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art by julia pott
lately i've been thinking long and hard about how and why i blog. this is mainly due to some major changes in my life that came about this fall. due to the fact that i've been working full-time for the past month now, beginning renovations in my apartment (inspiration tumblr here), on top of all the normal things life throws at you, i've found my "free" time in short shrift these days. i've had to give up volunteering at the thrift store around the corner after a year of doing so, and really have to focus on how to manage that "free" time. as of this fall, i've decided to let my etsy store close up quietly, letting the listings expire without any kerfuffle or big sale or anything. i've been changing little habits here and there in an attempt to cut back on bad time wasting habits, and have been constantly trying to remind myself what situations are not worth my time. there are simply not enough hours in the day.
but one thing i simply can't put aside, however, is my writing. i've decided, over the past few weeks, that i absolutely must find a way to radical restructure the way i spend my time so that i can write. having a partner who is a part-time poet helps; suggestions of putting aside x amount of time a week to sit down with a cup of tea and setting (realistic) deadlines for myself have been much appreciated. coming from someone who has published a few books, i'm hoping these changes work for me too. i know my biggest problem is that i simply try to juggle too many things all at once: my friendships, my photography, my love of vegan recipes, affection for vintage clothing, passion for my politics, and then coming in last and sadly often least, my writing (about those aforementioned things).
i love writing. i have a huge passion for trying to express my (often overly complicated and elaborate) ideas in an accessible, online space, which is why this blog is here. but the thing is, i don't do enough of it and don't have the time to do my ideas justice. right now, i have 39 files in my "drafts" folder for this blog. THIRTY-NINE. i tend to feel so overwhelmed about where i should even begin, trying to write for a bit, feel anxious and get no joy out of it, and then i end up not writing anything at all. no good. however, last week at work, i sat at an absent co-workers desk (whose work i greatly admire) and saw this quote taped to her computer monitor:
Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it's because it is hard. It's one of the hardest things people do.
ni dieu, ni maître (self-portrait) november 2010
here at my blog, and in a lot of my favourite kinds of work, i am the one who calls all the punches which has its advantages (i get all the credit!) and disadvantages (very few people but me see it as actual/valuable work!). writing (and by extension, blogging) is work, and i'm going to try to treat it as such. find satisfaction in it as work, feel satisfaction when i accomplish goals i set for myself... even if they are as small as "post a picture the same month/year you took it."
clearly i've talked about these issues with friends who read blogs and read mine. here is a wise piece of advice from iris:
Re: blogging and real work - it totally is (real work). I think you should do only as much of it as you can handle. I really was feeling like I had to keep track of thousands of things at once, my whole life was being processed through this blog filter, like, I need to write about this! This person would love it if I linked to that! It was tiring and you're right, there is no credit in it. I like the tiger beatdown model of "oh shit it's asking for money time again, pay us or we won't post".this leads me to another point: lately i've been thinking that the simple act of valuing and viewing critical fashion blogging as "work" in and of itself is a feminist act. a close friend of mine asked me why i call my blog a "feminist fashion blog" because i very rarely talk about feminism/feminist issues. i beg to differ. i could ramble on ad nauseum about why i find this space a feminist one, why if you take any of my articles i could give you reasons why i think they are feminist... but i think most of my readers get the point without me having to spell it out. but again, the blogosphere itself is ripe for criticism. the fact that, yes, "anyone can create/have a blog," does not negate that fact that some blogs are deemed more important, reputable, serious, and worthwhile than others... and that these things are constructed through a gendered, race, class, etc. lens.
think about it for a minute: almost all of the most popular blogs (whether or not we discredit gossip blogs) are written and run by men. most of them write about typically gendered "manly" content, such as business and technology. it would be hard to argue against the fact that when men blog, more people tend to take note and more people take them seriously. pair the fact that most fashion bloggers are women, on top of the fact that fashion is hardly seen as a worthwhile or serious enough topic to merit actual critical thought... and here we have what i think is a perfect formula for dismissing fashion blogs as unimportant and frivolous.
but i am getting off-topic and wandering into unresearched territory. i am writing about the very politics of writing in this space because even though i might be posting less and less, i don't have any plans of retiring this platform. but! i do feel like my readers aren't getting the attention they deserve. i don't have the time to respond to all of the comments and emails i receive, and do justice to the thoughtful, beautiful, and complicated questions so many of my readers ask me. this does not mean they are not valuable or important; rather it means that the world often spins too fast and the bank account too empty to allow me the time to show you that i care.
i just wanted to very quickly acknowledge the most common inquiry i receive: how do feminists who are interested in fashion marry their politics with their critical minds? i don't have a simple answer to that, other than the fact that it is possible to be a feminist and love fashion (i would just encourage you to love it critically).
so in the end, i suppose this post is just a really long-winded thank you to all of those who read what i write, who link to my articles, who leave comments, who send me thoughtful emails and curious questions. it's really wonderful to know there is an audience out there who not only wants to read what i write, but engage with it.
2011 will bring big changes to à l'allure garçonnière, and i hope you will be along for the ride, with all its ups and downs. thanks for being along for the ride.
in the meantime, seeing as i have surprisingly never done this before, here are some of my favourite blogs which present themselves as feminist take on fashion.
fashion for writers
good morning midnight
fashion abecedaire
fat fashion feminist: whatever the f i feel like
nicolette mason
i feel pretty
worn journal
if you have any other suggestions, or feel like your blog fits the bill, feel free to leave them in the comments!
F bombs at Threadbared
Is a Feminist & Queer Interest in Fashion Possible? at Good Morning Midnight
Why I feel guilty when I don't blog at Threadbared
Post Feminist Fashion Guilt (i take issue with the term "post" feminist...)
Retail: It's Complicated (the rise of "fast fashion") at Feministe
Feminist Frequency YouTube channel


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I love the way how Neil starts playing the song "Sugar Mountain", very spontaneous....I like the acoustic stuff more than the electric stuff.
i dont really listen to his music, but i really like "year of the horse" by jarmush. have you seen it?
"Long Road" which they wrote during the Mirrorball session. What's wrong with that album?


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"Adobe RoboHelp (2019 release) is a positive game changer for technical authors. It's a complete code rewrite under the hood and has a clean, minimalist look and feel that is easy to learn. There are no messy ribbons and pods and extra dialogs interrupting your train of thought. Upgrading my projects from earlier versions of RoboHelp was quick and easy. The HTML5 and CSS3 compliant code gives RoboHelp authors confidence that the software will easily accommodate the constant technology changes we all experience."
—John Daigle, Adobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate Instructor, Evergreen Online Learning, LLC
"One of my favorite improvements in Adobe RoboHelp (2019 release) is in generating output. It generates faster than ever and while you work. No more waiting. The output is also sleek with fewer output files to manage making website refreshes and access times faster and more responsive. A big win for both authors and users."
—Shelley Bates, Production Strategist, Tanner Corporate Services
"Adobe continues to delight in its ongoing support and development of RoboHelp. In RoboHelp 2019, Adobe has rebuilt it from the ground up, taking advantage of the latest in computing technology. It has a new, easier-to-use interface, creating a much better user experience, to making it a faster online development solution. I was really pleased at the degree of simplicity around importing Word documents. Without having to make any changes, it easily imported my document beautifully. Adobe has also included a new, more versatile skin editor, much better support for dynamic content filters, and they've added better support for GIT and SharePoint. This is a long-awaited and greatly anticipated revamp of a popular workhorse for creating online help (responsive HTML 5 and web help), eBook, printed documents, and mobile output."
—Lin Laurie, Owner, Lin Laurie & Associates
"The 2019 release of Adobe RoboHelp is RoboHelp 'reimagined' and has been built on the latest technology, enabling a faster content development cycle. On a large scale, authors will be blown away by the increase in speed and real time CSS and skin editors. On a more granular level, writers will enjoy the enhanced flexibility in creating tables, multi-level lists, autocorrect editing, and other enhancements. Adobe has taken RoboHelp to a whole new level in help authoring."
—Beth Gerber, President, Lightext, Inc.
"Video is a crucial need these days and it's easy to import YouTube, Vimeo and Adobe Captivate eLearning modules into Adobe RoboHelp (2019 release)."
—John Daigle, Adobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate Instructor, Evergreen Online Learning, LLC
"Adobe RoboHelp (2019 release) delivers a whole new and exciting authoring experience. The modern interface and streamlined file and asset management features are sure to please."
—Shelley Bates, Production Strategist, Tanner Corporate Services
"SVG defines the graphics in XML format. In a nutshell, the support for high quality SVG images in Adobe RoboHelp (2019 release) makes sure graphics maintain a superior look and quality."
—Rajdeep Gupta, Managing Director & Principal Trainer, Blue Dots Consultancy Services
"If you aren't a CSS coder, the visual CSS editor in Adobe RoboHelp (2019 release) makes it much easier to change your styles and view those changes in real time. If you edit and/or create skins regularly, you'll not only get a modern interface with Adobe RoboHelp (2019 release), but also more tools to make your help projects look better than ever."
—Eric Butow, Owner, Butow Communications Group
"Adobe RoboHelp continues to offer fresh and exciting changes and provides us with a new perspective on UI."
—Rajdeep Gupta, Managing Director & Principal Trainer, Blue Dots Consultancy Services
"I am very excited to see so many wonderful enhancements to the workflow, authoring interface, and end-user experience presented in Adobe RoboHelp (2019 release). This is a comprehensive release that will solidify RoboHelp as the tool of choice for help authors who want to deliver state of the art help to their users."
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text: Carajo de boombox de los cojones, brothels! Check out those ghetto colors and speakers in that Lasonic dock-to-go for the iPod, mamasita! Or like they call it, the "high performance music system." Arriba! The 15-pound boombox comes with all kinds of flashy lights and 2 x 15W speakers. Not amazing power, but enough pa tocar el Chacarrón! After the jump.


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Grayson Murray got the experience of a lifetime last month when he competed in his first U.S. Open, but he doesn't expect it to give him an advantage over anyone in the Players Amateur at Berkeley Hall Club.
Murray, a 19-year-old from Raleigh, N.C., is one of three players in this week's field who competed in the major championship at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania. He finished third at a qualifier in Ball Ground, Ga.
"I didn't have a lot of expectations going into it," Murray said. "I got up there and was kind of soaking it all in, knowing I probably wasn't going to be contending, and (trying to) learn from it."
Murray missed the cut at 24-over par in his U.S. Open debut. He will appear in the Players Amateur alongside Michael Weaver, a University of California senior who finished 64th at Merion, and Gavin Hall, 18, who also missed the U.S. Open cut at 11 over.
The Players Am's 84 contestants were able to their first looks at Berkeley Hall's South Course during practice rounds Monday. First-round play begins Thursday morning.
"There are definitely a lot of scoring opportunities," said Travis Cashion, who recently graduated from the University of South Carolina Beaufort. "The main thing is keeping it in play off the tee."
Last week, Murray made the semifinals at the North & South Amateur in Pinehurst, N.C. He is playing a light summer schedule as he prepares to enroll at UNC Greensboro for his second year in college.
Murray transferred from Wake Forest after his first semester last year, then left East Carolina this spring after clashing with the Pirates' head coach, he said. He will have to sit out a year before he can play for UNC Greensboro.
"I'm playing a lot better golf, just because I am happier," he said.
Though he played against the world's best last month at Merion, Murray said he knows the field at Berkeley Hall is filled with players who will make their share of major tournaments as professionals.
"Any of them could have been up at Merion. This field is stacked," Murray said. "Looking at names from previous fields at this tournament, you recognize a bunch of them."
Brothers to face off
Two sets of brothers are in the Players Amateur field.
Richy and Mickey Werenski of South Hadley, Mass., both attended the Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy.
Richy is a rising senior at Georgia Tech. Mickey, who will attend Texas A&M next year, won the International Junior Golf Tour's Tournament of Champions in May.
John Voetsch is a rising sophomore at Vanderbilt. He will play this week with younger brother Will, a rising junior at Delbarton High School in New Vernon, N.J.
Hilton Head's White leads mid-ams
Not all of the Players Amateur contestants are young aspiring professionals.
Several mid-amateur players, who are out of college and not pursuing careers in golf, also are set to compete at Berkeley Hall.
That group is led by Todd White, a Hilton Head Island High School teacher. White reached the semifinals of the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship in September.
Nick Gilliam, who won the NCAA Division I men's individual title in 2001, former U.S. Mid-Am winner Kevin Marsh and former PGA Tour player Michael Muehr also are in the field.


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Newly opened in Harlem by Richard and Laura Parsons, Minton's is a reblossoming of the legendary jazz club, originally opened in 1938 where greats from Thelonious Monk to Charlie Parker played. Now a gorgeously reimagined contemporary supper club featuring a "southern revival with Low Country notes" menu from acclaimed chef Alexander Smalls, nightly jazz accompanies diners for a singularly unique and lovely experience in an intimate 70-seat venue.
Next door, sister restaurant, The Cecil is also open with a menu incorporating international flavors and touches in what is being described as Afro-Asian-American brasserie cooking. The menu at The Cecil is also overseen by chef Smalls. Parsons, former chairman of Time Warner and current chairman of the Jazz Foundation of America, says, "As an avid jazz lover for years, it has always been a dream of mine to open a supper club where guests can enjoy the sounds of great musicians while dining on great food in elegant surroundings. The culture and atmosphere that once defined Harlem's night scene and made it a destination, has waned through the years but Harlem is experiencing a renaissance and our hope is that these two restaurants will help solidify and propel this rebirth."
For more information visit the websites at MintonsHarlem.com and TheCecilHarlem.com.


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The American Institute of Architects at the University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation is hosting a Universal Design Awareness event on Saturday February 25th in the great space.
To quote the poster, " As the field of creative design adapts to the evolving needs of society, designers seek to accommodate those needs and to provide a comfortable & pleasant standard of living for all people. There exists a population among these people whose mobility is restricted as a result of a physical disability. We must consider the conditions and needs of those who are physically disabled and respond through our actions with design. But action starts with awareness. "


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Cygnus is quite a unique character, a little deep-sea diver immersed in an aquarium on the set of Gaia's VUmind Meditation Training Program. With the sediment settled and the water agitator turned off, Cygnus can see for miles in every direction: the tank's a bright, beautiful, healthy place to live. Cygnus (dare I say it?) is happy as a clam!
But what happens when the tank is stirred? All the debris from the bottom gets kicked up and disturbs the pristine waters. At first, it might not seem so bad: I can still see you, Cygnus! But if the agitation is very strong or doesn't let up, the effects in the tank get progressively worse: thick silt clouds the water, a grimy film begins to coat the glass, particles swirl all around, some of the bigger pieces of gunk even smack poor Cygnus in the head: Ouch!
Now Cygnus' world's turned chaotic and topsy-turvy: I can hardly see you anymore, little buddy! What happened to that calm, clear environment? Can Cygnus ever hope to clean up the tank?
Minimize the Mental Commotion
Just like our friend Cygnus, we often find ourselves at the center of a dizzying cloud of mental debris, unsure which way is up (or even how we got so disoriented in the first place). Sound familiar? Memories, dreams, stories, hopes, fears, worries, anxieties, images and sounds float by and endlessly churn through our heads. Sometimes your tank (a.k.a. your mind) gets so disturbed that it's too late to do anything constructive about it and you just have to ride out the storm. To survive all this turmoil, Cygnus might hunker down in the tank, frantically cursing and swatting at the swirling debris, or maybe alternate between silent sobs and desperate shouts for help.
What do you do when things get crazy inside? Pull the covers up over your head and wait for your thoughts and emotions to settle back down? Yell and scream at the nearest warm body? Melt into a puddle of self-pity? Run around haphazardly? Do you really need to escape "real life" in order to relax and enjoy the moment? What if you had some tools to minimize all the mental commotion? Or better yet: What if you had the just the right tools to proactively do something in order keep your tank from becoming disturbed in the first place? What if you could take control of your own mind? Wouldn't that be great for Cygnus? Wouldn't that be great for everyone?
Learn How to Control Your Response to the World Around You
You can't always control your environment, but you can control how you respond to the world around you. It's easier than you think, and it's called meditation! Meditation is simply the practice of focusing your attention free from distraction. But there's a few things it's helpful to learn and understand prior to your first session, and the VUmind trainers are here to guide you every step of the way. The first few times I tried to meditate I got up and quit because I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing, why I was doing it or how on earth sitting cross-legged on the floor and staring into space was going to help me at all. I would probably have been more successful if I had been a bit more familiar with my own home and my body, mind and nervous system. Then I might have known what I was doing, why I was doing it, and how counting my breath was supposed to help. Maybe I didn't have the right tools, or maybe I didn't just didn't know to use them.
Cygnus can calm the swirling tank, and you can calm your swirling mind.
Five Tools to Build an Effective Meditation Practice
The Internal Selfie: Get to Know Your Mind from the Inside Out
Before you sit down to fine-tune your mind, it's helpful to evaluate the clutter and perform a mental inventory of your body, thoughts and nervous system. You can accomplish this by taking what we call an Internal Selfie. It might sound silly at first, but give it a try; it's a handy tool that really works! You all know what an external selfie is
- that's when you take a picture of what you look like on the OUTSIDE. We want to turn the camera inward to see what's going on INSIDE: Does your body feel tense or relaxed? Is your mind distracted or focused? An Internal Selfie gives you a snapshot of "where you're at" in any given moment in time. Just as it's helpful to actually see what's disturbing the waters inside Cygnus' tank, it's helpful to see what's disturbing the landscape inside your own mind. Practice awareness with The Internal Selfie.
The Belly Breath Superset: Relax Your Body and Deactivate the Nervous System
With an accurate picture of the disorganized state of the tank, Cygnus might wonder: How will I ever clean things up? I can't even stand without getting whacked in the head by giant pieces of flying debris! Cygnus has to take care of the BIG stuff before before scrubbing the walls or raking up the finer gravel: Turn off the water agitator first, little buddy! In your day-to-day life, your own personal "agitator" is most likely running 24/7, and it's is taking a toll on your health, wellbeing, and overall happiness. You're probably operating on a low-grade adrenaline drip that's keeping you chronically activated all of the time. It's very difficult to slow down (let alone meditate!) when your physiology is out-of-whack.
The perfect tool to help you deactivate and get rid of the mental "big stuff" is the Belly Breath Superset. Belly Breathing can help relax your body and settle your nervous system, and is an important step in developing a truly effective daily meditation practice. The Belly Breath Superset gives bodily cues to your brain that you are safe and secure; this brings your nervous system out of the fight-or-flight response, and into rest-and-digest, where you want to spend the majority of your time. Belly Breathing can help you relax right in the moment, right when stress is happening, by giving you an ON/OFF switch for your nervous system. Learn the Belly Breath Superset in The Body Electric.
The Contact Exercise: Explore Your Body-Mind Connection and Get Familiar with Focusing Practice
Cygnus took an Internal Selfie and found out the aquarium was a mess. With some Belly Breathing practice, Cygnus can stand up straight without getting bonked in the head by big chunks of flying debris. But what about the smaller sediment? Now it's time for Cygnus to calm the waters even more. The Contact Exercise is a practical tool to help you settle your mind. The exercise introduces the fundamentals of following the breath, a classic meditation technique. Finding (and following) the breath isn't easy during meditation. So you'll start by practicing anchoring attention, experientially, on a specific point-of-contact. Use the tactile sensation of your hand placed on your stomach to get initial contact. Feel the sensation of your stomach rising and falling as the breath flows in, out, and then in again. Gently scratch with your thumb (just above the navel) to keep your attention focused on a specific spot.
When your mind wanders, recreate the point of contact by gently scratching with the thumb to bring your attention back again. Try to make that spot your whole universe and focus deeply on the sensations in your body. Keep breathing. Return to your stomach, rising and falling with the breath, over and over again. Hey, Cygnus! Are things settling down in there?
Watch the second half of The Body Electric to practice the Contact Exercise with Mark, Bill and Cygnus.
The Dimmer Switch: Regulate Your Nervous System and Find Your Sweet Spot
The Belly Breath Superset gives you an ON/OFF switch for your nervous system. But we all know life is more subtle than just ON or OFF and our activation levels vary throughout the day. We're usually unaware of all the dynamics happening in our nervous system – a lot happens automatically, without conscious thinking. When we're under chronic stress, we operate on autopilot, and miss the mark more often than we'd like. Watch what happens to Bill's nervous system as he goes through a typical day. For a sound body and a good life, modulation is imperative. Sometimes you need to activate and get things done; other times you need to dial it back a bit. Bill and Mark will introduce you to two classic Chi Gong martial arts exercises. Learn how to adjust your nervous system and find your sweet spot in The Dimmer Switch.
The VUmind Toolbox: Use Your Tools Everyday
The fifth tool is your Vumind Toolbox. Get to know your tools and keep them in a handy location to use them whenever you need. Let's review the tools we've been using so far:
- The most basic tool in your VUmind Toolbox is the Internal Selfie. The Internal Selfie gives you the ability to see what's going on inside by asking: What is the state of my body? What is the state of my nervous system? What is the state of my mind?
- In The Body Electric, you add the Belly Breath Superset to your Toolbox. Belly Breathing lets you turn your activation switch to the OFF position (just like when Cygnus turns off the water agitator). Cygnus uses this tool daily to settle the big stuff in the tank, and you can use this tool anytime to calm raging thoughts and emotions in the mind
- You're introduced to the third useful tool in the second half of The Body Electric: the Contact Exercise. Establish the foundation for traditional meditation practice by learning to focus on a specific sensation
- Finally, we've put a Dimmer Switch on our nervous system so we can dial our system UP or DOWN. This gives us a control to find our sweet spot and put our activation anywhere we want for any given situation
Hey, Cygnus! Looking good in there! Start your 14-day challenge and train with Cygnus today!
Commit to a Daily Meditation Practice with a Little Help from Your (Gaia) Friends
- Rodney Yee and Maritza's Daily Meditation
- Cyndi Lee's beginner Meditation 101 series
- Noah Levine's Dharma Punx: An Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation
- Padma Meditation: Counting Audio Meditation for beginners
- Padma Meditation: Breath Meditation


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Shabazz Napier is a player who wants to take the important shots, and on Sunday, no one could blame him.
His teammates were missing three out of every four, so when Napier found open space a few feet behind the three-point arc, he launched them.
Napier missed one that would have won the game in regulation, then he made three in a row to start the overtime session, and the Huskies had found yet another way to defy logic and the stat sheet to beat South Florida 69-64 before 9,205 at Gampel Pavilion.
"He's got that belief that he can make any shot," coach Kevin Ollie said, "and if he misses, he shakes it back off. 'Bazz is not scared to fail, and that's a great attribute. From failure comes success. He's not scared to take that big shot in the big moment. I think he embraces it, which is crazy, but it's what great players do."
Napier, the junior guard, scored 24 points, 11 of them coming in overtime as the Huskies overcame what was probably the worst first half a UConn team has played in a decade. They came from 12 points behind with a quick surge early in the second half and prevailed despite shooting just 29 percent from the floor. They were outrebounded 43-41 for the 15th time in 20 games.
"I've got a wonderful team," Ollie said. "They take you on some rides, but eventually they pull it together. It's just the heart they show. You knew it wasn't going to be perfect in the Big East, but getting wins, it's something we're learning how to do."
UConn (15-5, 5-3 Big East) has won three in a row. South Florida is 10-11, 1-8 and last in the league. Last Thursday, UConn was outrebounded at Providence 55-24, but won in OT. That one could be explained by the Huskies' 50 percent shooting. This game was perhaps a greater anomaly: UConn hit 5 of 27 shots in the first half and trailed 27-15, their lowest scoring first half since Dec. 10, 2002, when they trailed UMass 30-9, but came back to win, as they did this time.
"We came out and we just played terrible," said Ryan Boatright, "the worst I've ever seen us play, as a team or as individuals."
In the locker room, Ollie talked simply, but emphatically, about effort and energy.
"We didn't bring any energy, any passion," Tyler Olander said. "We were just going through the motions. We were lucky the fans stayed."
Napier hit a jump shot from just inside the arc to ignite UConn in the second half, and they went on a 10-0 to get back in the game, the only stretch in which they played the kind of up-tempo game they prefer. When Boatright (17 points) hit a three-pointer to put the Huskies ahead 30-29, they had scored as many points in 3 minutes as they did in the entire first half.
"We just came out too sluggish," Napier said. "We didn't come out with attitude we should have, playing our first game in Gampel [since Jan. 8]. We had to do a better job, show fans we love their support."
Once UConn pulled even, it was back and forth over the next 17 minutes. Napier tied the game at 45 on a three-pointer with 4:03 left. But Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds, kept finding and hitting open threes to keep the Bulls in the game.
"If you tell me we're going to hold them to 29 percent shooting," Bulls coach Stan Heath said, "… and we're going to outrebound them, and I'm thinking, 'we're leaving here with a win.'"
Down the stretch, Napier hit two free throws with 40 seconds left to put UConn ahead, but USF point guard Anthony Collins attacked the rim and scored to tie it with 11 seconds left. Ollie drew up a play for Boatright to penetrate, but the Bulls went to zone defense and stymied that. UConn settled for a long three from Napier at the buzzer, but he missed a shot similar to the one he made to beat Villanova last season. The game was tied at 52 and headed to OT.
"I've always demanded the ball at the end," Napier said. "I love those moments. I can't live with myself if I'm not the guy who takes the last shot. Then if I miss, I can't be upset with anybody but myself."
Napier, who was cited before the game with teammates R.J. Evans, Niels Giffey and Leon Tolksdorf for making the academic honor roll in the fall semester, kept on shooting. When UConn's first two possessions in OT got sloppy, he salvaged them with long threes near the end of the clock and suddenly UConn had its biggest lead, 58-52.
"We wanted to move the ball around quickly," Napier said, "It got kind of sloppy. Tyler made a great play getting to one ball. I felt like I could make the shot, so I took them.
Third time down, he made another to put UConn seven ahead and the Huskies made the necessary free throws to close it out. Napier finished 7-for-14 from the floor, his teammates 10-for-43.
"In overtime, I want to get the game over," Napier said. "I feel like I need to be more aggressive. When I have the ball in my hands, I penetrate, dish, do whatever it takes. I don't always make the right choice; at the end of the day, I'm not perfect. To be successful in life, you have to fail multiple times. I've failed so many times in my life through basketball, I just try to learn from it and do something better next time."


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|System: X360, PS3, PC
|Review Rating Legend
|Dev: id Software / Raven Software
|1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
|4.0 - 4.4 = Great
|Pub: Activision
|2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
|4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
|Release: Aug. 18, 2009
|2.5 - 2.9 = Average
|5.0 = The Best
|Players: 1 (2-12 Online)
|3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
|ESRB Rating: Mature
|3.5 - 3.9 = Good
All in all, completing missions and finding secrets to constantly improve your character is a fun and puzzling metagame that adds variety to the standard shooting elements. It also enhances gameplay by making exploration meaningful. What I wasn't so fond of was not being able to find enough of the hidden goods to be able to fully upgrade my powers and arsenal. Also, finding the tomes of knowledge should have been enough to open up the Veil Power upgrades. Having to then purchase them through the black market felt out of place and needlessly siphoned funds away from weapon tweaks.
Most of Wolfenstein has players taking out Nazi troopers and looking for hidden objects, but there is also a nice mix of Veil-infused über-enemies that force players to put all their battle skills together. Some of these foes, like Scribes, Assassins, and the Elite Guard, use the power of The Veil to kill you - shielding minions, increasing stealth, and raising corpse. Other toughies like The Altered and Heavy Troopers simply come at you with brute force. Then there are also story-driven boss confrontations that further mix up the combat. I liked the variety of enemies in the game, and the enemy design keeps things interesting. Additionally, the game never left me high and dry in terms of essentials for besting these baddies, or without a clue for how to deal with them. Of course, this did make the game a bit easy on normal difficulty. Fortunately, there are four distinct difficulties to choose from depending on your skill level.
Controls in Wolfenstein are very competent. Icing fools with headshots, lobbing grenades into a crowd of SS, unleashing Veil Powers, smashing the butt of your gun into the back of an officer's head, and moving around the battlefield all feels tight and intuitive. Even the introduction of zero-G environments and the constant transitions in and out of The Veil are smooth and natural.
The solid controls also help make the multiplayer side of the game worthwhile. Though online multiplayer only supports up to 12 players and has only three modes of play (Team Deathmatch, Stopwatch, and Objective), the eight maps, three classes (Soldier, Engineer, and Medic), and persistent, upgradeable characters/weapons add complexity. However, as intriguing as the multiplayer component is, it's short-lived. In fact, I had enough of it after just a few sessions. On the other hand, there already is a strong community that seems to be heavily engaged in the online competition, despite the fact it didn't manage to hook me.
Wolfenstein is a quality title most will enjoy. The solid shooter controls, interesting story, unique Veil mechanics, loads of hidden objects, and fine multiplayer give it legs. It isn't groundbreaking by any means, but it definitely aims to please.
Jonathan Marx
CCC Editor / News Director
Game Features:


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Lag BaOmer is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the legacy of the great sage Rabbi Akiva and of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the author of the Zohar. This day is traditionally celebrated by "gathering in the fields" with friends, in the spirit of Rabbi Akiva's teachings on the biblical instruction "love your fellow as yourself.' Fire is also a part of this celebration, alluding to the fiery teachings of Rabbi Shimon. On Sunday, April 28, at 7 – 8 p.m., Chabad will host a Marshmallow Roast in honor of this day. Adults and children are invited to celebrate with fire, marshmallows and s'mores, and story and song.
The event will take place at 7334 Rural Lane in West Mt. Airy. There is no charge, but please RSVP at www.ChabadNWP.org.


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Stockton, CA
Tom E. Dahl
Nov. 3, 1962 - Mar. 20, 2013
Tom E. Dahl passed away peacefully at his home with his family on March 20, 2013, after a battle with
He was a lifelong resident of Stockton, CA. Tom is survived by his loving wife of 13 years Donna Dahl, his son Torre, stepson Mark, four
grandchildren, his stepfather Jim Douglas, his brother David Dahl and nephew Daniel. He is preceded in death by his father, Orville Dahl and his mother Judy
Tom was a race car driver at his home track in Stockton, CA. He has spent lots of nights working on his race car with his father Orville who also raced stock cars. He also loved boating. The most important part of Tom's life was his family, he loved racing with his wife riding shotgun and helping his son put together his first race car in the 4 cylinder division. Tom always lent a helping hand to anyone who needed it on or off the race track. He was a very kind, generous man and he will be deeply missed by all.
A Celebration of Tom's Life will be held at his home on March 30, 2013 at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Tom's memory to The Relay for Life.org/lindenca under team (Bring It On) or contact Kelly Hill (209) 752-0426
Please sign the online guestbook at www.cherokeememorial.com.


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The Central Connecticut women's track and field team completed competition at the 2014 New England Outdoor Track & Field Championships Saturday tied for 16th out of 39 teams. The Blue Devils were led by junior Ronea Saunders who earned a team-high eight points with her silver medal performance in the high jump.
Saunders cleared a height of 1.75 meters in the high jump Saturday, finishing second out of 23 jumpers.
Also helping lead CCSU was senior Shelby Tuttle who tallied seven points over two events. After finishing fifth in Friday's prelims, Tuttle crossed the finish line sixth in the 100m hurdles with her time of 14.92 seconds. She also competed in the 400m hurdles, coming in fifth with her time of 1:03.64.
Tuttle was followed in the 400m hurdles by sophomore Alyssa Gonzalez who placed sixth in a time of 1:03.67.
Central posted four more performances in the top 15. The CCSU 4x100m relay squad finished 10th overall in 47.93 seconds, sophomore Chelse Terry claimed 11th in the discus (37.90m), freshman Brittany Mendelson took 12th in the 1,500m run (4:40.75) and sophomore Ally Gates finished 14th in the 3,000m steeplechase (11:15.89).
Junior Taylor LePage also competed for CCSU on Saturday, finishing the 800m run in a time of 2:17.56 for 19th in a field of 30 runners.


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Many iPhone 4S users may have noticed that from around 11 a.m to 4 p.m. PST yesterday, Siri suddenly stopped working and was experiencing network problems. However, Apple remains silent about the issue.
The outage is probably easy to understand. Siri has become tremendously popular and overtaxed Apple servers, according to PCMag. It's also in beta testing, so you can't expect perfection, but Apple said neither of these things. Instead, Apple's response or nonresponse seems to be more problematic for users. As PCMag notes:
Apple promotes its products as perfect objects produced by demigods. That is transparently false and in fact impossible, but it has worked for the company so far. That approach only becomes a problem when the human origins of Apple's gadgets turn into obvious bugs.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
We can see how that approach doesn't bode well for transparency. As in the Antennagate incident last year, Apple at first refused to acknowledge the problem, then refused to acknowledge it was a large problem, even though reports surfaced the company had known about the issue from its testing phase.
Let's hope Apple learns something from this and lets its customers know what's going on -- for real this time.


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How Does This Page Rank Check Tool Work?If you want to find out the Page Rank of a website, you want to the URL for numerous pages – not just the "Home" page. For example of how different pages have a different score, try checking: http://statstool.com http://statstool.com/pagerank-checker/ http://statstool.com/whois/ http://statstool.com/search-engine-pingler/ http://statstool.com/ip-whois/ http://statstool.com/alexa-rank-checker/ There are different PR values for each link. If you plan on purchasing advertising or buying a "used" website, this free Page Rank Checker can help you make an informed decision.
About Google Page RankPage Rank (named after Larry Page) is a link analysis algorithm used by Google that measures how many links point to a website or page, and more importantly the quality or importance of the sites that provide those links. It uses a numerical scale, with 0 being the least important and 10 being the most important. In an attempt to "cheat the system", some website owners have tried to purchase links back to their website hoping for a higher Page Rank. However, those low quality links can have a negative impact and result in a lower Google Page Rank. In addition, a website may be penalized or blocked from search results, giving priority to websites and web pages that have quality linkbacks and content that is valuable to humans. IMPORTANT: Please DO NOT modify the code, otherwise we can not guarantee the correct work of our free page rank checking tool that displays the page rank value!
Google Pagerank Update HistotyGoogle updates Toolbar Pagerank every 3 or so months:
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- 4 February 2013
- 7 November 2012
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- 1st Week August 2011
- April 2010
- Dec 31, 2009
- 30 October 2009
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- 9 January 2008
- 26 October 2007
- 28 April 2007


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As a public school child in the 70's, my Valentine's Day often ended in tears. I remember digging into my optimistically large brown paper bag in first grade to find only three envelopes, even though my mother had insisted I fill out mass-produced cards for every child in my class. "No one likes me!" I […]
In the midst of winter, I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer….
from May 31, 2009
This past week, our family planted a vegetable garden in our backyard. It was a day of dirty knees, even dirtier fingernails, and lots of shoveling. By the time bedtime rolled around, everyone was exhausted. But of course, not too exhausted for a story.
Coincidentally, we had just received a copy of The Brothers' Promise, by Frances Harber, a folktale about a family of vegetable farmers. My daughters were delighted by the illustrations of the father teaching the sons to dig up the soil and plant seeds – "just like us, Mama!" They tried to identify all of the vegetables in the wheelbarrow (clearly they have not had sufficient exposure to cabbage in their short lives) and compared the brothers' crops to our own. (Yes to carrots, but like the Obamas, no to beets.) As the story unfolds, the father makes a dying wish that the brothers continue his farm, and always care for one another. And when a poor harvest strikes the farm, the young men do just that – they sneak wheelbarrows full of food into one another's cellar, each believing his brother's needs to be greater than his own.
The Brother's Promise is a story of tzedakah, not gardening. Still, I couldn't help but wonder whether there's something about growing vegetables that inherently teaches children about giving. Many times, when children work hard on something, they are, shall we say…. a little hesitant to share. But in a good year, a garden almost forces us to give to others, lest we watch our lovingly tended squash and tomatoes go to waste. My daughters have grown accustomed to weekly deliveries from our next-door neighbor, an eighty-five year old man who lives alone but keeps a garden almost as large as when his children were young, and last summer they sent all their play-dates home with a parting gift of cucumbers.
I think there is an even deeper lesson about tzedakah in the act of gardening – one that goes beyond surplus crops. There's a little bit of magic involved in growing vegetables. And although I struggle with how to define it for my children, for me, this magic is some of the strongest evidence I have of God's presence. While we worked hard, surely we did not work alone. Some years, we are blessed with God's gifts of sun and rain in all of the right proportions, and some years we are not. In gardens, as in life, when we are blessed, we should share. When we are not, we can only hope that others will share with us.
Indeed, Judaism teaches us that to farm is to share, in a biblical tradition that's lost to most of us. The Torah mandates that we leave the corners of our fields unharvested, and that we should not pick up fallen fruits and sheaves of wheat. Instead, these are to be left for the poor and the stranger, who do not have their own land to till and tend. Technically, these laws, known as pe'ah and leket, only apply in the land of Israel, but I've tried to use our tiny agricultural plot, in a toy-filled backyard, on a busy street in a small New England city, to teach my daughters the values embedded in this tradition. Not only should we give our time and money to the local food bank, but we should invite others to take some of what we grow.
Last year, we posted an ad on the local Freecycle board inviting others to pick from our three apple trees. Granted, this was a painless kind of sharing – our trees dump way more apples than we could ever to use- and we put no effort whatsoever into the crop. But this year, I'd like to take it one step further and figure out a way to share what comes out of our garden not just with friends, but with those in need. Check the blog later in the summer, and I'll post updates as to whether we've succeeded in growing tzedakah in our garden.
originally published in the PJ Library e-newsletter


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Brandywine Polo Club sees community support after barn destruction
By ACL
Nicholas Place and Robin Carroll-Bostwick of the Brandywine Polo Club.
By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer
Throughout the course of its 63-year history, the Brandywine Polo Club in Toughkenamon has hosted lavish fundraising events that have raised sufficient amounts of money for dozens of organizations and causes throughout Chester County. Ironically, the event the club will be hosting on Aug. 31 will be for their own benefit.
Late in the evening of Friday, April 19, a straight-line wind shear ripped through Toughkenamon, and tore the roof off of a stall barn that, during the polo season, holds as many as 30 horses. Pieces of roofing, beams, and thousands of nails were airborne, and they landed everywhere, some as far as a half-mile away. Electric and water were unavailable.
Until April 19, the Brandywine Polo Club had 103 horse stalls. One day later, a third of those spaces were wiped away. Luckily, because it was two weeks before the 2013 season was to open, there were no horses in the barn at the time of storm.
Robin Carroll-Bostwick had just been named the new director of the Polo School a week before the tragedy, and was in Florida when she received a text message from a Polo Club member. "The text read, 'You may want to come up here a little early,'" Carroll-Bostwick said.
In the days and weeks after she arrived in Toughkenamon, she saw two things: the absolute devastation of the barn, and the tireless commitment on behalf of club members, volunteers and community members working to clean up the nearly 12 tons of debris.
On April 20, one day after the tragedy, a large youth lacrosse tournament was scheduled to take place on the club's grounds. Piece by piece, lacrosse players, their parents and league officials gathered to clean up debris. A local metal detector group volunteered to comb the area. Dozens of people who had never even played polo before cleaned up sections of the playing fields. Members and non-members gave up entire weekends to get the playing fields ready for the start of the season.
"The outpouring of community support, among everything else during this tragedy, is what impressed me the most," Carroll-Bostwick said. "Without them, we wouldn't have been able to have a season."
While the stall is down, seven horses are being kept at an old stall on the property, leaving many of the players being forced to find outside stabling for their horses. The cost of repair of the roof is estimated to be in excess of $100,000, and so far, the club has raised a quarter of the funds needed. The remaining 75 percent will have to come from other sources.
The Club's Polo Ball on Aug. 31 at The Yellow House of Willowdale is expected to make a huge contribution to the needed funding for the roof. Incorporating a Great Gatsby chic theme, the benefit will feature dinner, dancing, an open bar, a silent auction, and live music provided by Helix, a local band.
"This is a big change for the club," said board member Nicholas Place. "We are a long-standing tradition in Chester County, and yet it's still in many ways a well-kept secret. I have friends in Kennett Square who don't know that there is a polo club here, and this tragedy has given us the idea that we really want to engage our local community even more. We want to spread the message that polo is accessible to all, and a lovely way to spend a summer afternoon, to have a tailgate picnic and watch the sport."
In addition to its May-September season, the "Friday Night Under the Stars" concert series, an open-door policy for those looking to see polo practice throughout the week, and introductory classes in polo have all contributed, Place said, to removing the "elitist" stigma that has separated polo from the general public.
"The perception that polo is only for people with excessive amounts of money is long gone," Place said. "Over the last ten years, I've seen a significant change."
"We've developed our mission around the idea that polo is a family event," Carroll-Bostwick said. "It's difficult these days to find an event that allows an entire family to gather in one place, enjoy the fresh air and give the children an opportunity to run around."
Tickets for the Polo Ball event for the Brandywine Polo Club are $100 each, and $850 for a table for ten. To purchase tickets online, visit www.brandywinepolo.com. Sponsorships and suites are also available by calling 610-388-7758. The Yellow House of Willowdale is located at 113 E. Street Rd., Kennett Square. The Brandywine Polo Club is located at 232 Polo Road, Toughkenamon. For a complete listing of all events, visit the club's website.


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Merchants, Tradesmen and Merchants Financial Condition for Carroll County, Iowa; information obtained from the March 1929, R. G. Dun Mercantile Agency Reference Book, for Coon Rapids, Carroll County, Iowa
Armour & Co - Pkrs (Br of Chicago, Illinois)
Bell & Stormy - Gar
Berkelew Mrs Cora - Milly
Boehler Albert O - Cement, Tile, &c
Boehler George F - Rest
Bower & Bower - D G & Shoes
Bowman & Bowman - Meat
Bryan Joseph T - Var
Cadden & Bell - Autos & Gar
Caswell Carl F - Paint, Wallpaper & Mfr Wallppr Trimmer
Clark Earl - Used Autos, &c
Coder C. E. - Furn & Und
Collin & Perlin - G S
Coon Rapids Hardware Co (not inc) Hware & Radios
Coon Rapids Oil Co (not inc) - W & R
Esdohr & Esdohr - Rest
Frohlich Edward C - Groc
Garst Store, The (Trade name) - D G. Clo. &c.
Gibson C. B. - Jwlry
Grettenberg Wm - Grain, Coal, Feed & Implts
Groteluschen Louis - Impts (Br of Audubon)
Henry Samuel D. - Prtr & Publ
Johnson J. Lewis - Clo, Mens Furng, &c
Johnston Motor Co (not inc) - Gar
Jones Fulton C - Harn, Hware, Autos & Implts
Keister Lumber Co (not inc) - none
Kral J. J. - Shoe Rep
Kupka W. J. - Plbr
Leach J. W. - Gro (Br of Guthrie Center)
McGowan P. H. - Billds
Miller E. W. & Son - Grain & Coal
Muller W. J. - Harn & Feed
Patterson John P. - Photo
Phillips Bertha (Mrs James) - Bak
Rafferty O. E. - Billds
Royer Drub Co - none
Scott Otis C. - Bsmith
Textor Bros - Gro & Meat
Titus Ellis A. - Shoe Rep
Tucker James E. - Jwlr
Wallace Henry - Bsmith
Whitnell Verne - Hware & Plbr
Whitten Clifton H - Drugs, &c
Family is Forever! ;-)
This Blog focuses on Ancestor Stories, both the stories themselves about my family's ancestors and discussions of where they come from and how to prepare and share them. These stories may be non-fiction or fiction – we will always tell which is which, of course. Also see my KINNICK blog and The HOMEPLACE Series Blog, left sidebar, scroll down.
Monday, February 1, 2010
My Hometown on Monday -Week 5 - 1929 business list
Posted by Dr. Bill (William L.) Smith at 4:39 AM
Labels: 1929, businesses, Coon Rapids, Hometown, Monday
3 comments:
You are an inspiration for me!
We swung thru Iowa twice last year-where's Carroll County?ReplyDelete
Carroll County is above the middle of center in the western half of the state. In center of a triangle of Des Moines, Omaha, Sioux City, perhaps... ;-) Carroll is county seat.ReplyDelete
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tl:td: "Normal Science" refers to science when scientists focus on making progress, not just arguing in circles. The difference between probabilistic and bayesian — or "go-up" and "go-next" — statistics matters much more to the future of normal science and the nonsense that Walt and Meirsheimer came up with in a recent article.
Will F. Moore, at his blog A Second Mouse has a really funny up titled "Commentary on Mearsheimer and Walt." Not surprisingly, it is a commentary on Mearsheimer's and Walt's (d'uh! 🙂 ) recent post, which I also criticized. Basically, Mearsheimer and Walt wrote a piece in which they demonstrated deep confusion of scientific methods, and lamented the decline of the "old boys network" and its replacement by objective methods of evaluation.
One of the ridiculous parts of Mearsheimer and Walt's columns is their inability to distinguish substantive from non-substantive divisions in normal science. For instance, a large part of Mearsheimer and Walt's piece is dedicated to a discussion of "scientific realism," which appears to be a confused discussion of instrumental validity. Mearsheimer and Walt completely miss the division of scientific research into frequestist and bayesian camps, which Will Moore humorously emphasizes:
Quantitative approaches—particularly the misapplication of hypothesis testing methods which make complete sense in the context of survey research but no sense whatsoever in the context of the analysis of one-off populations—may be wrong, but at least we can systematically say why they are wrong.[4] Grand theory?—welcome to the narrative fallacy and that wonderful little hit of dopamine that your brain gives you in response to any coherent story. And that's all they've got to work with.
[4] And again, we know of plenty of alternatives, including the rapid emergence of Bayesian model averaging which is likely to wipe out the cult of incremental frequentist garbage can models. The cult otherwise known by the initials APSR and AJPS.
Previously on this blog, I've referred to "frequentist" and "bayesian" statistics as "go-up" and "go-next," because frequentist work tends to emphasize building a model of reality, while bayesian models tend to focus on predicting what will happen next. As I wrote previously:
The Go-Up view of statistics is that statistics measures the population from which an observation comes from. The appropriate way to go-up is to wait until you have a sufficient number of observations. and then generalize about the population from our observations. So if you are conducting science, and you notice. This is the method that Derbyshire was describing in 2010. A large number of observations of academic performance show consistent gaps between black and white learners. Because we're "going-up†from observations to populations, we can conclude some things about the population, and how outcomes in the population should work-out over all, but it makes no sense to try to predict any given student's success based on this. We're going-up, not going-next.
The Go-Next view of statistics is that statistics gives us the likelihood of something being true, based on what has come before. In Go-Next statistics, population-averages are besides the point. What matters is guessing what's going to happen, next, based on what you've seen before. The whole point is to guess what's going to work for individuals you know only a few things about, based on your experience with other individuals who shared some things with the new strangers.
The superstructure of science changes as the infrastructure of the economy changes. The Go-Next philosophy of statistics, once the peasant stepchild of the serene Go-Up interpretation, now reigns supreme.
The unfolding victory of Go-Next Statistics matters much, much more than, say, the Copernican Revolution. The number of people whose daily conversations were actually impacted by Copernicus may have been a few dozen, all involved in the Papal-Academic complex.
How many times a day does Facebook's decision of which news to share impact you?
There are real controversies and real research programs in normal science.
Too bad Walt and Mearsheimer know so little about normal science they were unable to identify either.


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Hand Knitted Woollen Socks Nepalese Fleece Lined Orange Indoor Shoes
Hand Knitted Woollen Socks Nepalese Fleece Lined Orange Indoor Shoes
Hand Knitted Woollen Socks Nepalese Fleece Lined Orange Indoor Shoes
Brand new 100% woollen socks made in booties or shoe style. The socks are hand knitted in Nepal by local village women. The interior lining of the socks is made from warm fleece (thermal protector) to avoid itching and to provide enough warmness during the cold season. The socks are suitable to fit average adult size as these are stretchable. The socks are widely used as indoor shoes or bed socks. Warm up your feet up with these amazing hand-knitted socks, created with love from the hearts of Nepalese artisan.
|Measurement (approx.)
|Heel to top
|Heel to toes
Note: Since the Product is entirely handmade by individual craftswoman,
· There could be minor imperfections and may vary slightly in size.
· The product comes with simple generic packaging without any custom tag.
· There could be slight variation in colour pattern and tones in each individual item.
- We accept payment through PayPal and Direct Bank Deposit / Bank Transfer.
- Payments must be made within 3 days of purchase to secure your ordered products.
- All stock items will be shipped within the 1-2 business days and custom order (MADE TO ORDER) items will be shipped within 3 to 10 business days under normal condition after receipt of the payment.
- The buyer will be responsible for custom duty or any other applicable charge. Therefore, buyer is advised to check with his / her country's rules and regulation before purchasing the item. More...............
In an unlikely event if you are not satisfied with the purchased item for the reason other than change of mind,
- The returns will be accepted provided that the items are returned in its original condition within the mentioned time frame.
- The buyer will be responsible for return shipping cost. More...............
Note: Since most of our products are handmade,
- There may be a slight imperfection, irregularities or variation in shape & size and no two are alike.
- There might be a slight variation between displayed product picture and the real product because of the different timing of the photograph or different computer screen resolution. More.......................


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Hey, howdy hey, y'all! Welcome to my brand new web site. Please take your time and browse through the pages of my life. I encourage you to listen to my music and watch a video or two.
Most importantly, please read my testimony. I hope you'll find hope as you read about my ups and downs and how I have learned to trust Jesus Christ with every step I take along this journey. Through it all, I have learned that His mercy endureth forever!
Many Blessin's,


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Wednesday, October 31, 2007
something for the 'homophobes' to think about
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
The hypocritic oath
Students did no better when asked if they, as physicians, should obey any of three hypothetical orders: to threaten a detainee with psychotropic drugs that would not actually be given; to give detainees a shot of harmless saline solution that they've been led to believe is a lethal injection; to kill a detainee with a genuine lethal injection. More than a quarter of the respondents said they would do the first two but not the third. Six percent said they would do any of the three. The right answer, according to the Geneva conventions, as well as the American Medical Association, is none of the above.
Full story: www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1675614,00.html
As a counterpoint let me add that during my time in Kuwait, I met several US doctors on their way in or out of Iraq with the National Guard, none of whom displayed any indication of being the kind of sick f*ck described in this article.
I Said I Would.........................
I said I would report on the vicissitudes of life in
First, the notorious adverse travel advisories.
Adolf has difficultly remembering any statements as full of pettifogging hyperbole and hysteria as the adverse travel advisories issued by the governments of NZ and
Adolf and the Cook looked in on three resorts well known to us in the Nadi area and occupancy was obviously less than 20% with few if any forward bookings. (Our own timeshare resort continues to enjoy over 90% occupancy.) Taxi drivers report trade is at rock bottom.
Second, g
Second, general opinion
I talked to as many people as I could (Indo and ethnic) about the coup and the Commodore and without exception they ALL said they believed Mr Bainimarama was doing the right thing for the future stability and prosperity of
Third, what of progress?
There is very good progress indeed. A new census has been completed. Readers might remember the completion of such a census is an essential prerequisite for a constitutionally legal election. Critics of the regime conveniently ignore the hard fact that the election which installed Qarase did not benefit from such a census.
Readers may not be aware that in
Mischievous reports in the MSM have quoted The Cmdr as saying that Qarase and the SDL will not be allowed to stand in these elections. The fact of the matter is that what he did say is that anyone attempting to stand on the policies of the SDL would be prevented from doing so by the terms of the charter. In other words, their racist policies would be unconstitutional. All in all, I'd say that Mr Bainimarama is two or three degrees smarter than Helen Clark and Winston Peters and is jogging along about twenty metres in front of them while they gasp to keep up as they desperately try to prop up their own corrupt regime.Fourth, how was the week?
Fabulous. From G & Ts at 1100 to warm water in the lagoon to 100 minute fast early morning walks to the humour that is just watching the locals being locals to a whole new meaning to the phrase 'gentle zephyr' as the temperature eased into the low thirties.
Muldoon's spirit walks
Clark's comment yesterday – that those arrested "at the very least" had been training with firearms and napalm – was also unusual, in that she was discussing cases currently before the courts.How about you let a jury work out what these bozos did, instead of making wild assertions to the media, you arsehole? Some of us prefer not to have politicians deciding who's guilty of what before the case even hits the courts.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Parekura wakes up to the 'racist' Maori threat
For once, some praise for Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia, who accuses the Maori Party of 'playing the race' card over the Tuhoe 'terror raids.'
Horomia also realises relations between Maori and Pakeha aren't as bad as the Maori Party believe, who have accused the police and government of racism over the raids.
"And as we enter a new era we need to acknowledge the bonds that have been forged, sometimes painstakingly, between Māori and non-Māori.
We also need to acknowledge that there is no one Māori voice, but a range of different voices. That no one individual and no one political party speaks for Māori. Despite claims to the contrary, there is no one "authentic" Māori voice."
His voice adds to some similar sense from Winston Peters on the matter, in contrast to the usual seperatist shite we get from the racist Maori party, who even compared Winnie to Don Brash.
It all leaves Colin Espiner of Stuff, like us, enduring that rare moment, agreeing with Winston Peters.
In the meantime, the police evidence is now with the solicitor general.
Hat Tip: Lindsay Mitchell.
Dear Leader defends her fucky Ducky
Has Helen lied about David Benson-Pope??
Hubbards' Last Lunatic Fling
This reminds Adolf of the the time the National Party stole Nutritech International's logo, sometime in the mid eighties. The company owner was overseas and Adolf sent out a press release entitles 'National Pinches New Logo.' We had heard at the time that a North Canterbury cocky's wife was on some upper echelon committee for the party and she spotted opur new logo on the envelope when she opened her statement of account. I will never forget the personal trauma of being pursued all day by journos desperate to get me to say we were going to sue the party. Of course we were never going to do that but, by hell, if it had been Labour it would have been a different story. I even had a call from one Max Bradford accusing me of being a publicity seeker. The cheek of the man. I reckon we got $50k's worth of radio, front page daily space and TV time out of it. Here they are. You make up your mind. (In fact, looking at it closely, I'd say the Gnats have made a few changes since those entertaining times.)
You Couldn't Make it up: Number 94
New Zealand First launches youth branch
The brainchild of Porirua part-time music teacher Tim Manu, the new branch is open to 18 to 25-year-olds.
Mr Manu, 26, who was elected to Porirua City Council this month, said he had been frustrated while a student to see NZ First without such a group.
"You always had National . . . and Labour on campus, but there was never NZ First."
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Auckland Marathon
I don't recommend it despite the enjoyment I had crossing the finish line in just on 4 hours.
I had planned/hoped to finish in 3:45 but slowed down in the head wind along along Tamaki Drive.
Now I'm very sore. It's a pleasant sore though.
I might stick to half marathons in the future. Much easier on my old bones.
And While My Back Was Turned................
How pathetic it all is.
Mallard The Muss turns out to be Palid The Puss.
Some commentators even say he deserves sympathy. Ralston should go and take a cold shower. This is the fellow who broke yet another convention for partisan political gain by fingering Dr Brash in the house. All I can say is, I hope Mallard's political career goes the same way as that of his victim. The difference is, of course, that it won't because Labour has no ethical standards. Then again, Labour will realise that, unlike Dr Brash, Mallard is unemployable in the real world.
Oh how Adolf would love to have been a fly on the wall. Did it go something like this?
'Speaking of affairs, Trev, how's Brenda? Have you caught any crabs lately?'
(For the juvenile lefties who might be trolling past, 'catching crabs' is a term used in rowing. It's what happens when you don't quite get your oar in properly.)
When is the next set of opinion polls due?
Liarbour rats flee sinking ship
There are Lies, Damned Lies and the Social Sciences
It's usually best to ignore any social science reporting in the media, or even any science reporting based on statistical data (eg, just about anything to do with nutrition and health), because working out whether you should take it seriously or not would require you both to look at the actual published research to see what it really found, and then spend some time analysing the likely agenda of the researchers and how they might have massaged/manipulated the results to get the outcome they were looking for.
For instance, if you read that someone analysed survey data from 7 countries and discovered a clear correlation between dietary fat intake and heart attacks, you might need to spend a lot of investigative time figuring out that he decided to leave out of his article the survey data from a dozen other countries showing no correlation at all. Or, if someone writes that your favourite food increases your chance of getting toenail cancer by 30% (Shit! Stop eating that poison now!), you'll search the news story in vain for the level of absolute risk, which most likely turns out to be that enjoying this food could increase your absolute risk of toenail cancer from 0.02% to 0.026%. (Well, that is a 30% increase, isn't it? Surely that's fair reporting then?)
In this case, it was reasonably obvious right off the bat where the grift is. The obvious first question is "How did you define sexual abuse?" (An obvious first question that no journo seems to have thought to pursue - as usual.) In this case, sexual abuse seems to have been defined as anyone ever touching you sexually in a way that you didn't want. Well, on that basis 1 in 4 seems pretty damn low if you ask me. Hell, I've been sexually abused on that basis. Who are all these people who haven't been?
If you go look at the WHO report, as opposed to the sensationalist blather from locals, you can see that it's a fairly well-designed survey that does actually distinguish genuine sexual abuse from sexual activity you didn't initiate or that happened before you hit the age of consent. I blame local activists for trying to turn the results into "1 in 4 women sexually abused!" scare-mongering.
Fergusson's right - all that this kind of scare-mongering achieves is the development of skepticism in the general public, and a consequent skeptical attitude by the public to genuine claims of abuse.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Immigration policy: NZ v USA
Convicted drink driver Dyson stirs the shit
Dear Lord! Please can I borrow $186,000
Liarbour's list of shame
Trevor Mallard is the Kiwi's own John Prescott
Friday, October 26, 2007
The "old dykes" home
The Perils of a Misplaced Exhaust Pipe
Hampshire police thought it would be a good idea to advertise on the rear of a bus... although their planning did not take into account the position of the bus's exhaust pipe... It gives a new meaning to the phrase "would you blow into this, sir"!
Liarbour's tax conundrum
Ducky's new bird
So Mallard's 'other woman' is finally exposed. It's former world champion rower Brenda Lawson.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
What's Left? Not much for the progressives!
Because I took a lead yesterday for a posting from the Midnight Sun, I was accused of potentially being a "vile racist bigot."
"The populist Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn was often labelled right-wing but said, fairly or unfairly, that he was hostile to Islam because he did not want to "have to go through the emancipation of women and homosexuals all over again". He entered politics partly out of rage at young Muslim men smashing the windows of his gay bar.
Left liberals, meanwhile, are thrown into confusion, or worse. In 2004, the left-wing Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, hosted a visit by Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a Muslim cleric whose fatwas endorse wife-beating and the murder of homosexuals."
Cretinous Cullen confirms he's a leader in New Zealand's Nasty Party!
Tuhoe 'terror camps' Islam connection
Free Rick Giles!!! Come on Helen , You can do it?
I was only thinking this morning that no-one has seen or heard from the wee fellow for about a month and I was getting concerned.
Then the story broke.
Rick Giles of NZB3 and Silent Running fame has been incarcerated in an American jail for the past month for staying a few days too long in the US of A.
He was trying to leave the country for Canada when a policement noticed he had stayed in the country seven days too long, which Rick said was due to him getting his dates mixed up.
But remember, he was trying to LEAVE America, he was not wanting to stay, he is no threat to America.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade are working on the case and the Libertarian community is rallying round. The ACT Party has been informed.
Dear Helen, I know he's not a supporter of yours, Rick is just a harmless little Libertarian from Canterbury.
Please use whatever power you have to get the Americans to release him.
I am sure you will find him more worthy of your time than a Saudi who frees drug criminals.
You have duties closer to home Prime Minister, responsibilities to your own citizens.
So Please Helen, use your power, show your leadership.
Dear Leader helps a Saudi criminal while ignoring the real victims of Islam
Duckman: The gift that keeps on giving!
Liarbour link alleged to Tuhoe "terror camps"
Hillary's paid army of bloggers: and does Helen have one too?
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Laura Bush meets the ladies of Dubai
Nope. Facing death by stoning or beheading for going the wrong way on any one of the items noted above ain't a big thing to good ole girl Laura. Instead, she highlighted the one thing that is ultimately less preventable and deliberate . . . Breast Cancer."
So wrote US blogger Debbie Schlussel a week ago about Dubya's better half's impending tour of the Islamic world, which is also covered by USA Today.
As Debbie notes, the irony is, while Mrs Bush panders to Islamofacist states, the leading country in the Middle East fighting breast cancer is , you've guessed it Israel!
And now she has arrived in supposedly moderate Dubai- the country that funds our yacht team and wanted to snap up Auckland Airport- we have the photo that encapsulates one of the many problems of Islam- it's treatment of women.
Debbie Schlussel makes another post this week, after the pics were published, adding a delightful caption competition.
All I will add, is at least by covering up the women don't have to worry about skin cancer!
UPDATE: I should have given a hat tip to Little Green Footballs but having just seen a posting on Fortress Australia, I am now thinking Debs was a little too harsh on Laura.
101 uses for an unwanted Liarbour MP
"Climate Change" critics put heat on Liarbour
Can we really stand nine more years of hard Labour!
As an immigrant from the UK, I can remember when I first came to New Zealand in 1995 on a Working Holiday Visa, that I seemed significantly better off than I had been in Britain.
But, in the tale as I have repeated many times since, over the years, New Zealand living standards have barely changed, while those in England seem to inch-up by 2-3% every year and likewise Australia too has prospered, creating a now noticeable wide gulf in prosperity each time I visit.
Further confirmation of this comes in this story: Wages up so where's the money gone? - New Zealand, world, sport, business & entertainment news on Stuff.co.nz
It follows last week , as Whale Oil explains, when David Farrar showed emphatically that despite all the rhetoric we are hardly any better off under Labour and wealth grew faster under the previous National governments of the 90s.
Now, National has released figures that show that despite increased wages, the impact of taxation and inflation have robbed the average worker of all but $500 of the increased $10,000.
Labour has reacted by producing their own figures and surprise, surprise they show we are better off, BUT only if you have children.
Whale Oil says it begs the question, "Are Labour alienating the non-breeders by favouring Breeders?" And he believes Labour will suffer a backlash from singles seeing how much of their taxes go on to funding other people's children via Working for families when they have student loans to pay, etc.
Indeed, there are philosophical points about how much you should subsidise someone's lifestyle. Should people, families included, stand on their own two feet? What can we say of a tax system that subsidises families when their gross income tops $100,000 a year, as Working For Families does? What can we say of a tax system where you lose so much of any extra income that it does not pay to work harder or gain that promotion, as happens under Working for Families.
Still, WFF creates jobs for bureaucrats, allows Liarbour to claim it is offering tax reliefs, allows people to be bribed with their own money, and allows the middle class to become welfare recipients, thus enlargening Liarbour's dependent constituency.
Wouldn't it be better if tax could be kept as low and as simple as possible? That way, there would be no disincentives to work and promotion, families would not need subsidy, fewer bureaucracts would be needed, singles would not feel hard done by.
That might not be good for Liarbour, but I am sure it would be good for all of New Zealand.
UPDATE: Whale Oil uncovers this parliamentary exchange, which reports on the figures quoted above, where Dear Leader has possibly misled the house over definitions of what are tax cuts and what are tax relief.
UPDATE2: Colin Espiner of Stuff blogs today: Working for Families can't be tax cuts in drag.
Steve Maharey has his snout in the trough
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
The (UK) "Not Independent"
Panty Slut Boy begs for more
Horror of horrors ! It's the Hillary and Helen show
Monday, October 22, 2007
IslamoFacism Awareness Week
You Tube uncovers political filth
Little Red Racists
Brace yourself for the 'Greenwash"
Something for everyone, including Environment Minister Marion Hobbs, to think about this cloudy Labour Day.


text:
NBC/Marist poll shows it's neck and neck in Virginia… McAuliffe 43%, Cuccinelli 41% among registered voters… Cuccinelli 45%, McAuliffe 42% among likely voters… Good news for McAuliffe: It's early, he has room to grow, and the GOP's fav/unfav is way upside down in the state… The bad news for him: The poll doesn't show Cuccinelli with an ideological problem just yet… Voters are relatively down on the VA GOV field, but are upbeat about the state's direction… Looking ahead to 2016 in Virginia: Hillary tops McDonnell, while McDonnell beats Biden… Separate NBC/Marist poll shows Christie crushing Buono, 60%-28% among registered New Jersey voters… Looking ahead to 2016, Hillary is ahead of Christie, but the New Jersey governor leads Biden… From Appalachian Trail to Comeback Trail: Sanford beats Colbert Busch, 54%-45%... And House committee holds Benghazi hearing at 11:30 am ET.
*** Neck and neck in Virginia: Six months out until Virginia's gubernatorial contest, Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Ken Cuccinelli are locked in a close contest, according to a new NBC News/Marist poll. McAuliffe, the former Democratic National Committee chairman, gets the support of 43% of registered voters and Cuccinelli, the state's attorney general, gets 41%; 16% say they are undecided. That's a different result from a recent Washington Post poll of the race, which had the Republican leading by five percentage points. But a deeper look in this NBC/Marist survey, and it's clear Cuccinelli has a slight advantage. It starts with intensity: 53% of Cuccinelli backers strongly support him, versus 47% who express similar support for McAuliffe. What's more, among likely voters -- not always the best way to measure a contest this far out -- Cuccinelli has a slight edge over McAuliffe, 45%-42%. The race also features a clear gender gap, with McAuliffe leading among female registered voters (50%-34%) and Cuccinelli ahead with men (49%-34%).
Patrick Kane / AP
Ken Cuccinelli, Republican candidate for governor of Virginia and Virginia attorney general, speaks during the 65th Annual Shad Planking Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at the Wakefield Sportsmen's Club in Wakefield, Va.
*** Good news, bad news: The good news for McAuliffe is that he has plenty of room to grow (44% of voters say they're unsure/never heard of him, compared with 32% who say that about Cuccinelli). And the Republican Party is a potential drag for Cuccinelli: The GOP has a 37%-53% fav/unfav rating in the state, versus the Democratic Party's 44%-46% score. Yet so far, before any negative advertising begins, the poll doesn't show the party dragging Cuccinelli down -- his fav/unfav is 42%-27%. In addition, despite what some opinion leaders might believe, Cuccinelli doesn't have an ideological problem right now, either. Per the poll, 27% say he's too conservative, but a plurality of 39% think his ideology is just right. By comparison, 28% see McAuliffe as too liberal, and 33% say he's just right. And the two men essentially run even on candidate-quality questions, although Cuccinelli has a slight edge on some of them, including ones where Democrats usually outperform Republicans.
-- Who better understands people like yourself? (Cuccinelli 34%, McAuliffe 30%.)
-- Who do you trust more to do what's best for Virginia? (Cuccinelli 39%, McAuliffe 33%.)
-- Who is closer to you on social issues? (Cuccinelli 33%, McAuliffe 31%.)
-- Who cares more about the middle class? (McAuliffe 31%, Cuccinelli 30%.)
-- Who shares your values? (Cuccinelli 35%, McAuliffe 29%.)
*** Down on the gubernatorial field but upbeat on the state's direction: Strikingly (and perhaps not surprisingly), only 52% say they are satisfied with the field of gubernatorial candidates in Virginia. That's compared with 61% who say that it in New Jersey (more on that gubernatorial contest down below). That said, all the state's politicians are pretty popular. Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell's approval rating is at 61% (what scandal?); Cuccinelli's approval rating as attorney general is at 51%; and President Obama's approval in the state is at an equal 51%. What's more, if McDonnell were allowed to run for re-election, he'd lead McAuliffe by 15 points, 51%-36%. And a whopping 61% believe the state is headed in the right direction. Bottom line: The state is in good shape, and the Cuccinelli-McAuliffe contest could largely come down to which candidate can do a better job of selling that he would follow the Warner-Kaine-McDonnell path -- the conservative attorney general or the former DNC chair? It's clear voters don't really want change. It's why when you look at this survey, everything points to the GOP holding the slight advantage as the party in power.
*** Looking ahead to 2016: And our NBC/Marist poll has some fun 2016 numbers to chew on when it comes to Virginia. In a hypothetical matchup, Hillary Clinton leads McDonnell in the state by 11 points, 52%-41%. Let those numbers sink in -- despite McDonnell's 61% approval rating, he trails Clinton by double digits. However, in a hypothetical contest against Vice President Biden, McDonnell leads, 49%-42%. That said, nearly six-in-10 (58%) don't want McDonnell to run for president. The NBC/Marist poll of Virginia was conducted April 28-May 2 of 1,095 registered voters (margin of error of plus-minus 3.0 percentage points) and 692 likely voters (plus-minus 3.7 percentage points).
*** In New Jersey, Christie is crushing his Dem opponent: In this year's other gubernatorial contest -- in New Jersey -- Republican Gov. Chris Christie leads his Democratic challenger Barbara Buono by more than 30 points among registered voters, 60%-28%, according to a separate NBC/Marist poll. Strikingly, 42% of Obama voters are supporting the incumbent governor. What's more, 69% approve of Christie's job performance, and 82% back his handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Meanwhile, 56% of registered voters approve of President Obama's job in the state, and 46% approve of Sen. Bob Menendez's (D-NJ) job.
*** Christie and his party, and Christie and 2016: The poll also explains why Christie is disagreeing with his national party some of the time. The GOP's fav/unfav in the survey is 34%-59%, versus the Democratic Party's 50%- 43% score. Yet despite Christie's sterling numbers in this political environment, Hillary Clinton tops him in a hypothetical 2016 contest in New Jersey, 52%-41%. But Christie beats Biden by pretty much the same margin, 51%-40%. That said, 55% of registered voters in New Jersey don't want their governor to run for president. The NBC/Marist poll of New Jersey was conducted April 28-May 2 of 1,080 registered voters, and it has margin of error of plus-minus 3.0 percentage points.
*** From Appalachian Trail to Comeback Trail: Turning from future contests to last night's contest, former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) beat Elizabeth Colbert Busch (D) in the special congressional election in South Carolina, 54%-45%.. MSNBC's Jessica Taylor put it well: Sanford's political career since '09 has had plenty of ups and down -- "more ups and down than the mountains of the Appalachian Trail." And his victory last night represented one of the ups. Interestingly, Sanford now comes to Congress owing nobody, and he has a bully pulpit at his disposal if he wants to use it. Yet the biggest takeaway from last night is that in today's political climate, ideology trumps all. You could be a disgraced politician, and you could have been fined for breaking state ethics rules. But as long as you belong to the right political party in your state or district, you're likely going to win. That said, Democrats are certainly trying to use this silver lining after their defeat: "House Republicans' outreach to women voters now has Mark Sanford as the face. Republicans now have to defend him and stand with him until Election Day," DCCC Chair Steve Israel said in a statement last night.
*** House committee holds Benghazi hearing: The final story we're watching is today's Benghazi hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which takes place at 11:30 am ET. The Washington Post: "Republican lawmakers, who have spent months seeking to tie President Obama to last year's deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, are increasingly focusing their probe on a new target: former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton. The GOP-led investigation of the Sept. 11, 2012, assaults that killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three others now centers heavily on the State Department and whether officials there deliberately misled the public about the nature of the assault."
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text:
Chinese New Year Chocolate Spring Roll Recipe 2010-02-09 16:05:40
Chocolate Kumquat Spring Rolls
Chocolate Kumquat Spring Rolls
From Epicurious
- 5 kumquats, cut into 1/4-inch slices and seeded, juices reserved
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon ( 4 1/2 ounces/127 grams) heavy whipping cream
1/8 teaspoon of salt
8 1/4 ounces (233 grams) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
Thirty-six 5-inch square spring roll wrappers
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Canola, vegetable, or other neutral oil for deep-frying
- Put the kumquat slices and their juices into a small saucepan, add the cream and salt, and warm over medium heat just until bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Remove from the heat.
- Put the chocolate into the bowl of a food processor and pour the hot kumquat cream over it. Let sit for 2 minutes, then process until the mixture becomes smooth and shiny.
- Add the egg yolk, Grand Marnier, and butter and process to combine.
- Line an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap. Pour the chocolate mixture into the pan and transfer to the freezer. Freeze, uncovered, until completely hard.
- Unmold the chocolate bar and peel off the plastic wrap. Cut the bar lengthwise in half, then cut each half crosswise into 1/2-inch slices. You should have 36 chocolate bars.
- Lightly brush the entire surface of a spring roll wrapper with a bit of the beaten egg. Turn the wrapper so that you see a diamond, and lay a chocolate bar across the end closest to you so that the ends of the bar meet the edges of the wrapper to form a triangle. Take the corner of the wrapper closest to you and wrap it around the chocolate, then roll the chocolate away from you one full rotation. Tightly fold the sides in toward the center, then continue to roll up to the end of the wrapper, making sure the end is tightly sealed. Set on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and chocolate.
- Freeze the spring rolls for at least 10 minutes or up to 2 days; take them out only when you are ready to fry them.
- Fill a saucepan with oil to a depth of 2 inches and heat to 350°F. When the oil is ready (a tiny pinch of flour will sizzle), add a few spring rolls, taking care to not crowd the pan, and cook, turning occasionally and adjusting the heat as necessary to maintain 350°F, until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Drain on paper towels and cook the remaining rolls. Serve warm.
Makes 3 dozen spring rolls.
- Category
- Desserts, Chocolate
- Cuisine
- Chinese


text:
Mannie Fresh Responds to Proposed Big Tymers Album With Drake, Lil Wayne
Rap fans were excited when Lil Wayne announced that a Big Tymers album was in the works with himself, Birdman and Drake. But then they were equally dumbfounded to learn that Mannie Fresh, one of the original members of the group, would not be part of the project.
MTV caught up with the legendary New Orleans producer to get his thoughts on the situation. Like us, Fresh thinks it's incredulous to have a Big Tymers LP without him on it.
"It's kinda like doing a Jackson 5 album with Boyz II Men. Two different eras, great artists, but Boyz II Men is not the Jackson 5," he told Sway Calloway on Wednesday's episode of 'RapFix Live.'
Despite not being called to reunite with his Cash Money brethren, he harbors no ill will and wishes them the best of luck.
"I don't bash Cash Money, Birdman, or none of them. It's really on, I'm just striving on just getting what I deserve, you know, what I put in," he says. "Honestly, I think Drake is a great artist, I think Wayne is a great artist, but they not the Big Tymers."
"You can call it whatever you want to call it, but you can't call it a Big Tymers album," he adds.
We have to agree with Fresh on this one. No disrespect to the in-house producers on YMCMB, but we don't think they can bring that N.O. bounce and flavor that made Big Tymers such a classic group.
As for Mannie resolving his personal grievance with Birdman, he's open to a discussion just as long it's about business.
"I'm too old to be making diss songs. I'm too wise to be making shots at anybody, but my thing is I'm a business man at the end of it," he said.
C'mon Birdman, show Mannie Fresh the cash.
Watch the Big Tymers 'I'm Still Fly' Video