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Time: 119 Minutes
Age Rating: contains violence, offensive language & horror
Ivana Baquero as Ofelia/Princess Moanna
Sergi López as Captain Vidal
Maribel Verdú as Mercedes
Doug Jones as the Faun and the Pale Man
Ariadna Gil as Carmen
Álex Angulo as Doctor Ferreiro
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) moves with her mother to her stepfather's house. At night, a fairy leads her to a faun who informs her that she is a princess and she needs to participate in three tasks to prove her royalty.
Pan's Labyrinth has often been hailed as director Guillermo del Toro's best film and for good reason. It's an incredibly directed and intelligently written dark fantasy film, with outstanding visual effects and some great performances. Even over a decade later it holds up very well, and remains a classic for sure.
Pan's Labyrinth is essentially a fairy tale for adults. The premise about a child entering a fantasy world in order to make sense and escape from their troubled and difficult reality is pretty much textbook fantasy. And yet, del Toro handles this so well and still makes this movie feel completely original. First of all, this is no family friendly or sanitised fairy tale. It's not just some of the creatures that the main character encounters on her journey, but also the grimness and bleakness of the reality she's living in. Pan's Labyrinth is very much a spiritual successor to del Toro's The Devil's Backbone. The script is very nuanced, and the fantasy is juxtaposed against the Spanish Civil War and the realities of fascism, with effective parallels between the two. The true villains of the story are actual fascists, not the fantasy monsters in the fantasy world. The movie also doesn't feel overly fantasised or overly realistic, a decent balance is struck between the two. A clear theme of the movie is growing up and losing innocence, which isn't particularly special especially with films with similar premises, but nonetheless that was handled very well in this movie. Del Toro creates a world where both the real and fiction can coexist. It's very well paced across its 2 hour runtime. The plot isn't exactly unpredictable, but it still keeps you invested in everything that is happening, and the ending hits very hard.
The cast were all great across the board. Ivana Baquero plays the main character of Ofelia and she was fantastic. Baquero is a child actress who was tasked to carry a lot by herself. Even with how great the rest of the movie was, Pan's Labyrinth wouldn't have quite as well if she wasn't up to the task. However she doesn't falter and delivers a nuanced and believable performance which makes her journey over the course of the movie much more affecting. Sergi Lopez plays the ruthless Captain Vidal, who also happens to be Ofelia's stepfather. He's quite a threatening presence throughout the film. The Pale Man in his scene may be terrifying, but Vidal is the true bogeyman of this story. Maribel Verdu was also very good as a conflicted housekeeper. Doug Jones plays both The Faun and The Pale Man, and even through all the prosthetics gave such great and memorable performances. The rest of the cast also deliver on their parts.
Guillermo del Toro's direction is nothing short of outstanding. The cinematography by Guillermo Navarro is great, with cool blues and warm golds. It balances out both the grittiness and gloominess of its bleak setting in reality, as well as the fantastical setting. There is some gorgeous set design throughout, and there was clearly a lot of care and precision into the creation of this world. Much of the film feels very real. Even 14 years later, most of the visual effects still hold up quite well. What helps is that most of the effects were prosthetics and animatronics, and the CGI was used sparingly. The makeup and effects particularly on the Faun and The Pale Man are beautiful and mystical. The few moments of CGI don't quite hold up, there's particularly a scene involving a toad, which did look quite fake. On the whole though, the effects are great. The score by Javier Navarrete is really good too, mesmerising and very haunting.
There's not much more I can say about Pan's Labyrinth that hasn't been said before. This dark fantasy movie intended for adults is beautifully made, haunting, and incredibly well made. Definitely Guillermo del Toro's best film to date. Watch it if you haven't seen it before, the acclaim is 100% deserved.


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Olive wood Camel
Large Olive Wood Camel. Height 25 cm. Please note, the camel design / colours may vary.
Price includes shipping.
10 in stock
Large Olive Wood Camel. This unique camel was created by the Halamit factory's best designers, and artistically hand crafted. This camel is madeout of olive wood, from a tree that has been growing in the Holy Land for hundreds of years. The wood has undergone a natural, five year drying process, which ensures its eternal stability. The great age of the tree lends the wood its naturally artistic forms. Please note, the camel design / colours may vary. No trees are cut down to make olive wood products. They are made from annual clippings.
Height 25 cm
Price includes shipping.
Additional information
|0.31 kg
|12.5 × 25 cm
There are no reviews yet.

subset: commoncrawl


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New Year's Resolutions: Homebuying Habits to Start Now
You've likely made your list of New Year's resolutions, whether it's to start eating healthier or exercising more. Of course, if you're looking to buy a home this year, there are some habits that you should begin now, too. Here are four homebuying habits to put in place if this is your year to become a homeowner.
Tighten up your budget.
If one of your main resolutions this year is to buy a home, then you've got to start saving for your down payment (if you haven't started already). Tightening up your budget is one of the most crucial homebuying habits to exercise so that you can save more and quicker! Tighten up your budget by cooking more meals at home versus going out or brewing your own coffee instead of grabbing a latte from your favorite coffee shop. You might even consider commuting to work via public transportation to forego car expenses including payments, insurance and gas.
Have a designated savings account for your future home.
Another one of the homebuying habits to put in place this year is to have a designated savings account that's for your down payment or future home expenses. By stowing away money for buying a home, you'll be able to physically separate your savings from your checking account so that you don't accidentally spend what you've saved for your home. You could also schedule weekly or monthly transfers of funds into your home savings account so that you hardly have to feel the pains of saving money for a down payment.
Make sure you are paying your bills on time.
Since you'll be applying for a mortgage later this year, you want to make sure that your bills are being paid on time and that you have a good overall credit score. Before you get approved for a loan, lenders will be looking at your credit score and bill history making sure that you don't have any outstanding payments and that you are paying your bills on time. From your utility bills to your rent and credit card payments, make it a habit to stay on top of your bills to reach your goal of homeownership.
Begin attending open houses now.
It's never too early to attend open houses. Attending open houses give you a good perspective on what you are looking for in a home. Do you like an open floor plan? Does the living room get a good amount of natural light? Do you prefer a formal dining room or a combined kitchen and dining room? Plus, attending open houses will motivate you to stay on track if you're having trouble sticking to your budget.


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Berlin-based music-streaming service SoundCloud is exploring strategic options that could lead to a sale, Bloomberg reported.
SoundCloud has been dogged by financial difficulties lately and has been looking for ways to boost growth and revenue off of its 175 million-strong user base.
At this point, a $1 billion exit would be a great result for SoundCloud's owners and investors. The company has an estimated value of $700 million, based on the $70 million Series E funding round led by Twitter Ventures that closed in June. This valuation is unchanged from its Series D round in January 2014. In fact, SoundCloud had tried to sell itself to Twitter for $1 billion in 2014 too.
There a few reasons why SoundCloud could be looking to sell now:
- Inability to compete head-to-head against rival players. Music streaming is currently dominated by Spotify and Apple Music, with former titan Pandora receding to the sidelines. Aside from these companies, YouTube, despite being primarily a video platform, also commands a respectable share of the audio-streaming market.
- Inability to drive meaningful ad revenues. Despite its best efforts, being an audio-first platform hampers SoundCloud's ability to tap into more lucrative video ads. At the same time, social ad budgets are being increasingly concentrated into a few select platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. On a broader level, 85 cents of every dollar spent in online advertising in Q1 2016 was estimated to go either Google or Facebook, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak cited in the New York Times.
- The company may lack a viable business model. This is a problem plagues the digital music industry at large, with businesses, record labels and artists struggling to find a suitable business model that works for all parties involved. The best solution so far has been to charge monthly subscriptions in exchange for unlimited streams, like Apple Music and Tidal do. Yet SoundCloud was late to the premium-subscription game, only launchinga paid tier to its service at the end of March.
- Financial woes persist. In February, financial filings from 2014 revealed SoundCloud's precarious financial health. Overhead costs had been increasingly much more rapidly than revenue – with administrative expenses growing 67.8% in the year – leaving the company in a state of material uncertainty. These documents concluded that SoundCloud could only continue to operate if it was able to secure more funding.
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f.re.e, Bavaria's largest travel and leisure fair, celebrated a successful anniversary from February 19 to 23, 2020. Fifty years after the first time the trade fair was held, more than 130,000 visitors visited the Munich exhibition fairgrounds this year to get ideas for leisure time and vacation from the more than 1,300 exhibitors from 60 countries. The high satisfaction values of the visitors show how well the mixture of advice, sales, testing and stage program was received. For example, 97 percent assessed the trade fair as excellent, very good or good. The exhibitors also assessed the exhibition as positive in all aspects.
Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Messe München GmbH, was extremely satisfied with the trade fair results: "f.re.e has developed into a genuine institution in Munich and Bavaria over the past 50 years. For many of us, the vacation season begins there. Our visitors particularly appreciate the fact that they are individually and extensively advised at the trade fair."
Hubert Aiwanger, Bavarian Minister of State for Economy, Regional Development and Energy, also congratulated f.re.e on its special anniversary at the festive opening ceremony, stressing the importance of f.re.e for tourism in Bavaria: "I congratulate Messe München on the successful 50 years of f.re.e, which is an indispensable part of the trade fair calendar of the tourism industry. In its anniversary year, f.re.e again impressively demonstrated how innovative, professional and customer-oriented the tourism industry is in Bavaria. With more than 100 million overnight stays and 40 million arrivals in 2019, Bavaria stands for tourism like no other German federal state."
Together with f.re.e, the two partner events Munich Car Days and Golf Days Munich also opened their doors in 2020. The trio of events again harmonized excellently this year. Accordingly, the organizer of Munich Car Days Andrea Schaller from Münchner Zeitungsverlag drew a very satisfied conclusion: "The Car Days were again very popular this year. We were able to record more than 3,000 test drives on the five days of the fair. Numerous visitors took advantage of the unbeatable trade fair discounts and bought a new car on site. Advisory services were also very well received." Ingo Klöver, Managing Director of Planetfair and organizer of Golf Days (Golftage), was equally pleased: "The 11th Goff Days was again a complete success! 140 exhibitors from all segments of golf, including the leading club brands, numerous golf destinations, hotels and clubs inspired the Bavarian audience."
This year, the biggest public attractions included tried-and-tested highlights such as the extensive travel offer, the bicycle course, the large lake landscape in the water sports hall and the climbing tower. With the two topic areas of photography and boating as well as the start-up camp, f.re.e also provided three innovations this year that trade fair visitors enjoyed very much. "Visiting f.re.e is almost compulsory for many of our visitors. To ensure that this remains the case, we are continuously developing the trade fair further. We are therefore very pleased that our new special areas were so popular," Jessica Tilly stated, Project Manager of f.re.e.
The large booth of this year's partner country Italy provided a real Dolce Vita flair, where seven regions, among others, provided information about the extremely diverse vacation and leisure opportunities in Bella Italia and spoiled visitors with culinary delights. Monica Bonaspetti, Marketing Officer at the Italian Tourism Association ENIT, therefore drew a positive conclusion: "f.re.e 2020 ran very well for us. We had a lot of visitors—especially in the morning. We were particularly pleased that we were also able to show the unknown sides of Italy."
In addition, the three travel halls once again provided an opportunity for a small trip around the globe this year. Not only the numerous long-distance travel providers and Mediterranean destinations enjoyed great popularity, but also the providers from Bavaria and Germany were highly frequented. This was confirmed by Barbara Radomski, Managing Director of BAYERN TOURISMUS GmbH: "The Bavarian event space once again attracted numerous visitors this year. "Vacation in the home country" is inspiring more and more people. Thanks to our Bavarian partners, visitors to f.re.e experienced authentic and impressive experiences, which traditionally make a vacation in the Free State of Bavaria different. They could taste, smell, feel, hear and see Bavaria." Corinne Miseer, Managing Director of Dresden Marketing GmbH, who was represented at f.re.e for the first time, is also satisfied: "People are increasingly planning their trips and especially city trips individually and are happy to be inspired by trade fairs. That is why we have significantly expanded our presence at consumer trade fairs, and we have found a format with f.re.e in Munich that fits our strategy and our target groups perfectly."
The caravanning & camping boom is continuing unabated. The number of new registrations increased sharply again in 2019. Accordingly, f.re.e's offer in this segment was even bigger this year. In a total of almost three halls, there was a wide selection of tents and accessories as well as more than 300 vehicles of 75 brands to see and buy. Daniel Onggowinarso, Managing Director of Caravaning Industrie Verbands e. V. (Caravanning Industry Association [CIVD]), can only confirm the extremely positive development: "The popularity of caravanning was also evident at f.re.e, because visitors were very interested in the recreational vehicles and caravans on display. Many well-known manufacturers exhibited their latest models." f.re.e provides visitors with an interesting mixture of leisure, travel and health, and exhibitors an attractive target group composed of affluent, travel-loving people with an active lifestyle. It is therefore an important date in the calendar of the caravanning industry." Marie Gérard, Managing Director of Caravan Gérard GmbH, can also look back on a successful trade fair: "f.re.e 2020 was a great trade fair for us. We had a lot of fun, great customers, many interested people as well as good conversations and felt very comfortable with our colleagues here. We are already looking forward to f.re.e 2021. We are proud that we, as the longest partner of f.re.e, formerly called C-B-R, have been here at the fair for 50 years now and hope to participate for the next 50 years." Karl Hansmann, Business Developer DACH at the camping equipment company Outwell, was also very satisfied with f.re.e 2020: "We considerably enlarged our area at f.re.e. We appreciate the different areas of outdoor, caravanning & camping and bicycle and meet different target groups. We are pleased to meet so many active campers and families again and again in Munich, have had many discussions and are very satisfied with the interest in our products and sales."
The topic of water sports was again very popular in 2020. On one hand, the focus was the paddling and stand-up paddling (SUP) lakes as well as the diving pool and again on the extremely popular action areas. On the other hand, the extensive range of kayaks, canoes, SUP boards, diving equipment and much more offered by the numerous exhibitors were also big hits. The good course of f.re.e in the water sports hall is reflected in the statement by Oliver Bungers, President of the Bavarian Canoe Association (Bayerische Kanu-Verband e.V.): "We are delighted that our offer at f.re.e in the water sports world reaches more people interested in canoeing than on hardly any other occasion. That is why we make great efforts to participate again every year."
The topic of bicycles proved to be a major attraction this year. There was a great deal of demand at the stands of the numerous suppliers as well as at the two courses for testing new bike models. In addition, many children and young people use the pump track and the gorilla playground for a test drive. Andreas Josef Nickl, Managing Director of the bicycle manufacturer ANJONI, therefore drew a positive balance "f.re.e is an excellent trade fair to showcase innovative products such as our ultra-lightweight e-bikes. We were able to greatly increase awareness of our products and establish a lot of new customer contacts." This was also confirmed by Petra Husemann-Roew, Managing Director of ADFC (General German Cycling Club), Bavarian Regional Association: "f.re.e was also a complete success for us this year."
In addition, f.re.e also generation enthusiasm in the other topics of cruises & ship trips, health & wellness as well as outdoor. Franziska Zander from AIDA Cruises is therefore convinced of the fair's merits: "Our stand had a lot of visitors again this year, who had very positive impressions of it. Of course, our show stage from AIDAnova was again a big attraction—a short trial vacation is something very special! We were able to inspire many guests with our great, unique product and send them directly on vacation."
The next f.re.e will take place on the grounds of Messe München from February 24 to 28, 2021.


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The City of Light – apart from being known for its eternal charm and classy quotient, is also known for being a great treasure holder of art. Some of the most popular museums are in this city – tucked away in the bylanes of this city, left to be discovered by curious tourist, just like jewels hidden away in a chest somewhere! So when in Paris, you have to visit these museums – art lover or not, make it a point to drop in here!
The Louvre:
The world's largest museum deserves a visit! And well, apart from that fact, you have to visit the Lovre because of the immaculate works of art it has on display. Every single day, this art museum has a number of visitors, who when step in are entirely lost in the mesmerizing array of art here. With around 35000 works of art on display here, it's food for any art lover's soul! Just keep in mind that certain galleries are shut on specific days of the week – so check the details before you visit this epitome of magnificence.
Galeries Nationales du Grand Palace:
The architecture of this museum itself is worth admiring – you'll be spellbound at the entrance itself! And even more incredible are the sights in the interior! Home to some of the best works of art from across the world, the museum doesn't disappoint when it comes to variety! The steel-framed glass roof adds a level to the existing charm of the museum. Indeed, a stunner, both in terms of interiors and exteriors!
Petit Palais:
Housing some of the most beautiful paintings and sculptures in the world, the Petit Palais deserves a visit from you! Some of the acclaimed artists in the world have put their work on display here – the works are indeed appreciable, making you cherish your visit to this museum.
Don't miss out on the floor below the main museum – all the beautiful jewellery is displayed there.
Musee du Quai Branly:
The exteriors of this museum too, are lovely! The entire building is lined with greenery, giving it a refreshed look altogether. More importantly, this museum is dedicated to the authentic ethnic work from Africa, Asia, and the Americas – making this museum a symbolic representation of the culture of the three continents! This museum is home to works of art dating back to the 10th century. At the same time, it has ample of modern and contemporary stuff too!


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… aka The Cake that Stole Christmas,
… aka a the most Christmassy cake in the world!
As you may have guessed from my festive cookie sandwiches, Christmas is all about red and green for me (well, and gold and silver and white too…). I don't like Christmas cake (sorry!), mince pies (disgusting) or brandy butter so I have to go for a cake that LOOKS like Christmas. Oh, and tastes delish too.
And I'm going to venture to say that my six layer red and green Christmas cake will get A LOT more gasps than your raisiny old Christmas cake….
For the cake, you'll need –
- 350g self raising flour
- 350g soft soft butter
- 350g caster or light brown caster sugar
- 6 free range eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- up to 40ml semi-skimmed milk
- gel food colours in bright red and green. I recommend red extra by Sugarflair and the green gel colour that Asda sell, or alternatively, Christmas green by Sugarflair
- 6 disposable foil baking tins (you can get these in supermarkets and Wilko's). Alternatively, use regular baking tins, but you'll have to cook in three batches of two, assuming that you only own two cake tins of the same size. The disposable tins I used were approx. 6 inches across.
Mix your very soft butter and sugar until fluffy and light, and add the eggs one by one – at this point, the mixture may look a bit curdled, but don't worry – just add the flour and vanilla and press on.
Divide your mixture into two, and mix red food colouring into one bowl and green into the other, and then divide up into 6 tins. Cook at 180 degrees/gas mark 4/350F for 12-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave the cakes to cool and make your cream cheese frosting.
For the cream cheese frosting, you'll need –
- 100g unsalted butter, very soft
- 250g full fat cream cheese, straight from the fridge
- 600g icing sugar, sifted
Beat your very soft unsalted butter, and add the icing sugar 300g at a time, sifting before adding it to the mixture. Once the mixture resembles buttery crumbs, add the cream cheese, and mix until the frosting is smooth and thick – if there are any bumps, just keep mixing. Store in the fridge until you're ready to use.
To frost your cake, first apply a crumb coat and leave in the fridge until set. If your layers are wobbling around, allow the first two, and then the second two layers to set before adding the last two.
Once the crumb coat is completely sealed and firm, add a second coat (and third if necessary) and top with the green candy melt decorations.
For the Christmas Tree decorations, you'll need –
- Wilton green candy melts
- Round and colourful sprinkles such as Chocolate Beans and Lustre Pearls by Dr Oetker
To make the candy melt trees, melt your green buttons in a bowl in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until melted. Spoon into the bottom corner of a ziploc style plastic sandwich bag, gathering the other end like a piping bag, and then snip off the corner. Pipe Christmas tree shapes, and then fill in the middles. Smoosh in sprinkles to be the decorations. Leave to set for around 20 minutes, or pop into the fridge.
I hope this cake makes you feel as festive as it does me!
x Kerry


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If you have been thinking about undertaking some landscaping, you will have a great list of options to go with. The good thing about landscaping is that there are so many benefits that you can get from it and the fact that it can cover so many different aspects that you would be surprised to know that it can be so important.
With that said, if you are looking to get some landscaping done, and you need some tips on it, as well. We are going to be talking about some of the best landscaping tips you can think of. Additionally, if you are finally convinced, you should head over to Redbelly Landscapes Mudgeeraba.
Below, you will find us discussing some of the tips on the best landscaping you can get.
Start By Listing Down Your Requirements
First things first, if you really want to be sure that everything about landscaping gets handled in the perfect way possible, you need to start listing down your requirements. This is very important because it can make a huge difference in the results. Not knowing what you want can lead you to make unreasonable decisions, too, which might not work in your favor.
Start Looking at Designs
Another tip that we have is that you should looking at different designs. However, when you are doing that, you might come across designs that are all form but not function. It is best if you just avoid that because otherwise, you might end up spending a lot of money on landscaping that will not benefit you in any way that you might think.
Consult The Professionals
Last but not least, one more tip that you should know is that it is always better to consult the professionals, and hire them, too.


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Merv Griffin, who parlayed his start as a band singer and talkshow host into career as a gameshow mogul and resort tycoon worth well over $1 billion, died of prostate cancer in Los Angeles on Sunday. He was 82.
He had battled the cancer before and was hospitalized in mid-July after it recurred.
The soft-spoken though stubbornly tenacious performer had a brief singing and film career and then found his sea legs on television, where he won 17 Emmys.
He struck gold when he took his "Merv Griffin Show" talker into firstrun syndication. As producer of that show and two mainstay gameshows — "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune" — Griffin began to amass a sizable fortune.
Griffin started putting the proceeds from selling "Jeopardy" and "Wheel" in treasury bonds, stocks and other investments, but went into real estate and other ventures because, he said, "I was never so bored in my life."
Griffin's empire grew through ownership of real estate and businesses including radio stations, a closed-circuit TV service for racetracks and the production facilities of TransAmerican Video.
In 1986 he sold Merv Griffin Enterprises to Coca-Cola subsidiary Columbia Pictures for $250 million, retaining a share of the profits.
Soon after, he bought the Beverly Hilton Hotel for $100 million after losing a bid to buy the Beverly Hills Hotel to the sultan of Brunei. He sold the Hilton to Beny Alagem's Oasis West in 2003.
In 1988 he battled with real estate tycoon Donald Trump for Resorts Intl., including five hotels, one in Atlantic City and four on Paradise Island, as well as two casinos. He was expected to be trounced but instead wound up victorious, acquiring the properties for $295 million.
"I love the gamesmanship," he told Life magazine in 1988. "This may sound strange, but it parallels the gameshows I've been involved in."
In recent years, Griffin also rated frequent mentions in the sports pages as a successful owner of racehorses, which were kept on his Merv Griffin Ranch in La Quinta near Palm Springs. His colt Stevie Wonderboy, named for entertainer Stevie Wonder, won the $1.5 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile in 2005.
The "Jeopardy" theme song, "Think!" was originally composed as "A Time for Tony" by Griffin as a lullaby for his son. It has insinuated itself into everyday life; Griffin at one time estimated that the song had earned him over $70 million in royalties.
Other arms of the his empire — — the Griffin Group/Griffin Entertainment — own real estate such as John Huston's manor St. Clerans, in Ireland, which is run as a rental property.
Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. was born in the San Francisco suburb of San Mateo. He showed musical ability at a young age and hoped to become a concert pianist. After leaving studies at the U. of San Francisco, he auditioned to be a staff musician at radio station KFRC, and when he found out management was looking for a crooner, he sang instead. His baritone easy-listening style made him a romantic idol despite his hefty frame.
In 1948 he joined Freddy Martin's band as solo singer, and in 1951 the collaboration hit the charts with "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts." Griffin became a solo nightclub performer in the early 1950s, and he screen-tested for a role in "By the Light of the Silvery Moon," which led to supporting roles in other musical films such as 1953's "So This Is Love."
But the film roles were few and far between. He then signed with CBS for a musical variety show in 1955 and made his Broadway debut in a revival of "Finian's Rainbow," but Griffin's true calling was as a TV host. His pleasant, ever-smiling presence was first put to use on CBS' TV Sunday religious show "Look Up and Live" (where he earned $119 a week).
In 1956, he hosted radio staple "The Morning Show." Two years later, ABC Radio gave him his own show, which was such a success that producers Mark Goodson and Bill Todman chose him to be their daytime host on the TV gameshow "Play Your Hunch," which soon expanded to nighttime viewing.
Always busy, Griffin also wrote songs such as "Eternally" and "Hot-Cha-Cha."
In 1962 he substituted for Jack Paar on "The Tonight Show," but producers ended up giving the gig to Johnny Carson. The network gave him a matinee show instead, which was canceled in 1963, sparking protest mail from viewers.
Griffin's career as a producer began in 1963 with the short-lived gameshow "Word for Word." A few months later, NBC purchased his quizzer "Jeopardy," which went on to become the most successful TV gameshow ever. "Dance Fever" was another hit. Then "Wheel of Fortune" joined "Jeopardy" as one of the top gamers in TV history.
He syndicated "The Merv Griffin Show," which ran for several years until CBS decided to put him head to head with Carson in 1969. After three years, the network pulled the plug, and Griffin went back to firstrun syndication, where he became a household name and a very wealthy man. "The Merv Griffin Show" ran into the 1980s.
Merv Griffin Entertainment continued to develop gameshows such as "Merv Griffin's Crosswords," expected to air in September. Griffin was passionate about crossword puzzles. His old friend and longtime business associate Warren Cowan said "I would visit him in the morning and he would have already have completed the crosswords in the New York Times, the L.A. Times and USA Today."
In a statement, longtime friend Nancy Reagan said: "This is heartbreaking, not just for those of us who loved Merv personally, but for everyone around the world who has known Merv through his music, his television shows and his business."
Griffin married Julann Elizabeth Wright in 1958; that union ended in divorce during the 1970s. Impishly coy about his rumored sexuality over the years (he was even sued unsuccessfully for palimony by one man, whom Griffin countersued), he once quipped to the New York Times, "I'm a quatre-sexual — I will do anything with anybody for a quarter." At one point he also had a high-profile relationship with Eva Gabor.
He is survived by his son Tony, who is active in his father's businesses, and two grandchildren.
The family said an invitation-only funeral Mass will be held at a later date at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)


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My second season of dragon boating started out with a nice surprise: We got new jerseys! And they were a big improvement on the old ones that were basic black with a small dragon on the left breast and our team name of the back. The new jerseys were mostly blue, with a large green dragon, and the logo from the Alameda City Flag.
Best of all, with the jersey I felt like a full-fledged member of the team.
The spring practices were going according to plan. After participating in the paddling clinic at the start of the season, I was confident about what worked and what didn't work with my stroke, and I had a plan on how to improve. I was making one or two practices a week, despite a brush with hypothermia on a particularly cool evening.
But the day before the first Sprints race, coach Lisa Marie threw me a curve. As I was getting out of the boat after practice she said, "Would you mind drumming for me tomorrow?"
As I mentioned in earlier posts, I developed the utmost respect for drummers in my first racing season, so of course I was flattered. And I had no fear about the precarious drummer's seat (a deterrent to many drummer candidates). But I don't cope well with change on the fly, and I have no natural sense of rhythm.
But I couldn't give up the chance, so I said I would be happy to try, but I would benefit from some practice. So Lisa Marie and I stayed for the 10:30 technical/new recruit practice so I could practice on the drum.
We don't usually have the drum on the boat for practices, but before a race Dick and the other steerspeople drag it out of its home in Brett's basement for a practice or two. While the drumming seat didn't feel precarious, it was high and therefore conspicuous.
I hadn't thought through the fact that in the drumming seat, by default I was kind of in charge of the boat since I was the only person all the paddlers could see. I thought Lisa Marie would take us out and at some point call for a race piece, and then I would drum the start. But no, once we got away from the dock, everyone was just looking at me, like 'now what?' Meanwhile, I kept hearing the voices of my piano teachers saying "you don't know how to count!"
It was a bit of a hot mess. My fellow paddlers were kind, but I didn't know what to do with them after counting a start. And I didn't feel I had the expertise to come up with a plan. Several times I asked them if they wanted to take a break, which made Lisa Marie crazy frustrated. Not the way to demonstrate leadership.
Back at the dock, Lisa Marie recruited another would-be drummer (you should have at least two per race) who sat in the drummer's chair at the dock, immediately projected a calm and controlling presence and was good to go. No practice on the water, no fretting, just good to go. Some people are born leaders, some people have leadership thrust upon them, and some people, like me, want at least a two-year master course in leadership.
The next day at the race, Lisa Maria assigned the other would-be drummer to drum a race or two, but not me. Now, as it turned out, that was a good answer for me. Even if I had mastered drumming, the night before, one of my neighbors had had a medical emergency, and the EMT's broke down his door and nearly shook my condo apart. I was up until 1:30 am talking to the EMT's and the police. Not my normal pre-race routine of hydration and an early night.
Of course, Lisa Marie had no way of knowing about my lack of sleep. She was just looking for someone to drum (which is required in a race) and not spread fear or panic among the paddlers. That wasn't me yet, but there was a month until the next race.


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"Inbreeding" at Aligarh Muslim University is affecting diversity on the campus, a committee set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC) has stated in its report, recommending that the vice chancellor's quota in admission be done away with.
It has also recommended that admissions to the medical college run by the university should be conducted through NEET.
The committee was constituted by the UGC at the behest of the human resource development ministry to audit 10 central universities to probe complaints of financial, administrative and academic irregularities.
Sources privy to the committee report said it pointed towards the "menace of inbreeding" wherein those studying in schools run by AMU got admission to the university and were in many cases taken up as faculty, affecting diversity.
"The university runs a number of schools and students passing out of these take admission in the university and in many cases they are then considered for faculty positions and end up getting absorbed too. This naturally affects diversity as students from across the country should be considered," a senior ministry official quoted the report as stating.
The committee has also pointed out the university has a VC quota of 20% for admissions and recommended it should be done away with as it is not there in other central universities.
The findings of the report will be considered by the ministry and the UGC for further action.
The medical college under the university has its own system of admission and doesn't follow the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET). The committee, officials said, has recommended that the medical college conduct admissions through the NEET.
The committee further states that there have been gross violations of UGC rules and guidelines in recruitment and promotion of teachers too.
Last year, the ministry agreed to serve a notice to former VC Zameeruddin Shah, asking him to explain why an inquiry should not be instituted to look into complaints of financial, administrative and academic irregularities against him.


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DIAA Girls Basketball: Late burst puts Bucs into semifinals
NEWARK – Caravel wasn't taking anything for granted, so Caravel coach Kristin Caldwell called a timeout when Sussex Central cut the Buccaneers' 17-point lead down to seven in a span of less than two minutes in the fourth quarter.
There were a little more than three minutes left, and Caldwell told Ky'Asia Stanford to take control.
Stanford did, not necessarily by scoring, but by playing defense and setting up her teammates. Caravel responded with seven straight points – five by Jessica Reynolds – to seal its 56-45 win Saturday in a DIAA Girls Basketball State Tournament quarterfinal.
The No. 3 seed Buccaneers (18-4) will face No. 2 Sanford in the semifinals on Wednesday. The Golden Knights finished 16-6. They were playing their first game at the Bob Carpenter Center since losing the 1995 state final to Ursuline.
"Ky'Asia does everything we need and more," Caldwell said. "She makes us go, whether it's on defense, whether it's communication, hitting big shots, distributing the ball. She does it all for us."
Stanford, a junior, finished with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists. She led a balanced attack as Caroline Davis finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Reynolds had 14 points and five rebounds.
On defense, Stanford had her hands full with Sussex Central's Jasmine Hudson, who scored a game-high 24 points. Hudson and Taylor Pritchett combined for 40 of the Golden Knights' 45 points.
"It was a challenge, but I had to give all I had because it's either win or go home," Stanford said. "It was a lot of running because [Hudson and Pritchett] are really athletic and aggressive. You had to move your feet on defense and keep pushing on offense."
And Caravel did push the ball on offense, with Stanford often throwing the ball upcourt to a teammate for a layup at the other end.
At the very least, the strategy was to try to tire out Hudson and Pritchett, who had to play the entire game, and make them work hard on defense. The two had to work even harder because Sussex Central didn't have post player Lamesha Walker, who missed the game because of a disciplinary issue.
"It kind of changes everything," Sussex Central coach Ron Dukes said. "We feel we're pretty tough inside when we have both of our big girls in there, and today we didn't have one of them. So you've got to rely on Taylor and Jasmine to try to take over."
They tried. They just couldn't sustain it for the entire game. That was evident with the cold-shooting spells for Sussex Central.
Caravel scored 19 straight points spanning the first and second quarters to take a 23-8 lead. Sussex Central closed the deficit to 10 at halftime as Pritchett scored eight of Sussex Central's nine points over the final 2:48 of the half.
Reynolds' layup gave the Buccaneers an 18-point lead midway through the third quarter. The lead grew to 19 with six minutes left. That's when Hudson and Pritchett led a 13-1 run to cut the deficit to seven and force Caldwell to call timeout.
That's when Stanford took over, setting up the semifinal game against Sanford, a rematch of last season's semifinal game won by Caravel.
"Everything wasn't great, and everything didn't look pretty," Stanford said. "But all that matters is that we came out with the win and we get to move on to the semifinals."
Contact Martin Frank at email@example.com.
DIAA Girls Basketball: Ursuline's 3s too much for Silver Eagles
DIAA Girls Swimming: Team effort propels Charter to 7th straight champ...
DIAA Boys Swimming: Sallies edges Charter, wins ninth straight state t...


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Modern Street Food from a Vagabond ChefAuthor Adam Hynam-Smith ISBN 9781770502239 Binding Trade Paper Publisher Whitecap Books Ltd. Publication Date April 15, 2015 Size 203 x 254 mm
Curbside: Modern Street Food From a Vagabond Chef, illustrates the blurred lines, creativity, and potential that modern street food represents in North America.
Chef Adam Hynam-Smith demonstrates what modern street food is from the perspective of an Australian restaurant-trained chef who has traveled the world and stumbled into opening one of the first gourmet food trucks in Canada. Street food in North America has come a long way in a short time, and has proven to be an invaluable and celebrated community experience. With his creative take on modern street food, Hynam-Smith is regarded as a pioneer in the Canadian and North American street food industries.
The recipes in Curbside are adapted for serving at home, but they come from restaurant menus of Hynam-Smith's past; many of them have been served at some point or another from his food truck, or as street food dishes in pop-up settings. Throughout the book, there are featured recipes from guest chefs whom Hynam-Smith holds dear. These chefs are inspirational, and have been a source of support and camaraderie throughout Hynam-Smith's restaurant and food truck careers.
Recipes include Hynam-Smith's signature globally inspired street food dishes like inventive gourmet tacos, traditional curries and soups, and artfully composed salads. An emphasis on fish and seafood dishes reflects Hynam-Smith's Australian culinary upbringing, and his modern take on classic street food dishes like ceviches, fish tacos, and curries. Recipes in Curbside include:
- Crispy Cod Tacos with Smoked Pineapple Habanero,
- Tunisian Carrot Salad with Harissa Vinaigrette,
- Bangkok Pancakes with Pad Thai Slaw,
- Green Curry Chicken and Mussels,
- Dukkah Egg with Asparagus and Candied Bacon,
- Master Stock,
- and Braised Pork Hoc Steamed Buns
Adam Hynam-Smith
Is chef and co-owner of El Gastrónomo Vagabundo, Ontario's first gourmet street food truck. Hynam-Smith's work as a pioneering chef has garnered him the reputation for reshaping the standard for street food cuisine in Ontario. According to Acquired Taste Magazine, "what Momofuku master chef David Chang is to New York, El Gastrónomo Vagabundo is to Toronto's food truck culture". Adam is co-host of Food Network Canada's Restaurant Takeover.
On the 2016 Taste Canada Awards shortlist in the Single-Subject Cookbooks category


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Helping you live your best life through joint and mobility support is our mission.* That's why we've meticulously searched the globe for the most effective ingredients to help maintain your joint function.* Consider it nurturing through the herbal goodness found in nature.
Joint Shield™ 5-Loxin Advanced®, the powerful ingredient in some of our most mighty joint products, is created from the resin of the Boswellia serrata herb. Sometimes referred to as Indian Frankincense, Boswellia serrata comes from the branching Boswellia tree native to Eastern India, northern Africa and the Middle East, and has been used to support healthy joint function for centuries.* Its medicinal uses were originally recorded in Ancient India in the first fundamental medical text, which dates back to 700 B.C. The uses from this herb became highly regarded during the height of the Roman and Indian civilizations and a valued medicinal quotient in Ayurveda, the traditional Hindu medicine.
Boswellia serrata is the species of plant, which stems (yes, pun intended) from the genus of the Boswellia tree. Of the 16 species under the Boswellia genus, serrata is the one mainly used in medicine.
What is Boswellia used for?
If you're ever stuck on a crossword puzzle clue for a 10-letter word for the study of trees, be sure to fill in D-E-N-D-R-O-L-O-G-Y. From the Ancient Greek, dendron meaning "tree," is the branch of botany that specializes in wooded trees. Herbalism, meanwhile, is the study of wellness uses from all plants, trees included.
These focuses, plus centuries of ancient wellness practices, have helped lead to a scientifically designed ingredient in many of our products. Osteo Bi-Flex® Triple Strength,Triple Strength with MSM and Osteo Bi-Flex® One Per Day contain an extract from the Boswellia serrata to create an active ingredient, Joint Shield™ 5-Loxin Advanced®. We use the resin of this herb as a way to help soothe joints and provide joint support.* It's part of our drug-free way to help improve joint comfort in just 7 days.*†
The uses of Boswellia serrata are numerous and in ancient times, it was used for its beneficial wellness properties. Its aromatic resin was used in perfumes and incense. And Egyptian women even used it for cosmetic purposes — by grinding down to a fine powder, it was applied as eyeliner.
What Are the Benefits of Boswellia?
Such a robust ingredient pulls its weight in benefits. Inhibiting the growth of enzymes that can have negative effects, Boswellia serrata contains a potent acid called AKBA — a compound credited with obstructing those degenerative enzymes and supporting the integrity of your joints, by targeting against breaking down cartilage. Cartilage, found on the surface of your joints, is what allows your bones to move smoothly. Walking, dancing, even getting out of bed require your bones, muscles and joints to work together in order for you to move the way you intend. It has the twin function of heating and cooling simultaneously, entering at the cellular level to bring blood flow to the joints while breaking up scar tissue that prohibit one from moving freely. In studies Boswellia serrata has shown positive effects, particularly within the knee. Compared to a placebo, improvement in joint comfort and function shined through. For those seeking additional support for their joints, Osteo Bi-Flex® offers products that include Joint Shield™ 5-Loxin Advanced® which contains the resin that helps to improve, support and maintain joint comfort.*
Browse our products to locate what works best with your lifestyle. Depending on which supplement you choose, taking just one or two pills per day can help you realize that you are certainly Made to Move.* And you know the routine, always talk to your doctor before starting a new supplement. Joint support supplements help maintain and nurture your joints and Osteo Bi-Flex® has you covered.


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There is something special about the Mercury Vapour rectifier blueish glow, that not only set the mood, but somehow creates timeless, captivating atmosphere.
Thomas Mayer latest 211 drives 211 mono blocks uses Mercury Vapour rectifiers. By default Mercury vapour tubes need to go through special procedure on the initial use and needs to be preheated in absence of high voltage for about 30 minutes.
Mercury vaporizes and condenses at the glass, then settles at the bottom. In this way its ensured, that mercury droplets between filament and plate, that could potentially creating a short are properly set.
Then, after 6AU4 is heated, current starts to flow magical blue glow comes on.
Article: link.


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Learn how to lead together
Download includes the 5 principles and 6 leadership roles for scaling a sustainable, prosperous company
Despite the advent of disruptive technologies that have upended the business landscape, the structure of most companies remains largely unchanged, with traditional top-down leadership still the norm.
Could there be a better way to organize work that reflects our modern world—one with nimble, invested leaders rather than disengaged, disinterested employees? The answer is yes! Lead Together offers founders, CEOs and other leaders a radical new way of working and scaling a business. Learn key principles and proven methods for transforming top-down leadership into dynamic human systems of shared responsibility and accountability, through the concepts of self-organizing and self-management. You'll hear from the leaders of more than sixty scaling businesses at the vanguard of this movement about the on-the-ground challenges and rewards of adopting a new paradigm for work.
"The authors bring such an ethical framework to commerce that business no longer has to be considered a dirty word. This is twenty-first-century thinking, in which scale no longer means growing your business as big as possible, but--like any living thing--as vibrant and vital as it can manifest."
Douglas Rushkoff named one of the "world's ten most influential intellectuals" by MIT and host of NPR's Team Human
Experiencing frustration and burnout? "Being the single point of accountability and decision-making in this business [or team] is exhausting and stressful. I need others to step up and share this responsibility with me."
Lacking joy in your work? "The way we've been working feels rotten. It is not fun, inspiring or meaningful. There must be a better way. I want to enjoy my work and feel fulfilled."
Suffering from Ineffectiveness and poor business results? "I am doing all I know how to, running this business to the best of my ability using well-established ways of working . . . and it's not going as well as it needs to. I'm ready to explore new ideas."
Intellectually curious and desiring to growth? "I am a game changer and a rebel. What can I learn to help me be a better leader and help our team be more effective and happier?"
Needing to deal with complexity? "There are big problems to be solved and we won't solve them using the same ways of thinking and doing that created them. We need new ways to thrive within the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world we now find ourselves in."
Engage with the team at BASE Associates and become a Scale Together Organization. We'll guide you and your team through an Explore the Future session and help you design your unique Scale Together journey.
Replace internal distraction with external results. Convert overwork and overwhelm to relief. Move from doubt to confidence
I'm the lead coach at BASE and co-author of the internationally best selling book Lead Together. Our team at BASE works with the founders of fast growing organizations between 5 & 40 people, especially those wanting to build shared responsibility and accountability within their teams.
Our clients are growing the size and impact of their businesses to tackle local and global challenges. Many are motivated by the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and a desire to lead in ways that feel authentic, inspiring and personally fulfilling. I live in Toronto, Canada. Our team and clients are located around the world.
Who wrote Lead Together?
Lead Together is the co-creation of Brent Lowe (Toronto), Susan Basterfield (New Zealand) and Travis Marsh (San Francisco). It was written over two years and is published by Page Two.
Why are we giving chapters away for free?
We're glad you asked! If you are interested enough to consider exploring the concepts shared in Lead Together, we'd like to build a relationship with you. What's a better way to build a relationship than starting with a gift?
Do I have to read the whole book to understand how to Lead Together?
We created a comprehensive resource for leaders. By reading the first few chapters you'll learn what it means to Lead Together. If you find the first chapters interesting and want to build a scale together organization, we'll send you a free copy of the book as a reference guide.
How can I say thank you for the free chapters?
If you enjoy the chapters and find them helpful, please let us know. It will make our day! Share your learning with colleagues. Experiment. Be bold and try something new.


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Customer journey mapping
Customer journey mapping is a way of seeing every interaction a customer has with your company and understanding if that interaction makes things easier or harder to complete a step on the path to purchase. Usually created in a simple-to-follow visual format, customer journey maps cover every touch point a customer type experiences when passing through your sales funnel.
Customer journey mapping presents a challenge to many organizations as it's an exercise that demands one steps outside of the business and view it from the customer's perspective rather than in terms of company processes and departments.
The levels of objectivity required are why most organizations will seek expert help in drawing up their customer journey maps. As the number of channels and touchpoints open to customers continues to grow, so does the importance of understanding how these channels are being used.
Customer journey mapping will identify the steps on the path to purchase for targeted communication, which touch points are creating friction and customer disappointment, and will optimize commercial and marketing activities in line with customer behavior and preferences.


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Coronation Street Spoilers: What Is In Store For The 'Beyond Dramatic' Christmas Day Surprise?
While there's no doubt that Weatherfield sees its fair share of turbulent moments just about every week, apparently this holiday season is going to be one that some people will not want to remember. As a matter of fact, new Coronation Street spoilers tease that the writers of the hit ITV show are already planning a "beyond dramatic" Christmas Day storyline for its residents. Luckily, we've got all of the details that you need to know right here.
Coronation Street Spoilers: No Holiday Cheer This Christmas
According to Britain's The Sun, actresses Sally Ann Matthew and Jennie McAlphine both tease a Christmas Day special that will certainly keep fans on the edge of their seats! Jennie, who plays Fiz Brown, says that there's a strong possibility that someone might be celebrating their last Christmas this year as a big name character might end up getting killed off. However, the actress did not say who it is!
She said, "I've read the script for Christmas Eve. It's quite dramatic. I'm not sure if I'll be getting any turkey this year. Fiz is going to be quite busy! I can't say if anyone dies. If I told someone that, I'd have to kill them!"
Sally Ann Matthews, who plays Jenny Bradley, says that she also got a sneak peek of the holiday scripts and has been blown away by what she has read. Even though Coronation Street Christmas Day special is usually cheery and full of light-hearted fun and the usual holiday spirit, this year is going to be quite different.
Coronation Street News: Kym Marsh's Heartache As She Says Goodbye To Weatherfield #coronationstreet #corrie https://t.co/rKQ7eOFoF7
— SOS/CTS/HH (@SoapOperaSpy) October 12, 2019
Corrie Spoilers: 'Beyond Dramatic' Christmas Day Surprise In The Works
Sally Ann added, "What I can say is it's beyond dramatic. It's big and edge-of-your-seat stuff. It's not just one story either. There are several big stories happening. We usually have feelgood Christmas episodes. And this year it certainly starts off that way. People will want to tune in for it on Christmas Day. My advice is not to have too much turkey and eggnog so you'll still be awake enough to watch it!"
With that said, it will be interesting to see how fans will react to this 'dark' episode. Tell us, who do you think is going to die in Weatherfield?
Be sure to tune in to catch up on everything happening on Corrie right now. Come back here often for Coronation Street spoilers, updates, news, and rumors!


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Special City Council Meeting @ 7:00
Three big items on the special meeting agenda tonight: the Western Edge redevelopment plan, a budget amendment and a special closed session on litigation.
The City of Hoboken recently left the uptown Willow Street location after negotiations on the space with Hoboken Unleashed failed. Hoboken Unleashed called the city's bluff on leaving and although they went to Superior Court in Jersey City to get off the property, now that the city has vacated before their 60 day lease's expiration, Hoboken Unleashed has said it intends to continue litigation. Expect to see this snuffed by the Superior Court judge. (Hoboken Unleashed has begun zoning variance applications needed to move their business on to the property but it will take several months before approval can be obtained. Now the landlord of the property loses the extra income from the city and Hoboken Unleashed is left thinking about an imaginary payday.)
With the City returning to the site of the Municipal Garage, the developer who claims it intended to deliver on the $25.5 million price is now posturing to get the $2.55 million deposit back with legal fees of a couple of hundred thousand. The developer, S. Hekemian could have gotten close to this earlier. But they didn't want to hurt the ability to bid on other projects with a black mark on their record by defaulting outright.
As MSV said earlier, the fight would be over the deposit. So tonight's closed session may be regarding this matter. If you see it on Hoboken411 tomorrow painted in some dire warning, then you can be sure it was fed to them by either Councilwoman Beth Mason or Councilman Mike Russo. Their efforts at sabotaging the city at every turn have been consistent, as in consistently bad.


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What to ask a pharmacist during an informational interview
One of the best ways to learn more about the field of pharmacy is to speak to pharmacists about their professional experience. The goal of the informational interview is to learn more about an individual's professional/academic background, job responsibilities, career path, or their thoughts about working at a particular organization/company.
The insight you gain from an informational interview will help you explore and assess your own career options and path. Here are some examples of questions you could ask during a pharmacist during an informational interview:
- What does a typical day or week look like for you?
- What do you enjoy most about your job?
- What is challenging about your job?
- What are current issues/trends in the field of pharmacy that I should be aware of/know?
- What related fields do you think I should consider looking into?
- What advice would you give someone looking to get into the field of pharmacy?
- Why did you want to become a pharmacist?
- What kind of education, training, or background does this job require?
- What skills, abilities, or personal qualities are essential to become a successful pharmacist?
- If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?
Good luck!


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Well, the weather couldn't be perfect the whole time….. The weather channel appears to have no idea what the weather will be here!! I knew it was going to get rainy and cold here at the end of the week, but the forecast kept changing. When the weather channel says it will be rainy here it is sunny and when it says sunny it is rainy. I have been trying to the plan the rest of the trip based on the weather which is hard when it isn't what you think it will be. It was supposed to be nice yesterday, but we woke up to clouds so thick you couldn't see out the window. We decided to go out anyway. We drove in search of cyprus lined roads and found several, but it was rainy and cloudy so the picutres aren't great. By the time we got to Pienza it was clearing up. We walked around Pienza, but most of the shops were closed for the afternoon so we decided to go back to Montalcino. It was nice there too and we walked around some. Right as we were leaving it started to rain and poured most of the way back to Montepulciano. We walked to dinner in the cold drizzle. It stormed most of the night. It was supposed to be heavy rain all day today, but we woke up to sun! So we walked around Montepulciano and grabbed some lunch. It is certainly chilly here today. As we walked back from town it was getting really windy and cloudy. I guess it is supposed to rain all afternoon, but so far it is just windy. This is one of those days a TV and DVD player (plus DVD's in English) wouldn't be so bad….. not much to do when the weather is bad. Casey is napping… I am sure he will sleep most of the day. I am hoping for decent weather tomorrow. We are planning to go to Siena in the morning. I really want to find something great to bring back, but so far nothing in my price range that I just love. I hope for good shopping tomorrow.
I do wish I had brought another book to read. I am almost done with the one I brought back and need something for the long plane ride home! Somehow I doubt I will be sleeping much. It is hard to believe it is almost time to go home….


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6th PAMCA Annual Conference & Exhibition: Day 2
MESA Correspondents bring you cutting-edge coverage from the 6th PAMCA Annual Conference & Exhibition
Day 2: Tuesday, 24th September 2019
Plenary session 2
Dr Pierre Carnevale (Director of Research Exceptional Class, CE II, France) described a long-term comprehensive vector control project evaluating mosquito control in Balombo area in Angola. The vector control programme evaluated and compared the efficacy of 4 methods: the classical Long-Lasting Insecticide-treated Nets (LLIN) PermaNet® 2, Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) and two models of the recently developed insecticide-treated plastic sheeting (ITPS). The results suggested that ITPS could usefully replace IRS. It is easier to implement and as efficient as IRS. The data were used to directly inform the national malaria control programme.
To close the gap between communities and their rightful access to healthcare, Brian Gitta (ThinkIT Limited, Uganda) presented Matibabu, an innovative medically non-invasive, cost-effective device for malaria diagnosis that detects malaria in 2 minutes. Matibabu can also assist in disease surveillance management. The prototype has been developed based on users experience.
Dr Bonventure Savadogo (Swiss TPH) discussed the burden of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that affect sub-Saharan Africa and the control approaches used in central Africa. He described the achievements in NTD control/elimination so far and highlighted significant achievements made in the control of Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) and soil-transmitted helminths. He mentioned the shortage of donor funding as a significant challenge towards control and elimination of these diseases. The Swiss TPH recently started a project in collaboration with the Organisation de Coordination pour la lutte contre les Endémies en Afrique Centrale (OCEAC) to promote in-country control/elimination of NTDs through capacity building whereby PhD students are trained by experts.
Symposium 2: Strengthening the role of women in the control of vector-borne diseases
The chair of this session, Dr Damaris Matoke (KEMRI, Kenya) started an open dialogue on gaps and barriers that limit the participation of women in the control of VBDs. Dr Theresia Nkya (icipe, Kenya) opened the floor and shared her personal experiences in the field of vector control research in Africa. She mentioned some of the nicknames she was assigned as a woman in vector control to illustrate the challenges that women face. Even though Dr Matoke indicated that the number of African women holding leadership positions in vector control remains very low, she stressed that women have strong skills and capabilities. Hence, "If you want to get the job done, get a woman to do it." Afterwards, the participants were treated to a "Fireside chat" between Ms Emma Orefuwa (PAMCA co-founder) and Dr Silas Majambere (Director of Scientific Operations, PAMCA secretariat). As the only woman in the PAMCA board for the ten past years, Emma took us on her challenging PAMCA journey. Dr Damaris Matoke (KEMRI, Kenya) gave an overview of the dynamic pre-conference workshop on Women in Vector Control (WIVC). She emphasized how mentorship is the "key" to breaking barriers for women in vector control. This symposium ended with a panel discussion about the role of men in supporting women in research. This discussion was spearheaded by Dr Neil Lobo (University of Notre-dame, France) and Ms Emma Orefuwa.
Symposium 3: Target Malaria insectary and field entomology preparedness towards the 1st releases of genetically-modified malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae s.l
The Target Malaria's insectary and field entomology preparedness in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Uganda were the focus of this symposium. Prof Frederic Tripet (Keele University, UK) introduced the symposium by briefly describing the Target malaria project, its objectives and the stakeholders involved.
Dr Jonathan Kayondo (Target Malaria, Uganda Virus Research Unit (UVRI)) discussed the construction of a new arthropod containment level 2 (ACL-2) facility. The technology and development processes associated with genetically modified (GM) mosquito research need to take place in appropriate contained laboratories. The work in Uganda is still in its early stages, and there is a need to establish good practices. The new insectary incorporates a series of barriers that prevent mosquitoes from escaping. Appropriate cages, double closing doors, access restrictions, sealed windows, modified sinks and drains to prevent the escape of eggs; and the monitoring of escaping insects are all requirements of an ACL-2 facility.
Mr Moussa Namountougou (Target Malaria, Institut de Recherche des Sciences de la Santé, Burkina Faso) talked about the development of optimized rearing protocols for the maintenance of colour variants and genetically-modified An. gambiae s.l. strains in Burkina Faso. Major facility renovations, development of Standard Operating Procedures for risk management, staff training, and audits took place in preparation for a field release of GM mosquitoes. Mr Namountougou indicated that colour-variant backcrossing is the most critical activity in rearing genetically-modified mosquitoes. Rigorous planning and preparation of the insectary ultimately facilitated the authorization from Burkina Faso authorities for sterile male shipment, and ultimately a permit to allow the field release.
Prof Tripet described Target malaria's stepwise approach to improve the release of genetically modified male mosquitoes. He highlighted the value of mark-release recaptures as a method to estimate the impact and improve the design and processes of future field releases.
Dr Florian Noulin (Keele University, UK) gave a presentation about the development of medium-throughput assays for post-release monitoring of GM mosquitoes. Individual and manual techniques can take a lot of time, and a more efficient technique is needed. Dr Noulin discussed several methods to speed up the analysis, such as pooling mosquitoes, novel mosquito grinding methods and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP).
Parallel session 4: Innovations in vector surveillance and control
Carmène S. Ngadjeu (OCEAC, University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon) assessed how improved houses could limit the human-mosquito contact and help to reduce disease transmission. She suggested that the promotion of improved housing needs to be integrated into the malaria control strategy of the city of Yaoundé. Piameu Michael (OCEAC, Cameroon) delivered a talk on the LabDisk diagnostic tool – an automated, cost-effective diagnostic platform for improving vector surveillance. Validation of the tool is currently on-going in four African countries: Cameroon, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Ivory-coast.
John Lucas (Sumitomo Chemical Company) encouraged the use of Sumishield 50WG, prequalified by WHO in 2017, as a new insecticide for IRS. Sumishield is currently being used extensively throughout Africa, and studies indicate widespread field susceptibility against Anopheles mosquitoes. Michael Coleman (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK) gave a presentation on the development of a handheld device for quality assurance of IRS. This tool is yet to undergo a final field validation.
Yacouba Poumachu (OCEAC, Cameroon) described how a genetic sexing strain (GSS) has helped the mass production of An. arabiensis. Cytogenetics investigation of this strain is needed before the implementation of large-scale sterile insect technique (IST) programmes. The presentation by Elijah Juma (University of Illinois, US) focused on the impact of pesticides on the gut microbiota of mosquitoes (Culex pipiens L.). He discussed promising results showing that mosquito bacterial community composition is influenced by mosquito life stages and the immediate environment, but not by pesticide treatments.
Elias Miyituma (Rwanda Biomedical Center, Rwanda) explained that in the project study sites in Rwanda, An. arabiensis was the dominant species in the IRS sites because of its preference to feed on cattle rather than on humans. On the other hand, An. gambiae was found to be the primary vector in sites where IRS was not deployed. In areas where An. arabiensis is becoming the dominant malaria vector, regular treatment of cattle with insecticides could provide additional protection against malaria.
Parallel session 5: Adopting the One Health approach – breaking down silos
Ellie Sherrard-Smith (Imperial College, UK) presented about the benefits of larval source management for pyrethroid resistance. She also described the role of community engagement programmes that encourage environmental management to reduce mosquito populations. She further gave an account of how this method was successful in eliminating malaria in large parts of the world in the past. Tovi Lehmann (National Institutes of Health, NIH, USA) gave a presentation about the potential role of long-distance windborne vector migration in the spread of arboviruses. He reported a study where insects flying between 40 and 290m above ground level were sampled using sticky traps attached to helium balloons. The results suggested mean nightly migrations of up to 300km for 9-hour flight durations. The findings of this study have important implications for control and sampling methods.
Miss Fatou Fofana (RHD-LRR, The Gambia) talked about schistosomiasis, an acute and chronic disease. Common control methods include mass drug administration, health education, and environmental sanitation. Fofana summarised the prevalence of schistosomiasis in Minna community, Jarra central district in the Gambia before and after a health education campaign in 2014. Rousseau Djouaka (University of Abomey, Benin) described a study about the link between agriculture and malaria transmission. His results show that λ-Cyhalothrin, a widely used insecticide by farmers in Benin, degrades in the environment and does not play a significant role in resistance selection in An. coluzzii populations. Additionally, copper residues present in breeding sites may be correlated with insecticide resistance evolution of malaria vectors.
Richard Oxborough (Abt Associates, USA) presented on behalf of Francis Wat'senga (Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale, DR Congo). He presented results from a nationwide study about pyrethroid resistance in mosquito populations at 11 study sites in DRC. Moderate and high-intensity resistance was recorded in several provinces using the WHO tube tests and CDC bottle assays. A widespread pyrethroid resistance to all the three pyrethroids (deltamethrin, alpha-cypermethrin, and permethrin) that are used on LLINs in DRC was reported. He recommended the use of next-generation nets (PBO or bi-treated nets) in DRC as an alternative to the pyrethroid insecticides.
Symposium 4: Vector control innovations to drive progress in malaria and other mosquito-borne disease control
This symposium focused on innovation in vector control tools and approaches for both Anopheles and Aedes control. Early findings of the scaling-up of new tools and the respective decision-making processes for malaria programs were also discussed.
Derric Nimmo (Innovative Vector Control Consortium, IVCC, UK) kicked off the symposium by explaining the role of IVCC as a product development partnership that helps companies and other innovators to the deliver and develop novel insecticides and tools for vector control. He discussed several novel vector control tools, expressing a particular interest in attractive targeted sugar baits (ATSB) with reference to a multi-country trial currently taking place in sub-Saharan Africa. Ingrid Etoke (IVCC, UK) presented the New Nets Project, a partnership that aims to accelerate access to next-generation nets that use novel active ingredients. Access to these new resistance-breaking LLINs can be restricted by insufficient evidence to support policy recommendations and a lack of evidence on cost-effectiveness. Derric Nimmo described 2 cluster-randomized trials in Tanzania and Benin assessing three novel LLINs, with hut trials taking place alongside to establish entomological surrogates. Datasets from these trials will feed into a broader analysis of the cost-effectiveness of dual LLINs.
Andrew Saibu (IVCC, UK) presented the early results of the PMI VectorLink rollout of 3rd generation IRS (3GIRS) insecticides, Fludora Fusion, and SumiShield, as part of the NgenIRS project. NgenIRS is a 4-year Unitaid funded project that aims to increase the use of 3GIRS products in insecticide resistance management programmes. Richard Oxborough (Abt Associates, USA) later described new neonicotinoid-based IRS formulations that resulted in high mortalities in malaria vectors in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, and Zambia.
Silas Majambere (PAMCA) described a spatial intelligence system for precision larviciding using drones and google earth engine. This system addresses some challenges associated with applying larviciding. The technology was trialled in Zanzibar in hotspots identified using routine malaria surveillance data. Phone-based weekly reporting was used to identify, access and monitor water bodies.
Eric Ochomo (Kenya Medical Research Institute, KEMRI, Kenya) discussed the results of a randomised controlled trial investigating high-dose ivermectin for malaria elimination (IVERMAL). The results suggested that ivermectin is a promising novel tool for malaria control that effectively kills mosquitoes that recently fed on human blood that contains ivermectin.
Lina Finda (Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania) discussed the potential of eave ribbons as a complementary vector control intervention for low-income households. There are many cases in which IRS and LLINs are not sufficient for elimination. Ribbons are soaked in transfluthrin and placed in the eave spaces. Finda presented the results of an enclosed semi-field system study that indicated the potential for eave ribbons to protect against both indoor and outdoor malaria vectors.
Symposium 5: Enhancing entomological capacity in Africa for effective vector-borne disease control: prospects, challenges, and opportunities
In Africa lack of capacity to respond timely and effectively to increased VBD transmission is a major factor that aggravates the threat posed by these diseases.
Kevin O. Opondo (Medical Research Council Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, The Gambia) gave a talk (on behalf of Fredros Okumu, IHI Tanzania) on ten barriers and ten practices for creating a productive ecosystem to support early-career health researchers in Africa. "Research leaders and administrators have the duty to create an enabling environment for early-career scientists so that they can effectively address priority health needs on a sustainable basis". Abdoulaye Diabate (IRSS, Burkina Faso) spoke about how to enhance entomological research capacity in sub-Saharan Africa. He also provided an overview of the future prospects of the ITECH-MTV Center of Excellence (ACE) in Burkina Faso. The final presentation was by Chadwick H. Sikaala and Lesley-Anne van Wyk (SADC Malaria Elimination 8 Secretariat). The duo gave an overview of the E8 Entomology Fellowship, a 5-steps program meant to equip young scientists from the southern African region with the dexterity to effectively support malaria control programs. Two of the E8 fellows also shared their personal experience on the dividends of participating in the fellowship.
This report is brought to you by the MESA Correspondents Nathalie Amvongo Adija (Institute of Medical Research and Medicinal Plants Studies, Cameroon), Joanna Furnival-Adams (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK), Trizah Koyi (International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Kenya) and Teresia Njoroge (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA) with mentoring and editorial support from MESA and MalariaWorld. Senior editorial support has been facilitated by Elijah Juma & Silas Majambere from PAMCA. This report is cross-posted on the MESA Website and on MalariaWorld.


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Every Website Design Strategy You Should Know
The first thing that people typically notice about sites that are on the Internet is their designs. As the design is one thing they see, you need to make sure you create a good impression therefore they do not leave your website. If you take advantage of the following tips, you must minimize the possibilities of an inadequate first impression.
A fantastic location to build your web site design knowledge is via forums. This should help you learn more about starting and looking after your web design. A Web search on your personal computer gives you access to many info.
Always categorize your posts by subject. When you concentrate on different discussion topics, give each one of these its unique page. In this manner, your visitors will not be confused. Additionally, this will provide search engines like google with better information to rank your website properly.
Be certain your introductory page is neat and simple. People looking around will immediately decide if they make use of your website or perhaps not, simply by how your first page looks. Describe your business and offerings but minimize distractions about the page.
Leave pop-up windows off your web site. The average user finds pop-up windows to get an annoying distraction, rather than something useful. A user who may be constantly closing pop-up ads is more likely to look for facts about some other site without endless nuisances.
Once the time comes you need to choose your webpage's background color, be mindful from the effectiveness and conservative choice that white is. If you have a white background, your articles will likely be easy to read, and will also also make the site appear more professional and trustworthy.
Complex backgrounds can make pages unreadable and provide your site an amateurish look. With backgrounds the simpler, the more effective.
When producing pages who have links, be sure the links contain text content. This can help visitors better understand what they can be getting into. Links on a site page without content, visitors can accidentally select links.
Keep your font selection professional and readable. Check out the font of your site and you can distinguish regardless of whether it's professional How to create a logo Some fonts, such as comic sans, are the ones that you would like to keep away from. A font might be subset for the default font on the user's computer when they don't already have it. This could make it look bad.
If you're stuck inside your designing, take into account that you are able to usually find help online. You will discover countless different websites and then there is so many details to assist you design your very own site. Once you find stuff you like, consider the best way to use those ideas and even improve upon them. Keep in mind that you can't just steal ideas if your site is to achieve success. Making improvements on borrowed ideas causes them to be yours.
Web site design is probably the most potent and fastest-acting factors that may influence whether or not a site's visitors decide to stick around. Your website visitors should obtain a good first impression. With any luck, you will get learned something new about designing an attractive and user-friendly website..


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Partners with International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis to Support World Thrombosis Day Campaign
DUBLIN, Ireland - Monday, October 13th 2014 [ME NewsWire]
(BUSINESS WIRE) -- As part of a global effort to highlight the threat posed by venous thromboembolism (VTE), Covidien plc today announced it will support the inaugural World Thrombosis Day campaign as a Global Partner. Developed by the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH), the campaign will use October 13, 2014 as an opportunity to highlight the burden and the risk of morbidity and mortality1 associated with VTE.
"Thrombosis is the underlying cause of the top three cardiovascular killers worldwide, highlighting the need to educate health care providers and patients on treatment and prevention of this condition," said Nigel Key, a hematologist with UNC Health Care and the UNC School of Medicine and chairman, ISTH. "We must work together and remain committed long-term to achieve our collective goal of reducing deaths and disability from thrombosis."
VTE is a disease that includes both deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). DVT is the formation of a blood clot in the deep veins (usually in the legs). These blood clots can break off and travel to the lungs where it becomes PE. It is a common and potentially deadly disorder that is underdiagnosed. In fact, VTE is the number three cardiovascular killer worldwide,2 and is a major contributor to the global burden of disease.
Risk factors VTE include increasing age, prolonged immobility, malignancy, major surgery, multiple trauma, prior VTE, and chronic heart failure.3 However, VTE is also a preventable disease. In a recent study of immobile stroke patients, clinicians utilized intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC), a therapy that utilizes compression sleeves to gently massage the legs to increase blood flow. The study demonstrated a 29.9 percent decrease in the development of proximal DVT in patients who received IPC. Furthermore, compared to the routine care group, the IPC group also showed a 14 percent mortality risk reduction during the first six months after hospital admission for stroke.4
"Covidien is committed to raising awareness of this potentially deadly yet largely preventable disease," said Brian Verrier, president, Peripheral Vascular, Covidien. "The sponsorship of World Thrombosis Day builds on our investment in educational campaigns, such as the One in 1,000 program, to educate both patient and health care professionals about the frequency and severity of VTEs."
About the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH)
Founded in 1969, the ISTH is the leading worldwide not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing the understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of thrombotic and bleeding disorders. The ISTH is an international membership organization with nearly 4,000 clinicians, researchers and educators working together to improve the lives of patients in more than 90 countries around the world. Among its highly regarded activities and initiatives are education and standardization programs, research activities, meetings and conferences, peer-reviewed publications and expert committees. Visit ISTH online at www.isth.org.
About Covidien
Covidien is a global health care leader that understands the challenges faced by providers and their patients and works to address them with innovative medical technology solutions and patient care products. Inspired by patients and caregivers, Covidien's team of dedicated professionals is privileged to help save and improve lives around the world. With more than 38,000 employees, Covidien operates in 150-plus countries and had 2013 revenue of $10.2 billion. To learn more about our business visit www.covidien.com or connect with us on Twitter.
1 Blann, A. Lip, G. Venous thromboembolism. BMJ. Jan 28, 2006; 332(7535): 215–219. doi: 10.1136/bmj.332.7535.215PMCID:
2 International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis. What is Thrombosis? http://www.worldthrombosisday.org/thrombosis/
3 Anderson, F., Spencer, F. Risk Factors for Venous Thromboembolism. Circulation. 2003. doi: 10.1161/01.CIR.0000078469.07362.E6
4 Dennis MS, Sandercock P, Reid J, et al. Effectiveness of Intermittent Pneumatic Compression in Reduction of Risk of Deep Vein Thrombosis in Patients Who Have Had a Stroke (CLOTS 3): a Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial. The Lancet. Published online May 31, 2013.
Vascular Therapies
David Young, 508-452-1644
Manager, External Communications
Coleman Lannum, CFA, 508-452-4343
Vice President
Investor Relations
Peter Lucht, 508-452-4168
Vice President, External Communications
Corporate Communications
Todd Carpenter, 508-452-4363
Permalink: http://www.me-newswire.net/news/12410/en


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Study reveals the most sung pop songs by football fans
After conducted months of online research and interviewing hundreds of football fans, Gola have found out the most popular songs sung in the terrace, by the Premier League clubs supporters.
Participants were asked to pick their top 3 chants that had been taken from popular music.
Sloop John B by the Beach Boys was mentioned most, with Arsenal, Everton, Watford, Liverpool, and Spurs fan all stating it was one of the most sung songs. Hey Jude, Que Sera and Just Can't Get Enough followed in second, third and forth, sung by 4 clubs each. Bringing up the rear is Glad All Over by the Dave Clark Five, chanted by Crystal Palace, West Brom and Man City respectively.
Other famous songs that made it into the piece were Yellow Submarine, Mambo No.5, Gold, Spirit in the Sky and the Liquidator. Tunes that were surprisingly less popular are, 7 nation army by The White Stripes and Cum On Feel The Noize. In contrast, newer chants emanating from songs like Freed From Desire and Achy Breaky Heart had attracted more votes.
All the songs mentioned have relatively memorable and simple tunes, making it easier for people to learn the words and the less talented vocalists amongst us, to sing along! With the same songs appearing, it becomes obvious that football supporters inspire each other – even though they may not admit it!
Most Popular
Siobhan Cooper, Marketing Manager of Gola said: "Football plays a major role in many of our lives around the globe. From Sunday League to International Football, voicing one's passion for their club has always been a feature of the beautiful game. Whenever we watch teams play you can hear people chanting at the top of their voices and often songs that we know the original lyrics too. This notion got us thinking – which songs do football fans sing the most? Obviously the most sung football songs are subjective, but the research shows there are some songs that frequently occur with Premier Leauge fans – ballads from Depeche Mode and The Beatles are worth noting. This suggests popular songs are carefully chosen to turn into chants from terrace.
We want people to start thinking about the theatrical fan culture of football, and hopefully this study will help people achieve that. Music in football lets us think about what supporting a club really means and how that love is expressed in sound. Next time you go to the football, or even watch it on TV, see if you can hear any of the tunes mentioned here and don't be afraid to sing along".


text: I work four days a week, my other half works from home. I am the only one who can neatly fold towels. I've given lessons and deep, desperate instructions. But this is what I am faced with daily – see pics. I tell them if they want dry, warm and fluffy towels they need to be put on the radiator, the picture shows an example of how not to do this. Plus the teen uses at least two per shower. How and why does this not compute in their brains? It makes me crazy. Let alone the ones of the bed that are left abandoned there wet on the bed; my toes are curling as we speak. These towels are sad, they wish they were still on the shelves of John Lewis. I now keep my own secret stash of folded to perfection towels, all with extra fluff and right angles.


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Griffith University's October Entrepreneurship Seminar Innovative Startups provides insights from businesses to highlight how start ups scale up with product, service or process innovations, and the opportunities and challenges along the journey.
Ben Petersen, co-founder of The Plunge Pool Company, will talk about becoming successful at harnessing the problem-solving skills of blue collar workers in legacy industries, to create new processes for new innovative products. Ben's message is simple.
"Innovation has to be more than a buzz word, it needs to be explained to blue collar and factory workers in real terms. What does innovation mean for the individual on a daily basis? This is when you will see the innovation mindset start to compound across the work force from top to bottom."
Dr John Thorogood, Principal Manager of frc environmental and Redlands City Business and Retail Awards Small Business of the Year, 2017 winner, will open up on how their ambitions and aspirations have evolved - starting up, opportunity identification, technology adoption, scaling up – the importance of quality over quantity for business sustenance.
Josh Murchie, Australian Student Volunteer of the Year, and founder of the Griffith University Start Up Entrepreneurs Club and Co-founder of Little Phil - a blockchain powered micro-philanthropy platform to empower charities - will share his unique journey on learning, innovating and the power of collaborating.
Tuesday 23 October 2018
5pm to 7pm
Griffith University, Logan campus (University Drive, Meadowbrook)
Register via the event site


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Markdown basics
Markdown has been made a markup language of choice by many different platforms including the one I use often: Github, Atlassian Jira, Stack Exchange. The language was designed to be readable as-is, without looking like it's been marked up with tags or formatting instructions (unlike HTML). Since its initial development in 2004 by John Gruber's there have been number of efforts attempting to standarise it. John's own Perl script converting Markdown into HTML has been used as the initial definition for Markdown but since it has number of ambiguous definitions causing issues, many different standards of the language emerged. The differences are mainly around more advanced features thought and the base is rather common and this is what I'm going to concentrate on here. Also there is an inititiative called CommonMark (commonmark.org) describing itself as a strongly specified, highly compatible implementation of Markdown, with many popular individuals involved that standarises the language.


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Turner-owned U.S. cable network TNT has greenlit its reality competition series, The Great Escape, with Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and The Amazing Race's Bertram van Munster on board as executive producers.
The 10-part series from Fox Television Studios, Imagine Entertainment, The Hochberg Ebersol Company and Profiles Television Productions, was first announced as part of TNT's development slate in May of last year and is slated to premiere on TNT in the summer.
The Great Escape is hosted by NFL Total Access' Rich Eisen, and sees teams of ordinary people dropped into their own action/adventure movies. Every week three pairs of players compete for a cash prize by escaping from a seven-story castle, a deserted island, a sinking ship or a maximum security prison.
Michael Wright, executive vice president and head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies, said of the series: "The Great Escape is a fast-paced series with all the heart-pounding excitement and nail-biting suspense of a summer popcorn movie. This is exactly the kind of fun, smart, unscripted competition show we've been looking for to complement TNT's entertaining line-up of scripted dramas."
Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Francie Calfo, Elise Doganieri, Bertram van Munster, Justin Hochberg and Charlie Ebersol serve as executive producers.


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Our freeze dried sharp cheddar cheese is a versatile cheese that you will want to add to your food storage. Freeze dried cheddar cheese is great to have on hand when you run out of regular cheese. This cheese is great to throw on breads, soups, pizzas, and any recipe that you have calling for cheddar cheese. This cheese is great to eat just out of the can or rehydrate to use in your recipes. This is a need for your long term food storage-not just a necessity!
Ingredients: Part-skim milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, annatto (vegetable color).
Contains: Dairy
Packaged in a plant that handles milk, wheat, eggs, soy, and tree nut products.
#10 can: 37 oz (1049 g) 75 dry servings
© 2022 Food Storage Guys. All Rights Reserved.
* Free Shipping on orders over $200.


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Hot Tub Steps
DuraStep II
The DuraStep II delivers the best entry level price point with features beyond its price tag such as stylish design, strong construction and easy assembly.
- Large, slip-resistant tread for safety
- Locks together in seconds
- Strong, stable, and attractive
- 27"W x 15"H x 25.5"D
- Our unique patented reversible tread design can accommodate round or square spas
Synthetic Hot Tub Steps
The synthetic spa steps are made of 100% synthetic material. Ships flat; minimal assembly required. Available in Coastal (G), Mahogany (M) and Autumn Walnut (K).
Item #6473-105: 32" L MX Dual Riser
Item #6473-106: 32" L Dual Riser
Item #6473-107: 32" L Single Riser
SunStrong™ synthetic material stands up to the effects of weather and is built to resist fading, rotting, cracks, and stains. Available in Autumn Walnut (K) and Mahogany (M). Colours perfectly match Sundance Spas' hot tub cabinetry, too. The VersaStep™ offers convenient storage area for all your spa needs.
Item #6473-277 (K, M)


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For an estimate of total costs on your current bids go to Estimate My Total Payment.
Lot 137361
Macallan Ruby The 1824 Series 70cl / 43%
Currency Estimate
Lot 137361
Currency Estimate
A bottle of The Macallan Ruby Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, released as part of The 1824 Series. This whisky was exclusively matured in sherry casks from Jerez, Spain, which imparted a deep ruby red colour to the whisky.
Please see images for fill level and label condition. Note general wear.
The Whisky.Auction team has inspected this lot and found it to be suitable for sale. However, please note the absence of a condition statement does not imply that this lot is in perfect condition or free from wear and tear, imperfections or the effects of ageing. Older bottles often contain small amounts of sediment. We cannot guarantee that the contents of this bottle will be free from the effects of age, cork taint, oxidation or other faults.
This bottle does not appear to be leaking. While we take every care to pack bottles securely we cannot guarantee that old corks and closures will not leak in transit.
Base of neck


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Cauliflower Breadsticks
"Low Carb Cauliflower Breadsticks with fresh herbs, garlic, and lots of ooey gooey cheese atop a cauliflower crust looks and tastes like cheesy bread."Serves 5 | Prep Time 15 | Cook Time 15
Why I Love This Recipe
Its hard not having the real thing, but these are so good you won't even miss it!
Ingredients You'll Need
1 head raw cauliflower, riced
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 cup shaved Parmesan Cheese
1 large egg
1/2 tablespoon freshly minced garlic
1/2 tablespoon freshly chopped basil
1/2 tablespoon freshly chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Preheat oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
To rice the cauliflower I cored it and broke it into florets. Then I placed it in the bowl of my food processor and pulsed until it was the texture of rice.
In a large bowl, mix the riced cauliflower, 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 1 egg, 1/2 tablespoon fresh garlic, 1/2 tablespoon fresh basil, 1/2 tablespoon fresh parsley, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper until combined and holds together. Place the mixture onto the lined baking sheet and spread out into a rectangle about 9x7" and 1/4" thick.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and top with 3/4 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese and return to oven to continue baking until the cheese is melted and starting to brown. Cool about 10 minutes and cut into 'breadsticks'. Garnish with fresh herbs and Parmesan cheese. Serve with your favorite Red Sauce and enjoy!
Pairs Well With
Pizza or Spaghetti
Questions, Comments & Reviews
The Official "Burnt" Movie CookbookBy Burnt Movie Cookbook
7 Recipes51222 Downloads