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Saturday, June 11, 2011
Strange Saturday In NASCAR Land
At 11:30AM on Saturday, the TNT trio of Adam Alexander, Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach will be on TV. The Sprint Cup Series cars will be qualifying at Pocono for the first TNT race of the season on Sunday. But, there is a catch.
TNT provides no support programming to NASCAR of any kind. The qualifying will be on SPEED. Lindsay Czarniak and Larry McReynolds will be standing around in the infield as they did on Friday. Apparently, the TNT infield rig is just for Sundays. Matt Yocum and Ralph Sheheen will also be walking around pit road as reporters for the session.
NASCAR qualifying will not be the first live racing of the day on SPEED. At 8:30AM the network begins an unprecedented effort to provide coverage of the entire 24 Hours of LeMans, including a pre and post-race show. The coverage will begin on SPEED and then move to SPEEDtv.com when Pocono qualifying begins.
The picture above is of the LeMans entry that will be piloted by Micheal Waltrip and two other drivers. The car starts 15th in the GTE Pro Class and will grid in the 44th overall position. The Ferrari 458 Italia is the only car in the field with three rookies as the driving team. As with everything else Waltrip does, this should be interesting to watch.
After the Le Mans and Pocono programs, SPEED continues with qualifying coverage of the Canadian F-1 Grand Prix at 2PM ET. Next, it's back to Le Mans with continuous coverage until 8PM. Then, it's time for the ARCA folks to race at Pocono, even though the race is same-day delayed. No lights at the big triangle.
There is an hour of AMA Motocross scheduled at 10PM and then the big block of live Le Mans programming returns as the night gives way to the day and one of the most spectacular finishes in motorsports.
This post will serve to host your comments on the big day of motorsports TV on Saturday. There are plenty of NASCAR connections running throughout these programs and the motorsports world is ultimately very small. To add your comments, just click on the comments button below. Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.
16 comments:
- kbaskins said...
For those who are going to watch the LeMans race, here's a handy chart to keep the 56 car entries and their drivers straight:
- June 11, 2011 at 1:48 AM
- Anonymous said...
What's the over/under on Tricky Triangle? That will be this weekend's most annoying phrase by far.
- June 11, 2011 at 8:31 AM
- glenc1 said...
That's gonna make the highlight reel. Why are they letting people in a place like that? Glad everyone seems okay.
Heading out for some errands, hope to be back for cup qualifying.
- June 11, 2011 at 10:07 AM
- Palmetto said...
Dangerous accident in the first hour of Le Mans. One car nearly jumped the tire barrier, showering spectators with debris, including a tire. Lots of updates on the driver's condition (he walked away) but not that first word on potential spectator injuries. They're rerun it several times; I assume they wouldn't do so if someone was visibly hurt.
- June 11, 2011 at 10:14 AM
- Daly Planet Editor said...
Our friends over at Jalopnik.com have the accident video posted. Driver walked away, no spectator injuries.
- June 11, 2011 at 10:48 AM
- Mark said...
Photographers and marshals in that area, definitely not spectators. They generally try to make things as safe as possible for us (I'm a motorsports photographer) but some risk is accepted as part of the job. Very, very lucky no one got killed.
- June 11, 2011 at 11:41 AM
- Anonymous said...
I know this was mentioned yesterday but why is Lindsay and Larry Mac standing on pit road? TNT could only get the infield studio for Sunday? Why have hosts and no studio and where will they go if it rains? Garage maybe?
- June 11, 2011 at 11:51 AM
- Daly Planet Editor said...
Anon, the only infield facility is the TNT infield rig. As I mentioned in my post, that is for TNT use only.
- June 11, 2011 at 12:41 PM
- Buschseries61 said...
I didn't get to see practice. Were Larry and Lindsay useful in their roles? I don't really see what they could add. The traditional SPEED practice session broadcasts with the booth & 2 reporters seems more logical.
- June 11, 2011 at 1:59 PM
- adamtw1010 said...
SPEED's live stream of the 24 Hours of Le Mans says "Optimized for iPad." Looks like SPEED is getting better with their online streaming, maybe our friends at Turner will catch on.....
- June 11, 2011 at 2:09 PM
- AncientRacer said...
Anon 8:31
If you mean the over/under on the first commercial break I am setting it at 9 (aasuming green flag laps)
- June 11, 2011 at 2:58 PM
- GinaV24 said...
Anon - they will say Tricky Triangle at least a dozen times in the pre-race show alone!
- June 11, 2011 at 7:07 PM
- Anonymous said...
dan wheldon is doing pretty well as a commentator on indy race
- June 11, 2011 at 9:12 PM
- Sophia said...
Agree Wheldon IS doing well in the booth.
What we want to know is who is DIRECTING this race. Too many in car cams for us :(
I thought Wells was going to do some Indycar this year but THIS does not look like his usual good work from NASCAR on TNT.
It's really annoying to have PASSES seen with side car cam...same thing that ran me OFF of NASCAR races :(
When I try to ch surf to Le Mans, its a darn commercial.
- June 11, 2011 at 11:33 PM
- Sophia said...
P.S. Great camera work for END of Indycar race.
A STEADY CAMERA on the finish line from a distance for at LEAST 20+ seconds. AMAZING.
The director/producer at least allowed us to see the cars whiz over the line.
Course in Indycar, they look alike to me & I can't tell who's driving what but I digress
- June 11, 2011 at 11:48 PM
- Don said...
I've been watching the EuroSport coverage because they show the entire race. They recognize that one of the most important races of the year shouldn't be interrupted by QUALIFYING.
With a 24 hour race to cover, they have plenty of time to get commercials in. That's especially true because many of them are only 10 seconds long. I don't belive that they've been away at commercials for more than 30 seconds.
many times they've gone a minute or more without saying anything. Just watch the cars and listen to the race.
They don't hesitate to call out when the cameramen are showing the wrong angle or wondering why they aren't showing the incident that's just been announced by race control. They also are quick to correct each other when someone's made a ridiculous statement or hasn't been listening to what's just been said.
Nobody is telling me what shock absorbers do, nobody is telling me what things were like when they were driving. There are no animated sequences that fill up half the screen. They don't have a Pizza Hut Favorite Driver or the Dodge Hard Charger of the race.
They not only acknowledge that there are other race series, but they provide updates on NASCAR and Indycar so that we don't have to play commercial tag switching between channels in an effort to get an update.
Not only is it watchable, it's watchable for sixteen hours straight.
- June 12, 2011 at 12:55 AM


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Free SEO Toolkit for Search Engine Optimization on IIS
There's now a free SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Toolkit that easy to install (via the Web Platform Installer or directly) and use with IIS to analyze your website. It offers reports to help you make your site more search engine friendly, helping to increasing traffic (and helping to get the right kind of traffic). The reports can also identify problems (e.g. missing content, incorrect links, etc.) that can sometimes be difficult to find.
There's also a 14 minute video walkthrough of how to work with the SEO Toolkit and what it can do for you.
By the way, the SEO Toolkit is just one of many IIS Extensions available (logging, routing, dynamic IP restrictions, smooth streaming, and more.)

subset: commoncrawl


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From mangroves to spiders, trout to bobcat, the latest edition of Global Re-introduction Perspectives presents 52 case studies on re-introduction projects from around the world.
Re-introduction is a conservation technique that returns viable populations of animals and plants to an area they previously inhabited. Re-introduced populations are bred in captivity or translocated from one area to another; however, success is only achieved with a great deal of research and preparation.
The new publication provides a fascinating overview of re-introduction projects that are aiming to restore biodiversity. An interesting case is the Père David's Deer (Elaphurus davidianus) re-introduction in China, which involved the establishment of many parks and natural reserves across the country, some of which have now reached carrying capacity for the species. The record breaking mangrove rehabilitation project in the Indus Delta, Pakistan, involved over 800,000 seedlings being planted in 24 hours by a team of 300 volunteers from coastal communities. Other projects include the release of Northeast Bornean Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus ssp. Morio) from captivity to wildlife reserves in Malaysia.
Each project in the book is ranked as either 'Highly Successful' 'Successful' 'Partially Successful' or 'Failure', with an explanation about difficulties faced and lessons learned. Most of the featured projects have been successful, although the reporting of failed projects is equally important, helping to prevent repeated mistakes. A recurring limitation of many of the featured projects is lack of funding for post-release monitoring or site maintenance after a re-introduction has occurred.
Thanks to the financial support of the Environment Agency-ABU DHABI (EAD) and the Denver Zoological Foundation (DZF), the compilation and publication of these case studies was made possible. The new book follows the recent publication of the 2013 IUCN Guidelines for Re-introduction and Other Conservation Translocations, an essential guide for conservation practitioners and policy-makers.
"Whilst it is encouraging to see that re-introductions and translocations are widely used as conservation tools for many taxa, it is also an indication that the pressure on species is increasing, and that quality habitats and space available for species is decreasing; either through direct competition from alternative land-use or through climate change and its associated effects" said Frédéric Launay, Chair of the IUCN SSC Re-introduction Specialist Group.
The new book is the fourth edition in a series produced by the IUCN SSC Re-introduction Specialist Group.
For more information contact:
Pritpal Soorae, IUCN/SSC Re-introduction Specialist Group, email@example.com


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Update, Oct. 8: Applications for the Lillie Awards can be downloaded here. Visit this MBL site for further guidelines.
The University of Chicago and the Marine Biological Laboratory have created a new MBL research award program that will provide funding for scientists to develop novel, collaborative projects based at the MBL that will lead to transformative biological discoveries.
The initiative will be known as the Frank R. Lillie Innovation Research Awards, in honor of the early 20th-century embryologist who served as the MBL's second director and as chair of UChicago's Department of Zoology. The awards represent the first formal new research opportunity since the announcement in June 2013 of the new affiliation between UChicago and the MBL.
Funding through the awards will be open to collaborators from the worldwide MBL research community. It includes year-round MBL scientists and scientists from other institutions who currently participate or propose to participate as visiting researchers, or course faculty in the MBL's renowned summer programs.
"The Lillie Awards signify one of the first steps our institutions are taking together to realize the highest aspirations of our new affiliation—to encourage innovative, groundbreaking biological research that benefits science at the MBL and beyond," said University of Chicago President Robert J. Zimmer.
"The MBL's motto is 'biological discovery in Woods Hole,' and its special influence in modern biology has been to bring together scientists from around the world to collaborate and exchange ideas, leading to discoveries that have transformed biology and biomedicine," said MBL President and Director Joan V. Ruderman. "This program will help seed promising working collaborations that can then take root in the MBL's fertile intellectual setting."
The Lillie Awards will provide for two years of pilot research for a total of $125,000 per award, in honor of the MBL's 125th anniversary. They are intended to bring together interdisciplinary teams that have not collaborated before, for a project that represents a new area of inquiry for the investigators. The goal is to stimulate more "blue sky" thinking by investigators that can lead to external funding with a consortium of collaborators working together on a big problem.
Teams who receive the Lillie Awards will be able to develop their projects over a period including two or three successive summers, working in residence as a team at the MBL, in addition to continued progress on the project during the traditional academic years between MBL visits.
"Today's funding environment can make it difficult to develop innovative, collaborative projects that require time to take shape and establish connections," said Joshua Hamilton, Chief Academic and Scientific Officer at the MBL. "By providing the time and place for new collaborations, these awards will help our scientists take unexpected directions and address new problems, including 'high-risk, high-payoff' projects that are increasingly difficult to fund at the national level."
Proposals for the awards will be accepted starting in mid-October, with a deadline of Dec. 15, 2013 for the first round of submissions. An external blue-ribbon panel of scientific experts will be established to review proposals in early 2014, with award notices provided by March 31, 2014. The institutions will make two awards available in each of the next two years, with the two-year projects beginning in spring 2014 and spring 2015. The application form can be downloaded as a Word template here. More information is available on the MBL/ University of Chicago affiliation website.
The decision to name the awards after Frank R. Lillie highlights the collaborative aims of the new UChicago-MBL affiliation. Lillie was a student at MBL and UChicago under Charles O. Whitman, the MBL's founding director, who also served as the founding chair of Zoology at UChicago. Lillie became a faculty member at the University of Chicago in 1900 and remained until his death in 1947. In addition to his role as Zoology chair and MBL director, Lillie later served as dean of UChicago's Division of Biological Sciences. Present in Woods Hole every summer for 55 years, Lillie was instrumental in establishing the MBL as a pre-eminent biological laboratory.
"We have laid the principle of cooperation at [the MBL's] foundation," Lillie said, "and we have attempted to build it into every one of our activities."
The affiliation between UChicago and the MBL is designed to build on shared values and historical ties between the institutions. The MBL has been a driving force in biological discovery and research training since its founding in 1888. Both institutions have reputations for scientific excellence, highly collaborative cultures that draw top scientists from around the world, and programs that will benefit from the affiliation's combination of strengths.


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BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) - Shareholders in EADS EAD.PA pored over a handful of clauses in the closing stages on Tuesday of talks to shake up the European aerospace group, people familiar with the discussions said.
Meetings in Paris focused on industrial and banking transactions needed to let the German government to take a direct stake in the parent company of Airbus for the first time. Barring surprises the main lines of political agreement appeared to have been decided.
EADS shares EAD.PA rose up to 3 percent for a second day on hopes of a simpler structure for Europe's largest aerospace group, which has been controlled by a maze of French and German public and private interests since it was created in 2000.
"The negotiations about a new shareholder structure are making good progress," a spokesman for Germany's economics ministry said. "But there are still important details open, so the participants are still aiming to find a solution as soon as possible."
The deal is expected to bring Germany on board as a direct shareholder for the first time, while allowing proxy industrial shareholders - French media firm Lagardere (LAGA.PA) and German carmaker Daimler (DAIGn.DE) - to sell their stakes.
Analysts say that although state shareholdings will rise as Germany takes a seat alongside France and Spain, the risk of meddling will be reduced as industrial proxy shareholders in France and Germany withdraw and state veto powers are curbed.
With 8 billion euros of net cash on its balance sheet, the company is poised to launch a share buyback if needed to prop up share prices as industrial partners exit, but a source close to the talks said no decision had yet been taken on that.
Such a buyback, which would be offered to all shareholders, would if necessary be "heftier" than a mere mopping-up operation, he told Reuters, asking not to be named.
Bloomberg said the buyback could be worth 3 billion euros.
France and Germany will be equal in terms of voting rights at 12 percent each with Spain on 4 percent, leaving a cordon of state shareholdings below 30 percent and allowing the market float to rise from 49.5 percent to more than 70 percent.
France owns 15 percent but is set to place a 3-percent bloc in a non-voting Dutch foundation. Spain owns 5.5 percent.
On the industrial side, Daimler owns 15 percent but exercises votes for 22.5 percent, and Lagardere has 7.5 percent.
The expected deal calls for Germany to build its 12-percent stake in two stages, first by buying out a consortium set up in 2006 to allow Daimler to reduce its stake while keeping control of the votes. It would buy 4.5 percent from Daimler itself.
Unraveling the 7.5-percent Dedalus consortium of private and public banks is seen as a tough part of the exercise, as is defining the precise exit conditions for Daimler and Lagardere.
The complex arrangements leave a total overhang of 18 percent of EADS waiting to be sold by Daimler and Lagardere to complete their exit, but sources disagreed on the timing.
Most observers believe the bulk of the shares would be sold progressively to avoid depressing the price. The most immediate pressure concerns three percent held by Daimler to preserve Franco-German parity during a transitional phase.
After plans for announcements on Friday and Monday were postponed, a source briefed on the talks was cautious on the timing of a deal, saying it would likely come this week. But regulators were on stand-by for an announcement by Wednesday.
Talks to overhaul EADS accelerated after recent negotiations to merge the company with BAE Systems (BAES.L) fell apart.
The new arrangement inherits some of the structures devised for that merger but without BAE - fixed blocks of minority state shareholdings marked by few special shareholder privileges for governments beyond a set of Special Security Agreements.
Officials have ruled out a repeat of the merger attempt, at least in the near term, with Germany's political objections to the shift of focus away from Europe's centre seen still intact.
EADS has signaled a greater focus on its business from Airbus jets to Ariane rockets and civil and military helicopters, while adapting to the new leaner structure.
EADS Chief Executive Tom Enders ruled out a new BAE bid at a closed meeting of analysts on Monday, according to notes published after the first day of an annual investor forum.
"On the subject of another merger proposal, the CEO was clear that no major M&A is on the agenda at this time," wrote RBC Capital Market analyst Rob Stallard.
Investors also welcomed healthy signs from Airbus which has pledged to hike profit margins fivefold, to 10 percent by 2015.
Airbus Chief Executive Fabrice Bregier told Reuters on Monday it had sold almost 200 jets in November, lifting its total so far this year to just 4 below a 2012 target of 650. [ID:nL5E8N3FN0] Deliveries also surged to 516 for the year to date but Airbus is expected to lose ground to Boeing this year.
Additional reporting by Gernot Heller and Tim Hepher; Editing by Alastair Macdonald


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The Limb framework project (up to its limb3-2007.4 release as of this post) is an Open Source PHP framework that looks to help developers create applications quickly and simply.
We are committed proponents of the beautiful and easy-to-maintain code that simply works. That is why we develop and constantly refactor the Limb code in a test driven manner using the best agile development practices.
There's different ways to get the latest version of the framework - either from their PEAR channel or from a direct download of the entire package. Currently, the framework is made up of a grouping of components that do things like input filtering, make MVC setups simple, allow for active record implementations and an included tests runner.
You can get complete information on Limb-Project.com (including some documentation, information about the Subversion repository and links to community resources).


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We arrived late Monday, October 18, 2010 for the FamilySearch conference on Thursday. Blogger Randy Seaver posted the agenda for the conference on his post, "I'm off to Salt Lake City for Blogger Day at FamilySearch, and more."
I found this video from FamilySearch that might express, better than I ever could, part of what FamilySearch is all about:
Since a significant portion of my family and almost all of my wife's family live in or around Salt Lake and Utah Valley to the south, we planned to spend a couple of days visiting. I was reminded that I used to spend part of my summer vacation every year researching in the Family History Library. My wife and children would visit with family, while I spent my days sitting in the library. Lately, most of my visits to the Salt Lake area have been for funerals, new babies or reunions, all family related activities.
It is interesting, that Salt Lake is easily the premier go-to location for genealogy research. There are many fine libraries around the U.S., some much larger, but the resources of the Family History Library are enormous. But in contrast, I am fascinated with the FamilySearch online digitization project. The ultimate goal of the project is to make all of the resources of this extensive collection of books and microfilms available to the general public, free, online. In other words, the Family History Library may drastically change the availability of its collection and thereby change the way the library is used.
It looks like the topics to be covered by the presenters will give us a lot of information. Which I hope we can pass along. Like Randy, I am honored to be included in this select group.
I should probably disclose, just like others, that FamilySearch is paying for my airline travel, hotel accommodations for two nights, incidental expenses and several meals on Thursday.


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BlackBerry coder's blog warns NOT designed for consumer use
Late last week news broke detailing the first beta release of version 2.0 of the native SDK for the BlackBerry PlayBook. Handset maker Research in Motion has specified that the SDK is now readily available and ready for testing. The SDK is joined in a mini developer-fest from RIM by access to the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 developer beta as a device update as well as the BlackBerry Tablet Simulator.
Key features of this latest release of the native SDK include an expanded sensors API that encompasses magnetometer, gyroscope, and accelerometer support. There is "Added Payment Service" support for subscriptions and in-app purchasing – a development almost valiantly pushing RIM's commercially aligned developer efforts forward, in the face of recent hard times within the company.
Also new are improvements to the IDE in terms of usability, performance, and reliability. Last but not least we also get Scoreloop SDK 1.0 Beta 1, a technology that RIM is including to up the ante on social gaming integration.
According to the Scoreloop website developer pages, "Our free SDK is a combination of cross-platform social features, in-app billing, and enhanced distribution in one package."
Amusingly, the Inside BlackBerry Developer Blog states the following: "Please note that the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 Developer Beta is available for developers and is NOT designed for consumer use. If you've installed this build and would like to return your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to the current version, check out our guide on the Inside BlackBerry Help Blog."


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Illinois named five-star state by MADD for efforts to keep drunk
drivers off roads
Send a link to a friend
[January 11, 2014]
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois
Transportation Secretary Ann L. Schneider announced on Thursday that
the Mothers Against Drunk Driving organization has given Illinois
its highest rating for drunk-driving prevention, as it named
Illinois a five-star state for drunk driving prevention in its 2014
Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving report, released Thursday.
One of the reasons for Illinois' five-star rating is the
all-offender ignition interlock law that went into effect in 2009.
"MADD applauds Illinois on its continued efforts to keep roads
safe. Sobriety checkpoints and continued refinement of the ignition
interlock program are proven countermeasures to continue saving
lives," the MADD report said.
The five stars are awarded based on
Illinois using all of the following countermeasures against driving
under the influence:
Requiring ignition
interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers.
sobriety checkpoints.
Creating enhanced
penalties for those who drive drunk with children in the
vehicle. Participating in "no-refusal" activities for those
suspected of drunk driving.
Using administrative license revocation
for drunk driving offenders.
[to top of second column]
For more information on the report and to read the entire document,
[Text from
Illinois Department of
Transportation file received from the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
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text:
Boone County Sportsmen's Club
The Boone County Sportsmen's Club is the best kept secret in the area!
Our members share a common interest in protecting our environment and natural resources while enjoying the great outdoors. We are indebted to our many, many members who volunteer their time and efforts every month to make these great facilities available to our membership. If you share these interests, you may want to consider joining our group!
Tuesday/Thursday, Clay Target Shoots Resume June 30th
Click on the link above for new rules related to Covid-19.
Found: Men's Wedding Band, North of the old cabin.
Call Jake 515-236-6858 to identify.
|Events on July 13 2020
|Nothing for today.
|Back to current Month
|Events for September 2020
|Listing all events


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After the operation
After your arthroscopy, you'll be taken to a room to recover from the effects of the general anaesthetic, if it was used during the procedure.
You may experience some pain in the affected joint. If you do, tell a member of the hospital staff, who will be able to give you painkillers.
Most people who have an arthroscopy are able to leave hospital either on the day of surgery or the following morning. Before leaving, you may see a physiotherapist who will discuss exercises for you to do at home.
Depending on the procedure you had, you may need a temporary sling, splint or crutches to support and protect the joint while you recover. In some cases, special pumps or compression bandages are used to help improve blood flow.
Recovery advice
You'll probably feel tired and light-headed after having a general anaesthetic, so you'll need to ask someone to take you home and stay with you for the first 24 hours after surgery. Most people will recover from the effects of the anaesthetic within 48 hours.
Make sure you elevate the joint and apply ice packs to help reduce the swelling when you get home, if advised to do so. You should also do any joint exercises that have been recommended for you.
Keep dressings as dry as possible by covering them with a plastic bag when having a bath or shower. If your dressings get wet or fall off, they'll need to be replaced. Dressings can usually be removed after 5 to 10 days.
Your wounds should start to heal within a few days. If non-dissolvable stitches were used, they'll need to be removed after a week or two. This can usually be done by a practice nurse at your local GP surgery.
You'll have a follow-up appointment a few weeks after the operation to discuss the results of the surgery, your recovery, and any additional treatment you may need.
Returning to normal activities
Your surgeon or care team will let you know how long it's likely to take for you to fully recover and what activities you should avoid until you're feeling better.
You'll probably need at least a week or two off work, although this varies from person to person. It will largely depend on whether your job involves strenuous activity that could damage the joint.
You'll be able to drive when you're able to do so without pain and you can safely perform an emergency stop. This may not be for a few weeks or several months after surgery. Your surgeon can give you more specific advice.
They'll also be able to advise you about how long it will be before you can undertake strenuous physical activities, such as sport and heavy lifting. For many people, this will be around six weeks after surgery, but in some cases it may not be for several months.
When to see a doctor
Contact your GP or the clinic where you had your operation if you experience:
- a high temperature (fever)
- severe or increasing pain
- severe or increasing redness or swelling
- discoloured or foul-smelling discharge from your wounds
- numbness or tingling
These problems could be a sign of a complication of surgery, such as an infection or nerve damage.


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Associate | London
firstname.lastname@example.com | +44 (0)20 7920 4184
Robbie Somerville is an associate in the Corporate Department of Morrison & Foerster's London office.
Mr. Somerville advises on a wide range of corporate matters, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity, joint ventures, corporate reorganizations, and general corporate advisory matters. Mr. Somerville has acted for clients across a broad range of sectors, including corporate finance, energy and renewables, real estate, food and drink, and technology.
Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster in 2016, Mr. Somerville practiced in Scotland at two of the leading and most reputable law firms in the jurisdiction.
Mr. Somerville received his LL.B (Hons.) from the University of Glasgow in 2011, and his Diploma in Professional Legal Practice from the University of Glasgow in 2012. He is admitted to practice in Scotland.Show More
Unsolicited e-mails and information sent to Morrison & Foerster will not be considered confidential, may be disclosed to others pursuant to our Privacy Policy, may not receive a response, and do not create an attorney-client relationship with Morrison & Foerster. If you are not already a client of Morrison & Foerster, do not include any confidential information in this message. Also, please note that our attorneys do not seek to practice law in any jurisdiction in which they are not properly authorized to do so.


text:
the forbidden wish.
Forbidden Wish,#1
jessica khoury.
Publisher Razorbill.
Publication Date: February 23,201.6
Genre: YA Fantasy| Romance
Format|Pages: Hardcover|352.
Source: Goodreads|Library.
She is the most powerful Jinni of all. He is a boy from the streets. Their love will shake the world...
When Aladdin discovers Zahra's jinni lamp, Zahra is thrust back into a world she hasn't seen in hundreds of years—a world where magic is forbidden and Zahra's very existence is illegal. She must disguise herself to stay alive, using ancient shape-shifting magic, until her new master has selected his three wishes.
But when the King of the Jinn offers Zahra a chance to be free of her lamp forever, she seizes the opportunity—only to discover she is falling in love with Aladdin. When saving herself means betraying him, Zahra must decide once and for all: is winning her freedom worth losing her heart?
But when the King of the Jinn offers Zahra a chance to be free of her lamp forever, she seizes the opportunity—only to discover she is falling in love with Aladdin. When saving herself means betraying him, Zahra must decide once and for all: is winning her freedom worth losing her heart?
Retelling of Aladdin like you'll never imagined before. Forbidden love, a villain, a princess. THE FORBIDDEN WISH is action packed, filled with danger and the twists that you won't see coming.
At first I was hesitant about picking up THE FORBIDDEN WISH when I found out that it was retelling Of Aladdin, a story that I loved most of my childhood. The cover, the title was what had drawn me to the story. Now that I have read it, I am glad that I decided to give it a chance. I was absorbed from the first page till the last. I adored Zahra's and Aladdin's story and even found myself wondering what will come next for them. I loved the fact that Jinni was a girl in this retelling, a jinni that ends up falling in love with a human, Aladdin. Their love, it surprised me and that Zahra even gave up her freedom at one point, so that she could save him, even convincing the princess to help her. I loved the bond that two of them created. I could see how much Zahra cared about Aladdin before she did, before he did. Zahra was the one that he wanted, not the princess. I was actually happy when he put wedding to stop, that he could not go through with it. The two of them were constantly saving one another, even if she wouldn't admit it at first. They belonged with one another.
I love the princess, Caspida and her friends. All of them always stood by each other, looked out for one another no matter what. It's hard to not like her. Fact that she believed Zahra and helped her save Aladdin, fought a war. She is strong and I think that she will make a great Queen, even if she seemed to have trouble believing that at a moment. Besides Zahra and Aladdin she was one of my favorite characters in this book. There wasn't anything that I didn't enjoy in this book. Every chapter, every page there was always something going on, keeping you from putting the book down because you wonder how it all will end. Will they Win? Will Zahra finally be free and be with Aladdin where she belongs? How can you stop at that? I couldn't, and I didn't till I reached the end. Even once I reached the end, I found myself craving for more. I wanted to know what will happen after, and are they truly safe and free?
THE FORBIDDEN WISH is an action packed love story, will stay with you long after you turn the last page. It's magical.


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As promised, here's some of the best of what photographer Rob Inglis and I saw yesterday at the Spirit Halloween store in Shamokin Dam.
Want to recreate Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke's "performance" at the VMA's? Even though it was only a couple months ago, there are costumes for that, people:
Here's the zombie swing girl I mentioned yesterday. It was terrifying to see in action, trust me. She sings this "La la la la……la la la….." as she swings back and forth and turns her head.
It's enough to scare me as we were all standing there in broad daylight in the middle of the store:


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The above output is from tuning to an HDTV channel. In this example PID 0x0200 is for the video stream and PID 0x028b is for the audio stream.
These values are in hexadecimal and need conversion to decimal (resulting in 512 and 651 respectively) for use in the channel.conf file.

This is channel. PID
These values are in hex and need conversion to decimal(512,651) for use channel.conf.

This is the record in channel.conf using the PID values from dvbtraffic:
Nine High Def Gold Coast:746625000:INVERSION_AUTO:BANDWIDTH_7_MHZ:FEC_3_4:FEC_3_4:QAM_64:TRANSMISSION_MODE_8K:GUARD_INTERVAL_1_16:HIERARCHY_NONE:512:651:1138
Nine High Def Gold Coast:746625000:INVERSION_AUTO:BANDWIDTH_7_MHZ:FEC_3_4:FEC_3_4:QAM_64:TRANSMISSION_MODE_8K:GUARD_INTERVAL_1_16:HIERARCHY_NONE:512:651:1138
Revision as of 13:46, 4 September 2009
This page provides a few suggestions on how to test that a properly installed DVB device 1 is functioning properly. The command line steps described are also indispensable for quick setup and no frills viewing with DVB hardware under Linux.
- physically installed the device into, or attached it to, your system (refer to the manufacturer's instructions for such details) and
- installed the drivers for your hardware and have the proper modules loaded (see "How to Obtain, Build and Install V4L-DVB Device Drivers" for such details)
- Having completed such tasks, you should at least now have a /dev/dvb/adapter0/ directory. (If you have additional DVB devices installed in your system, they will be assigned an increased adapter number accordingly).
Using dvb-apps
1. Obtain the dvb-apps package
See the LinuxTV dvb-apps article for details on how to obtain the package. The dvb-apps package contains several useful tools.
2. Scan for the channels you can receive
Refer to the (dvb)scan article for details of how to perform this step. Once familiar with the content of that article, you will recognize that this step can be summarized (in general form) by:
mkdir ~/.{a,c,s,t}zap (dvb)scan /path_to_the_initial_scan_file > ~/.{a,c,s,t}zap/channels.conf
Note that you may have both a program
scan and
dvbscan installed on your system, and only one of them may work.
3. Tune a frequency and program
Refer to the zap article for details of how to perform this step. Once familiar with the content of that article, you will recognize that this step can be summarized (in general form) by:
$ /usr/bin/{a,c,s,t}zap -r -c ~/.{a,c,s,t}zap/channels.conf "channel name"
where, respective to the type of transmission, azap is used for ATSC, czap for DVB-C, szap for DVB-S and tzap for DVB-T.
4. After you've tuned a frequency and program
a) You could now start up your simple TV watching application and decode the stream you have tuned.
For example, while keeping {a,c,s,t}zap running in the first console shell, open up another console and run
mplayer /dev/dvb/adapter0/dvr0 <options>
If you have more than one dvb device installed in your system, then you will have to pass the correct adaptor number. See the mplayer man page (i.e. in a console run "man mplayer") for a lengthy list of options.
b) Or, you could now start up a datastreamer
c) Or, alternatively, you may want to see some statistics of what's coming in for each channel and PID. Example:
$ /usr/bin/dvbtraffic
dvbtraffic which will access the /dev/dvb/adapter0/dvr0 device. An example of output from dvbtraffic is:
0000 24 p/s 4 kb/s 37 kbit 0010 20 p/s 3 kb/s 31 kbit 0011 20 p/s 3 kb/s 31 kbit 0012 70 p/s 12 kb/s 106 kbit 0015 1 p/s 0 kb/s 2 kbit 0080 26 p/s 4 kb/s 40 kbit 0082 26 p/s 4 kb/s 40 kbit 0087 25 p/s 4 kb/s 38 kbit 0100 25 p/s 4 kb/s 38 kbit 0101 25 p/s 4 kb/s 38 kbit 0102 24 p/s 4 kb/s 37 kbit 0200 8567 p/s 1572 kb/s 12885 kbit 0201 4708 p/s 864 kb/s 7081 kbit 0205 926 p/s 170 kb/s 1392 kbit 0240 49 p/s 8 kb/s 75 kbit 0241 49 p/s 8 kb/s 75 kbit 028b 261 p/s 47 kb/s 393 kbit 0294 174 p/s 31 kb/s 262 kbit 0295 130 p/s 23 kb/s 196 kbit 02bc 75 p/s 13 kb/s 113 kbit 1fff 87 p/s 15 kb/s 131 kbit 2000 15329 p/s 2814 kb/s 23055 kbit -PID--FREQ-----BANDWIDTH-BANDWIDTH-
The above output is from tuning to an HDTV channel. In this example PID 0x0200 is for the video stream and PID 0x028b is for the audio stream.
These values are in hexadecimal and need conversion to decimal (resulting in 512 and 651 respectively) for use in the channel.conf file.
This is the line you would create in the file "channel.conf" given the PID values from the dvbtraffic output shown above:
Nine High Def Gold Coast:746625000:INVERSION_AUTO:BANDWIDTH_7_MHZ:FEC_3_4:FEC_3_4:QAM_64:TRANSMISSION_MODE_8K:GUARD_INTERVAL_1_16:HIERARCHY_NONE:512:651:1138
And finally
Using dvbsnoop
If the testing steps in the dvb-apps section above work fine, you can jump over this section here. On the other hand, dvbsnoop is a small, down-to-earth utility that is very handy for debugging and also seeing what is occuring with a dvb device (i.e. tuning works? data coming in? signal strong enough?).
1. Obtain the dvbsnoop package
See the dvbsnoop article for details on how to obtain the package.
2. Testing with dvbsnoop
Try things like
dvbsnoop -help dvbsnoop -s pidscan
This will give out a lot of numbers, but if you understand the system of DVB you should see if they make sense. Go for one of the PIDs (choose a right one which is a bit difficult as you don't know what they stand for unless you used the scan line above) and try:
dvbsnoop -s bandwidth <PID> dvbsnoop <PID>
The latter will spit out a lot of hexdumps - at least you receive something ;-)
Save a TV program to your hard drive
The handy thing about digital TV is, it comes in as a digital stream that you can save right away to your harddisk without any changes necessary to it. Therefore, hardly any CPU resources are needed -- just a lot of HD space (few GB per hour as the stream is MPEG-2 which is not as compressed as, for example, DivX/MPEG-4; it's even more as mostly one transport stream contains multiple PIDs). There are several ways to do this. For example:
a) Using the combination of {a,c,s,t}zap and cat'ing the logical dvr device to save a program stream to disk
If you have a channel tuned with {a,c,s,t}zap (and note that you MUST also be using the -r parameter to set up the logical dvr device in order for the following to work; see Zap for detail), open up another shell console and run (as root user):
cat /dev/dvb/adapter0/dvr0 > <filename>
The result is that particular program stream will be written to disk, and you should be able to play it back at any later time with your favourite media player.
b) Using the combination of {a,c,s,t}zap and test_dvr to save an entire transport stream to disk
c) Saving to disk with dvbstream
dvbstream is a useful program that, amongst other things, can save a DVB stream to disk. Method 1: First tune into a channel, as described above in the zapping step, and then next have dvbstream save a particular stream to file. For example:
tzap 'BBC ONE' dvbstream 600 601 -o > bbc1.mpeg
The values "600 and 601" are, respectively, the video and audio PIDs for the channel BBC ONE, as derived from the channels.conf file. So this is why it's important that you have your personal channels.conf file with all the PIDs so you can look them up.
Method 2: Alternatively, instead of using a combination of *zap and dvbstream, you can use dvbstream alone provided you pass which frequency to tune and list the correct PIDs. For example:
dvbstream -f 578000 600 601 -o >bbc1.mpeg
Wait a few seconds and then press Ctrl+C to stop. You should then be able to open/playback the recorded file with any of your favourite media players (like Mplayer, (g)xine, noatune, etc. etc ) provided you have the correct decoders installed on your system (which, in general regards to DVB transmissions, are usually going to be MPEG-2, but can now also be MPEG-4).
If the file is rather small, e.g. smaller than 1 MB after a minute of recording, then you can't receive this TV channel - maybe the reception is bad (too weak antenna signal) - or maybe your card's frequency is not tuned for the right sender? Watch out, some PIDs come up a few times (but for different frequencies).
This might not be what you wanna do every day (unless you only watch BBC1 or you can easily memorise all your channels with their two PIDs) - but it's very fast and easy to do these steps for testing purposes.
Next steps - More feature rich viewing software
It is not the intention of this page to provide a detailed description of the use of DVB hardware with more complex Linux viewing software applications. Suffice it to say that you will have some choice. For example:
- for light TV watching with a DVB device under Linux, MPlayer, Xine, Kaffeine, Klear and a few others are often selected.
- alternatively, for "Media Center" type applications, the usual first suspects are Freevo, MythTV, and VDR, but there are others as well
- you could use the streaming facilities of dvbstream and then watch the MPEG-2 stream (even possible on a different computer) with programs like Xine, MPlayer etc.
For some further inspiration on what's possible with more advanced software usage see:
(note: you'll need to install the VDR Software Decoder Plugin if you want to use VDR for watching with a software decoding card).
- Digital Video Broadcasting – A practical guide by Hugo Mills [1]


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HISK Open Studios & Call for Applications
Open Studios & Call for Applications
Open Studios
Friday May 11, 2012 — 14:00 > 20:00
Saturday May 12, 2012 — 14:00 > 20:00
Sunday May 13, 2012 — 14:00 > 20:00
Monday May 14, 2012 — 14:00 > 20:00
Deadline submission applications for working years 2013-2014: June 15, 2012
Phone: +3292696760
HISK / Higher Institute for Fine Arts
Charles de Kerchovelaan 187a
B-9000 Gent
HISK – Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten / Higher Institute for Fine Arts
Advanced Studies & Practice-based Research in Visual Arts
The HISK offers a postacademic course in audiovisual and visual art. The institute provides 24 young artists from Belgium and abroad with a studio of their own for two years.
The emphasis at the institute lies on individual practice. The programme aims to achieve a practical balance between study in the studio, discussions with visiting lecturers, workshops, reading groups, field trips and public presentations. The international and culturally diverse composition of the candidate laureate group makes for cross-pollination and dialogue.
The diversity of the international visiting lecturers (artists, curators, critics, theoreticians...), provides a framework within which the candidate laureates learn to view their own work with a critical eye. The unique HISK concept allows participants every opportunity to invest in critical research for their work within a broader artistic, cultural and societal context.
At the end of the two years, the artist receives a 'Laureate of the Higher Institute for Fine Arts' certificate.
Since 1997, 184 laureates have graduated from the institute. The majority of them are now pursuing successful professional careers in the international art world.
Open Studios
Federico Acal ES, Rebecca Armstrong US, Sara Bjarland FI, Line Boogaerts BE, Liudvikas Buklys LT, Joachim Coucke BE, Alice De Mont BE, Andris Eglitis LV, Ieva Epnere LV, Paulien Föllings NL, Hamza Halloubi MA, Erika Hock DE, Katrin Kamrau DE, Conny Kuilboer NL, Gary Leddington GB, Clare Noonan NZ, Suat Ögüt TR, Odilon Pain FR, Daniel Rödiger DE, Meggy Rustamova BE, Jeroen Uyttendaele BE, Ben Van den Berghe BE, Patrick Wokmeni CM.
Friday May 11 till Monday May 14, 2012, 14:00 > 20:00
The first of the two working year starts in January 2013 and ends in December 2013.
Artists who have already obtained a Masters degree in Fine Art or an equivalent qualification are eligible to apply to the HISK. Exceptions can be made for applicants who do not have a Master degree but display a high level of development, motivation and artistic affinity.
The admission committee is composed of international visiting lecturers from a variety of backgrounds. They make a pre-selection from the submitted portfolios, and the candidates who make it through are invited for an interview regarding their motivations and expectations. After a period of evaluation and careful consideration, the committee then makes a decision as to whether the applicant is suitable.
The conceptual and visual qualities in the works submitted by applicants are considered to be more important than style, material or technique. Participants are expected to have a strong commitment to conducting critical research within their respective fields of interest. At the same time, they should aim towards locating their practice within a broader perspective of social and cultural environments. Candidates are also expected to make a contribution to the activities of the HISK as a whole. This interaction is seen to be an important forum of exchange and development.
Application candidatures 2013-2014
All applicants have to
• Fill in the online application form (www.hisk.edu / application / application form)
• Send the following to HISK, Charles de Kerchovelaan 187a, 9000 Gent, Belgium
o A suitable beamer presentation (Power Point) on CD (Mac compatible)
o A print out of the presentation (in colour or in black & white)
o Films and videos on DVD, if possible with menu
o A detailed Curriculum Vitae including a list of exhibitions, grants, scholarships, awards, commissions …
o Catalogues and texts describing your artistic work (optional)
o A copy of your ID card or passport
o A recent passport photograph (digital if possible)
o A copy of your undergraduate or/and graduate diploma
o Maximum 3 letters of recommendation (optional)`
Deadline submission: JUNE 15, 2012 (postmark)
An international jury will make a selection in July 2012 of 12 artists and maximum 5 reserves. The results of the selection will be known on July 12, 2012 at the latest.
Applicants who have not been selected can collect their documents at the HISK's administration office on conclusion of the admission procedure. Documentation of selected candidates will be archived in the HISK's records. As careful as the HISK may be in handling the documentation submitted, we cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage.
The registration fee amounts to 2000 euros / year (+ a single deposit of 300 euros). Health insurance is not included in the registration fee. The registration fee (and the deposit) are payable before the start of the working year.
The Higher Institute of Fine Arts offers a private work space and pedagogical guidance. There are no scholarships or residencies available. Living costs are the participants' own responsibility. Foreign candidate-laureates have to arrange all the necessary administration themselves in order to obtain a visa for study purposes and an official residence permit.
Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten
Higher Institute for Fine Arts
Charles de Kerchovelaan 187a
B-9000 Gent
Phone: +3292696760


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Conservation and Environment in South Africa: Monthly Updates
Legodimo Nature Reserve - June 2009
June was yet another very exciting month in the bush.
Work on the next waterhole and observation deck has started in full swing. This means loads more digging. Our plan with this waterhole is to have it as natural as possible to thus allow animals more access and elephants amongst others to enjoy mud bathing, splashing and generally just playing.
We have removed kilometres of old fences and then re-used them in protecting trees against elephant damage.
In this dry season elephants are hammering the vegetation hard and we need to intervene before more diversity is lost.
Our research drives are still proving very interesting and sightings of amazing animals carry on. This month some of our sightings included Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta), Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and the normal plains game that inhabit our patch of heaven. The sighting of the cheetah was very exciting as it is the first observation by volunteers.
We have started a tree monitoring project this month as well. We hope that the data obtained will help us better understand the impact of elephants and thus know which species of flora to concentrate on more with our rehabilitation project.
Our family has grown by three this month. Bart, a volunteer from the Netherlands, donated some goats. They were named "Give, Thanks and Bart". We will still see how they fit in with the local wildlife as they have already attracted some attention from a leopard and escaped once. They were quickly tracked by Jannie and safely returned to their holding pen.
Legodimo's road system received lots of attention and we now have a smoother drive when travelling around the reserve.
We still have trouble from poachers from various sides as the hunting season is in full swing but seem to be getting the upper hand as intrusions seem to be lessening. A project that might be discouraging this unwanted element is our "Anti-poaching Drumming sessions"!
At selected and varied locations, we go and play drums to show poachers a presence and also discourage animals from visiting certain areas in our reserve.
We are all looking forward to July as we have some really good projects planned. Amongst these is the completion of the new waterhole and observation deck as well as another observation deck along the Limpopo River. Our Mapungubwe National Park visit should also prove to be very rewarding as they have some crucial tasks planned for us.
Keep an eye on this spot.
Kind regards and friendly African greetings,
Gerrit Prinsloo
Conservation Director


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Virgelia Villegas, President of Virgelia Productions, Inc., (a professional full-service event planner and producer of Miss Asia USA, Mrs. Asia USA and Miss Teen Asia USA, Miss Latina Global and Miss Teen Latina Global Cultural Pageants) proudly announces the 25th Annual Miss Asia USA Cultural Pageant, the 9th Annual Mrs. Asia USA Cultural Pageants to be held at the beautiful Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center 1935 Manhattan Beach Blvd, Redondo Beach, CA 90278 from 5:00 pm to 1:00 am.
Attendees will be treated to an eye-popping celebration of Asian cultural unity as lovely Delegates compete for the prestigious titles of Miss Asia USA and Mrs. Asia USA. As in previous years, the Asian communities have shown their strong support as the Pageant performances are "sold out."
"As we celebrate a remarkable milestone, the silver anniversary of Miss Asia USA, our mission has remains steadfast. Miss Asia USA and Mrs. Asia USA are presented each year to unite the numerous Asian communities through a celebration of the culture, beauty, elegance and talents." Virgelia stated. She continue "I am so pleased to dedicate my efforts to raising awareness of our Asian heritage and traditions and empowering Asian women to succeed in achieving their goals and dreams. Join us and witness the lavish parade of stunning national costumes, the elegance of the evening gown competition and the sensational swimsuit competition. Audience will be treated to a myriad of entertainment dances from around the world and balladeers that will serenade romantic music. The show will be followed by a VIP Reception, a perfect avenue for your networking with business owners and executives in the entertainments industry, photo opportunities with the winners and the Delegates while enjoying a hosted bar and international array of food."
The event will be hosted by actor heart throb Michael Copon and model and beauty queen Kari Volen. Guest host Smita Vasant, Mrs.Asia USA 2007. Voice over will be delivered none other than the well reknowened DJ Jimmy Kim.
For the event the doors open and Red Carpet photos begin at 5:00PM. The Pageant starts promptly at 6:30 PM with the Opening Dance Presentation and followed by the Parade of National Costumes.
After the Queens crown and announced the night continues at The Offical After Party from 10:00 PM – 1:00AM. A VIP reception will immediately follow the crowning of the new Queens at the theater outdoor Patio. Hosted Bar and international selections of food.
Limited tickets are still available: General Admission $45 and $65, VIP TICKETS $150.00 Includes: preffered seating, a complimentary Souvenir Program and admission to the VIP Party. The Pageants will be performed at the fabulous Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, the Crown Jewel of the South Bay arts scene. With its bold, modernistic Grand Lobby, featuring a black Indian slate exterior, a granite water feature, stainless steel and cherry wood accents and a 21-feet high cherry ceiling, this 1,457-seat theatre is a fitting venue for the most prestigious pageant in America for Asian women.
Members of the press/media that register in advance through Virgelia Productions office or World Wide Vital Marketing & Public Relations with proper credentials will be provided with complimentary admission.
About Miss Asia USA & Mrs. Asia USA:
Miss Asia USA & Mrs. Asia USA are the premier cultural pageant participated in by Asian women in the United States who trace their ancestry to the 58 countries considered part of the Asian continent. For more information visit Miss Asia USA online.
About Virgelia Productions Inc.: Virgelia Productions, Inc.,is a professional full-service event planner and producer of: Miss Asia USA, Mrs. Asia USA and Miss Teen Asia USA, Miss Latina Global and Miss Teen Latina Global. We are committed to delivering creative, high quality and memorable events that will continue to surpass expectations. For more information visit Virgelia Productions online.


text:
Sometimes I come across a picture book with such sincerity and charm, it's like a comforting cup of hot tea, spring tulips or listening to a favorite song you haven't heard in a long time. Keith Patterson is an author/ illustrator whose books have these qualities and more. His Maybelle titles in collaboration with Bees Knees Books will gain wider distribution. But I wanted to introduce him here and find out what he's been working on lately.
Keith, tell us a little about yourself.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a suburb of Albany, New York, in upstate New York.
How has your childhood influenced your work?
My parents read to me a lot, so I was probably introduced to art
through children's books. From as far back as I can remember,
I always liked to just sit and draw, and my family and my teachers,
and other kids at school were very encouraging.
Where do you find inspiration for your books?
I get most of my ideas from watching my 3 year old. She is very
imaginative and happy and enthusiastic. Also, we go to the library
several times a week, so I am reading children's books on a daily
basis. Just seeing different illustrations every day is very
I know Alaska is the setting for a couple of your books.
What do you love about Alaska?
Alaska is just an awesome place. If you drive down from
Anchorage to Homer, there is one particular spot on the road,
where you come to the top of a hill, and get your first view of the
mountains. There is no way to describe what it is like, but the
closest comparison would be the Himalayas.
How did you develop your skill and style as an artist?
Growing up, I drew cartoons for the school newspaper, and took
art classes in school. After high school, I went to SUNY Albany,
and that's where I had my first real art teachers. They tried to
break all the bad habits I had learned from drawing with a felt tip
marker, etc. I am still trying to get better at drawing.I think one's
basic style of drawing is probably formed early on, like
What is your process? I mean do your write the story
first, or the illustrations, or both together?
Sometimes, I start by drawing random illustrations, but that's not
the best way to do it. Now, I'm trying to get the story more set
first, to avoid having to rewrite things.
Are there any children's authors/ illustrators that you
My all time favorite children's book author/illustrator is Maurice
Sendak. Where the Wild Things are was a big influence on me as a
child. I loved the detail, and the endless cross hatching and pen
scratches, and the colors. It still has the same effect on me. I have
recently discovered Charlotte Voake, who does great pen and ink
and water color illustrations. I have always loved Richard Scarry.
Beatrix Potter, Virginia Lee Burton, Wanda Gag are also great.
Can you tell us a little about what you're currently
working on?
I just finished a book called the Story of Hobo, about a dog that
somebody found in a coal bin, and somehow he ended up in my
family, and we named him Hobo because of the coal dust. My
dad was a mailman at the time, and he used to bring Hobo to
work with him, and Hobo learned to hitchhike by mail truck.
I'm also trying to finish a book I started about ten years ago
about a dog named Lilli that stayed with me temporarily. That
one is based on a real dog, but it's set in the time of the Vikings.
I'm also starting one about my daughter as a princess, with
realistic paintings.
Do you have any tips for aspiring authors and illustrators?
I just try to keep at it.
Thank you Keith for sharing some background and these
wonderful illustrations!


text:
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Please contact us directly if you have questions, comments or concerns.
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If you identify yourself by sending us an e-mail containing personal information, then the information collected will be solely used to respond to your message.
The information collected is for statistical purposes. Technology for Energy Corporation may use software programs to create summary statistics, which are used for such purposes as assessing the number of visitors to the different sections of our site, what information is of most and least interest, determining technical design specifications, and identifying system performance or problem areas.
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text:
The enemy is everywhere
Huawei's BT 21CN contract award in 2005 effectively shut down British rival Marconi. The multi-billion-pound deal was approved by then-Trade Secretary Patricia Hewitt, who is now a non-executive director of BT.
Huawei now competes globally against Silicon Valley-based Cisco and Juniper Networks on similar massive IP networking upgrades.
The firm also lists Orange, Vodafone, T-Mobile and O2's Spanish parent company Telefonica as major customers. Its main competitors in the mobile market are Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Nokia-Siemens and Nortel.
The source added that BT had conducted an extensive and "industry leading" security investigation of the equipment, but said this had not satisfied intelligence officials.
Asked how the the security of its products compared to rivals, Huawei said: "Our customers, including top operators, audit Huawei in all aspects on an ongoing basis. We are confident about the safety of our equipment and the many long term partnerships formed with our customers is the best proof."
Dr Richard Clayton, a security researcher at the University of Cambridge, said that no programme of testing could guarantee security from a remote attack based on covert vulnerabilities. "It's no win for Huawei," he said. "Proving the absence of a backdoor is essentially impossible."
Asked if it would allow intelligence agencies to inspect its source code, the firm said: "Huawei is confident that its solutions meet the requirements of its customers and is open and willing to engage with relevant authorities to address their security concerns."
While industry and academic opinion suggests intelligence agencies' concerns over Huawei are moot, history shows they cannot be dismissed as paranoia. Foreign governments have been exposed as co-opting IT manufacturers to provide remote access to equipment before, although the culprits were not Chinese.
In the 1990s stories emerged that the US National Security Agency had for decades allegedly rigged the products of Swiss encryption firm Crypto AG. It was reportedly able to effortlessly decode secret diplomatic and military messages as a result. Similarly, the Israeli government - which probably has closer ties to its commercial technology sector than Beijing does - was accused in 2000 of spying via backdoors in wiretapping equipment supplied to US law enforcement by Comverse Infosys.
Both those firms have continued to thrive despite their alleged sidelines in espionage. For Huawei, the stain of an alleged association with the Chinese military is not likely to vanish. Yet with rapidly growing sales of more than $23bn last year, and increasing global market share, past experience suggests that perhaps it need not care.
For UK intelligence officials, meanwhile, the issue cannot be so easily dismissed. The equipment is already out there, relaying billions of our trivial and our important communications every day. If a backdoor is out there too, they are unlikely to discover it - until, perhaps, it's already too late. ®


text:
In the new James Bond movie, "Skyfall," Daniel Craig takes off his shirt and examines his wounds. There appear to be two of them . He touches his wounds and winces. So do I. Bond is in pain from his wounds. I am in pain from all the hours he has spent in the gym.
This Bond ripples with muscles. Craig is 44, but neither gravity nor age has done their evil work on him. Nothing about him looks natural, relaxed — a man in the prime of his life and enjoying it.
Instead, I see a man chasing youth on a treadmill, performing sets and reps, a clean and press, a weighted knee raise, an incline pushup and, finally, something called an incline pec fly (don't ask). I take these terms from the Daniel Craig Workout, which you can do, too, if your agent and publicist so insist. Otherwise, I recommend a book.
"Skyfall" is a lot of fun — don't get me wrong — but it still says something about our culture that, in the autumn of my years, I do not like. To appreciate what I mean, contrast this new Bond to Roger O. Thornhill, the charmingly hapless advertising man played by Cary Grant in "North by Northwest." Like Bond, Thornhill pulls off some amazing physical feats — his frantic escape from the crop duster, the traverse of Mount Rushmore — and like Bond he wears an expensive suit.
Unlike Bond, though, when he takes it off, we do not see some marbleized man, an ersatz creation of some trainer, but a fit man, effortlessly athletic and just as effortlessly sophisticated. Of course, he knows his martinis, but he also knows how to send out a suit for swift hotel cleaning. He is a man of the world. He is, in short, a man of a certain age — 55 at the time, to be more or less exact.
In "North by Northwest" and other movies, Grant represented the triumph of the sexual meritocracy, a sex appeal won by experience and savoir-faire, not delts and pecs and other such things that any kid can have.
He was not alone in this. Gary Cooper in "High Noon" wins Grace Kelly by strength of character, not muscles. He was about 50 and Kelly was a mere 23.
Maybe the best example of the unmuscled hero is Humphrey Bogart in "Casablanca." Bogart was 15 years older than Ingrid Bergman and it did not matter at all. He had the experience, the confidence, the internal strength that can only come with age. As he did with Mary Astor in "The Maltese Falcon" — "I don't care who loves who, I won't play the sap for you" — he gives up the love of his life because age and wisdom have given him character.
These older men seduce; they are not seduced. They make love. They do not score.
The new Bond is a zeitgeisty sort of character. "There has been a striking change in attitudes toward male body image in the last 30 years," Harrison Pope, a Harvard psychiatry professor, recently told The New York Times. He said the portrayal of men in what amounts to the Bond image is now "dramatically more prevalent in society than it was a generation ago."
That same Times story reported that 40% of middle and high school boys work out with the purpose of "increasing muscle mass." Many of them also use protein supplements.
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This is all very sad news. Every rippling muscle is a book not read, a movie not seen or a conversation not held. That's why Sean Connery was my kind of Bond. He was 53 when he made his last Bond film, "Never Say Never Again." Women loved him because he was sophisticated and he could handle a maitre d' as well as a commie assassin. Western civilization was saved not on account of his pecs but on account of his cleverness and experience.
I know the movie market skews young and kids want action, and I take it as a good thing that Daniel Craig's Bond is older, world weary, and, in sports lingo, has slowed a step. But he still triumphs physically, not cleverly. He does not woo women; they just come on to him. Still, I have great hope for him. In this movie, Bond's drink is Macallan Scotch. It's mine, too.
The name is Cohen.
Richard Cohen.


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Friday, February 04, 2011
February: Heart Month or Marketing Month?
From the scary risks of shoveling snow (yep, you could DIE, so be sure to lift a little at a time!), Mercedes-sponsored red dress parades and government-sponsored National Wear Red Day®, to tips for identifying heart attacks in women (men, you need a different month I guess), February has all the important stories to improve your "awareness."
Such a polite term, "awareness."
But I wonder, now that the internet is upon us and people are seeing their insurance rates and co-pays skyrocket if maybe we're shooting ourselves in the foot with all this heart month marketing hype. People are sick and tired of testing "just to be sure." It's starting to directly cost them a fortune, and people are pissed at having to pay a fortune for health care, let alone heart care.
I know, I know, I should be at the forefront of working with patients to stomp out heart disease. And goodness, people DO need to be attuned to diet, exercise, and weight loss. But the reality is, if we're giving you the ten latest tips on how to detect a heart attack, we're probably a bit too late.
That's the problem with all these press releases: while there's a need to raise "awareness" of heart health, there's also a very real need for people to take us, heart disease professionals, seriously to help cut costs in health care here. The last thing our health care system needs is more frivolous testing. Yet this is exactly what all this marketing does for our health care system: and it helps those with the largest PR budgets most of all.
Of course, there are researchers who depend on a portion of the funds raised to continue their work. After all, research is ridiculously expensive. There really is a need to raise funds for these scientists if we're going to continue our tradition of creative innovations in cardiovascular health care.
Maybe that should be the story line.
Maybe it would be nice to highlight these researchers' work and what that work hopes to bring to people rather than splashing a big feel-good red dress parade all over the media. Maybe we could focus on real life stories and less on the hyperbole. Maybe we could focus on the challenges, rather than the accolades and perfection.
Maybe then we'd have people take us seriously.
4 comments:
They've obviously learned the lesson of the pinkification of breast cancer, which has become an enormous, year-round marketing campaign for yogurt, cosmetics, candy, T-shirts, teddy bears, and a host of other products large and small, some of which don't even claim to donate a cent to research; they're labeled "breast cancer awareness" just because they're pink.
- Fri Feb 04, 11:38:00 AM CST
- Elaine Schattner, MD said...
Maybe as a cardiologist, your perspective is skewed because you're thinking about cardiology all the time, and your patients are there presumably because they're already worried about possible heart disease.
I wish some of my friends and family were more conscious of their risks for heart disease, not necessarily to get tested, but to lower their salt intake, exercise more, and maybe get their blood pressured checked once every year or two, etc.
Really I think there's a lot of good in the awareness campaigns, as long as they're not overblown.
- Fri Feb 04, 12:46:00 PM CST
- Carolyn Thomas said...
Dr. Wes, you are, sadly, missing the point, big-time.
Awareness of women's heart attack symptoms, as beautifully illustrated in the new U.S. government campaign called "Make the Call - Don't Miss a Beat" - http://www.womenshealth.gov/heartattack/ is what may well convince women to pick up the phone to call 911 if they believe they may be having a heart attack. Over half of women surveyed before this campaign said that they would NOT be likely to call 911 if they thought they were having a heart attack.
And here's what happens now: too many women still believe that heart disease is a man's problem. And they are not alone - awareness campaigns may serve to educate our docs as well: a 2006 AHA study on physicians found that only 8% of family docs were aware of this fact, but (even more shocking!) just 17% of cardiologists were aware of it.
A 2008 Canadian study of women over 40 called the LIPSTICK Survey reported that women spend more time thinking about their weight than they do about their hearts. For example, only 10% of women surveyed knew their LDL cholesterol levels, versus the 64% of women who know how much they weighed back in high school!
When I was having a heart attack, I believed it couldn't possibly actually be happening to me because I wasn't experiencing the "Hollywood Heart Attack" that I knew men had: crushing chest pain, fall down, unconscious, CPR, call 911, paddles, sudden cardiac arrest, blahblahblah...
To me, THAT was a heart attack - and my experience was completely different, so how could I really be having one?
Like most women, I remained conscious, I could walk and talk and get myself to the E.R. Where, by the way, like many women, I was then misdiagnosed with GERD and sent home with a pat on the head, feeling terribly embarrassed because I had just made a fuss over nothing.
As long as women mistakenly believe that heart disease is something that happens to other (old, male) people, awareness campaigns are the very least we MUST do to help inform them.
By the time these women see you or another cardiologist, it's already too late and the damage has been done.
And women have to get past the E.R. gatekeepers, a problematic roadblock for many. Research out of Oregon, for example, showed that women under the age of 55 are seven times more likely to be misdiagnosed in mid-heart attack compared to men, and the outcomes of being sent home can prove deadly.
While pervasive "pinkwashing" around Breast Cancer Awareness Month is quite another story (pink-handled Smith & Wesson handguns?) we know that heart disease kills six times more women than breast cancer does, yet most women still believe that breast cancer is our biggest health threat - a potentially deadly mistake.
So I'd ask you, Dr. Wes, what YOU are personally doing, besides ridiculing red dress campaigns, to help educate your female patients long before they even become your patients?
- Wed Feb 09, 11:33:00 AM CST
- Marya Zilberberg said...
Wes, excellent post! I am in complete agreement with you that all this hype about cancer and heart attacks is too little too late. If we were really serious about mitigating these problems, we would be much more serious about prevention -- environmental triggers of cancer and behavioral interventions for CAD. Both Elaine and Carolyn are correct to an extent that we do need education on how to detect these diseases. Yet I have never been convinced (nor have I seen any evidence) that these color-coded campaigns accomplish anything other that alarm the public and raise money and reputation for the sponsors.
- Fri Feb 11, 07:38:00 AM CST


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Discovering Geckos' Sticky Secrets
By Tara Roberts
About 1,400 species of geckos roam the Earth. Their lineage dates back 200 million years, making them the oldest group of living lizards. They're even older than the dinosaurs.
But scientists have only recently begun to understand their remarkable abilities to stick to – and easily release from – surfaces such as rocks, trees, and ceilings.
"Geckos' toe pads allow them to move through an environment in the way no other organism can," says gecko–feet expert Travis Hagey of the University of Idaho.
Hagey's most recent research – funded by the National Science Foundation's BEACON Center for Evolution in Action – focuses on building the most finely detailed models of gecko toe pads ever created.
Hagey began studying gecko feet as a doctoral student in the UI Department of Biological Sciences, and he's continuing his work as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. His work seeks to understand how gecko species' various foot designs evolved, how they allow geckos to interact with their environments, and how their unique structures could help humans design better adhesives.
Shape, not material, causes the "stickiness" of gecko feet. The lines on the bottoms of a gecko's toes are actually flaps of skin covered in tiny hair–like structures, which have even tinier spatula–shaped structures on their tips.
These tiny structures are made of beta–keratin, the same hard protein that makes up scales and feathers.
The flaps are visible to human eyes, but the hairs are about 100 microns long, roughly the thickness of an average human hair. The tip structures are about 200 nanometers long – smaller than a wavelength of visible light.
They're so small, they interact with whatever material the gecko is climbing at a molecular level, through weak forces called van der Waals forces.
"Just the fact that the structures and the surfaces both have electrons spinning around means they're mildly attracted to each other," Hagey says.
The flaps, hairs and tips work together to allow gecko toe pads to not only stick strongly, but also to release easily, quickly, and without damaging surfaces – something human–made adhesives can't do, which is why engineers are so keen to create materials that imitate their abilities.
"They can generate really strong adhesion, and they can detach quickly and easily," Hagey says. "There are no human adhesives that can do that."
Scientists discovered the molecular forces at work in gecko feet in the late 1990s, but most of the research focused on one gecko species, the familiar blue–and–orange Tokay gecko.
But geckos are a diverse group, and their toe–pad arrangements and characteristics vary depending on species' habitats and lineage. The differences extend all the way to the flaps and hairs.
"Some hairs are short, some are long, some are thick, some are skinny – and those are just the characteristics we can measure easily with a scanning electron microscope," Hagey says. "It's complicated at every possible dimension."
Scanning electron microscopes – which can create images of objects at the nanoscale – can be used to see details of gecko toe pads, but do a poor job of imaging how the hairs are arranged as a whole, so Hagey has been hunting down new tools for his research.
He's traveled the country with his gecko test–subjects to use micro–CT scanners, which at the right settings can create a 3D image of gecko toe–hair arrangements. He's also working with Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago to use some of the world's most detailed x–ray imaging tools to capture the details of individual hairs, down to the nanometer scale.
Combining these two methods, and measuring a variety of gecko species' feet, will allow him to build models that can simulate the full range of possibilities allowed by gecko toe–pad structures.
Biologists could use the simulations to discover, for example, the most ideal toe–pad structures for geckos living in trees – then go out and study wild, tree–dwelling geckos to find out how their toes compare. The differences would reveal the geckos' biological limits and offer clues to their evolutionary paths.
"We can really start to get a better idea of why animals are shaped the way they're shaped," Hagey says.
Engineers who are designing adhesives could input their desired materials and parameters into the simulation and produce a gecko–like model to meet their needs.
"The same simulation approach that can help us understand how animals have evolved can help us develop synthetics, too," Hagey says. "Once I get that running, I can answer lots of cool questions."
Image courtesy of Prof. Kellar Autumn.
© 2009 Kellar Autumn


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This is an interesting article from 1990 that brings up the bigger topic of what companies have owned and operated the chemical plants here in the valley over the years. It might be fun to see a list of all the owners and to share stories about some of the interesting developments that have taken place over the years.
"People want to believe the company will do the right thing," observes local historian and 34-year resident Osco (Doc) Cole, who is 78. "But an awful lot has gone on in this little town. You can get a shudder up your spine wondering about the future."
LINK: http://articles.latimes.com/1990-12-13/business/fi-8994_1_mojave-desert-town


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The 2013-2014 James E. Gui Competition, which took place in senior studios, required students to design a "Museum of the City of Buenos Aires" in partnership with a "School of Landscape Architecture, Architecture, and Urban Design" for the neighboring Catholic University of Argentina. Situated in the Puerto Madera district of Buenos Aires, on the water, the donor was particularly interested in the infrastructure of movement in the city at every scale; land, air, and sea. Analyzing the complex program as the basis for the design, students then refined one part, exploring the intricate relationship of programmatic elements, spatial assemblies and material effects.
Student(s): Stephen McNamara
Instructor(s): Andrew Cruse
Course: ARCH 4410: Architectural Design V
Term: Autumn 2013


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As part of our living in full engagement approach to Care and Dementia Care in particular, we are rolling out Themed Tea Rooms in many of our Homes. These are essentially for residents, families and friends to meet in a relaxing old fashioned tea room environment. The aim is for residents to have a really enjoyable day out experience without leaving the home. The Tea Rooms help to make the often difficult experience of visiting a loved one in a care home into a positive one for all, thereby improving and enhancing relationships.
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Healthy pregnant cows lead to thrifty, fast-growing calves
Raising healthy, vigorous calves is fundamentally the most important factor to the success of a dairy farm. Without a next generation of well-developed heifers ready to step in as replacements, there won't be much profit in the future.
Environment and proper feeding programs are the vital areas that calf raisers should focus on in order for the genetic potential of calves to truly be expressed, says Jon Robison, consultant for JDR Livestock Management Services. Robison is a former dairy science professor from Fresno State University. He shared his thoughts on "Feeding Dairy Calves for Performance" during the 2014 High Plains Dairy Conference in Lubbock, Texas.
"We've known for a long time that future productivity of the dairy is really based upon the genetic potential of today's offspring," Robison says. "It is important to understand the impact and significance of management. Management programs do impact genetic expression."
Bonus Content
National Research Council: Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle
Life is all about development. For dairy replacement heifers there are seven critical physiological development stages that can be identified as:
"A good replacement heifer program results from understanding what the developmental process is in terms of growing a heifer," Robison says. Development and growth are not necessarily the same thing.
Growth is just the increase of cell size, often measured by weight and structural size. Growth does not automatically account for optimal tissue development. This development occurs in phases from conception to maturity. It is the differentiation and maturation of cellular tissues that are capable of expressing genetics over a period of time.
Robison adds that development can only occur if calves have the right tools, such as nutrients, environment, health protocol, etc.
"Oftentimes the development of tissue cannot be measured until we collect productive performance out of that animal, such as milk," Robison says. If opportunities are missed to properly develop tissue, a producer won't know until it is too late.
Poor nutrition at the cow level results from deficiencies in minerals and vitamins. It has a direct effect on the development of the fetus.
In 2009, Robison was seeing a lot of differences in newborn calves from western U.S. calf ranches. Many of those calves came onto the ranches in a weak condition. He relates this change in calf development to dairymen cutting costs at a time when feed prices were high.
"They look at a bill at the end of the month and see $500 to $600 per ton for that close-up mineral pack and it gets cut out," Robison says.
If the lack of nutrients continues as the cow is coming into milk, it also impacts colostrum quality and quantity. "What we do to that cow has an impact on that calf. When we get negative production or low-quality production of colostrum, it's an indicator that we're not doing so good with our close-up dry cows and far-off dry cows," Robison says.
Three to four weeks prior to calving, cows begin accumulating hormones, growth factors (immunoglobulins such as IgF-I and IgF-II) and transforming factors (TGF-β1 and TGF-β2) inside the colostrum. This is a process, known as clostrogenesis, activates mammary secretory cell receptors, allowing for large amounts of milk synthesis to make up the core contents of colostrum.
Monitoring the quality and quantity of colostrum can determine how well cows are being managed and what to expect from calves. Monitoring colostrum, however, is tricky.
"Here is one of the biggest obstacles to it: Within about six to 10 hours after parturition there is a significant amount of reabsorption of those biologically active substances and even some of that antibody," Robison says. "They degrade very quickly, but they do have a very big impact on the initial start of that calf's life."
He suggests using inexpensive tools such as a colostrometer or refractometer to measure colostrum quality.
The colostrum also needs to be harvested in a timely manner. Robison points to research conducted on seven central California dairies that determined the average first milking occurs more than nine hours after calving. That's too late, with quality degradation falling into the extreme range.
With the long gap between calving and first milking, the average concentration of antibodies was less than 36 mg/mL, far below the recommended 50 mg/mL. The study also indicated that antibodies are inadequately transferred to calves 36% of the time.
To develop calves that will perform, Robinson says to feed a high plain of nutrition that matches the calf's individual growth and development. "When calves are fed well, health concerns tend to be minimized so optimum growth and development are achieved," he says.


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To succeed in the constantly evolving field of health care, you need an intimate understanding of the social, ethical, and scientific issues that healthcare professionals face today. Students in Albion College's Wilson Institute for Medicine are grounded in these issues through coursework and real-world experience.
The Institute supports all students interested in a health-related career—from the practice of medicine to nursing to all of the allied professions. Students benefit from academic and career advising; workshops and speakers; assistance in identifying volunteer, shadowing, and internship opportunities; and encouragement for ongoing experiential learning.
Our program has a long history of success. With rigorous preparation and support, our graduates have been placed in some of the most prestigious professional schools in the country. Please explore our site and contact us with any questions you may have.


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Not only do you get fresh tea—as opposed to tea that's been sitting in a plastic bottle since who-knows-when—but you spare the earth the ecological expense of producing plastic bottles and transporting them over hundreds or even thousands of miles.
It is yet another reason, Grasshopper, for you to brew your own tea instead of letting someone else do it for you.
"When you can snatch the cold-brewed green tea pouch from my hand, it will be time for you to leave, Grasshopper."
—Mellow Monk
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This is the first in a series of posts about food and cooking, a huge passion of mine. I got into cooking when I first arrived at university at McGill and shared a residence apartment with a guy named Raphaël from the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of interior Québec. It blew my mind to find out that he was coming to school in Montreal to improve his English of all things while I was looking forward to developing my skills in French.
Raphaël was a very interesting guy. A wiry, quiet Jehovah's Witness who mostly kept to himself. Fanatically clean and extremely private, I never really expected to learn much about him. He kept to himself, and I stayed out of his way. One night, I came back from a late French class downtown to find Raphaël slaving away in the little kitchen we shared over three bubbling pots and an open oven.
"I didn't know you cooked," I told him. "What are you making?"
"I don't cook. This is going to be a rib roast with potatoes. You can have some if you want."
"You don't cook, but you're making a standing roast like that?"
"I've watched my mom and dad. I'm sure I can figure it out. I just don't want to eat any boxed or processed stuff and get unhealthy while I'm here."
While I greatly respected the fact that a young guy didn't want to subject his body to low-quality slop, I didn't know at that time how Raphaël was able to just watch his parents and "figure out" how to cook amazing food like he did. As it turns out, his dad was a local butcher and his mom a pastry chef in Chicoutimi, Québec. I told my parents what kind of food he was making for the other American roommate and me, and they thought I was full of it. French pastries, expertly prepared meats, and traditional Québec dishes. Each treat was more delicious than the last… I knew I wanted to learn how to cook for real.
Fast forward eleven years to 2011, and you'll get the story of the birth of this particular dish. I was enjoying an incredible meal with my partner Mike at Crook's Corner Café and Bar in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It was my first time ever having shrimp and grits, a staple of the American South, and I can remember saying out loud as I was enjoying the meal, "The way these shrimp taste reminds me so much of gambas al ajillo."
Gambas al ajillo is one of the most popular tapas dishes and simply garlic shrimp with parsley and olive oil cooked and served sizzling in a clay dish called a cazuela de barro. Known for leaving behind a delicious garlicky sauce that diners then dip crusty bread into, gambas are quick to prepare, they require relatively few and easily accessible ingredients, and they are freaking delicious and very comforting.
I first tasted gambas al ajillo on a family vacation I was lucky enough to go on back in 1994 to Marbella in the Andalusia region of southern Spain. My parents had met and fallen in love there in the summer of 1977, and they wanted to show the place to their kids. We were out to dinner at a very charming restaurant called Marbella Patio. My mom happened to know the owner of the restaurant because (and my memory is a little foggy on this) he used to work at the hotel her family had stayed at in Marbella when they went there every summer. It turns out the guy was so overjoyed to see us that we got our whole dinner for free… and it was really something because every piece of food we put in our mouths was outstanding.
So both Mike and I had the taste for shrimp one night, and I had the idea to combine gambas al ajillo with shrimp and grits to create a more European take on a southern classic. (Or is that a southern take on a European classic?) We took quick cooking polenta, formed a bed of it in a bowl and piled on lots of succulent Spanish garlic shrimp. Cazuela de barro not needed!
I really hope you'll give this recipe a try. It means a lot to me and my family, and it's easy and delicious! Of course I wanted it to be the first dish I share with the blog.
Gambas al Ajillo con Polenta
Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 5 min | Servings: 4 servings | Difficulty: Easy
For the shrimp:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup unsalted butter (Don't cook with salted butter!)
1 1/2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined (the smaller and sweeter, the better)
6-8 garlic cloves (more if you are a garlic lover)
1 lemon, juiced and zested
1 teaspoon pimentón (Spanish smoked paprika – recommended brand is "Pimentón el Ángel")
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
Mince the garlic as finely as you can, and place it in a small bowl.
Zest the lemon while it is still whole using a rasp or microplane, and place the zest in another small bowl. Add the salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper, and pimentón to the lemon zest and stir lightly to combine.
Juice the lemon and put the juice aside.
Chop the parsley leaves and put aside.
Prepare the polenta according to the package directions but with the bumped up amount of cheese listed above. Set aside for a few minutes while the shrimp cook. You may reserve a small amount of additional chicken stock to loosen up the polenta prior to service if desired.
In a wide, shallow sauté pan over high heat, warm the olive oil and the butter. As soon as the butter is completely melted and any foaming subsides, add the garlic and bay leaf and cook for 30 seconds.
Add the shrimp and spread out to a single layer in the pan. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring a couple of times to ensure no raw areas remain.
After the time is up, turn off the heat, add the lemon juice and the zest/seasoning mixture. Stir so that there are no shrimps that have a ton of the seasoning caked on them. The stirring should lead to a uniform dark golden color for the sauce.
Add the chopped parsley, stir to combine completely, discard the bay leaf, and serve immediately over the polenta.