the first few shows, Nicol embarked on a self-destructive binge. He repeatedly propositioned the stage manager, and when she resisted his groping advances he called the management and demanded that she be fired. This didn't happen, but the atmosphere backstage became poisonous. The cast posed for a raft of promotional photographs, and Nicol tried to block the release of any pictures in which he appeared with another actor. Then he began murmuring directions, while onstage, to other cast members: "Is that what you're doing?," "God, that's awful," and worse. During scenes in which the script called for him to hover, as a ghost, and eavesdrop on the action, he would leave the stage. He gradually and deliberately alienated almost everyone, until the production became a war zone. One night, I stopped by his dressing room to make a final attempt to repair our relationship. When I entered, he took a wobbly swing at me, aimed at my head and connecting with my shoulder. I was more surprised than hurt; it was like being assaulted by a sleeping bag. Further revisions to the script became impossible.
During the opening-night performance, at the Walter Kerr Theatre, I sat crouched on the carpeted steps at the rear of the balcony. Like any opening-night crowd, the audience was appreciative and vocal. As I watched, I thought, My play is opening tonight on Broadway. This was a glorious and yet conventional dream, and that was the problem. Conventional dreams, such as Broadway openings, weddings, and elections, aren't about joy; they're about expectations, pressure, and blind panic.
The cast party was at Tavern on the Green. Everyone's friends and family were in attendance, and Nicol ruled the night. He still wasn't speaking to many of the others, but there he was, in a white dinner jacket, grabbing the microphone and forcing the band to back him on assorted Tom Jones hits. It was like attending the coronation of a sadistic, self-proclaimed emperor, with toasts encouraged by armed guards. I longed for Nicol to be a caddish yet magnetic rogue and to win everyone back. But he couldn't. Owing to drink and bitterness and rage, he needed to be loathed by friends and adored by strangers.
The reviews were mixed. "Mixed reviews" is a phrase like "creative differences" or "of unknown origin"; it's what the government tells the widow. Nicol was accused of genius, slumming, and everything in between. Reports of his bad behavior had been rampant, so his notices were like bulletins from the front, hoping to make sense of a battle still in progress.
Now that we had opened, the fun truly began. During the first act, Barrymore's ghost arrives to coax and browbeat Andrew into playing Hamlet. Andrew is ambivalent and wary. While he hates playing opposite a hand puppet, in his lucrative ads for Trailburst Nuggets breakfast cereal, he's terrified of the stage, the tights, and the Bard. His friend Gary backs him up: "I mean, it's not even dinner theatre. They sell whole-wheat brownies and little bags of nuts and raisins. It's snack theatre. It's Shakespeare for squirrels."
Barrymore scoffs, asking Andrew, "Can you possibly believe that every prospective Hamlet did not tremble and pale and bolt? Hamlet will change you, Andrew, make no mistake. What are you to be—artist, or lunchbox?"
"Get out!" Andrew wails.
"En garde!" cries Barrymore, now brandishing a gleaming sword.
I wasn't there on the Thursday night, a month or so after the opening, when Nicol went for broke. I had gone to see another show, and at a restaurant afterward a friend rushed over to my table, asking, "Oh my God! Have you heard anything? Is he really hurt? Is he O.K.?"
"Who? What are you talking about?" I asked.
"Tonight! At your play! Nicol Williamson stabbed Evan Handler!"
During the swordplay scene, Nicol, it seemed, had actually struck his co-star. Evan, quite wisely, had left the stage, the performance, and, ultimately, the production. His understudy had finished the show that night.
Later, another friend came running up to me. "Oh my God," he said. "It's so tragic!"
"Nicol?" I asked. "And my play?"
"No! Jerzy Kosinski! He's dead!" Kosinski had committed suicide in his bathtub. The next day, Kosinski's grisly end shared billing with the "I Hate Hamlet" fracas on the front page of the Times. In the Post's weekend edition, a photograph of the duel filled the entire front page, under the headline "'HAMLET' ACTOR STORMS OFF STAGE AFTER CO-STAR WHACKS HIM IN BUTT." There was coverage all over the world, and TV news crews stood outside the theatre every night. I learned to say "No comment" in many languages.
Evan Handler wanted to bring Nicol and the production up on charges. A meeting was called, and the producers and I tried to determine a course of action. Should we fire Nicol? We realized that he had been brilliantly, maliciously sly: because of all the publicity, he now was the show, and no other star in his right mind would step into his role. The situation was impossible. At an earlier meeting, two of our producers, the gentlest and most well-intentioned men, became so frustrated that a fistfight broke out. The brawl ended within seconds, with instant apologies all around. Even when he wasn't in the room, Nicol was winning.
Evan's understudy took over, and the show wobbled along for a few more weeks. Nicol was in clover. He began leading the audiences in sing-alongs of "Happy Days Are Here Again," and, at the curtain calls, he liked to instruct the crowd to "Head home and enjoy a nice juicy slice of sexual intercourse!" The Tony Award nominations were announced around this time, and while Adam Arkin received a nod Nicol did not. He was livid, and took to haranguing the nominating committee from the stage.
I attended the closing-night performance, and afterward I went backstage. On a small table outside Nicol's dressing room there was a bottle containing his blood-pressure medication. I considered replacing the pills with—what? Arsenic? Rat poison? What could possibly kill him?
I had never spent time around a world-class, drain-the-keg loon before. Nicol belonged to a boisterous, selfish, élite cadre of mostly British actors, the Angry Young Men of the nineteen-fifties and sixties. They were the working-class blokes who'd banished the decorum of Gielgud and Olivier—brawlers who went for birds and lager and, at least onstage, a grittier realism. This reckless brotherhood included Richard Burton, Richard Harris, and Peter O'Toole, all of whom binged their way to the top. But Nicol had been denied the screen stardom, and the eventual knighthood, that his peers had won, and this can't have pleased him.
Nicol believed, I think, that if he could just get to the theatre, if he could only step onstage, he'd be fine. Some nights, he'd saunter in at five, even ten minutes after eight, knowing that we'd hold the curtain. But there was one performance when he'd overslept, or passed out in his apartment, and his understudy had gone on. Although we hadn't spoken in weeks, the next day Nicol called me, assuring me that everything was fine, and that he'd be on that evening. Then he abruptly hung up. For the first time, he'd sounded shaken.
After the final performance, I had no intention of talking to Nicol. I was still too angry. As I was heading upstairs, to bid farewell to the more lucid actors, the door to Nicol's dressing room swung open. He stood there, a soused, lunatic, fifty-two-year-old Hamlet. We stared at each other. Nicol finally spoke, and his tone was both kind and accusing. He said, "You knew this was going to happen." And then he smiled and shut the door. ♦


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A Senate panel is looking into the phenomenon of High Frequency Trading.
Here's the infamous and hypnotic graphic from Nanex showing just how the practice has grown, showing quote volume by the hour every day since 2007 on various exchanges:
It is a relief that the issue is finally being discussed in wider venues, because we are witnessing a stunning exodus from markets as markets mutate into what we see above, a rampaging tempestuous casino of robotic arbitrageurs operating in millisecond timescales.
The conundrum is simple: how can any retail investor trust markets where billions of dollars of securities are bought and sold faster than they can click my mouse and open my browser, or pick up the phone to call their broker?
And the first day of hearings brought some thoughtful testimony.
David Lauer, who left his job at a high-frequency trading firm in Chicago last year, told a Senate panel that the ultra-fast trades that now dominate the stock market have contributed to frequent market disruptions and alienated retail investors.
"U.S. equity markets are in dire straits," Lauer said in his written testimony.
One man who I think should be testifying in front of Congress is Charles Hugh Smith, who has made some very interesting recommendations on this topic:
Here are some common-sense rules for such a "new market":
1. Every offer and bid will be left up for 15 minutes and cannot be withdrawn until 15 minutes has passed.
2. Every security–stock or option–must be held for a minimum of one hour.
3. Every trade must be placed by a human being.
4. No equivalent of the ES/E-Mini contract–the futures contract for the S&P 500 — will be allowed. The E-Mini contract is the favorite tool of the Federal Reserve's proxies, the Plunge Protection Team and other offically sanctioned manipulators, as a relatively modest sum of money can buy a boatload of contracts that ramp up the market.
5. All bids, offers and trades will be transparently displayed in a form and media freely available to all traders with a standard PC and Internet connection.
6. Any violation of #3 will cause the trader and the firm he/she works for to be banned from trading on the exchange for life–one strike, you're out.
However, I doubt that any of Smith's suggestions will even be considered by Congress (let alone by the marketplace which seems likely to continue to gamble rampantly so long as they have a bailout line). Why? Money. Jack Reed, the Democratic Senator chairing the hearings, is funded almost solely by big banks and investment firms:
It seems more than probable that once again Congress will come down on the side of big finance, and leave retail investors out in the cold. Jack Reed opened a recent exchange on Bloomberg with these words:
Well I believe high frequency trading has provided benefits to the marketplace, to retail investors, etcetera.
Yet retail investors do not seem to agree about these supposed benefits.
Retail investors just keep pulling funds:
Reed failed to really answer this question posed by the host:
Senator, US equity markets are supposed to be a level playing field for all kinds of investors; big companies, small companies and even individuals. That said, how is it possible for an individual investor ever to compete with high frequency traders who buy and sell in milliseconds. Aren't individuals always going to be second in line essentially to robots who can enter these orders faster than any human possibly can?
The reality is that unless regulators and markets can create an environment where individual investors can participate on a level playing field, they will look for alternative venues to put their money. It is in the market's interest to create an environment where investors can invest on a level playing field. But I think the big banks are largely blinded by the quick and leverage-driven levitation provided by high frequency trading.


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This article appeared in the Orange County Register:
Blind Artists Display Work in Fullerton
By Courtney Perkes:
Anthony Sanaee's eyes are dark and expressive, like the mesmerizing eyes he creates with a charcoal pencil. At his desk pushed against the window in his Laguna Hills bedroom, Sanaee hunches inches over a sheet of paper as he draws a pupil and long eyelashes. The college student says eyes fascinate him. He is among 44 blind and visually impaired artists showcasing their work in the new exhibit "Shared Visions" at the Southern California College of Optometry in Fullerton.
He is displaying a drawing of an enormous eye and a self-portrait, along with his renderings of actor Heath Ledger as the Joker and Marilyn Monroe. The exhibit's 93 paintings, ceramic pieces, photographs and wood carvings will be on view through August.
"I love charcoal," Sanaee said of his medium of choice. "It's a lot easier to see with my eyes because it's darker." Sanaee, 21, has turned his bedroom into a canvas and gallery. Two guitars are mounted on the wall. A piece of sheet music, enlarged to the size of a poster so he can read the notes, hangs near his desk. His door is painted black, and on it he's creating an anime-inspired figure in white charcoal. "It helps me," he said. "It keeps me calm. It distracts me."
Sanaee was diagnosed at age 4 with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic condition that creates a tunnel vision effect because of damage to the light-sensitive receptors of the retina. He's studying graphic design at Santa Ana College. His mother, Mercedes Sanaee, said he has always spent hours drawing. "I'm not sure where it all came from," she said. "It's kind of like the eye condition. Who knows?"
Sanaee, who is legally blind, said an art teacher told him that his limited vision brings an impressionistic look to his paintings because he conveys a larger perspective in soft brush strokes rather than homing in on sharp details. He rejects bulky glasses and other magnifying tools. Instead he uses the camera on his smartphone to enlarge still-life images that he wants to paint or draw. At times he has struggled in art class, such as when assigned to sketch a model from a distance.
"If I do have something that's blocking me, I'll find my way around it," he said. "Last year with live drawing with a model, I couldn't take a picture. I sat as close as I could. I took my time on it." For the second time, Sanaee is showing in "Shared Visions." He will attend a reception Friday that's open to the public.
"I think it's given him a lot of confidence," Mercedes Sanaee said. "It's really helped him to mature. Every year he goes and talks to everyone when he presents his work."
Dr. Catherine Heyman, chief of the college's low-vision department, said the exhibit empowers those who can share their view of the world despite their lack of 20/20 vision. In the show's catalog, one artist observes, "There is a lot to see if you close your eyes." The artists in the show come from across the U.S., and Israel and Canada. A number of the works are for sale and all proceeds go to the artists. Their eye conditions include cataracts, macular degeneration and glaucoma. Several artists are completely blind. "There's a lot of psychological aspects to losing your vision that can change how you view yourself, to where you don't feel you have the same value," Heyman said. "For those of us who are sighted, who take it for granted, you see a different perspective when you look at this art."
Kathy Kennedy, another featured artist, was 6 when she started losing her vision because of a brain tumor compressing her optic nerve. "They discovered it because of my vision loss," Kennedy said. "I couldn't read. I kept turning books upside down." She underwent surgery to remove the malignant tumor and has been cancer-free since. But Kennedy, 53, has no peripheral vision and is almost completely blind in one eye. Her other eye is 20/400, considered severe visual impairment. Kennedy, who lives in La Habra, loved drawing as a child but outgrew art until a recent mosaic class at the Braille Institute in Anaheim. She loves the tactile sensation of working with tile. She spent more than a year cutting mosaic tile and arranging a cheerful scene of butterflies in a colorful flower garden. Kennedy affixed the tiles in place with assistance from a magnification device. "I was hooked," she said. "The tile gives you something that you can express your creativity. It's doing something you can feel and touch."
Categories: Spotlights


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Crist wins Florida primary for governor
Former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist won the Democratic primary to challenge Republican Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday, marking another step in an unlikely political comeback four years after leaving the GOP.
Crist defeated Nan Rich, a former Senate Democratic leader who has been campaigning for governor longer than Crist has been a Democrat. He is the first person in Florida to win the nomination for governor as a Republican and a Democrat. With 39 percent of the precincts counted, Crist had 75 percent to 25 percent for Rich.
He now faces Scott and Libertarian Adrian Wyllie in a race that's already been highly negative. Scott anticipated a Crist victory and has already spent millions of dollars in ads attacking him for political flip-flops, supporting President Barack Obama's health care overhaul and his decision to run for Senate instead of a second term as governor as the state's economy tanked.
"Congratulations! It's a wonderful night!" Crist said as he hugged his running mate, Annette Taddeo, after Rich called Crist to concede the race minutes after the polls closed.
Crist said the strong showing is a sign that Democrats believe in him despite the fact that he's new to the party.
"Frankly, I think I was on their side when I was in the other party," Crist said as he prepared for his victory speech. He said a friend once told him, "'Charlie, you've been a Democrat your whole life, you just didn't know it.' Well now I know it."
Crist was also focused on Scott leading up to the primary, refusing to debate Rich while reminding voters thatScott is a former hospital chain CEO who ran a company that paid a $1.7 billion settlement for Medicaid fraud.
Crist, 58, has won three statewide races as a Republican, and it wasn't that long ago that he called himself a Ronald Reagan/Jeb Bush Republican. He was once considered a potential running mate for 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain. He also had the backing of GOP leaders in a 2010 bid for the U.S. Senate — until Marco Rubio used an image of Crist hugging President Barack Obama to chase Crist from the primary. Crist lost an independent bid for the seat Rubio now holds.
After campaigning for Obama in 2012, Crist completed his political transition later that year by posting a photo of his voter registration card on Twitter during an event at the White House.
He now hopes he can inspire Democratic voters who have opposed him in five statewide races. As a Republican, Crist was elected education commissioner in 2000, attorney general in 2002 and governor in 2006. He lost a U.S. Senate race as a Republican in 1998 and as an independent in 2010.
Despite initially campaigning as a strong conservative in the 2010 Senate race, Crist was widely considered a moderate Republican governor supported by some Democrats.
He vetoed an abortion bill and a teacher merit pay bill that were priorities for Republicans in 2010 and was a leader on climate change issues as governor.
Retired teacher Ann Long, 75 and a longtime Democrat from Miami, said she voted for Crist.
"I liked him when he was a Republican governor, and I thought he had the best chance of winning. He seemed to run the state well," Long said.
Scott had only minor primary opposition. He is seeking his second term after spending $73 million of his and his wife's money to win the governor's office four years ago.
Scott was elected without a majority of the vote in a close race with former Florida CFO Alex Sink. He campaigned as a tea party conservative advocating for less government spending and making the state more business friendly.
But Scott has transitioned from a political outsider seeking to shake up government to a candidate who is advocating for more spending on education, the environment and other programs.


text: 20111225XmasDinnerPlate Post author By Camille Post date January 15, 2012 No Comments on 20111225XmasDinnerPlate By Camille Camille Armantrout lives with her soulmate, Bob, in the back woods of central North Carolina where she hikes, gardens, cooks, and writes. View Archive → Don't be shy - leave a comment! Cancel reply


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The motorhome is parked at Mary's home in Murphys, California. She is busy with personal matters. She departs with her 14-year-old grandson for a trip to Turkey on April 17th.
In other news…
Yesterday I got my Ford Bronco II back after a transmission rebuild. It seems to run fine. However as part of the 3 year, 50,000 mile warranty, they require to re-inspect the vehicle after two weeks. So I'll return to the transmission shop on Monday, April 21st. My planned departure date to get back on the road again is now set on Tuesday, April 22nd. During the two-week period, I'll be busy with routine maintenance and cleaning on both the Bronco and motorhome.
Last September during my eye exam at the Seattle, Washington VA Hospital I was told I have a large cataract in my right eye that should be attended to in the next year.
On March 24th, we drove the Bronco 104 miles (one way) to the VA Medical Center at Livermore, California for my new eye exam which confirmed my cataract in my right eye. I was told I'm a candidate for surgery. I now await a phone call to establish an appointment for a consultation with an eye surgeon.
During my eye exam I was told that the surgery would be performed at the large Palo Alto facility near San Francisco. Just like being in the military, I am now standing in line and waiting! 🙂
A more relaxed mode..
After our 682 day on-the-go 2011-2013 circumnavigation of the United States, we have decided to slip into a more relaxed mode. In the next few months we will be traveling through areas previously explored. Unless we do something unusual, this Blog will feature a photo album from the circumnavigation and will change daily.
To read about today's photo album location, click this link… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Padre_Island,_Texas
|South Padre Island, Texas
Yesterday was a sunny day at 78 degrees. Forecast for today is a sunny day at 83 degrees.
Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!
The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…
Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!
"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving"…Albert Einstein
On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That's me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y'all!
Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos
There are more than 500 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver
If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man's Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/
For more information about my books, click this link:
All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2014


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Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
For more information about the NLT:
The Holy Bible, New International Version® (Anglicised), NIV®
Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.


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Pixar's animated movie UP has inspired the makings of this balloon house. It may be slightly out of the typical range of architecture on the blog, but its safe to say this is truly unique; never has it been done before.
On the morning of March 5th, National Geographic Channel and a team of scientists, engineers and balloon pilots launched the 16 x 16 foot house with 300 8 foot balloons. The house floated around for about an hour and reached an altitude of over 10,000 feet. Look for more coverage of this in the fall of 2011 in a series called How Hard Can it Be.


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Date Published: 10/15/2020
Citrix and Fujitsu RunMyProcess collaborate to help simplify your digital workspace!
Citrix Workspace provides seamless access to enterprise applications through easy-to-consume task-based feeds. As a result, employees can focus on their work instead of spending time to navigate complex IT environments.
In this webinar, discover how Fujitsu RunMyProcess developed an Inventory Management application for franchises of a famous fast food chain and managed its successful integration into Citrix Workspace. We'll also walk you through the functioning of the integration and how it simplified a tedious, repetitive process for franchisee owners. In addition, learn how you can integrate any type of app into Citrix Workspace, allowing end-users to interact with them directly from it.
Learning outcomes:


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Rep. Adam Schiff urged the country's top diplomat this week to press Japanese political leaders to formally recognize women used as sex slaves by the Imperial Army during World War II.
The Burbank Democrat, along with two of his Congressional colleagues, sent the letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the same week as Korean supporters of a Glendale statue honoring so-called comfort women hosted an incense ceremony at the monument to honor a former victim who died last Saturday.
"We recognize that this issue is deeply important to our constituents and should be a diplomatic priority for the Department of State," he wrote, along with New Jersey Reps.Scott Garrett and Bill Pascrell.
All three have comfort-women memorials in their districts.
"Several of us feel that Japan can make a more full and consistent recognition of what happened to the comfort women," Schiff said during a phone interview.
In 2007, Congress passed a resolution calling on the Japanese government to issue a formal apology to the comfort women. In the 1990s, a former Japanese prime minister sent letters of apology to former comfort women, but supporters say that wasn't enough, pointing to a segment of Japanese people that continue to deny as many as 200,000 women were forced into prostitution by that country's military.
The opposition persists despite the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan declaring that some women were coerced and deprived of their freedom as well as numerous survivors publicly sharing harrowing tales of servitude.
Glendale has become ground zero for the comfort-women controversy since the city installed an 1,100-pound statue in Central Park in July. Since then, three delegations of Japanese politicians — both local and national — have visited Glendale and called on the city's leaders to remove the memorial.
"Periodically there are very prominent Japanese public officials who make erroneous and hurtful comments about what was done to the comfort women," Schiff said in the interview. "It's clear that there really isn't a full recognition and reckoning at times of what Japan did during World War II."
The bronze monument in Glendale — the first comfort-women memorial on public land on the West Coast — features a young Korean woman sitting next to an empty chair. It is often surrounded by bouquets of flowers.
On Thursday afternoon, the Korean American Forum of California, which is advocating for the installation of similar statues throughout the United States, hosted an incense ceremony to honor a former comfort woman who died last week.
Hwang Keum-ja died at 89 on Saturday of lung and respiratory disease at a Seoul hospital. She was 13 years old and living in North Korea when she was taken by a Japanese policeman to work at a glass factory for three years, Phyllis Kim, spokeswoman for the Korean American Forum of California, said.
After that, Kim said, Hwang moved to China and was forced to work in a brothel. She returned to Korea at the end of World War II, but lived in poverty throughout her life.
Comfort-women advocates are lobbying to erect more memorials like the one in Glendale in an effort to prompt a formal parliamentary resolution in Japan apologizing to comfort women. Advocates fear that the longer it takes to pen the resolution, more former comfort women will die.
Schiff's Jan. 29 letter was sent about two weeks after a Congressional appropriations bill including a provision that reflected sentiments similar to those expressed in his message, was signed into law.
Schiff said it was not uncommon for appropriators — in this case members of Congress — to express their views on what departments, such as the Department of State, should do with their funding.
As much as Kerry has his plate full with issues in the Middle East and elsewhere, Schiff said North Korea is also a top priority and Japan's ability to work together with South Korea and the Philippines will be important for the United States strategically in Asia.
"A full recognition of what happened to the comfort women would improve those relations and that is very much in our interest," Schiff said.
By Brittany Levine, LA TIMES
Images: Google image
Article from Glendale News Press


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Replacing the 10/100 Ethernet port with onboard 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz WiFi and Bluetooth, the popular open source BeagleBone™ Black computer now comes with built-in wireless networking capability. Leveraging a partnership with Octavo Systems and designed in CadSoft Eagle, BeagleBone™ Black Wireless is the easiest to use and modify credit-card sized IoT Linux computer available.
No projects here yet! Create the first project using BeagleBone Black Wireless


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In an Oregon primary election where medical marijuana was a prominent campaign issue, former judge and ally of the state's medical marijuana community Ellen Rosenblum came from behind to decisively defeat former interim US Attorney Dwight Holton Tuesday in the campaign for the Democratic Party's nominee for state attorney general.
"As attorney general, I will make marijuana enforcement a low priority, and protect the rights of medical marijuana patients," Rosenblum says on her campaign website.
According to the Oregon Secretary of State's unofficial election results Tuesday evening, with 100% of the vote counted, Rosenblum had won with 63% of the vote, compared to 37% for Holton.
The winner of the Democratic Party nod is almost certain to be the next state attorney general. The Republicans didn't even field a candidate for the post, and in a primary where the Democratic attorney general race attracted more than 183,000 voters, the Republican non-race attracted fewer than 9,000 write-in votes.
Holton was an early favorite in the race and had the support of law enforcement constituencies, but aroused the ire of medical marijuana supporters for his actions as interim US Attorney last year, when he oversaw several raids against medical marijuana providers and sent out letters threatening asset forfeiture to other providers and their landlords. It didn't help when he called the the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program "a train wreck" during the campaign and pledged to work with Republican legislators to "fix" it.
The state's medical marijuana and marijuana legalization advocates mobilized to defeat Holton and encourage support for Rosenblum. But national drug reform activists, heartened by the grass roots response and emboldened by the opportunity to inflict a political price on those participating in the federal crackdown on medical marijuana distribution, mobilized as well.
Through its lobbying and campaign arm, Drug Policy Action, the Drug Policy Alliance kicked in $100,000 in donations to the Rosenblum campaign and Citizens for Sensible Law Enforcement (CSLE), which, among other things, launched a series of radio ads against Holton. CSLE is also the group behind the I-24 marijuana legalization initiative, one of two Oregon legalization initiatives edging very close to making the November ballot.
DPA ally and deep-pocketed drug reform donor John Sperling, founder of the University of Phoenix, also contributed $100,000 to the Rosenblum campaign.
DPA and Oregon medical marijuana advocates were quick to claim the election result showed there was a price to be paid for going against the drug reform tide. It was a message they wanted both prosecutors and the Obama administration to hear.
"Dwight Holton's defeat in the Oregon Attorney General's race should be taken as a clear and unambiguous message to US Attorneys around the country and to the national Democratic leadership that attacking state-approved medical marijuana programs is not a smart political move," said Jill Harris, managing director of strategic initiatives for Drug Policy Action, and a native of Eugene.
"Medical marijuana has overwhelming public support -- it is now legal in 16 US states and the District of Columbia, and national polls have consistently shown support in the 70-80% range for well over a decade. Drug war rhetoric and tactics will not be tolerated, and organizations like Drug Policy Action will be there to defend patients' rights to safely access the medicine they need," she said in a Tuesday night statement.
No Oregon groups have yet released any statements, but there was much joy on their list serves Tuesday night. "I hope that law enforcement is paying attention as well," said one poster. "As this just goes to show that Oregon is sick of them wasting their resources on marijuana."
(This article was published by StoptheDrugWar.org's lobbying arm, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also shares the cost of maintaining this web site. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)


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A What Ho! thesaurus of terms related to homework and school.
Parent-Teacher meetings and Annual Day functions
Contrary to popular belief, these are not occasions to explain to the class teacher as to why you missed an entire season of Dexter or why you have declined all social invitations, including an invitation to a dinner reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, on account of your child's insane level of homework. These are also not occasions to perform aggravated acts of violence on fellow parents who insist that their child is "not sufficiently challenged by homework workload" and believe that the system needs to "push him harder."
Note: In recent times, judges have demonstrated reluctance, more often than not, to convict parents of aggravated acts of violence. Also note that teachers, vice principals and principals will not appear to care about the fact you've stayed up till 11:30 every night to help your child calculate the Gross Domestic Product of Burkina Faso to the third decimal point. Remonstrations about homework workload will either elicit an expression of obviously insincere sympathy or an increase in workload till 12:30 AM.
The first thing parents will note with regards to maths is that it bears no resemblance to one of their own day. Indeed, Ptolemy and Euclid may be at a loss to graduate from grade 8 in the modern era. You might occasionally observe your child interlacing the digits of her left hand with the toes of the right foot in order to arrive at answers. This is normal and not cause for concern. In some households, mothers will find the following phrase useful: "Go check with your father. He knows this stuff." In other homes, the case may be exactly the opposite.
Note: You will be expected to be conversant with the metric system. One litre roughly equals two bottles of chota Pepsi. And you will expected to guide your child figure out how many apples Rahul will be left with, after eating half, then giving two to Shreya and depositing the remainder in an offshore account in Cayman Islands. Otherwise capable parents will find themselves rendered motionless and speechless during these sessions.
The Phone Call
Each night, as dinner is laid on the table, the phone will ring. The call will originate from a class mate of your child, who will enquire as to the nature of the assignment for tomorrow. Equally likely, your child will announce that she must telephone Neha urgently to find out more about tomorrow's submission. More often than not, the telephone number of the other party will be engaged or calls go unanswered for a minimum of ninety minutes, prompting a continuous parental lecture on "the need for discipline" during this period. The telephone conversations, when they start, will feature, on the side, running, parallel and rancorous parental commentary on the absolute need and necessity to write down assignments "in class." The sentence "How many times do I have to tell you this?" will be repeated ad nauseum until the child's ears grow numb with seething discontent, followed by the child tearfully storming off and seeking refuge in the bathroom.
Note: Never, I repeat, never ever indulge in late night calls to the class teacher enquiring about the nature of tomorrow's assignment. By 1:30AM, the parent is likely to be in a state of acute mental derangement and distress, and hence highly apt to "download" on the teacher as to what he thinks of schooling and homework, which in turn, is likely to lead to a parent-teacher meeting and increase of daily homework load till 1AM.
The School Bag
Today's child carries a schoolbag which weighs roughly 3.8 times her weight (in gross tonnage). The schoolbag will include items, deemed necessary by your child, such as two editions of Harry Potter novels, 42 hair clips, two dozen badges, between 2 and 5 boxes containing an assortment of pencils, erasers, short swords and sabres, surgical instruments and food items from the previous semester. The net tonnage, which is the weight of material directly related to education of your child such as books, will form a significant proportion of the gross tonnage.
Note: Every morning, be sure to warm your muscles up by performing a dozen sit-ups before you attempt to hoist the bag onto your child's shoulders, in order to avoid rotator cuff injuries and slipped discs. The schoolbag is also an important part of the daily ceremonial homework commencement, one in which the process of getting to "Okay, okay" will take ten minutes. This will be followed by the child starting to rummage through the aforesaid schoolbag, all the while in the living room, for a pen. Any parental offers of alternative pens and pencils will be turned down. The duration of the child's rummaging will roughly equal the duration of time left in the episode of American Idol running at that moment on the television.
Science Project
These are the most dreaded words in the parental universe. No phrase strikes more terror in the hearts of a parent than 'Science Project'. The science project, which is announced a few weeks into the term, will be dramatically unveiled by your spouse, who will proclaim that your child has "chosen" to work with you on the project. Your spouse will conduct all conversations about your role in the Science Project in full view and complete earshot of your child to pre-empt any protests and withdrawals from responsibilities. Any and all murderous impulses towards the spouse should be tightly controlled and kept out of sight of the child. Over the next several weeks, you will spend a significant part of your time recreating a miniature version of the Large Hadron Collider or a contraption involving roughly 1 million stytrofoam balls (available at Aishwarya Departmental Store), springs, elastic rubber bands, gun powder, lemons and batteries to explain the string theory.
Note: Remember that the days are long gone when anything could be explained using two ping pong balls and a toothpick. Also note that, in the eventuality, the parent is hospitalized for exhaustion, project responsibilities are not considered to be abdicated.