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A wall can mean many things.
It can divide people who want to be united. It can ensure peace and safety by keeping danger at bay. It can enclose people so they are kept under control.
The same wall can also stand for all these things to different people simultaneously. Consider that most iconic of walls, the Berlin Wall. To most Germans, it symbolized a harsh rupture at the heart of their national identity. East Germans certainly perceived it as the wall of a prison, the far limits of their universe. But for the Communist leaders, it was the "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart," as it was first known, defending their people against the degradations of the West.
So what does the wall separating Israel from the West Bank mean?
If the question hadn't occurred to Israelis before, having an answer became a matter of great urgency during the recent visit of Pope Francis to the Palestinian territories and Israel. In an unplanned moment that is sure to be remembered as iconic — that word again — Francis's caravan pulled over by a section of the wall, the pope placed the palm of his hand on the concrete slab, bowed his head, and prayed. It is exactly the same gesture he performed a day later while visiting another famous wall, the Western Wall in Jerusalem that Jews refer to as the Kotel.
The immediate shock most people felt seeing the image — as I did after I picked up my New York Times — had to do with a sense of preemption. I was prepared for the image of the pope at the Kotel, a staple of all high profile trips to Israel (along with the Yad Vashem museum).
But here was Francis, dressed in his white cassock, clearly moved, but standing at a very different wall.
I couldn't imagine a more subversive image, or one more beneficial to the Palestinian cause, if I tried. But why? Under the surface, the Kotel has absolutely nothing in common with the separation barrier, built millennia apart with vastly different functions. But icons are made on the surface, not from what lies beneath. And in this case, the more ancient wall suddenly seemed to have its symbolic potency stolen away by the uglier modern structure.
So resonant and potentially disastrous for Israel was the pope's moment at the separation barrier that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately tried to frame the meaning of that Israeli-built wall. Characterizing the barrier as a "fence," which it is in parts, Netanyahu tweeted: "I explained to the Pope that building the security fence prevented many more victims that Palestinian terror planned to harm."
Netanyahu hurriedly asked Francis to visit another wall, one at a memorial for the victims of Palestinian terror attacks. Francis went and once again stood in prayer before a wall. But this was one too many walls for a single papal trip. That image was ignored, more an illustration of Marx's famous dictum about history repeating itself first as tragedy and second as farce.
Truth is, all walls built by states are not alike in meaning and function. The Western Wall was once part of the outer perimeter of the Jewish Temple, presumably meant to delineate sacred from profane space, and also to keep out unwanted visitors. As a symbol it came to stand for redemption, a physical place where Jews concentrated their longing for a return to Zion.
This has nothing to do with the separation barrier, which broadly symbolizes oppression to the Palestinians and their supporters. Redemption is not really what it represents — the keys to their pre-1948 homes serve that iconic function for Palestinian families.
But it's in the nature of an icon that much of this murkiness of meaning gets overlooked.
The separation barrier for many years now has been compared to the Berlin Wall — another patently false analogy. First from a technical point of view, the separation barrier, when it is completed, will only have a wall on 10 percent of its path (albeit a wall that is a monstrous 26-feet tall) and otherwise is and will be more like a fence bordered by wide trenches and much surveillance. So it's only partly a wall. But, more importantly, whereas the Berlin Wall kept a people that wanted to be united separate, the separation barrier keeps divided two peoples who have no interest in coexisting in the same land. There is a certain absurdity to talk of "tearing down the wall," when resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict couldn't be further from the ecstasy of the Berlin Wall's fall and the joyous reunification of Germans popping champagne and hugging each other.
But that hasn't stopped the analogy. It makes its ways into the graffiti that covers the wall portion of the barrier and into the language of activists like Roger Waters. The Pink Floyd front man performed his rock opera "The Wall" along the remnants of the Berlin Wall in 1990 to celebrate reunification. And now he talks of tearing down this wall. "It may be a lot harder to get this one down, but eventually it must happen," Waters recently said.
There are good reasons to hate the wall, but Waters seems confused. Palestinians understand what the separation barrier really is, what it means: another form of land grab. The barrier was built not along the 1967 green line, but in such a way that it makes incursions into the West Bank, including large settlement blocs on Israel's side, sometimes cutting Palestinians communities in half or depriving them access to their fields. That's probably the most factual sense in which the wall represents oppression.
Most Palestinians might not have a problem at all with a wall that ran directly along the green line. But the slogan, "move the wall over to the green line" is not quite as resonant as singing along with Pink Floyd to "tear down the wall."
The separation barrier draws its meaning not out of its specificity but because it is a wall, and at the most basic level, walls are physical manifestations of power — from the Great Wall of China to Hadrian's Wall to — yes — the Berlin Wall. Regardless of who they keep out or keep in, they stand in for the state that put them there and the power that state wields over individual lives.
But there's a flip side. This also makes them very good sites for opposing power, for making what would otherwise be nebulous and hard to illustrate quite literally concrete.
It's difficult to make checkpoints dramatic. But a wall is a wall. It is imposing, a colossal structure only a state could build and that insists on its existence. You can also throw things it at. It can become a canvas for expressing all that is crushing and inhumane about state power, especially when forced on unwilling non-citizens. And the Palestinians seem to understand this, either consciously or viscerally, giving them a huge weapon in the battle of international public opinion, which might be the only battle that really counts when it comes to this conflict.
It doesn't matter that this wall shouldn't really be compared to other walls. A wall is a wall. The portion of the barrier where Francis stood to pray was covered in graffiti. And just above his head in black spray paint were scrawled the words in broken English: "Bethlehem look like Warsaw Ghetto."
This is absurd and repugnant to most of us. How can anyone possibly compare a wall constructed by Nazis to pen in Jews eventually headed to mass slaughter with the concrete slabs that skirt Bethlehem? And yet, it persuaded the pope to stop his car.
Gal Beckerman is the Forward's opinion editor and writes a regular column about the media. Contact him at email@example.com or on Twitter @galbeckerman
How Is This Wall Different? Pope Francis Cements an Icon
Gal Beckerman
Gal Beckerman was a staff writer and then the Forward's opinion editor until 2014. He was previously an assistant editor at the Columbia Journalism Review where he wrote essays and media criticism. His book reviews have appeared in The New York Times Book Review and Bookforum. His first book, "When They Come for Us, We'll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry," won the 2010 National Jewish Book Award and the 2012 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, as well as being named a best book of the year by The New Yorker and The Washington Post. Follow Gal on Twitter at @galbeckerman


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Roach punctuates big night with first knock
SAN FRANCISCO -- Padres right-hander Donn Roach didn't wait long to get his first hit. In fact, he slapped the first pitch he saw as a big league batter into the right-field gap for a double during Tuesday night's 6-0 loss to the Giants.
A day later, his teammates are still making him wait to get his hands on the prized baseball.
"We have it," Roach said with a laugh. "I haven't seen it yet, but it's somewhere."
While Roach's hit was certainly memorable, it was his strong work in relief that had manager Bud Black beaming after the game. The 24-year-old allowed an unearned run on two hits in a career-high 4 1/3 innings, lowering his season ERA to 2.84 in 12 2/3 innings across seven appearances.
Above all, Black was happy that his top-notch bullpen didn't get worn down despite starter Eric Stults' inability to get through the third inning.
"Donn was a savior, no doubt about it," Black said Tuesday night. "This game really could have got out of hand. We really could have used a lot of bullpen arms if things got tough for Donn. The state of any bullpen is so critical as far as frequency and keeping guys as fresh as possible. Donn did a great job in circumstances where he hasn't pitched a lot. To ask him to go four-plus innings and be as efficient as he was, it was a huge lift for our 'pen."
Despite spending the past two seasons as a starter in the Padres' and Angels' farm systems, Roach has been able to acclimate to his role as a long man.
"It's a learning process," Roach said. "It's rough sometimes, but you do your work on the side and hopefully it shows up."

subset: commoncrawl


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Posted 9 years ago
(75 items)
xHere is a Little Orphan Annie bracelet that i inherited from my aunt. Annie's face is cloisonne or appears to be. Bangle style, with hook, as shown. Any info on this rare piece would be great. (I had posted this earlier but didn't put it in the "Unsolved Mystery" area and couldn't edit the original post to put it there.)


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The Gilder Lehrman Collection is located on the lower level of the New-York Historical Society. Please visit the Collection to examine original historical documents and artifacts in person.
The Collection is available online. Browse or search our website for catalog information and select images.
For full digital access, please visit American History, 1493-1945, a subscription-based database of the Gilder Lehrman Collection, published by Adam Matthew Digital. American History, 1493-1945 contains more than 50,000 documents from the Gilder Lehrman Collection. It is designed for teaching and independent research. More than 100 universities and institutions—including Harvard University, Yale University, and the Library of Congress—have acquired a subscription to the database for their students and researchers.
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text: Science fairs foster a spirit of inquiry in education, helping students to realize and experience practical applications of what they have learned in the classroom. For teachers who see the benefits of bringing inquiry learning into the classroom, the question of how to do so while covering the curriculum can weigh heavy. In a thoughtful blog post on the Canadian Education Association's web site, English teacher Brooke Moore explores that question -- among others -- concluding that, "there is a distinct difference between giving students the liberty to go in many directions and scaffolding them to move in a purposeful direction with confidence." Read more about Brooke's experience with inquiry learning in the classroom here: www.cea-ace.ca.


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Healthy & Delicious: Dijon Tuna Burgers Recipe
Healthy and delicious recipes from Serious Eats
Editor's note: On Mondays, Kristen Swensson Sturt of Cheap, Healthy, Good swings by these parts to share healthy and delicious recipes with us. Take it away, Kristen!
In their new dietary guidelines released in January 2011, the USDA recommends we eat two four-ounce servings of seafood per week. Unfortunately, fresh fish isn't always accessible to some, and can be prohibitively expensive for others. That's where canned fish comes in. Universally available and comparatively inexpensive, a five-ounce can of tuna packed in water and drained contains about 80 percent of our daily recommended protein, plus half of the suggested niacin and one-third of the Vitamin B12. Not too shabby.
Although good ol' sandwiches are the most popular application, generations of home cooks have ably employed canned tuna in salads, casseroles, bakes, pastas, and more. In fact, just last week, I whipped up some satisfying Tuna and White Bean Wraps, using fresh vegetables and a simple vinaigrette to liven up the pantry staples. A few days after that, Dijon Tuna Burgers entered the world.
A melange of several existing recipes, these easy fish patties came together in under 30 minutes, using a handful of common ingredients costing around $2. While I enjoyed the balance between tangy mustard, zesty red pepper flakes, and sweet red bell peppers, the recipe is endlessly adaptable. Try adding in some lemon, a few fresh herbs, horseradish, mayonnaise, or even bits of celery. Just make sure to compensate for any added moisture with more breadcrumbs and perhaps another bit of egg, or the patties could fall apart.
Highly suggested: Serving the tuna burgers with peas and homemade macaroni and cheese. It's a grown-up version of a favorite childhood meal, brought to you in part by good ol' canned tuna.
- Yield:2
- Active time: 10
- Total time:25
- Rated:
- 1 (5-ounce) can albacore tuna in water, drained well
- 1 egg
- 1 scallion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons small-diced red bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons whole wheat breadcrumbs
- 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 pinches red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- A few grinds fresh black pepper
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- Whole wheat bread, tomato slices, and lettuce for serving
In a mixing bowl, combine tuna, egg, scallion, red bell pepper, breadcrumbs, mustard, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Shape into 3/4-inch thick patties.
Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Gently place patties in pan. Cook until first side is browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Flip patties very carefully and cook until second side is browned, an additional 4 to 6 minutes.
Serve on toasted whole wheat bread with tomato and lettuce.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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TLC Enters 2010-11 Upfront with Record Ratings and Robust Programming Slate
April 8, 2010
(New York, N.Y.) Now a top ten network for women, TLC is positioned as one of the fastest growing female networks in cable, posting double-digit growth 2009 vs. 2008 and delivering its highest ratings in five years. And with 11 months of consecutive month-over-month delivery gains, the momentum continues as TLC announces an ambitious upfront slate showcasing over 47 new and returning series in 2010-11.
"The fact that TLC has 15 series delivering over one million viewers shows that our content is connecting," says Eileen O'Neill, president and general manager, TLC. "Our audience comes to us for compelling real life stories and inspiring characters that they can't find anywhere else on television. And next year, we're giving viewers more of what they love by bringing back beloved personalities, investing in returning favorites and unveiling unexpected new series."
America's favorite Mom returns to TLC in TWIST OF KATE, a new series following Kate Gosselin as she steps into the lives of other women and moms, experiencing first hand their challenges and triumphs. And audiences get to catch up with the kids in KATE PLUS 8, limited specials following the lively brood on some fun adventures. New personalities joining the network are Sarah Palin who takes viewers on an epic journey of the real Alaska seen through the eyes of its most famous resident in SARAH PALIN'S ALASKA, and expert chef John Besh who helps aspiring cooks rework their recipes to win back the palates of their loved ones in INEDIBLE TO INCREDIBLE.
Additional new series and specials joining the network for the 2010-11 upfront season continue to grow categories important to our viewers - from food to family to I Do's - TLC is there to share life's most important moments. Following is a peek of TLC's 2010-11 upfront schedule:
New Series/Pilots
A follow-up to the TLC special MULTITUDE OF MULTIPLES, this new series follows the Carpios, a family living in New York City that have 18-month-old sextuplets in addition to an 8-year-old son. We'll follow the family as they manage the chaos of six toddlers who recently started to walk in an all too small house. (3Q 2010)
You've seen large families on television before. They laugh, they cry, they play, they've adjusted. This isn't that. This is reality - the kind that comes like a swift, square blow to the stomach when you find out that you're not having one baby, but five. And that booming construction business you own? Well the economy's taken a dive like we haven't seen since the Great Depression, so suddenly even paying for diapers, let alone a mortgage, has become an uncertainty. Meet 34-year-olds Casey and Ethan Jones of Austin, Texas. The Jones' are now learning some brand new ropes in a new kind of life that includes their six-year-old daughter and their five newborn babies who were definitely part of the plan. (3Q 2010)
In this new series, Kate Gosselin travels around the country to find out how other people juggle work, family and all the other challenges life throws at them. In each episode, she'll walk a mile in someone else's shoes -- meeting real families in the middle of their own extraordinary challenges. She'll try out their jobs...see how their home life runs... see what they're up against... and find out what they do to let off steam. Each family will have some unique circumstance that is a story in itself. As Kate gets to know them she'll roll up her sleeves and see what she can do to help. (Q3 2010)
AMERICAN CHOPPER: Senior vs. Junior
The popular series follows the action at Orange County Choppers (OCC), the world-famous custom motorcycle business run by Paul Teutul Sr., and the lives of his fiery sons, Paul Jr. and Mikey. As always, creating eye-popping bikes is a big part of show-but the real story is the family drama. (3Q 2010)
AUCTIONEERS (wt)
Auctioneer$ takes viewers behind the scenes at one of the busiest auction houses in the country. Following the energetic staff and deal-seekers, each episode shares the dramatic stories behind every auction and the secret tricks of the trade in the hyper-intense auction world. (3Q 2010)
HOMEMADE MILLIONAIRE (wt)
Celebrity Kelly Ripa is sent tons of products from aspiring entrepreneurs asking for help and advice on marketing, manufacturing and distributing their inventions. Now, Kelly is teaming up with TLC and HSN to see if she can help make these women's dreams come true. (3Q 2010)
Sarah Palin's Alaska is a documentary series about our country's most majestic and remote state...seen through the eyes of its most famous resident. This is an epic journey through the REAL Alaska. Over the course of the series, Sarah will travel from the tundra to the mountain peaks of this great state meeting both the extraordinary as well as "just plain folks," like her and her husband, Todd. (Q4 2010)
This revealing series follows four female police officers in Memphis as they risk their lives in the line of duty. Each day, these women deal with the business end of keeping communities safe. As women in a largely male field, they deal with unique issues, too, and often struggle to balance their demanding, dangerous jobs with family life and children. (2Q 2010)
CAKE BOSS COLLEGE (wt)
The Cake Boss is hiring! Buddy Valastro is looking for the newest member of the Carlo's Bakery team and to find the perfect candidate, he's inviting eight aspiring cake-makers from all walks of life into his bakery to compete for the job. This is reality elimination competition TLC-style, taking place in the real world of Buddy's fully operational bakery. Some will rise. Others will fall. Only one will get the job. (4Q 2010)
INEDIBLE TO INCREDIBLE (wt)
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the kitchen! Each week, someone who thinks they can cook - but really can't - is nominated by friends and family to get a recipe makeover from expert chef John Besh. Chef Besh helps the aspiring cooks rework their meal to win back the palates of their loved ones. (2Q 2010)
In this two-part special, renowned chef Rodelio Aglibot travels to a city known for its cuisine to uncover new restaurants with the help of a local food guide. Together, they order "OOE," or "One of Each" item on the menu, describing and debating dish after dish in an effort to learn the restaurant's soul and story. Rodelio returns to his own kitchen to cook a new dish that was inspired by the flavors of his adventure. (3Q 2010)
CUPCAKE SISTERS (wt)
The six-part series follows sisters and business partners Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis as they run Georgetown Cupcake in Washington, DC - a small cupcake shop that they have transformed into a sweet success. The Sisters gave up their corporate jobs and risked their life savings to follow their hearts into the kitchen, armed only with their Grandmother's recipes and their sisterly bond. Each episode will go beyond the frosting to uncover the secret of Sophie and Katherine's success and follow the challenges they face as the business rapidly expands and is poised to explode on the national scene. (3Q 2010)
A one-hour special that pairs chef Brian Malarkey, food scientist Todd Menaker, and engineer Scott Stukel, to help the Los Angeles-based community of La Ca�ada Flintridge tackle the creation of the world's largest Rice Krispies Treat for a fundraiser to benefit the children's programs at the community center. (2Q 2010)
BATTLE OF THE WEDDING DESIGNERS (wt)
The competition is fierce and the concepts are amazing. In the end, the couple is faced with the very tough decision of picking a winner. Who will give the lucky bride and groom the wedding of their dreams? Let the Battle of the Wedding Designers begin! (2Q 2010)
DOWN THE AISLE IN STYLE (wt)
A head-turning new series that follows bridal transformations by expert hair & make-up teams as they work their magic and turn nervous brides-to-be into the picture of perfection just in time to say "I do." (4Q 2010)
This weekly half hour series takes viewers inside Bridals by Lori - Atlanta's biggest and best bridal boutique. Owner Lori Allen is considered one of the country's leading experts on bridal wear. Designers often call on her as they are putting their lines together to get her input on what brides are looking for. Lori spends much of her time out on the floor working with the brides. She also prides herself on having the most informed sales consultants in the business. (3Q 2010)
Say Yes to the Dress: Big Bliss will follow the sagas of the three plus-size brides, learning insight into their unique back-story, and bringing in new consultants along with familiar faces to take on the triple-XL dose of drama sure to come with it! Part fashion show, part bridal story and part family therapy, the series uncovers the hurdles facing these brides. (3Q 2010)
About TLC
TLC's innovative docu-series and reality-based programming include favorites Jon & Kate Plus 8, Little People, Big World, What Not to Wear, 19 Kids and Counting, Say Yes to the Dress, and LA Ink. TLC added to its menu of programming with Cake Boss and Ultimate Cake Off, and continues to expand into the food genre. TLC's daytime lineup includes the Emmy� Award-winning A Baby Story. The channel is available in more than 98 million homes in the US, nearly 8 million homes in Canada and through the website at www.tlc.com. TLC is part of Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the world's number one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 170 countries.


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A common mantra I hear chanted again and again by Mac fans is that using a Mac is fun. These words certainly ring true when you're working with Plasq's Comic Life. Or maybe I should say playing with it. If all software was this much fun to use we'd see a lot more people walking out of their offices smiling at the end of the day.
Comic Life lets you take your photos and turn them into a living comic strip, complete with titles, speech bubbles, and everything else you'd expect in a comic. The tools are intuitive and a joy to use. I created my first comic strip in about five minutes, without once having to refer to the software's help files (my second comic, seen in Figure 1, took about 20 minutes). In fact, I referred to the online help only once to figure out how to change the size of the layout page. That's the hallmark of an intuitively designed interface. And perhaps most important of all, Comic Life is like a magical "create art" button for people with two left thumbs. So whether you're a graphic artist or a proud grandma, Comic Life has something to offer you.
Figure 1 My Comic Life masterpiece
Cookies and Comic Books
I decided to make a comic about my kids baking cookies. As an added bonus, I got to eat some cookies at the end. The comic strip is a slightly fictionalized account of the entire cookie baking and eating process in our house (in other words, Dad doesn't always help make them, but he sure eats more than his share). Obviously, you won't be able to re-create my comic strip, but you can follow along and create your own or just see what makes Comic Life the fun and unique program that it is.


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Tag Archives: seedling
EarthKeepers II Student Team Event on TV-6 in Marquette: Local church gardens in the works
Posted on April 28, 2013 by yoopernewsman
EarthKeepers II goal is to have 30 church gardens across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan within the next two years via Local church gardens in the works EarthKeepers II Student Team covered by TV-6 news – with their presentation on … Continue reading →
Posted in Earth Keeper Initiative, Earth Keepers, EarthKeeper, EarthKeeper Initiative, EarthKeeper NMU Student Team, EarthKeepers, faith-based, interfaith, Uncategorized | Tagged Adam D. Magnuson, Adam Magnuson, airborne mercury, American author, animals, Anishinaabe, Anishinaabe Earth Keeper Initiative, Aurora Dharma Temple, author, Bahai, bee, bees, Beyt Tikkun, Biology, Bishop, Bishop Alexander K. Sample, Bishop Baraga, Bishop Rayford Ray, Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes, Bishop Tom Skrenes, Borealis Seed Company, bumble bee, bumble bees, bumblebee, bumblebees, butterflies, butterfly, Canada, Catholic Theologian, cedar, Cedar Tree, Cedar Tree Institute, cedar trees, Charlotte Loonsfoot, church, church gardens, churchyards, clean water, community garden, Community gardens, congregation, congregations, conserve energy, cooperation, Council on Environmental Quality, Deborah Lamberty, Delta Green, Dispersion of Seeds, Doug Russell, Douglas Russell, Dr. Michael Grossman, Earth Bishop, Earth Keeper Initiative, Earth Keeper Team, Earth Scholar, EarthKeepers II, EarthKeepers II Initiative, ecological, ecology, EDNM, ELCA, energy audits, energy conservation, energy conservation audits, environment, environmental, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, EPA Great Lakes National Program Office, Episcopal, Episcopal Bishop James Kelsey, Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Faith Communities, Faith in a seed, faith traditions, Forest Service, fresh water, freshwater, garden, Genotypes, Gitche Gumee, GLBTS, GLRI, GLRI Task Force, houses of worship, indigenous plants, injustice, interfaith, invasive plants, invasive species, invasives, Isaiah 62:4, Ishpeming, James Kelsey, Jan Schultz, Jewish, Jewish Temple, Jon Magnuson, Katelin Bingner, KBIC, KBIC NDR, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Natural Resources Department, Kyra Fillmore, Kyra Fillmore Ziomkowski, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario, Lake Superior, Lake Superior Zendo, Lutheran, Lutherans, Marquette, Marquette Conservation District, Marquette Unitarian Universalist Congregation, MI, Michigan, Michigan EarthKeepers II: Interfaith Energy Conservation and Community Garden Initiative/EPA Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Michigan Native Plant Producers Association, Michigan Tech University, Middle Ear Media, milkweed, MNPPA, monarchs, moths, Nancy Auer, Nancy Parker Hill, Native American, Native Americans, Native peoples, native plant gardens, native plant program, Native Plants, native species plants, native wildflowers, nature, NGLS, nonprofit Cedar Tree Institute, Northern Great Lakes Synod, northern Michigan, Northern Michigan University, Northern Michigan University EarthKeeper II Team, Northern Michigan University EarthKeepers II Student Team, Northern White Cedar, Obadiah Metivier, ocean, oceans, Ojibwa, Ojibwe, pastor, philosopher, plant species, plants, plugs, poet, pollinator, Pope Benedict XVI, Presbyterian, President Barack Obama, President Obama, press conference, Professor Nancy Auer, protecting the environment, Rabbi Michael Lerner, rain, religion, representing Jewish Temple, Rev Jon Magnuson, Rev. Charlie West, Rev. Tesshin Paul Lehmberg, Robert Keast, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholic Diocese of Marquette, Roman Catholic parish, seed, seed dispersal, seedling, seedlings, seeds, solar energy, solar-power greenhouse, St. Peter Cathedral, Strategy, students, Suzanne Rabitaille, Synagogue, temple, Temple Beth Sholom, Ten Thousand Springs Mountain, The Great Work, The Green Pope, The United Methodist Church, Thomas Berry, Tikkun magazine, Tom Merkel, toxic, toxics, toxin, toxins, Toxins Airborne Mercury, transcendentalist, tribal, tribe, tribes, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Forest Service, UMC, Unitarian Universalist, United Methodist, United States Department of Commerce, United States Department of Defense, United States Department of Health and Human Services, United States Department of Homeland Security, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, United States Department of Interior, United States Department of State, United States Department of Transportation, United States Environmental Protection Agency, United States Forest Service, university students, Upper Peninsula, USEPA, USFS, USFS Eastern Region R-9, Walden, water, wetlands, wildflower, wildflower seed, wildflowers, wildlife, wind energy, Wisconsin, Zen Buddhist, Zen Buddhist temple | Leave a comment


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Lady Flames sweep Selects
October 7, 2012 | Lynchburg, Va.
The Liberty Division I women's hockey team held off a furious rally by the Tri-City Selects of Raleigh, N.C., to claim a 2-1 victory Sunday afternoon and complete a two game sweep over the Selects at the LaHaye Ice Center.
Liberty got things started 90 seconds into the first period as senior Stacy McCombe scored off a pass from freshman Jenny MacArthur to put the Lady Flames up 1-0. Neither team broke through again until the second when Tri-City's Kristy Knight scored on a breakaway to knot the score at 1.
Both teams had numerous chances to take the lead throughout the contest, but it was Sarah Stevenson, on a pass from McCombe, who was able to slip one past Tri-City netminder Kelsey Neumann that finally gave Liberty the winning edge midway through the third period.
The Selects attacked furiously, even pulling their goaltender with a minute to go, but were not able to find the equalizer.
Freshman Kristina Toppazzini played all 60 in net for Liberty, making 29 saves to garner her first career win, while Neumann, outside of the two goals, was equally up to the challenge, making 51 saves for the Selects.
The Lady Flames get four days before returning to action in Burlington, Vt., kicking off a three game New England road trip with the first of two against the Catamounts from the University of Vermont on Thursday, Oct. 11. Game time is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. in the Central Vermont Civic Center in nearby Montpelier.


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If you've been a gamer for any extended period of time, you've more than likely played to the music of David Wise. Though most may not have known Wise by name back in the NES & SNES days, experiencing his scores crystalized a love of video game music for untold numbers of people. While many gained their first exposure to Wise's work through classics such as Wizards & Warriors, R.C. Pro-Am and Battletoads, it was 1994's Donkey Kong Country that displayed to much of the video gaming world just how superb Wise's compositions were. Spouting arguably the best sound quality of any SNES soundtrack, Wise fashioned pieces as anthemic as any Japanese music representing Nintendo's deep franchise of characters — a feat recognized not only by fans, but by Nintendo themselves when "DK Island Swing" found its way into several iterations of the Super Smash Bros. series.
Wise was one of the first composers to express appreciation for OC ReMix and remains a major inspiration across the fan arrangement community. Historically, interviews with Wise and Rare's sound team are few and far between, but he generously spent time discussing topics such as how much music is valued within game development, technical insight into his creative process, his reaction to Kong in Concert and much, much more.
- Real Name: David Wise
- Tools: Piano, Alto Saxophone, Guitar, Various Percussion, CME UF8 & UF5, Samson Zoom H2/H4, Various Rode Microphones, Cubase 3/4 (PC), Pro Tools (Mac), Steinberg Wavelab, NI Komplete 5, Spectrasonics Stylus RMX and Atmosphere
- Conducted December 10, 2008 by David "djpretzel" Lloyd, Vinnie "Palpable" Prabhu & Larry "Liontamer" Oji:
djpretzel: First, asking as a fellow David: Do you prefer David or Dave? Is it more of an ego-boost to be referred to simply as "Mr. Wise"?
I don't mind. A slight preference for David. Although I'm not at all offended by being called Dave. Mr. Wise is fine also.
Palpable: You've had credits on games for sound design and effects, as well as music - how does that compare to composing? Do you find it easier or harder? Is the design process much different?
I enjoy writing music and find sound design good fun too. Totally different areas, but both are enjoyable and creative. I prefer to do a bit of both if possible. Regarding sound design, where possible, I really enjoy recording my own source material, as I think this makes a huge difference to the end product.
Liontamer: Your comments to Music 4 Games highlighted the benefits of in-house composers at Rare, i.e. that having audio early in development helps everyone feel that a game is coming together more quickly, driving the team forward. Robin Beanland mentioned the increased time and flexibility also results in a stronger, more cohesive soundtrack. When the net effect seems so positive, why do you feel the in-house composer model isn't more common in the games industry? Is it because costs make it impractical, because music is undervalued, or something else entirely?
I think on the whole, music in video games is very much appreciated. Watching the recent Video Games Live concert in London, and witnessing the reaction and reception of the audience at both the afternoon and evening performances, I wouldn't say audio is undervalued. I think there are budget constraints that may be involved. From a practical point of view, the graphics take preference over the audio, as without the graphics, there would not be much of a video game. I believe the audio though is an essential element to enhance the whole game experience.
As for in-house: From a personal point of view, the Donkey Kong Country SNES soundtracks were so involved, I just don't think the quality would have been achievable without the support of the programmers who also helped to make those soundtracks possible. Whilst as musicians, we take a lot of the credit, what we achieved was, and still is, very much a team effort.
djpretzel: In addition to original franchises, you've worked on licenses like Jeopardy! and arcade ports like Marble Madness. Would you characterize scoring these types of games as more chore, or opportunity? Did your approach differ in any way?
Definitely not a chore. An interesting and pleasant challenge. With Jeopardy, the challenge was trying to suggest the chords with only 3 note polyphony. And Marble Madness, which was a great soundtrack anyway, trying to coerce the NES into emulating the original, was very rewarding.
djpretzel: The Donkey Kong Country trilogy is legendary in VGM circles for setting a new standard for SNES audio. For the first game, you worked with Eveline Fischer and Robin Beanland, then flew solo for Diddy's Kong Quest, with Eveline rejoining you for the third game. Why the changes in lineup? Was this based on availability, interest, etc. or were there specific creative reasons? As the common denominator, how did you work to maintain a consistent feel across the games' scores?
Eveline was fairly new to writing video game music, having recently come from college. Robin was writing the music for Killer Instinct, so I took his original track and converted it to run on the SNES. I had already completed some games on the SNES, so I was a little more familiar with the Rare process. As for the lineup changes, it was down to who was working on the various projects we had going at the time.
Liontamer: Donkey Kong Country's "Aquatic Ambiance" is a favorite game music composition of yours from both an emotional and technical perspective; many fans paused Donkey Kong Country in order to listen to that theme. Do you know whose idea was it to have the music continue playing while the game was paused? That small detail really allowed the soundtrack to stand out that much more...
As I remember, the pause option was very much a last minute decision. I think we had either overlooked having a pause tune and/or were short on space, so having the music continue playing was the most efficient way to solve this.
djpretzel: The first DKC was huge for Nintendo at the time; for such an A-list title, working for a Japanese company on a franchise that was originally Japanese, did you feel any pressure to "compete" with Japanese composers? This was one of the first times Western composers had been entrusted with such a job by the company - was there an awareness that you were setting a precedent?
I thought at the time, that the Japanese composers might well write the music for this franchise. My original demo music for the game seemed to stick, fortunately, and this became the Jungle level music.
Palpable: Do you play many video games outside of the ones you've worked on? Are there any recent games that have really captured your attention?
I don't really play too many video games. Life is so busy, I don't really have time. One of the games I do like, and I also like the music/sound design implementation, is the Call of Duty series.
djpretzel: You've cited Cubase, Pro Tools, and Native Instruments as software you use for music production - are there any other key components, or tools/toys you've gotten into recently, that have changed or enhanced your writing process? What do you look for in a sequencer, virtual instrument, or effect, and what does your compositional workflow generally look like? (Feel free to geek out with as much technical detail & jargon as you want!)
The workflow for a tune usually starts in my head. And I prefer to let ideas swim round my head for a few days, so I have a good idea of how I want them to sound before I commit to them. However, it's so variable; sometimes I'm inspired by sounds, or situations, so many different ways to get inspired.
I see Cubase and Pro Tools as tools to get the job done. I also like using a Wacom pen, as this is such an intuitive way to edit notes and use the mixer, and it works well with Cubase 4. Much less strain than a mouse. I'm looking forward to checking out the MIDI-editing on Pro Tools 8.
As for virtual instruments, I like Komplete 5. I really like Kontakt 3, it's very easy to add movement to sounds and have these tempo synced. I also really like Absynth, from a technical sound design perspective. Sadly life is too short to explore these instruments fully. I find sound creation in Absynth far too absorbing, it's much too easy to lose all sense of time. I also like FM8; as with FM7, all of the time I had invested in trying to edit the original DX7 many years previously all of a sudden started to make sense. I think from having used synths like the DX7 and D-50 with menu-based editing structures many years ago, it was somewhat of a revelation to use VST instruments and the ability to easily edit and play with the sounds. They also don't suffer from the background noise associated with analogue gear. I also like Guitar Rig 3. It can make any dull keyboard sound great.
I'm also looking forward to checking out Omnisphere from Spectrasonics. I already use Atmosphere and RMX.
Liontamer: Many OC ReMixers were excited in 2004 when you sent kind words to bLiNd and Vigilante, who contributed to the Kong in Concert album project. You mentioned a colleague at Rare had passed along word of the album - was that your first encounter with OverClocked ReMix, or did you discover the site another way? What was your initial reaction to the music here, and have you had a chance to listen to ReMixes outside of the ones arranging your own work?
A programmer called Jens originally sent me a link. I had completely not heard of OC ReMix at all. When I first sent the email to bLiNd and Vigilante, for some reason I imagined OC ReMixers to be a very small group of enthusiasts. I had no idea that over 10,000 people had downloaded the Kong in Concert soundtrack. I found it quite unbelievable on many levels. And very flattering that people would invest their time ReMixing video game tunes, and even more people would want to listen to the end result. It's very rewarding listening to the ReMixes that appear on your site.
Liontamer: I've been working on a tribute album for Tim Follin, so it was cool to read of your admiration for his work on the SNES. When did you first hear his music, and what about it stood out to you? (Just to refresh on some of his titles: NES - Solstice, Silver Surfer; SNES - Plok!, Equinox, Spider-Man and the X-Men: Arcade's Revenge.)
Tim Follin – great video game composer. When I first heard Tim's work, he obviously had a much better handle of working on the SNES audio architecture. Very inspirational. I think it's because he used elements of guitar in his compositions, and this just brought his compositions to life. Also, I liked the way he used very small elements and put these back together. Because of his work, it totally changed the way I thought about creating video game music at that time.
djpretzel: You started writing the main Wizards & Warriors theme when you were still in school, as a means of using arpeggios to suggest a chord progression. Relative to the elaborate soundtracks being composed for big-budget, Hollywood-scale games these days, this theme is relatively simple, yet more gamers remember it (and ReMixers arrange it) than many modern scores. Is simple better?
Simple is always better. For something to sound simple, there has usually been a whole development cycle behind it. When I hear a piece of music and think, "I could have done that" – I now think there has probably been a very involved process to hone down the melody to get to the final result. In the early days of video game music, with the limited resources we had at our disposal, the melody was incredibly important. To some extent this has been taken over by other musical elements, that in an ideal world, we would have liked to have used way back when we only had 3 channels to use.
Liontamer: When you started with Rare in 1985, you felt game scores were a great way to get your music heard by as many people as possible without the need to "become a superstar". Now, looking at the setlist for 1996's Game Music Concert 5, you're the only non-Japanese composer represented, and one of only three non-Japanese composers represented in that entire concert series. At OC ReMix, you're the most ReMixed non-Japanese composer. It seems that, at least among VGM fans, you HAVE become a superstar. Was it all just part of your master plan? At any one moment did your original comments hit you as being ironic, given your popularity?
Very kind words to say - "superstar" - although that's not the way I see myself. In all honesty, I haven't really given my original comments that much thought. I just feel very privileged to have been in the right place, at the right time, and to enjoy writing music for video games. I also feel very humbled that so many people enjoy listening to music I have created.
And in all fairness, OC ReMixers bring a whole new dimension and very much enhance the original material, and I think it makes listening to these original video game pieces of music much more enjoyable. It certainly adds a whole new dimension. As an example, it's great to see/hear the Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD remixes, and see these used as part of the game. Now that's cool!
djpretzel: We spoke with Mr. Kirkhope and he mentioned you were both in a pub rock covers band before he left for the States - he apparently covered vocals while you rocked sax, guitar, and keyboards (hopefully not simultaneously, unless the pub had a very long happy hour). Can you share any stories/setlists from what must have been an epic experience?
It was certainly a very funny experience. Grant's main instrument is guitar. He's an excellent rock guitarist! But my small pub band needed a singer. Some years ago, the music department had got together as a live band to play at a few of our Christmas parties. This was when I first heard Grant sing. He has a great gravelly voice, perfect for rock covers and much more. And being a singer has advantages too, you only need to bring a microphone. After a few months of practicing and playing at a few venues he really had become very much the front man, very entertaining. Always a good night out! As for some of the material covered: Smooth, James Brown, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, The Killers, etc...
Palpable: Very few video game composers have had consistent work in the industry as long as you have. What do you feel is the biggest change in video game composing since you started? Where do you feel the future of video game composing is going?
I see the industry trying to move more towards the film industry approach. However, unlike the film industry, games are non-linear, and ideally, the action is lead by the player. There are now so many elements that work together, such as graphics, physics, and so many variables, especially in a multiplayer environment. You can't just stick a sound effect in and hope it works for all scenarios, or have a tune play and hope it might suffice. I think the opportunities for great video game audio will be with interactive scores that react or prompt the player about the scenario in which they find themselves. I also think that as games become a little more involved, the mixing of game audio will have to adapt to be a little more dynamic.
So I think there is still much scope available to improve the audio experience available to players. It's definitely a different medium to film. Far more immersive, and I would hope that video game audio will carry on evolving to reflect this.
- The following are standard questions asked of all interviewed composers:
What was the first video game you remember playing?
A very early tennis game - Ping Pong, I think it was called.
Did you have any formal musical training or education prior to becoming a video game music composer?
I have Piano Grade 5, out of a possible 8, which I obtained when I was 13. Very basic really.
How did you become a video game music composer?
Was it more by chance, or was it something you knew you wanted and had to fight for?
I became a video game music composer by chance. Tim and Chris Stamper, who owned Rare, visited a music shop I worked at in a city called Leicester in the UK. I demonstrated a Yamaha CX5 for them, with my own compositions used for the demo music. They didn't buy the CX5 - but they did offer me a job! So, it was one of those "right place - right time" scenarios where I fell into the industry by chance.
Was there a specific inspiration that lead you towards the profession?
Was breaking into the industry easy or difficult?
What was the first week on the job like?
Good - interesting. Video games were still in their infancy, and learning that the sound chip on the NES - the Nintendo Entertainment System - was somewhat compromised, compared to a Roland D-50, certainly made things challenging. But I like a challenge!
What was the most difficult thing to learn?
There was no MIDI, instead, notes were entered data style into a PC. I typed in hex numbers for pitch and length and a few commands for looping subroutines. And this method of writing video game music continued right through to the end of the SNES development.
What was your first official video game soundtrack?
Were you happy with it at the time? Now?
Slalom. I was happy with it then.
What lessons did you take away from it that helped you on future projects?
The lesson learned was I needed to learn those hex numbers, else it was going to take a long time to write video game music.
Have you collaborated with other composers on soundtracks, and if so, what was it like?
Do you prefer working alone?
How does collaborating change your creative process?
Obviously I have collaborated with other composers, although I don't think this changes the creative process.
What was the last project you worked on? Are you working on anything currently?
I am working on a project now, but I am sworn to secrecy. The last project I worked on was the conversion of Viva Piñata on to the Nintendo DS.
Based on your experience as a video game composer, what advice would you give those aspiring to succeed in the field?
If that's what their passion is, they should pursue it.
Who/what are your inspirations in terms of composing video game music?
My inspiration is looking at the graphics, and playing the level to get a feel for what I think might work.
Of the video game soundtracks that you have worked on, which is your favorite? Why?
The DKC series, especially No. 2. I was trying to surpass the limitations of the 64K memory.
Which game composers and soundtracks do you admire the most?
I always liked Tim Follin, who produced some inspirational video game soundtracks. I also admire the Rare composers too: Robin Beanland, Grant Kirkhope, Steve Burke, Dave Clynick, and Jamie Hughes.
I also like the Halo and Metal Gear soundtracks.
Also, Richard Jacques, Tommy Tallarico, Jack Wall, Andrew Barnabas and James Hannigan are all responsible for some fine video game music.
What's one of your best or most enjoyable memories from working on a game soundtrack? Worst?
I just enjoy writing music.
What's the most difficult thing about being a video game music composer?
I'm fortunate that I work in house. I think winning freelance contracts could be quite difficult.
Over the years, video game music has evolved from chiptunes to full orchestral scores. Some still prefer music from the 8-bit and 16-bit era due to its simplicity and melodic emphasis, while others appreciate newer, more cinematic scores.
How do you view this evolution?
With the chip tunes, the tune had to cover a lot of bases. Now ambiance and sound effects can really help with the feeling of the experience. Therefore, perhaps the tunes are not as prominent as they once were, although still very important.
Are there pros and cons to both types, or have things clearly gotten better as technology has progressed?
I think this is where interactive music should be used. Having a blanket piece - one tune fits all of the area - is no longer relevant. Soundtracks such as Halo 3 are really starting to use interactive music effectively.
Fan Community
How has your work been received by fans? Is fan appreciation a rewarding aspect of the job?
It is rewarding when people say they appreciate your work.
What are your opinions of fan-created video game music arrangements or "ReMixes" (ocremix.org)?
I think it's great. Definitely a compliment that anyone should find your music appealing enough to want to use it in a remix. Always good to hear another angle and interpretation of your music.


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East Central College is a community college in Missouri that qualified for the NJCAA volleyball national championship tomorrow in Toledo. The ECC Falcons might have to compete without one of their best players, though, because her biology professor won't let her miss class.
KTVI has the full story, and it's a stupid one. College athletes do, indeed, miss class—even at the junior college level. Freshman Hannah Leslie has, apparently, missed too many classes due to competition travel and bio professor Dr. Parvee has had it with her absences—threatening to fail her if she misses another while at the national championship.
I'm not going to slam the pretend academic integrity of community colleges, because I used to teach at one. But I also used to teach at USF, where my course was popular with several basketball players who, owing to extensive Big East travel, had to miss class a lot. We always made arrangements for them to make up the work, and Bob McCullum—who was head coach at the time—was great about checking in with me to see that his guys were showing up and doing what they were supposed to. It's absolutely mindblowing that a junior college bio prof thinks s/he should deprive a student-athlete of her opportunity like this. It's also possible Hannah Leslie had other academic issues in the class; we've only heard her side of the story, after all, and Dr. Parvee isn't talking. But as it reads now, this is one of the dumbest student-athlete stories we've read all year.


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The beat will not go on for America's Best Dance Crew, which has been canceled after seven seasons, Variety reports.
The MTV reality series, produced by Randy Jackson, featured judges JC Chasez, Lil Mama and, more recently, So You Think You Can Dance alum D-Trix. D-Trix, and before him Omarion, followed choreographer Shane Sparks, who left after Season 4 amid child molestation charges unrelated to the show. The show was hosted by Mario Lopez, who recently took over co-hosting duties on The X Factor.
Check out photos from America's Best Dance Crew
"We are grateful to Randy Jackson and Warner Horizon for having brought our audience seven amazing seasons of dance with ABDC, and look forward to more successful and dynamic entertaining collaborations in the future," MTV said in a statement.
America's Best Dance Crew launched the careers of several successful dance groups, most notably Season 1's Jabbawockeez troupe.


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Tag Archives: television
More Channels, More Success
We saw the theory in action during the Super Bowl commercials: more channels, more success.
Several television Super Bowl ads wisely incorporated mobile apps, QR codes and links to Facebook and Twitter to try and reach consumers from all angles.
Nowadays, while people are watching a basketball game on TV, they might be simultaneously tweeting about the score, texting their friends and playing games on their iPads.
A report from Yahoo and Razorfish revealed that while watching TV, 66% of US mobile device owners multitasked on their laptop or desktop PC on a daily basis, and 49% used the web daily on their mobile phone while watching TV.
With so much multitasking going on in the consumer world right now, there's no guarantee you'll reach your target audience with just one medium.
This means brands need to reevaluate their multichannel marketing programs.
A report from Nielson found that businesses engaging in multichannel marketing campaigns are most likely to see increased brand visibility.
The report found that half of U.S. consumers exposed to a particular TV ad recalled viewing the advertisement, but upon being exposed to the ad across multiple screens (TV, computer, mobile phone and tablet), that percentage jumped to 74%.
With the plethora of digital devices and channels, marketers should learn to successfully combine them in order to achieve maximum reach.
Mobile devices are especially important to incorporate in the marketing mix as their global proliferation continues to rise. It's the one device people have attached to them at all times—of course we need to consider using it to target consumers.
Multichannel marketing requires combining the right channels to reach and engage consumers, so marketers need to find out which channels are worth integrating, and create one big digital marketing plan that encompasses all of them.


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Taking theme of be evil or really evil to terrific new heights of tyranny, Overlord II empowers you with forces of destruction and domination with which to carve out a new path of malevolence through the world.
And, if the Minions have anything to do with it, that path will no doubt be strewn with the beaten bodies of terminally cute animals and littered with the remains of hippy elves...
• Destroy or Dominate - explore two paths to rule the world
• Control your Own Personal Minion Horde, responding violently to your every command.
• Written by award winning games writer Rhianna Pratchett
Dolby 5.1
1-2 Players
Network Play


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Fatal dispute began last fall
A property-rights dispute between an Olivenhain filmmaker and the neighbor accused of shooting him to death last week dated back about five months, according to a newly available court document.
Deputies had previously been called to intervene in the disagreement that began in October, sheriff's Detective Troy DuGal wrote in an affidavit seeking to search the lot where John Upton was shot to death just after 9 a.m. March 28.
Upton, 56, was a documentary filmmaker who rose to international attention for his work rescuing Romanian orphans in the 1990s.
Accused gunman Michael Vilkin, 61, and once an economist in the Soviet Union, faces 35 years to life in prison if convicted of murder and use of a gun. He has pleaded not guilty and remains jailed in lieu of $5 million bail.
DuGal wrote his affidavit hours after the fatal shooting on Lone Jack Road in Olivenhain. Upton lived in a rental home and Vilkin owned an undeveloped lot and thin access road abutting the rental property. Upton was shot on the access road.
According to DuGal, Vilkin told investigators that Upton had pulled a gun out of his waistband during a confrontation that morning. Vilkin told a similar story to a television station in a jailhouse interview the day after his arrest.
But DuGal said he found no gun near Upton's body. And at Vilkin's arraignment earlier this week, Deputy District Attorney David Uyar said Upton was found only with a cellphone.
In his affidavit, DuGal said Vilkin had hired two men to help clear brush that morning. But the two men ran off after the gunshots, and deputies were unable to find them.


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I don't know about you, but I make decent use of macros. No, I'm not King Macro of Macropolis, but there are choice macros I keep at the ready in case of turmoil or danger. Most notable is a Start Attack macro for most of my heavy DPS abilities so that I'm not missing a second of precious swing time. Macros are a powerful tool in World of Warcraft, with many DPS specializations especially able to string together code and script to swap stances, time abilities, and maximize number output.
It's a beautiful thing. The macro interface in WoW, however, isn't.
Unlike most of WoW's interface, the macro UI is lacking. Cataclysm brought an updated macro UI that fixed a portion of the problems but not the real issues at hand. Learning macros is hard, and naming and selecting images for macros is clunky. I almost have a hard time making that argument because, frankly, I thought everyone just used the #showtooltip command in their macros to pick whichever ability they wanted to use, but then I quickly scolded myself. "Mathew, shame on you," I said. "Macros are not only used for combat abilities. Macros are used for everything! Look at all of those icons." You were right, me. I've got to give credit where credit is due.


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Mozaik Kiadó
MS-6419-EN - Phiên bản 1, 2018 - trang 64
Flip through these pages to first visit the Sun and the planets in our Solar System, and find out the difference between our home, the Earth, and the other planets. Discover where scientists look for traces of life, and whether there is any place in the universe that could become our home if the Earth one day became uninhabitable! The second part of the book will guide you on the path trodden by mankind in the attempt to unravel the mysteries of astronomy. Explore how mankind reached out to space and how various devices have contributed to discovering very distant places in the universe.


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IntroductionFirst mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel, this historic port city (pop. 560,000) and former capital of PDR Yemen was once a thriving trading city, but after Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to Asia around Africa in 1498, its fortunes waned. Most travelers visit Yemen's economic capital and second-largest city by ship as a one-day excursion, but an overnight stay gives the curious a better chance to try to get below the surface of the city. As you walk around, you'll notice a unique mix of people: Arabs, Africans, Indians, Somalis, Pakistanis, Chinese and others. Spend time in the most interesting and oldest part of town, the Crater (built in the crater of an extinct volcano—it has a wonderful minaret as well as a military museum displaying the war history of PDR Yemen). Also visit the panoramic Cisterns of Tawila (ancient water cisterns located atop Jabal Shamsan). These 18 cisterns, built in the 1st century AD, can store up to 10 million gallons/45 million liters of water! Afterward, slake your thirst for knowledge at the National Museum of Antiquities (with pre-Islamic displays) and the 14th-century Al Aldarus Mosque. A day trip to Little Aden (fine beaches, fishing villages) might also be in order—the town is also built in an extinct volcanic crater. Plan one night in Aden. 190 mi/305 km south of Sana'a.
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The Collage Company Blog
How to get started on your Family History
How to get started on your family history...
Whilst attending a recent family funeral, I was pondering the conflicting emotions which come into play on these occasions. A mixture of grief and sadness obviously, and often regret at the premature curtailment of a full and happy life.
It is true to say, however, that, coupled with the obvious sadness of the occasion and sympathy for the bereaved, a funeral does also offer some positives. It occasions the coming together of friends and family, some of whom may live a distance apart, which can be both life-affirming and comfort giving. It gives us the opportunity to reminisce and think back to past memories as well as offering the chance of a catch up with those you haven't seen for a long time.
We also were able to meet for the first time an elderly and until then unknown, cousin who proved to be a fount of family knowledge and who confirmed a story which we had rather assumed to be apocryphal, of a family member who was shot down by the Red Baron.
Amazingly newly-found Cousin Janet who is now 85, confirmed that this story was indeed true and remembers her mother telling her the sad tale of her older half brother, George Macdonald Watt, who had died in 1916, shot down by Baron von Richthoven. Young George, the product of my husband's grandfather's first marriage (which ended in the death of his first wife), was at the time employed with the Colonial Service in Burma and travelled back to Britain in the Summer of 1916 to enlist in the Royal Flying Corps. Following a short three month training period, he gained his wings in January 1917 and was immediately deployed on active service at the Front, flying Gypsy Moth surveillance bi-planes with his navigator Ernest Howlett and reporting on and photographing German trenches and troop numbers. Just two months after his deployment, on 17th MArch 1917, he was engaged by the Red Baron in a dog fight and was forced to put the aircraft into such a steep dive to avoid his pursuer that both wings fell off and he crashed in a hail of machine gun fire to a swift death. He was just 27 and his navigator 26 years old. They are both buried in Bruay Cemetary... casualties of that terrible war.
As one gets older, many people start showing a growing interest in their family history. Most people probably have a sketchy knowledge of immediate family (although often not of all four grandparents, especially if already dead) but usually possess very little information prior to this time. Yet these are the forebears who have shaped us - both genetically determining our colouring, build and hair shade, and our circumstances and social standing, both in terms of relative wealth and poverty. In fact it is often surprising how fast the fortunes of a family can ebb and flow with the vagaries of life.
The story of our families is one which is truly fascinating and well worth the voyage of discovery. The advent of the internet and increasing digitalisation of records of all kinds now means that the process of exploration of family history is becoming increasingly simplified and accessible with every passing year. Research which only a few years ago would have necessitated myriad trips to different locations around the UK and many hours of painstaking and frustrating research trawling through endless record books can now be achieved at the click of a mouse and ever more sophisticated search tools speed the process no end. We were recently able to trace one line of my husband's family right back to around 1700 in little more than a couple of hours and, having found the address of the cottage in which his multiple x grandmother had lived, then pulled up the photo of it on google Street View and was able to look at the exact same view from the front door as she would have enjoyed all those years ago - the only alteration of the view down to the old harbour being the addition of some double yellow lines on the cobbled street!
This increasing ease of access has now led to a massive increase in the number of people actively tracing their family history. It is estimated that over 11 million people in the English speaking world alone are now actively looking into their past. By any reckoning that is a lot of people and this has of course spawned a large number of businesses and products catering to their needs. From magazines and specialist databases to personal historical researchers and specialist storage and filing providers - there are many tools and areas of help available to the would-be researcher. The fact remains though that it is great fun and rather addictive to do it yourself! But how best to start?
- Firstly start with the obvious - contact all known living members of your family and ask for their help and that of any contacts they may in turn have. Ask about any family stories, professions, names and nicknames and whether they have any documents or photos. Record all possible data and use this as a basis for starting off. Key information includes full names and dates of birth, marriage and death
- Move on armed with this basic information to start your research using online records, starting with broadbase searches and then refining these as you gather more and more information
- It is easier to work methodically from a known fact such as a date of birth or death than to start trying to trace down from a person you haven't got any hard facts about. Once you have tracked down the likely person using records, you then need to order up a copy of the relevant birth/marriage or death certificate in order to verify the info and glean the other family information which it will contain. Many sites such as http://www.ancestry.co.uk/ will provide this service but it is much cheaper to order one yourself via the National Archives office (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/)
- You can download any amount of top tips, guidance, templates and help from many websites. There are also several really helpful magazines such as Family Tree (http://family-tree.co.uk/ part of Ancestry.com), https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/ and myriad forums offering help and advice
- There are many useful computer software packages that will help you keep your records in an orderly manner and help draw up pedigrees and family groups sheets so you know who you are dealing with.Try to stick with one branch of the family at a time or you risk getting sidetracked with sensory overload! And do keep notes in an orderly fashion!
- Remember that many records were written down by people with limited literacy and so often contained spelling errors and incorrect dates. It is thus always worth looking at several years either side of a specific date if you can't immediately find a record. Equally, check for similar spellings of the same name. Obviously it does also help to track a branch of the family with a more unusual name - trying to trace back a family of Williams or Jones in South Wales will prove to be very tricky indeed, whereas if you come from a family of Shufflebottoms or Gotobeds you will probably find your task is somewhat easier!
- Families often used the same traditional Christian names, thus if father and grandfather were both George, it is a good idea to look for a George in the previous generations. Remember also that sometimes people used their second given name or indeed a nickname which can muddy the water somewhat when researching!
- Records of births, marriages and deaths were kept by individual parishes from around 1530 onwards. This practice then became a legal requirement in 1830 after the explosion of population which occurred in the mid 19th Century. The key repositories of these parish records are:
The National Archives http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Family Records Office in London
The Borthwich Insitute of Historical Research in York http://www.york.ac.uk/borthwick/
The General Register of Scotland in Edinburgh, http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/
The General Register of Ireland http://timeline.ie/general-register-office/ in both Belfast and Dublin
(Research in Southern Ireland can often prove very tricky as many of the old records were burnt in the Irish Civil War in the early part of the 20th Century and thus no longer exist.)
The British Library http://www.bl.uk/ holds records dating from the days of the Raj and Colonial Service
- Other areas which can prove useful sources of info are military and naval records https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/(the Air Force did not exist in its own right until March 1918, being part of the the Navy and Army prior to this date (the Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Flying Corps)
- The National Census http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/index.html which takes place every ten years and is an invaluable tool for locating people. The information contained is only release to the general public after 100 years thus the most recent available to study currently dates from 1911
Generally speaking, your very best tool is the internet and whilst there are myriad sites out there, among the most useful are probably:
www.ancestry.co.uk, the Mormon organisation which is probably the largest resource of digitalised records in the world
http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/ is a non-commercial service, maintained by a charitable trust which provides a virtual reference library of genealogical information of particular relevance to the UK and Ireland.
Of course every English County has its own archives - eg. www.hants.gov.uk/archives and a Family History society which can be located via the FFHS federation of Family History Societies http://www.ffhs.org.uk/
Many professions and trades also retain extensive records or apprenticeships and qualifications so if you know that your ancestor was, for instance, a goldsmith or a shipwright, then it is worth contacting the relevant trade body and see what you can glean.
Military service records are also often very helpful and most have now been digitalised on www.forcesreunited.org.uk/
Also the Victorians were meticulous record keepers so service in the colonies was often well documented.
Social network sites like RoootsWeb, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ Familyrelatives, http://www.familyrelatives.com/ and LostCousins http://www.lostcousins.com/ allow people to register their research interests and could also be a way of finding information.
The Society of Genealogists http://www.sog.org.uk/ library collects published and unpublished family histories and research notes. It's free library catalogue can be found on the library pages of the website which also list the surnames names in its various collections.
You can also upload your research onto one of these websites, or put in a search request for a specific name, and you may link up with other unknown people who may have relevant research and you can then pool your knowledge to everyone's advantage.
Of course there is a burgeoning industry of genealogical researchers out there who will undertake to do your research for a fee - and sometimes, if you get really stuck, it can be helpful to use the services of a professional, however really the fun is in doing the digging yourself!
Delving into your family history is both fascinating and really addictive. I would so recommend it and do get started before all the older generation are gone - it does make life so much easier! You never know what amazing stories you might uncover...
And speaking of amazing stories, I will finish with the story of a collage I created recently - an amazing tale of bravery, resourcefulness and a happy ending! This tale of a Flt Lt in the Royal flying Corps. Shot down on the Western Front, taken prisoner and incarcerated in a POW camp, he managed to escape with the help of a secret code, a smuggled map and with huge resourcefulness, he succeeded in returning to Britain to be reunited with his new born son. Truly a happy ending. Now obviously not everyone will unearth such an extraordinary story as this one, but everybody's stories are interesting in their own way and in doing your bit to explore and by keeping a record of even a part of the story of your family, you are keeping alive the memories for the generations to come.
With the advent of scanners and digital photography, it is also now possible to both restore and preserve those old and fading photographs of generations past. I would urge you to scan and log with details as many as you can whilst you still have the knowledge within the family as to who everyone is. There are specialist companies out there who will restore, digitalise and catalogue old family photos and documents.
Or you can come to us! When doing family history collages for clients, we at The Collage Company can improve the colouration of most old photos and also repair digitally where they have been damaged with age - all part of the service! Once the collage is created, we then encourage our clients to stick a 'map' of who is who in the collage on the back so that the information is recorded with the photos for posterity.
I do hope I have manage to ignite a spark of interest and that you will be inspired to delve a little into your own family history and record those memories before they all get dead and buried in time.
The Collage Company creates bespoke photo collages of all of your own special memories
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Forza Motorsport 4
Forza Motorsport 4
Exclusive to Xbox 360, Forza Motorsport 4 welcomes new drivers and challenges the experienced. Forza is set to be the most visually impressive and expansive Forza game to date and through the power of Kinect the most revolutionary.
With an all-star line up of cars and race tracks from around the world Forza 4 will have cars to suit all driving styles and armed with the controller you'll be able to feel each bump and fight through the turns. With the power of Kinect you'll be able step into the driver's seat and look around the car.
Grab Forza Motorsport 4 now!


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Burundi journalist detained by security agents
NEW YORK, December 1, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned by the ongoing detention of a radio journalist in Burundi since Monday.
Security agents with the country's National Intelligence Servicearrested Hassan Ruvakuki, a reporter for private station Radio Bonesha FM and Radio France Internationale's Swahili service, while he was covering a regional summit in the capital, Bujumbura, local journalists told CPJ. The officers searched his home and detained him in eastern Burundi, refusing him access to his family or legal counsel, local journalists said. Radio Bonesha FM is a critical, independent broadcaster based in Bujumbura.
Télesphore Bigirimana, a spokesman for the Burundian intelligence agency, said Ruvakuki was being questioned over his relations with a new rebel group, according to news reports . Local journalists told CPJthey believe he was arrested because his station aired an interview with former police officer Pierre Claver Kabirigi,who claimed to be part of a new rebel group called the Front for the Restoration of Democracy-Abanyagihugu. Kabirigi had released a statement saying his group had been formed in reaction to corruption and extrajudicial killings allegedly carried out by the ruling party.
Radio Bonesha FM aired the interview with Kabirigi last week, while other stations broadcast an audio recording of Kabarigi's statements, local journalists told CPJ. Days later, the state-run National Council for Communication issued an open-ended media ban on all news coverage of the rebel group, news reports said.
"This arrest is part of a pattern of state-orchestrated intimidation of private media," said CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes. "Authorities have presented no evidence against Hassan Ruvakuki and he should be released immediately."
The ruling party has attempted to silence Burundi's critical press in the past by using court summons and threats of closure, according to CPJ research. Last September, Information Minister Concilie Nibigira announced a 30-day media ban on covering a massacre in a bar in which more than 35 people were killed. On November 8, the public prosecutor summoned the interim director of Radio Bonesha FM, Patrick Nduwimana, and Radio Publique Africaine editor Bob Rugurika and questioned them over the programs they aired on the bar massacre after the deadline had passed, Rugurika told CPJ. Two days later, the public prosecutor summoned Nduwimana again, along with the directors of Radio Publique Africaine and Radio Isanganiro , and questioned them over their station's funding sources, news reports said.


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An estimated 20 million Americans have a form of sleep apnea, with most not knowing it. Researchers at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center are looking for volunteers - with and without apnea - to help study this problem.
Sleep apnea is a condition where a person stops breathing while sleeping. Relaxed muscles in the throat cause snoring and can prevent air from getting to the lungs. Breathing can stop for a short time, typically more than 10 seconds in those with apnea. Those with apnea usually have interrupted sleep, which contributes to daytime fatigue, and they usually do not know they stopped breathing throughout the night.
Researchers are studying the influence of continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, on sleep apnea, sleepiness and fatigue, and hormonal changes. Volunteers may be eligible if they are either a postmenopausal woman or nonobese man between the ages of 45 and 65, and a normal sleeper or one who snores and stops breathing while asleep. Those with sleep apnea should not currently be using CPAP.
A free medical assessment and compensation is provided.
For more information, call the Sleep Research and Treatment Center at (717) 531-4284.
For more information on sleep apnea, including a list of symptoms, please visit Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Health Information Library online.
This study is directed by Dr. Alexandros Vgontzas, Penn State Hershey Psychiatry. This research study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board, under federal regulations, at the College of Medicine, Penn State Hershey Medical Center.


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Hi Brice!
First of all, congratulations for your great work!
I'm using Sencha Cordova Builder for 2 weeks and now I have a problem...
I'm using a calendar plugin on my app (Ext.ux.TouchCalendar, available on: https://market.sencha.com/extensions...-touchcalendar) that requires a few css files.
Everything is working perfectly, but when I build the app and test it in my tablet, the calendar doesn't display correctly like if the required calendar css files aren't imported.
So I checked the folder
\build\MyApp\android\assets\www\resources and those required calendar css files arent there, in spite of making all the imports in my index.html.
Am I making those imports incorrectly?
Sorry for my english.
Thank you very much.
Best Regards,


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NYC Cooking Classes to Take This Week and Beyond
We're teaming up with CourseHorse, a free service that aggregates classes to take in your spare time. This week: food-centric courses selected by the Serious Eats staff to bone up on your cooking chops and food knowledge.
Note: CourseHorse is offering a special deal for first-time course subscribers: receive $5 off your first class with the promo code SeriousEatsNY.
This Week
Mix classic cocktails and learn how to make drinks of your own. $200. Columbia Bartending School, Tuesday, February 4th, 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Butcher fish with Japanese and western blades with Yuji Haraguchi of Yuji Ramen. $85. Brooklyn Kitchen, Wednesday, February 5th, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Cook hearty Italian meals to beat the winter blues. $115. Camaje, Thursday, February 6th, 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Learn how to temper and work with chocolate. $120. Natural Gourmet Institute, Friday, February 7th, 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Learn how spices form the basis of Moroccan cooking. $115. Camaje, Saturday, February 8th, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Master the the perfect pie dough. $115. JCC Culinary Arts, Sunday, February 9th, 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Make and taste tiki drinks. $45. Pioneer Works, Sunday, February 9th, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Looking Forward
Taste and learn about multiple beer styles. $75. New York Beer School, Monday, February 10th, 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Pair cheeses with chocolate. $60. Murray's Cheese, Wednesday, February 12th, 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Make French macarons. $120. French E'ncas, Thursday, February 13th, 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Bake flaky, tender, and buttery scones and biscuits. $75. Le Pain Quotidien Bleecker Street Bake, Saturday, February 15th, 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Expand your knowledge in pasta making beyond the basics. Create whole wheat pasta, gnocchi, tortellini. $115. The Institute of Culinary Eduction, Sunday, February 16th, 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
See more cooking classes over on CourseHorse »
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Protectionism and Free Trade
In every trade, a person is giving up something he values less for something he values more. Every time a shopper buys any item from another person, he has improved his standard of living, and so has the seller.
The right to trade with foreigners without government interference is a God-given fundamental human right, not morally subject to the whims of those who want trade wars to protect their own interests.
Given that you conservatives love Medicare, which guarantees government health care for seniors, why not love it even more by expanding it to everyone?
Bureaucracy and RegulationTaxes and Spending
Once a government bureaucracy has been set up to do any job whatever, it will find endless excuses for expanding, prolonging, or perpetuating that job.
Money and BanksMonetary TheoryMoney and Banking


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To address corporate concerns about storing information at data centers accessible by intelligence agencies, HyTrust acquires HighCloud.
At least one U.S. cloud company sees an opportunity to benefit from the backlash against brethren accused of facilitating domestic surveillance.
Cloud services -- think Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure -- essentially rent out data storage space in big computer rooms clients can access through the Internet or a private network. At times, U.S. spies have infiltrated the networks of American cloud providers, as well as subpoenaed their customer data without their customers' knowledge, according to the Washington Post.
This has not deterred HyTrust, which is backed by CIA venture capital funding, from marketing anti-surveillance tools to corporations.
The California-based company on Thursday announced the purchase of encryption software firm HighCloud Security, acknowledging industry concerns about storing clear text files in an off-site data center.
Not wanting to bite the hand that feeds them, HyTrust officials say the deal also should benefit intelligence agencies by preventing rogue system administrators, such as ex-federal contractor Edward Snowden, from decoding government data. The company since 2007, has built a business off technology that monitors the activities of cloud system administrators.
With Thursday's acquisition of HighCloud encryption, "even if somehow that admin was able to get away with that virtual machine, it would be unusable. It's like a brick. You can't access the data inside of it. It's meaningless," HyTrust co-founder Eric Chiu said in an interview. "You've solved, end to end, that potential Snowden-level attack -- of that admin and the godlike privileges that they typically have -- in safeguarding against them and monitoring that as well as protecting the data itself, in case it does get stolen."
But the company empathizes with corporations entrusting data to cloud providers that cooperate with the feds.
While some data center providers offer to encode their tenants' data, "if you're letting the cloud provider provide not only the encryption, but also manage and store the keys to unlock that encryption, well, you have no idea whether somebody has been granted access to that data because of subpoena," Chiu said. "If you keep the keys to your data that means that nobody else can unencrypt and potentially access your data without your approval."
With the European Union expressing outrage over alleged intercepts of its citizens' communications, HyTrust officials might be worried about losing business from customers such as one unidentified major European development bank and many Fortune 500 companies.
The company is still in startup mode. Intel Capital, VMware and Cisco participated in a $18.5 million round of financing, HyTrust announced in August.
In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture capital wing, also contributed funding at the time.
"We don't make any political decisions," Chiu insisted. But, he also said: "I have to be careful what I say because one of our customers and investors is In-Q-Tel," and the company's services "are very much strategic to the efforts of the intelligence community." In-Q-Tel and HyTrust made public a technology development deal in July.
Chiu said talks between HyTrust and HighCloud started before revelations about NSA domestic surveillance were made public in May through leaks by Snowden.
In an interview this week, he said the new partnership should help put corporate clients' minds at ease about the risk of U.S. government spying. "I think that is a real, is a legitimate concern. I think being able to have your data encrypted and being able to keep the keys and be the one that determines whether or not you want to give the keys over to give access to that data is important. I think you want to make the decision on what happens to your data," he said.
HighCloud officials have also touted their software's ability to protect Web-based data from U.S. surveillance. "Technologies like HighCloud's encryption, where you control encryption keys, inside your firewall if you prefer, can help ensure that the government must come to you in order to access your data," said a July note on the company's blog." In a statement last month, HighCloud co-founder Steve Pate said, "As cloud service providers become a target for data access, both to thieves and the U.S. government, organizations must take further steps to secure their data in the cloud."
HyTrust, a private company, did not disclose the terms of the deal.
(Image via Maksim Kabakou/Shutterstock.com)
NEXT STORY: FCC Eyes New Spectrum for Wi-Fi-Type Service


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Placed-based Climate Change Adaptation: Overcoming the Paralysis of Uncertainty
Climate change poses many challenges to the conservation of fish, wildlife and their habitats. As temperatures warm and precipitation patterns change, species and ecosystems will need to either adapt in place, move across the landscape to track optimal conditions, or face an increased risk of going locally or even globally extinct. While there is a growing acknowledgement of the threat of climate change to fish and wildlife conservation, managers continue to struggle with how to translate the science on climate change into site- and target-specific strategies for action. The uncertainties and complexities involved in predicting future conditions can often be paralyzing to those trying to make decisions about fish and wildlife conservation. Cross discusses these challenges, and presents an iterative framework for adaptation planning and action that helps users overcome the paralysis of uncertainty and start addressing the question of what we should be doing differently to manage and conserve wildlife as climate changes. The framework draws on approaches to making decisions under uncertainty, such as scenario-based planning and adaptive management.


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While Mitt Romney may have a well-established problem wooing women voters—his wife, excluded—it appears when you break it down that it's actually the single ladies he's striking out with. And he's not doing very well with single men either. The one group he is doing okay with? The marrieds.
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found that with married women, Romney enjoys a three-point lead over President Obama. Among married men, Romney has a whopping 13-point advantage. But when you look only at single people, things go downhill fast for Mittens. An amazing 64 percent of single women prefer Obama, while just 28 percent support Romney, and single men fall for Obama 56 percent to 33 percent.
It makes sense, given that those who have opted to marry might be more conservative, and many of them are probably also older—two things which would be enough to give Romney an edge. While many singles would be younger and probably more liberal in their views on social issues especially, which would lead them to Obamaland.
The fact that married couples are now in the minority doesn't bode too well for Romney's plan to take the election. If he really wants to capture the single lady vote, he might want to stop trying to control their bodies, listen to some actual single ladies (as opposed to his obviously married wife), and brush up on his version of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together."
The Marriage Gap [WSJ]