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Saturday, April 30, 2011
Thrilla in Vanilla
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thrillers and Mysteries -- what's the difference?
I was reluctant to do this exercise--especially after reading the amazing efforts of my fellow bloggers this week. So I decided to just write it as quickly as possible and see what came out.
I consider my books traditional mysteries, but I try to use thriller techniques occasionally to get the adrenaline going and the heart pounding.
The elevator was out of order. Great. Liz was already late. Eleventh floor. No air conditioning. She'd experienced worse, but not when she was dressed up and trying to make a good impression. The first two flights were easy. By the third her feet started to hurt in her high heels, and she began to sweat under her silk blouse and suit jacket.
At last, panting, she reached the 11th floor. Liz didn't once think it was strange that she hadn't passed anyone on her way up. She pushed open the door to the hallway. A no frills building, the owners had tossed up walls, laid down some tile and put a coat of paint down occasionally but hadn't blown their budget on anything fancy. The fluorescent lights hummed and flickered.
Suite 11-F. She'd written down the address and even though she'd memorized it weeks ago, she still checked the paper in her hand again. Jonathan Neetlebaum. Lawyer. He might have some information about her father. Her excitement mounted. Liz could have veered off to use a restroom and clean up a little, but she couldn't wait to see him and finally find out what had happened to her dad who disappeared so many years ago.
Liz pushed open the door to the office expecting to be greeted by a secretary. But the first room was empty except for bookshelves, and several brown leather chairs arranged for visitors. She cleared her throat. "Hello?"
She walked in further to peer into the second room. Perhaps the lawyer was on the phone and hadn't heard her. The room was crowded with dark leather furniture and law books. At first it seemed unoccupied as well. Had she made a mistake about the time? Had he not waited for her arrival? And then Liz saw his hand peeking out from behind the desk, pale against the dark red oriental carpet. She moved toward it, thinking he had fallen or had a heart attack. Maybe she could help him. And then she saw the blood. Someone had shot and killed him.
Without thinking, she turned and ran.
And now for a mystery...
Liz watched impatiently as Mr. Neetelbaum arranged the papers on his desk for the 100th time. He looked like the kind of man who had regular manicures and a whole row of identical blue pressed shirts in his closet. He had written her a formal letter hinting of family mysteries. She came out of curiosity. Her family had all died and she had been alone for years. Luckily her mother's life insurance money had helped pay for college, a down payment on a condo and start in life. But she had never stopped longing for family and to know more about family members. She was hoping that someone had reached out to this lawyer to find her.
"What do you know about your father, Ms. Smith?"
Her mind went blank. She hadn't been expecting the question. "Not much. He died when I was a baby. His name was Robert Smith, and he was in the army."
The lawyer shuffled the papers on his desk. It had to be a nervous tick. "How interesting."
Was it? To her it sounded so hopeless and tragic. She would have loved to have known her father.
"What if I told you that your father was still alive."
She stared at him in disbelief. "Is this some kind of joke?"
"Not at all. But I have information that I think would be very valuable to you."
Valuable. That meant he wanted money. Money she didn't have. She wondered if it was for real or if he was just looking for an easy mark.
"How did you learn about him -- and about me?"
"Let's just say that the police are very interested in the case. You see, your father is a murderer."
She had not been expecting this. In all her fantasies of her father, he was brave and loyal and kind. He died tragically and young as a hero. To find out that he was still alive and a murderer seemed like a horrible cruel joke. She shook her head in disbelief. Her father couldn't be guilty. She wanted more than anything else in the world to prove him wrong and make him eat his words.
Is there a big difference? Could either one be the start of a thriller or mystery? Perhaps. Maybe in the end I can just write one way, and the story dictates where I go. But now I'm glad I had the chance to do the exercise and have a chance to mull over the differences.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Out of Time: Two Versions
By Kelli Stanley
Jumping jacks can be fun, and God knows, writers are sedentary creatures. This week, thanks to our brilliant question whiz (who I believe is a crusading attorney by day and a fabulous mystery writer at night), we get to do some calisthenics for our brains and imaginations.
Two stories, one set-up. One a mystery ... the other a thriller. You ready?
On your mark ... get set ... GO.
Out of Time: A Thriller
Twelve minutes.
That's all the time she had. All the time she might ever have.
Kasia pushed the thought away at the same time that she flashed a disarming "thank you" smile at the security guard and adjusted the backpack on her shoulder. Backpack, jeans, an old college ID with no expiration date. She looked like what she was supposed to look like: an earnest young journalism student here at McPhee International in order to interview one of the research scientists.
She strode quickly past the mirrored wall on the way to the elevator, and barely recognized herself. When was the last time she wore jeans during the work week? Not exactly the wardrobe of a high-profile environmental lawyer. But then, she wasn't Kasia McCormick any more, was she?
The elevator doors opened with a clang and she jumped, searching the bored corporate faces for a sign of recognition. Head down, she filed in with the others. A woman in a lab coat pushed the 27th floor.
Kasia closed her eyes for a moment, the memories of two days ago flooding over her. Men in black with gold shields and automatic rifles, the gloved hands destroying her apartment ... her life. They wanted something they thought she had, and her only clue--the only idea she could come up with in the 48 hour fight to keep running, keep alive--was the deposition she'd taken, just the day before.
Charles Lloyd ... the witness against the McPhee corporation and Roger McPhee himself.
She'd planned it out, calculated. She'd have maybe 12 to 13 minutes to get in McPhee's inner office. Find whatever it was they thought she had, find out who was setting her up.
The bell clanged again, and she stepped out on the 27th floor.
Deep breath.
Step one: Ladies room, drop the smoke bomb.
Step two: Supply closet. Open the backpack, put on the gas mask. Drop the canister of tear gas.
Step three: Hallway. Hit the fire alarm.
Screams, coughing, smoke. Chaos and an empty office. So far so good. Sirens were starting to wail outside.
Step four: One more bomb, on the opposite end of the floor. No one around, time to detonate. 27th floor window, plenty of glass.
Security alarms, more sirens, burly men in orange vests. Hide in the ladies room again, stand on the toilet. Five minutes left, and there goes McPhee, escorted by two flacks and three security officers.
Kasia could barely breathe through the gas mask. She slid into McPhee's office, the thick-walled room dark from no lights--they must have cut the power.
Her flashlight cut through the gloom like a razor.
A man in a lab coat was sitting behind the desk, a smile on his face and a gun in his hand. It was Charles Lloyd.
Half of his skull was missing.
Katia was out of time.
Out of Time: A Mystery
The magical smell of chocolate brought a smile to Kasia's face. It had been far too long since she'd seen her uncle Roger, CEO of McPhee Chocolates, Forbes poster boy, and all-around chocolate king, as sweet as his milk chocolate caramels.
You shouldn't have waited until he called you, she chided herself. Family comes before career. You never take enough time with the family you have left. Never enough time.
Ah, but in this case Uncle Roger called precisely because you're a criminal attorney ... not just because he misses your mother.
A shadow crossed Kasia's face, and she pushed the thought away. Work had helped her deal with losing her mom, but had she really dealt with it? She glanced in the hallway mirror on the way to the elevator.
No joy in her eyes. What happened to that little girl who loved her chocolate Easter Eggs? What happened to the young woman full of idealism, a crusader out to write wrongs and fight injustice?
The elevator dinged a welcome distraction. Kasia concentrated on the small talk around her, two women in the corner debating on whether almonds or cashews were better in the latest McPhee Miracle bar.
By the time she reached the 27th floor, she'd regained her composure. She was looking forward to seeing her uncle, even if it took time away from her latest project. Then again, if he needed her help ... it might be something serious.
Gayle smiled at her from behind glasses only a devoted secretary could wear, and pushed the buzzer. Kasia tapped on the door, then walked in, smiling shyly.
Her uncle looked virtually the same, the unruly mop of his hair a dull gray where it used to be blond. The only thing truly different was the frown he wore. It came unnaturally to his face, just like the anxiety lines around his eyes that she could swear hadn't been there half a year ago.
"Ah. Kasia. My not-so-little niece. Sit down, sweetheart." He gestured to his desk, and she perched on a comfortable, leather-bound chair. Then she noticed the gun in front of her uncle.
"Uncle Roger, why do you--why do you have a hand gun? What's wrong?"
He gave her a puzzled look before his face relaxed into its customary grin. "Oh--sorry. That's the latest mold. Realistic design--looks just like a .44 Magnum, doesn't it? We're developing a whole new "Chocolate Trick" line--jokes, parties, you know, that kind of stuff. I always test the first chocolate item off the line."
He picked up the chocolate gun and broke off a piece of the barrel. "You want some?"
Kasia smiled and shook her head, wondering what was bothering him and when he'd get to the point. Her uncle shrugged his big shoulders, and folded the dark chocolate into his mouth.
Roger had chewed twice when Kasia realized something was wrong. He dropped the chocolate gun on the floor. His eyes were round, huge, suddenly red. The big man stumbled up from his chair, his hand clutching his throat, retching, trying to speak.
She jumped up and ran behind him, trying the Heimlich maneuver. He coughed, sprayed a chocolate spittle over the carpet, doubled over. She tried again.
He fought her off, trying to face her. His eyes were pleading. "Chas" he said, over and over. "Chas."
He coughed one more time, his hand at his throat, before he crumpled and fell to the floor. Kasia stood over him in shock. Then she bent down to feel his pulse. She ran to the door, screaming to Gayle: "Call an ambulance! There's something wrong with my uncle!"
Later, she stood mute in the office, a silent sentinel looking down at her uncle's desk. Tears wouldn't come, not yet. Kasia stood there for an hour, until Gayle gently knocked at the door and helped her into a coat and out of the room.
Kasia looked up at the secretary, her eyes gray and hard. "I ran out of time for him. Never enough time. But I promise you--as God is my witness--I'll find my uncle's killer. No matter how long it takes."
There you have it ... and thanks for the exercise!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Two Mystery Versions. A Man, A Woman, A Desk and A Gun.
Well, here they are. One thriller opening; one mystery opening. For the record, I should point out that I've never attempted a thriller. And now I think I know why.
The day of the funeral was hot. The kind of heat that dulled the senses and made you feel your full age, and I couldn't afford that. Not today.
I had just come back to my office – an overpriced high-rise that, as of this morning, was double the space I needed – and dropped wearily into my chair. That's when I noticed the package on my desk. It was a lumpy affair, done up in stiff brown paper, and secured with twine. Reluctantly turning my body away from the cool blast of the air conditioning unit, I studied it a minute before taking a letter opener and cutting the string. The paper fell away, and there it was. A gun. Not just a gun, but, unless I was very much mistaken, the gun.
The elevator door in the outer hall banged open, and I heard her quick footsteps alight. I had heard the rhythmic patter of her spiked heels too many times not to recognize them now. She swung the door open without knocking and stood framed in the doorway. She was still wearing her black widow's weeds. They suited her.
"Hello, Frank," she said, her cold eyes taking in the sight of the gun on the desk in front of me. "I see you got my package. Now, what the hell are we going to do about it?"
Mystery (cozy)
The day of the funeral was hot, and I wished I hadn't worn hose. I doubted my grandfather would have cared, now that he was presumably experiencing celestial bliss, but my mother – who was still very much of this world – was a whole other story.
I glanced down again at the address my grandfather's attorney had given me, and then back up at the marble building in front of me. It was one of those expensive high-rise office buildings in the city's financial district. Okay, so, maybe the hose were a good idea.
I rode the elevator to the top floor and stepped out into a lush reception area, decorated with glass, mahogany, and leather. The temperature was cool, almost cold. I crossed the thick carpet to the receptionist's desk and to the efficient looking young man behind it. Before I could speak, he stood up, and in a clipped accent, said, "You must be Miss O'Neill. Mr. Baines is waiting for you. Please follow me."
Confused more than ever as to why my grandfather's attorney had sent me here, I followed him into an office that made the receptionist area look as if were decorated with garage sale remnants. A thin, balding man, whom I judged to be in his mid-sixties, sat at an enormous desk. The desk caught my attention, not only because it looked like something that historical treaties might have been signed on, but because of the gun laying on it. "Miss O'Neill to see you, sir," murmured the receptionist, before discretely vanishing back to the outer office.
"Ah, Miss O'Neill," said the man, as he rose from his chair. "So good of you to come on such short notice. I was sorry to hear of your grandfather's passing. He was a very complex man, and he thought very highly of you, which is why," he said, indicating the gun on the desk, "he wanted you to solve what he couldn't."
Thriller, mystery, or cheater?
Monday, April 25, 2011
Have I ever mentioned how much I hate being one of the two Mondays? It's intimidating to come up with the first post of a new week's question. Makes me feel like I'm standing up at the front of the room, giving an oral book report. Without notes. The last time I had to do that, I forgot the name of the protagonist. Ack!
Anyway, today I've got to come up with two versions of the same scene, one a mystery, the other a thriller. Here goes nothing.
I hadn't known my great-uncle Salvatore Ciccotelli. Mom wanted nothing to do with Dad's side of the family -- one of those families -- and refused to marry him until he agreed to move as far away from New Jersey as possible and leave no forwarding address. So you can imagine my surprise when I received a letter stating that I was named as a beneficiary in Uncle Sal's will. The letter made no mention of what Uncle Sal had left me, only that to collect my inheritance, I had to do so in person at the Newark office of mob attorney Anthony Molino. An airline ticket accompanied the letter.
Which is why I currently sat opposite an ultra-slick looking, silver-haired guy who wore a custom made silk suit that probably cost more than I make in a month as a kindergarten teacher. A massive rosewood desk separated us. Aside from a phone and a copy of Uncle Sal's will, the only other object on the desk was my inheritance.
I stared in disbelief at the hunk of metal. "He left me a gun?"
Molino leaned forward and steepled his fingers under his chin. The corners of his mouth twitched upward. He was enjoying this farce too much. "Not just a gun, a very specific gun."
"What's so special about it?"
"This is the gun that killed your father."
"You've got the wrong girl. My father is very much alive. He drove me to the airport this morning."
"No," he said. "Your real father died before you were born."
The cryptic message I received this morning read, "If you want to find out what's really going on at Merck, be at 100 Broad Street, room 1803, 4pm."
Damn right, I wanted to know what was going on. Too many people were dying, and the one thing they all had in common was their connection to the giant pharmaceutical company. It had taken quite a bit of sleuthing on my part to uncover that fact. Not all of the victims had worked at Merck, not all had been ill, not all had been taking Merck manufactured medications. Yet all had some Merck connection and all had been murdered. Except both the police and the D.A. had chalked the deaths up to accidents and suicides. They brushed aside my Merck theory as pure coincidence.
I don't believe in coincidence.
Except someone must have believed me. Hence, the note and the reason that at precisely 4pm I stood outside the door of room 1803. No signage indicated the type of business behind the door. I turned the knob and stepped inside.
A desk filled one far corner of the large room. Aside from that, the room appeared bare. No carpet, no file cabinets, no wall art. Not even any seating other than the desk chair. At first I didn't realize anyone sat in that chair. The sun streamed in from the windows behind the desk, keeping me from seeing anything more than the silhouetted shapes of the desk and the chair behind it. But the chair had a rounded shape above it that I assumed was the head of whomever sat behind the desk. I cleared my throat to get his attention. Nothing.
I approached the desk, shading my eyes from the blinding sun, but stopped when I was close enough to recognize the single item sitting on the desk. A .357 Magnum. I pulled my gaze from the gun to the person behind the desk, a well-dressed elderly gentleman. A man who wouldn't be divulging any secrets, thanks to the bullet hole between his eyes.
Lois Winston writes the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries for Midnight Ink. Read more at her website and Anastasia's blog.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
The Greasy Burger Method
Saturday, April 23, 2011
What Would Pop Do?
My answer to this week's question about this business of advice takes me back many moons ago, back around the time fire and electricity were invented and I was a youngster growing up in South Central L.A. Oh, and this is a somewhat bifurcated response but you'll see how they dovetail. Anyway, when I was a kid I read a lot of Marvel comics from the Fantastic Four, Captain America (both these titles plotted and drawn dynamically by Jack "King" Kirby -- seen here with some of his creations), Namor, the Sub-Mariner (who Star Trek's Mr. Spock resembles) and on and on. In my neck of the woods, in those days, you didn't read too many goofy DC comics – this before DC's editor took a page from the Stan Lee-influenced Marvel line, and introduced angst in their characters.
My cousin and I would trace those great sequential panels by Kirby, Gil Kane, Wally Wood and the like, and write our own dialogue in the word balloons. There was nothing more I wanted to do then that write and draw my own comics titles for Marvel. There was a thing then called comics fanzines, memographed and eventually offset printed amateur publications where those of us burning with the fever to talk about and make our own comics could band together with other such geekazoids -- using snail mail I might add – to create our own characters and stories. Our efforts could result in a one issue we might put together or if you had the stuff, your work might see life in the pages of publication such as Alter Ego, Sqa Tront, Ariel, or All Dynamic. These publications would have comics combined with articles about whatever was abuzz in fandom. Various professional got their start in these fanzines.
So I would spend hours and hours at my wooden draft table laying out the panels on my page, doing the finished pencils, inking that work and then sweating out trying to letter my dialogue and captions on those pages. I even took art in high school and college toward this dream but it turned out I suck as an artist. But now we get to the advice. See my dad had only made it to the sixth grade, having to drop out and work during the Depression. He did all kinds of jobs from being a lookout for a bootlegger in his hometown of Seguin, Texas, picked up bodies for the local mortuary in San Antonio, dug ditches for a Works Projects Administration project, hauled large blocks of ice up and down walk-up apartments for ice boxes in Chicago, etc. so to him when you had a job to do, be it menial or high falutin' you didn't sluff the work. You mopped that floor the best you could because that was your job and you didn't half-ass the work.
I had an art teacher who essentially said the same one time in a college class and I guess because I'd heard my dad say it, his words stuck with me. He was talking to us one day and mention almost in a n off-hand way that he always wanted us to do our best, that maybe it wasn't for a big commission but that didn't mean you didn't take the work any less seriously. He warned if you approached some jobs as something that demanded less than your best, your work would be affected when it came time to go all out.
When I feel I'm writing a scene on auto pilot, or I come to that part of the plot where I could just kind of coast and do that thing I've done before only a little bit different, try as I might to block the admonishment from echoing in my head, it does. I can ignore the advice but my work pays the price.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Chop Phooey
Gabriella Herkert
Catnapped and Doggone
What does 'stop cutting your own hair' actually mean? Emote outwardly. Okay, okay so I'm not a big emoter in any direction but you get the gist. My hair styling hysteria is the moment someone needs to die. When the impulse strikes, I need to get out of the bathroom and put my crazy self at the keyboard. Not only is that state of mind good for a murder or two, it's a pretty good shot of imagination for both method and disposal.
Spend nine months arguing over a telephone bill with a huge bureaucracy of interchangeable players and you could go home and end up with a DIY Mohawk. Or, you can sit down and let your favorite gentleman character swing hard at an evil woman who bears a remarkable likeness to your utility counterpart. Now, your character may not usually resort to fisticuffs particularly with the fairer sex but Mohawk maintenance requires product and commitment. Plus, it doesn't really go with the frumpy suits and girl shoes. Let him take a second shot if the moment hasn't passed.
Fly coach in a middle seat at a moment's notice to negotiate a major contract only to have your opposition no be able to find their own conference room. This can lead to a military buzz cut administered with the sewing scissors a helpful hotel concierge will provide free of charge. Of course, it will take a while so an asymmetrical punk look might be where you actually end up. To avoid a sunburned scalp and negotiation paralysis from the rubbernecking baby lawyer the other company has sent in unprepared, use a pitchfork. Name the victim using the first name of the other attorney and the last name of his obnoxious business partner. Stick him good. For that matter, let him linger a little. There's something so soothing about ridding the world of people who waste your time and energy and think it's okay because they work for a bigger company. Entitlement as a motive for murder. I can see it. And it leaves my hair at a length that allows me to put it in a 'I haven't combed it today' bun. It's the girl version of the boy bed head ball cap. I don't want to lose that. It comes in so handy.
Have a loud discussion with an executive at your own company about actions you'll be forced to undo and defend at the same time. Bald only looks good on Sine̕ad O'Connor and Demi Moore. I suspect my skull is full of bumps and flat spots. Worse, I might even have freckles there. This is the moment when a professional assassin is hired by a keep my hands clean society lion. Bodies fall. One after another. The good guys are stumped. Soon even the entrepreneurial marksman takes aim at our big wig bad'un. It's so sad really when those in power can't spin their assets and allies into legal bulletproofing. Sad and exhilarating. All without having to wait until it grows back.
Those friends who held my haircut intervention – they did good.
Thanks for reading.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The Best Advice
I grew up in a repressed household. When I asked my dad where babies come from, he looked uncomfortable and said, "I'll give you a book." (He never did.) When my mom wanted me to cut the lawn, she would stare out the window, and I was to infer that the grass needed cutting. (If I failed to infer, she gave me the silent treatment – which was followed by a deeper silent treatment if I failed to understand that her first silence meant she was mad at me.) If, as a thirteen year old, I stumbled home reeking of beer, dad and mom never raised their eyebrows, never sniffed the air, never said anything. When our neighbor called because my brother had passed out drunk on the lawn, dad and mom picked him up, carried him to bed, and said . . . nothing. The next morning when he came to the kitchen table, green faced and hung over, mom served him a plate of scrambled eggs and sausage. That was the punishment: a big greasy breakfast for an upset stomach.
In short, in our family we were expected to know better. And if we didn't already know better, we were expected to learn it on our own. We received very little advice – cheap or otherwise. I do remember my mom telling me that if I cut my hair so it no longer fell to my shoulders, I would be able to "get away with more," which was another way of saying, appearance counts, which turned out to be true. And I remember from when I was very young my dad telling me not to stand on the bathroom counter when brushing my teeth. But that's about it.
As is the way with intergenerational pendulum swings, I offer my own kids way too much advice. I let them know what I'm thinking all the time. I'm happy to discuss parthenogenesis as well as more conventional sexual reproduction. I enumerate a clear list of repercussions if they don't do their chores.
But when I write about family relations in my mysteries, I model the advice more upon my parents' practices than my own. Joe Kozmarski's mom encourages him always to carry a gun, which seems to me as useful as my dad telling me not to stand on the counter when brushing my teeth, and she sometimes practices the silent treatment to powerful effect. Joe himself encourages his nephew Jason, who lives with him, to treat others – and himself – with respect. But that's about it. Joe is a pretty big screw-up and wants to avoid the hypocrisy of telling Jason to behave in ways that he himself fails to. So, he gives advice sparingly.
And maybe that's enough. It's more interesting – more fun and more painful – to learn lessons on one's own. Hearing from one's parents that it's a bad idea to pass out, drunk, on the lawn makes less of an impression than a morning-after plate of sausage and eggs. But I still wish my dad would give me that book.
* * *
Joe Kozmarski will be learning particularly hard lessons in A Bad Night's Sleep, available now for pre-order.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
It's all good advice if you know how to use it
A perfect example stares at me from the first page of Stephen King's On Writing -
The first line says "Honesty is the best policy" - attributed to Miguel de Cervantes.
The next line says "Liar's prosper" - attributed to anonymous (hmmm... that's interesting in and of itself)
So should I lie or should I be honest or does it depend if I think I'm going to get caught - I think that's in the subtext somewhere.
Mr. King is not the only one to notice this - I believe George Carlin did a bit on it, and most of us deal with it every single day.
"Good things come to those who wait."
"The early bird catches the worm."
So did he get to the worm hole early and then wait around to catch it like a teenager (or 40 year old man) trying to get tickets to the next Star Wars movie. And did the worm just come out and pop into his mouth when the sun rose. Cause that's what I get out of melding these two together.
And what about this.
"Love conquers all."
We do have a 58% divorce rate in this country so maybe "Love conquers... and then moves on to conquer someone else."
Of course bits of advice can compete with The Judge in Caddyshack - played by the incomparable Ted Knight who said - "It's easy to grin when your ship has come in and you've got the stock market beat. But the man who's worthwhile is the man who can smile when his pants are too tight in the seat." I really have no idea what it means but it sounds pretty cool.
Of course he also told the caddy who wanted the scholarship so he could get a better job in life that "the world needs ditch diggers too". So don't know if that helps anyone.
And of course Ty - Chevy Chase's character in the same movie - asked Noonan if he "did drugs" - to which Noonan said "Every day" - to which Ty said "Good."
And of course Bill Murry espoused much advice on how to rid the world of gophers throughout the movie - I remember something about falling back and obtaining superior firepower - so if you need advice Caddyshack might be a good place to start.
But finally - and honestly - the best advice I ever heard came from Kirk Douglas - he didn't give it to me - he told his son Michael Douglass - who also didn't tell me but did tell someone on Entertainment Tonight. And the gist of Kirk's advice --which applies to writing as much as to anything else in life is this. "Do the best job you can when working on something - and whatever happens after that: Fu#% it."
In this business - in this life there is so much we can't control. You can make yourself crazy trying to figure out how to control the outcome - which you can't control anyway no matter how hard you scheme. And all that thinking and worrying and trying to figure all the angles drains the energy out of the work you're trying to do in the first place. Basically do your part - and whatever the hell happens - happens. But once you stop worrying about what you cant control and focus on what you can - you do a much better job on what's in front of you anyway.
A circle of paper, labeled
Monday, April 18, 2011
Suck It Up, Sweetheart.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
A Riot of Attitude
The first time I met Marian Misters, co-owner of Toronto's fantastic Sleuth of Baker Street, she told me how much she loved Lily Moore's attitude.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
I Predict A Riot
Reece Hirsch
In THE INSIDER, my protagonist Will Connelly gets involved in a chase and shootout in the middle of San Francisco's Gay Pride Parade that leaves two dead and Will in the joint custody of the Department of Justice and the San Francisco Police Department. I wouldn't say that Will started a riot, but he definitely disturbed the peace in a major way.
Here's where the action begins, as Will attempts to conduct an exchange with two Russian mobsters to recover his kidnapped semi-girlfriend Claire. It should come as no surprise to you that things do not go as planned.
Yuri drew a pistol from his jacket. In a moment of excruciating clarity, Will saw the glint of afternoon sun on the barrel of the gun, the concentration on Yuri's face as he aimed.
An instant later, Will was shoving his way through the parade crowd, throwing elbows like Shaquille O'Neal. He heard no gunshots. Will managed to make it to Market Street and, drawing several shouts of resistance, clambered over the barricade into the street. He heard the cries multiplying behind him and knew that Nikolai and Yuri were plunging through the throng after him.
As he staggered onto Market Street, he found himself surrounded by a group of men dressed like nuns who had been outfitted at Frederick's of Hollywood. It was the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a troupe of drag queen performance artists. The Sisters took his intrusion in stride – one blessed him, another attempted to spank him on the ass with a ruler. Standing in the middle of Market Street, with Nikolai and Yuri at the barricades and once more able to take aim at him, he felt more exposed than the burly Sister standing next to him wearing fishnets over a thong.
The Sisters did not have a float that Will could hide behind, so he tried to stay close to the performers while moving against the tide of the parade. When he looked back to spot Yuri and Nikolai, he saw them climbing over the barrier. Will wondered if they were actually brazen enough to shoot him in the midst of a televised parade.
Looking for cover, he was relieved to see a float rumbling towards him. It was a large, rolling lump of papier-mâché covered with plastic flowers and bearing the slogan: "More Than A Law Firm" and, in smaller letters, "Celebrate Diversity! Reynolds Fincher & McComb Honors San Francisco's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Communities." The float was manned by about a dozen people who were standing at a low railing along the side throwing Mardi Gras beads to the crowd.
A string of beads hit him in the chest. When he looked up, he saw that they had been thrown by Craig Logan, a paralegal he had worked with on the Jupiter deal.
"Didn't expect to see you back so soon! Happy Pride!"
Will walked backwards to face Craig and keep up with the float. "Can I join you up there?"
"This isn't your coming out party, is it, Will?" Craig reached down and extended a hand. Will climbed the steps built into the side of the float and joined Craig at the railing.
"Craig, I need your help. Is there a place around here where I could hide?"
"Once that closet door is open, Will, there's no more hiding."
"I'm serious, Craig. I need to get out of sight. Right now."
I'm going to stop right there, but the rest of the chapter features a hungover Ian McKellen as the parade grand marshall, the cast of Bleach Blanket Babylon, murder, mayhem and muy macho DOJ Special Agent Joan Fisk. It may not qualify as a riot, but it's pretty close.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Riot? Me?
It's hard to imagine Lydia McKenzie starting a riot. She doesn't like to ride the subway because it forces her to stand too close to strangers. But starting a riot isn't always intentional.
Riots are frightening. A whole crowd surges and moves like a tsunami. People get trampled and killed. I've never been in a riot, but I have been in some really scary situations. I was once afraid that I and my infant son would get crushed on 5th Avenue in the Christmas crowd. People were pushing and shoving and there wasn't room for everyone. I had to work my way to the police barricades and demand to be let out. The cop didn't want to do it at first, so I used my best Jedi Master imitation (and threatened to call 911). He opened up the barricade and I marched off through the cars on 5th Avenue still carrying my child and his stroller. I didn't start shaking until a few minutes later. Delayed shock.
Years ago, when my husband and I were living in Paris, we were riding the subway to a friend's house for dinner. Someone tossed a tear gas canister into our subway car as a joke. I can still remember vividly the helpless feeling of being blind as the crowd rushed toward us. I think of that often when I see footage of the police firing "harmless" tear gas at protestors. The oddest part of the story was that when we arrived at our dinner party full of our adventures, our French friends assured us that it happened all the time. Not cool.
Lydia isn't much of a rabble-rouser, to be honest. She wouldn't hesitate to interfere or speak up if she thought someone was getting picked on or abused. She has a strong sense of justice. But why would she want a crowd to get all riled up? I can only imagine that it might be in order to distract a killer so someone could get away. And in hipster Williamsburg it's a bit difficult to arouse passions in an ironic crowd. So what would get them excited? A big sale on Clove cigarettes? A free Brian Eno concert in McCarren Park? A Bud Lite to the first 100 people to enter a bar? Who knows. But hopefully she'll never have to start trouble on the street. Too often the trouble just finds her. And a riot does nothing to stop it.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Riots and the Righteous
By Kelli Stanley
It seems like forever since I've sat down to right an honest-to-goodness blog. First there was the book tour ... then there was Left Coast Crime ... then there was the burglary of my house, which has taken (and is taking) a great deal of time to deal with. I'm really, really grateful to Shane, my blog buddy, good buddy, and ace substitute for filling in for me ... he also needs a shout-out for being shortlisted for a Thriller Award--yay, Shane-Meister!!! :)
I also want to thank my fellow blogmates for bearing with my absence ... my schedule was already impossible before the burglary, and ... now I just laugh at it. ;)
So, back to the post. The subject for the day is a riot. No, I mean literally.
Riots are nasty. They're a sort of unified mob chaos, with random individual acts of crime and violence ... even those riots that are initiated by positive events (like winning a Super Bowl or a World's Series). Those that are begun out of frustration and anger with a political or social event can be even worse. Innocent people are inevitably hurt--or even killed--because of the temporary, uncontrolled madness and lifting of inhibitions that embody riots. And of course, criminals--by definition anti-social--will take advantage of the chaos for profit.
I was nearly caught in a riot in Greece once when I was a young student and studying in Italy. A political rally turned nasty ... as politics often does. Let me put it this way: nothing undertaken by an out-of-control mob ever feels good. There isn't much difference between a riot and a lynching, except that the latter is smaller and focuses on a defined, murderous goal.
What's frustrating, though, is that good things have emerged from bad acts. Riots have helped change policy and law--for the better--by calling attention to an issue that might otherwise be ignored by the power-brokers. And because this is the case, they continue to be viewed as a viable form of protest, and are--witness the recent events in Egypt. Riots can lead to revolution, which might lead to a stronger sense of individual rights and freedom.
Miranda Corbie, however, will have none of it.
Miranda distrusts people in general, and in groups, she distrusts them even more. There is no such thing as a safe mob. So ... if she's hauled to the Hall of Justice down on Portsmouth Square one day in 1941--and presented with a charge of inciting a riot--she'd call her attorney, Meyer, who would get the charges dismissed. Because Miranda would never start a riot ... though she would try her damnedest to end one.
Say, a riot targeting Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor. Or the "Zoot-Suit" riots in Los Angeles. Or the "Bloody Thursday" riot of San Franciso's great strike in 1934.
Because the problem with riots is that innocent people are harmed ... even if the underlying cause is just. And in Miranda's world--where politics and politicians are largely concerned for themselves, rather than for the citizens--where the citizens themselves are more concerned with food on the table and Amos and Andy than they are with what's going on around them--where the people you trust you can number on one hand and maybe two fingers--in that world, riots and the mob violence that define them are what Miranda fights against.
Because saving the dry cleaner on the corner--making sure the drug store's windows aren't broken--picking up the lost kid caught in the middle of a gunfight--are the causes she's fighting FOR.
Miranda returns in CITY OF SECRETS on September 13th ... she's got a lot of fighting ahead.


text:
WKU History Graduate Program - Non-Thesis Option
Plan B: Non-Thesis Option
Major Steps and Policies for M.A. Plan B: Non-Thesis Option
1. Preliminary Preparation and Application to Program
2. Conference with Departmental Advisor.
3. Course Requirements
4. Research Tool
5. Area of Concentration
6. Time Limit
7. Grade Requirements
8. Filing the Graduate Degree Program (Form C).
9. Admission to Candidacy (Form D)
10. Comprehensive Written and Oral Examinations
11. Application for the Degree
1. Preliminary Preparation and Application to Program
Candidates for the M.A. degree should have completed an undergraduate major or minor (of at least 18 hours) in history with grade point average of approximately B (3.0 on 4.0 scale). The overall undergraduate grade point average must be at least 2.5.
Applications to the History Department's graduate programs are handled by The Graduate School office. Students must meet the minimum standards for admission set forth by The Graduate School.
Students must sit for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and submit scores to the
university as part of their application. The advanced test in History is not required.
2. Conference with Departmental Advisor
Upon acceptance to the program, and before courses begin, graduate students must contact
the History Department's Graduate Director for advising.
3. Course Requirements
Thirty-six (36) hours of course work must be completed with a 3.0 average. Each program is individually planned with the Graduate Advisor.
History 535 must be included unless it is being used to meet the requirement for the research tool.
All courses must be taught by members of the Graduate Faculty if they are to count for graduate credit.
Students may take no more than four 400G-level courses.
Transfer Work: A maximum of nine (9) credit-hours for graduate courses work may be transferred from another institution. See the current Graduate Bulletin for a statement of University regulations for transfer work. No correspondence work can be applied toward the degree.
Enrollment Limits: Graduate students may not enroll for more than 15 hours in a semester or 12 hours
in a summer term of 11 weeks -- or 6 hours in a term of 5 weeks. Graduate assistants
are limited to a total of 9-12 hours per semester.
4. Research Tool
The research tool requirement may be met by demonstrating proficiency in (1) a foreign
language, or (2) Mathematics 203, Statistics, or (3) History 535, provided it is not
being taken for course credit as part of the program. A grade of B is required in
any research tool course. The Modern Languages Department will administer language
proficiency exams. The research tool must be completed before filing the Admission to Candidacy form
(Form D).
5. Area of Concentration
Each student must take at least four (4) courses (12 credit hours) in a field of concentration
in order to qualify for their M.A. exam.
6. Time Limit
All requirements for the degree must be completed within a period of 5 consecutive
years from the date of first enrollment.
7. Grade Requirements
Students must attain an average of B (3.0) in all graduate work to receive a degree.'No
credit will be given for D work.'No credit will be given for excess undergraduate
work or work taken as a special post-graduate student.
8. Filing the Graduate Degree Program (Form C)
The Graduate Degree Program (Form C) must be filed prior to or upon completion of
12 hours of graduate credit.
9. Admission to Candidacy (Form D)
Admission to Candidacy (Form D) is acted upon by the Graduate Council after the completion
of 12 hours and before the semester of graduation with a 3.0 average and the approval
of the student's Advisory Committee and the Graduate Dean. Any course required for
the research tool must be completed before Admission to Candidacy is approved.
10. Comprehensive Written and Oral Examinations
These are oral and written examinations which cover the student's entire graduate
program. Students may not sit for exams until completion of all requirements for the
degree. See the Graduate Advisor about scheduling the exams.
At least 30 days before the written exam, the student must distribute to exam board members a comprehensive bibliography of all historical works read during his/her course of graduate study at WKU. If exam board members feel there are deficiencies in the candidate's preparation as evidenced by the bibliography, they may require the M.A. candidate to read more works before sitting for examinations.
11. Application for the Degree
Application for the Degree must be filed with the Registrar by the dates established by the Registrar each semester.
Some of the links on this page may require additional software to view.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
A few introductory words are in order about the nature of my "genealogical research." I have had very active genealogists on several of my family lines. I may have mentioned before that I am aware of almost a dozen surname and descendents books written about various family lines. Except for a few inaccuracies handed down from generation to generation, for at least six generations back on all of my family lines, the information on almost every individual is extensive and not controverted. There is really no disagreement about births, deaths, marriages or any other data. Except for a few refinements, I established a file with all of the pertinent data many years ago and so most of the online data about my family came from my files originally.
Now, we have the new age. The age of finding accurate original source information about the families. I am well into the task of accumulating source information and digitizing records. Enter Family Tree. For the first time, I have a way to accurately portray my entire family in one place with virtually unlimited and universal access. I certainly know that Family Tree will not provide a way to record all of the information about my family, although that may happen in the future. But it is the most accessible and best system I have yet seen. Almost all of the other online family tree programs rely on individual submissions of duplicate family tree information. FamilySearch Family Tree is designed to produce one entry per person.
So, now, what do I do when someone enters inaccurate information. In this case, the information is not subject to interpretation or "honest" disagreement. The recent addition was to an individual who is extremely well documented and although there are some issues with the way to display his name, almost nothing about this individual is at all subject to personal opinion.
The change was made to the name of my Great-great-grandfather, Charles Godfrey Jarvis (born Defriez or DeFriez). His birth date in England is documented. His employment and history are well known to the family and his date of arrival in the United States is documented and almost everything else about his life is well known and recorded in published books that are generally available.
So why would someone change his name to something different than that recorded in literally dozens of primary source documents? Who knows? The real issue is what is the appropriate response?
My response was as follows:
Hello,In addition, I added in all of the source citations documenting his birth, death and residences. I also provided a link to his life history that was readily available online.
Thanks for your interest in Charles Godfrey Defriez Jarvis. Please take time to read the source records for this individual on FamilySearch's Family Tree program. If you make changes to the file, please provide primary source records. Let me know if you have any questions.
James Tanner
I suggest that this is one appropriate way to respond to the addition of inaccurate information. Give the person a chance to read and digest the supporting information for the individual. If there is a legitimate disagreement, then compromise by adding in all contradictory or contested information and allow the community the option of providing more specific proof of the correct information.
What do you think? Is this an appropriate response? Would you handle things differently?
By the way, Charles Jarvis was born Charles Godfrey Defriez in England. When he married my Great-great-grandmother, he took her name, Jarvis, instead of retaining his birth name. He later changed his name officially to Jarvis, so all of his children are surnamed Jarvis.


text:
Prime Minister of Australia at the Phanar
On Thursday, April 26, 2012, His All-Holiness received the Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon. Julia Gillard, at the Phanar. Issues discussed during the meeting included the significance of dialogue between different religions and cultures worldwide, particularly in countries with multicultural composition, as well as the environmental activities and initiatives of the Patriarchate.
Among those in attendance were Australian Ambassador in Ankara, officials and staff of the Prime Minister and the Foreign Ministry, the Chief Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod Archimandrite Bartholomew and the Patriarchal Deacon, Fr. Nephon.
Source: Ecumenical Patriarchate


text:
We are about to start major renovations Chez Stanyer and so the last month has seen me and my boy wonder side kick (son, not husband) trawl every tile supplier in Adelaide trying to find the perfect splashback tile for our new kitchen. Really I blame Pinterest and Houzz for my obsessive search - they have set the bar very high and as most of the pictures of kitchens I have fallen in love with are from America, I can't find exactly what I want here in Australia. But I am happy to report that my First World problem has been solved and everything is in place for the chaos of home renovations to begin from mid-December (Christmas is a great time to schedule renos, right?). Ethan has been a little trouper visiting kitchen showrooms, Harvey Norman, plumbing suppliers, floor showrooms and curtain makers. A more organised mother would have packed toys to keep him amused on our quest but instead I gave him paint chips and laminate samples to play with and we had a deal that he had free reign in the kitchen showrooms. We probably weren't too popular there but really, if your doors can't handle a toddler opening and shutting them repeatedly then is your work up to scratch?
The kids and I went to our shack with my dad a couple of weeks ago and I finished the blocks for my On A Whim quilt there while Ethan was napping and Scarlett was fishing with her Poppy - can that girl wield a pink rod!
Back to On A Whim, I really like this quilt, I think it looks gorgeous and the pattern was great. But if I were to make it again, I would do it one block at a time and really enjoy the fruits of my labour. With this quilt I went all Henry Ford and chain-pieced like a maniac, and production lining those squares in a square and then trimming them all back was so boring!
Over the last few days I transformed the blocks into a quilt top. Here it is dangling from my clothesline, the quilt is a whopper, even with my clothesline wound up to the super tall setting and spun around to the slopey side of the yard it was still dangling on the grass.
The light wasn't the best this afternoon when I took these photos, but we'll just pretend that the dappled light is arty. I am going to piece a backing from some left overs and make a nice label because this quilt is for someone very special but shhhh, it's a surprise. Here are some close ups of my favourite blocks.
Now that this is done and all the house decisions have been made I feel like a weight has been lifted and I can't wait to get stuck into some Christmas craft because, good gravy, I love Christmas!
On a side note, today the kids and I spent the afternoon swimming at my dad's. Now I have curly hair and chlorine isn't a friend to the curls. When I was photographing the quilt this evening I noticed that my shadow was casting a freaky silhouette on the quilt and when I got inside I looked in the mirror and saw that I had mascara streaked all over my face.
And I kind of looked like a blonde version of the old Liz Lemon here. It wasn't pretty.
As usual, I'm linking up with Lee
I'm going to head on over there now and check out what everyone else has been creating while I've been wrestling with paint charts. Have a great week everyone, hopefully I'll see you again in a few days. Lemon out!


text:
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text:
This example is for a group of about 100 Family Group Sheets that a cousin provided to me when I started my research. His family had been doing research for years and were willing to share them with me. They are dated in the late 1980's, and I had entered and cited them in the early days of my use of Family Tree Maker. They were all "free form" citations so they weren't very consistent. In an effort to clean this problem up, I am working on a project to review all of these Family Group Sheets make sure I captured all of the data that was contained AND to Scan them and put them into FTM2014.
I didn't use the internal Scanning which is available in FTM2014, but had these FGS's scanned and linked to the Family Group Sheet Template in FTM2014.
In the Media Workspace, using the Media Category that I created, Family Group Sheets, that screen looks like this.
The scanned filename is currently in the Caption field, but is also listed below, in the Lower Right. Remember that this workspace can be sorted by Caption or by Filename, from the Tools menu, Options screen.
The filenames, in this case, are FGS####. I used a 4 digit number for sorting purposes. So, Family Group Sheet 38, becomes FGS00038. Not very helpful for a Caption. So, I changed the Caption to Family Group No. 00038 - Firstname Middlename, Surname format.
In this workspace, with the Caption sort, the FGS's will be in numeric order, with a reminder of who the Family Group Sheet is for.
Switching over to the Detail tab in the Lower Left, that is ONE Link, which is to the Citation. Remember that a media file can also be linked to a person, but this is a Citation Media File. The Right Panel has been updated.
What I put in the Media Description is the Citation or Reference Note for that citation.
Double clicking on the Link to the Citaiton will bring up the Citation screen. Selecting Reference Note Tab, will be the Citation. Select All (CTRL+A) and Copy (CTRL+C) will copy that text.
Then closing that window, Paste (CTRL+V) that text into the Description field.
Fayette Loomis Worthington, Worthington Family Group Sheet Collection; Fayette L Worthington, Tacoma, WA 98498, 1999. Family Group No. 00038; dated Jun 1987. Record for Samuel Smith.I find this very helpful when working in the Media Workspace.
Copyright © 2013 by H R Worthington


text:
22 in 3 overs....hmmmm.....ideal start for the Aussies.
22 in 3 overs....hmmmm.....ideal start for the Aussies.
Zaheer Khan has totally lost the plot, I thought he was a little suspect against NZ aswell although they didn't help themselves by giving him wickets but Khan is a nervous starter & the Australians have punished him.
damn Ponting is good...nobody & I mean nobody hits the ball as clean & as well struck as he does when on form.
There are sixes & THEN there are mind blowing sixes & everytime Ponting hits one I have to record it just so i can replay it to get my full value for money.
Ponting is just going insane now, but its not just slogging shots its just some out of this world batting..boy am I enjoying watching this.
India are under extreme pressure now, they are going back to their old fielding habits..Ganguly is letting them down badly in the field & that is not a good showing for the other players.
If Australia get Tendulkar early tonight, then this game is gone for India.
Well for me, Ponting is in the stages of playing the best innings of the tournament & he's doing it in such an important match.
He is just making what has been quite a successful bowling attack so far look very much like a business house grade attack.
I think it already is.Originally posted by Tim
If Australia get Tendulkar early tonight, then this game is gone for India.
"Age is just a stupid number"
20...that's a rather big number :(:(:(
You can't take anything away from Damien Martyn either, he's been criticised alot but he's been good quality.
OK, so the first statement is looking a little shaky, but I'm halfway there on the other one!Originally posted by marc71178
Looking at those, I think India to win is overpriced, and I might have a look at a modest Kaif/Ponting double.
marc71178 - President and founding member of AAAS - we don't only appreciate when he does well, but also when he's not quite so good!
Anyone want to join the Society?
Beware the evils of Kit-Kats - they're immoral apparently.
Bloody hell some of the shots he has been playing are out of this world I mean nobody has right to hit them that far.Originally posted by Tim
damn Ponting is good...nobody & I mean nobody hits the ball as clean & as well struck as he does when on form.
There are sixes & THEN there are mind blowing sixes & everytime Ponting hits one I have to record it just so i can replay it to get my full value for money.
I dare say his last 100 runs probably only took about 50 balls.
I remember saying Ponting would make 140 odd to.
Butt 8 sixes by him is amazing and they were massive ones to.
My take on this so far:
Ganguly's insertion has shades of Nasser putting Australia in on the first day of the Ashes. I think that it was based upon fear of Australia ripping the heart out of the top order (as in the Group match).
The pressure then brought to bear upon Zaheer ended up being much, much too much for him to stand, and the first over was a disaster which gave the initiative straight to the Aussies. From then on it's been glorious strokeplay, with one of the best. I can't understand why Ganguly didn't bowl himself - self-preservation maybe? He tried everyone else bar Kaif...
I hope that Zaheer's confidence isn't totally shot to pieces by this. I cannot see an India win from anywhere here - it would be the greatest ODI run-chase of all time. Full stop. Tendulkar needs a massive ton. Their only realistic hope is rain.
2/359 is absolutely huge, an Australian record for most sixes in an innings (8 by Ponting), most sixes in a WC innings, biggest score in a WC final, Australian record for highest ODI total, fifth highest ODI total, most expensive WC final bowling figures (Srinath's 0/87), probably he best ODI innings of all time. Partnership (234*) beats Gilchrist and Ponting's 225 against us at Melbourne in the VB for the best Aussie partnership...
There's more.
Sehwag/Tendulkar/Ganguly etc will have to go for all of their shots very, very early - 7.20 an over required - I reckon the Aussies will put a lot of slips/gullies in and go for wickets. And get them.
Last edited by Neil Pickup; 23-03-2003 at 04:35 AM.
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90 in 46 with 3 fours and 8 sixesOriginally posted by Eclipse
I dare say his last 100 runs probably only took about 50 balls.
Supposedly Ganguly is in form, but all his 4 hundreds have come against the minnow teams, he has averages around 20..it might be even less against the better nations.
I would not be surprised if Ganguly drops down the order & sends Rahul Dravid up to cop the heat of Brett Lee & Glenn McGrath.
well, that was pretty boring.
Nigel Clough's Black and White Army, beating Forest away with 10 men
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text:
Licensing Area: Contractor
Contact Information for Frequently Called Numbers
Professional and Vocational Licensing
(808) 586-3000
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(808) 587-3295 or (808) 587-4272
- Verify if a person is licensed
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- File a complaint on a licensee
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Executive Officer
Verna Oda
(808) 586-2700
Residents on the neighbor islands may call by dialing the following toll free numbers followed by the last 5 digits of the phone numbers above and the # sign:
|Lanai & Molokai
Att: CLB
P.O. Box 3469
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[email protected]
License Categories
- Entity
- Responsible Managing Employee (RME)
- Sole Proprietor
Biennial September 30 every even numbered year.
Failure to timely renew by the renewal date will result in the forfeiture of the license. After the renewal date, the forfeited license may be restored within 60 days and subject to meeting restoration requirements. Failure to restore a forfeited license within 60 days after the renewal date will result in the termination of the license and the person must apply as a new applicant and meet current licensing requirements.
Pursuant to Section 436B-14.5, HRS , any license held by a member of the armed forces, National Guard, or a reserve component that expires, is forfeited, or deemed delinquent while the member is on active duty and deployed during a state or national crisis shall be restored if certain restoration requirements are met. Military Renewal and Restoration Information Sheet.
Regulating Body
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Board Composition
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Guy M. Akasaki, Industry, Vice-Chairperson
Anacleto "Joey" Alcantara, Jr., Industry
John E. K. Dill, Public
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San Francisco 49ers vs. New York Giants: Which Team Is the NFC Champ of Food?
The NFC championship game is on Sunday and features teams from two of America's best food cities, San Francisco and New York.
As a New Yorker and a serious Giants fan, I am going to try to overcome my intense, enormous bias towards my hometown food and team. 49ers fans should take some solace in the fact that we have some Bay Area natives at SEHQ to keep me in line.
Let's score the game by quarters, each with a different category: burgers, sandwiches, pizza, and frozen desserts.
First Quarter: Burgers
New York Giants: The burger battle is incredibly close and hard-fought. NY's non-cheffy, regular burgers, featuring the likes of Shake Shack (which can now be designated a local chain), FoodParc, and the brand-new-Gotham Steak 'n Shake, are pretty swell, and its fancypants burgers like Minetta Tavern and Prime Meats offer the deeply satisfying pleasure only burgers made with prime dry-aged can bring. And I recently discovered a phenomenal fancypants burger at Roberta's for $12 that may be worth twice that.
San Francisco 49ers: San Francisco's non-cheffy regular burgers at places like Joe's Cable Car (get the Patty Melt) are also really fine but don't quite rise to the level of their New York counterparts. SF's cheffy burgers feature the likes of Zuni Café's labor-intensive beauty and Serpentine's dry-aged beef burger on a fresh, soft, and butter-toasted roll on an Acme bun with house-pickled onions and bread-and-butters. Marlowe and Nopa both do a great job, too, according to SF Serious Eats writer Lauren Sloss. She also recommends the Tuesday night burger special at Rosamunde's. And if you're mentioning Shake Shack, you've gotta give credit to In-n-Out.
The Score: This battle comes right down to the wire, but at the end of the first quarter the score is Giants 7; 49ers 6.
But as the clock was winding down the 49ers are driving.
Second Quarter: Sandwiches
Both of these cities are phenomenal sandwich towns, so this is going to be another hard-fought quarter.
San Francisco 49ers: SF sandwiches that might have me moving to the Bay Area include the insane breakfast sandwich from 4505 Meats, the San Francisco Style Red Lox sandwich from Cap'n Mike's, and the Cuban from Boccalone (all three of which can be found at the insanely delicious Ferry Plaza Market). Moving beyond that excellent eater's destination, The Sentinel, Molinari, Ike's, and Pal's Takeaway all earn SF points. The legendary Tartine, too, if you can stand the line. And if we're including Oakland, then we should call out Bakesale Betty's glorious fried chicken sandwich.
New York Giants: The Giants can offer up the following sandwiches as they march down the field: the pastrami sandwich at Katz's (iconic and seriously delicious), any sandwich at Parm, the Heebster at Russ and Daughters, and house-cured ham and cheese sandwich from Gramercy Tavern.
The Score: I can't possibly give either city the edge in the sandwich department, so as the clock winds down in the first half, each team has scored a touchdown in the second quarter. The overall score is now 14 to 13 (Giants just barely ahead) as each team heads into the locker room.
Third Quarter: Pizza
San Francisco 49ers: As someone who has eaten many slices in both cities in the past ten years, I can tell you that New York's pizza dominance over the Bay Area is not that clear-cut any more. First of all, one of New York's (and America's for that matter) greatest pie men, Anthony Mangieri was traded last year to San Francisco. Mangieri's Una Pizza Napoletana is bolstered by quite a few slices of pizza heaven in town, including Bruce Hill's Pizzeria Picco, Charlie Hallowell's Pizzaiolo, Craig Stoll and Anthony Strong's Pizzeria Delfina, Flour + Water, as well as Emilia's in Berkeley, thereby giving the Bay Area a whole pie's worth of great pizzerias. Lauren Sloss, Seth Mazow, and David Kover point us to Patxi's and Little Star for great deep-dish, and Tony's Pizzeria Napoletana should count for points, too.
New York Giants: But even with Mangieri's loss, New York is still no slouch when it comes to great pizza. We've of course got (and all of these have been loved on SE many times before) Motorino, Paulie Gee's in Greenpoint, Totonno's in Coney Island, DiFara's in Midwood, Best Pizza in Williamsburg, and Roberta's in Bushwick (I could keep going..) give no pizza ground up.
The Score: In fact, I have to give New York the edge based on pizza diversity, 7 to 6. So going into the final quarter the Giants are leading the 49ers 21-19. Damn we are headed for an intense and exciting food finish. What a game and what a meal, for that matter.
Fourth Quarter: Ice Cream and Gelato
San Francisco 49ers: There is no doubt about it; San Francisco is one helluva ice cream town these days. Bi-Rite Creamery's ice cream is creamy and intensely flavored, Humphrey Slocombe's flavors are more fanciful, sometimes even downright whimsical but they almost always make sense, and Mitchell's exotic flavors and creamy texture should also not be missed. Three Twins is a great local producer, and there's Ciao Bella in the Ferry Building. Both Bay Area native Carey Jones and SF writer Lauren Sloss recommend Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous in the Dogpatch. SF even scores points in the soft-serve department; many places serve Straus Creamery's soft serve with extraordinary toppings, including Zero Zero and Pizzeria Picco. (Bi-Rite's got soft serve too.)
New York Giants: Though New York can't match either Bi-Rite or Humphrey, they can counter with much of the ice cream and gelato found in Brooklyn these days. BKLYN Larder's fior di latte gelato, Ample Hills Creamery's salted crack caramel, and Blue Marble's classic strawberry. As for pastry-cheffy gelato, I'm not sure SF has an answer for Meredith Kurtzman's insanely delicious offerings at Otto. Her olive oil gelato will be the one all others will be judged by. As for soft serve and frozen custard, Big Gay Ice Cream may score a field goal for its name and personality alone, and of course Shake Shack's frozen custard is ever-reliable.
The Score: I'm going to give SF the edge in this quarter, but barely, 7-6, because there's no denying it's one of the best ice cream towns in the country.
Final Score
Giants 27, 49ers 26. Was I biased? Do tell, serious eaters.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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If you are wondering about the profile picture, see the bottom of the post.
Okay, okay, I know that I've been MIA. Sorry about that! April is traditionally a very busy month for me as I try to get all the promotional items out the door. But this April has been even crazier as a lot of us are moving offices. . .and I was one of the first one!
My office is not as easy to pack up because. . .well. . .I have a lot of toys! As you can see in one of my earlier posts. But I got it all packed and ready. . .just as the movers came to my door! :O
I'll post photos of my new office soon! 😉
Back to the blog! As I was thinking about what to blog today, I saw some GREAT AWA plane photos on our Facebook wall that I wanted to share.
I'd like to leave you with one final fun "Keith" note. You might have noted from my "About" page and my other posts, that I'm kind of a comic book/Star Wars geek. Well, today is a fun day for me! Want to know why? heh heh!
It's May 4th. . .May the Fourth be with You! LOL! (get it?) 😛
If you are wondering about my profile picture for today, I decided to play with some of my toys one day at the office. . .I'm 2 out of the 6 Avengers (Thor and Iron Man)! And yes, I'm going to go see the movie today!
Also, don't forget to check Katie's blog and let us know what you are working on!
Have a bless day!
Foto Friday…AWA Planes!
If you are wondering about the profile picture, see the bottom of the post.


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+45 (25) 487476
+45 (33) 151041
e-mail (26):
www (1136):
When the designer Bolette Blædel was on maternity leave with her first son, she soon discovered the scarcity of children's furniture that encourages play, creativity and physical exercise, while at the same time satisfying her preference for good, Danish design. With her sister, the fashion designer Louise Blædel, she therefore conceived the idea of creating a series of multifunctional furniture that children want to play with and adults want to bring into their sitting room.
Today, the result is a group of animals, each with its own shape and numerous functions, e.g. an elephant, which one moment can be used for riding and the next be turned into a boat, a table or a rocking footstool. bObles' furniture is not only striking design objects in bright colours and geometric shapes - it also gives children a unique opportunity to develop their motor function and understanding of their own body, while playing and using their imagination.
"It is incredibly important to our learning later in life that the development of our motor skills as children is not restricted. Children's body, emotions and learning ability benefit if they move and experiment motorically, e.g. by hanging over the arm of a sofa or rocking on a chair. We have called our animals 'romping furniture', because they have been designed to challenge and develop children's movement skills during play," explains the designer Bolette Blædel.
Examples of products:


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DeadStock x Cowboys Stadium Presents:
Kixpo 2011 Sneaker & Streetwear Expo
Sponsored by Don Davis Scion
Hosted by "Mayor" from the ATF Crew
w/Tyrone Smiley, DJ Love, DJ Sober and special guest DJ Greg Street supplying the sounds
Saturday July 2nd from 4pm-10pm
@ Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX
$15 Admission (Includes self guided tour of Cowboys Stadium)
Sneaker drive for Soles for Souls. Bring new and gently used sneakers to donate!
Live Performances by Maybach Music's own Stalley and ADd
Guests Include: Mayor, Leaders 1354 (Chicago, IL), Greg Street, Franalations, Mysoletokeep.com, JUMPMANBOSTIC, Sneaks Up Crew, SoleSupreme, Phase2x, Female Sneaker Fiend, Retro Kings, HeatSeekers Krew, Verbhl, air23blc, JRThumper, FattyMcGee, DannMann, Kicks Seeker Krew, Eightyville, boyjordan, huarache101, S.O.S. Crew, TFC Crew, Kicks on Tight Crew, Quick Strike Krew, and many mor
Vendors Include: Bobby Fresh, Shoepreme, Windy City Kicks, Shoelab, Deadstock Society, Unkommon Kolor, Exclusive Taste, TIKKR, Akomplice and many more
Stadium Tour
Sneaker Displays
Pop Up Shops
Streetwear Brands
Buy, Sell, Trade
Official Kixpo Pre-Party
Friday July 1st at Wish Ultra Lounge
3001 Knox St. (Dallas, TX)
with DJ's Donnie D (San Antonio, TX) & Leaders 1354's own Vic Lloyd (Chicago, IL)
Doors open at 9pm
21+ $5 Cover & Under 21 $10
Fitteds/Sneakers encouraged!!


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Stefan Molyneux's recent video, a defense of his statement that "feminism is socialism with panties" (from which he takes his title) is not so much an enlightening philosophical speech as an ill-informed rant. The title of the video is intellectually dishonest, dismissing generations of women and men struggling for equality as panty-wearing socialists. The title panders to vulgar misogynists and is insulting to all women, feminists or not, and to anyone else who believes in equality between the sexes. The ideas expressed in this video and other videos of his that discuss feminism in a negative way are not only inaccurate but also dangerous, negatively influencing society's perception of what feminism really is.
Because Molyneux's anti-feminist views are unfortunately shared by many libertarian men and some libertarian women, we think it is important to take a stand and point out what is wrong and misguided about these views. Each one of the individuals signing this document has seen libertarian and conservative men attacking feminism without knowing what it means; men who have read nothing more than a few newspapers articles or anti-feminist rants by others and have no idea of feminism's rich and varied history. Their views, founded on little more than opinion, are merely knee-jerk "politically incorrect" responses that lack critical thinking and thoughtful analysis.
Anti-feminist libertarian and conservative comments abound on Facebook and other social media. These include the usual clichés such as "man-hater," and "feminazis" as well as such claims as, for example, "feminists are so trapped in their victimhood thinking that they see potential male oppressors everywhere and blame everything that is wrong with their lives on 'sexism' and 'patriarchy.'" Men who are supportive of feminist concerns are attacked as "little wussy boys" and "worse" than the feminists themselves. One man even called the Association of Libertarian Feminists an "oxymoron." These childish and uninformed remarks by anti-feminist men not only show how little they know about feminism, but how little regard they have for women and women's rights.
Some anti-feminists even call feminism "collectivist" because it is a movement. This is a strange misuse of the term. They confuse "collective action" with "collectivism." The former simply means individuals working together for a common purpose, as for example, libertarianism or abolitionism. The philosophy of "collectivism" says that group goals are more important than individual goals. But the raison d'etre of feminism is to achieve equal individual rights for every woman; to allow individual women to pursue their lives as they see fit rather than submit to cultural stereotypes.
Feminism is, by common definition, "the belief that women and men are equal and should be equally valued as human beings and have equal rights." From a libertarian point of view, this stance should not be in the least controversial since libertarians also believe in equal rights for all. Indeed, given this definition of feminism, all libertarians, if they are consistent, should also be feminists. This definition is the essence of feminism to which every stripe of feminist from Marxist to libertarian, from radical to liberal, will agree. What feminists differ upon is how to achieve this goal of equality and equal rights. But the anti-feminist libertarians, knowing little about the wide range of views within feminism, selectively choose those feminist views they find abhorrent and attack those views as if they represented all of feminism. Yet when liberals do the same to libertarians, misrepresenting a few of the most uncompassionate as representative of the whole, these same anti-feminist libertarians howl. This is an inconsistent, hypocritical, and unfair treatment of both of these rich and vibrant intellectual traditions.
Molyneux is only the latest in a long line of these uncritical anti-feminists. We use his videos as a starting point for analysis only because he is currently one of the most visible anti-feminist libertarians. Like other anti-feminists, he fails to actually define feminism before he attacks. He simply implies that the ones he selectively chooses to talk about constitute feminism. Though Molyneux admits it isn't accurate to say that all feminists are socialists, he still defends his statement that "feminism is socialism with panties" and continues to talk as if all feminists are indeed socialists. This is more than an offensive accusation unsupported by sound reasoning; it represents the kind of sexist thinking feminism tries to combat. By using this sleight-of-hand, he continues to encourage his listeners to systematically categorize all "feminist" concerns as pitiful socialist garbage to be derided and dismissed.
In representing feminism as a primarily socialist-dominated movement, Molyneux ignores feminists of any other political ideology, including a long history of individualist feminists. His definition of socialism is as unclear as his definition of feminism; he uses the term interchangeably with "Marxism" without qualifying exactly what kind of socialists he is accusing feminists of being. What is clear is his belief that socialists of any kind are unappealing and deserving of ridicule.
Molyneux also uses the term "gender" incorrectly. He talks about the "two genders" but "gender" is not interchangeable with "sex." Social scientists generally define "gender" in terms of psychological factors, i.e., societal views of gender, one's self-perception, etc. In fact there is a whole range of non-binary gender perceptions; including "transgender" people who do not fit into the standard "male" and "female" categories. Even the term "sex," which refers to anatomical distinctions, is more complex than simply "male" and "female" because some people are "intersex" with physiological elements of both female and male reproductive characteristics. These people may call themselves "male" or "female" for convenience but many do not feel comfortable doing so.
There is a belief among such anti-feminists that feminism is inherently sexist because it emphasizes women. This is like saying that those who oppose discrimination against people of color are racists. Such anti-feminist thinking then assumes that women must desire preferential treatment. This is a typical claim made by anti-feminist men in articles and posts in social media, couched under the misdirecting plea, "but we're all individuals." It is similar to the claim that LGBTQ folks want preferential treatment simply because they want the same marriage rights as anyone else. Yet it is important to note that it is not women who have created the gender rights gap; it is a culture and society that has long seen women as secondary to men. Both culture and the government have been the biggest challenges feminists have faced in seeking equality. Government, reflecting the historical cultural prejudices against women, has enforced laws (opinions backed with guns, as Molyneux muses) against women since the beginning of the United States. Feminists, in working for equality, are therefore not working to support the state but rather desire to change it in order to eliminate the need for feminism. However, if libertarians categorically reject every attempt to challenge the presence of privilege in our culture, we should not be too shocked when feminists believe that the force of law is required to create a more humane and bearable space in which to exist.
Contrary to what the anti-feminists such as Molyneux claim, feminists have in fact played a major role in some of the most significant triumphs for individual liberty against state and private aggression in the last two centuries. In the 19th century, they were in the forefront of major movements for individual freedom, including abolitionism, suffrage for women, individual conscience in regard to religion and sexual activity, and the protection of minority rights. Every woman today who has a college education, owns property, or votes can thank these feminists. In the 20th century, feminists were in the forefront of not only the vote for women and the civil rights movement, but also in the fight against discriminatory laws that kept women from having credit in their own name, police policies that treat victims of rape and domestic abuse as responsible for their own victimization, actions and laws that harm people whose identities, sexual preferences, and orientations do not match the mainstream, and let us not forget reproductive freedom!
The radical feminist activists that Molyneux and other anti-feminists so unthinkingly sneer at have almost always been primarily concerned with challenging and resisting patriarchal laws—abortion laws, rather famously—and with building non-state grassroots institutions (e.g., consciousness raising groups, battered women's shelters, rape crisis centers, underground abortion networks, women's self-help clinics, and an array of critical "awareness"/anti-sexist cultural campaigns and groups), a number of which, especially the medically-focused efforts, were in fact constantly targeted by the regulatory state for criminalization and destruction.
In his "feminists are socialists in panties" video, Molyneux states that feminists are state-serving "creatures" and "Frankensteins," whose primary agenda is receiving preferential treatment from the government and society, an erroneous and insulting view. He commits the error that Frédéric Bastiat defines as the core error of socialists, by "confusing the distinction between government and society." He misrepresents the feminist stance as categorically anti-family and requiring state intervention to fulfill. No matter that many feminists have actually long discussed how to apply their feminist views to marriage and family, with the intent to raise children in a non-stereotypical way that affords them the richest opportunities as adults. Their aim is not to raise children through the state as Plato asserted, but typically to raise them healthfully in an individual family with two parents. Only a handful of feminists have actually seriously talked about dismantling the family, primarily during the Second Wave, contrary to what anti-feminists like Molyneux claim.
Molyneux portrays feminists as ruthless women, quick to cut each other down and unwilling to support successful women who deviate from the underlying socialist ideology of feminism. He claims that this is why feminists never discuss Ayn Rand or Margaret Thatcher, who he sees as "neo-conservatives" that are "anti-government" and therefore can be dismissed. In actuality, Rand, is not a neo-conservative; her importance for women has even led to a scholarly book, Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand, published by a prestigious and well-known university press. In his rant against "ruthless" feminists, Molyneux even implies that because they did not rally to the cause of Bachmann's candidacy that this is further proof of their cutthroat ideology. He thus implies that women should unconditionally support and praise each other despite differences in political views, even when the women themselves hold anti-feminist positions. The fact that Molyneux himself does nothing of the sort—he frequently attacks Ron Paul, a man, for example—is apparently beside the point. But unbeknownst to Molyneux, many feminists did in fact defend Bachmann, Clinton, and Palin from charges that veered from political disagreement to overt sexist dismissal.
In his video "The Life and Death of Radical Feminism," Molyneux propounds the belligerently conservative argument that women taking on paid jobs won't spend enough time with their children and thus will harm their development. This argument is fallacious on several grounds. First, it mysteriously leaves out one parent from the equation—the father. In fact, social science research shows that fathers have considerable impact on their children and that more interaction with their children is desirable. Second, there is a copious social science literature showing that children are not harmed when the mother works outside the home. A more important factor is whether the mother is satisfied with her situation, whether working outside the home or within. Third, it denies individual autonomy to women, chastising them for wanting to have a life or career outside the home and asserting that they should sacrifice their aspirations in order to allegedly achieve anti-authoritarian kids. Once again, this bears no resemblance to actual psychological research findings. The factors that have the most impact on authoritarian or anti-authoritarian views in children are warmth and non-punitive childrearing methods that teach empathy, not whether or not the mother stays at home. To blame moms for everything bad that happens to the children is yet another example of not only sexism but outright misogyny.
Molyneux, like many conservatives, seems to think that the 1950s was a golden age for families. The idea that the 1950s nuclear family was a model for liberated childhood or somehow ushered in the social movements of the 1960s is simply bizarre. Spanking, the abusive disciplinary action that Molyneux abhors, was far more prevalent in the 50s than it is now. In the 1950s, the spanking rate was 99%; the rate has been going down ever since. Isn't this a curiously contradictory view? Furthermore, in the books and research about the student movements of the 60s, the main correlation between activism and parenting was having a parent who was also a political or social activist, not having a traditional nuclear family.
Anti-feminists have no idea what feminists really want. Feminists are not women who want to be treated as men. Feminists are people who want to be treated as people, people who should not be discriminated against. Feminism isn't socialism. Feminism is actually more about individualism and the desire to be evaluated based on one's merit's and not on one's sex or gender.
Yes, there are feminists who are socialists. There are also feminists who are anarchists and feminists who are libertarians and feminists who really have no political ideology but know that they deserve to be treated equally to men. There are feminists who wear panties and feminists who wear boxers because not all feminists have an underwear preference and not all feminists are women.
The majority of Molyneux's arguments against feminism as well as his accusation that "feminism is socialism with panties" are grounded in flawed and misogynistic rhetoric as are the arguments of other anti-feminists. In reality, feminism attracts a diverse group of people just as any other idea or philosophy does. To attempt to diminish the impact of feminism and redefine it as an objectionable philosophy is repugnant. The statement itself is inherently sexist and is the kind of thinking that feminism—true feminism—works to change.
This is a collective rejoinder written and agreed upon by the following signers
Ankur Chawla
Amanda Davis
Christine-Marie L. Dixon
Nathan Goodman
Charles H. Johnson
Ross Kenyon
Matt Mortellaro
Nicholas O'Connell
James Peron
Sharon Presley
Also joining us:
Brad Spangler
Andrei Pemberton
Jeffrey Young
Thomas J. Webb
Kyle Bush
George H. Smith
Thomas L. Knapp
Keith Taylor
John L Robinson
Michael Scandirito
James Tuttle
Neil Ball
Megan Arnold
Adam Reed
Tom Ender
Alisa Clanin
Andrew Taranto
Erin Miller
Mike J. Gogulski
Robert Steel
Dan Bier
Nick Ford
Grant Babcock
Jason Lee Bynas
Lindsey A. Jacobs
Leah Farrow
Alex Strekal
Benjamin Nichols
Kaitlyn Emerick
Roman Pearah
Rocco Fama
Art Smith
Judy Purrington
Jim Davidson
Jason Bessey
Neha Sinha
Luke Clayborn Hopper
Vincent Patsy
Luca Gattoni-Celli
Natasha Shebeko
Julia Riber Pitt
D. Frank Robinson
Jad Davis
Moriah N. Costa
Nick Saorsa
Matt Zwolinski
Don Pomeroy
Halina Reed
Isa Rizal Bufano
Lucy Betageek Hanouille
Josh Latimer
Jason Phillips Love
Teresa Warmke
Currer Bell
Jon Anselmo
Joan Mitchell
Alejandro Oquendo
Kevin Carson
Corey Moore
Edgar Aroutiounian
Tyler Johnson
Alexander Habighorst
Stewart Thorpe
Alice Raizel
Ruth Gilburt
Thomas Gramstad
Nate West
Joseph Rasch
Sorcha NiBhuaigh
Steve Horwitz
Mike Moceri
Carol B. Low
Irena Schneider
Harold Gray
Carl Agoric Codling
Zachary Caceres
John Sabin Adkins
Janet Neilson
Bob Wammy
Shawn P. Wilbur
Jordan Jetson
Scott LeGear
H. Raymond Solberger
Jim Minardi
Juan Garibay
Jack Artagan Mackenna
Lee Avedon
Jackie Bradbury
Adam Marketanarchopacifist Berkowicz
Adam Cicco
Tim Starr
Rob Tarzwell
David McGraw
Jake Smith
Victor A. Reyes
Punk Johnny Cash
Vicki Moore
Ben Arzate
Fred Curtis Moulton, Jr.
Matthew Brenycz
Lex Alexander
Chris Bradshaw
Nancy Quinn Dale
Katherine Gallagher
Pedro Eidt
Zak Slayback


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MONTREAL — It's another chapter in the great Maple Syrup Theft Caper, one that now transcends international borders.
A Vermont maple sugar candy producer is alleged to have been caught with 12 tanker trucks worth of stolen syrup, traced back to the $20-million theft of the golden elixir from a central warehouse in a small Quebec town about 160 kilometres northeast of Montreal.
Maple Grove Farms of St. Johnsbury, Vt., is alleged to have purchased "hot" syrup from one of the kingpins in the $20-million theft from a facility in St-Louis-de Blandford sometime between Aug. 1, 2011, and July 30, 2012.
Le Soleil in Quebec City reports that the Agriculture and Food Marketing Board of Quebec was asked to rule this week on the breach of procedures of the collective marketing system as set out by the provincial association of maple syrup producers.
Buying from other than an authorized source is a no-no where Quebec syrup is concerned and there could be trade sanctions against the purchaser; however, the issue was delayed to allow criminal charges to be laid in the matter.
The Sûreté du Québec and police in Vermont, armed with a search warrant, visited the St. Johnsbury factory on Oct. 19, 2012. According to the report, the company representative confirmed that the firm had bought syrup from Richard Vallières in the summer of 2012, at a price "substantially below normal rates" as set out by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers.
What, if any, fines Maple Grove should incur is not known at this point. The SQ have steadfastly refused to comment on any aspects of this case while the investigation is ongoing.
In an email sent after this story appeared on The Gazette website, Maple Grove Farms finally commented on the matter, after initially ignoring messages sent by phone and email.
"Maple Grove Farms purchased the maple syrup in good faith with no reason to believe that it was coming from Quebec or that it may have been stolen. The prices paid were consistent with normal commercial prices for maple syrup purchased from sources outside of Quebec. Maple Grove Farms is fully cooperating with the investigation being conducted by the authorities, including the Quebec Police."
Vallières was one of a passel of people arrested and released by the SQ in December 2012, charged with conspiracy and theft.
These arrests followed an extensive investigation that included 300 interviews and trips to New Brunswick, Vermont, Ontario and many maple syrup production facilities in this province.
There were 18 arrests over three days in December and the seizure of forklifts, four kettles used to boil syrup, scales and other maple syrup processing equipment. Some of the accused will face a judge at the end of this month.
In a story of fantastic proportions, the equivalent of 10,000 barrels of syrup was systematically siphoned off from a warehouse rented by the Federation over the course of a year.
The organization tightly controls production and, more importantly, the price point for maple syrup in an industry estimated to pull in $270 million annually.
In years where production is above normal – for instance, good years like 2011 – excess product is warehoused to avoid diluting the price, both for bulk sales and normal retail.
The theft was only discovered when an accountant sent to assess inventory at the St-Louis-de Blandford site in July 2012 realized that some of the storage barrels were empty or filled with water instead of syrup.


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BILLY (fl. 1770s–1780s)
Billy was an African American slave born possibly about 1754 and maybe in Richmond County, Virginia. Because he was a slave, we know very little about him, not even if he had a last name. In fact the only reason that anyone knows that Billy existed is because he took part in a court case that helped to reiterate the legal status of slaves as noncitizens. Not being classed as citizens meant that enslaved African Americans had far fewer rights than whites who were citizens. Ironically in this case, being a noncitizen actually saved Billy's life.
In 1781 Billy was owned by the estate of John Tayloe, a wealthy planter and member of the Virginia governor's Council. In May of that year Billy was arrested for fighting with the British against the Virginians. Many African Americans fought with the British, as the latter had offered freedom to slaves who fought for the Crown, yet many other African Americans fought with the Americans. Tried in a Prince William County Court, Billy was convicted by four judges out of a panel of six judges of treason and sentenced to hang. In his defense, Billy argued that he had been forcibly taken on a ship by the British and that he had not taken up arms against the Americans.
Within a week of Billy's conviction, the two dissenting judges and one of Tayloe's executors wrote to Governor Thomas Jefferson, arguing that a slave was not a citizen of the state, and therefore could not commit treason against the state. Treason is an act of disloyalty to one's nation. The judges argued that a slave "not being Admited to the Priviledges of a Citizen owes the State No Allegiance and that the Act declaring what shall be treason cannot be intended by the Legislature to include slaves who have neither lands or other property to forfiet." This trial was not the first time this argument had been made, and it was not the last time that a slave was tried for treason. In 1831 a case was dismissed in Southampton County after Nat Turner's Rebellion; the judges would not hear a treason case against a slave.
Governor Jefferson delayed Billy's execution until the end of June 1781 and on the 14th of that month, the Virginia legislature pardoned Billy. What happened to him after his release from court custody is unknown.
Suggested Reading:
Lanning, Michael L.African Americans in the Revolutionary War. New York City, New York: Citadel Press, 2000.
Kneebone, John T. et al., eds., Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Richmond: Library of Virginia, 1998, 1:490–491.
Wolf, Eva Sheppard. Race and Liberty in the New Nation: Emancipation in Virginia from the Revolution to Nat Turner's Rebellion. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2006.
Related Links:
Video: Billy and James: Choices Facing African Americans during the Revolutionary War


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I haven't felt as sharp as i did a few weeks ago and my results reflect this, especially on Stars. I won a Sunday Million satellite earlier in the week and did absolutely nothing with it, just blew it. The next time i win a seat i'm playing in the tourny... fuck it!
Things have been going a bit better on fulltilt. I took down a $24+2 90 man KO sit n go for $576.00. I've used up most of my $24+2 tokens, i only have 2 left. I will try to get that back up to 10 this week so that i can play the 90 man KO tourny again. My Build-A-Roll challenge for fulltilt is completed. I will begin withdrawing $500 each month from here on out. It looks like i will have to jump through a few hoops before i can withdraw though. Will see how it goes.
Stars latest update caused some problems with my PT import earlier in the week so i havent played there much this week. I was going to update it but decided to just make the switch to PT3 instead. I have to say it is pretty sweet. I installed and imported all my tournies for the this year and about 10K ring hands in under 15 minutes. Its pretty slick and the instant update to the hud while playing is nice also... no more waiting to import every 2-3 minutes. And there is hardly any lag when playing 6 tables and importing.
Belly Off
I've always told myself that once i hit 30 i was gonna start taking better care of my body. I'm 31 years old, 6'1" and 205 lbs. I'm not fat or anything but i do have a little belly fat. So I've finally decided to do something about it. I found a pretty good program on Menshealth.com called Belly Off that i'm gonna try for the next 8 weeks. My goal is to lose 15lbs. I already exercise a bit but not enough... I will stick to this program.