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Among the Europeans, the Fagus headquarter by Walter Gropius, built in 1911, is celebrating its first 100 years now. Among the Americans, the Halliday building in San Francisco (1917) is a must; same as the Equitable Building in Portland (1946), a forgotten jewell from Pietro Belluschi. Now that I think of it, it would be good to re-visit most of these great oldies in future posts.
|The east block from 1903 is the front pavilion to the left. The others were built between 1904 and 1908. Picture from the early 1920s.
This post is devoted to one of the first real curtain walls (not a shop front or a wintergarden) ever built, the east block at the Margarete Steiff AG factory in Giengen, erected in 1903. One thing can be said for sure: this was the first double skin facade ever built and - not surprisingly - it had to be located in Germany. Most of the information for this post comes from a paper whose title couldn't be more clear: "The invention of glazed curtain wall in 1903 - The Steiff toy factory". The paper was presented at the 3rd International Congress of Construction History (Cottbus May 2009) and was written by A. Fissabre and B. Niethammer from RWTH Aachen University. More information about the Steiff factory can be found at the Docomomo Webpage on the building.
|The original factory building as it is today. Note the diagonal bracings at the large elevation.
Between 1902 and 1903 Richard Steiff took two revolutionary steps: to include bears (sitting bears to be precise) as part of the company toys portfolio and to design a new factory building to cope with the increasing international demand of felt toys.
Teddy bears for the American market were in fact the reason behind the construction in 1903 of a new iron and glass building, 30m long, 12m wide and 9.4m high, with an outer shell consisting of a continuous double-glazed wall and a flat roof. The three floors within are supported on iron lattice-work columns. The iron castings and forgings were designed and provided by Eisenwerk Munchen AG, a German contractor. The east building was subsequently extended with two more pavilions between 1904 and 1908, built in timber structure for economic reasons but all with the same double glazed facade.
|Richard Steiff's intention realised: an all-glazed, well-lit building to increase productivity in toys assembly
|Inner view of the Fagus office wing, Gropius 1911
Was Richard Steiff (the company founder's nephew) interested in a brand new industrial aesthetic or was he looking for an engineering ideal? Clearly not at all. He was a toy industrialist himself - he was looking after a continuous workshop plan, well illuminated, where productivity could raise and costs be kept under control. He was also in a hurry: in 1902 the company had received a first order of 3,000 teddy bears from a client in the USA, and subsequent orders were expected. More production space was needed but it had to be efficient, well lit and built quickly.
|Richard Steiff with a teddy bear
Richard Steiff contracted the Eisenwerk München AG company to design and build the structure of the new factory. It remains unclear who proposed and decided it, but steel was the obvious material for a quick and fire-proof structure. The plans and details of the riveted and wind-braced steel frame were drawn by Eisenwerk München, as shown in the plan drawing shown here below. The three-storey loft, covering an area of 12 x 30m, has a slightly inclined single-pitch roof made of galvanised iron sheet. Inside it is divided in three naves each formed by five bays, punctured by rows of six load-bearing columns each.
|Second floor plan as shown in the building-permission documentation, 1903. Note the L-shaped ramp for Ms Steiff's wheel-chair extending from bottom left up to top right.
The main structure of the building (located at the corners) consists of four L-shaped external pillars, riveted on several plates and angle sections. They are linked at the bottom with a lattice truss running around and set in concrete, thus guaranteeing the solid fastening of the frames. The lattice truss is also the basement of nine facade columns of I section set in each of the longitudinal walls, transmitting the perimetral forces onto the ground. The intermediate and short-side facade columns are composed of two U-shaped beams, conntected by small sheet metal streps (see images of the interior above and of the construction below).
The load-bearing structure is reinforced by two long diagonal braces on each side of the long facades and cross-butressed ceilings at each floor level. This composition provides three-dimensional stability with a minimum dead load. Prefabrication and dry-fix connections are a fundamental part of the concept, a combination between Marcel Lods and Mero structures but built fifty years before. Even the Maison Dom-ino concept by Le Corbusier would come much later, in 1914-15.
|Construction site in 1903. Note the four corner columns, the nine longitudinal pillars above the lattice truss and the intermediate set of six columns each. The top beams and the diagonal bracing are not instaled yet.
|The columns are located inside the air cavity
|Corner detail and section / elevation, taken from Glass Construction Manual, Schittich et al 1999
|Vertical section of the double skin facade, taken from Fissabre & Niethammer 2009. Ech glass pane is 3mm thick. The cavity was communicated along the whole height.
One last detail that struck my attention when preparing this post: where are the stairs? As the plan above shows, there seem to be no stairs inside the factory space. Instead, a ramp was designed that, starting from the ground floor, provided access to the first floor and to the second one from the outside. The main reason for this unusual feature has to be found in the company founder and boss, Ms Steiff's handicap. I can imagine Ms Steiff as a strong minded woman, travelling up and down the ramp in her wheel chair. But there is a second reason, also quite practical. Building permission is given (and taxes are paid) based on the built covered space. A nice internal stairbox would have detracted a noticeable percentage from the net usable area. An external ramp, especially if it was required by a handicapped person, was an excellent alternative that had no impact on the inner space. Again, German passion for efficiency at its most!
|The ramp at the back of the Steiff factory providing access to the first and second floors. Picture taken around 1903-04.
What was the influence of the Steiff curtain wall in the European architecture? The hard truth is that there were no lessons learnt from this early example of curtain wall application, simply because nobody decided to pay any attention. Why was the Steiff factory so completely ignored at the time?
- First, because the project was not signed by an architect. We now know it couln't be otherwise: an architect would have considered the whole concept too unpalatable. It was not until Gropius developed what he had learnt working for Peter Behrens at the Fagus factory that light was made upon the curtain wall as a respectable facade solution.
- Second, the place was not central to anything. Giengen is still today a nice small town, with a German mid-size industrial park devoted to toys and fire-proof systems. It was not in Berlin, the Rühr or Frankfurt.
- Third, the company was not AEG or Messerschmidt. Steiff is well-known today but only among toy collectors. It was completely unknown at the beginning of its growth in 1903.
|Scheerbart (left) and Bruno Taut at the Glass House, 1914

subset: commoncrawl


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The U.S. U-20 national team drew 3-3 with Ecuador in Incheon, South Korea on Monday as a late goal from Luca de la Torre got the Baby Nats off and running in Group F at the U-20 World Cup.
[ MORE: U-20 World Cup latest ]
After going 2-0 down within seven minutes of kick off, the U.S. pulled a goal back before half time as Josh Sargent continued his fine form and he added another from Brooks Lennon's fine cross in the second half to make it 2-2.
Gedion Zelalem went off with an injury for the U.S. early on and it looked like a mistake from goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann (the son of former USMNT boss Jurgen) would cost the USA a point as he dribbled into trouble and then a poor clearance allowed Bryan Cabezas to put Ecuador 3-2 up.
However, de la Torre scored deep into stoppage time as the Fulham midfielder was the hero.
The U.S. face Senegal on Thursday in their second group game, while Saudi Arabia and Ecuador do battle.


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Published: December 4, 2015
Everyone perennially pays lip service to the importance of free expression, but it is only in periods of extreme stress on this issue, after Charlie Hebdo, for example, that it comes to the front and is actively defended. By not having more concern for all the subtle, coercive, and undermining acts of censorship that regularly occur, I believe we allow a crony system to fester and become ever more pernicious in the way that it crowds out the free, the uncompromised, the productive, and the competitive in a society.
For my father, Leopold Tyrmand, a Polish anti-communist dissident, writer and journalist in the 1950's and 60's, who spent much of his adult Polish life battling the censors and being blacklisted for how he expressed himself; free speech and a free press were the fundamental issues from which all his political beliefs sprung.
It is worth recalling the First Amendment of the United States Constitution which states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
The First Amendment, which codified the rights of a free citizen in the new American Republic, an experiment in democracy that we now
can look back on as a resounding success, is a blanket protection for all forms of free expression. It goes even further than just protecting free speech, press, assembly and religion. In fact, the First Amendment encourages free citizens to complain by inputting, by suggestion, the right to petition the government for, as the framers put it: "a redress of grievances."
Sadly, such a protection was not codified into Polish law—in either the Polish May Constitution of 1791 nor in 1989 after the famous Round Table talks where the despotic communist power holders and the opposition (with overwhelming popular support and a strong legitimate mandate) got together to peacefully transition to democracy. Because these constitutions never codified unfettered free expression, the risk of an illegitimate power structure coercing the citizenry has remained high ever since.
I aim to address, with plenty of examples, the manner in which free expression is being impeded in Poland today (but would be protected in America) and the manner in which both the media class and the political class work hand in hand to make sure expression is not fully free and unencumbered as the risk to their anti-competitive power structures would be destabilized if it were.
The first and most pernicious example is in the manner in which criticism (especially that of visible public figures) is easily stifled by the civil justice system. What I find to be the most toxic to democracy is when the elected and appointed political class engages in this reprehensible practice.
In theory, an integral component of the role of the politician is to continually defend his or her actions to those he or she serves and to openly and honestly answer criticism head-on. Because political criticism is not absolutely protected, too often one cannot publicly "call-out" and thus catalyse robust investigation of corrupt anti-competitive practices. These practices have become institutionally protected by laws crafted by the same political actors who benefit from stifling independent oversight.
This is where we have to make a distinction between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. When government officials dole out overvalued contracts for unnecessary work to their friends, it may not be a violation under the law (codified by those doling out the contracts), but it certainly is a violation of the spirit of rule of law in a constitutional republic. Unrestricted free speech and the correlative adjunct, free press, is the only weapon that can neuter this cronyism by informing potential voters of systemic corruption.
I can relate a tangible example of this from my own recent experience. By social media proxy, Roman Giertych, a lawyer (and a former Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister) for many of the incumbent Polish government's highest elected and appointed officials, stated earlier this year that he, on behalf of then-foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski, would be filing a lawsuit against Onet.pl (one of the biggest online news platforms in Poland) and myself.
Ostensibly, this was in response to Onet having published a Facebook comment on their news site in which I had suggested that the hypothetical example I cited a few moments ago, of paying one's friends from the public treasury no-bid contracts many times in excess of the market rate, is, to quote myself: "what fraud looks like." Sikorski had been doing just this as he had paid his friend (former UK Ambassador to Poland Charles Crawford) hundreds of thousands of Polish zloty to proofread his speeches- orders of magnitude in excess of market rates and despite the fact that he is married to a renowned speaker and writer of English (journalist Anne Applebaum- more to follow on her body of work), has a full staff for this task, and proudly trumpets his OxBridge education at every opportunity. All this had been well documented in the preceding days in a major press platform (Wprost) known for its investigative reporting, particularly of those in power.
Given that I had written these remarks while in New York and under the protection of the First Amendment, in English, to a small group of friends and followers, on a personal non-commercial page, and on a platform operated by an American entity, this was not really a winnable case. Rather, it was merely an act of bluster from Mr. Giertych. This was the sort of action that he regularly deploys as a tool to silence critics of the political figures in the cabal that he represents.
The burdens that politically connected actors like this impose upon a free people who may want to express ideas that are unpopular with certain segments is such that criticism and the plurality of alternative viewpoints, the lifeblood of democracy, are stifled. Without an environment for unfettered debate, where the best ideas and the best people rise to the top, freedom and ultimately prosperity are constantly threatened and never maximized.
Another example of how free expression is undermined in Poland is the subversive work of the mainstream press itself—particularly it's most mature segment, which mostly utilizes conventional distribution practices. This segment historically has been better capitalized; but in recent years, the industry has faced the creative destruction that new distribution technologies have wrought and they are now scrambling to shift their businesses to these alternative methods of delivery. As this industry has become rife with cronyism, the focus now is on pleasing special interests for favours and seeking protections as a cartel rather than embracing competition. The legacy players in the media industry cannot maintain their share in this dynamic—and more egalitarian—new media system where the barriers to entry are low. The old players remain bloated, stagnant, and slow to adapt.
The 'mainstream' media's ideological bent has always slanted towards the left. This is news to no one. My father often wrote about how the media's predetermined agenda—both in the US and Poland—impacts the way in which politics is consumed by the masses. Unfortunately, what is new to the dynamic—given that their motive is now just as financial as it is ideological—is that most Polish mainstream platforms, reliant on state orchestrated protection, coordinate what they communicate and "sell" to the mass market with their political partners.
The most insidious aspect of this is that this is done under a veneer of independence—in an effort to convince the consumer/voter that what is being delivered informs rather than manipulates. And the easiest way these 'leaders' of the press manipulate the popular narrative is by omission.
Last year, the newsweekly Wprost published transcripts of recordings of Polish politicians engaging in overtly corrupt back room deals over expensive dinners billed to taxpayers. This had the potential to bring down the entire government by prompting mass resignations and leading to numerous potential criminal charges. The mainstream media machine went into hyper-drive to defend, play down, spin, and protect the principals involved. However, the underlying acts of the scandal were not discussed by any major platform (omission), except by Wprost which exposed the tapes in the first place—despite the fact that the content of the conversations was positively frightening.
To illustrate how egregious these violations of law were: One tape revealed the head of the constitutionally mandated independent central bank- the National Bank of Poland President Marek Belka- actively coordinating monetary policy with an emissary of the current government- Interior Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz- in a clearly delineated attempt to swing an upcoming election in the favour of the incumbent party to which Sienkiewicz (and Belka) belong. This conspiracy to maintain a weak/depreciated currency in order to forestall any possible indications of a potential recession and to help finance the purchase of the national election through expanded borrowing is tantamount to stealing from every citizen in Poland and every zloty denominated investor. (Expanded sovereign borrowing was made feasible through this "easy" and "cheap" monetary policy and bolstered by the fact that debt to GDP ratio limits were rendered inconsequential the previous year after the private sector pension industry was nationalized by the state- turning a liability into an asset and thus reducing the numerator in the ratio.)
It was also reprehensible that the wife— Anne Applebaum—of one of the majorly implicated players—Radoslaw Sikorski (yet again)—in these embarrassing revelations worked vociferously to defend her husband and his fellow incriminated officials in print and in speech both domestically and internationally. (As a self-described 'journalist', she has availed herself of mainstream media platforms internationally in the UK, US, and Western Europe in addition to the domestic Polish platforms. These include the Washington Post and the Daily Telegraph in the UK.) Her contributions to the discourse clearly did not meet the definition of journalism since the most important facts of the case were never disclosed (again: omission).
The defence offered time and again by the mainstream media was that the actors exposed on undercover tapes had their privacy rights violated and that this crime had superseded any other that might have taken place (which of course went unmentioned). The media attempted to sell the idea that their privacy rights were more important than the right of citizens not to be duped by their elected and appointed officials. Moreover, when the state sent internal security service agents to extract the 'evidence' that Wprost's editor-in-chief ostensibly had on his laptop—all of which had been deemed pertinent to the cases of privacy violations that they were investigating—the images of physical force being used at the magazine's offices and the protests that ensued again garnered no reactions and virtual silence from the "mainstream" press.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the current Polish government, which has been widely implicated in this scandal was recently working to pass legislation (right before their current terms of office are up) that would dismiss and render void any evidence gathered of illegal activity that is considered to have violated a politician's privacy.
With their electoral prospects in doubt the left leaning incumbents (PO- Civic Platform) have again in recent weeks turned to their sympathetic media cabal to brazenly manufacture a conspiracy suggesting that it was the opposition party (PiS- Law and Justice) that was responsible for the aforementioned hidden tapes that so scandalized the incumbent party and has led to their current travails. One of the leading politically active media figures, the editor of Newsweek Poland: Tomasz Lis, oversaw the printing of a recent "news article" suggesting the above conspiracy and putting forth that the whole affair (known in Poland as aferatosmowa or "tapes scandal") was purely an orchestrated sham with the tapes having been doctored by the opposition party. This claim was made, merely weeks before the election, with no evidence, record, or credible witness introduced to validate it. It was merely conjecture attempted to be disbursed as "news." When the story broke Anne Applebaum, the self-described "journalist"/spin-doctor married to disgraced incumbent party member Radoslaw Sikorski (both mentioned above), took to Twitter to distribute this "story" to the world in English so as to influence international perceptions of her fellow travellers despite this story not having met any of the usual burdens of fact checking taught in Journalism 101.
Beyond the previously discussed methods of media manipulation—which include omission, spin, defence, coordination, the manufacture and printing of known falsehood, and the weaponization of frivolous lawsuits—there exists one more method that only the biggest politically connected rent-seekers in the media can even begin to dream of: the bailout.
As an investor, this is the one that undermines my faith in an economy the most, whether in the US, the Euro-zone, or Poland. When a monolithic corporate entity cannot compete or adapt, it withers and dies. This is a good thing. And it paves the way for new entrants and innovation. New blood brings new ideas and keeps societies competitive. But the breakdown in competition that exists in a free market when those who cannot compete begin to get tax-payer subsidies or infusions of capital from the government to stay afloat is unacceptable.
This is happening in Poland today. The reason that this is so dangerous to freedom in aggregate is that by subsidizing one crony's right
to free expression, everyone else—whether they are individuals or competitive businesses—has their rights to competitive expression undermined and crowded out by state fiat.
The company Agora, which publishes Poland's "paper of record" Gazeta Wyborcza has been seeing bailout capital from the state owned enterprise PZU. PZU is the national insurance company and one of the biggest corporations in Poland. As it is an insurance company and generates massive free cash flow (Warren Buffett, as unpalatable as he may be, is no idiot) it maintains an investment fund to deploy this taxpayer capital "productively." This investment fund has been making infusions into Agora to stave off its bankruptcy and to keep Gazeta Wyborcza in print. When I speak of the methods above of media manipulation with the goal of influencing politics and society- GW is the great progenitor of all of these mechanisms in modern (post 1989) Polish media. (One could pen encyclopaedia on this subject.)
The PZU investment fund is now the largest outside equity holder in Agora with an almost 16% stake as of last quarter (and it has been steadily on the rise since reporting thresholds were breached in the last 2 years). Despite this massive taxpayer investment exposure subsidizing this dying partisan media company "we the people" have no idea what valuation was ascribed to this investment nor have "we the people" received board representation via the investment fund. This shows us how sensitive the "investment" managers were to considerations like "expected returns" and in taking their fiduciary duty seriously to oversee the discipline of the Agora C-suite.
Not only is Agora/GW getting indirect taxpayer bailouts but they are also receiving a consumption bailout as well since around 1/3 of revenues from both subscriptions and advertising are being generated from the Polish government (directly or through state owned enterprises). So the leading propagandist platform, living under the veneer of being committed to serious journalism, is getting back door and front door bailouts to stave off its impending bankruptcy (as circulation plummets due to lack of credibility and a competitive internet market offering unbiased news feeds). It is no coincidence that the founder of Agora and Editor in Chief of GW, Adam Michnik (a political activist from a long line of communists) has not only maintained strong ties to the nomenklatura but has materially shaped statist and leftist policy since 1989 and has continually been a mouthpiece and defender of these political factions.
Another manner which I think demonstrates that free expression is under assault in Poland today is the way in which those tasked with the responsibility of public institutional administration and management abuse the power of their office. They take away what is not theirs to bestow in the first place: access to state infrastructure, which belongs to the public and which is supported by the taxes paid by the citizenry. This is an act of forceful censorship and it is brazenly anti-democratic.
Another personal example may help crystallize this dynamic. Last year, the Consul General (Ewa Junczyk Ziomecka) blacklisted me from Polish Consular events at the New York consulate. As I am a Polish citizen—and have never acted in a violent, unsafe, or similarly disruptive manner—there were no formal channels to do so, but given such lax oversight, and the state's agents' excessive discretionary control of "the trappings of their political wealth" citizens have woefully little recourse. This is a prime reason why there is a necessity for an uncompromised free media that serves to be a respondent mechanism to such actions. The rationale behind this "blacklisting" (as gleaned off-the-record from staffers working at the Consulate) was that my political views—and the way in which I expressed those views—were not pleasing to Consul Ziomecka. To be sure, my views on her and the government under which she served were not positive and I had never hidden this. (I write for many political outlets online and in print.)
This kind of blacklisting and withholding of government services by discretionary fiat is another frontal assault on free expression. With behaviour like this de rigeur, one can only imagine what the calculus is when cultural ministries and their subsidiaries dole out public funding for publicly financed projects like movies, festivals, and other events. These processes are rife with "spoils system" and "quid pro quo" politics which creates costs unwittingly borne by the taxpayer citizen.
A final, and maybe the most egregious institutional assault on free expression in Poland today is the so-called "Electoral Silence" law. A statute exists that bans any discussion of the elections and candidates in the period leading into the election. For the 24 hours preceding the day of voting and the day of the election itself (a total of 48 hours) candidates cannot stump, pundits cannot weigh in, and even ordinary citizens cannot make public commentary with the intent to shift opinion and endorse candidacies. This law is justified with the expressed goal of giving the nation time to reflect on the choices presented without the "coercive" effect of open debate. Fines can be levied for violating this statute but with the advent of social media it is getting tougher to enforce (this is generally my chosen medium of violating this anti-free expression law). The real reasoning behind this law is to give the incumbents one last possible impact (at the proverbial 11th hour) of tipping the scales in their favour since many low information voters, if not freshly reminded of newer less familiar options, tend to vote for the incumbents whose names have been more generally and deeply internalized by the body politic. This statute is so utterly ridiculous that it has no place in any society that even purports to be a free one. The idea that debate or rhetoric can be banned during the time when it is most important to a democracy- election time- is laughable and is nothing short of completely illegitimate.
Free expression, as we have recently seen all too frequently, is under attack all over the globe. This issue affects all; developing, transitioning, and emerging societies and economies. In contemporary Poland, a nation and economy widely credited during the last two decades for emerging as a beacon of post-Soviet freedom and free enterprise, the price for "free" expression too often has been conformity to the government's precepts with the mainstream media working hand in hand to enforce these precepts through active propaganda and subversion of truth.
A truly free and independent press needs to be fought for today as vociferously as it was under the oppressive communist regimes of yesteryear. The best way to fight in its defence—and for the fundamental right of free expression—is to never cease using this right assertively, in speech and in writings, and to not shy away from proposing ideas that may not be popular—and which may bring added levels of personal and professional risk. The only thing not to be put at risk is the moral clarity and personal integrity that comes from holding on firmly to one's beliefs. One should never yield one's understanding of the truth to those who would re-program it by coercion or force for their own benefit.
Free expression is truly the lifeblood of democracy. And it is worth repeating a somewhat clichéd quotation—oft attributed to both Voltaire and Jefferson: "I do not agree with what you have to say but I will defend to the death your right to say it." We all need to embrace the sentiments behind these words as this is the ultimate weapon against cronyism. For now, it remains to be seen if Poland can develop a legal system to protect free and unfettered expression, and to function in the same way that the First Amendment does in the United States. If it can, then Poland will be better, freer, and more prosperous for future generations.
Matthew Tyrmand is an investor and economist based in New York City. He is Deputy Director of OpenTheBooks, an NGO focused on bringing transparency to government spending. This article has been adapted from a speech presented at the second Round Table Mixer (RTMx) held in March 2015 in Warsaw co-hosted by the author and by Michal Lisiecki, President of Point Media Group, which owns the Wprost newsweekly.
This article appeared in Wprost.pl and is republished here under the Greater Public Good Doctrine clause.


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The Wheel of Fortune Card In Love Tarot
In a love tarot and the Wheel of Fortune card reading the Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card refers to the cycles of our relationships. This usually coincides with major shifts that also occur within our relationships. When the Wheel of Fortune appears in a love Tarot reading, there is an element of uncertainty as the Wheel of Fortune always suggests change is coming. The only thing you can count on is that nothing is permanent.
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The love tarot and the Wheel of Fortune card can also indicates that there is a great promise of a love affair. In love Tarot reading, the Wheel of Fortune can also show you that you are in the right place at the right time. Chance encounters could turn into romance. True love may be on its way. If you have had a particularly slow period in your love life, the Wheel of Fortune often indicates that this cycle is finally coming to an end. Be open to letting fate and luck work in your favor.
It's important to note that the love tarot and the Wheel of Fortune card reminds us that there are ups and downs to every relationship. With its appearance in a love Tarot reading, there may be a need to assess your relationship. This is the time to ask yourself if your partner is worth the commitment. After all, every relationship will have its highs and lows. The true question you need to ask yourself is if you value your partner and relationship enough to work through the difficult times.
The Wheel of Fortune Shifts For The Better
In worst case scenarios, the Wheel of Fortune can indicate the decline of a relationship. You may feel as though you have little control over the outcome of your relationship. In a Love Tarot reading, the Wheel of Fortune urges you not to lose faith as things will eventually shift. Ultimately, a new cycle will begin and a new direction awaits you.
See the Major Arcana tarot card meanings section to learn more about the Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card


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Group Booking Terms and Conditions
Because you are making a Group Booking, there are additional Terms and Conditions that apply. Please read them and click 'I Accept' below to continue with your booking
General Group Booking Terms
By making a group reservation through Hostelworld.com you agree to the following terms and conditions as set by Hostelworld.com and as set by the hostel in question.
- In order to make a group reservation on Hostelworld.com it is necessary to pay a deposit. The balance is due directly to the hostel according to their payment conditions.
- The booking deposit is non-refundable.
- Please note that any cancellations must be notified directly to the hostel at least 24 hours in advance of your scheduled arrival date, unless otherwise stated in the hostel's conditions.
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The remainder of the amount due will be charged to your credit card 1 week prior to arrival. Should numbers or room selection change, the per person deposit times the number of people who actually travelled will be deducted from the total accommodation charge levvied by the hostel.
The following group types are not accepted by this hostel: Junior / Primary School If you have misrepresented the type of group you are booking for, your booking may be cancelled by the hostel."
Any cancellations resulting from agreement to these terms and conditions under false pretences will result in loss of deposit.
Du musst die Bedingungen annehmen, um die Buchung zu bestätigen
International Fair Plovdiv is 1.3 km from Home Hostel Plovdiv, while Plovdiv Municipality is 200 m away. Nearby: shopping centers, restaurants, bar, tourism attractions, & parks.
Hostel and consists of seven rooms of all different type single, twin with twin beds, double, triple consisting of double bed and sofa bed, quadruple consisting of double bed and double sofa bed, double rooms have air conditioning and flat screen cable TV. All rooms are fitted with a large bedside cabinet wardrobe, communal common kitchenette with cable TV, two shared man-woman bathrooms, daily cleaning.
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Smackdown is the go home show before Night of Champions. Will it convince anyone to buy the show? We open with the Peep Show, one of at least two talk show segments on Smackdown. The guest is Albert Del Rio who arrives in an expensive car, introduced by his personal ring announcer. This guy's mannerisms are brilliant. It's hard to believe he spent most of his career as a babyface and wearing a mask. Christian thinks Del Rio is a flash in the pan. Christian challenges Del Rios to a match or a fight or anything else at Night of Champions. Del Rio will think about it. So Christian slaps him. That changes his answer to no.
The Hart Dynasty face Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre. Tyson Kidd is looking like a million bucks lately. The heels get an upset win that's basically clean. We learn that the tag belts will be defended at Night of Champions, we just don't know against who. There's a really good (and long for TV) Jack Swagger versus Kofi Kingston match. It's nice to see Swagger looking strong, but Kingston picks up the win via Trouble in Paradise as he's the one with a match this Sunday.
Rosa Mendes and Kelly Kelly lose to LaCool. Then there's a funny segment with them and Kaval. Michelle pulls the old pull names out of a hat bit so she can face Melina. Of course, all the names are Michelle. Kaval is so amusing with these two.
Christian faces CM Punk in the main event match and Del Rio joins commentary. Christian is game and puts up a long fight. Del Rios distracts Christian by claiming he's reconsidering allowing Punk to hit Go To Sleep. Then Del Rio says his answer is still no. Big Show hits the ring and Punk tries to hold him off, but falls to the knock out punch. CM Punk will win Sunday.
Kane and Taker talk for the go home. It seems redundant to say Kane is over the top, but he's really going all out tonight. Taker tries to appear when the lights go down, but Kane ends up behind him with the title belt. A beatdown ensues. I do sincerely hope these guys put on a great show Sunday, but I'm not optimistic and I'm not going to see it. I have something more important to do at 8:00 Sunday night than watch Night of Champions. If I were motivated to watch the show I could stay up late and watch the 11:30 pm replay, but I'd prefer a good night's sleep. This simply isn't a PPV worth losing sleep over. Kane even steals Taker's moves to beat him down with.
This week's TNA was actually pretty decent. At the PPV, Jeff Hardy and Kurt Angle drew while Ken Anderson beat The Pope. So Eric Bischoff announces a Three-way Dance at Bound For Glory. Dixie Carter overrules him and books a Hardy/Angel rematch with no time limit tonight. It was one hell of a match, but it ended in a double pin. So Bischoff went back to a three-way. Hey, I'm glad I saw that match, but it's booking in circles again.
Tommy Dreamer tried to call a truce with Fortune, singing the praises of each and every one of them, often with shoot comments, but they beat him down. The other EV 2.0 guys were gone, but Brian Kendrick tried to make the save. Emphasize tried. After Fortune gets tired of the beat down Brian Kendrick issues an open challenge to any member of Fortune. Matt Morgan accepted, in street clothes. He dominates the match, but actually gets rolled up at the end. So Kendrick is getting a push.
Also getting a push: Jay Lethal, who won the X Division Championship. It's not much of a title anymore, but it's something at least. That's the highpoints. Maybe extra time off helped them deliver a better show, I don't know. I do know this is one of their best shows in a long time. All done with no Hogan. Coincidence?


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Report on Popocatepetl (Mexico) — 28 December-3 January 2012
Smithsonian / US Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Report,
28 December-3 January 2012
Managing Editor: Sally Kuhn Sennert
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2011. Report on Popocatepetl (Mexico). In: Sennert, S K (ed.), Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 28 December-3 January 2012. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
19.023°N, 98.622°W; summit elev. 5393 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
CENAPRED reported that during 28 December-3 January steam-and-gas emissions rose from Popocatépetl and a gas plume rose to an altitude of 1 km on 28 December. Two small landslides were recorded inside the crater on 2 January. During 2-3 January gas plumes rose to an altitudes of 600-700 m above the crater and drifted NE.
Geological Summary. Volcán Popocatépetl, whose name is the Aztec word for smoking mountain, rises 70 km SE of Mexico City to form North America's 2nd-highest volcano. The glacier-clad stratovolcano contains a steep-walled, 400 x 600 m wide crater. The generally symmetrical volcano is modified by the sharp-peaked Ventorrillo on the NW, a remnant of an earlier volcano. At least three previous major cones were destroyed by gravitational failure during the Pleistocene, producing massive debris-avalanche deposits covering broad areas to the south. The modern volcano was constructed south of the late-Pleistocene to Holocene El Fraile cone. Three major Plinian eruptions, the most recent of which took place about 800 CE, have occurred since the mid-Holocene, accompanied by pyroclastic flows and voluminous lahars that swept basins below the volcano. Frequent historical eruptions, first recorded in Aztec codices, have occurred since Pre-Columbian time.
Source: Centro Nacional de Prevencion de Desastres (CENAPRED)


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Introducing Stellabrate: Stella & Dot's Revamped Wedding Boutique
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read full disclosure here. Thank you!
With wedding season upon us, Stella & Dot wants to ensure that you are perfectly accessorized for the special occasion, which is why they've created Stellabrate. Stellabrate is Stella & Dot's revamped wedding boutique and it is brimming with beautiful adornments that are perfect for brides, bridesmaids, flower girls, and those best-dressed wedding guests.
You'll love the vintage crystal necklaces, sparkling rings, ornate cuffs, and chandelier earrings selected specifically for this collection.
Shop Stellabrate and you're sure to find the perfect pieces that will complete your wedding wear.
Here are a few items from Stella & Dot's Stellabrate collection:


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- Published Sep 3, 2013 in The Biz
- Read time: about 6 minutes
Music Office CEO, Greg Forest offers advise on music publishing and how to copyright your songs.
Do Publishers Actually Buy Songs?
When you sell a song to a publisher, you are doing just that: selling the copyright to the publisher. This does not mean in any way you are selling the authorship of the song, just all the rights pertaining to it. Although you remain the author, the publisher owns the song and can do as he sees fit in exploiting the composition. The days of publishers "stealing" songs from songwriters are, happily, gone forever (for the most part). Artists are now protected by law in seeing that at least some portion of the money earned winds up in the writer's pocket. What you get over and above this statutory rate is up to your negotiating strength.
How Do I (And The Publisher) Get Paid?
There is really only one pie to cut up when it comes to royalty payments, but for some arcane reason, the industry sees a song's income as two complete parts: Publisher's royalties and Writer's royalties. The writer is paid his royalties directly from the licensing organization he or she is affiliated with (BMI, ASCAP, or SESAC). The amount of these royalties paid to the Writer are directly related to the amount of radio and television airplay the song receives, along with other measured public performances. The Publisher is also sent an equal amount from the licensing organization. The Publisher cannot share in the Writer's "performance royalties." Whether the Writer can share in the Publisher's share of performance and other royalties is decided again on the strength of the Writer's bargaining position. Some Writers may share none of the the Publisher's earnings in a song. More commonly, the Publisher will keep all his performance royalties but will split the remaining sources of income (mechanical fees, overseas licensing, exploitation for commercials, etc.) equally with the Writer. If you're a popular songwriter and have a steady source of royalty income, starting your own publishing company is an option. You are wasting your time and the licensing agency's time by trying to start a publishing company without any source of songwriting income. If you don't have a song on the air or selling lots of vinyl/cassettes/CDs, save your money.
How Do I Copyright A Song?
When you affix the copyright symbol (c) next to your name on piece of music or a recording, you have copyrighted it. It does not have to go through the Library of Congress to be protected, although this could be a good idea. When two parties fight in court over the authorship of a song, they are almost always litigating over WHEN a song was written. This is where the Library of Congress can be of greatest assistance.
For example, you hear a song on the radio by Suzi Dahling, a big star, and you're sure that the hook, or bridge and most of the melody are from a song you wrote ten years ago. Oddly enough, your old buddy Johnny Skunkhead, whom you haven't seen in about ten years, is now Suzi's producer and guitarist. You get to court and Johnny and Suzi produce a rough demo of them rehearsing the song two years ago, and a Library of Congress Copyright Registration Certificate dated a year ago. You whip out a self-released tape from ten years ago and your Library of Congress registration from a number of songs, this one included, that you sent in eight years ago. You would probably prevail, considering the fact that Johnny produced your tape too.
If you are going the Library of Congress route, keep in mind that the people in Washington don't check each song that comes in to make sure it does not infringe on another's copyright; they just date you claim of ownership. The earlier the date, the better. You can send a "Collection of Songs by Me" to the Library of Congress and copyright it. If, at a later date, someone show interest in one of the pieces, then cull out the one there is interest in and re-copyright it as a single song, establishing in effect two copyright dates. Another advantage to registering with the Library of Congress is that it gives your song a legal description. It is no longer "I Love My Music," but a song now entitled "I Love My Music" by John Songwriter, Library of Congress #29283729." This can come in handy when your are assigning the rights to a song to a Publisher. Request Form PA from the Register of Copyrights, Library of Congress, Washington DC 20559.
Do I Have To Write Music To Copyright A Song?
You do not have to copyright the song in musical notation. The Library of Congress now accepts home-made cassettes, but be sure that the lyrics and melody are clear and distinct. It never hurts to include a lyric sheet no matter what you are submitting.
When And What Licensing Organization Should I Join?
You should join a licensing organization when it appears someone is going to record your song; not before. As with starting your own publishing company, the licensing organizations have better things to do than try and track a song that isn't getting airplay anywhere. Think publishing only when there is a viable potential for income. There are different protocols to all the licensing organizations, and they use different formulas for computing royalties, so you should shop around. Fortunately, you won't have to shop long, because there are only three. Ask other songwrites which organization they belong to, and how they feel they are being treated. Are they getting paid; does the organization help with career advice? Remember too that your friends may not know anything much about the licensing organizations that they are not members of, so advice from them may be simply hearsay or conjecture. This is a decision you will have to make on your own, and it will affect you for years to come. If you join and decide later that you chose poorly, fear not: the first year of membership is generally considered a trial period, and you can usually switch over without too much trouble (unless of course you are cursed with success). Look at it on the brighter side; in terms of Writer earnings, these organizations are all about on par with each other; licensing organizations can be viewed somewhat like apples versus oranges.
What Can I Do To Protect Myself From A Publisher On A Single Song Deal?
Obtain a reversion clause when dealing with a single song and Publisher new to you. This will make all the rights to the song revert to you should the Publisher not place the song for commercial exploitation (better get used to the word "exploit") within a certain time period.
Be flexible on the amount of time you give the Publisher to place the song. After all, it probably took you a while to get the song to him; imagine how long it takes the Publisher to get the composition to Suzi Dahling's producer. Anywhere between six months and two years is not uncommon.
Again, I would like to emphasize that unless your song catalog is producing income, don't bother to form a publishing company. In the case of a new artist, if possible, assign your first few tunes to publishers with a reversion clause. After you have attained a degree of commercial success, you may then and only then consider starting your own publishing company.
Keep in mind that chasing down the royalties due you worldwide is not an easy task, and you might be better off, even as a successful Writer, in retaining a Publisher with the infrastructure in place to pursue your royalties for you. If you have attained commercial success, your bargaining position with an established Publisher will be all the more stronger, and the Publisher will probably be more flexible with a Writer that has a good track record.


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We've come a long way when it comes to sharing and reviewing newly published research in the past few years. The advent of services such as Altmetric (Altmetric.com, 2016a) has opened up a new window of insight into the impact of articles, and for better and worse it has allowed us to see discussions from every peer and media outlet that care to comment on a work. Yet in an age where data on anything and everything—from what's wasting your phone's battery, to the location and magnitude of every earthquake this week—is easily accessible in one quick search, it's damning that in scientific circles finding quality replication attempts can be an arduous task. Outside of the saints that publish meta-analyses on that oh-so-specific topic you're looking into, getting a good idea of the replicability of a study can be extremely time consuming.
We can do better than this. You'd be forgiven for reading that sentiment as a platitude, especially after the barrage of scalding thought pieces about the replicability crisis in recent years (Ed Yong, 2016), many including that exact phrase. It is instead a statement of fact. In official forums, such as academic journals, the scientific community has become too introspective with regards to how it handles publication and the wider evaluation of material, seeing the current model as the only way forward. Outside of this current model however, there are plenty of tools that could be adopted in order to refine existing review and publication infrastructure, and vastly improve the current reproducibility situation.
Although a traditional journal-style publication system offers much in the way of safeguarding through peer review, it also imposes limitations on what research sees the light of day in order to maintain a dynamic, interesting catalogue of articles, and as a result retain commercial viability. (Ed Yong, 2012) With this dynamic, positive results are favoured considerably, three times more likely to be published than a negative result. (Dickersin et al., 1987) When it comes to replications, it's clear that while this issue still prevalent, attempts to truly evaluate scientific works through the publication of replication studies in existing journals will fall flat, purely through lack of representation of negative results. In the wake of increasing calls for a more efficient way to double check the work of ourselves and our peers, the emphasis should be on eliminating this 'file drawer phenomenon'. (Rosenthal, 1979) The reproducibility crisis is nuanced and wide reaching, but tackling this must be the establishing step in the right direction.
Defeating the file drawer is no small obstacle. Even if replications were made a point of emphasis, to simply push every replication that may have been wrongfully filed away to the forefront of journals in a giant wave would be an extremely inelegant—and unlikely–solution. When the alternative is new ideas and studies, researchers don't want to have to sift through replication studies clogging their regular literature search platforms for material that pushes forward their topics of choice, however vital they are to reproducibility and discourse.
Because of this, and without a place likely to accept a submission of a failed replication, scientists are discouraged from officially sharing any replication that they may attempt internally. (Peplow, 2014) Though quality attempts at replication are often attempted as a precursor to further exploration, there is no incentive to publish these, as any such articles are likely to meet total disinterest from journals. The scientific community, therefore, cannot rely on traditional journals alone to remedy this particular problem, as the file drawer is inexorably tied to their current publishing models.
This does not mean however, that replication studies or in depth evaluations of methods are never discussed. Even though sharing replications through journals is often not an option, academics still pick apart articles of interest both in labs around the world, and better yet, on each of our online doorsteps. For example, the use of social networking sites by academics from around the globe has given rise to several extremely popular hubs for article discussion, such as Neuroskeptic (DiscoverMagazine.com, 2016), with hundreds if not thousands more sharing and discussing articles (admittedly to varying depths) between colleagues and friends through personal twitters and blogs. This is rightfully recognised within these spheres as not only hugely useful to research, but an opportunity for community engagement.
It is entirely within the realm of possibility that the creation of a new publishing platform, focused on hosting formal replications, alongside these review style evaluations of method, would provide a new and more focused home for the type of discussion. In short, such a space could become a hub where information on reproducibility is easily accessible, and where the networking and social value of discourse and participation drives content, as observed in current social media research engagement. This would enable us to also incorporate into this publishing platform the most valuable aspect of traditional publishing, the peer review system, in a manner not driven by commercial interest, but instead by the quality of replications and evaluations submitted. This would provide a file drawer-free pathway to ensuring reproducibility data made its way to the surface.
The information hosted on this new model publishing platform can then be made readily available to those viewing the original article on its native website in a manner similar to Altmetric. (Altmetric.com, 2016b) That is, an aggregation of positive, negative and inconclusive replications and evaluations, formally visualised it in an easily read widget with further opportunity to click through and analyse these sources directly, would be included alongside the original publication.
Overall, implementing such a system would vastly improve the accessibility of research; both through providing links to peer reviewed replications which have not been filtered by the file drawer, and literally, in terms enabling an overview replication information out at a glance.
Later financial incentivisation could be devised to encourage prompt replication and evaluation of possible breakthrough studies, we require a solid foundation to build from. Our reproducibility crisis is complex, and though not every aspect can be addressed through this suggestion alone, I believe that a new model platform such as the one described here would provide said foundation, with ample scope for further adaptation.
Altmetric.com. (2016a). Altmetric.com. Retrieved 10 June, 2016, from https://www.altmetric.com/
Altmetric.com. (2016b). The Donut and Altmetric Attention Score. Retrieved 10 June, 2016, from https://www.altmetric.com/about-altmetrics/the-donut-and-score/
Dickersin, K.; Chan, S.; Chalmers, T. C.; et al. (1987). Publication bias and clinical trials. Controlled Clinical Trials. 8(4), 343–353.
DiscoverMagazine.com. (2016). Neuroskeptic. Retrieved 10 June, 2016, from http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/
Ed Yong. (2012). Replication studies: Bad Copy. Nature. 485, 298–300.
Ed Yong. (2016). Psychology's replication crisis can't be wished away. Retrieved 10 June, 2016, from http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/03/psychologys-replication-crisis-cant\n-be-wished-away/472272/
Peplow, M. (2014). Social sciences suffer from severe publication bias. Nature. doi:10.1038/nature.2014.15787
Rosenthal, R. (1979). The file drawer problem and tolerance for null results. Psychological bulletin, 86(3), 638.
Showing 1 Reviews
'It is entirely within the realm of possibility that the creation of a new publishing platform, focused on hosting formal replications, alongside these review style evaluations of method, would provide a new and more focused home for the type of discussion. In short, such a space could become a hub where information on reproducibility is easily accessible, and where the networking and social value of discourse and participation drives content, as observed in current social media research engagement.'
This is not only possible, but actually needed. This will solve a major problem we are currently facing in terms of having an outlet for replication studies that are then in turn peer reviewed and archived. However, this is just one way of dealing with the larger problem of file drawer bias, the core issue still remains to be addressed: as to how do we get smaller studies with equivocal findings that are nevertheless "clean" studies in dealing with bias and confounding variables, into public domain and make them accessible to the interested scientist and reader community? Perhaps an additional layer of acceptable and peer reviewer-ship would be needed for these studies and replication studies.
Is the style of journal the most appropriate format? This could lead to new debate, as the traditional ways journals display information is clearly incompatible with the new developments in web based reading. While maintaining all the core functions (show data in the form of tables and charts, clearly mark attributions in the form of citations and referencing, and allow for a 'permalink' that is at once indexed by the academic search engines) should be sine qua non of such a publication effort, there is also a space to discuss what format might be preferred for this.
In summary, would very much like to see a follow up on this thought and perhaps a prototype that we, the scholarly community can move to the stage of an actual publication and reality. Time to roll up the sleeves.
This article and its reviews are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and redistribution in any medium, provided that the original author and source are credited.


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Sunday, July 19, 2009
Day 7
A few things before I go back to Day 7 in DC. I said Ryan drove me home from the air bus station. But it was a close thing actually. I noticed yesterday that my cell phone had died. And me - being me - didn't think to bring the charger. Now ordinarily this wouldn't have been a bad thing because as Wendy can testify, I really don't have the hang of it. So a dead cell phone isn't a problem. BUT in an effort to retain important information, I have to try not clog the brain with stuff I don't need to know - one of them being both my sons phone numbers since they are programed into the phone and I have them written down on the fridge.
When I called the air bus company when the plane arrived in Detroit, to let them know my plane had landed, I was told I was the only one taking it and the bus driver could pick me up 45 minutes early. This meant I'd get home 45 minutes early - in theory - and I was just aching to get home by this time. Going away is great - but so is getting home. There was a problem though. You guessed it - I didn't have access to Ryan's phone number on my cell phone because it was dead and I didn't have the recharger. AND he's not listed in the phone book since he doesn't have a land line - just his cell phone. So when we arrived at the bus station early, I didn't have a way to contact him to tell him I'd arrived - and I wanted to go home!! I thought about just taking a cab home, but was worried he'd show up early and I'd have left. Such was not the case. It was almost half an hour after I was supposed to arrive and still no Ryan. He finally showed up and asked why I didn't call him since he had told me to when the bus got in. I don't remember him telling me that. I told him my cell phone had died. He asked why I hadn't recharged it. I told him I forgot to bring the charger. He asked why I hadn't written his number down to take with me like he told me too. I didn't tell him I must not have been paying attention when he told me to do that either. I think he gets why I used to drive his Dad nuts sometimes.
So then he drove me home and stayed for a while. I didn't quite know how to tell him to go home - that I just wanted to get in my jammies and veg until SYTYCD came on.
And other news that happened while I was away. Apparently Destructo Cat has a new trick. She takes a running leap at the screen in the living room window and claaaawwws her way to the top of it and just kind of hangs there looking out the window. She showed me that trick tonight. I yelled. I was not impressed with her newest trick. I was talking to Brent, who was looking after the 'girls' and who called during SYTYCD, it was a short conversation held during the commercials and he said he'd caught her doing it a few times during the week. He said she was very cute but very destructive. And I replied that that was why her real name is Destructo Cat.
I very wisely took tomorrow off - anyone who is thinking of going to the RWA conference - this is a very smart thing to do - and was planning on sleeping in to noon and not getting dressed for the whooooole day, but I remembered half way through the week that Landscape Guy is starting tomorrow. *sigh* That means not only will I have to get dressed, I will probably have to get up around 8:30 as I left packing until pretty much the last minute before I left which left no time to clean house.
And I was planning on saying a lot more about the week - but I'm pretty much brain dead, even this little bit wiped me out, so I'll do it tomorrow - hopefully after I clean house and before Landscape Guy shows up. And I have something fun planned for tomorrow evening that I'll be posting soon too *g*. Not to mention my post of all things Nico for Julie - heh heh heh heh.
Oh - one more thing before I close - there is yet Another Crusader!! Author Michelle Styles has seen it too and is the latest addition to The Crusader List - and more on that too shortly! Anyway, my bed is calling me even louder then my spreadsheet, LibraryThing, Good Reads and Shelfari - and they are shouting pretty loud - so....
'til later
12 comments:
- Michelle Styles said...
LOL on being a Crusader. I have been known to give copies of N&S to various friends and relations.
There are a number of Harlequin authors who are v keen on it -- Kate Walker, Donna Alward, Natasha Oakley and this month's debut ROmance author Nina Harrington. Nina did a post for the Pink Heart Society recently that has a great you tube montage of N&S.
Philippa Ashley who writes for Little Black Dress wrote her first book because of N&S --Decent Exposure. There was a group called C19... Lifetime TV is currently filming an adaptation of Decent Exposure entitled the 12 Men of Christmas. Kristin Cheneworth is starring but although Pip knows who is play the RA inspired role, she can't say yet! For more info see http://phillipa-ashley.com/blog/
- 4:33 am
- Kati said...
Welcome home, Kristie! I was a genuine thrill to meet you, I only wish we'd been able to chat more.
There's always next year...
- 8:31 am
- Lusty Reader said...
it was so fun to meet you Friday and i'm glad you finally made it home! after i travel my sweatpants and couch are defintiely calling my name too ;) well we all certainly have plenty of hours of reading relaxation ahead of us with all our new books!
- 9:05 am
- nath said...
Yay!! home sweet home!! :)
LOL, you're good, staying up and watching SYTYCD! :)
You need a little phone book :P
- 9:33 am
- Wendy said...
Might be time to de-claw Destructo Cat.
That's right animal rights people. I said it.
Glad you made it home safe and sound!
- 1:26 pm
- cheryl c said...
I am glad to hear that you made it back home safe and sound. I really enjoyed your RWA blogs while you were away. I have seen pictures posted on a lot of blogs, and it all looks like it was so much fun!
- 1:27 pm
- sula said...
well clearly i did not make it down to DC on saturday as I had hoped to. :( Bummer to have missed you all this time around. But it sounds like you had an awesome time. can't wait to see pictures!
there have been some great SYTYCD moments in the past week. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
- 8:09 pm
- orannia said...
Welcome home :) Thank you so much for all your RWA-inspired posts and photos. It made not being there bearable :)
And your son sounds gorgeous BTW *grin*
- 10:11 pm
Hey Kristie!! LOL, your kitties sound like a handful. See, your boys grow up and now you have crazy cats. Does it ever end. Atleast you have yourself a "Landscaper" *waggles brows*, lol.
Oh and I need to get cracking on the Crusader icon!
- 2:13 am
- ~ames~ said...
Glad you made it home safely!
And I have to say - I saw a picture of you (on someone's blog somewhere) at the Awards and I have to say Kristie, you are looking good! :P
- 9:47 pm
- Shaymless Aymless said...
Glad you made it home! I spent yesterday sleeping!
email me your snail mail so I can mail your present!!
- 4:54 am
- azteclady said...
*waving madly* Hello again, Kristie!
People, can I say that Kristie is one of the main things (people) that made RWA such an utterly fantastic experience for me?
A warmer, funny, lovely and loving person I've yet to meet.
Thank you for taking this wide-eyed newbie under your wing, Kristie! *hug*
- 1:14 pm


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This is always a phenomenal evening of good friends, good food, good music, and good drinks! Its all being done to raise funds for partnership initiatives which benefit all aspects of Dewey Beach. From events, to public safety, to town beautification, the business community in Dewey Beach is working hard to make Dewey Beach the best it can be! We hope you will want to take part in this years Gala and join us to show support for business partnership initiatives . This past year funds were used to help decorate the Town of Dewey Beach for the holidays, to purchase emergency lighting for the lifeguard vehicles, and to provide safety fencing and entertainment for the towns inaugural Clydesdale Summer Solstice parade which drew close to 8,000 people in June to our town.
We have raised significant funds for public safety and beautification over the years, are happy The Dewey Business Partnership will bring the Gala back to continue this Winter. Please join us on Saturday, February 26th this year, we welcome all aspects of Dewey Beach to spend an evening together of fun, food, cocktails, and phenomenal entertainment!
— Steve 'Monty' Montgomery, President


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Thursday 17th September 2009
There was a very long spreadsheet. The conference calls that had to be made had seemingly increased exponentially. There was a Lindsay to meet about fabric. And some serious decisions to make.
We arrived early, shortly after the doors had opened, and were surprised to see that the first hall had gone. Credit crunch times had munched one of the exhibition halls! I didn't notice much in a reduction to be honest (though the most obvious to me was The Moorings, which had shrunk considerably). It was dingy and outboard first. We visited three stands, with varying results. All were slightly different recommendations which made comparisons for me more tricky – but the first bloke (with obvious hangover) was a no-no as far as I was concerned! We collected so much information, brochures, promises and we took a series of decisions over the day. Rope. Lots of lines, metres of it (very heavy too, it turned out). "Oooh, you can have blue!" I cooed. We ended up with white (which later turned out to be an aesthetic disaster as Rustler supplies blue, as the teak leaks woodstain on the white, and blue, well, stays blue). Too late. Lots of white lines are now coiled on our workshop floor… And in answer to my previous musing, we had to carry it. Fortunately the Avon dingy and outboard is to be delivered nearer the time that we need it.
We met Lindsay, after we had been to see the refurb of the 42 on display, in full Osbourne and Little glory. And it was lovely. Loved the cockpit covers (featured above). Not sure about some of the interior. We had a very meaningful conversation about durability needs, and a less helpful one (on our part) about what effect we wanted to create. "Not bright" "Muted". I wish I could have found the word "Minerally" in my mind at the time.
A full day at the Show, and we had completed only a fraction of the list! We had failed to see any crockery we liked (perhaps these were a victim of cut backs), but I really don't want sea shells, anchors or other cheesiness. Fussy some might say – particular I say. Whatever it was, the following day, Pete came back with his son, Tom, and I prepared OB for Goodwood Revival….


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Constructed with durable hand-lasted rubber. 7mm waterproof Neo-Tech insulation. Comfort-rated from temperate to -40°F. Easy-on pull handles. 100% Waterproof Natural hand-lasted rubber and a four way stretch inner bootie. Constructed with 7mm waterproof Neo-Tech insulation. Non-slip, non-marking and self-cleaning outsole. Aegis antimicrobial odor protection insole. Easy-on pull handles. Comfort rated from temperate to -40˚F or subzero conditions. Height: 15" Circumference at calf: 15" Weight: 3 lbs. per pair.


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As well as the "big" names at Skinfair, there are some designers that while they may not get a bucketload of attention, are fucking awesome.
The skins from Rosy Mood are so sweet and character filled, I defy you not to fall in love with them. Please note, I'm not wearing my regular shape for this post, as the skins didn't work well with my wonky face :P They are stunning though, I really really love the cuteness they have to them. The skin shown on the left is actually a dollarbie at the fair, and is called OMG I fell asleep directly on TATAMI, and comes complete with a tatami mat..adorables. The other skin is Calico's charity offering and is a fair exclusive makeup. The fair opens it's doors 12pm slt tomorrow….yay!


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My soil is too well-drained to give most Sanguisorbas the moist conditions that they prefer. This one, though, copes well with my dry soil, although it never reaches the two metres that it will in rich, damp soil. The flower stems branch in every direction, with a dark red, tightly-packed flower on the end of each of them. The plant is so floriferous that you get a cloud of red flowers through to the end of September.
I am growing my plants with Panicum virgatum 'Squaw', which at the end of summer starts to turn the same deep red as the flowers of the Sanguisorba.
The plant was selected by Piet Oudolf from a batch of seedlings from seeds collected in Korea.


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A new report on severe sporting injuries among high school and college athletes shows cheerleading appears to account for a larger proportion of all such injuries than previously thought.
The latest annual report from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill-based National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research shows high school cheerleading accounted for 65.1 percent of all catastrophic sports injuries among high school females over the past 25 years.
According to the report, almost 95,200 female students take part in high school cheerleading annually, along with about 2,150 males. College participation numbers are hard to find since cheerleading is not an NCAA sport. The report also notes that according to the NCAA Insurance program, 25 percent of money spent on student athlete injuries in 2005 resulted from cheerleading.
Previously, the figure was believed to be 55 percent, but new data included in this year's survey indicates that the true number of cheerleading injuries appears to be higher.
The story is the same for college participants as well. At that level, the new data shows cheerleading accounted for 66.7 percent of all female sports catastrophic injuries, compared to past estimates of 59.4 percent.
The difference is due to a new partnership between the UNC center and the National Cheer Safety Foundation, a California-based not-for-profit body created to promote safety in the sport and collect data on injuries, which provided the center with previously unreported data. The addition of new information compiled by the foundation saw the inclusion of an additional 30 injury records from high schoolers and college students. Beforehand, the number of direct catastrophic injuries in all sports totaled 112.
The center's director, Frederick O. Mueller, Ph.D., professor of exercise and sports science in UNC's College of Arts and Sciences, who has authored the report since it was first published in 1982, said catastrophic injuries to female athletes have increased over the years.
"A major factor in this increase has been the change in cheerleading activity, which now involves gymnastic-type stunts," Mueller said. "If these cheerleading activities are not taught by a competent coach and keep increasing in difficulty, catastrophic injuries will continue to be a part of cheerleading."
Between 1982 and 2007, there were 103 fatal, disabling or serious injuries recorded among female high school athletes, with the vast majority (67) occurring in cheerleading. No other sports registered double-figure tallies; gymnastics (9) and track (7) had the 2nd and 3rd highest totals, respectively.
Among college athletes, there have been 39 such injuries: 26 in cheerleading, followed by three in field hockey and two each in lacrosse and gymnastics.
In 2007, two catastrophic injuries to female high school cheerleaders were reported, down from 10 in the previous season, and the lowest number since 2001. However, there were three catastrophic injuries to college-level participants, up from one in 2006.
Mueller said catastrophic sporting injuries may never be totally eliminated, but collecting and constantly analyzing reliable injury data can help reduce them dramatically.


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A rolling calamity waiting to happen. Deputy Mike Nettles pulled this potential disaster over in Goodrich.
3 Arrested for Drugs and More,
, April 9, 2011 -
At approximately 3:30 pm on April 8, 2011, Deputy Mike Nettles with the Polk County Sheriff's Office was patrolling on US-59 in Goodrich when he spotted a truck pulling a trailer loaded down with scrap metal that was a real work in progress. The truck was south-bound on US-59 as Nettles pulled the vehicle over south of Loop 393. Among other things the truck had inspection and registration stickers that were out of date since 2009. The truck was pulling a trailer that was loaded down with a hill of scrap metal piled on and chained down in what appeared to be extremely precarious. Nettles was joined by Narcotics Officers Randy Turner and Andy Lowrie. A search of the vehicle uncovered a syringe and methamphetamine. All three vehicle occupants: Larry Joe Collins, 43, of Cleveland, Kenneth Ray Lockhart, 46, of Livingston, and Sheila Faye Jones McDaniel, 38, of Livingston, were charged with possession of a controlled substance. Larry Collins had 8 warrants for his arrest out of Cleveland. The vehicle and trailer were recovered by Harwood Wrecker Service out of Livingston where it will be stored. The scene was cleared by 4:30 pm.
Nettles had all three cuffed and subdued.
Kenneth Ray Lockhart, 46, of Livingston was arrested for possession of a controlled substance.
Sheila Faye Jones McDaniel, 38, of Livingston, was arrested for possession of a controlled substance.
Larry Joe Collins, 43, of Cleveland, was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and also had 8 warrants for his arrest out of Cleveland.
Deputy Mike Nettles escorts Kenneth Lockhart to a waiting patrol unit.
Registration and inspection stickers expired since 2009.
A lesson in un-safety
Vehicle Recovery Specialist, Jim Harwood couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the jerry rigged vehicle.
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The Prayer Of A Missionary In Mexico Answered - Saved From Banditti - Answers To Prayer
The Prayer Of A Missionary In Mexico Answered - Saved From Banditti - Answers To Prayer
"In the Spring of 1872, I was, with my wife and child, in the city of Cadereita, Mexico, where we had been laboring as missionaries, but felt it was our duty to return to the States for a little season, and had been asking God to open up the way for us. At length, about the middle of March, the opportunity appeared to be given, the means being provided; but the country was in a state of revolution (a no uncommon thing there), and, consequently, there were no stages running out of the country, so we had to take conveyance in Mexican carts. Therefore, we engaged two men, with their carts; one in which we might ride and carry a mattress, which should serve as a bed at night, and the other, to carry the baggage and provisions for ourselves and the horses, as our way was mostly through an uncultivated country.
"We knew that General Cortinas, with his troops, was somewhere between us and Texas, as the State we were in was one of those in rebellion. The blood-thirsty character of General Cortinas is well known on the frontier, there being no less than seventeen indictments against him for murder in the State of Texas. He is regarded as having a special hatred against Americans, and the Mexicans, themselves, stand in terror of him.
"Our friends and brethren in Cadereita tried hard to deter us from going, as most likely we would fall into the hands of General Cortinas; in which event, they said, the very utmost we could expect would be to escape with our lives, being left destitute of everything, in a wilderness road; but, as God had seemed to open up the way, providing the means, we determined to go forward, trusting that He also would protect us in the way.
Therefore, having completed our arrangements, we started for Matamoras, some three hundred miles distant, on the 19th of March, the wives of the two men accompanying their husbands, making our party six adults and one child; the brethren in Cadereita promising to pray daily for our safety. The third morning, after commending ourselves, as usual, into the care of our covenant-keeping God, we started on our journey. Some two hours later, we espied the troops of General Cortinas, about two miles distant, marching toward us.
We again all looked to God for protection, and prayed that, as he shut the mouths of the lions, that they should not hurt his servant Daniel, so He would now restrain the evil passions of men, that they might not hurt nor injure us--then we went on till we met the advance guard, who commanded us to halt and wait till the General came up. After nearly half an hour, General Cortinas, with his escort, rode up to where we were waiting for him.
After the ordinary salutation, he asked: (¿de adonde vienen y adonde van?) 'From whence have you come, and where are you going?'--to which we replied properly; then he asked: 'What is the news from Nueva Leon?' (the State we left)--to which we replied as faithfully as we could. Then I asked him, 'Is the road safe between us and Matamoras?' He replied: 'Perfectly; you can go on without any fear, and as safely as you would in your own country.' Then, bidding us 'good morning,' he rode on, not even inquiring about or examining any of our baggage.
"When we arrived in Brownsville, Texas, and told of how gentlemanly General Cortinas had treated us, all pronounced it wonderful, and said, 'We could not have believed General Cortinas capable of such kindness to Americans so in his power. It was truly a miracle.' We believed that it was God who restrained the naturally vicious passions of the man, in direct answer to prayer."


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It feels like a lifetime ago now but this time two weeks ago I'd just got back home for a weekend in the South of France, Antibes to be exact. I didn't blog about it but back in April I went to La Ciotat (also South of France) which was gorgeous but Antibes blew me away.
I travelled down on my own from Newcastle to Nice airport and met up with Matty who had been working out there, I stayed at Hotel Juana which was beautiful and had an amazing pool. I ate cheese with every meal and had my first glass of Rosé!
It was the perfect few days away and I can't wait to go back and explore some more!
A Snapshot from Antibes


text: A couple of weeks ago I offered the opinion that, while Bush's reelection was very likely, he had managed to annoy the influential conservative base of the party by a series of big government policies and missteps. I even suggested that Howard Dean might have a chance if he took some bold positions, like advocating a flat tax. There were clearly some disturbing similarities to the fumbled reelection bid of Bush Sr, who, need it be said, once had over 90% approval ratings but managed to lose to the ethically challenged governor of a small state a year later. Little did I expect that Bush would make me look like even more of a political genius within two weeks. A week or so ago, they sent out Tom Ridge, the fumbling director of Homeland Security, to float a trial balloon for amnesty for illegal aliens. The reaction was fast and certain: No F*cking Way. So what is announced today? Amnesty for illegals, plus social security benefits, provided in the convenience of their own country. They can sneak across the border, violate our laws for a few years, go home and then collect social security, just like hundreds of thousands of hard-working citizens who paid into the system their whole lives. What will be the effect of this nutcase policy? Social security will go broke even sooner. Illegal immigration will be encouraged. Homeland security will be weakened. Crime, overcrowding, gangs, poverty, healthcare problems,etc will all become worse. Lawabiding citizens will be taxed even more to provide lavish benefits for these illegals, benefits that federal courts have ruled MUST BE provided to them, if they manage to get here. Our courageous WW II and Korean War veterans cannot get decent health care, their benefits are cut and squeezed, even as we open our coffers to illegals. What a policy. Why are they doing it? Search me. To pander to the massive Republican hispanic vote? Or maybe because employers want more cheapo workers. Who knows? Karl Rove and Bush have been obsessed with this since he took office, however. Now the ball's in Dean's court, and it is a tricky shot for him. He can instantly become a credible challenger to Bush if he just copies this post, memorizes it and goes out on the cmapaign trail and talks about nothing else. But he will severely piss off the far left wing of the Democrat party, which has been his major source of support. They like the idea of opening our borders to millions of poor immigrants. More welfare, more crime, more dependency equals bigger government and higher taxes and that is music to their ears. So how will Howard play this incredible gift from the increasingly tone-deaf Bush administration? If he plays it right, we will have a new president. You can ask Gray Davis.