“Solvitur Ambulando” – It is solved by walking, 2016 Labyrinth Walks (Walk 4/40), Davidson College Labyrinth – Davidson NC, Hobart Park:
Hobart is special to me. My family celebrated graduation with a picnic in the park with John’s family.
The labyrinth was added when the park was redone in memory of a classmate. It is funny that I never noticed the marker dedicating the park to F.D. Hobart, Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds, 1925-1960, “If you seek his monument, look about you”:
It is a beautiful day, the sun is streaming and the air is cold and crisp.
As I walk I look for the moss cross that Ann pointed out to me the first time I walked this labyrinth.
And before I leave, I must go see the camellias in bloom … I love the South in winter!!
Kindred, Davidson NC: Lunch with Molly at the newest “in” restaurant in Davidson. The oysters were divine!
New-School: Crispy Oysters with Green Garlic Yogurt Kindred; Davidson, NC Battered sparingly and fried gently, Joe Kindred’s riff on oysters with tartar sauce emerges from the oil looking beige and craggy and rumpled. Beneath the pleasingly raspy exterior, these just-shucked beauties quiver. Served on a gold-rimmed plate, on a skid of garlicky white sauce that recalls a Greek tzatziki, they arrive with a tuck of watercress that complements the whole like a feather does a cap. kindreddavidson.com
kith/kin, TFA, Baltimore: Molly’s moving to Baltimore with TFA. I can’t wait to explore her new home!
“You can look far and wide, but you’ll never discover a stranger city with such extreme style,” filmmaker and local celebrity John Waters wrote in his book, Shock Value. “It’s as if every eccentric in the South decided to move north, ran out of gas in Baltimore, and decided to stay.”
Six Photographers, Photo Session With The Same Man, Most Exciting Planet: Fascinating …
When six photographers are tasked with taking portraits of the same man, the results are astonishing. Here’s the twist: each photographer is told a different (fake) personal history of the man. As portrait photographers, it’s their goal to portray this man, as they see him, in a single photograph. Though he comes to each photo session dressed exactly the same, carries himself the same way, and speaks with each photographer in the same manner, the photographers treat him differently and photograph him completely differently depending on the background story.
Actually he is still “here.” But I am holding him close. He is a ghost dog for sure. But I am dealing with the loss every morning and every mealtime as he slips away.
Reformed worship is … – The Presbyterian Outlook
At one end of the pew someone is whispering, “That communion liturgy felt so Catholic.” At the other, someone is murmuring, “This praise song sounds so Pentecostal.” “Is that how Presbyterians pray?” “Is this how Presbyterians sing?” Surely you’ve overheard such comments. Perhaps you’ve said similar things yourself. In my time with the PC(USA) Office of Theology and Worship I’ve heard many variations on the theme: “That’s too Catholic, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal . . . .” I’ve responded to countless calls and emails from pastors, elders, and members who were concerned that some new (or […]
Davidson College President Carol E. Quillen, President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans, President Barack Obama, Davidson College: If I get to pick and choose which executive orders to support, I support this one. Kudos to President Quillen.
President Barack Obama has appointed Davidson College President Carol E. Quillen as a member of the newly constituted President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans.
She was among 15 members named on Wednesday to the council. It will be chaired by John W. Rogers Jr., the Chair, CEO, and Chief Investment Officer of Ariel Investments. José Cisneros, the Treasurer of the City and County of San Francisco, will serve as vice-chair.
President Obama created the new President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans by signing Executive Order 13646 on June 25, 2013. The council is charged with advising the President and the Secretary of the Treasury on ways to promote financial capability among young Americans.
It will seek ways to encourage building the financial capability of young people at an early stage in schools, families, communities, and the workplace, and through use of technology.
The council will seek to identify ways to build public-private partnerships between various governmental agencies concerned with youth. It will support ongoing research and evaluation of financial education for young people, and determine and disseminate effective approaches. It will identify strategies to promote financial literacy in schools, test promising approaches to increase planning, saving and investing for retirement by young people, and promote the importance of planning for financial success.
The council will hold its first meeting on March 10.
Quillen was named President of Davidson in August 2011. Previously, she was Vice President for International and Interdisciplinary Initiatives at Rice University. Quillen also was a member of the Rice history faculty, director of its Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance, and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. She earned a bachelor’s degree from The University of Chicago and a doctorate degree from Princeton University.
Atlanta History Center, Sam Inman, Swan House 1935, #wouldagrammed, kith/kin: How cool … my kith uncle. My dad and “Uncle Sam” became friends when they were 9 or 10 years old. I think my dad had a bull dog as a kid, too.
Sam Inman playing with his dog at Swan House in 1935. #wouldagrammed
Daily Meditation by Henri Nouwen, Henri Nouwen Society Blog, Creating Space for God, discipline v. discipleship:
Creating Space for God
Discipline is the other side of discipleship. Discipleship without discipline is like waiting to run in the marathon without ever practicing. Discipline without discipleship is like always practicing for the marathon but never participating. It is important, however, to realize that discipline in the spiritual life is not the same as discipline in sports. Discipline in sports is the concentrated effort to master the body so that it can obey the mind better. Discipline in the spiritual life is the concentrated effort to create the space and time where God can become our master and where we can respond freely to God’s guidance.
Thus, discipline is the creation of boundaries that keep time and space open for God. Solitude requires discipline, worship requires discipline, caring for others requires discipline. They all ask us to set apart a time and a place where God’s gracious presence can be acknowledged and responded to.
Snurk Beddengoed, duvet set for space-loving kids, A Mighty Girl: Loved this from my NASA knowledgeable cousin! “That’s not a shuttle suit. It kinda looks like an old Apollo suit, except they weren’t blue. Maybe it’s a Russian suit. ‘
When the small Dutch bedding company, Snurk Beddengoed, released this amazing duvet set for space-loving kids last year, it was hugely popular online but not widely available outside of the Netherlands. Since we frequently receive inquiries from parents about bedding recommendations for Mighty Girls, we’re excited to share that it’s now available on Amazon at http://amzn.to/1hsSTZl — and if we add a bedding section to A Mighty Girl, we’ll certainly highlight this fun set there as well!
For more recommendations for space-oriented and girl-empowering books, toys, clothing and room decor, check out recent blog post, “Mighty Careers: I Want To Be An Astronaut!”, at http://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=5812
‘Downton Abbey’ Finale Review: The Depressing Demise of a Once-Great Show, The Daily Beast: It wasn’t THAT bad. I’ll admit that I didn’t particularly like Cora’s brother, the character or the actor, and that I’m not a fan of her mother, the character AND Shirley McClain as the actress portraying her. So I was disappointed with the finale primarily because of the American relatives.
That was quite a ridiculous season of Downton Abbey, now wasn’t it? What happened to the formerly addictive, splendid, elegant costume drama?
Season four of Downton Abbey, which concluded Sunday night, was all about acceptance. It was about accepting the death of two major characters and the need—for us and the residents of Downton—to move on. Accepting the budding love between a white heiress and a black singer. Accepting the conception of a child out of love—and out of wedlock. And, most of all, accepting the fact that Downton Abbey is a shell of the seductively elegant costume soap opera we all became so addicted to four years ago.
That’s because there’s one thing Downton Abbey refuses to accept is the very thing that’s the supposed to be the crux of the whole damned show: change.
Downton Abbey Season 4 Season Finale: The Real Royal Love Letter, Prince of Wales — the future King Edward VIII, Mrs. Freda Dudley Ward, TIME.com:
On the show, Lady Rose has the opportunity to rub elbows with the Prince of Wales — the future King Edward VIII, who eventually came to the throne in 1936 — and his lover, Mrs. Freda Dudley Ward. The story’s main arc is set into motion when a letter from the Prince to Freda is stolen by a no-good card sharp hanging around the Crawleys. If he leaks the letter to the international press, it could cause a scandal, which sends Rose and Robert into detective mode.
As it turns out, there was correspondence between the Prince and Freda — as described in the book Letters from a Prince: Edward, Prince of Wales, to Mrs. Freda Dudley Ward. The socialite daughter of a rich businessman, she was already married when she met the Prince, but her marriage wasn’t in good shape. In 1918, the Prince began to send her the first of what would be many letters.
Though their romance ended abruptly in 1934 when the Prince began his relationship with Wallis Simpson, the woman for whom he would eventually give up the throne, the Prince of Wales didn’t exactly hide his feelings. Take, for example, one missive from June of 1919: “Darling darling beloved little Fredie,” he begins, “This is only just a teeny weeny little scrawl to catch the last post sweetheart and to tell you how fearfully madly I’m loving you this afternoon angel and looking forward to 4:30 tomorrow. Although I only said all this about 12 hrs ago I can’t help saying it all again this afternoon only I mean it even more sweetheart!!”
TMBS, N. T. Wright’s Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was_What He Did _ and Why He Matters: Starting the next book for TMBS … I think I would like his dad. And I still don’t know what “eschatology” means, and I’ve looked it up at least 10 times.
“This is the first book I have written since the death of my beloved father, at the age of ninety-one. Having read little or no theology or biblical scholarship until his mid-sixties, when I started writing, he then read everything I wrote within days of its publication and frequently telephoned me to tell me what he thought about it. I cherish some of his comments. “I’ve looked up ‘eschatology’ three times in the dictionary,” he once complained, “and I keep forgetting what it means.” When my big book on the resurrection came out, he read it, all 700 pages, in three days, commenting that he had really started to enjoy it after about page 600. Presumably, with the end in sight, he was starting to experience hope as well as reading about it. Particularly with my popular writings, I now realize that he was always part of the “target audience” of which I was subconsciously aware. Writing a book like this feels different now that he’s not there to read it. In any case, though I hope he learned a few things from me, this book— particularly its concluding chapter— hints at some of the many things I learned from him. As I grieve his passing, I dedicate this book to his memory with gratitude, love, and, yes, hope.’
Wright, N. T. (2011-10-25). Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters . HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
9/11, man’s best friend, Daisy, Medal of Honor of New York City: teary eyed …
Juliette Guidara
Follow · February 20 near Nahant, MA
James Crane worked on the 101st floor of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center .. He is blind so he has a golden retriever named Daisy.
After the plane hit 20 stories below, James knew that he was doomed, so he let Daisy go, out of an act of love.
She darted away into the darkened hallway.
Choking on the fumes of the jet fuel and the smoke James was just waiting to die. About 30 minutes later,
Daisy comes back along with James’ boss, Who Daisy just happened to pick up on floor 112
On her first run of the building, she leads James, James’ boss, and about 300 more people out of the doomed building.
But she wasn’t through yet, she knew there were others who were trapped. So, highly against James’ wishes she ran back in the building.
On her second run, she saved 392 lives. Again she went back in. During this run, the building collapses.
James hears about this and falls on his knees into tears.
Against all known odds, Daisy makes it out alive, but this time she is carried by a firefighter. “She led us right to the people, before she got injured” the fireman explained.
Her final run saved another 273 lives. She suffered acute smoke inhalation, severe burns on all four paws, and a broken leg, but she saved 967 lives.
Daisy is the first civilian Canine to win the Medal of Honor of New York City.
Humans of New York, NYPL: Almost every post is insightful … read the follow-up, too.
“You want to photograph me eating chicken?”
“Yep.”
“Well, if I let you, I need you to help me deliver a message.”
“What’s that?”
“I work at this library. And before that, I was coming here for twenty years. It’s my favorite place in the world. As many people know, the main reading room of this library is supported by seven floors of books, which contain one of the greatest research collections in the world. Recently, the library administration has decided to rip out this collection, send the books to New Jersey, and use the space for a lending library. As part of the consolidation, they are going to close down the Mid-Manhattan Library Branch as well as the Science, Industry, and Business Library. When everything is finished, one of the greatest research libraries in the world will become a glorified internet cafe. Now read that back to me.”
Because of all the attention of this morning’s library post, I thought it’d only be fair to post the NYPL’s response. I’m quoting four points that they’ve asked me to clarify:
*The man says “I work at this Library.” Ends up, he doesn’t “work” for the library in the sense of being an employee. He is probably doing his work at the library (millions do each year!). We fear the confusion might make people think he is offering his opinion as an employee.
*The vast majority of research books will remain on the site (in far superior storage conditions)
*None of the public spaces he and others enjoy will change, and we’ll be returning a circulating collection to this main library (it had one for its first 70 years).
*This plan will be greatly expanding access to the library. The renovation will allow all New Yorkers–scholars, students, educators, immigrants, job-seekers– to take advantage of this beautiful building and its world-class collections.
Obviously the issue is more complex than soundbites from either side, so feel free to educate yourself further and form your own opinion:
Whitewashing reproductive rights: How black activists get erased, Salon.com: Overwhelmed by this statement …
Abortion for black women has always been a revolutionary rejection of patriarchy, white supremacy and forced systems of oppression. The great scholars Patricia Hill Collins and Angela Davis have explained that throughout slavery and into the 20th century, self-abortion through herbal remedies, hangers, hatpins and pencils were a way out of slavery and poverty. Our ancestors fought hard to refuse to carry the children of their master rapists and rear another generation of slaves, even when it meant that “barren” women were deemed worthless chattel and sold between plantations. From generation to generation, stories and recipes were passed down to ensure that women weren’t forced to carry pregnancies they never desired or weren’t able to carry healthily. For as many powerful women that raised children in the worst conditions imaginable, so there were those who refused.
RIP Harold Ramis: The good are always taken from us too soon!
North Korea Cloaked in Darkness, Korea Real Time, WSJ, satellite images, picture paints a thousand words, darkness:
One of the most stunning—and revealing—photos ever taken of North Korea was a 2002 satellite image of the peninsula at night, shown by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in a Pentagon briefing.
The photo showed the lights of South Korean conurbations, and even large clusters of fishing boats, in stark contrast to an almost entirely black North Korea. Other than a small spot of light in the showcase capital Pyongyang and the outline of the country, North Korea wouldn’t have been visible at all.
“South Korea is filled with lights and energy and vitality and a booming economy; North Korea isdark. It is a tragedy what’s being done in that country,” Mr. Rumsfeld said.
23 Signs You Went To A Mid-Major College, UNC v. Duke, ACC Basketball, Davidson basketball, Tobacco Road: Maybe it’s good I transferred from UNC to Davidson. I just can’t hate a rival team the way UNC fans hate Duke. My personality is definitely suited to the fan realm of the mid-majors. That said, go HEELS. (and the HEELs won.)
12. And no one ever confused your gymnasium with an arena.
13.. It could be mistaken for a large high school’s
…
20. You love the first week of March Madness. (Not a feeling exclusive to mid-major fans.)
And then there is the sport that built the ACC’s identity and remains in its DNA: basketball. It is not the best league in America this season, but it has deftly commandeered the spotlight and become the must-watch conference in February. To date the ACC has been home to:
• The Game of the Year: Syracuse’s overtime victory over Duke on Feb. 1 before an on-campus record crowd of 35,446 at the Carrier Dome.
• The Shot of the Year: Syracuse freshman Tyler Ennis’ 35-footer as time expired to beat Pittsburgh on Feb. 12.
• The Freshman of the Year: In the so-called Year of the Freshman, it is Duke’s Jabari Parker.
• The Upset of the Year: Boston College, which entered the game 6-19, shocked the No. 1-ranked Orange 62-59 in OT Wednesday night. That result might have taken some luster off the Syracuse-Duke rematch set for Saturday in Cameron Indoor Stadium, but it still had fans riveted to the TV over a game nobody was talking about when it started.
“We’ve landed in a really good place,” Swofford told Yahoo Sports on Thursday.
Swofford’s emergence at the top of the commissioner power rankings is not quite as surprising as BC beating Syracuse in the Carrier Dome. But it is unexpected.
19 Truly Charming Places To See Before You Die, bucket list: I just added 19 towns to my bucket list … not good. Bibury England …
Bibury England: This old village is known for both its honey-colored stone cottages with steeply pitched roofs as well as for being the filming location for movies like Bridget Jones’ Diary. It’s been called “the most beautiful village in England.”
Eight Most Overlooked Foodie Towns in the South, Greenville SC, Asheville NC, Decatur GA, foodie towns, Bourbon & Boots: All look worthy of my time. I love good local restaurants. Anybody care to join me?
3. Greenville, S.C.
Last year, Esquire wondered if Greenville, S.C., would be the “next big food city of the South.” The city is in a fast-growing rivalry with Charleston for the title, but Greenville has “more than 110 restaurants, overwhelmingly locally owned, and excellent” within a mile-and-a-half of the quaint downtown area.
Suggestions: Roost, The Green Room, Nose Dive or The Lazy Goat.
4. Asheville, N.C.
It’s always the college towns. Right? The town is one-part academic, one-part performance art and two dashes of wacky. Like most college towns, it has a youthful, energetic vibe which typically manifests in creative food menus and chefs just on the verge of acclaim. It’s home to 2012 James Beard Award Rising Star Chef of the Year semi-finalist Katie Button as well as chocolatiers serving drinkable ganache.
Suggestions: Knife & Fork, French Broad Chocolates, Curate Tapas Bar
5. Decatur, Ga.
Two years ago, this oft-overlooked Georgia city was gaining notoriety for its inventive dining options nestled in a safe, walkable community atmosphere. Today a diverse cuisine is available at a variety of price points as well as placing a value on local, sustainable food sourcing.
NBC’s ‘Secret’ Starbucks, 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, lockdown, WSJ.com: I pet everyone is really peeved with the WSJ for this story.
“The same guards that won’t let people in now won’t let Starbucks out,” one person with access to the coffee said, declining to be identified for fear of retribution.
That new policy also ended a smuggling operation wherein some NBC employees had been serving as Starbucks mules for friends and acquaintances at the Games. Why not share the java, after all, since the drinks—served round the clock—cost “customers” nothing? And with the nearest Starbucks branch in Russia more than 350 miles by car, Sochi is a kind of Siberia for Starbucks addicts.
But recently, according to one person with access to the coffee, someone trying to leave the NBC offices with a Starbucks cup was told by a guard: “No gifts. No gifts. Pour it out or go back and drink it.”
The person said that he and his colleagues were told that NBC was working on getting new, unbranded cups to allow employees to travel more freely with their elite coffee. Sure enough, according a number of people, new generic cups had shown up by Wednesday: an orange-and-brown variant with arguably less cachet.
Oprah, Her Dog Sophie, greatest teachers, man’s best friend, purest love:
Oprah is a woman who loves her dogs. She’s had 21 pups in her adult life — including 11 at one time. “Nothing makes me happier than being with my dogs,” she says. In the above video from “Oprah’s Lifeclass,” we look back at the incredible bond she’s experienced with her animals.
“Over the years I have felt the truest, purest love — the love of God, really, I imagine that’s what God’s love feels like — is the love that comes from your dog,” Oprah says.
Though she loved them all, “Oprah Show” fans will remember one special cocker spaniel who rarely left Oprah’s side. “One of my greatest teachers is my dog, Sophie,” Oprah says. “Sophie lived for 13 years and came to work with me every day. Was there for every show, was backstage at the Oscars, at the Emmys, was waiting in the car if I went to the gynecologist.”
Solomon, Oprah’s other cocker spaniel, also went with her everywhere — but Sophie would cling even closer, as the pooch would get separation anxiety whenever Oprah left the room.
Sadly, Sophie died on March 10, 2008. “It wasn’t until she passed away that I really understood the depth of my love for her,” Oprah says. “Because I learned from a show we did many years ago with Gary Zukav that there are big souls and little souls. And Sophie was a little soul – just a little soul, but had a great impact on my life. And when I lost her is when I realized that nobody on earth had ever loved me like that little dog.”
college education, college financing, The Daily Beast, The War Room: INSANE! My daughter and I were talking about the price of Davidson, when I went, 1978, and today. The numbers in this article are fairly accurate.
Since 1978 the price of college has increased in absolute dollars by 1120 percent, more than any other good or service in the U.S. economy. (For example, the cost of food has increased by just 244 percent and healthcare by 601 percent in the same period). A widely cited study by Richard Arum, Academically Adrift, concludes that 36 percent of college students show no significant gains in learning over the course of their four years in college. Indeed, 68 percent of students at public colleges and universities fail to graduate in four years. And in 2012, over 50 percent of graduates under the age of 25 were either unemployed or underemployed.
random, sperm donors, when worlds collide: What a great story!
So Mikayla, a San Diego native, messaged Emily right away, suggesting they room together. It was too late; Emily already had a roommate. But the girls friended each other on Facebook anyway.
Then on Father’s Day, Mikayla posted a glib Facebook status. “Thank you Colombian sperm donor, for one of my X chromosomes.”
“That’s odd,” thought Emily, whose parents also had selected a donor of Colombian heritage.
She responded by writing, “Not to be creepy. But kinda think we could have same donor.”
The idea was so far-fetched that neither gave it much thought, they said. But when the girls arrived at Tulane in the fall, they met and jokingly referred to each other as “sister.”
They were placed in the same dormitory, one floor apart, and both landed parts in the same theater production, “The Vagina Monologues.” Throughout the first semester, they said hello in the stairwell but were more acquaintances than friends.
Then, over Thanksgiving break, both freshmen were part of a larger group of Tulane students that didn’t go home. They ended up at the Gonzales outlet mall, as part of a Black Friday shopping trip. Each spent the day shopping with their own friends, then discovered on the bus ride home that they’d bought the same sweater in different colors.
The similarities continued to pile up.
They both sleeptalk and sleepwalk — so much so that their parents used to put an extra lock on the door at night, for fear they’d walk outside. And back in the early 1990s, their parents had gone to the same place, California Cryobank, and selected a Colombian sperm donor with an interest in theater out of hundreds of potential candidates for insemination.
character counts, deviations from gender norms, double standards, shame on you: It’s not the little white lie, it’s that she left her husband after he paid off her loans. And yes there are double standards, but I try to hold both sexes to the same standards. Shame on you, Wendy Davis.
Now the question is whether Slater’s sexist narrative will hurt Wendy Davis’ chances. It’s hard to imagine that there are many Texans who were considering voting for a pro-choice Democrat but would be too scandalized by her deviations from gender norms to vote for her now. The biggest obstacle that Davis faces—that she’s a Democrat in a solidly red state—hasn’t changed a bit. And the fact that the attacks on her are getting so shrill suggests that perhaps Republicans are really beginning to fear she has a chance.
I don’t know…regardless of party affiliation …people don’t like it when one is loose with the truth. She has been loose with the truth. Her one big thing is abortion.
“Loose with the truth”? She was separated at 19 and divorced at 21, rather than divorced at 19. And she “only” lived in a trailer for a few months. And she got help paying for law school. That’s the best they got. I don’t think she will win, but she just raised $12 million and the TX Repubs are scared s**tless.
The Republicans just might tear each other appart in the primaries, leaving whichever candidate wins vunerable. The attacks on one area congressman have already started, without any mention of who is running against him.
This may be setting her up for a US House run in 2016. The districts have been heavily gerrymandered, but there still are some Democratic districts.
She is undoubtedly intelligent, attractive and came from modest means. Why couldn’t that be enough? Why have to “exaggerate” the true circumstances of her life just to get some easy to remember narrative (divorced teen mom who pulled HERself up to make it through Ha rvard Law all alone). After decades of being told ‘it takes a village’
…why can’t the true narrative of her life be enough? We should celebrate that she was able to surpass 2 of the 3 biggest causes for women to be in poverty (teen mom, no degree) to become an attorney and state office holder. So she had help, that’s great!
I guess she is a natural blonde………
yoga, Doga, Secret Yoga, follow-up, London’s Most Curious Yoga Classes, Completely London Blog: As a follow up to my “naked coed yoga’ article … Doga and Secret Yoga! Those Brits … They have a better idea shen it comes to yoga.
Doga
Your dog + yoga = doga. Yes, we’re serious. Classes with Swiss instructor Mahny involve four-legged friends in your yoga practice to help you both relax. Expect mediation, stretching and gentle poses, whether you’re lifting your Chihuahua for a sun salutation or using your Labrador as a yogic bolster. And lots of jokes from your friends about the downward dog. SW6
Secret Yoga Club
Rather than a weekly drop-in, serious yoga fans might want to treat themselves to this pop-up/fitness hybrid. Held at clandestine venues across London – Secret Yoga Club provides a dynamic hour-long Jivamukti flow class, a Savasana (the relaxation bit at the end) serenaded by a singer and a three-course vegan menu. They say: ‘leave with a soul full of joy and a tummy full of goodness’. We say: ‘Sign us up!’. Find their weekly classes here.
2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, New Olympic Uniforms, Ugly, News from the Field | OutsideOnline.com: Once again … UGLY!
The U.S. Olympic team’s uniforms for the opening ceremonies at Sochi were unveiled Thursday on the Today Show with Matt Lauer and the reactions have been, ah, not so terrific.
The uniforms, designed by Ralph Lauren, were modeled on the show by figure skater Evan Lysacek, hockey player Julie Chu, ice dancers Charlie White and Meryl Davis, and freestyle skiers Hannah Kearney and Alex Schlopy.
They look like they came from QVC’s Quacker Lady line!
Looks like my Grandmother’s sweater…but, at least they were made in America!
decades-long mystery, seemingly random letters: I loved this FB post!
” This is cool not only because it is a prayer (oops, spoiler alert!), but because it demonstrates what can happen when we share, collaborate compassionately, and lend our minds and time to others in need. Surely that must be among the highest callings and most ardent lessons we can know or share? Surely.”
Yesterday afternoon, a woman seeking help with a decades-old family mystery posted a thread on Ask Metafilter titled “Decoding cancer-addled ramblings”:
My grandmother passed away in 1996 of a fast-spreading cancer. She was non-communicative her last two weeks, but in that time, she left at least 20 index cards with scribbled letters on them. My cousins and I were between 8-10 years old at the time, and believed she was leaving us a code. We puzzled over them for a few months trying substitution ciphers, and didn’t get anywhere.
The index cards appear to just be a random series of letters, and had confounded the poster’s family for years. But it only took Metafilter 15 minutes to at least partially decipher them. User harperpitt quickly realized she was using the first letters of words, and that she was, in fact, writing prayers:
…
AGH, YES! Sorry for the double post, but:OFWAIHHBTNTKCTWBDOEAIIIHFUTDODBAFUOT
AWFTWTAUALUNITBDUFEFTITKTPATGFAEA
Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name… etc etc etc
After a Princeton University study came out predicting Facebook’s demise, Facebook has responded with its own “research” predicting the downfall of Princeton: http://on.wsj.com/M47gZu
On Thursday, Facebook went a step further with its own mock academic research. “Princeton will have only half its current enrollment by 2018, and by 2021 it will have no students at all,” wrote Mike Develin, a data scientist at Facebook.
Develin said he analyzed various data points, including the percentage of queries on Google Scholar matching the query “Princeton.” Develin’s research showed the percentage had dropped dramatically since 2000, an “alarming” number, he wrote.
“In keeping with the scientific principle ‘correlation equals causation,’ our research unequivocally demonstrated that Princeton may be in danger of disappearing entirely,” Develin wrote.
The paper authors could not immediately be reached.
Facebook’s posting Thursday ends on an ominous note. “While we are concerned for Princeton University, we are even more concerned about the fate of the planet–Google Trends for “air” have also been declining steadily, and our projections show that by the year 2060 there will be no air left.”
Maria Tallchief, the first Native American prima ballerina, Mighty Girls: Interesting history from the art world.
Today in Mighty Girl history, Maria Tallchief, the first Native American to become a prima ballerina, was born in 1925. One of the most acclaimed ballerinas of the 20th century, Tallchief grew up on the Osage Reservation in Oklahoma. As noted in a NY Times tribute to her, “Growing up at a time when many American dancers adopted Russian stage names, Ms. Tallchief, proud of her Indian heritage, refused to do so, even though friends told her that it would be easy to transform Tallchief into Tallchieva.”
Tallchief kept her name and made her mark throughout the dance world, dancing with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo from 1942 to 1947 and the New York City Ballet from its founding in 1947 through 1965. She is pictured here in the title role of George Balanchine’s ballet “Firebird.” This dance legend passed away this past April at the age of 88.
Van Gogh’s paintings brought to life, Breakthru films, feature-length painted animation, YouTube, new technology: very cool concept …
Concept trailer for the new production from Oscar-winning studio Breakthru films, a feature-length painted animation. A murder mystery about the life and death of Vincent van Gogh told through revealing interviews with the characters from van Gogh’s own paintings.
“Ballet Shoes” , Nol Streatfeild, “You’ve Got Mail”, book jackets, wine labels, small independent bookstores: So, I saw a refernce on a FB page to “Ballet Shoes” and asked, “Isn’t the book that this film is based the one that is refernced in one of the later scenes in You’ve Got Mail?”
A Mighty Girl Pick of the Day: “Ballet Shoes,” a 2007 BBC movie adaptation of the Noel Streatfield novel, starring Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame. This compelling film tells the story of three orphaned girls, Pauline (Watson), Petrova, and Posy, living together as sisters and being supported — barely — by one elder sister, Sylvia.
The three girls each have high ambitions: Petrova wants to fly airplanes, Posy wants to dance ballet, and Pauline wants to be an actress. The story follows the girls as each of them pursues their dreams and learns important lessons about kindness, love, and family.
These loving sisters and their determination to write their names in the history books are sure to inspire every watcher and their willingness to stand alongside one another in support is heartwarming. This lovely film is recommended for ages 7 and up.
“Nol Streatfeild wrote Ballet Shoes and Skating Shoes and Dancing Shoes. Id start with Ballet Shoes its my favorite. Although Dancing Shoes is completely wonderful but its out of print.”
FB friend: ” I love that scene. We’ve come full circle here with only a small independent bookstore in my immediate area. I try to frequent it, but it is so hard to beat the price and convenience of Amazon.I still have to go in person for browsing fun. I am drawn to certain book jackets the same way i shop for wine by the wine labels.”
…
me: “I love book jackets and wine labels! I was in my independent bookstore yesterday, picking up an signed copy of a book for a “spiritual” basket for my church’s youth mission trip fundraiser. i asked if it had discounts because I needed 8+ books for the basket. (Long story, short: spiritual basket contains ministers and staffs’ favorite books with personal notes among other things) … I of course prompted a discourse on why they could not compete with Amazon…) As for wine labels, i was just commenting to my sister in law, that all the small vineyards John and I loved on our last visit to Napa 24 years ago, some because of their fun labels , are now big vineyards.”
Fyodor Dostoevsky, doodles manuscripts, Open Culture: Puts Dostoevsky in a new light. 🙂
Few would argue against the claim that Fyodor Dostoevsky, author of such bywords for literary weightiness as Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov, mastered the novel, even by the formidable standards of 19th-century Russia. But if you look into his papers, you’ll find that he also had an intriguing way with pen and ink outside the realm of letters — or, if you like, deep inside the realm of letters, since to see drawings by Dostoevsky, you actually have to look within the manuscripts of his novels. Above, we have a page from Crime and Punishment into which a pair of solemn faces (not that their mood will surprise enthusiasts of Russian literature) found their way
Girl choir breaks stained glass ceiling at Canterbury Cathedral
…
CANTERBURY, England (RNS) Canterbury Cathedral, mother church of the 85 million-member worldwide Anglican Communion, will have its first girls’ choir perform since it was rebuilt nearly 1,000 years ago.
On Jan. 25, worshippers will hear the voices of 16 girls between the ages of 12 and 16 at a historic Evensong service, which will include the music of English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Until now, only male voices have been heard at the cathedral’s services.
The Best Airport Food, lists, WSJ.com: I hate airport food and never venture beyond Starbucks or McDonalds. Anyone else with recommendations?
Middle Seat favorites: Urban Taco’s chicken tinga and Dos Equis Amber barbacoa tacos at DFW, Legal Sea Foods chowder and crab cakes in Boston or Philadelphia (and returning to Washington’s Reagan National this spring), and that incredible barbecue beef from The Salt Lick, which must be chased by Amy’s Mexican vanilla ice cream.
Farther afield, one of my all-time memorable meals was the salade gersoise at 8e Ciel at the airport in Toulouse, France. Every conceivable preparation of duck—and Toulouse is known for its duck—is nestled on greens and priced at about $26. The restaurant, a highlight of an otherwise dreary, small airport, features regional cuisine “advised” by chef Michel Sarran, with the added bonus, for aviation buffs, of a broad view of the Airbus factory flight line.
FB Friend: The article here mentions Legal seafood at Boston. I’ve had good seafood at BWI too. The new Delta concourse in NY (Kennedy?) has great restaurants. Houston has beer vendors with carts that roll down the concourses!
…
FB Friend: “Ditto on BWI. Used to be a great little gourmet restaurant in Bakersfield but I haven’t been back there in a while.”
1968 Artist Imagines What John Paul George & Ringo, “When I’m Sixty-Four”, Open Culture:
When I get older losing my hair,
Many years from now,
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday greetings bottle of wine?
Paul McCartney’s wistful song “When I’m Sixty-Four” was released on the Beatles’ 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The next year, an artist named Michael Leonard tried to imagine what the young musicians might look like four decades later — on their 64th birthdays. We never got a chance to figure out whether he sized up Lennon and Harrison correctly. But we know that Paul, even at 71 today, never got jowly. And Ringo never went the suit route. You can see for yourself when the two perform at the Grammys on January 26.
How sugar affects the brain, Nicole Avena, Why Diets Fail by Nicole Avena, TED-Ed , YouTube: My name is ______, and I am an addict, a sugar addict.
Sad, but true ..
I mentioned a new book called Why Diets Fail by Nicole Avena, a neuroscientist and research psychologist at Columbia University who has done a lot of work in this area. She\’s particularly interested in the neurotransmitters and brain receptors involved in eating. In lab experiments with rats, she\’s shown how overeating tasty foods (like sugar) can produce changes in the brain and behavior that resemble addiction.
The Salt
Is Sugar Addiction Why So Many January Diets Fail?
Science
Overeating, Like Drug Use, Rewards And Alters Brain
Avena has also just put out a clever TED-Ed video with colorful visuals to help explain the details of just why sugar makes our brains go bonkers.
As the video shows, the key player in the reward system of our brain — where we get that feeling of pleasure — is dopamine. Dopamine receptors are all over our brain. And doing a drug like heroin brings on a deluge of dopamine.
Guess what happens when we eat sugar? Yes, those dopamine levels also surge — though not nearly as much as they do with heroin.
Elena Shumilova/Russian Mother, Magical Pictures, Two Kids With Animals On Her Farm, Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Bored Panda: These are more than magical …
These wonderful photographs by Elena Shumilova plunge the viewer into a beautiful world that revolves around two boys and their adorable dog, cat, duckling and rabbit friends. Taking advantage of natural colors, weather conditions and her enchanting surroundings, the gifted Russian artist creates cozy and heartwarming photography that will leave you amazed.
The boys in the photographs are the photographer’s sons and the animals belong to the farm she runs. “I largely trust my intuition and inspiration when I compose photos. I get inspired mainly by my desire to express something I feel, though I usually cannot tell exactly what that is” Shumilova explained to BoredPanda.
Rural settings, natural phenomena and the changing seasons seem to be the greatest stimuli in her works. “When shooting I prefer to use natural light – both inside and outside. I love all sorts of light conditions – street lights, candle light, fog, smoke, rain and snow – everything that gives visual and emotional depth to the image,” the photographer said.
Shumilova told us her passion for photography manifested in early 2012 when she got her first camera. Her most recent equipment includes the Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera and a 135mm lens. As a mother who doesn’t want to miss out on her growing children, she says she shoots every day and processes the images at night.
We suggest you take a cup of tea, lean back comfortably in your armchair and browse this beautiful collection of Elena Shumilova’s photographs.
Snowboarders, lawsuits, Alta Ski Area, OutsideOnline.com, the Fourteenth Amendment(citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws): So I asked my guys, one ides, one skis, what do you guys think? I think there are some valid arguments since it is on government land.
Four snowboarders and a Utah nonprofit corporation have sued Alta Ski Area and the U.S. Forest Service, challenging the resort’s skiers-only rule.
The lawsuit states that Alta’s policy prohibiting snowboarders from riding at the resort violates the Fourteenth Amendment, which addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws.
Alta is one of three resorts in the country that does not allow snowboarding, and it is the only one that operates on public land controlled by the U.S. Forest Service, according to the lawsuit.
Ok, so as a Southern Presbyterian, I did not celebrate Advent (or Lent for that matter), but as a 40-something in Chicago I embraced them both. I must admit it is a learning process … if you did not grow up with the traditions. So this article being a rant on FOX, it contains some helpful information.
According to ancient Christian tradition, “Christmas” is not the December shopping season in advance of Christmas Day; rather, it is Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the Twelve Days following that run until early January. During most of December, Christians observe Advent, a four-week season of reflection, preparation and waiting that precedes the yearly celebration of Jesus’ birth. In many mainstream and liturgical (and even liberal and progressive) churches, no Christmas hymn will pass the lips of a serious churchgoer for another two weeks. If you wander into a local Lutheran, Episcopal or Roman Catholic parish, the congregation will still be chanting the ethereal tones of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” or “Watchman, Tell Us of the Night.” There are no poinsettias, no Christmas pageants, no trees or holly, and no red and green altar linens. A few days ago, they might have preached about St. Nicholas — but not Santa Claus. There are no twinkling lights or over-the-top Christmas displays. Just four candles in a simple wreath, two partially burned, two yet to be lit. The mood is somber as December moves toward deeper darkness, and the night lengthens. The world waits, and it is time to prepare for the arrival of God’s kingdom. It is not Christmas. It is Advent.
20 Reasons You Absolutely Need A Dog In Your Life, Distractify, man’s best friend:
As if I didn’t already know … Can cats do anything but tell you when you are going to die?
Day-to-day depression, or even more serious chronic depression, is easier to handle with the love of a dog, studies show. Simply by having them around, and knowing that even at our worst, somebody loves us unconditionally and is eager to see us happy again, we’re given a reason to get up and keep going.
Guy Fawkes Day, British history: Love seeing on twitter the bonfires in London … “Remember, remember the fifth of November when gunpowder, treason and plot. I know of no reason, why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot!”
Here is a fun English holiday to celebrate…
On November 5, 1605, Guy Fawkes was found in the cellar of the Houses of Lords with a large amount of gunpowder, while attempting to blow up parliament.
To celebrate parliament (and King James I) being saved, every November 5th in England, an effigy of Guy Fawkes is burned on a large bonfire and the evening ends with an extravagant fireworks display.
Now that my family lives in the U.S. we have chosen not to burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes… it seems a little strange to explain to our kids when no one else is doing it! We do however eat British foods, like Scotch Eggs, and talk about the political structure of the United Kingdom and how democracies give their citizens a voice. This year I made my girls each a spoon doll of Guy Fawkes.
\”Remember, remember the fifth of November when gunpowder, treason and plot. I know of no reason, why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot!\”
kith/kin, baseball, replica bats: An interesting story about an interesting member of my husband’s family!
Rayburn really likes baseball, and he has ever since he was a kid.
“Baseball, I think, was a little bit of an equalizer,” he says. “You didn’t have to be the best looking kid in the class – the best liked in the class, but if you were good, or at least worked hard and tried to be good, you could be an equal on the playing field.”
Credit Austin Ramsey/WKMS News
He’s retired now, but he spent years in real estate, freight and university athletics. And in retirement, he builds baseball bats that resemble those from the game’s early history. He even restores bats – many of which were used in the game’s early history.
Plus, he single-handedly produces the entire line of bats for one of the nation’s largest classic baseball memorabilia producers in his garage.
Each day, Rayburn occupies the small shop adjacent his home west of town.
Inside, walls are lined with bats of various shapes and stages of completion. He has a series of new bats with oddly-shaped handles. He says they represent the dead ball era, when a baseball was softer and more emphasis was put on field positions and strategic bunts.
With each new bat, he starts with a three-inch billet of Ash or Maple, which he marks and whittles down on a lathe, carefully carving away excess wood in one-inch increments. As he carves away, using different sized tools, the corrugated form of a bat appears.
Charlie Trotter, Charlie Trotter’s Restaurant-Chicago, RIP: I ate at Charlie Trotter’s once while we lived in Chicago. It was very good, a true culinary dining experience. I cannot say I would do it again, but I can thank my lovely in-laws for the once in a lifetime experience. RIP
Trotter burst on the scene in 1987, when the self-taught chef opened Charlie Trotter’s restaurant on Armitage Avenue. In short order, the chef’s intense creativity and never-repeat-a-dish dictum made Trotter’s the most talked-about restaurant in Chicago, and his fame quickly spread throughout the country and beyond.
He was named the country’s Outstanding Chef by James Beard Foundation in 1999; in 2000, Wine Spectator magazine called Trotter’s the best restaurant in the nation. More awards and accolades followed, including a 2002 Beard Award for Outstanding Service; at the time, Trotter called it the award he was most proud to receive, as it represented “a team award.”
The mercurial chef was a stern taskmaster who demanded the absolute best from everyone who worked for him. He was also a man of uncommon generosity, creating the Charlie Trotter Education Foundation to provide scholarships for culinary students. He received the James Beard Foundation’s Humanitarian of the Year award in 2012.
“Charlie was an extreme father figure to me when it came to not just cooking, but life, and seeing things in a different way,” said chef Graham Elliot Bowles, one of many famous chefs who worked for Trotter. “I just can’t put into words how saddened I am by all of this. It’s a huge loss, not just personally, but for the culinary world.”
I’m not sure how much a chance Davidson has against Duke, but I\’ve learned to never count out Bob McKillop and his Wildcats. McKillop is one of the few who won\’t \”abandon all hope\” when he enters Cameron Indoor Stadium on Friday night.
Though Davidson lost Nik Cochran, Jake Cohen, and others, the Wildcats still return a talented squad who will compete with Elon for a Southern Conference title in their last year in the conference. Leading that veteran laden group is De\’Mon Brooks. Brooks has been the SoCon\’s Player of the Year before and is a two-time SoCon Tournament MVP. The 6\’7 forward averaged nearly 14 points and 6 boards a year ago and is going to need all of that and more against the Blue Devils.
Beyond Brooks, McKillops will rely on the rest of his senior core Chris Czerapowicz, Tyler Kalinowski, and Tom Droney to step up big on Friday. This may also be the coming out party for Miami (Ohio) transfer Brian Sullivan, who averaged over 10 points per game his freshman year while being named to the All-MAC Freshman team.
Duke is the other Tobacco Road team that struggled a bit in their preseason warm up. The Blue Devils found themselves down to Drury 38-34 Saturday afternoon, but they pulled away in the second half for a 81-65 victory. Freshman Jabari Parker and Mississippi State transfer Rodney Hood will be the story for Coach K\’s team. Parker is expected to be a top five pick in the NBA Draft, while Hood is considered among the nation\’s top transfers. Rasheed Sulaimon missed the Blue Devils tune up due to illness, but expect him and Quinn Cook to be firing on all cylinders Friday night in Durham
Last year I wore red socks inside my boots to the Panthers v. Falcons game … This year I left the red socks at home. I figure the Falcons are a lost cause and I really ought to put my mouth (and socks) where my money is.
2013 Georgia Florida St Simons Island Beach Celebration: And then I could not pass this one up from last weekend’s GA FL Game:
2013 Georgia Florida St Simons Island Beach Celebration
Well, fear not, soda snobs. All those reports are wrong.
Monterrey, Mexico-based Arca Continental, which bottles Coca-ColaKO -0.03% in glass bottles for U.S. consumers as part of a nostalgia project that began in 2005, assures that its fizzy pop destined for the U.S. market will continue to be sweetened entirely with cane sugar.
A street vendor carries bottles of soda to customers in Mexico City
That’s not the case for Coke sold in Mexico. The soda chugged in vast quantities by Mexicans has long been sweetened with a mix of high fructose corn syrup and cane sugar. The mix varies, depending on which sweetener is cheaper, with local bottlers aiming to limit HFCS to conserve taste and their relationships with Mexico’s powerful sugar industry.
Currently Mexico’s largest soft drink bottler, Coca-Cola FemsaKOF.MX -3.25%, uses HFCS to cover 60% of its sweetener needs, CFO Hector Treviño told analysts last month. Mr. Treviño said his bottler is at maximum capacity for HFCS and that, if anything, going forward it will buy more cane sugar—which is very cheap right now. Mexico is the world’s fifth-biggest sugar producer, and domestic bottlers have their own sugar refineries.
Roman Sculpture, London, archeology, new discoveries:
Archaeologists excavating at the future site of a 16-story hotel in London have uncovered a 1,800-year-old statue of an eagle with a writhing serpent in its beak.
The statue was carved in limestone from the Cotswolds and stands two feet (65 centimeters) tall. The right wing has broken off from the body, but otherwise the sculpture is intact.
The foundations of a mausoleum were also found at the site. Experts have concluded that the sculpture once adorned the tomb of a Roman-era Londoner, likely a high-ranking official or a prosperous merchant.
In today’s edition of worst possible news ever: corgis — the dogs popular among the entire Internet and, of course, Queen Elizabeth — could soon earn a place on the endangered breed list. The stubby-legged bundles of cuteness are now on Britain Kennel Club’s “at watch” list and are set to be classified as a “vulnerable native breed” by January, AFP reports.
The club said only 241 Pembroke Welsh Corgis were registered this year, and it seems unlikely that they’ll reach the 300 registrations needed to stay off the vulnerable breeds list. The club says this decline correlates with the rise in popularity of smaller foreign breeds, like French bulldogs. (Which, for the record, are really ridiculously cute too.)
The Daily Telegraph, however, blames the decline on a 2007 ban on tail-docking, the practice of cutting off part of the animal’s tail. The Telegraph reports that many breeders say they can’t achieve the desired corgi look without tail-docking, and so many have simply given up on the breed.
So, it’s probably a combination of factors — horrible, terrible, no-good factors — that are coming together to try to wipe out our precious corgis and deprive us of the most divine cuteness the world has ever known.
Of course, it’s the viral content factory BuzzFeed that will probably take this news the hardest, as the site’s business model can be summed up as “mo corgis mo money.”
Raymond Loewy, Google Doodle, “Father of Industrial Design”, TIME.com:
Today’s Google Doodle honors what would have been the 120th birthday of Raymond Loewy 1893-1986, often referred to as the “father of industrial design” who ”made products irresistible at a time when nobody really wanted to pay for anything,” as TIME once wrote.He is the man behind the Lucky Strike cigarette pack, Coca-Cola vending machines, the Greyhound bus, the S1 Locomotive, logos for Shell and Exxon, plus the interiors of President John F. Kennedy’s Air Force One and NASA’s Apollo and Skylab “orbiters.” When he “streamlined” the Coldspot refrigerator design, sales at Sears went up, illustrating his famous line “between two products equal in price, function, and quality, the better looking will outsell the other.”
Moving Dollies, Buckhead’s Randolph-Lucas House, Around Town – Buckhead GA Patch:
On Wednesday morning, the moving dollies arrived onsite at the historic Peachtree Road home that was built in 1924 for Hollins Nicholas Randolph, a great, great grandson of Thomas Jefferson.
Due to the wet weather in Friday\’s forecast, the move will likely not take place this week. But it is coming and soon as foundation work at the Ansley Park locale has continued throughout the month as the attached Youtube video depicts.
For the move, the home will be horizontally split above the first floor, lifted by cranes and then transported on flatbeds. Utility lines will need to be moved temporarily as well.
Every piece of the home, except the kitchen, will be completely renovated and moved to the new location at 78 Peachtree Circle, about two miles away. The kitchen will be updated to a more modern one, but will still complement the home, according to HGTV Front Door.
Norman Rockwell, ’Coinoisseur’ 1962 , Jackson Pollock:
The third painting is by illustrator Norman Rockwell (b 1894 – 1978 New York USA) ’Coinoisseur’ 1962 – a tribute to Abstract Expressionist Jackson Pollock (b. 1912 – 1966 USA). Whilst the painting is sometimes interpreted as a compliment to Pollock – it is also interesting to note the comparison between Rockwell’s illustrative art and the new Modern art of Pollock who was big news in the art scene of 1962.
Fifteen years ago, Daniel Wallace published his first novel, “Big Fish,” and 10 years ago, the Tim Burton version of the movie by the same title came out. This month the musical, also “Big Fish,” premiered on Broadway.
“I started writing about my father, stories that are drawn from the man my father was, and I mixed it up with the other thing that I was interested in, which is Greek myths,” Wallace said.
Wallace is currently a UNC professor and the director of the creative writing program, and he has written several books since “Big Fish.”
Like the movie and the novel, the musical tells the story of Edward Bloom, a man from a small town in Alabama with a knack for storytelling. The story is one of reconciliation between the dying father, Edward, and his son, Will.
Wallace said the same people who worked on and wrote the musical also worked on and wrote the movie.
“I thought it was a thing that would never, ever happen, so I never took it seriously,” Wallace said.
“The fact that it happened still, it’s stunning to me.”
personhood, man’s best friend, Jake: A friend posts daily from her jake’s perspective. No doubt Jake is a person. 🙂
If you need information about what is happening in the brain of a dog to know that dogs think and have feelings and emotions, then either you’ve never met a dog or your own humanity is in doubt.
You can no more seriously entertain the possibility that a dog is a mere automaton than you can entertain such a hypothesis about your human loved ones. To do so would require you to stand back and look at what a dog (or a person) does (and says) as devoid of meaning and expressive power. And to do that would be disrespectful. This is the Sissy Jupe point.
“They won’t come into the stores to educate themselves,” said Peter Chung, general manager of Magic Toyota and Scion in Edmonds, Wash. “They’ll do that online.”
More than half of the younger buyers surveyed by AutoTrader.com, a car-buying site, said they wanted to avoid interacting with dealership sales representatives.
In response, automakers like Cadillac and Toyota are starting to embrace technology that tries to take the showroom to the buyer. Known as augmented reality, it embeds images and videos in a picture on the user’s smartphone or tablet. The result is a far more detailed view of the image, often in three dimensions with added layers of information.
For example, when Cadillac introduced the ATS last year, it created a campaign in cities across the country that allowed observers to point an iPad at a chalk mural and watch the car drive through scenes like China’s mountainous Guoliang Tunnel and Monaco’s Grand Prix circuit. The goal was to grab the attention of potential buyers, especially younger ones, who would not normally think of Cadillac when researching new cars.
tips, change, iOS 7, NYTimes.com: Still have not done it …
While some are shocked by the design changes of iOS 7, my colleague Brian X. Chen wrote on Thursday that most consumers who have jumped to the new operating system seem to be enjoying the new design.
Of course, if none of these tips work and you’re in complete disarray after your upgrade, there is one more option you can try: turn off your phone and go away for a nice quiet weekend with your family.
An “Internet meme” is a concept that spreads rapidly from person to person via the Internet, usually in a humorous way, largely through internet-based E-mail, blogs, forums, Imageboards, social networking sites, instant messaging and video sites such as YouTube.[44] In 2013 Richard Dawkins characterized an Internet meme as being deliberately altered by human creativity—distinguished from genes and Dawkins’ original idea of a meme which involved mutation by random change and spreading through accurate copying in a form of Darwinian selection.[45]
CompuServe introduced the GIF format in 1987 to provide a color image format for their file downloading areas, replacing their earlier run-length encoding (RLE) format, which was black and white only. GIF became popular because it used LZW data compression, which was more efficient than the run-length encoding that formats such as PCX and MacPaint used, and fairly large images could therefore be downloaded in a reasonably short time, even with very slow modems.
The original version of the GIF format was called 87a.[1] In 1989, CompuServe devised an enhanced version, called 89a,[2] which added support for animation delays (multiple images in a stream were already supported in 87a), transparent background colors, and storage of application-specific metadata. The 89a specification also supports incorporating text labels as text (not embedding them in the graphical data), but as there is little control over display fonts, this feature is not widely used. The two versions can be distinguished by looking at the first six bytes of the file (the “magic number” or “signature”), which, when interpreted as ASCII, read “GIF87a” and “GIF89a”, respectively.
GIF was one of the first two image formats commonly used on Web sites, the other being the black and white XBM.[citation needed]
The feature of storing multiple images in one file, accompanied by control data, is used extensively on the Web to produce simple animations. The optional interlacing feature, which stores image scan lines out of order in such a fashion that even a partially downloaded image was somewhat recognizable, also helped GIF’s popularity,[citation needed] as a user could abort the download if it was not what was required.
In 2012, the word “GIF” was officially recognized as a verb as well as a noun, meaning “to create a GIF file”. The US wing of the Oxford University Press voted it their word of the year, saying that GIFs have evolved into “a tool with serious applications including research and journalism”.[3][4]
The U.S. Olympic team’s uniforms for the opening ceremonies at Sochi were unveiled Thursday on the Today Show with Matt Lauer and the reactions have been, ah, not so terrific.
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